i'm christine romans. a bombshell at the casey anthony murder trial. her parents don't think she's innocent. ahead, we'll tell you what else. >> after 16 years on the run, james "whitey" bulger has been caught. the crime boss is suspected in nearly two dozen murders. welcome to "american morning." it is thursday, june 23. ali velshi is off this morning. >> we all stayed up late last night to hear the president speak about afghanistan. we will have the latest that. a stunning admission from the parents of accused child killer casey anthony. it is a cnn exclusive.

mark lipman is the attorney for george and cindy anthony. he told gary tuchman they will do all they can to keep their dautder from getting death penalty even though they do not believe she is innocent. here is how gary describes his conversation with the anthony family lawyer. >> reporter: today i talked to their family attorney, mark lipman. mark hasn't wanted to talk about that but i explained to him we don't want to sensationalize this. george could be in a lot of trouble if the jury ultimately believes what the defense is saying, that the child accidentally drowned and george had something to do with the disposing of the child's body. mark lipman told me this. i asked him a specific question. i said, do your clients, george and cindy anthony, think that she is not guilty. his answer was they do not think that. he said they want to see justice done and see the truth come out. then he added to me, he said, they do not believe she's innocent. that being said, okay, this is

very important, he wanted me to stress this, they love her and support her and do not want her to get the death penalty. they will do all they can to avoid her getting the death penalty in this case. >> such a tragedy for those parents. casey anthony is charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter, caylee. it is not clear how her parents' comments may impact the trial today. we will be following all of it at the top of the hour and speaking with sonny hostin, former federal prosecutor and legal consultant for trutv's "in session." the defense's plans to call casey anthony's mother to the stand today. that leads us to our question of the day. there has been a lot of speculation about whether casey herself should take the stand in her own defense and tell her side of the story. what do you think, should she take stand? send us an e-mail, tweet or tellous facebook and we will read some of your comments later in the morning. president obama hitting the road this morning to sell his plan for afghanistan to the troops. he will meet with soldiers at

ft. drum, new york, home to the tenth mountain division. one of the most frequently deployed divisions to afghanistan. last night the president formally announced that the withdrawal from afghanistan will begin next month. >> starting next month we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from afghanistan by the end of this year. we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer. >> the taliban is also responding this morning to the president's announcement calling eight symbolic step only. we are getting perspective this morning on all of this from the pentagon correspondent barbara starr and is with us this morning. you were listening to the speech last night. not unexpected because people in the pentagon knew that this was probably the plan. what about the reaction this morning? >> well, i think you are seeing a very mixed reaction. democrats and republicans on capitol hill already some in favor and some not in favor. many people are saying he should have gone faster. some republicans are saying that

he's taking too many troops out too fast. a lot of concern about all of this. but later today, it will become very interesting on capitol hill. david petraeus, the commander on capitol hill, confirmation hearings as cia director and you know this i shall sue going to be front and center. he will cross-examine whether he supports the president's decision or what concerns he may have that this risks some of the security gains the troops already made. >> what had been the recommendations from the pentagon? we know maybe they thought fewer and maybe slower pullback. >> a little bit slower. not -- i think people were surprised at the pace, 20,000 next year. >> reverses the surge. >> it does. look, this was going to happen no matter what. we are only talking about timing of it. i think what the president fundamentally said last night which is what so many americans believe, that the war and the

spend sing politically and economically unsustainable. up can't keep doing this forever. at some point you have to say to the afghan government it's yours, take it over. >> we will be talking later about that cost that you talked about, billions and billions spent since 2001. we will check in with you later. thanks so much. also this morning, he's on the fbi's most wanted list. he has been there for 16 years. 81-year-old james "whitey" bulger, notorious boston crime boss, is in federal custody. authorities say bulger and his longtime girlfriend were captured yesterday in southern california. bulger was the inspiration for jack nicholson's character in "the departed." we are following developments on this arrest. how did they eventually catch up with this notorious crime boss? >> it is quite a story. james "whitey" bulger is a legendary boston crime boss. he eluded authorities for more than a decade and a half. last night in santa monica, california, the fbi got its man

after targeting his girlfriend. fbi officials say the 81-year-old bulger and his 60-year-old girlfriend were arrested from a residence without resisting. the fbi is crediting a publicity campaign for their capture and began airing this 30-second public service announcement that centered on his longtime girlfriend, katherine elizabeth, who allegedly fled with him, and wanted for harboring a fugitive. the fbi about 350 tv spots that aired in 14 u.s. cities including here in los angeles. those ads focused on specific habits of his girlfriend, including the fact she liked to have a dental cleaning done once a month and she frequented beauty salons. apparently a tip from that ad let to the arrests. those that live in the santa monica area say they are shocked to learn of the arrests. >> it is just a surprise to see that he was right around the corner from me. because i know his story. crime boss from boston.

you know. >> grew up in southie. moved out here. been here a week. wow. whitey caught. you have to be kidding me? no way. we had to come down and check it out and see what's going on. >> another look at that 30-second public service announcement that has been airing. apparently that led to this arrest. they are expected to make their first appearance thursday in u.s. district court. again, this man was wanted for 19 killings. his alleged role in 19 killings along with extortion, racketeering, money laundering and other crimes. very big arrest in santa monica overnight. reporting live here in loss possible thank you. new video of what appears to be a tornado forming near louisville, kentucky. you see it here, severe storm system slamming that area last night. knocking down trees and power lines. louisville's churchill home to the kentucky derby also hit.

nine barns were damaged. horses were running loose before being corralled. no people or horses were injured. all racing, though, has been canceled for today. >> wow. got lucky. the water is getting so high in parts of minot, north dakota, it is too dangerous for people to stay. some 12,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate. they were given that order last night. >> that's right. because the swollen river is now spilling over the levees that protect the city. jim spelman is live in ninot, north dakota. what's the latest? this is an area not immune to flood thing time of year in the spring in particular. this time it is particularly bad. >> reporter: yes. it is being fed by massive amounts of snow melt and heavy rain coming down from canada. this river, this river goes through the middle of minot, north dakota, surrounded by so many businesses and homes, they had to evacuate about 12,000 people now. we are right at the edge of the evacuation zone here where crews are filling these giant sandbags

trying to protect parts of the city. at this point they know that there is no way they are going to be able to save most of this flood area. they are focusing on the important infrastructure. here is what the mayor told me yesterday. at this point i don't think you can really realistically plan on raising all the dice. what is your strategy? >> no. we gave up with that idea when we heard how much water was coming. there was no way we could get our dikes high enough. get the public facilities. >> reporter: sobering to hear a mayor giving such a blunt assessment of what the next few days holds for his city. most of the people have evacuated. the water right now is at the top of the dikes throughout most of the city. it has about another eight pete to go. that's going to put it potentially up to the roofs of many of the homes that are right in that affected area. they are preparing here for devastation.

>> thanks so much. our thoughts are with the people in north dakota this morning. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke growing more pessimistic about the economy during a press conference yesterday, bernanke said that he predicts just a slight decline in unemployment and slower than expected economic growth this year. >> the economic recovery appears to be proceeding at a moderate pace. somewhat more slowly than the committee expected. some indicators have also been weaker than expected. >> press conference and said the fed didn't really know why it was a little bit slower. couldn't put its finger on why the economy was slower than they thought. those comments put an end to wall street's four-day rally. dow closed down more than 40 points. s&p 500 also lower. european stocks lower this morning as well. >> they did talk about the -- the pace of the job of job creation. >> disappoint. >> right. >> also perhaps some of it may be short-term because of the situation in japan. >> they are hoping and certainly hoping that things get a little bit better, that growth picks up

a little bit by sometime early next year. but again, that why question is something a lot of people are struggling with. why has it been so sub par so far at this point. >> we will find out more in the jobs report. >> that's right. we will find out how many people added in the last week. that will tell us whether this persists. also, more trouble for actress lindsay lohan. she has been ordered back to court this morning after reportedly violating her probation on a drunk driving conviction. why? sources say that lohan failed a court-ordered alcohol test last week. she's due to appear before the same judge who sentenced her to jail for stealing a necklace from a california jewelry store. lohan was allowed to serve that sentence under house arrest. she now could end up behind bars. >> up next, a hateful rant from a southwest airlines pilot who didn't know his microphone was on. >> i mean, it's all these [ bleep ] old dudes and grannies and a handful of a few chicks. >> classy. a lot more of that tape.

wait until you hear what else he had to say about the airline's flight attendants. rivers rising towns under historically high water in the midwest. hundreds of people are being warned they may have to stay way for the entire summer. we are going to get our extreme weather report still ahead. welfare minutes past the hour. a living, breathing intelligence that's helping drive the future of business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ machines have a voice. ♪ medical history follows you. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities... committed to delivering the most advanced mobile broadband experience to help move business... forward. ♪ yet an instant classic." with sports car styling and power,

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with kao. 50 minutes past the hour. 15 minutes past the hour. sorry. this story has me -- i-can't believe this guy is back on the job. >> back on the zblob amazing. a houston based southwest airlines pilot. lee months after a hate-filled rant about flight attendants was on an air traffic control microphone. >> the flight attendants union is not happy about that. jeanne meserve with the audiotape that everyone is talking about today. >> reporter: the tirade about flight attendants is peppered with obscenities, insults, slurs against homosexuals and women. >> 11 [ bleep ] over the top [ bleep ] homosexuals and a

begany. 11. think of the odds of that. i thought i was in chicago which was party land. after that, it was just a continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes. >> appear enreference to overweight people. >> i don't give a [ bleep ]. >> the pilot talks about exploit was some of them. >> i went to the bar three times. in six months, three times. once with the granny and the [ bleep ] and i wish i 00 gone. at the very end with two girls, one of them that was probably doable. >> an air traffic controller tries to stop the pilot. >> okay. whoever is transmitting, watch what you are saying. >> but the rant goes on. >> i still wouldn't want anyone to know. >> someone has a stuck mike.

we don't need to hear that. >> finally the transmission ends. pilots the other planes chime in quickly to say it wasn't me. one adds commentary. >> and they wonder why airline pilots have a bad reputation. >> the federal aviation administration says that it expect as higher level of professionalism from flight crews. southwest put out a video press release. >> what he said is offensive and inconsistent with the professional behavior and although with respect we require from all employees. >> the pilot was reprimanded, suspended without pay, and underwent diversity education. he's now back on the job. the pilot has apologized, southwest says, to controllers, his bosses, pilots, and of course, flight attendants. but the flight attendants union is not happy. it says southwest's response to the incident added insult to injury and it is considering filing a complaint with the equal employment opportunity commission. jeanne meserve, cnn, washington. >> do you think every flight crew knows which pilot that is? we are not saying the name of

the pilot but do you think every flight crew knows -- >> it is a small world. >> you do not think he's ringing the call button asking for a flight attendant to bring him a cup of coffee. >> no. the -- most amazing part is the other guy saying somebody's endeavors are being broadcast that we don't want to hear about. we will see what happens. if the union lets this one go. he is back on the job now. >> diversity training. >> yeah, i'm sure that worked. >> whatever. all right. you have seen the viral videos of kids getting pat-down at airports like this one. taken in april showing the security agent giving a pat-down to a 6-year-old girl through the new orleans airport. the transportation security administration is changing the policy for screening small children. the agency says security workers will have more options when it comes to checking little kids. the tsa says that while the new poll sly reduce lit not eliminate these invasive

searches. >> there are new reports of serious crackdown on anti-government protests for security forces deploying tanks and soldiers to a village near the turkish borders. >> arwa damon managed to get back into syria. something you will see only on cnn. she joins us live on the phone now from damascus. good morning, arwa. >> reporter: good morning. we finally managed to get visas into the country. we arrived in damascus around seven hours ago. i have to say a brief amount of time and i stress brief amount of time that we have been able to drive around the capital. certainly appears to be in stark contrast to the type of things we had just been seeing along the syrian/turkish border. in the capital, demonstrations concentrated on neighborhoods in the outskirts. the city center. appears on the surface to be relatively normal. but the handful of people that i have thus far had the

opportunity to speak to people are incredibly upset about what is taking place. people i have been talking to are telling me that they do support the president. they do support the efforts. some of them feel as if the demonstrators initially did receive the request to reform to -- the president made this pet don't understand why the demonstrations are taking place. complicated about the impact that is ongoing, unvest having on them. they fully support the president and want to see brought about some sort of end very, very quickly. >> arwa damon, thank you so much. we look forward on more reporting from you from inside syria. something you will seep only on cnn. >> difficult and the video is difficult. >> she has been doing amazing reporting from along the border with the refugee crisis there, you know, president of the country saying just come home.

everything will be fine. people along the border saying we are not coming home. we are afraid of our own government. arwa has been doing amazing reporting on that. new this morning, levees failing and homes flooding. this is all happening along the missouri river and water there now hitting historic highs and topping at least four levees in the area. hundreds of people in northwest missouri have been told they have to leave their homes and they have been warned they may not be able to come back the entire summer. a sinkhole big enough to swallow an suv, road crumbling under the weight of water after a flash flood outside of cincinnati. crews came in to pump all the water out of the crater. no drivers were hurt but an entire neighborhood was cut off. >> reynolds wolf joins from us the extreme weather center. we are seeing the scenes play out. devastating flooding that is taking place and news from missouri that some of these folks can't return for the entire summer. why is that? they don't expect the water to go down or expect this to just continue to get worse for more rain? >> a little bit of both of also, this is a tremendous event.

it will be really long term and quite a while before they allow the people to return back to their communities. just a heartbreaking thing to see along that stretch of river. different stretch of river. ohio river valley. we were talking moments ago about the sinkhole they had in cincinnati. farther to the south, south of louisville, we had a different type of damage altogether from churchill downs, take a look at the video we have from yesterday. we had, again, widespread damage right along the racetrack. possibly a tornado. still no official confirmation but i would be -- if this would not end up being classified as tornado damage. let's go back to the weather computer, if we can. we will run through the motion. this is from yesterday at 12:22 in the afternoon. fast forward and you can see the line of storms impact point around 9:17 or so. this line just pushes right on through. dropped that possible tornado and now leaving damage in its wake. there is the potential we may see more severe weather today. couple of spots. one in parts of the northern rockies and other across parts of the nation's midsection. central plains. across the ohio valley.

and into the northeast. certainly we are going to watch for you carefully. reason why as we wrap things up, area of low pressure, frontal boundary, real kicker. interact with the moist air. secondary frontal boundary we have seen in the northern rockies. wrapping up with 90 degrees in salt lake city. 79 in kansas city and 76, your high for new york. let's get it back to you in new york. >> reynolds, thank you so much. some say this is not very lady-like. the grunting. not the tennis. one wimbledon official trying to get the ladies to tone it down. >> that's right. they say it is distracting when they are grunting every time they hit the ball. joint effort by two law makers to end the federal government. as they call it war on marijuana. 24 minutes past the hour. [ female announcer ] imagine skin so healthy, it never gets dry again.

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economy and jobs growth are weaker than expected and will continue into 2012. ben bernanke attributing the weak recovery to temporary factors like the earthquake in japan. also acknowledging long-term problems may be holding back growth. stocks fell following the fed's announcement in a press conference from the fed chief. dow and nasdaq and s&p 500 all ended lower for the day. european stocks opened lower this morning. investors looking at the weekly jobless claims numbers coming out today. expected to remain at high levels. 15,000. that means 415,000 people lining up for the first time for jobless benefits last week. data comes out at 8:30 a.m. eastern time. president obama meeting with top house democrats today for an update on budget talks. new report by the congressional budget office says that u.s. debt is on track to equal the size of the economy within ten years of the deficit not decreased. negotiators will meet again today on capitol hill to work on the budget.

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31 minutes past the hour. time for a look at the top stories this morning. shocker coming from the parents of suspected child killer casey anthony. the parents -- the attorney for her parents gave an exclusive interview to cnn's gary tuchman saying george and cindy anthony will do all they can to keep their daughter from getting the death penalty but they don't believe she's innocent. he is a fugitive no more. the fbi capturing one of its ten most wanted. james "whitey" bulger.

in southern california yesterday, notorious boston gangster that inspired the filth "the departed." he has been on the run since 1995. he is wanted for 19 murders. also president obama will be meeting with the troops today after announcing 33,000 of them will be home from afghanistan by the end of next year. he stressed, though, that the war there is not over. >> huge challenges were made. this is the beginning. not the end of our effort to wind down this war. we will have to do the hard work of keeping the gains we made. while we draw down our forces and transition responsibility for security to the afghan government. next may in chicago we will host a summit with our nato allies and partners to shape the next phase of this transition. >> the people who want to be the next commander in chief are responding to the president's announcement. front-runner for the gop mitt romney saying, quote, we all want our troops to come home as soon as possible but we shouldn't adhere to arbitrary

timetable on the withdrawal of troops from afghanistan. this decision should not be based on politics or economics. instead of providing the american people with clarity, president obama proposes an abrupt withdrawal of our troops that could potentially compromise the legitimate gains we made in afghanistan. sadly, i fear president obama's decision could embolden our enemy and endanger our troops. >> former senator rick santorum every american wants our brave men and women home safely but we cannot let those who have given the last full measure die in vain by abandoning the gains we made thus far. >> some getting their tickets home soon but tens of thousands of others the mission has not changed. nick payton walsh is live in afghanistan where the presence began in 2001. how is the news from the president's speech playing out the the there? >> reporter: that's a reality check on the ground here. people were watching it

overnight. one said i have to get up at 6:00 a.m. and the president was talking at 4:30. privately we are hearing from people here of mixture of different personal reactions. his decision impacting personal lives. one saying i don't believe we should be leaving early. we should finish the job, stay here. the cost of the budget is not immaterial. the cost was on 9/11. another suggesting the job is being done since bin laden was killed. somebody else actually said go home as quickly as possible. karzai welcoming the withdrawal and hoping perhaps the afghan news could protect the country. i think also have to accept that without american backing and finance, the insurgency is a little weak. >> you still would have a pretty decent size presence after the surge is reversed. also, wouldn't there be diplomats? wouldn't there be american infrastructure still in the country? kinds of a reality check on how

much of an american presence would still be there. >> reporter: yes, absolutely. on the numbers you mentioned, we are not talking about a very fast significant withdrawal. we have 10,000 soldiers coming home by the end of the year. that's 7% of the total that are here. two-thirds of the surge is staying right until september next year. that's pretty close. 2014 deadline. much lesser nato presence. civilian continuing. focus on development. that's something the u.s. had been trying now for about ten years, to pull afghan society closer to western europeans down. very tough one. particularly given the security threats and inurgency here. frankly, once we start seeing troops coming home, desire to keep a massive build for reconstruction may well ebb. >> all right. thank you so much. we have been talking so much about afghanistan and our

mission. we wanted to break down just how much money the war in afghanistan has cost the united states. since october 2001, the u.s. has spent roughly $443 billion on the war in afghanistan. when you break it down by year, you take a look at the chart, we have seen here there has been a steady climb of money being poured into afghanistan. spending on the war actually skyrocketing since president obama took office. when the mission began in 2001 we were spending roughly $21 billion a year. we fast forward ten years. now we are up to spending $118 billion this year. you take a look what the troop reduction would mean the president announced last night we would save less than $10 billion in the first year. it is a mere fraction of the $443 billion tab the u.s. has already run up. one of the reasons why it would be less than $10 billion saved is the -- expense, big expense, extracting troops and equipment from the battlefield. that is very costly. then also, the cost of

continuing the war. some researchers estimated the military spends as much as $1 million supporting each soldier that's on the ground in afghanistan. so the bottom line is that savings from troop reductions will not start to make a real difference until at least 2013. many house republicans are challenging president obama's powers as commander in chief over the war in libya. her calling for a vote tomorrow to cut off funding for direct military involvement there. gop leaders are planning to hold a separate vote on the -- the use of force resolution authorizing the libyan mission. growing concern this morning the political chaos in yemen is giving al qaeda an opening there. this after carefully planned attack on a prison that sprung dozens of militants. officials say more than 60 al qaeda militants escape through a tunnel as the compound came under heavy fire from the outside. he says three of the escapees were shot down and a prison guard was killed. a marine reservist arrested

last week after a bomb scare near the pentagon is being linked to five shootings at military facilities in northern virginia last year. a source identify it is suspect as malahu. targeted the pentagon, national museum of the marine corps, and some military recruiting stat n stations. there were no injuries reported in any of those incidents. the u.s. flexing nuclear mussel with the test launch of a minute mam missile in california. there's amazing video. military officials say that it carried an unarmed warhead, some 4200 miles to a predetermined target in the marshal islands. they say the data will be analyzed to ensure the readiness and capability of the nation's icbm fleet. wimbledon, one of the grandest traditions in sports. the players referred to as gentlemen and ladies which may be why they are trying to put a sock in this.

>> this is a montage of maria sharapova. she's executive of the tennis club and said women play too loudly on the court are annoying the opponent and fans. every fiber of your being to hit that ball. i mean -- >> it has become the thing. they all do it now. are they asking the men to stop as well or just the ladies? >> i'm only hearing about the grunting of the ladies. what would you do -- here is -- okay, what would you do if a man tried to board your flight wearing nothing but ladies' underwear. >> depends if i had the kids with plea or not. if i didn't have the kids i would be laughing. >> exactly. we will tell you -- it is funny you mentioned the kids. i saw this picture. how would i explain this to my children? we will tell you what us airways did and show you what this man looked like coming up. car connection calls the xf,

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self-help guru james arthur ray found guilty of three counts of negligent homicide, three people died back in wooin during a sweat lodge ceremony in arizona after four months now of testimony. the jury took less than 12 hours to convict ray. witnesses described the scene after the ceremony like a battlefield. people vomiting and shaking violently and volunteers performing cpr. ray could be sentenced to 11 years in prison. >> the republican presidential candidate ron paul as well as massachusetts democrat barney frank want the government out of the marijuana regulation business. introduce ad bill that would let

states legalize, regulate, most importantly, tax and control marijuana without federal interference. they acknowledge the bill is considered a long shot. >> lot of people talk about -- what does that mean to the cartels with 40% of the revenues derived from marijuana? >> put them out of business. >> 60% of their other revenue is harder drugs. very interesting conversation. a lot of question about the condition of venezuela president chavez. 11 days after doctors performed an operation on him. >> he's recovering satisfactorily. >> zain verjee with developments from london. >> good morning. that's about all we know. will's really not a lot of detail coming up about this. so because it is shrouded in all of this secrecy and some kind of inconsistency, too, it is raising a lot of eyebrows and it is also raising a lot of questions. what we do know, hugo chavez was

in cuba. he had surgery. there are some reports he had it because of a pelvic abscess. there's another report that says that his recovery is slow because he's insisting that -- this one source had said on working from bed and being in charge of venezuela from cuba. a lot of people are asking, too, who is actually running the country while he's away? it is important because his country, venezuela, is south america's largest oil producer. so it does raise a concern of a lot of people around the world. what we are hearing is it may take another ten to 12 days before he even gets the all clear to go back to venezuela. he and fidel castro and raul castro were pictured together. all great bud zblees we understand the vatican is going green. there had been a hybrid pope podium. >> yeah. you know how the pope travels with a white car that she has, mercedes, bulletproof. elevated there in the front with

a couple of passengers that can travel at the back. yeah. you know, how about a green one of these? there are reports that mercedes-benz is doing this whole big study of -- whether they can get together and build a hybrid and energy saving pope mobile that can replace this one that he is famous for. the pope is environmentally conscious, guys. he even has solar panels on a roof of the papal audience, vatican. he's into sustainable energy. we may see it soon. >> if he does do that, they need to get his entire motorcade green, too. there are more cars on the project and back that seems to be using gas rather -- >> yeah. >> all right. >> that's right. >> thanks so much. >> y us airways drawing a lot of attention for allowing a male passenger to board a flight wearing nothing but women's underwear. a fellow passenger took this picture earlier this month after

her complaints to the flight crew were ignored. >> it is not just nothing. clearly has on a shrug and tights. >> i'm speechless. us airways say the employees acted properly by allowing him to board the plane. ainsisting the airline does not have a dress code or cross-dress code for passengers. beyond the requirement all private parts be covered. >> the state has some people very angry and they are saying this is racial discrimination because i don't know if you remember this, six days earlier u.s. airway has an african-american passenger removed from a flight because he was wearing his pants too low. >> what if this person is sitting in the middle row between and -- >> pass him a blanket. the thing that's weird clearly it is -- >> what's weird about this situation? what is not weird about this situation? >> it is up to -- clearly, discretion. do you remember the girl -- southwest airlines flight, on tight tank top and had on jeans skirt. they wouldn't let her board

unless she agreed to wrap herself in a blanket. but this guy can wander around the place? >> would you feel differently if he worked out? >> no, i wouldn't feel differently at all. i just -- it is -- i want to get on a plane and get where i am going with a minimum of drama. >> good luck. 48 minutes past the hour. you can't lead a horse to water. but this one found it fine by accident. [ male announcer ] this...is the network -- a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say.

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50 minutes fast hour. here's a look at the headlines. a lawyer for casey anthony's parents telling cnn george and cindy anthony don't believe that their daughter is innocent. however, they say they do plan to do everything they can to make sure she doesn't get the death penalty. casey anthony is charged with several counts in connection with her daughter's death, including first-degree murder. president obama visiting ft. drum today. first stop to talk about his new afghanistan strategy with those who are fighting it. last night he announced all 33,000 surge troops will be home by the end of next year. after 16 years on the run, notorious boston crime boss james "whitey" bulger is in fbi cuss toads. scheduled to appear in court this morning after his arrest. the girlfriend in southern california, bulger is wanted for

at least 19 murders. what's believed to be a tornado hitting the famous churchill downs racetrack in louisville, kentucky, nine barns were damaged. horses were not injured. officials say they may have to relocate as many as 150 horses because the animals could get injured from the storm debris. lindsay lohan due to appear in court this morning and could find herself behind bars again. she reportedly violated her vile probation. testing positive for alcohol. you are caught up on the day's headlines. "american morning" is back after a quick break.

we have seen gators in a pool. we saw a bear in a hut tub. a horse taking an accidental dip in florida. the poor thing is blind and fell into the pool. >> albino. >> they quickly pulled him out in the shallow end, pulled him into thetial owned. rescue crews had to drain the pool to get him out. >> he wasn't hurt? >> he is okay. they are 10 years old. two best friends from oklahoma have a story they can tell for the rest of their lives. hunter and his best friend, carter, have been playing together since they were toddlers. couple of weeks ago-carter was eating some gummy worms and started to choke. >> i look over there and he was choking. or he was going -- >> he was like are you joking? i didn't say anything. >> i just saw him go like this. i ran over there and -- did the heimlich maneuver five times. >> on that fourth one when it didn't come out, you could tell

it was starting to come out so i did it really hard the last time. so it -- >> it came out. thank good? >> he sits down. >> i said you saved my life. >> i'm thinking i saved his life. >> we started playing again. >> that's so adorable. this wasn't accidental. the mothers of both of these boys are registered nurses. so they say that's how carter knew his best friend was choking. i mean, that's how carter knew he was choking and how hunter knew what to do to save him. pretty smart. >> really smart. time now for our question of the day. cnn exclusive we have been telling you about it. shocking admission from casey anthony's parents. they have told their attorney and he told cnn they don't believe their daughter is innocent. >> that's right. they say even though they don't believe it, they think she should not get the death penalty. we are asking today, should casey anthony take the stand in her own defense? we have gotten a lot of feedback. michelle writes on her blog, i

doubt she will. i wish she would because we all know she would go up there and dig her own grave. >> joshua on facebook says what she should do is take a plea deal for life in prison without parole. she is rolling the dice on her life by continue thing trial. >> dan on our blog said she should not take the stand. i don't think that the defense would achieve anything by putting her on the stand and wouldn't want to it put itself of having casey cross-examine. >> if casey told the truth, which do i not think she is capable of doing, no one would believe her. >> lot of feedback. keep your comments coming. end us an e-mail or tweet. we will read more of your thoughts ahead on the show. on the lam no more. boston crime boss caught after 16 years on the run. real-life frank costello from "the departed." a live report on how he finally slipped up. we don't just make a taillight... ..we make a sculpture. we don't just make a sunroof... ..we make the heavens wide.

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it is a cnn exclusive. lawyer for casey anthony's parents say they don't think she is innocent and an admission that could rock their daughter's case on this "american morning." good morning. it is thursday, june 23. welcome to "american morning." i'm christine romans. ali velshi is off today. >> i'm kiran chetry. glad you are with us. we start with a stunning admission from the attorney of the parents of casey anthony. it is a cnn exclusive. mark lipman, attorney for george and cindy anthony, told cnn's gary tuchman, the couple does not believe their daughter is innocent. >> casey an hone is charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter caylee. it is not clear how the comments will affect the trial today. david mattingly is live for us

outside of the orlando courthouse. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning. what we are seeing in the courtroom every day from george and cindy anthony, had walk into the courtroom, they sit in the same seats every day. they are in back row. they are physically about as far away from their daughter as they possibly can be on that main floor of the courtroom. we know that they have both testified for the prosecution in this case. both have provided damaging testimony in the case against their daughter. still this admission from their attorney is somewhat surprising. this coming from orlando attorney mark lipman yesterday. he said they want to see the truth. they want to see justice. they do not think she's innocent. they love her. they are supporting her. they do not want her to get the death penalty. now this did not come out in the courtroom. the jury has not heard this. they are sequestered. it is not clear about what kind of effect this might have on

this trial. but it paints a very clear picture of this couple who had been at the center of this tragedy since it began three years ago. that this pair of parents are looking at their daughter and thinking she's not innocent of the charges against her. >> david mattingly for us this morning. that is a bombshell. outside of the courtroom. we will continue following the trial. >> here to talk about george and cindy anthony's comments, what they might -- what impact this could have on the case. what would prompt them to make an admission like this? what's the legal strategy? >> you know, it seems to come in response to the fact that his alleged mistress may be called as a witness by the defense. apparently she says that they did have an affair, physical sexual affair. and that he told her this was an accident. caylee's death was an accident that spiraled out of control and also gave him about $5,000 and

that they -- because he was hard up for money. and that they met while she was a volunteer for the caylee anthony search. >> that's unbelievable. >> it is really odd timing that this -- >> it is odd timing. it is a gamble. had you a chance to speak with george and cindy anthony's attorney. >> no, i did not. >> he sort of said yes, all of this is -- yes, all of this is what they said. but this was not meant -- it has been highly sensationalized. >> and he's -- saying that george anthony denies having this affair. denies receiving any money from rivers cruise. >> so many people enthralled with this case, wanted to be part of this case. are they going to try to discredit her that way? >> i think so. no question about it, that's what will happen. it is just fascinating, though, because when i was discussing this in the newsroom, the only thing that's miss sing a mistress with this case. you can't make this stuff up. now this allegation has come up.

people who really are questioning whether or not she's credible. she doesn't appear to be incredible but perhaps she's not credible. who knows at this point? >> it was also interesting, though, to hear those words death penalty. to know that her parents are saying we don't believe she's innocent. but we don't want her to get the death penalty. >> imagine how conflicted they are. we are all parents. you have to testify against your daughter but you don't want her to get the death penalty. it is a capital case. it is a difficult position, i think, they find themselves in. especially given the fact casey anthony has alleged that george anthony sexually abused her from the time she was 8 years old. >> i wonder how much of the jury will believe anything she says, if she even takes the stand. >> i still think she will take the stand. >> whether they believe a word that comes out of her mouth. >> i think she has to take the stand. let's face it. the defense theory is that caylee anthony drowned in the pool and she was sexually abused and -- casey was sexually abused. that's why for 31 days she act

at the time way she did. are we going on believe her now that we know she slides so many times. it is fascinate. >> is cindy anthony on the stand today? >> i'm not sure. people are saying possible she will be on stand. they are saying it is possible the mistress, alleged mistress, may be on the stand. george anthony is on the witness list. he may get on the witness stand. so -- so the saga continues. i mean -- who knows what is going to happen today. >> all right. sunny hostin, thank you so much. also our question of the day. sunny hostin talking about casey anthony needing to take the stand. what do you think? do you think casey should take the stand? we will read your comments throughout the morning. after 16 years, the fbi finally has its man. boston mob boss james "whitey" bulger was captured in southern california along with his longtime girlfriend. 81-year-old faces charges from extortion to murder when he goes to court in a few hours.

bulger was the inspare for the 2006 oscar winning film "the departed." he has been on the fbi ten most wanted list for his alleged role in some 19 murders. kara finnstrom is following the story for us. a real publicity blitz recently that may have led to this case being, well, big arrest. >> that's exactly right. as you mentioned james "whitey" bulger is now 81 years old. he managed to elude federal authorities for more than a decade and a half. but last night in santa monica, california, the fbi finally tracking down and in a way got him through his girlfriend. more on that in a minute. but here's why this 81-year-old is notorious in the boston area. the fbi had indicted him in 19 different murders. they say he led a crime syndicate and known to have a violent testimonier and known to always carry a knife. officials acted on a tip when they arrested bulger and his

60-year-old girlfriend, catherine elizabeth grieg. the fbi is crediting a publicity campaign for their capture. it centered on bulger's girl is friend who allegedly fled with him and wanted for harboring a fugitive. the ads focused on her specific habits, including the fact she liked to have a dental cleaning once a month and she frequented beauty salons. this a 30-second public service announcement. you are looking at it here. the fbi bought 350 tv spots that aired in 14 u.s. cities, including l.a. will was a $2 million reward offered for information leading to his arrest. what is next for james "whitey" bulger? he and his girlfriend are expected to appear in l.a. federal court today. bulger faces a series of federal charges including murder. expected to be charged with conspiracy to commit murder, narcotics distribution, extortion and money laundering. that arrest overnight, big for

the fbi. bulger's picture had been listed in their top ten right next to osama bin laden. reporting live in los angeles, kara finnstrom. president obama is hitting the road this morning to talk more about his plan to draw down american's longest war. he will be meeting with soldiers at ft. drum, new york. it is home to the tenth mountain division. one of the most frequently deployed divisions to afghanistan. as we know last night the president formally announced the withdrawal from afghanistan and we will begin as planned next month. >> america, it is time to focus on nation building here at home. responsibly end these wars and reclaim the american dream that's at the center of our story. let us go about the work of extending the promise of america. so this generation and the next one. may god bless our troops and may god bless the united states of america. >> brianna keilar is live at the

white house. he will be, as we know, traveling, as we said to ft. drum. also interesting already the reaction coming out from some of the gop presidential candidates saying they think this is the wrong move. >> that's right. there is reaction certainly coming from both directions. the president is getting criticism from both sides here in washington, from capitol hill. but -- you know, i think what struck me what we heard the president say right there, the turn he was trying to mauck back to the economy and focus on afghanistan. certainly the administration feels that afghanistan is something that does need to be focused on but everyone knows the economy is going to be the big issue going into the election in 2012. so while you have foreign policy issues like afghanistan and also libya which have taken up a lot of the oxygen in the room lately, there is a concerted effort. we keep seeing the president trying to make this turn back. looking at his schedule today and mentioned this, he's going

to ft. drum, new york. the customer sell of his proposal the day after he makes it. but also take a look at his schedule to see where he is tomorrow. he will be in pittsburgh. he will be at the national robotics engineering center and talking about new technology in manufacturing jobs. this is where the white house wants this message. it has been certainly very difficult for them to turn and keep jobs as the focus. that's certainly what they are trying to do. >> of course, as we said, he will be in new york. not just talking to the troops but he's also going to be doing fund-raising as well. the election on his mind. >> that's right. he has done, i think, dozens of fund-raisers this year at this point. there's a couple tonight of particular. one is going to be a gala with the lgbt community. the white house has said that his perspective on same-sex marriage may be evolving. perhaps a sign he will change his mind to just endorse civil unions as a candidate before

going into 2008. but the one that really stands out to me tonight is a performance of sister act, the musical act. this is one of the fund-raisers. whoopi goldberg was in the movie version. she's going to be hosting this performance and is a producer of the musical. so it is going to be -- pretty interesting, i think, fund-raiser. >> sure will be. they are saying it will snarl traffic on the west side of manhattan for hours. >> no doubt. >> hey the president is coming to town. what are you going to do? >> justin bieber is performing, too. >> the president and justin bieber. i don't know if we will have more fans of -- teenage girls of justin bieber. in the president's speech last night no mention of his command on the ground. man according to our sources opposed a faster withdrawal. general david petraeus. last night republican senator lindsey graham told wolf blitzer it ignored the general's needs.

>> i respect the vice president but i think that we have undercut a strategy that was working. i think the 10,000 troops leave thing year is going to make this more difficult. having all the surge forces leave by next summer is going to compromise next summer. >> an editorial points out how the mission could shift in 2012. including turning more areas over to local afghan control and american force st would be shifted to focus on the boarder with pakistan. now some of those troops could be sent home instead. we will speak with our pentagon correspondent barbara starr and former special assistant to president bush for iraq and afghanistan. are afghan forces close to securing the country on their own? could al qaeda make a comeback there? this morning new yorks is on the brink of becoming the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage. in albany crowds have gathered before and against the measure which right now still needs a

single vote to pass. 29 out of 30 democrats support the measure. two republicans have changed from no to yes. at least one republican are remains undecided. the hang-up or sticking point is making sure religious groups that don't want to perform a same-sex marriage are protected. new york's governor andrew cuomo says he remains hopeful the measure will pass. >> cautiously op lly optimistic. there will be a lot of discussion and speculation. until a person stands up and the vote is counted you don't know. i'm cautiously optimistic. >> because the state senate has been delaying a vote on same-sex marriage, they had time to vote on other measures like making sweet corn the state vegetable. along with allowing people with disabilities to hundred big game with cross bobows. refining bingo rules.

>> i spoke to one opponent of this measure. he was concerned that less about making sure the churches were forced to perform them but if churches or charities had adoption services, they wouldn't be -- couldn't be sued for not allowing same-sex couples to adopt. it starts to get into thorny territory. >> fine print now that's holding this up. i thought you would say that they were -- opposition to the -- over the niagara falls. safety concerns there. well, up next, hateful rant from a southwest airlines pilot that didn't know his microphone was on. >> we have the tape. wait until you hear what he said about the flight attendants. 12,000 people told to leave. want to stay slim? we will tell you which foods you need to eat and which ones you need to avoid. >> i wonder what they will say about french fries. 14 clubs.

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some 12,000 people in the city of minot, north dakota, forced to evacuate. it is too dangerous to stay in their homes. the nearby river now flooding over the levees and some places there are already a couple of inches on the ground. the mayor tells cnn the water is rising too fast for them to try to stop. >> it just to give you an idea of how bad they are expecting things to get, officials are predicting the river will rise five feet higher. five feet higher than any previous record. after josh duhamel who is from minot offered his support while promoting his latest movie, he tweeted please keep the folks of minot, my hometown, in your prayers. my heart goes out to the incredible people of minot and surrounding areas. >> 17 minutes after the hour. reynolds wolf is checking the weather. >> good morning. heartbreaking to see what's happening there. it is just -- insane. this year seems as though it has been the year of the flood. we have had incredible fires out there. we haven't gotten the full brunt of the hurricane season yet. whe

it could get extremely active. what's been active also in parts of the ohio valley altogether different. yesterday 1:00 in the afternoon, not a big deal. but then take a look at what happened. one line that came right through and around 10:00 at night had you strong storms affecting places like louisville. i will show you video we have. couple of pieces of video. one showing funnel cloud that drifted through the area. of course, that caused damage in a few places, few iconic spots, including churchill downs. we have video of that also. churchill downs, some of the area just in shambles. no official confirmation as of yet. local national weather service office as to whether or not this was a tornado. to me all signs point to it was. we are going to show you we may see more severe weather today in parts of the ohio valley, great lakes, eastern seaboard. all due to the frontal boundary. could see some backup along the plains. you can expect zell -- delays in

new york city. delays up to an hour. philadelphia, could be a 30 minimum to full hour wait. san francisco the same deal. not due to thunderstorms but low clouds and fog. planning on doing traveling by car, crank up the air conditioning full blast in spots like salt lake city, albuquerque. highs in the 90s and 100s. 105 in el paso. 93 in memphis. 76 in new york. 66 in boston. to our friends in los angeles, 71 expected high. up to speed with the forecast. let's pitch it back to you in new york. >> thanks, reynolds. it was a hate-filled rant by a southwest airlines pilot. all caught on tape. we will tell why you his comments and the airline's response have flight attendants furious. the next royal couple, could prince harry and pippa middleton be getting too close for comfort? >> do you believe it? >> no. >> i don't think i do, either. our question of the day now, the attorney for casey anthony's parents say they don't believe their daughter is mint. should casey anthony take the stand in her own defense?

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minding your business. dow down 80 points yesterday after the federal reserve cut the country's economic outlook. dow, nasdaq, s&p 500 lower on the day. declaring another 48-hour strike starting next tuesday. demonstrations this week begin as the country's parliament votes on new austerity measures needed in order to secure a second bailout from the european union. federal reserve says the economy and jobs growth are simply weaker than expected. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke attributes weak recovery to temporary factors

like the earthquake in japan. also says long-term problems may be holding back growth in this country. investors looking to weekly jobless claims numbers out later today. expected to remain at a high 415,000. that t data comes out in an hour. tiler and cameron winklevoss dropping their appeals case against facebook founder mark zuckerberg. twins accused facebook of misrepresenting the company's stock value when they sign ad $65 million settlement in 2008. a new survey shows americans working more on the weekends and spending less time relaxing. that's according to the bureau of labor statistics. showing women are working more hours overall. es pshly on the weekends compared to a couple of years ago. check out the all new cnnmoney.com.

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welcome back. after a series of embarrassing incidents at airport checkpoints the federal government is changing its policies for patting down children. you may remember the outrage that this video triggered. this is a 6-year-old girl crying white getting searched in the new orleans airport in april because she -- she moved during the electronic screening and the picture was blurred. the head of the transportation security administration was on capitol hill yesterday. he told lawmakers ts ag agents are being instructed to make repeated attempts to screen kids without using pat-downs.

listen to the reaction he got from kentucky senator rand paul. >> i think that i feel less safe because you are doing these invasive exams on 56-year-old. it makes me think you are clueless. you know, that you think she is going to attack our country. >> last month this picture of a baby being patted down at kansas city international airport triggered more embarrassing video for tsas. i drive. >> i know. >> i drive. >> eight states i drive through so i can avoid that. all of my fellow passengers are pleased i'm doing that. i assure you. >> houston based southwest airlines pilot is back on the job. three months after a hate-filled rant at about flight attendants was inadvertently captured on an open arizona traffic control microphone. >> this has the flight attendants union pretty furious. cnn's jeanne meserve with the

audiotape that everyone is talking about this morning. >> reporter: the pilot's tirade about flight attendants is peppered with obscenities, insults and slurs against homosexuals and women. >> [ bleep ] over the top [ bleep ] homosexuals and a granny. 11. i mean, think of the odds of that. i thought i was in chicago which was party land. after that, it was just a continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes. >> grandes, a reference to overweight people. >> i don't give a [ bleep ]. >> the pilot talks about exploits with some of them. >> last month i went to the bar three times. in six months, three times. once with the granny and the [ bleep ] and i wish i hadn't gone. at the very end with two girls. one of them was probably doable. >> air traffic controller tries to stop the pilot.

>> whoever is transmitting watch what you are say. >> but the rant goes on. >> i wouldn't want anybody to know if pit [ bleep ]. it is all the [ bleep ] old dudes and grannies and there are maybe a handful of cute chicks. >> okay, some one has a struck mike and telling us about all of their endeavors and we don't need to hear that. >> pilots on other planes chime in quickly to say it was than me. one adds some commentary. >> they wonder why airline pilots have a bad reputation. >> federal aviation administration says that it expects a higher level of professionalism from flight crews. southwest put out a video press release. >> what he said was offensive. inconsistent with the professional behavior and overall respect we require from all employees. >> the pilot was reprimanded, suspended without pay, underwent diversity education and is now back on the job. the pilot has apologized, southwest says, to controllers, bosses, pilots, and, of course,

flight attendants. the flight attendants union is not happy. it says southwest's response to the i incident added insult to injury and it is considering filing a complaint with the equal employment opportunity commission. jeanne meserve, cnn, washington. >> amazing. back to our top story. president obama will met with troops today after announcing withdrawal from afghanistan starts next month. the president saying it is time to turn to the battle for america's future. >> starting next month we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from afghanistan by the end of this year. we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer. fully recovering the surge i announced at west point. america, it is time to focus on nation building here at home. >> joining us now, former specialist to president bush.

also cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. welcome to both of you. what did you think of the -- make of the quote from the president nation building here at home? >> yeah. that's the bumper sticker quote. that was obviously directed at a domestic audience. it is important to the american people to hear that. but the president has a lot of audiences in these speeches and tried to speak to the pakistanis and the afghans to say that we are committed to a longer-term strategic relationship. which is critical to hear. americans are hearing 30,000 troops are coming home by the end of next summer. that's a moderately risky strategy. more risk than i thought there might be. it is important for the pakistanis and afghans and taliban to hear we are still going to have a lot of force, 70,000 troops after that time. >> right. barbara, the president also went on to say the tide of war is receding. he said al qaeda's on the path to defeat. that we are drawing down from a position of strength. is that the same view from the pentagon? >> i think think it is to an

extent. the question is risk. you know, drawing down too fast, too much. could you risk the security incident? what struck me about what the president spoke about was it seemed to me he was almost announcing the end of the 9/11 era. no more automatically sending big armies into conflicts. going about fighting terrorism a different way, less the big combat operations, more the focus counterterrorism. the kind of thing we saw when they went after bin laden's compound what were already seen in places like yemen and somalia. it seemed like he was beginning to close a chapter about how the war on terror is being fought and saying coming back home, spending that money here. >> that's the interesting thing. i look both of you weighing in. the president set the goal to deny safe haven to al qaeda in afghanistan and it was achievable. as barbara pointed out and others pointed out we need 70,000 troops to be on the ground to do that.

if that's the goal when in other places, as barbara said, like yemen, and pakistan, we are doing it with droenes and no troops on the found we had to go with a larger force in afghanistan, we had a completely failed state because we left this entire part of the world in 1989. after we kicked the soviets out. that was a catastrophic mistake 37 next ambassador to afghanistan crocker, one of my former bosses, says americans need patience. we need to stay engaged. you hit a key point. we can't stay engaged at a level we can't sustain. we can't sustain economically and can't sustain politically. or militarily. 70,000 even is an awful lot. the president talked about 2014 as longer range transition point. we are going to be looking to get down to balance of 20,000 or 30,000 beyond 2014. continual path. one thing, you need to get into the minds of adversary.

omar and taliban are watching the speech and see next summer as an opportunity for them to launch high-profile attacks to effect the course of our future in that region. it is going to be a real test next summer for how this goes. >> you have been to afghanistan, of course, and talked to many of the generals and talked to the people. they weren't just trying to deny al qaeda safe haven. afghanistan -- helping build schools and acting as -- you know, mediators between tribal elders, the role there really -- it got -- as they called it mission creep. it got very diverse for these troops. >> right. they call it nation building as well. you know, somehow over the last ten years, it really has grown to be that the u.s. and allies mainly u.s., though, would fund the rebuilding of afghanistan. i think the president addressed that point and said look, we are not going to make afghanistan a perfect country. this is no longer about bringing democracy u.s. style to any country. it is about enough progress there so that the afghans can stand on their own.

>> all right. we are going to leave there. thanks so much for your input this morning. very interesting conversation. sarah palin slamming the media again. including her employers at fox news for reporting on the apparent demise of her one nation bus tour. in may she made stops in nearly a dozen cities from arlington, virginia to gettysburg, pennsylvania. to portsmouth, new hampshire. the wheels on the bus have stopped turning lately. triggering reports the one-nation tour is on hiatus. prompting this response from palin in the form of a tweet. the former alaska governor writes -- glad i have media to let me know my plans. they never cease to amaze me. >> up next, get ready for more harry potter. j.k. rowling unrolling her latest project that has aspiring wizards in a frenzy. it is beach season. we all want to know what the secret is to staying slim. what's better, french fries or 100% fruit juice? you may be surprised. >> how about neither? >> 37 minutes after the hour. in here, the planned combination

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the final chapter of the harry potter season series rather may have been written but fans can now look forward to a new adventure. >> that's right. harry potter's author, j.k. rowling, is launching a new wizard related website to keep the potter magic alive. our zain verjee is live in london. this is not that surprising given what a huge fan base worldwide there is important harry potter and everything harry potter. >> yeah. i'm one of them. read all the books. i don't like the slithering group. the announcement was made and this was a really big deal. basically she's announced an online reading experience. and what she said in the web announcement was that she has all this new information and new material about the harry potter world. things like the professor's love for a mugel.

and i do follow all of this. the background of harry potter. all of that will be out there. the interactive -- activity thing comes where -- the audience can go online and they can pick themselves to be a certain character. they are involved in the story itself. they get sorted into houses and choose waunds and experience life and hogwarts just like harry. free until october. >> it is free. nice. >> for now you are saying? they can start charging for it? >> yeah. well dark right now there are only a special few that can use it for free. then -- i think the idea is just to open it out to everyone. there hasn't been any indication there will be any money to be made. >> even if you just keep the whole mystique going, that maybe you sell more dvds, you sell more books. >> world of harry potter in orlando. open for a year, too. >> i-want to ask you about another potential fantasy in the

works here. larri and pippa, that's too convenient. from the minute their siblings got married, are they next? >> picture perfect together in these shots. >> she has a boyfriend, i thought. >> the rumor is that they are over. we cannot confirm that but that's the gossip around these parts. she is beautiful. >> reporters going after every detail of this to chase after the london tabloids? >> they are. and this is what they have come up with. basically there's all this speculation on the tabloids about the two of them. our sources said it is just not true. but what the tabloids like this one is saying is things like you know, pippa is calling harry captain. that's her nickname for him. that's his military rank. he in turn calls her commando. why? because of all the rumors she wasn't wearing underwear when she was wearing this dress at the wedding. that's the nickname. they have been helping each other through their respective breakups and tabloids and

reporting they meet up a lot and chat on the phone. apparently, according to one report at the end of harry's best man's speech at the wedding, he ended the speech by saying pippa, call me. who knows what will happen and how the tabloids are referring to pippa middleton i quite liked. they are calling her p.middy. >> i-want it to be true so badly. >> she was with alex -- >> yeah. >> a financier. >> cute. >> what's wrong that guy? >> yeah. no. he's -- he's handsome and very successful. but look, she's become the woman to date. not just in this country but around the world. there are a lot of guys after her. one of them is him. the poor guy. right after the wedding, you know, the rumors started that he had been ditched. she was just spinning with all

this attention. >> poor chelsea who is supposed to be harry's longtime girlfriend, too. >> i can't believe we all know these people. i can't believe i know them on a first name basis. >> thanks. you can watch zain verjee every morning. we have been telling you this morning about a shocking admission from casey anthony's parents. they told their attorney and he told cnn that they don't believe that their daughter is innocent. they don't want to see her get the death penalty. so we are asking you, should casey anthony -- is it time for her to take the stand in her own defense? send us an e-mail, tweet. tell us on facebook. we will read more of your comments later. car connection calls the xf, yet an instant classic." with sports car styling and power, plus the refinement and space of a luxury sedan, the jaguar xf is a timeless blend

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47 minutes past the hour. a lawyer for casey anthony's parents saying that they don't believe that she's innocent. they do not want her to get the death penalty. casey anthony is accused of killing her daughter caylee in 2008. after 16 years on the run, james "whitey" bulger, one of the fbi's most wanted fugitives, is caught. the notorious crime boss, inspiration for jack nicholson's character in "the departed" was wanted in connection with nearly two dozen murders. they found him along with his longtime girlfriend in california. 12,000 people told it is too dangerous to stay in their homes as the water rises in minot,

north dakota. river overflowing levees and overwhelming crews trying to help. republican ron paul and barney frank teaming up telling the government leave pot alone. they are introducing legislation that would leave it up to the states to make their own rules about marijuana. new york is on the verge of becoming a state to legalize same-sex marriage. the vote could happen today. right now the state senate appears one vote shy of passing that bill. lindsay lohan will be back in court this morning. she could find herself behind bars again. she reportedly failed an alcohol test violating her probation. you are caught up on the day's headlines. "american morning" is back in 60 seconds.

welcome back to "american morning." forget the fad diets and weight loss gimmicks. if you want to lose weigh a new study that looked at 20 years worth of information found that it is what we eat that really counts. for instance, over four years, for every additional serving of french fries, the average person gains more than three pounds. >> regular serving of a hundred percent fruit juice added half a pound. researchers also found that whole milk did not add weight gain. so now if you want to lose weight, here is what people ate. nuts, they lost half a pound on average over four years and you can lose the same amount of weight over four years if you eat yogurt. they seem to be saying a calorie is not a calorie that is a calorie. certain foods if you eat more of you tend to gain weight seems like common sense. >> yeah. >> i'm not giving up french fries. sorry. >> but maybe not eat them every day. good news and bad news about

silicone breast implants. a new fda report says the implants are safe but will likely have to be removed within ten years. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta joins us now from atlanta with details. people think you get breast implants and then that's it. it's a one and done. >> or two and done! sorry! >> one and done would be very awkward, you're right. what is it about this whole procedure and everything that means you may have to go for another operation after a decade? >> well, that exactly what they are saying. back in the '80s that was the sort of mantra. you had these implants now, have a nice life is what the plastic surgeons used to tell their patients. this has been a subject of a lot of study as you know. sometime there was thought to be some connection between breast implants and things like lupus or connective tissue disorders and found not to be true. what they are finding if you divide these women into two groups. a group of women who had these operations done for reconstructive purposes and a

group of women who this done for purely augmentation, in the reconstruction group as many as 1 in 2 will need to have their implants replaced within ten years or have them removed altogether. about 1 in 5 of the women who have them done for augmentation will have to have the same thing. so this is -- still ten-year study is a relatively short study in the scheme of things because talking about something that was supposed to be a lifetime device as it is classified by the fda but now they are saying after ten years this is what they are finding and even more studied need to be done, longer term studies. >> we talk a lot behind closed doors. if you talk about needing reconstruction because you're gone through cancer, it is understandable but a lot of people that don't take it that seriously. i want to look better so i'm going to get a boob job. >> they have saved all of this money night not realize they have to pay again or don't know the long, long term effects of it.

what kind of complications are we talking about? >> along those lines, the one thing the study seemed to i wsh is they develop complications. whether the implant ruptures or deflates or it causes some contraction in the breast area, it causes this sort of dimpling effect, scarring which can become painful. these are some of the things we are talking about. again, if you had the implant younger in life and, obviously, plan on having it for a longer period of time, you're more likely to develop some of these complications. that's a good point. this is a ten-year study and these have been around since really the late '70s and early '80s where now, for the first time, getting some of this data back. on the one hand it's good news because whole concern about connective tissue disorders. this was huge news 10, 15 years ago and that seems to be a dispelled with but the other concerns seem to be pretty real. >> i'm wondering should doctors be more cautious? i know it's a big money-making

thing but of explaining to these young women you may want to look better but you may have a big price to pay for your health. >> it's interesting. we talked to a few plastic surgeons yesterday about this. it really depends on your prism from which you look at this. on the one hand the plastic surgery society, look. we think this is good news because we think that there has been this lingering concern about some of the complications of, you know, breast implants. there is also lingering concern about this relationship to cancer, for example. which they did find a small relationship between the implants and cancer, very small, about 60 cases only out of hundreds of thousands of women who have had this. but still there. i think the doctors need to counsel the patients on those things at any age these women are having these. >> sanjay gupta, all right. >> very interesting. >> it really is. i think so many women in newspapers and magazines and see the ideal body, they want it and save up their money to get it. you're going to have to pay

again and maybe again and again and still have to look at -- i don't know how many times in your lifetime would you have to have them replace? >> get yourself a good bra, girls! time for the question of the day. in a cnn exclusive we have been telling you about a shocking admission from casey anthony's parents. they told their attorney and told cnn they don't think their daughter is innocent. >> should casey anthony take the stand? simple answer, why. sean says if she did it, she would be able to answer the questions. >> chris says i don't think any way they should take the stand but possibly could. she seems like a soleless human being just sitting there. >> and christopher says it could be a huge gambles but gambles pay off on occasion. having her get on the stand could be the difference between life and death. >> sharon the worst thing that second do. having her on the stand would be like serving her to the wolves because the prosecution will tear her down.

keep your comments coming. send us an e-mail, tweet or tell us on facebook. we will read more of your comments in the 8:00 eastern hour. ahead, spider-man caught at a gambling web. toby mcgwire sued. we will tell you about that after the a quick break. the debate is over. ♪ s

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fbi's ten most wanted list. i'm kiran chetry. the fbi catches boston crime boss james "whitey" bulger on the run for 15 years. he will be facing extortion to murder today in court. >> i'm christine romans. the attorney for casey anthony tell her her parents don't believe she is innocent. on this "american morning." good morning to you. thanks so much for being with us on this "american morning." it's thursday. june 23rd. ali velshi is off today. >> good morning to you. one of the fibula's most wanted fugitives behind bars this morning, the feds finally caught up with notorious boston crime boss james "whitey" bulger on the run for 16 years. >> he was the inspiration for jack nicholson character frank costello in the oscar winning film "the departed." bulger was arrested yesterday in

southern california along with his long time girlfriend. neighbors in santa monica said they were stunned there was a fuj live living in their neighborhood. >> it's a surprise to see that he was right around the corner for me because i know his story! crime boss from boston. you know? >> i grew up and moved out here and been out here about a week. wow. whitey is caught? you have to be kidding me. we had to come down and check it out and see what is going on. >> they say a stepped up part on the fbi putting out public service announcements and spending a bunch of money to try to get the faces out there. they said it was following a trail of his girlfriend that led to him. he is going to make his first court appearance later this morning. he is wanted for 19 murders. a stunning admission from the attorney for casey anthony's parents. a cnn exclusive. mark litman telling george and

cynthia anthony do not believe their daughter is innocent. >> it is not clear how her parents comments through their attorney will impact the trial today. david mattingly is live for us this morning outside of a courtroom in orlando. it is interesting that this was said and this is now out there. how may it affect the witnesses that take the stand, including potentially her parents? >> reporter: well, kiran, george and cindy anthony have already taken the stand in this case for the prosecution. they have provided damaging testimony against their daughter. this much, we have have already known. what we didn't know is how they actually felt about her guilt or innocence and now through their attorney, orlando's mark litman, he tells cnn this. they want to see the truth. they want to see justice. they do not think that casey is innocent. but this is something he emphasized. they love her. they are supporting her. they do not want her to get the death penalty. and every day, george and cindy

anthony, we watched them walk into the courtroom and sit in the same two seats in the back of the courtroom on the may floor, about as far away from their daughter as they possibly could be in that room. they are carrying notebooks and taking notes. george anthony has a bible with him most of the time and sometimes open in his lap. they have had to endure excruciatingly detail and graphic testimony about what happened to their granddaughter calelee and they have to sid through and now realize how they must be sitting there listening to this testimony thinking their daughter is not npt of the charges against her. >> either one could be on the stand again. they are on the witness list and all of this is coming out as there is allegations had he a mistress that the defense brought up as well. >> reporter: the defense talked about this in their opening statements and the attorney putting out a statement about that, saying that george did not have an affair with this woman, he did not accept money from her, he did not confide in her

about any thoughts he had about this trial, completely denying everything she says. interesting to see if she is brought to the witness stand how this plays out but he has already been on the witness stand testifying for the prosecution, as has the mother. and we are expected to see them both possibly pop up again for the defense. >> david mattingly for us, thanks so much. we want to know what you think. should casey anthony take the stand? e-mail us, give us a tweet and tell us on facebook. we will read some of your thoughts later on in the program. tyler and cameron winklevoss won't appeal a ruling in their long running legal battle with facebook founder mark zuckerberg. for years they have been trying to undo a $65 million settlement claiming that facebook misrepresented stock value but now decided against taking their case to the supreme court. the legal battle was the basis for the film "the social network." president obama hitting the road this morning talking about his plan for afghanistan and talking about it with the troops.

last night, the president formally announced that the withdrawal from afghanistan will begin as planned next month. >> he also had tough words for pakistan as he announced the pull-out. >> of course, our efforts must also address terrorist safe havens in pakistan. no country is more endangered by the presence of violent extremists which is why we will continue to press pakistan to expand its participation in securing a more peaceful future for this war-torn region. we will work with the pakistani government to rout out the cancer of violent extremism and we will insist it keeps its commitments for there should be no doubt that so long as i am president, the united states will never tolerate a safe haven for those who aim to kill us. they cannot elude us, nor escape the justice they deserve. >> with us osama bin laden dead and the focus shifting from the boots on the ground to drones and eyes in the sky, many saying the post-9/11 era may be coming

to an end. >> our pentagon correspondent barbara starr is with us. a reversal of the surge the president talking about last night. is this the beginning of a real withdrawal and end to the war on terror? >> well, beginning of an end to having large numbers of combat forces on the ground perhaps. iraq wrapping up at the end of this year. certainly afghanistan on the same track. u.s. forces will still be there a few years. i think what the president was laying out was a new military way of doing business. not the 9/11 era of sending the army and the marine corps in really. we are not seeing that. think about pakistan. it's a drone war for the united states. no combat forces on the ground. it's certainly a less expensive way of doing business. and perhaps more precision strikes, more precision operations going after what really matters. >> threats have evolved the past ten years. you look at the times square attempt. that was a guy who took money out of his house in connecticut

or something, do you know what i mean? the threats have really changed and evolved and now multiple. is that part of -- >> there is -- >> a new strategy? >> there is the tall and there is al qaeda but not the taliban and al qaeda we know from september 11th. it has changed and split and you have onetime players. people that could have, you know, have heaven forbid, brought new york to a halt with just, you know, something in their car. you can't send a land army after that. what do you do about it? so it's intelligence, it's drones, it's precision operations. he's walking that middle line, though, because, still, you can't walk away from afghanistan at this point, you snow? we have put a lot into it. >> why can't we walk away from afghanistan if the state admission is make sure it's not a safe haven for al qaeda when what we have been doing for several years is helping nation build in afghanistan. a lot of people said we bt

afford that any more. the president said that so why are we still leaving 70,000 troops there? >> well, you know, i think people have to come to the judgment how soon they feel it no longer is even possible that it could become a safe haven. a lot of people will tell you it's not there yet. the president was clear, afghanistan is going to have to stand up, take care of its own business at some point. nobody is going to be there forever. but right now with pakistan right next door and still that being a major safe haven, a little bit of a queasy telg about just pulling out yet. >> how much is this about money snp this week, the pentagon announced the war on terror had tipped over a trillion dollars. not just afghanistan but the whole thing over ten years. how much of this is about money? >> i think it's very clear. when we talked about it being untenable economically and politically. those are the questions that will appear in washington today in two key hearings. admiral mullin will be on the hill. the first uniformed officer since the president spoke last night to come out in public and

defend this strategy militarily. later today, general petraeus on the hill for his cia confirmation hearings, same topic, front and center. >> and talk to you first thing tomorrow morning to find out how it all played out. president obama and you have justin bieber. a traffic jam today. >> what time? >> they are visiting at the same time. the president is scheduled to attend two fund-raisers in the big apple and bieber is expected to be launching an event for his new men's fragrance at macy's in harleds square. we know the president is in town and doing business and fund-raising business and taking possibly in a broadway show. they say the entire west side of the town is going to be crazy. >> first time i've seen the president of the united states and justin bieber in a split screen. does get your attention. ahead, spider-man star tobey maguire more than a dozen stars sued over an illegal poker game.

we are live from l.a. with this developing story. severe weather hits churchill downs. more on the damage left behind and whether any of the horses are having any trouble because of it. or scene rant from a southwest airlines pilot who didn't know his microphone was on. check it out. >> and it only gets worse. 9 minutes after the hour. (rambling phone conversation)

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♪ a shot of nashville this morning. right now 72 degrees and they are looking at the possibility of some thunderstorms this

afternoon, going up to a high of 88. all right. stunning new video this morning of what appears to be a tornado forming neurolouisville, kentucky. you see it here. the severe storm system slamming into that area last night. louisville's churchill downs, home of the kentucky derby was also hit. nine barns damaged and horses running loose and eventually corrals. officials say no people or horses were injured. >> they say they may have to move some of the horses while they clean up debris. a month since the tornado hit joplin, missouri. the number of people decide in 9 disaster is 56 after a woman injured in the tornado last month passed away. according to the national weather service, the tornadoes that hit joplin was the single most deadly tornado we have seen here in america in 60 years. >> the waters are getting so high in part of minot, north dakota, it's too dangerous for many folks to stay this morning. 12,000 residents ordered to evacuate last night because of swollen river now spill over the levees that protect minot. reynolds wolf is in the

extreme weather center for us this morning. lots to talk about. still severe weather out there. >> absolutely. we had our share of it yesterday through parts of the ohio valley. the flooding situation in parts of the northern plains and should be a little bit better today in terms of lack of rainfall. they should have a dry day but still the water is going ton rising in many spots. certainly rough times then. a chance of storms in the northern plains and then back into parts of, say, the northern rockies and along the eastern seaboard possibly for parts of the northeast and including the mid-atlantic states and even in virginia. virginia is a place you have a lot of streams and a lot of lakes and rivers and with that, a lot of fish. take a look at this video that we have got for you. this is just freakish! look at this thing! a monster catfish from bugs island lake in virginia! may be a possible world record. officials from the old dominion state say this 143-pound blue catfish caught last saturday is a new state record and caught by nick anderson last saturday and said it took 45 minutes to get that freak on board. nearly five feet in length!

it's a monster! huge. i think they need a bigger boat. let's show what else we got. nice in the southeast if you don't mind a rumble of thunder. nashville a chance of storms but evening hours cooler drier air is filtering in behind it. delays, could be a frustrating day for you in new york. due to the thunderstorms. you might have a backup up to an hour. in philadelphia from 30 minutes to a full hour and san francisco you might have a wait, too. . 30 to 60 minutes but due to low clouds and fog. in terms of high temperatures, roasting day for you in west texas and mercy me, take a look at. 10 in el paso and 79 in kansas city and 69 in chicago and 87 in new orleans and tampa and miami in the 90s. new york with 76. that is your expected high. your up-to-speed with the forecast. pitch it back to you in new york. >> i have to see the catfish again. my brother caught a fish almost that big one time. he and a friend put it in the

back of a truck and they were taking it to the bait guy for the local record. they would turn and the whole truck would almost tip over! they could feel a fish like moving. >> did they eat it? >> no, they put it in smallest pond they could find. >> it was alive? >> those things live forever. they live in the muck on the bottom of the river of the pond. >> you're saying it lived in the pickup truck? >> oh, yeah. >> i think when they get that big they get kind of tough but that's not a fish. that's a submarine. that thing is just ridiculous. look at that thing. >> i don't think i would want to eat that. >> they always let their fish go. those catfish, probably old! that fish has to be very, very old. >> i would imagine so. not a new one, for sure. >> a fresh catfish fry it up. >> a very great story for those guys who caught it. >> later, guys. just 10 years old but hunter shultz and his best friend carter have been playing together since they were toddlers. >> a couple of weeks ago carter

was eating gummy bears when he started to choke. >> i look over there. he was choking or he was going ag! i said are you joking and didn't say anything. i saw him doing this. i ran over there and he did the heimlich maneuver five times and on the fourth one when it didn't come out, you could kind of tell it was starting to come out so i did it really hard the last time and so it -- came out and i was like, thank goodness! he sits down and i was like you just saved my life! so i'm just sitting there thinking, i just saved his life! and then we just started playing again. >> they just started playing again. >> hats off whoever edited that. told that story about as good as you can and they had the gummy worm there as well. both of the boys' mothers are registered nurses and how hunter knew what to do to save him as

his friend made this sign. "harry potter" author uses the magic of the internet to make a big announcement. us airways raising eye borrows for letting a man to board the flight with underwear on. little later, the ceo of jetblue will be joining us live in our studio. we will talk to him about the recent negative headlines for the airline industry. 18 minutes after the hour. ♪ i thought it was over here... ♪ [car horn honks] our outback always gets us there...

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21 minutes after the hour. "minding your business" this morning. junior justice in to cnn greek unions declare another 48-hour strike starting next tuesday.

demonstrations continue this week in athens as the country's parliament votes on new austerity measures in order to to secure a second bailout from the european union. the federal reserve says the jobs growth is weaker than respected. temporary factors like the earthquake in japan but acknowledges long-term problems may be holding back growth. stocks down in premarket trading this morning and extending loss after the fed chief's press conference yesterday of dow and nasdaq and s&p 500 futures all trading lower ahead of the opening bell in over an hour. a new survey shows americans are working more on the weekends and spending less time relaxing according to the bureau of labor statistics. finding women are working more hours overall especially on weekends compared to two years ago and most women would marry for love over money unless the man is unemployed according to your takengo and forbes women. 3 out of 4 women wouldn't marry

someone who was unemployed and 65% wouldn't feel getting married if they, themselves, were unemployed. "harry potter" book series is available online for the first time. jk rouling announced this morning the site and ebook store launched in late july and opened to the general public in october. up next, "spider-man" star tobey maguire sued for his alleged underground high stakes poker ring. "american morning" is back after the break. [ nurse ] i'm a hospice nurse.

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6-year-old girl crying after getting a pat-down in new orleans airport back in april because she moved during the electronic screening and the picture was blurred. >> i can't even watch that video. it just very troubling. i know it must be difficult for the professionals trying to do the pat-downs because that is the rule. john pistole was on capitol hill yesterday and told lawmakers tsa agents are now instructed to screen kids without using the pallet-do pat-downs. >> i think i feel less safe because you're doing the exams on a 6-year-old and makes me think you're clueless that you think she is going to attack our country and that you're not doing your research on the people who would attack our country. >> the new pat-down rule for kids apply to children 10 and under. us airways is drawing an awful lot of attention this morning for allowing a male passenger to board a flight wearing nothing but women's

underwear take a look or look away if you want the warning right now. a federal passenger took this picture earlier this month after her complaint to the flight crew were simply ignored. us airways says its employees acting properly by allowing the man on the plane saying they don't have a dress code for passengers beyond the point that all of their private parts are covered. >> he fit that bill. it has triggered a lot of anger and charges of racial discrimination. six days earlier, us airways had an african-american passenger who was actually removed from a flight because his pants were too low they said and his underwear was showing. a houston-based swelve airlines pilot is back on the job three months after his hate-filled rant about flight attendants was inadvertently captured captured. >> cnn's jeanne meserve has the audiotape that has everyone

buzzing. >> reporter: it is peppered with insults and slurs against homosexuals and women. >> eleven! over the top! homosexuals and a grand wii. eleven! think of the odds of that. i thought i was in chicago, which was party land. after that, it was just a continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandees. >> reporter: an parnl reference to overweight people. >> i don't give a [ bleep ] i hate a hundred percent of their asses. >> reporter: he talks about exploits with some of them. >> six months, i went to the bar three times, in six months, three times. once with the granny and the [ bleep ] and i wish i hadn't gone. at the very end with two girls, one of 'em was probably doable. >> reporter: an air traffic controller tries to stop the pilot. >> watch what you're saying. >> reporter: but the rant goes. >> i wouldn't want anybody to

know if i had bulb it's all of these -- old dudes and grannies and there may be a handful of cute chicks. >> ok, someone has to stuck milk and telling us about about their endeavors we don't need to hear that. >> reporter: the conversation ends and one chimes in to saying it wasn't me. one adds some commentary. the faa says it expects a higher level of professionalism from flight crews. southwest put out a video press release. >> what he said is offensive and inconsistent with the professional behavior and overall respect we require from all employees. >> reporter: the pilot was reprimanded, suspended without pay, and underwent diversity education. he is now back on the job. the pilot has apologized, southwest says, to controllers, bosses and his pilots and, of course, flight attendants but the flight attendants union not

shaep and says southwest response to the incident has added insult to injury and it is considering filing a complaint with the eeoc. jeanne meserve, cnn, washington. >> see if the punishment changes in the wake of this being released. >> i'm sure no flight attendants are going out to the bars with him any more. we don't know who the guy is but i'm sure within southwest, people know who he is and, you know, i mean, obviously, he must be the perfection of beauty. wasn't he born lucky. president obama will meet with troops today after announcing 33,000 of them will be home from afghanistan by the end of next year. he stressed the war there is not over. >> of course, huge challenges remain. this is the beginning, but not the end of our effort to wind down this war. we will have to do the hard work of keeping the gains that we have made, while we draw down our forces and transition responsibility for security to the afghan government.

next may, in chicago, we will host a summit with our nato allies and partners to shape the next phase of this transition. >> taliban now also responding to the president's announcement calling it only a symbolic step. while most of you were sleeping the fbi was catching up with one of its most wanted fugitives. james "whitey" bulger the notorious boston crime boss on the run for 16 years. he was arrested in southern california with his long time girlfriend. he is wanted for 19 murders. stunning admission from the lawyer of casey anthony's parents. in an exclusive interview with cnn, he says that george and cindy anthony don't believe their daughter is innocent. but that they will do everything they can to keep her from getting the death penalty. casey, as you know, is on trial for allegedly killing owner 2-year-old daughter caylee. >> our question of the day this morning, we asked should casey anthony take the stand? a lot of you are wondering if she will. here are some of your responses. april says yes, they should take

the stand if she is innocent she needs to say so. it's such a terrible crime and people need an explanation. >> susan on facebook somebody to explain why somebody said in the very beginning of the trial caylee accidentally drowned in the pool. if casey didn't explain this then why did the defense bring it up? you can't throw it out there and leave it hanging. >> jewelry says what for? she has never told the truth and never has. it would be a waste of time. >> three years is enough of this. let the chips fall. but that woman up on the stand. actor tobey maguire is sued. >> a lawsuit he may have won -- the lawsuit says he may have won the cash from a convicted con man. kareen wynter has more live from los angeles. explain how they discovered this whole underground poker ring in the first place. >> reporter: pretty interesting story, guys. well, the "spider-man" star tobey maguire caught in a legal

web of high stakes poker playing. he has been slapped with a lawsuit claiming a former hedge fund manager who is now serving a ten-year federal prison sentence for attacks and wire fraud convictions that he took part in a secret high stakes and lead poker game scandal at several luxury hotels in beverly hills. he lost reportedly money to maguire and other celebs not named in the lawsuit but allegedly took part in these event. the suit says rudderman was trying to pay his debts. maguire is sued by the trustees of those who lost money in the scheme. the investors are going after maguire and the 311,000 he allegedly won from rudeman that he wired through wires. the suit contends that since these games were technical illegal and weren't licensed maguire and the other defendants have no right to keep the money

that they won. cnn, by the way, reached out to maguire's reps for comments and we are told they are, quote, not responding at this time. guys? >> besides tobey maguire, are there any other hollywood celebrities, any other big names being sued? >> reporter: well, you know, there has been a whole lot of speculation about other stars allegedly involved in the poker ring but cnn confirmed that actor and director nick cassovetti and former "welcome back kotter" star gabe kaplan is already being sued. we reached out to both of these actors for comment and they have yet to respond. >> this is some pretty high stakes stuff here if you're talking about $73,000 in winnings, 300,000. can they get into trouble with the law for gambling? >> reporter: that's the big question we have been digging. none of the defendants named in this lawsuit are facing criminal

charges right now but they do have to return any of their alleged gambling winnings or make their case, make the case for their money in court. gambling is illegal in california but it's a misdemeanor and a spokeswoman for the l.a. county district attorney tells cnn there is no criminal probe of the alleged gambling event so there you have it. >> all right. . very interesting stuff. kareen wynter, thanks so much. another little misstep for lindsay lohan who was ordered back to court this morning after reportedly violating her probation on drunk driving conviction. sources say she failed a court-ordered alcohol test last week and go before the same judge who sentenced her for stealing a necklace. she was allowed to serve that sentence under house arrest and now she could end up back behind bars. more fees and longer lines and bigger halves. the airline industry rarngs lnkr than the federal government in terms of satisfaction.

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just in to cnn. initial filings for unemployment insurance. this is the weekly jobs report. it climbed by 9,000 this week to 429,000. according to the labor department. that means 429,000 people for the first time filed for jobless benefits. that is more than expected. economists have forecasted about 415,000 claims for the week. we have been watching since ben bernanke the fed chief, yesterday said the jobs market was not as strong as they would like and another indication that indeed the case.

we are officially in the midst of the busy summer travel season. more are dealing with more passengers on planes arnd more fees they have paid in the last few years. jetblue is designing a program to keep kids reading this summer. on this program, we have talked a lot about parents and the summer brain dream that happens. parents need to be involved with their kids. j is jetblue so involved that kids keep reading in the summer? >> christine, good morning. delighted to be here. from our perspective, flying from a to b, so much more to it than just delivering the customer experience. it's also being a part of the community. soar with reading is what we are kicking with pbs kids and it's just to slow the summer slide that reading regress and have people ready for the september time frame. the students. >> the studies all show that there is this thing that can happen. why this important for an

airline. what does an airline have to do with summer reading? why is it important? >> whether it's the environment, whether it's education, the community, the children. really important for jetblue. not just here but home and here in new york and the cities we fly to. >> everyone hates the american flying experience. lucky for you you're on the top of most of the customer satisfaction surveys. maybe i'm barking up the wrong tree. what is wrong with the experience going on in the airlines industry these days? we see long lines and see the tsa pat-down controversy and just today ranting southwest airlines, a pilot showing complete disregard for people he works with and his customers. i mean, is this a new reality for the way the airline business is operating or just bad pr? >> i think it's just bad pr. we are a subset of society and inexcusable the events that have happened the last couple of days. all that said, look at the air travel experience. yes it's buzzier in the airports and get out earlier.

i think the tsa is doing a very good job. when i think of the one-off events is what they are. overall my experience is quite a positive experience. >> let me ask you about the whole fees for bags. you allow your customers to have a first bag for free and you're glad you do that because that is good for your customer satisfaction. but are we -- is this here to stay this whole allah ca carte ? you do charge for a pillow. >> we do for the pillows and blankets but they are clean maybe what you see on other airlines. i think different business models and some are charging with everything. we call it nickel and diming. at jetblue, seven years in a row it's being respectful of the travel experience and not overbooking comfortable seating. everybody has a different line of product out there. at the end of the day, 5.7 billion dollars. >> unbelievable. >> however, oil, i think, asking the american public, right? to help offset the cost of oil i

don't like what they are doing with their automobiles isn't a bad thing for our industry. >> what are your assumptions about oil prices going forward. a lot of people saying the oil prices are down 3% this morning but everybody is worried the economy is going to get weak again. >> we learned don't predict what is happening. too many events around the world driverg. we take the forward curve and locking in our pricing. >> how much does oil account for the off the of a trip for you? >> almost 40%. the cost of moving a seat one mile is the cost of oil. >> wow. >> it's significant. and so this is where you do have the airline industry asking for the additional fees really because at the end of the day to fly -- when you look at inflation adjusted affairs going back to the industry, deregulation in 1978 what it cost today to fly from new york to los angeles versus 1978 it's a great proposition. >> some would argue that is why you see mayhem and craziness at airports like this guy who tried to get on just wearing women's underwear in the news this morning. it's because everyone is flying

and they are flying a lot more. it has become a very mundane experience. >> i saw that story, of course. >> come on! what would you tell jetblue people if they saw a guy like that? >> i would actually support our crewmembers not boarding that individual. at the end of the day, choice is yours but situational awareness in a public environment, i mean, my gosh. common sense has to take place. >> jetblue flight crew did not want to let that man board you would stand behind them 100%? >> i would stand behind them 100 plus percent. >> soar with reading.com. pbs kids. hooper traveling across the world. >> i love hooper. thanks so much. >> thanks. morning headlines are next. ♪ hello sunshine, sweet as you can be ♪

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♪ [ sighs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] smart like a volkswagen. the 2012 cc. ♪ 47 minutes past the hour. here are your top stories. this morning the end of the line for a fugitive mob boss. james "whitey" bulger arrested after 16 years on the run. bulger was on the fbi's ten most wanted list for his alleged role in 19 murders. he is due to appear in federal court this morning. it's a bombshell that could shake things up today at the casey anthony murder trial. the attorney for her parents, indiana sinnedy and george anthony tell cnn exclusively they don't believe their daughter is innocent but do not

want to see her get the death penalty. tyler and cameron winklevoss dropping their case against facebook founder mark zuckerberg. they accused misrepresenting a stock value during a 65 million settlement in 2008. book releasing a statement saying, quote, we have considered this case closed for a long time. president obama visiting ft. drum today. the first stop to sell his new afghanistan strategy. last night, he announced all 33,000 surge troops will be home by the end of next year. markets open in just about 45 minutes. right now, the dow, nasdaq and s&p futures all down after the number of americans filing for first time unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week. we just found that news out. the last couple of minutes. believed to be a tornado hitting the famous churchill downs racetrack in louisville, kentucky. nine barns were damaged and luckily no horses were injured. but officials say they may have to relocate as many as 150

horses because the animals could get injured from the storm debris. wimble ddon may crack down grunting. the women who yell too loudly on the court are annoying their opponents and their fans. you're caught up on today's headlines. we are back after a quick break. [ man ] i got this new citi thankyou card and started earning loads of points. you got a weather balloon with points? yes i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. ♪ ♪ there it is. [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it.

50 minutes past the hour. part of the cnn freedom project, we're taking an i depth look at disturbing issue, human trafficking and modern day slavery.

our next guest was brought to the united states at the age of 9. she was forced into servitude and was abused and it wasn't until evelyn chumbo was 17 that she was able to escape her captors. she is now 25, a college student. she's completed a two-year degree and on summer break and joins us from baltimore. thanks so much for joining us and sharing your story with aur aw our audience. i'm sure it is not easy to talk about. >> thank you. >> tell us how you first came to the united states. you were promised an education, a place to stay, a better situation than the one that you had. and what ended up happening? >> like you said, i was promised a better education. i came here at the age of 9. i was forced to take care of two kids, cleaning and cooking, no schooling, and not even being able to get in contact with my parents or any of my family member. i had no knowledge of the outside world, except the one i

was living in. getting up in the morning, cleaning and cooking, taking care of two kids, changing diapers. >> it was unbelievable what you described that you were -- the person who is holding you who is now in trouble and serving a jail sentence for what happened. did you know? was there an evolution, meaning you came here and they were nice at first and then turned on you, or was it from the moment you came here, you realized this is not what you thought you were getting into? >> the first couple of weeks, i stay with her, of course. i was 9 years old. she was nice but then, of course i got into just to the life that i never knew, which was trafficking and i just start working and cleaning and then the abuse started because i wasn't doing my work right. i had to get up like 5:00 a.m. in the morning. i had to take care of the kids,

change the diapers, cook, clean, clean the house, make sure to day care on time and i also had to wash some of my trafficker's clothes. i didn't exactly know any of those things. i didn't know how to cook or clean because i was 9 years old. >> right. >> and i assume -- i was promised an education and i thought i was going to go to school right away. >> you said one at one point three weeks you were not given anything to eat and not given a bed and slept in a cold garage. this went on for years. explain why you were unable to let anybody know what was happening to you? >> because i didn't know anyone and the only person i knew was my trafficker and her family and i didn't know anything of the outside world. i didn't know about social services. i didn't know about if you're in that type of situation, you can even call 911, because i was not

allowed to use the phone. i didn't even know how to use a phone at that time. >> how did you eventually get -- make your way to freedom at the age of 17? >> i ran away from her earlier and i was staying on the street. i stay with a person i now call my auntie. i stayed with her for a while. and from there, i went to church and i told the priest my situation and how i have not seen my parents since i got here and i have never been to the hospital. i have no education except the one i had in cameroon at the age of 9 years old and i would like to go to school and i would like to go see the doctor and, of course, i will definitely would like to go reunite with my parents. and from there, the priest had a couple of organizations that

contacted me and one of the organization was iuder and i met with a woman, melanie who is now like a second mother to me that heard my story and got help and tried to get me into foster care before i would turn 18. >> wow. thank god you had those angels looking out for you. it's so upsetting you had to suffer for so long. this woman who did this to you, your captor, take rhea moombang was sentenced to 17 years in prison and involuntary servitude and do you think they got what she deserved? >> i can't really say that she got what she deserved. she did the crime so she is paying for it. like i say, when it comes to that type of situation, i just think about the kids and the kids that she has which are my biggest concern because they have a mother that is in prison and in situation like this, you

always have to think about the children. a child not able to see my parents for me for 18 years, i know how hard it can be not having your parents around and those are things that i cry about every day. and not to be able to have that connection with my parents. so if you do a crime, you have to pay for it and knowing that it was enslavement and knowing i came here illegally, she did all of that and she's paying for what she did. >> all right. well, i know you're reuniting with hur family soon and going on a visit there because you're on summer break. we wish you all the best. thank you for sharing your story. hopefully, it will be a wake-up call for anybody in this situation that you can seek out help. evelyn chumbob, wish you the best. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. demi moore joins the 2010

cnn hero of the year from nepal to talk into the fight to end modern day slavery. it's a cnn freedom project documentary airing sunday night at 8:00 eastern time on cnn. we will be right back.