prices come down but right now it's not run into any sp and get it done. something you have to have a specialized technician do for you. $5,000 for that and $2,5 hund00 the battery. >> these are a few things can you do to keep your car running at top speed. i'll take a few more minutes for him but now, i send it back to kiran and christine. >> sound good. all right. good tips. hopefully, people are paying attention if they are hitting the road. >> saving money on the front end and not paying on the back end. "cnn newsroom" begins right now with kyra phillips. >> hi, guys. it's 9:00 a.m. on the east coast and 6:00 a.m. on the west coast. will casey anthony take the stand in her murdle trial? we are live in orlando, florida. firefighters make critical process against the wildfire threatening the los alamos lab. minutes ago, the number of americans file their first

unemployment claim tipped slightly to 428,000, a decrease of about 1,000 from the week before. we begin with the security breach that will leave you speechless. a man allegedly gets on a plane, flies across the country, and get this. no valid i.d. and somebody else's old boarding pass. our homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve is on the story for us. with all of the focus on our security and precautions in place this seems outrageous. >> it is an eye. owning event. a law enforcement official tells us nothing at this point that indicates terrorism but certainly raises a lot of questions about what kind of security we have at the nation's airport and involves an individual by the name of noabi. on june 24th, according to a law enforcement affidavit, he boarded a virgin american flight at kennedy airport in new york and through to lax. he was found on the flight after

it took off and was asked if he had a boarding pass. he produced something. but it turned out that the boarding pass and the ticket were for the day before. they were not in his name. they then asked him for identification and he produced a university of michigan i.d. then a few days later, on june 29th, he tried to board a delta flight, this time flying from los angeles to atlanta. he was stopped by a delta agent at the gate and was told he did not have a valid boarding pass. once again, it was for a different date and it turns out it was in a different name. at that point, law enforcement queried him and asked to look in his bag, in his bag, they found over ten boarding passes in various names. this is the allegation in the affidavit. the only i.d. he was able to produce was from the university of michigan. he claims that a u.s. passport had been stolen that he also had a nigerian passport but that that was at his home. now, apparently at two airports, this individual got through a

security checkpoint where you are supposed to show a government-issued identification as well as a valid boarding pass. this morning, the tsa gave us only on the record statement saying every passenger that pass through security checkpoints are subject to many layers of security including physical screening at the checkpoint. tsa's review of this matter indicates the passenger went through screening. he went through physical screening but, once again, why didn't they catch the fact he didn't have a valid i.d. and why he he able to board the virgin atlantic flight? so there is still a lot of questions here that we're asking this morning and don't have all of the answers but the time being this guy is in custody and they are continuing the investigation to find out exactly what happened. back to you. >> jeanne, thanks. in new mexico, a sensor relief in the air along with choking smoke and flyer embers.

fire crews say the flames have devoured 90,000 acres and counting, the desperate effort to protect the los alamos national lab is paying off. the radioactive waste and other toxic materials are out of reach from the massive wildfire. and cnn's reynolds wolf is right there in los alamos with the latest. what exactly turned the tide? >> the real turning point was actually yesterday. what they did is set up a preventive burn. a preventive burn on the western fringe of the laboratory which is actually right across this ravine. you can barely see it due to the heavy smoke. the action began yesterday afternoon. we show you the video. it was captured by cnn. very, very thick smoke from the hillside. some of it got within miles of the laboratory itself but although it looks daunting it was part of the controlled burn. strategy to remove a lot of the wretchtation th vegetation. they did a great job. los alamos fire chief doug tucker feels very, very thankful

for the great work done by the men and women of the firefighters. 341 of them that have been working the 16-hour shifts. one of the signs that things are really getting back to normal is that he is hoping that people will return to los alamos either tomorrow or saturday to come back to their homes. certainly some good news on this front. kyra? >> that is good news. reynolds, thanks. mitt romney going after president obama on the economy today and he is using a symbolic backdrop. cnn's jim across take from washington with the story. >> reporter: it could a sneak preview of the upcoming general election campaign if mitt romney can only get the gop nomination. both he and president obama up later today in pennsylvania for fund-raisers but mitt romney make a pit stop outside of a metal works factory in allentown to make key points about the economy. this is a factory that president obama visited in 2009 touting his stimulus plan.

the factory closed a few months ago back in january and mitt romney is already released a web video this morning with the message that president obama isn't working. this has been sort of a catch phrase of the romney campaign and one he will be trying out later today up in pennsylvania. that is something we will be watching. on the lighter side of things, here in washington, d.c., speaking of politicians and money, steven colbert, he hosts the colbert report, you've probably heard of him. over there on comedy central. he will be testifying in front of the federal election commission later today about in a lot of his fans answers viewers have heard all about this, how colbert wants to start his own super pack sort of like the one that karl rove started, american crossroads. big political actions committees given the green light by the supreme court to raise gobs and gobs of money. as a joke, a way to call attention to this, stephen colbert wants to start his own

super pack and talking about this later this morning and testifying, as a matter of fact at the fec. what is interesting about this is that in the last couple of days, some campaign finance activi activists are actually going to be testifying against and they have been acting against stephen colbert in the forming of the super pack because they think say what he is trying could open up the flood gates to more money in the political process and they say that is not a good idea. so we will be seeing what kind of antics going on at the fec later today. >> we can only imagine how this is going to play out. >> we can only imagine. >> reporter: at least it's good for a laugh but we might not all be laughing, depending on how this plays out on the upcoming campaign. >> point well made. jim, thanks. your next political update in an hour. always get all of the political news 24/7 at cnn/politics.com.

all right. as we speak, the royal newlyweds are crossing the pond, shall we say, en route to canada. prince william and duchess kate spend nine days crisscrossing the country. as they head to ottawa, another royal couple is heading to the altar, so we think. zain verjee is joining us from london. a little last-minute intrigue in monaco, wouldn't you say? >> reporter: yeah. oh, yes, kyra! this is not the kind of a royal wedding that they want grabbing the headlines here. this is more like a hollywood movie script, okay? what is happening is prince albert is marrying a former olympic swimmer from south africa her name is charlene whitstock. the bride to be, apparently according to one french magazine report, she did a runner. she bolted. she headed over to nece airport and wanted a one-way trip to south africa. the officials there said you can't go anywhere. there is a wedding you need to be at.

they called up prince albert. he came over and apparently described as intensely persuasive and so she went back. now, the palace has put out a statement and saying, look, there is no rift here but what they are doing is focusing on whoever it was that leaked this to the press. so they are on a hunt for that person. she got freaked out because apparently there are secrets that she is learning about and have shocked her. we can't confirm any of those. i'll share one headline from the "irish independent." prince puts on brave face as bride's cold feet are talk of town. it reads with mud flying less than two days before the royal wedding, the message from the rock is that the show is on. it's $18 million show and thousands of guests are coming and lots of dignitaries. right now, they are saying everything is cool, everything is okay. who knows. you think she may leave him at the altar? >> i don't know.

a lot of people watching this. if anyone gets the scoop, it's you, zain. let us know. all right. >> reporter: we knew she was a former olympic swimmer and couldn't get away from the airport. she could swim away she can swim and run, apparently. we are vetting video in out of france. i don't know if we can rerack it. there it is. the french president getting pulled by the arm. someone apparently came in, grabbed his sleeve and you can see his bodyguards taking the guy to the ground. we just got this video. we are working the story trying to find out exactly who this guy is, how he got so close to the president and we will bring you the details as we get it. to florida now. casey anthony trial. will she testify? it seems to be the burning question for all of those individuals fixated on this murder trial. the defense is expected to rest its case today. talk more about this with holly hughes, a former defense

attorney and former prosecutor. >> the 64,000 dollar question. right now great drama going on. the defense called to the stand crystal holliday. a woman who alleges she had an average with george anthony. two days ago, george anthony denied that affair and a little scoop for you. that very night, river crews went on blog talk radio and she was hot. george anthony denied being with her, she was cussing like a salty sailor. i'm waiting to see what happens in this courtroom this morning. could be explosive testimony because she was just so angry and giving out nasty details and all of the stuff on the radio. so it was quite the interview. after she is done, we need to see if they are going to put casey on the stand because legally speaking, kyra, they he stood up in opening, jose baez, the lead defense attorney for casey anthony, and he alleges all of these things. sexual abuse by george and sexual abuse by lee, her father

and her brother. and then he said the baby drowned in the swimming pool. so far, there has been no testimony that any of those things occurred and if they don't get testimony in, there is no evidence of it, so he cannot get up in closing argument and argue that to the jury. they can't even consider it. he's got to put her up. if he doesn't, he's on a sinking ship and going down fast. >> i tell you what, a lot of questions being thrown out there and a lot of doubt being waved. i know you're with us. we are looking at live pictures right now from the courtroom there in orlando, florida. holly be with us throughout the next couple of hours. you're watching this and we are. will casey anthony take the stand is the big question today, in her murdle trial today. president obama skewers republicans. did he win points with the public? our david gergen breaks down the feisty news conference. prince william and kate to

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doctors treat arizona mass shooting suspect jared loughner with mind altering medications to an effort to restore mental competency. yesterday a judge rejected that loughner violated his rights. bigger classes and less teachers next year in milwaukee. rhode island lawmakers approved a bill yesterday allowing same-sex couples to

enter civil unions. the governor is expected to sign it. turtles to blame for the flight delays at jfk airport yesterday. more than a hundred turned up on the runway. >> american 1009 a report of a turtle on the runway. do you want to have it removed first? >> sure. american 1009 cancel takeoff and hold your position. >> holding in position americ10. wondering where they were. >> apparently turtle my grace at jfk is an annual affair. the sand there is a popular for example laying and nesting area and now the turltles are on twitter. 5,700 plus followers. i can see david gergen laughing. we will talk about the turtles as well maybe. let's start with president obama

calling out congress and trying to assure americans that he feels their pain. he says as the economy struggles and jobs are disappearing, lawmakers need to strike a deal on the debt crisis and put their vacations on hold. >> you need to be here. i've been here. i've been doing afghanistan and bin laden and the greek crisis. you stay here. let's get it done. >> this time yesterday, we were asking david gergen what the president needed to say in his news conference and you answered are or you advised for a president. let's tap into those insights. all of these negotiations going as slow as those turtles there at jfk, no doubt! you wrote a piece for cnn.com and as you put it, the president skewered republicans and, yes, that gets him political points, but for the average americans out of work and struggling to survive, are they tired of this bickering and just want relief?

>> so tired, so tired, kyra. so many people are looking for some kind of -- the clouds to lift to have a chance to go back to work and make a decent living and have the value of your house go up, instead of down. so people want action from washington and what we are still hearing is a lot of political rhetoric. it's clear the negotiations haven't yet come any more close to the finish line for some sort of megadeal. the president, yesterday, came out. he was feisty. especially in going after republicans. i did think he made some political points out in the countryside by arguing, look, the republicans, you're refuse -- you raise taxes on billionaires and people who fly corporate jets and oil industries. instead they want to cut benefit is for the middle class. that kind of argument, that populace argue has a lot of appeal but at the same time the

president took snide jabs at the republicans about telling them not to go home. those are the kind of sort of small personal insults and slights that get people angry on the other side and i think make it more difficult to get to an agreement. and i think we're going to have some very, very tough negotiations just ahead. >> so does this, as you talk about the anger on both sides then. does this poison any chance of a deficit plan by august 2nd, that hard deadline he keeps talking about? >> certainly what we saw yesterday was frustration and exasperation on part of the president and i think reflects what is going on among some republicans and democrats. i thought yesterday's press conference, while it helped politically the president around the country and i think protects him a little bit, if the talks all break down. it's so -- i think it's sort of divisive and alienated some republicans and i think the chances of getting an agreement are further away after yesterday or at least the chances -- here,

the prospect is really this. that instead of getting $4 trillion deal what the country needs and what the president says we need, we're likely to get a deal maeb one quarter of that and maybe $1 trillion that will simply be a patch. kick the can down the road for the really hard and tough negotiations to occur later, maybe even after the elections. the problem with that is that's business as usual in washington. but the problem is the credit rating agencies like moodys yesterday said, hey, guys if you really don't come up with a big credible plan, there is a very strong possibility that we will downgrade your credit rating. downgrading of american credit rating would raise interest rates and be expensive for a lot of middle class americans who need help right now. >> both the financial markets and americans will suffer even more. we will keep following it. david gergen, thanks so much. >> follow those turtles! >> follow those turtles in the negotiations that are moving at a very slow pace.

david, thanks. >> okay. eye jay leno heads across the pond to london to talk about american politics. >> bill clinton was the golden age of comedy. doesn't get any better than that. george bush, pretty good there! oh, boy, fantastic! >> what about leno have to say about president obama? hear what he told our zain verjee and how zain fired back. (screams) when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. oh, just booked a summer vaycay. ooo. sounds pricey? nah, with the hotels.com summer sale, you can find awesome deals for places nearby. interesting...

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all right. let's hit showbiz headlines. "the voice" wrapped its first season last night. >> the winner of "the voice" is

javier colon. >> the vote was super close. only 2% separating javier and his runner up. he played one of facebook founders in the movie "the social network" but justin timberlake bought a stake in the site which changed hands yesterday in a bargain basement deal. timberlake says he is, quote, excited to revitalize myspace and bring artist and fans together. char lee sheen just revealed he took steroids to help him play ricky "wild thing" vaughn, the out of control pitcher in the major leagues. sheen says it helped his fastball but made him a little cranky. zain verjee took on jay leno and it's not easy to take on a late night comedian but she did and she joins you live from london to tell us. tell us how it all went down. did you break any scoop with

jay? >> reporter: i don't think i broke any scoop but i a lot of fun for ten minutes. he was really cool. he was -- you know, he was having a lot of fun. he was enjoying london and he was invited here by jaguar to check out their cars. you know, he is a huge car collector. he says you just can't get enough of it. he drove princess diana's old cars as well and he was excited about that. but we talked about politics. i asked him whether he thought that president obama was someone he could make fun of or not. listen to what he said. >> bill clinton was the golden age of comedy. doesn't get any better than that. george bush, pretty good there! oh, boy, yeah, fantastic! and, of course, obama, not so much. >> reporter: why? >> he is well spoken and serious and does not seem to have the sort of usual flaws. he uses a teleprompter too much but that is okay. we have sarah palin and so many other people so it's actually, i think it's going to be okay. >> reporter: kyra, he also said

his old time favorite material is when there is a man behaving badly, then he can just go for the jugular. nobody else is terribly hurt and nobody died, he said but, you know, that is the thing that he enjoys. >> he never behaves badly is what he is telling you so he gets the rip on everybody else? he was very well behaved with you, i must say. did tell you who he is pulling for in the upcoming election? >> reporter: no. he said, look. i'm not going to give you my opinion and tell you who i'm pulling for. he just wouldn't do it. but he did say this. listen. who do you think will give you the best fodder for being a presidential candidate? give you the best material, sarah palin? >> sarah palin is a fantastic -- i mean, she said last week -- >> she's in a movie now. >> she hat fire in the belly is what she said. but it's not that. it's the air in the head. >> reporter: the air in the head?

>> the air in the head. i think fire in the belly is not a problem but air in the head. >> reporter: ouch, kyra! he had fun with that one, too. i had a little bit fun, too. i told him. you have all of these cars. you love them. you can't stop talking about them, but do you have a kenyan mukati teny? let me show you what it is. it's a wheelbarrow. this is it. this is all over kenya and what is used for transportation. and people can't afford cars. so the man in front there, dragget. a tire under the tenny that is used as a brake and they carry mattresses and cans of water and jay leno didn't have this. i advised him if he is interested in transportation, this may be an interesting collector's piece. what do you think? oh, yeah. . you said have said to him you know about a man that pulls a, how do you say it? >> reporter: what is it?

what is the answer? >> i think we will move on to the next story! see you soon, zain! coming up, prince william and kate, somewhere over the atlantic ocean right now. they actually touched down in canada a few hours and we will see what they have got planned. a farewell to arms. a good-bye to robert gates. live pictures now from the pentagon. this hour, a tribute to the outstanding secretary of defense.

check top stories. we got this video in of someone grabbing french president nicolas sarkozy, trying to actually pull him down to the ground but his bodyguards wrestled the would-be attacker and took him to the ground. the defense may rest as early as today in the casey anthony murder trial. george anthony's alleged mistress on the stand right now and prosecutors cross-examining her. firefighters making progress against a wildfire burning against los alamos, new mexico. nearly 10,000 people haven't been allowed to return to their home yet. our jeanne meserve reporting so far, no sign of terrorism in a stow-away case. a nigerian man allegedly flew from new york to l.a. without a valu valid boarding pass or i.d.

william and kate beginning first official overseas trip. max foster is there in canada. they have a pretty busy schedule. >> reporter: they certainly have. i'm just showing you some preparations here. it's going to be a big day tomorrow. canada day they call it and lots of celebrations and parties and performances and doing rehearsal oz the big stage set out for them. the couple will be watching that tomorrow lunch time and another party in the evening. a big event in canada tomorrow celebrating canada day. the couple over the atlantic in a military jet and in the hands of the canadian government. they are the canadian royal family as well as the british royal family and have a busy day when they get here. this was the welcome prince william when he traveled to canada in 1998. the year after his mother diana

died. he now returns with his wife. they arrive in ottawa in time for this year's canada day celebrations. >> happy canada day! >> reporter: at the next generation of royals they are expected to connect with young people. from the capital, it's on to quebec, a children's hospital in montreal, the citadel in quebec city. a reminder of their wedding day with a carriage provision through charlotte town. as a search and rescue pilot, prince william is keen to take part in a demonstration with his world renowned kournts parts in canada. risky maneuvers are expect and some nervous royal aides will be watching on. the couple will also take to the water. each in their own dragon boats revealing their competitive streaks. catherine is a very experienced rower.

from pei it's up to the wilderness to the northwest territories. the final stop in canada is calga calgary, alberta, in time for the stampede. it's all about rodeos and rounding sheep and wagon racing and a rare chance to go the royals in cowboy gear. yes, you heard it right. so a very busy day as you can see. we don't know what she will be wearing but find out around four hours from now. >> max will be watching closely. we will check in with you. we are word from the hill. a source telling our kate bolduan that harry reid is announcing it right now about canceling the july fourth recess as the august 2nd deadline is looming over. >> we should take that responsibility seriously. i'm confident we do. that's why the senate will

reconvenient on tuesdr reconvene on tuesday, the day after the fourth. we have work to do. we will be in session next week with the first vote on july 5th, decide what time that will be on july 5th. likely in the afternoon with the traveling on fourth the july. there is so much to do to put americans back to work and cut our deficit and economy back to work and very important we do this. that moment is too important, obstacles too steep and time too short to waste even a moment. i hope my republican colleagues will put politics aside and help congress with the responsibility to the american people. some republicans in congress who say the united states government has less responsibility to pay its bills than struggling families all across our great country. as a default crises approaches,

the republicans say stop cutting checks. >> remember tuning into senator harry reid saying they will not take a recess this july fourth. you know the deadline is looming. august 2nd to hammer out negotiations on the debt ceiling. we will continue to follow what the senator has to say there on the floor. meanwhile, coming up, medicare announces today it will pay for a new drug to treat prostate cancer and could adds months to the lives of those who have cancer. our elizabeth cohen is joining us with that after the break. [ waves crashing ]

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ago. checking the big board dow industrials up 45 poise. points. talking about a new drug that could add billions of dollars to the nation's medical bills. prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men and 2 out of 3 are on medicare. we will find out today if the government will foot the bill for this. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is joining me now to talk about how expensive is this drug? >> the drug is called proveng, and men take it who has prostate cancer and costs $93,000 for a course of treatment and will get a man four more months of life than they would have without the drug. if you're a man with prostate cancer you say you can't put a price tag on four more months with lie loved ones. of course it's worth $93,000

already two other relatively new drugs and about the same. four extra months of life when you take these drugs, cost also about $93,000 for a course of treatment. >> this could get expensive, obviously, and taxpayers are saying i don't want to pay for this. >> most of the men taking these drugs are on medicare. so it's the taxpayers pay $93,000 per person and tens of thousands of men have prostate cancer. nobody, including me, likes to say, well, four months of life worth $93,000? >> yeah. >> it depends who you're asking. some people have pointed out you could use that money other places. you can't save more lives and take that same $93,000 and save more lives. medicare is already in a really difficult financial place. >> what do you think? is medicare going to pay? >> the folks i talked to say they think medicare is going to pay and one big reason this administration is steel reeling from the whole death panel

debate. do you remember that? >> of course. >> no one wants to say the government is out to kill grandpas so chances are, they will approve this. >> we will follow it. thanks. george anthony alleged mistress is on the stand in the casey anthony trial. we will talk about it after a break. are you anxious to protect your family with life insurance... but afraid you can't afford it? well, look how much insurance many people can get through selectquote for less than a dollar a day. selectquote found, rich, 37, a $500,000 policy for

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checking stories across the country. out of fall river, mass, a woman's body goes unnoticed at the bottom of a public pool for two days. so now dozens of pools are closed. lifeguards are on administrative leave. an investigation has begun. a hostage call turned hoax in collier county, florida. a teen living at this address saying he was playing an x-box game with gamer from canada. the next thing he knew the s.w.a.t. team was at his doorstep. his gaming buddy supposedly making the false report. a church group robbed in columbia. the following day the thieves apologized even returning some of the stolen loot. apparently, the alleged gang members felt guilty when they found out the students were

there doing mission work. better later than never in louisville, kentucky. flooding along the ohio river meant two-month delay for the annual great steamboat race. how fast do steamboats go? congrats to the hometown ship for winning last night's race. ♪ casey anthony murder trial winding down today. right now, a woman who says she had an affair with casey's dad is on the dad. holly is joining me now. let's talk about the significance of listening to this woman krystal holloway, the alleged mistress. >> the big significance for the defense is she is testifying in direct opposition to something george anthony said on the stand so he got himself in that witness chair, he raised his hand, he took an oath to tell the truth and he said, i didn't have an affair with that woman. in fact, he laughed. he was smug and arrogant about it when he denied it, kyra.

what they have now done is call this woman, krystal holloway to the stand. she is saying, oh, no, we did have an affair. >> in her apartment. >> she is a little upset he not claiming it and naming it, okay? what she wants is she wants to be able to tell the world this is my story. so if the defense can prove to the jury, if they think that she is credible and that is what it all comes down to, then they can argue george is a liar, a big, fat liar. obviously, he must be lying when he denied sexual abuse. obviously, he must be lying when he denies knowing anything about this drowned little baby. so that is where they are going. the judge will charge the jury at the end of this case on what the law is. and one of the instructions we are going to hear him give is credibility of witnesses and he is going to say to that jury, credibility of witnesses for you and you alone to decide. it doesn't matter what the attorneys think, it doesn't

matter what i think. and, p.s., if you find somebody not credible, you can throw out all of their testimony. you don't have to listen to one thing they said. that's the big apple that the defense is reaching for right now. they want that prize where the jury goes, hhmm, don't really believe george because that gives credence to their defense. >> holly, thank you so much. on the last day on the job, the beginning of a new era. a farewell ceremony to secretary of defense robert gates. we take you live to the pentagon. why don't we have both? [ male announcer ] old el paso. hard and soft tacos. ♪ feed your fiesta. a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal.

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minutes from now, at the pentagon, president obama will deliver remarks at the armed forces farewell tribute to robert gates. this is the last

flirting with the big business of meds marijuana. i'll explain next hour.

semifinals under way in

wimbled wimbledon. the men's semis will go on without one of tennis' biggest names. federer is out. tsonga beat him. federer won the first two sets yesterday, never lost a grand slam match with that lead. 178-1. tsonga used a booming serve to take the match in five sets. the frenchman fell to his knees after that win. he'll play in his third career grand slam semifinal. also andy murray is advancing. he beat lopez in straight sets. andy's mom made highlights tweeting about lopez. but when it came to the match, blood is thicker than flirtation. police in seattle, pretty red-faced after doing something with an assault rifle you've probably done a time or two with a purse or wallet or even a cup

of joe. cnn's jeanne moos reports. >> reporter: ever drive off about something sitting on your roof? imagine you're a cop and you're driving around with this thing on your trunk. even the seattle police say -- >> it's a careless act. >> reporter: -- a semiautomatic rifle -- >> we're embarrassed. >> reporter: -- probably loaded say police. >> people should expect more. >> reporter: sitting on a trunk passing on a car. a picture was snapped, september the photos to seattle's alternative newspaper "the stranger." sure was a strange sight. >> what? >> oops, that wasn't very smart. >> reporter: now it's one thing to leave, say, a cup of coffee on the roof and take off, but the gun apparently didn't fall off. a source confirms to cnn that one officer was unloading his car in the precinct garage. he set the rifle down on the trunk of a second car, then

forget it. a lieutenant came out, drove off with a gun on the trunk. she parked a few blocks away to stop at starbucks. that's when passersby saw the rifle. it it feels like a seen out of "there's something about mary." ben stiller forgets the dog on a roof and drives off. now, when police do that with a gun, it would most likely be considered minor misconduct and result in a reprimand or a suspension of a day or two. of course there are worse things you could leave on top of your car. on the mtv series "jackass," they put a baby doll on the roof. >> stop your car! hey! hey! stop! >> reporter: to see how folks would react. >> hey!

>> hey! >> oh, my god! >> stop, stop! >> oh, my [ bleep ]! >> reporter: the real mystery is how did that assault rifle not fall off on the drive to starbucks? truth be told, we had to do a couple of takes because our coffee cup stuck. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. it's 9:00 a.m. on the east coast, 6:00 a.m. out west. thanks for joining us. the defense may rest as early as today in the casey anthony murder trial. george anthony's alleged mistress on the stand now. stockpiles of toxic and radioactive waste are safe and secure in new mexico. and this morning a fresh measure of the economy. the number of americans filing their first unemployment claims

dips slightly to 428,000, a decan crease of about 1,000 from the week before. right now at the pentagon, live pictures. it it's a farewell tribute to robert gates. this is the last day on the job for the outgoing defense secretary who oversaw two wars and military operations around the world. president obama set to deliver the remarks. we will take it live as soon as he steps up to the mike. less than 24 hours after president obama ripped congress for taking too much time off of work, the senate leader responds. just minutes ago, democrat harry reid canceled next week's holiday recess so lawmakers can focus on the debt crisis and that approaching deadline. kate bolduan actually broke the news to us. >> reporter: senate majority leader harry reid seemed to be jumping off the july fourth theme when he made the announcement saying with liberty comes great responsibility and because of that the senate will forgo -- read that as canceling

their july fourth scheduling break, which would be next week, in order to stay in town because they simply have too much work to do, having to do with negotiating and trying to strike a deal on the debt cuts to cut the deficit. but the senate majority leader turned very quickly, kyra, to criticizing his colleagues. >> this is about baying the bill for everything we already bought, for example, tax breaks for millionor airs and billionaires, a war of choice in iraq, war in afghanistan. and what they aren't saying is what the consequences would be if such annor irresponsible decision to not pay our accrued bills. >> reporter: this of course as you say, kyra, comes just after the are president publicly pretty of slammed congress for taking breaks while this issue, the negotiations, issue of raising the debt ceiling remains

up in the air. this was targeted at house republicans, the entire house is out this week and will be back next. it seems the senate is feeling the first consequence of this. a lot of this has to do with how it looks to the public. the bottom line is, fact of the matter is, the people at the negotiating people, a small group of people, the top leaders in the house and senate in both parties, they don't really need both the house antdz full senate in town to strike this deal. but a lot of this has to do with how this lock looks and the negotiations continue. >> kate, thanks. this morning in france, pretty terrifying moment for it that country's president. someone actually reaches out and grabs nichololas sarkozy, nearl pulling him to the ground. zain verjee has the video. do we know anything about this guy who grabbed the president? >> no.

we're just waiting for more information. let's look at the video and see what happened. the french president, nicolas sarkozy was in the south of france and basically he was meeting with mayors. and then look what happens there. he works the line to greet people. he shakes their hands. three of his bodyguards just rush to this one guy who yanks him violently, just grabs his jacket. you can see the french president so visibly shaken, his guards pummel the guy to the ground. they arrest him. but this is a worrying situation that the security let something happen like this. the french president is up for reelection, too, in about ten months or so. and you can see, here he is, just working the crowds there. and again, look at what happens. >> obviously, this man has been taken into custody, yes. is he being investigated? meanwhile, do we know where the president is now, if he's continuing on with his day or if

he's behind closed doors, shall we say? >> reporter: he's continuing his meetings there with the mayors in the southern part of the country. i mean, of course he's shaken. i mean, when do you see the president of a country being treated like this and not have his security detail around him? so he hasn't been hurt. just shaken. in terms of the man who was arrested, we don't have any more information on him. we'll slegt. look at this video and just figure out how this happened. it but it was just one guy who violently got hold of the president and just shoved him. but the french president has not been that popular lately either, kyra. there's a lot of hostility toward him and we're seeing some of that. >> thanks. a joyful homecoming for two french journalists held in afghanistan for a year and a half. mill tanlts had threatened to kill them and their translator. it's still unclear if demands were met to secure the release. as we speak, the royal

newlywed s crossing the pond on route to canada. they'll spend over a week crisscrossing the country. first stop, the capital, ottawa. max foster is there, of course. what do they have planned, max? possibly a little hockey? >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. the first stop is ott ra. this is going to be the big moment, a huge concert there on the stage and the couple will be sitting in a royal box just to the side. it's going to be great. it is for canada day. this whole area is it going to be full of crowds, possibly wearing some of the merchandise on sale here in ottawa. kailt and william, we love you, all that sort of stuff. we'll see what the crowds are like when they arrive in three

hours' time. a huge media machine of course operating here, a camera points at us, us pointing at that camera. and studios up there on the other side of this huge sort of contraption. it's going to be a really exciting day i think here. an exciting eight days for canada. we'll wait and see if they get all of the it attention here. >> what are the canadians telling you? i bet they want to see that street hockey game. >> reporter: yeah, exactly fblt they want to see what she's going to be wearing. the interesting thing is, we've got images of them leaving london actually just a couple of hours ago. you'll see them getting into the military jet. that is because they are the canadian royal family as well as the brit arish royal family. they are coming over the atlantic under canadian government control. so in canada they feel they're part of the country in a constitutional way. later on, though, the weekend

they'll be going to quebec city where there's a lot of anti-monarchy feelings and demonstrations expected there. we'll see how the anti-monarchy feeling is as well as the pro monarchy feeling. from canada, the couple heads to california for a working visit to l.a. friday, they'll have an event supporting uk trade and a reception. saturday prince william plays in a charity polo match and later a black-tie dinner. then they'll visit skid row. then back to the airport. emotional testimony in the casey anthony murder trial. casey listens as george anthony's supposed mistress testifies. medical marijuana. cash-strapped cities think it could be a cure for their sickly budgets.

but now some of those plans up in the smoke.

straight to the pentagon now. the president of the united states with his farewell tribute to sec def robert gates. >> whether he might stay on to serve an eighth president, he offered the answered, inconceivable! why did he stay? i know there are days when bob asks that himself. i'm sure becky asked that also.

but i believe i know the answer because i've seen this man in those moments of debate and decision, when a person's character is revealed. in the oval office, if the situation room, in the theefate of war. you see, if you look past all of bob's flashiness and bravado, his sharp attire, had his love for the washington limelight, then what you see is a man that i've come to know and respect. a humble american patriot, a man of common sense and decency. quite simply, one of our nation's finest public servants.

bob, today you're not only one of the longest serving secretaries of defense in american history but it's also clear that you've been one of the best. why did bob gates serve? our nation is at war, and to know bob is to know his profound sense of duty, to country, to our security and most of all to our men and women who get up every day and put on america's uniform and put their lives on the line to keep us safe and to keep us free. when the outcome of the war in iraq was in doubt, bob gates presided over the extraordinary efforts it that helped restore order. over the past 2 1/2 years we've

removed more than 100,000 troops from iraq, ended our combat mission, and are responsibly ending that war. when the fight against al qaeda and our efforts in afghanistan needed new focus, bob gates heed us twice the strategy that has finally put al qaeda on a path to defeat and ensures that after began stan never again becomes a source for attacks against our nation. when institutional inertia kept funding systems our troops didn't need, he challenged it it. speakinged hard truths and saving hundreds of billions of dollars that can be invested in the 21st century military.

bob gates made it his mission to make sure this department is serving the troops in the field as well as they serve us. and today we see the lifesaving difference he made in the mine-resistant vehicles and the unmanned aircraft, the shorter medevac times in afghanistan, in our determination to give our wounded warriors the world-class care they serve. bob, this may be your greatest legacy of all. the lives you saved and the confidence you dpaif our men and women in battle who knew that there was a secretary of defense who had their backs and who loved them and who fought for them and who did everything in his power to bring themg home safely. let me also thank becky for her extraordinary support of our extraordinary military families. she's been there day in and day

out. and in many ways i know both bob and becky consider our troops to be like their own sons and daughters. bob, your sense of responsibility to them is profound. it's a responsibility we've shared as leaders who have served every day in a time of war. we're the ones who send them into harm's way. we visited them in the field knowing that we are the reasoner they're there. we've stood in solemn reat dover when our fallen shoulders have made their final journey home. we've held their families in our arms as they grieve their loved ones so our loved ones can be secure. we know the heavy wages of war and we know america owes obligations to all who served. so today we not only pay tribute to a remashlg publmarkable publ

servant. we celebrate our nation. i believe the life of bob gates is a less son, especially to young americans, a lesson that public service is an honorable calling. that we can pass our country better and stronger to those who follow. our next secretary of defense it, leon panetta, has subscribed to this same life of service and i'm confident that he, too, will lead this department with clear vision and a steady hand. in his willingness to come as the first secretary of defense to serve under presidents of both parties, the integrity of bob gates is also a reminder, especially the folks here in

washington, that civility and respe respectful discourse and citizenship over partisanship are not quaint relics of a bys gone rear era. they are the timeless virtues that we need now more than ever. for whatever differences of party or ideology we may have, we can only keep america strong if we remember what keeps america great, our ability to come together and work together as americans for a common purpose. finally, as we face difficult challenges around the world and here at home, let today be a reminder that the united states will meet the tests of our time. we remain at war, but today fewer americans are in harm's way and we will bring the wars we're in to a responsible end. we will make hard fiscal choices

but we'll do so responsibly. and as commander in chief, i'm determine thatted that our armed forces will always remain the best trained,est best led, the best equipped fighting for us in history. and in an uncertain world, the demands are heed rership. the united states of america and armed forces will remain the fwraitest force for freedom and security that the world has ever known. this is the america, strong and confident, to which bob gate has twoet twoeted his life. this is the america toing which we rededicate ourselves. i can think of no better way to express my appreciation to someone who i have come to admire and whom i consider a friend, i can think of no better way to express the gratitude of

the nation for bob gates than with a very special recognition o. bob, this is not in the program, but i would ask you to please stand. as president, the highest honor that i can bestow on a civilian is the presidential medal of freedom. it it speaks to the values we cherish as a people and the ideals we strive for as a nation. and today it is my great privilege to present the presidential medal of freedom to america's 22nd secretary of defense, robert m. gates. will the military please read the citation. >> the presidential medal of freedom to robert m. gates. our nation's 22nd secretary of defense, robert m. gates, has selflessly dedicated his life to

ensuring the security of the american people. he has served eight presidents, of both parties, with unwavering patriotism. as a champion of our men and women in uniform and their families, he has led the department of defense with courage and confidence in our nation's wars with afghanistan and iraq and ensure our armed services are better prepared for the couldn't flikts of today and tomorrow. the united states honors robert m. gates for his extraordinary leadership and for a lifetime of service and devotion to our nation.

>> thank you, mr. president, for those kind words and for honoring me in this department by your presence here today. i'm deeply honored and moved by your presentation of this this award. it is a big surprise, but we should have known couple of months ago you've gotten pretty good at this covert ops stuff. mr. vice president, distinguished guests, colleagues, friends, thank you for being here this morning. first i'd like to congratulate leon panetta on his recent confirmation. right after the 2008 election leon wrote an op-ed suggesting president-elect obama retain me as secretary of defense. so when president obama asked

for my recommendation for successor, i returned the favor. seriously, this department and this country is fortunate that a statesman of leon panetta's cal better and experience has agreed to serve once again and at such an important time. my parting advice for leon is to get his office just the way he likes it it. he may be here longer than he thinks. i'd like to thank the members of congress with us today. i appreciate the gracious and support offive treatment accorded to me by senators and representatives of both parties these past 4 1/2 years. even when there were disagreements over policies and priorities, the congress always came through for our men and women of uniform, especially programs that protect and take care of troops and their families. as you may have noticed over the past few weeks, i've had my say on some weighty topics.

so on this, the last stop on what is dubbed "the long good-b good-bye," i'd like to spend a few minute talking about the men and women i've been fortunate enough to work with in this job. i'd like to start with the two presidents whom i've been privileged to serve in this lowell. serving as secretary of about defense has been the greatest honest and privilege of my life. and for that i'll always be grateful, first to president bush for giving me this historic opportunity and for the support he provided during those difficult early months and years on the job. and then it to president obama for his confidence in taking the had historic step of asking many me, someone he did not know at all, to stay on and for his continuing trust ever since. the transition from the bush to the obama administration was the first of its kind from one

political party to another during war in nearly foifrt years. the cleagialty, thoroughness of the bush/obama movement was a tribute of character. i've been fortunate that both presidents provided me an excellent team of appointees. when i took this post, the first and best decision i made was to retain every single single official i inherited from secretary rumsfeld, including his front office staff. likewise i've been fortunate to receive another first class of senior officials from president obama. they have provided me superb counsel and support on a range of issues and strategic initiatives. these and other achievements, indeed, anything of consequence achieved in this department, required respectful collaboration between the civilian and military

leadership, which has been a source of strength in our country. i've received wise, with forthright counsel. i'll always be grateful for the candor, cooperation and friendship. above all, though, i want to recognize and thank first general pete pace, who was chair map of the joint chiefs when i arrived and whose counsel and friendship got me off to a strong start. then of course my battle buddy of nearly four years, admirable mike mullen. without mike's advice to me, his effective leadership of the uniformed military and our close partnership, the record of the last several years i think would have been very different. mike was never show about disagreeing with me, but unfailingly steadfast of loyal to me and to the presidents he served once a decision was made. he is the epitome of a mill lear leader and officer, a man of extreme integrity, a great partner and a good friend.

a practice and spirit of cooperation is equally important in releaseships with other elements of the government, especially with those dealing with development and diplomacy. the blows struck against al qaeda culminating in the bin laden raid represent the remarkable fusion of intelligence and on the ground fight. with respect to the state department, my views have, as they say in this town, evolved over the years. i started out my interagency experience in washington, d.c., as a staff eveer on president nixon's national security council. as you might expect, the nixon white house was not exactly a hotbed for add miraculous of the foreign service. generally thought of as last guys for first names who occasionally took time out of their busy day to implement the president's foreign policy. for much of my professional life the secretaries of state and

defense were barely speaking to p wynne another. in the we've become cherished colleagues and good friends. i suppose that giving a big speech calling for more money for the state department didn't exactly hour, but we should never forget the it diplomats and development experts from state and aid are making risk ares in some of the planet's least hospitable places. i speak with all of our military in appreciating the contributions they're making every day to our success in the missions in afghanistan, iraq and elsewhere around the globe. in doing my utmost to support the troops downrange, i spent a good deal voicing frustrations to the pentagon bureau crassescy. i did it knowing that those

usually were the uniformed men and women. i understand and appreciate the challenges these public servants nais and the sacrifices they make. what they accomplish does not receive the attention and the thanks that it deserves. so know that i leave this post grateful for what our military does. during a time of war, the top priority of everyone in this building ultimate must be getting those fighting at the front what they need to survive and suck seeds on the ballotsfield and to be properly taken care of when they get home. i've spent much of my last two months visiting with these troops. first in the u.s. and then in afghanistan. though i was only able to meet a small sample of those who deployed union range, it it was important to me to look them in the eye last of one last time and let thex know how much i care about them and how much

they and their families do for our country. looking forward to this moment, i knew it it would be very difficult for me to adequately express my feelings for these young men and women. so yesterday a personal message from me to all of our service men and women around the world was published and distributed through military channels. i'll just here that i will think of these young war yorsz, the ones who keep on fighting, the ones who never made it back, until the end of my days. finally of course as i was couldn't freight plating this moernlgt i thought about something becky told me in january 2005 when i was asked to be the first director of national tell jenls. i was really wrestling with the decision and finally told her she could make it it a lot easier if she just said she didn't want to go back to d.c. she thought a moment and rep replied, we have to do what you have to do. that is something military

spouses have said in one form or another a million times since 9/11, upon learning that their loved one received a deployment notice or is considering another tour of service. just under five years ago, when i was provoed by the same president, again to serve, becky's response was the same. as much as she loved text tex a & m and aggie sports and our home in washington state and as much as she could do without another stint in this washington, she made it easy for me to say yes to this job, to do what i had to do to answer the call to serve when so much was at stake for america and her sons and daughters in two wars. well, becky, we're really going home this time. your love and support has sustained me and kept me grounded since the day we first met on a blind date in bloomington, indiana, 45 years ago. shortly i'll walk out of my office for the last time as defense secretary. it's empty of all of my personal

items and mementos, but we'll still have looming over my desk the portraits of two of my heroes and role models, generals dwight d. eisenhower and george c. marshall. it is from mafr shal that i take a closing thought, first delivered more than six decades ago during the opening years of the cold war. addressing new university graduates, marshall extolled what he considered the great musts of that generation. they were, he said, the development of a sense of responsibility for world order and security, the development of a sense of the overwhelming importance of the country's acts and failures to act. now, as when marshall first uttered those words, a sense of america's global responsibilities and what we do and do not do remain the great musts of this dangerous new century. it is the sacred duty and thust to all of us proven to serve in

it duties of leadership and responsibility. a duty we should never take lightly. a duty have every confidence you will continue to fulfill. thank you, god bless our military and the country they so nobly serve. >> last day on the job for outgoing defense secretary robert gates who oversaw two wars and military operations around the world. of course, we expected him to talk about the troops, how much he admires our men and women in uniform. also talking about the cure crass bureaucracy in the midst of the pentagon and dealing with all of that. and of course a shotout to his wife. but the surprise that came today was the president of the united states giving bob gates the presidential medal of freedom. coming up, president obama ripped congress over the lack of a budget deal. he said, my kids get their

homework done, ywhy can't you? as you can imagine, we will tackle that in our political buzz.

checking top stories. someone grabbed french president nicolas sarkozy. his bodyguards wrestled the would-be attacker to the ground.

the defense may rest as early as today in the casey anthony murder trial. jonch anthony's alleged mistress, crystal holloway has been on the stand this morning. firefighters making progress against a wildfire burning near los alamos, new mexico. nearly 10,000 people aren't alloweded to come back home. a law enforcement official say there's no sign of terrorism in a stowaway case. a man allegedly flew without a valid boarding passes or i.d. your rapidfire look at the political topics of the day. three questions, 20 seconds on the clock. first question, guise. we've got the big headline yesterday from president obama when our new white house chief correspondent jessica yellin asked about the debt ceiling. take a listen. >> malia and sasha generally

finish their homework a day ahead of time. they don't wait until the night before. they're not pulling all-nighters. they're 13 and 10. you know, congress can do the same thing. if you know you've got to do something, just do it. >> well, he ripped congress there. do we say good-bye to any hope of a deal by august 2nd, sherry? >> you know, i'm glad the president is finally on board and wants to get to work. it's been his on congressional democrats have complained he's been awol on the debt ceiling talks. the fact he wants to dig in and get to work, if that means congress has to stay in town, fine. we have to do some special things to work around this president and if the president finally wants to get serious, i'll all for keeping congress in town. >> marimaria? >> i think it's completely up to the republicans. that's exactly the point that president obama made yesterday. look, two weeks ago it was

majority leader eric cantor who left in a huff because he wasn't getting what he wanted. my children, 4 and 6, don't even do that. senator reid announced today he was keeping everybody in to make this happen. democrats have been showing leadership and the president, not the republicans. >> errol? >> as the veteran of about a quarter century of all-nighters right up until my last night in law school, i'm not sure what he was getting at. look, the point of political break is i would advise congress as well as the media to keep their schedule clear the weekend of july 29th. i think it will go down to the wire. stephen colbert testifying today, fun my super pack is what he's saying. here's how he explains it. >> tonight, i await the fec's decision on my super pac. change is coming and i hope a lot of large bills, too. >> maria? >> what's the real message here?

>> the real not so subtle message here, kyra, is the obscene amount of money, undiskmroezed money, that has been allowed in our politics today because of the citizens united decision. that's exactly what has prompted all of the riff that colbert has done on his late night show that has become so popular. it is an obscene amount of money that is corrosive, debilitating our democracy. i think it's bad for elections and the american people. >> sherry? >> you know, i think it's fine if he's drawing attention to this so this is our opportunity to sort of push the limits and see where the problems are, the loopholes are, where they need to tighten up. i'm all for sunlight in that regard. but first and foremost he's doing this for ratings. he's a comedian, a pretend newsman. let's get real. we know what this is for. more power to him. >> errol? >> i think the situation is so bad it almost defies parody. that's what he has proved. there's actually an interesting hook in it, too, is that a

number of media commentators run pacs, super pacs. they are doing stuff that potentially would look a lot like what he's talking about. it's really not that far from reality. >> guys, buzzer beater, ten seconds each. today we said farewell to defense secretary robert gates. we just ran it live on cnn. what should his retirement gift be, sherry? >> well, he got a nice big thank you from president obama, which is well deserved because he made the president look good and helped him pivot from irresponsible campaign to one of continuation of the bush/cheney policy. goodor for gates for making obama look good. >> maria? >> i think in addition to the great present that he received from this president, i think we should give him a very large cash award that he can slowly withdraw between now and 2014 without any debilitating effect on his bank account. >> errol? >> i would give him a bottle of that indelible purple ink they use for the elections in iraq,

his major accomplishment was the surge that made it possible to have democracy in iraq now. >> i was waiting to hear what kind of whiskey you were going to name there, errol. errol, maria, sherry, thanks so much. >> thank you. also ahead, the cash p crop of marijuana. not just for stoners and criminals anymore. some cash-strapped cities actually flirting with the idea to make a little money for their city.

all right. checking stories cross country. this out of far river, mass. just hard to believe. a woman's body goes unnoticed at the bottom of a public pool for two days. so now dozens of pools are closed, lifeguards are on

administrative leave and an investigation has begun. a hoss taj call turned hoax and call your county florida teen living at the address says he was playing an xbox game with a gamer from canada. the next thing he knew, a s.w.a.t. team was on his diop step. his gaming it buddy now expected of making the false report p. in illinois, robbers with a conscience? a church group was robbed at knifepoint in columbia, but the following day the thiefs apologized, even returned some of the stolen loot. apparently the gang members felt guilty when they found out the students were there doing mission work. better late than never in louisville, kentucky, when flooding meant a two-day delay for the annual steamboat race. how fast do steamboats really go, by the way? congrats to the winner. we all know foreclosures did a number on our economy.

now lenders are making big payouts that will help settle investors' claims but won't come close to settling the score. the latest? bank of america which is going to be shelling out billions of bucks. who better to break it all down than the former sheriff of wall street himself, eliot spitzer. home oe home everyones saying, where the hell is our justice? >> that's right. what we have going on here is bank of america admitting that it mislead a lot of investors when it marketed these shady loans. what i want to see is the documents that led bank of america to pay $8.5 billion up to 20 billion at the end of the day because they clearly are now admitting that what they were doing was fundamentally fraudulent and that the loans they were marketing were bad loins. but the people who were sold these loans who were the subject of these misrepresentations, the homeowners are still paying on mortgages that haven't been reformed, that haven't been written down. that's why our economy is in bad shape, why the housing market is in bad shaich. so investors are taking care of investors but the banks are not take being care of the

homeowners. that's who we've got to think about if we get our economy going again. >> you say you want to see the documents. what is it you would be looking for in the document snz what could the documents reveal? >> i want to see what representations were made by countrywide. remember, bank of america bought countrywide. countrywide itself had issued the mortgages. that's where a lot of the ugly, nasty stuff xured. i want to know what countrywide was saying about the quality of the mortgages, whot borrowers were, what fraud was going on when they were selling the mortgages that led bank of america to kind of throw p up and say, we're guilty, we've got to pay the investors who were sold these collateralized debt obligations and all the other high-tech stuff. we sold that to them with misrepresentations about the kbault quality of the debt. i want to see what the misrepresentations were, who knew about it because that should also lead to prosecutions. remember, there have been virtually no prosecutions of people involved in the sale of this stuff. i want to see what documents there are that indicate who knew what, when, and why about how

ugly this stuff was and how much fraud was committed. >> what else can we see in "the arena" tonight, 8:00 p.m. eastern? >> an exciting evening, we've got david stockman, president reagan's budget director. incredibly smart. he called the republicans to the carpet way back when saying, you know what? this supply side economics isn't working. it it will lead to deficits. he's been right about virtually everything he's ever said. but interesting tonight he's talking about china. he says that chinese economy may be heading for a crash. we'll have that conversation with him because, remember, right now in the world economy china is driving the engine. it it's the chinese growth at about 8%, 9%, 10% a year that's permitting us to export, driving growth around the world. if they collapse, it will be ugly. he thinks they're overheating too much. it will be an important conversation. >> eliot spitzer, 8:00 tonight, thanks. here is some other stories developing later today. in boston, accused mob boss

james "whitey" bulger has a scheduled court 00 peerns at the bottom of the hour. 2:00 p.m. in washington, lawmakers take up the topic of proposed u.s. troop withdrawals from afghanistan. in that same hour, the crew of the space shulette "discovery" holds a news knks of conference with their final mission. cnn is placed to watch the final launch, a week from friday. coverage begins 10:00 a.m. eastern. how about a pot farm to cure your city's budget crisis? that's exactly what's going on in one small town in california. just north of sacramento, it it considered a deal with the medical marijuana collective. delta allied growers promised the city p up to $600,000 if it could create a pot farm on the edge of town. well, it it created quite a deba debate, so much so thattor prosecutors stepped in. now the city officials squashed the idea. bruce pope is the city manager. still isn't givie ining p up. bruce, a pot farm to save the city.

oakland gave this a shot as well. is this a sign of just how desperate cities are becoming? >> this is more a sign of the results of proposition 215 passed by the voters that made medical marijuana legal in the state, and the city was approached by numerous applicants and delta allied growers was one applicant that the city felt we could approve. >> so you had an attorney an your staff, though, and surely that attorney warned you of the gray areas here legally. because you went full force, then all of a sudden had to squash the deal because you realized about the legal implications. >> well, we understood the legal implications going forward because, as i said, proposition 215 made it legal, in my opinion state of california has totally dropped the ball. they should have regulated medical marijuana the same way they regulate alcohol, then

cities and counties would make land use decisions. that is what we do. we zone property, we approve developments. because the state has done nothing other than adopt what is referred to as the attorney general guidelines, which in my opinion are very are weweak, we no guidance here and there is conflict between state and federal law. so we used our legal tools, our standard plining tools to make the necessaries approvals while maipting publ i maintaining public safety and maintaining a secure operation that would deal only with the growing distribution of medical marijuana. >> so are you -- do you still have hope for this? do you still want to push forward with this idea? and if so, you know, how many jobs are we talking? how much money? could this really help save your city? >> well, yes it would.

most cities in california today are are economically strapped due to the economy and the activities of the governor and state legislature trying to seize local funds. so any kind of development that produces income is a benefit to a city. now, our city isleton is a very are small city. therefore, 350 or $650,000 of new revenue would be extremely significant. but you have ato remember also, with a development sux as thch , there are added responsibilities. we'd have to increase the police force. we'd have to modernize the police force. and all of those issues were addressed in the development agreement and were to be paid for by the developer. so we felt we addressed this

logically and we put the proper controls in place. the district attorney disagrees with us. >> we'll see what happens. we'll definitely follow it. bruce pope, appreciate your time today. >> thank you. > an international airline boots kids from first class. we'll tell you more about the baby ban coming up.

and the drama in the casey

anthony murder trial continues this morning. jurors heard testimony from a woman who claims she had an affair with casey's dad. right now a private investigator is on the stand. live pictures out of orlando, florida. let's talk some more with holly hughes, a dricriminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. first of all, the questioning with the alleged m.i. ed mistre proof behind that. >> to prove george anthony is a liar. kyra, it it fizzled and it's a big dud. i don't think it was as sensational as the defense wanted it to be. they downplayed it and we know jeff ashton. he got up on cross-examination and did his thing of t. he's not a dog with a bone. he's a dog with the whole cow, kyra. he took her apart like he did with everybody else. he says, you know what? you got paid to sell your story, right? uh-huh. and who did you tell your story to? well, it wasn't about selling the story, but the "national enquirer" gave you $4,000? well, yeah.

well, didn't other represeutabl news organizations get ahold of you? well, yeah but i thought they were the best to get the truth out. seriously? with that's a lack of judgment she had cbs and all the big guys calling you. i went with the national inquire rerer. because they were going to pay you, right? jeff ashton puts her on the defensive shows she has a monetary reason. she befriended them after they were in the news, after they were big public figures and he pointed it out. >> casey anthony, this is what a lot of people are wondering, will she take the stand? >> wow, i've got to tell you baiszed on what i'm seeing from the defense team, they are trying everything in the world not to put her on the stand. that's why they want to prove george is a liar, because let's face it, when the judge charges the jury and says, you get to decide credibility. if they believe anything that river cruz said, then george must be lying about search

things and they can say, he's lying about anything, he lied when he denies sexual abuse, he's lying when he said he has nothing to abodo with caylee's body. if they do, remember what i say about jeff ashton? we'll watch a live autopsy because he'll eviscerate her ff ff mitt romney going after president obama on the economy and using a pretty symbolic backdr backdrop. that's what jim acosta is talking about from washington. >> this goes to show you there are paifrls in hosting political events at factories. the president went to a factory in december of 2009 to talk about the economy and to talk about his stimulus plan and what it might do for the economy. well, earlier this year that factory is closed and, lo and behold, mitt romney, the gop front-runner right now, is holding an event in allentown, pennsylvania, to highlight the fact that this factory has closed down.

here is just a brief clip from a web video romney put out. >> good to be back in pennsylvania. i just came from allentown metal works where i had a chance to visit with workers there. >> the allentown metal works is set to close its doors on friday. this was hailed as a symbol of hope by president barack obama last year when he promoted his jobs plan. >> so an interesting tactic for romney. he's not going after the other gop kand datzs right now, he's going directly at the president. and on the lighter side of politics, a kicker for our ticker, kyra, you could call it. over at the fec, the federal election commission, there was a special guest a man by the name of stephen colbert. >> did he make a scene? >> he did make a scene. he's been trying to form his own super-pac. and guesw