\s 3pm \s 3pm /e welcome to cnn news room. i'm brooke baldwin. today can only be described as the best days of our lives. that is the first word we even now heard from the families of the recently released american hikers. it cost a million but today iran finally set shane bauer and josh fattal free. the newly released americans are inside this white toyota as it left the prison today. that toyota is a diplomatic car registered to oman where the two americans are headed. in fact, we're being told they're just about perhaps 20 or so minutes away from landing in oman, and then another part of the story. there's a timing to this whole release. coincidence or not. this came as iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad entered

united nations building in new york. let's go straight to mohammed jamjo jamjoom. how close are these two americans from touching down where you are? >> reporter: well, brooke, we're here at the royal airport. armani officials are saying that the plane should touch down within the next 20 to 30 minutes. we also learned from the families of josh fattal and shane bauer that the families are indeed here, that sarah shourd, the third american hiker who was detained along with the two men and the fiancee of shane bauer, she's here as well. they're eagerly awaiting the reunion. we do not see any of the families yet or any of the hikers. but clearly there's a sense of anticipation here. we got word two hours ago the omani officials were involved in

a negotiation to secure the release of the two hikers. not too much surprise considering there was some anticipation that they would be involved, that they paid the bail because last year when sarah shourd was released, nad her bail and her first stop was here. >> this is terrific. obviously this is breaking news here and you are on the phone. we do have a camera there and we will get that signal up and running as soon as possible and hopefully bring that much anticipated arrival live to our viewers. i want to look down because this is more from the family as youm. they say we've waited 26 months for this moment. we're all -- we want nothing more than to wrap shane and josh in our arms. mohammed, do you know once they touch down where you are what happens next, where do they go, who might they be talking to? >> reporter: omani officials

tell us they'll be here for the next 22 to 48 hours. they're now in the custody of the omani, that they'll be turned over to the diplomatic personnel in the american embassy and after that they will be whisked off in the united states and arrive in the next few days. again, not confirmed but the american officials here haven't been speaking to it. they haven't confirmed that but the families of the hikers, they are here. sarah shourd is here, and everybody is really anticipating this reunion is probably going to be very emotional because sarah shourd and shane bauer got engaged when they were both in prison in iran. this is the moment she's been waiting for, the families have been waiting for and they're waiting to see when the families will be there to appear to greet the two hikers. >> i talked to both of the mothers of both josh and shane just a couple of months ago and that kept repeating we're hopeful, cautiously optimistic

but so many times they thought they would be released and they have not been. also i want to let our viewers know that the pretty, president obama addressed united nations assembly earlier today and he spoke about shane and josh. we're working on turning that sound out to you to play as well. in fact, we have it now. let's listen. >> wonderful news. we are thrilled. and i could not feel better for the familyies and those moms. so a wonderful day for them and for us. >> so the president is thrilled. that's the word there. mohammed, we know that the bail has been paid. it was set at half a million dollars apiece. who paid that bail? >> reporter: well, brooke, conventional wisdom hat it now here your diplomats and namts believe it was the omanis. they have not confirmed that yet. even last year they never officially confirmed that. it was officials with the obama

administration who confirmed that they had paid the bail of sarah shourd. that was $500,000. a lot of people are asking why oman is involved in there. they're one of the low key players, but oman is also a diplomatic rarity and it has really good relations with the u.s. and iran. there's not a lot of countries in this part of the country that have good relations with iran, especially countries that are part of the gulf cooperation council. oman is really the go-to country when eight's trying to solve disputes between iran and the western u.s., countries like the u.s. who can't speak diplomatically to iran, don't have a presence there. and right now oman is seen as a country that's trying to really raise the profile on the geopolitical stage, and to be seen as a country that can play a mediation role at a time when it can help with such strife. brooke? >> i would ask you to please stand by, you and your crew.

we're going to get that signal up and running. the moment you spot that plane flying in and about to land there, we're going to bring our viewers that image live, of course. this has been 26 months in the making. we all want to see that moment when shane and josh are embraced by their mothers and the fiancee sarah shourd there on the ground. a tremendous occasion for all families involved. mohammed, thank you very much. if anyone knows how these two hikers right now, it's the american journalist held in that very same, notorious iranian prison for five months during 2009. we'll be speaking with her live about her experience and her conditions behind bars and what this moment must be feeling like for shane and josh, what these first 24 hours of freedom must taste like. that is northwest. also developing news at this hour, we're getting wind of what president obama will be told when he meets with president

abbas in a couple of hours from now. palestinian officials tell cnn that abbas will give u.n. security kocouncil a letter requesting statehood for palestine. but -- and this is an important point here -- mr. abbas does not expect the united nations to take medial reaction on this question. let's go to richard roth, our senior u.s. correspondent. with this letter i understand they'll give the u.n. several weeks to respond. could this be seen as a win for the obama administration? >> well, maybe just delaying more intrigue and trouble and potential problems for the region. we don't really know the exact timing the palestinian diplomat telling reporters a short time ago, they're not bluffing, they want to give this a try, they're going to see what happens in the security council. at the same time they could also be applying to the general

assembly after this effort for nonfull-state status. either way, the palestinians are determined to challenge the united states. they're willing to test the potential u.s. veto and the security council. they think they have the required nine countries who would approve this statehood application. that's the minimum votes they would need. president obama addressing the general assembly today spoke largely about the middle east, frustrated about the lack of progress between the two sides. and really opposed the diplomatic language the palestinian statehood application at the u.n. >> peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the united nations. if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now. ultimately it is the israelis and the palestinians who must live side by side. ultimately it's the israelis and palestinians, not us, who must agree on the issues that divide

them. >> french president sarkozy speaking after president obama later in the day said a united states veto on the statehood application of the security council would cause violence in the middle eecht. he favors observer state status for the palestinian status at the u.n. there are differing opinions as to how france might vote, indeed, at the security council on this measure. brooke. >> do we know -- i know we heard the president say he wants them side by side, he wants these two entities to reach some sort of agreement. but, richard, we've been talking about this for decades. are direct talks even a possibility? >> well, the palestinian diplomat says we've been talking to them. but it's been months again as everybody knows between face-to-face talks.

both meeting with the u.s. president. there's always a chance. but there's wider discussion. they would like to see an immediate freeze again on settlements. israel has other issues and there's hamas who controls the gaza strip. they still do not favor israel as a state and has not joined with their palestinian brethren in this statehood application. they don't really favor it. mr. abbas will be speaking to the general assembly on friday. >> richard roth. richard, thank you very much. now this. there are two troy davis cases. there is the legal case, the case in court, and the public relations case. >> the former prosecutor in the troy davis case says he's guilty, but not everyone agrees with that, despite people questioning his guilt, troy davis stands to die buy lethal injection in a couple of hours. we're on that.

also we're keeping a close eye on a plane that is soon approaching oman as the two hikers who have been in prison in iran for the past 26 months, they are about to land. we're going to hopefully carry that for you live right here on cnn. state right there. (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. today i own 165 wendy's restaurants. and i get my financing from ge capital. but i also get stuff that goes way beyond banking. we not only lend people money, we help them save it. [ junior ] ge engineers found ways to cut my energy use. [ cheryl ] more efficient lighting helps junior stay open later...

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daiichi nuclear power plant. it's just after 4:00 a.m. there. you remember this particular plant had to be shut down after major damage it sustained after that earthquake and tsunami hit back in march. now roke is blasting that area with heavy rainfall as well, which has halted reconstruction efforts and some worry the downpour could wash radiation contaminated waters out of the plant. >> reporter: of course there is still vast pools of radiation that still has to be treated within these reactors. remember for months cool water had to be poured on the reactors to try to cool them down, and, of course, heavy rain could cause that water to overflow and maybe go into the sea or go into the groundwater. also cnn ireporters have been giving us amazing video images of roke there. this is tokyo, the old town district there. trees, bicycles were knocked down. he also says he saw a couple of

close calls. you saw the flying umbrellas that are often left on the side of the street to be picked up by garbage collectors there. one more ireporter video i want to share with you shot from his cell. from a sixth floor balcony in tokyo. the storm knocked down trees, trash cans, rattled his windows. chad myers, you and i were talking about this just yesterday. has the worst passed? >> yes. >> okay. >> the storm has moved offshore north of sendai. >> well, the tsunami and earthquake. >> the biggest problem i think for the people of tokyo yesterday -- >> the wind? >> they shut down the trains. i have never been to tokyo. but the talk about the trains is legendary. where literally they have to push you into the train because so many people are using the trains, so many millions of people go back and forth to home and work on the trains and those trains were closed for hours and hours. back operating in some spots, but it's still the flooding

that's going to occur. i know the wind is done. but remember what happened in vermont and new york and new hampshire? even though the storm was gone, the damage was not gone. look at this, the tokushima prefecture, 23.54 inches of rain in 24 hours. those are totals like we had in new york and vermont and new hampshire. and ikawa at 16.34. that was in a few hours' time. where is it going? the damage from wind is done, but there's a lot of freshwater rain along the mountain spine of central japan. all of that water has to run back down into the land and into the ocean. even in sendai right there where the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant is, there's water all up the hill and it has to run back down the hill, and authorities are concerned that that leaking radioactive water will leak right back into the ocean or go into the groundwater. it's gone for now, but at least

for them it's been a tough, tough year. >> i know. i am absolutely feeling iffer japan. chad, thank you. also we have that live signal. i want to share it with you now, guys. i'm being told if there is a plane, obviously it's not their plane. let me tell you this is oh man. we are waiting to see the plane, the plane carrying josh fattal and shane bauer. they're the two hikers. there were inarab ll i three, sarah shourd. that were caught and put in this notorious prison in iran. they were charged with espionage. the two men, shane and josh have been there for 26 months and the families have been waiting to get them out. they've been denied and denied. finally we're minutes away of bringing you this tremendous moment on television. we have mohammed jamjoom live on the tarmac. the families are there.

sarah shourd as well. also this. 16 bucks on a muff fin. that is how much the justice department spent at a conference. and that's not all. details of this government audit you don't want to miss. me. our retirement isn't a simple budget line item. i worked hard. i paid into my medicare. and i earned my social security. now, instead of cutting waste and loopholes, washington wants to cut our benefits. that wasn't the agreement. join the members of aarp and tell washington to stop cuts to our medicare and social security benefits.

a quick reminder, we're watching and we're the only people to be able to bring you this kind of picture. live pictures. this is the tarmac. in a matter of minutes we'll see the plane touch down finally, the first taste of freedom for americans caught as they were hiking in kurdistan in iran. the first moments will be

stepping off the plane and greeting the mothers and shane's fiancee all there. mohammed jamjoom will bring it to us live. meanwhile, how much are you willing to spend on a muff fin? $2? $3? turns out you as taxpayers pay $16 for a muff in. do these look like they're worth $16? as a matter of fact, we spent a few dollars on a whole dozen. how about this? a plain cup of coffee, $8.20. this audit report by the office of the inspector general lists what it's called what they call -- i'm quoting them -- wasteful spending at the justice department. take a look at this. in addition to the cost of the coffee and muffins. they serve beef wellington hors d'oeuvres at $7 a pop.

they spent $490,000 for food and beverages but the coast of the conferences themselves costs over $4.4 million. did doj dispute any of the reported findings? >> actually the doj confirmed the findings. they actually took place during the bush administration. not all of them, however. the conference where the $16 -- actually $16.80 to be precise muffins were served was actually in the early days of the obama administration. the doj agrees that this is exgre extravagant report. i ask the why. if the doj offered up someone to talk to you, did they give any kind of explanation as to why

they needed these $16 and however many cents muffins? >> no, they didn't get specific about the muffins. i went oen my muff inquest to get more details like the kind of muffins and sizes. all i could find out was asorted muffins, 250 of them at a cost of $16. when the auditors divided it out, it was $16. much of these were held at high end hotels all of which jack the price up 20% with service charges. so that accounted for it. the doj said we shouldn't do it and we're going to try to not do it again. >> look, aren't we just blowing this out of proportion? these are high-end d.c. hotels, hotels in san francisco. it's par for the course with add-on services. or.

could they have chosen conferences at places that were a little less costly? >> i have to say there were some outraged event planners who were thinking we were damning their profession, which we were not. if you have a conference at a really nice hotel, this is what's going to happen. so i don't myself go to conferences, you know, atomny shore hotels, so i don't know. but i would suspect that most conferences would feature what one might call these types of extravela -- extravel againsts >> you look at the graph and they point out in 2009 the obama administration spent nearly $30 million more than the previous year. what kind of assurances can they give us that in the time of penny pinching this is not going to happen at that level?

>> i was going to say a lot of what made the story is the salient timing. tl government spending, overspemgd, austerity. those are the watch words in washington. you know, i'm afraid that people are a little skeptical that, you know, the government can control its spending in any event. but for what it's worth the dmj as with others will put in tough controls and the attorney generals, deputy attorney general's issue add statement today, two hours ago, they will not tolerate wasteful spending. so we will have to see until the next voting. >> we'll see. thank you very much. >> take care. quickly, a reminder we're watching, waiting for that plane to land in oh man. hearing those two american hikers, josh fattal, shane bauer minutes away. we'll bring you the live moment here on cnn. don't move. also this, convicted cop killer troy davis hours away from execution. we'll look at a last-ditch

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once again, live pictures. we're all sitting here awaiting the arrival of the plane, carrying both of those americans. finally after 26 months of sitting in this iranian prison, this notorious prison, they'll finally taste freedom in oman. they're shane bauer and josh fattal. i have shane's brother-in-law nate lindstrom on the line calling in from duluth, minnesota. nate, did you think this moment would ever come? >> pardon? >> nate, this is brooke in atlanta. can you hear me? >> yes, i can hear me. >> did you think this moment, your brother-in-law finally being freed, did you think it would ever happen? >> i knew it would happen eventually, but i just didn't know when. now that it's here, i'm so happy that it's finally going to be over. when did you find out that this

moment would finally happen? days? weeks? >> i actually found out at about 4:00 a.m. this morning. my wife called me and said i think something's going to happen today, so be prepared. >> what exactly did your wife say? what had shane said? >> she said pretty much all she could say. she couldn't give me specifics. >> is she there in oman? >> she's with her family right now, yeah. >> okay. because from what i understand, both of their mothers and sarah shourd is there on the tarmac as we're all waiting to see this plane. do you know who else is with them? >> it's -- both of the families are there with sarah. >> nate, what have these past 26 months, this waiting process and constant denial from the judicial system there in iran, what has that been like for you

and the family? >> it's been really long and really frustrating, but we never gave up home that it was going to end, and now that it's here, i mean that's -- all of that's forgotten for now. >> nate, are you in front of a television by chance? >> i'm not. i really wish i was, but i'm not. >> let's put that picture up once again. that's the first image we've seen. they're sitting with the swiss ambassador. so this is the first still image we have seen of them before we finally will see them in action getting off this plane in a matter of minutes. what -- do you have any idea what the plan is once they land in oman? do you know how long they will stay there and when they'll finally come home? >> no, i honestly have no idea. i don't think anybody's planned that far ahead. they've just been waiting for

them to get on the plane and leave tehran. >> you know, i talked to both of the mothers a couple of months ago, and they seemed they were very measured in their optimism. perhaps they've learned based upon their experience with iran and like i said the judicial system, the judges and the constant denials. have you ever been able to plan in advance in these past 26 months? how hopeful have you really been able to be? we keep ourselves in check. i mean there's always some sort of good news, and we get excited but not too excited because the last two years have been anything can happen at any time, so nate. you're live on cnn. what do you want people to know about shane and josh? >> they're just really good people trying to make a

difference in other countries and people less fortunate than themselves. they just give and give and give and don't ever expect to get anything back. >> nate lindstrom, thanks so much for calling in. >> thank you. >> and now we have josh fattal's uncle on the line? is this what i'm hearing. josh fattal's uncle on the line. sir, can you give me your name, please? >> hello? >> hi, can you hear me? this is brooke baldwin in atlanta. can you hear me? will you give me your name? >> i'm fred sullivan, josh's uncle. >> hi, fred. how excited are you? >> i'm way excited now that i've seen an official statement. this is no longer a drill but the real thing. it's a very good day. two years two months too long. >> how have your families been

able to withstand these, i imagine, 26 excruciating months. what jumps out at me is we want nothing more than to wrap shane and josh in our arms. that speaks volumes. >> yeah. i just want to see the light in his eyes shine again. they're both, you know, very committed people that i'm sure will -- have had plenty of time to think about what they want to do next will be coming back with a clear agenda. >> do you have any idea about what they want to do next, fred? >> the only evidence i've had so far is -- two things. josh was practicing his jerries while in prison. he had the jerry's textbook. when sarah was with my sister on "oprah," she asked what did you

do to keep sane? she said we talked about places we enjoyed and places we would go back to. we're going go whale watching when we get out and that was -- i think josh has done wail watching with me in the great northwest and i study killer whales. and so we're really looking forward to getting them out on the water. >> okay. so let me -- >> that's a short-term plan. >> forgive me for interrupting. i hope you are sitting next to a tee v. i have just been told this is the plane, live images here on cnn. this is musket, oman. the plane carrying the two. we have mohammed jamjoom there watching as well. and, fred, i know i stel have you. from what i understand, both of the families, both mothers, sisters, sarah shourd, shane's fiancee, they're all there on

the tarmac. can you tell me, fred, what kind of contact they've had with family within the last 26 months as we watch this plane? >> i think there's only been like three phone calls and one visit in that whole time. contrary to most international preventions, the treatment of prisoner prisoners, it makes a hard situation worse. >> thank you very much. i am being told we have mohammed jamjoom. where's mohammed? i don't know if you can laer me. let's take the screeching away. mohammed jamjoom live in oman. set the scene for me. tell me where you are and who's around you. mohammed, this is brooke, can

you hear me? mohammed jamjoom? guys, we haven't -- okay. i'm being told we don't have mohammed. we're going to, wo on getting mohammed. i'm being told it's loud on the tarmac. you and i can both hear the noise. you and i, let's watch this. we'll do this together. this is the plane carrying the two americans and certainly a number of other people. again, we have learned, according to mohammed when we talked earlier, we know that the families of both shane and josh, sarah shourd, who was the third american who was also obtained by the iranians, she was released last year, and we did finally get a statement. so far we have been trying. we have not been able to talk to the families of these americans just yet. they have been waiting. as they told me before, cautiously optimistic, wanting to see their sons. and the very first line of the statement from the families, they say, today can only be described as the best day of our

lives. i want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. live coverage from oman as we watch this plane come to a halt carrying those two americans, josh fattal, shane bauer. i want to bring in mohammed jamjoom. mohammed, can you hear me? mohammed jamjoom, can you hear me? this is brooke in atlanta. >> reporter: yes, brooke. we're here. we're behind the families of josh fattal and shane bauer. they're eagerly awaiting the door of this plane to open. right now we're seeing security men going up to the plane. everybody here, the mood, the anticipation very high. the family members, all the family members are waiting at the plane, waiting for the door to open, waiting to see josh

fattal and shane bauer. brooke? >> mohammed, tell us what we can't see as we keep our eyes trained on this plane. around you do you see members of both of these families? who is there? >> reporter: we see brothers and sisters, we see sarah shourd is here and they're now actually approaching -- they're actually approaching the plane. the doors of the plane have been opened. we're behind the family members. they look like it's very emotional for them. all of them hugging each other, smiling. and now the doors of the plane are opening and they're waiting for the moment they've been waiting for for so long. now we see shane bauer and josh fattal, they've emerged. the families are cheering. they're so happy. they're running down the steps. >> look at this. there they are. racing down the steps to a crowd flashing lights, cameras, families. let's just listen. let's just listen for a moment, mohammed.

as we watch this moment, again, a reminder that sarah shourd, the third american also obtained as they were hiking along the iranian border and taken into custody and put in the notorious prison for the last 26 months. she is engaged to shane. the three of them now reunited for the first time since last year. both parents, a sister, brothers as mohammed mentioned. mohammed, have you had any chance to speak with the family or not yet? >> reporter: we have not. they have been kept away from the press until now. right now we're seeing shane bauer hugging one of his sisters and also sarah shourd.

it's a very, very emotional moment. people are crying and they have huge smiles on their faces. we hope we'll get a chance to speak to the family members here very shortly. but this is a moment where clearly everybody here is simply overjoyed. you saw it just in the way that shane and josh ran off the plane, ran down those stairs to quickly run into the arms of their family members and loved ones. brooke? >> mohammed, can i ask you here live on cnn if you can at all approach the crowd? stay on the phone with me and approach the crowd and see if we can put the phone a little closer to the crowd to hear the cheers. mohammed, are you still with me? let's just listen. >> reporter: i'm very close to sarah shourd right now.

she's not talking to the press right now. clearly the family is overjoyed. we're going to try to speak to some of the other family members. we're going to try to speak to shane and josh as well. one moment. >> as we're all standing by, mohammed jamjoom is our correspondent amongst this crowd trying to speak -- trying to speak to possibly josh, shane -- we'll stand by and wait. . >> reporter: shane bauer and josh fattal are being taken away, being surrounded by securitypeople. there are u.n. officials as well. they're being taken into the terminal and we'll have to wait a little bit longer to be able to speak to them. right now they're not speaking to the press. >> sure. >> reporter: right now they're overjoyed at this moment to be reunited with their family members and loved ones. >> as you mentioned, you saw hugging, tears.

employee ham me mohammed, do we know as we watch them walk away together, do we know how long they'll stay in oman, what procedurally will happen next before they can come home? >> reporter: we don't know the procedures but the omani officials say they will stay here probably two days. they're going to be turned over from the custody of the omanis into the custody of the u.s. embassy here. they are here. we've seen them, spoken to them. right now we're hearing if there will be any kind of a press conference. right now we're walking behind the family members and josh fattal and shane bauer as they're going into the royal terminal but right now we're trying to find out exactly what the procedure will be. omanis say it could be one to two days. we are trying to find out if there will be availability to try to speak to josh fattal and shane bauer. we e'll update you. >> mohammed jamjoom, our thanks

to you. i want to thank our viewers from all around the world watching this tremendous moment, 26 months in the making there. we'll be right back after this quick break. s the network. a living, breathing intelligence that is helping business rethink how to do business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ in here, machines have a voice... ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, medical history follows you... even when you're away from home. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities, creating and integrating solutions, helping business, and the world...work. rethink possible.

all right. just moments ago -- we just want to replay that moment as we saw shane bauer and josh fattal walking down those stairs. actually i should say they ran down the stairs, and here's the moment as they were greeted by this crush of family members, obviously a photographer in the crowd. many, many family members, of course, finally, finally getting to wrap their hands and arms around these two young men in 26 months. they've been in the prison in iran for that amount of time. the need for palestinians to compromise with israel. those are the two big take aways from president obama's speech

this morning at the general assembly. president obama is walking a diplomatic tightrope this week at the u.n. he made it a goal for his administration to make peace between israel and the palestinians. and now this. palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas plans to ask the y united nations on friday to recognize an independent state of palestine. but israel says if the u.s. decides to recognize palestine as an independent state, that would prolong the peace. they must sit down, talk to one another directly and work it out themselves. >> peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the united nations. if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now. ultimately it is the israelis and the palestinians who must live side by side. ultimately it's the israelis and palestinians, not us, that must

reach agreement on the issues that divide them. >> president obama met with prime minister ben ja anyone netanyahu and he's set to meet with palestinian leader mahmoud ha abbas. george burn baum is an international consultant and chief of staff for prime minister benjamin netanyahu. we learn that abbas plans to send a letter but won't try to force action right away. what do you make of that? >> first let me say how happy i am for shane and his family. >> sure. absolutely. >> and josh. i think it's great and reminds us of a young israeli who's been in captivity for five years in ham mass and i and i hope their families have an similar reunion soon. with regards to president obama and netanyahu in the coming

days, let's keep in mind that back in 1947, the u.n. passed a partition plan in palestine and created two states for two people. the same thing being advocated today. at the end of the day, what has to happen is the livelihoods and quality of life of the palestinians has to improve. i'm just for very fearful that a resolution or declaration today will mean nothing in terms of the status quo. >> does it not matter to you whether it's a letter requesting state hood or a full on vote at the u.n.? it doesn't matter. >> what matters is improving the lives of the palestinian people and ensuring the security of the jewish people in israel. in order to do that, you have to have defined borders, security arrangements. you have to have all kinds of policies in place. and in order to do that, a letter to the u.n., a vote in

the u.n., a flag on a flag pole outside a building in new york is not going to do that for the palestinian people and at the end of the day, that's who matters in this whole issue. >> that was when the president was speaking just this morning to the u.n. and ga. speaking quite a bit about israel. >> america's commitment to israel's security is unshakable. our friendship with israel is deep and enduring. and so, we believe that any lasting peace must acknowledge the very real security concerns that israel faces every single day. >> and the president coming out with clear endorsement of israel. is that what you wanted to hear? do you agree? >> first of all, the american support for the state of israel has always been clear and i don't think it's any surprise that, what president obama had said about u.s. support for israel. what i'm afraid of is that the situation has given an enormous

pr talking point for hamas, hezbollah, al-qaeda and others to say, hey, look, the american government is going to create enormous problems for the american administration and military around the world. again, resolutions in the u.n. are not the answer. solutions on the ground for the palestinian people are what are needed. >> if state hood ultimately, sir, is granted to palestine, what will that mean for the palestinian people? in your opinion? >> well, i'm hoping what it means for any people with a state and country. independent sovereignty. security. independent ability to make trade agreements. the ability to control your own life. today t palestinian people have to go through security check points to go to work. they have to endure enormous hardships in the palestinian-arab areas. that's no way for anyone to

live. the jews more than anyone else under that and are sympathetic to that. by the way, even if a resolution passed tomorrow, a negotiation will still have to take place because a resolution is not going to define a border, a capital, security arrangements. a negotiation has to take place in in case and agreements have to take place in any case. my hope is that at the end of that process, the palestinian people will have wa wha the jewish people have in israel. a thriving state, r raise their children in peace and not worry about the threat of terrorism. >> thank you so much. tomorrow, we'll speak with another man, former adviser to mohamed abbas. executive director of the american task force palestine. and a hikers in iran for 26 months, they landed moments ago

in oman and rushing down those stairs into the crowd, to their families. tears, hugs, a moment many of those people there and here at home have been waiting for. and there's this. you can do it. don't have a baby here because land for about an hour or two hours. okay, okay, i said. >> she wasn't able to keep her word. the plane landed with a little extra passenger. find out who helped her with that delivery and crossing our thrill ticker t exchange jabbed over the tea party debate over social security. now, perry is slamming mitt romney and accusing him of acting like a democrat. i with us, in spirit, was every great car that we'd ever competed with. the bmw m5. and the mercedes-benz e63. for it was their amazing abilities that pushed us to refine, improve and, ultimately,

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go to washington now and get a quick check of what's make in news. paul stein houser joins us with more. what do you have? >> remember the presidential debate in tampa, florida? perry and romney really going at it over social security. it's continues. perry attacking romney over his plans to alter social security. take a listen. >> in my opinion, this thing does not work in any way, shape or form. i can't see anything which suggests it makes any sense whatsoever to end social security as a federal entitlement and send it back to the states.

so, this is by the way, this is not something that the governor said four years ago or two years ago. this is something he said in his book this year. >> the campaign responded and said this -- as he has so many times in the past. mr. romney seems to forget he's a republican. i tell you, this battle between the massachusetts governor and texas governor will continue tomorrow. another debate in florida, brooke. >> thank you very much. another political ticker update in a half an hour. hop on twitter, and now, take a look at this. just released. what was life like inside that iranian prison and what do the first 24 hours of freedom taste like in coming up, i'll speak

with an american held in that same prison in iran. on trial for his wife's death. >> i just shot my wife. >> what made this millionaire murder suspect bang his fist in court? a satellite out of gas, barrelling toward earth. look out below. fortunately, there's a lot of blue on that globe, but what are the odds this thing meets land? a deadly storm dumping rain on an area already hit by a tsunami. and then dog leashes, water bottles, baby onesies, even an apron. joe johns takes us inside the merchandise tent for today's political pop. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

welcome back. breaking news. this moment, minutes ago, we saw shane bauer and josh fattal racing off that plane from iran there to musket, oman where they're greeted by a crowd of family members. capturing this moment that's been 26 months in the making. they had been in this iranian prison for the past 26 months along the shane's fiancee, sarah shourd. let's go to mohamed john, he was on the tarmac. we were talking live as we shared this moment with you minutes ago and just take me back. what was that moment like? >> brooke, a long 26-month wait finally over. the families described this day earlier in a statement as the best day of their lives. this moment, it was very, very emotional as you mentioned. we saw shane fattal, shawn bauer and josh fattal running down the

steps of that plane once the doors opened to greet their family members, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. then a particularly emotional moment where shane embraced sarah shourd, the third hiker who was imprisoned while they were in prison, shane proposed to sarah shourd. she is his fiancee. it was a very, very emotional moment. a lot of tears flowing. you could just how overjoyed the family members we are. we have not had a chance to speak with them yet. they were whisked away into the royal terminal here in oman. we're waiting to see if there could be a press conference. we're all waiting outside the terminal, but again, a very, very emotional moment. a very long ordeal finally over and clearly, the family members here absolutely overjoyed their

loved ones finally free, finally here in musket, oman. >> thank you and if mohamed can grab any of those family members in the next couple of minutes, of course, we'd love to speak with them as well. want a play a little sound. this is from the president today in new york at the united nations addressing the general assembly and did make quick mention of the news that shane and josh are free. >> wonderful news, we are thrilled and would not feel better for the families, those moms who we've been in close contact with. it's a wonderful day for them and for us. >> and coming up in a couple of minutes, roxanne saberi, she's going to share her own memories of what she called psychological torture. she'll share conditions of what

that must have been like and what josh and shane must be feeling now here in the first moments of freedom. talk to her in a minute. now, let me catch you up on some other stories. let's begin with no polygraph test for troy davis. lawyers asked for their client to get a last minute lie detector test. in fact, the department of corrections denied that request. lethal injection set to happen 7:00 p.m. eastern time. the family of the victim has said they will not attend tonight's execution. also, mohamed abbas set to meet with president obama in just an hour from now. this after, abbas announced he's going to be sending a letter seeking palestinian state hood. he is willing to wait a couple of weeks he says for a rely which conveniently avoided any kind of showdown.

that announcement came just a couple of hours after president obama spoke at the u.n. general assembly reiterating spoth and encouraging israels and palestinians to work on peace amongst themselves. an embarrassing smash-up in houston, texas. not only did two marked police cars slam into each other, two make matters worse, chinese law enforcement officials were riding in the cars. clearly went terribly wrong there. five of the chinese visitors were taken to the hospital. we were told the injuries are not life threatening. and have you logged into facebook yet today? did you notice something different? the site using a new algorythm. response is mixed from facebook's 750,000 viewers.

users. and an international flight turns into a makeshift delivery room when a passenger goes into labor. the plane was 3,500 feet in the air nearing the end of its 14-hour journey when the baby decided he's going to come a little early. a week ahead of schedule. fortunately, three nurses on this plane helped deliver a healthy baby boy. and investors did not like what they heard out of washington today. stocks fell to the lowest levels of the day after the federal reserve announced that interest rates would not change. let's take a look at the big board and see some of the numbers here. 283 points on this day. alison kosik live at the new york stock exchange. let's talk about what we heard from the fed announcing this new stimulus plan today. aimed at helping the economy. how so? >> exactly and what you refer to doesn't have much to do with the

fact they are taking the stimulus measures. it's of what the fed said in its statement and what investors honed in on is is the fact that the economy is going to get weaker. the stimulus is what wall street wanted and what the fed is essentially doing is reaching into an old play book. it's called operation twist. the fed first used this in the 1960s. it's actually named after the twist. i'm talking about dance craze started by chub bichecker. the fed is going to sell, yes, it is funny if you think about it. it's going to sell $400 billion in short-term bonds and use the proceeds to buy longer term bonds with the goal here to keep these borrowing rates lower for a longer period of time because the target here is mortgage rates. the fed wants to keep mortgage rates really low to hopefully get people to refinance more and to get businesses to take out more loans so these businesses may want to take out loans to invest and expand and spend money and ultimately, hopefully,

hire. so this is kind of a round about way that the fed is using to sort of spark that job creation. >> but you know, before the program today was announced, republican leadership in congress, they were against this. what were they saying? >> they are and these top republicans, they send a letter to ben bernanke on monday telling him don't do it, it's only going to make it worse. also, there was a lot in today's decision as well. all these critics are pointing out rates are already at record los. the issue isn't rates. it's demand. businesses aren't necessarily going to take advantage of these cheaper loans to invest and hire unless someone is out there buying their products, but opponents say every little bit is going to help. we're going to take what we can get and if that's lower interest rates for the long-term, we'll take it. >> thank you so much.

and let's just play this one more time. it is bringing tears to many of you. the american -- released from an iranian prison. up next, we'll hear from another woman who spent time in this same prison and then a satellite the size of a bus is threatening hit the earth's surface. there is still some chance that pieces could hit land. maybe someone. we're going to tak odds and fin when exactly this will happen. stay right here. ♪ [ male announcer ] we're not employers or employees. not white collar or blue collar or no collars. we are business in america. and every day we awake to the same challenges. but at prudential we're helping companies everywhere

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what a wirl whirlwind day and past couple of minutes for the two american hikers. first, they're whisked into this diplomatic car. they then boarded a plane, flew to muscat, iran. there they ran into the arms of your family and friends. here's the back story. josh and shane, they were t detained after crossing into iran from iraq while hiking two years ago. they insisted they entered by mistake. $1 million was paid to gain their freedom. both of them together. then iran released a third hiker, sarah shourd, last year because of health concerns. by the way, sarah engaged to shane and roxana saberi spent

100 days in that same iranian prison. she, too, was accused of spying. she joins me live from rome and i know you didn't see the moment we shared live on cnn of josh and shane racing off that plane, but if they were sitting right next to you, what would you say to them? >> mainly, congratulations. i'm very delighted for you and your families and i hope that during the next few steps of your life, you'll be able to adapt all right to these changes. >> and do you remember that moment? of course you do. when you were racing off a plane as well. what was that like? >> yes, when i was released from the prison, which is where shane and josh and sarah were all hold, i was able to go to my own apartment and i was with my parents for few days in iran and then i was able to leave the country, so i think it wasn't

until i was on the plane leaving the country that i really felt relieved. simply the freedom to walk down the street, to walk without a blindfold. to have a pen and paper, to turn off the lights at night. >> let's talk about how you aren't able to do those things for those 100 days in which you spent two weeks in solitary confinement. as specific as you can, describe the conditions in that prison? >> i was in solitary confinement for two week, then taken out of my cell and i met other women political prisoners. it's a very difficult time, of course, for all prisoners, especially solitary confinement, but just being unable to leave your cell when you want, to have contact with the outside world r. i had limited access to my attorney just as the hikers did, just as many prisoners who still remain in iran's prisons do. there is a lot of psychological

and mental pressure and abuse. sometimes, there's. >> michele: physical abuse, which i did not experience, but that does happen. sometimes, prisoners even die in iran. it's very, very difficult, especially when you don't know what's going on on the outside. you feel very uncertain, but you try to find some strength through the days and to make the most of the situation. >> take me back to that time. you mentioned you were not physically abused. physically tortured, but more of a psychological kind. how so? >> well, what i went there -- solitary cell, you're faced with trum fed up charges -- you go through interrogations for hours and you ask for an attorney, but

most like ly don't get one. maybe get one later and then the attorneys are often under pressure by the authorities. maybe you'll go to trial and the trial often a -- where it seems like the sentence is already predetermined. so, it's very trying. but i think for those who are very strong, it's also a way to try keep your dignity despite the pressures put on you. >> we were looking at video of you with secretary of state hillary clinton from may of '09. do you feel that the state department did enough for josh and shane? >> it's difficult for me to say because i don't know what was going on behind the scenes. i just heard what was said in the news. in my case, i know the state department did speak out, but it wasn't just the u.s. government. my mother's japanese. the japanese government got involved.

spoke out for me and then it's not just government. but also journalists, human rights groups, ordinary individuals that make a big different. iranian authorities don't like ordinary individuals speak out against human rights violations or prisoners calling for law, because then they think well, we can't argue that these people are being master minded by foreign governments if these are ordinary people. >> as you were in there, they were there for 26 months. you were there for 100 days, but all the while, what kind of contact did you have at all with the outside world and were you at all aware of all the diplomatic maneuverings to try to get you out at the time? >> no, i was -- well, at first, nobody knew where i was as is the case for many prisoners. they're not able to tell their families and loved ones what happened to them. my family did find out after

about a month i was in the prison where the hikers were. but i found out a little before that. i was taken to court one day and saw a woman there who had been freed, she had come to pick up her sister. she said, are you roxana saberi? i said, how do you know? she said, you're all over voice of america persia. then i realized, oh, there are people that know where i am and that i've been arrested and they're talking for me. makes such a big difference when you hear that people on the outside are calling for your release. even if it might not lead directly to your release, it helps you tolerate the conditions in prison. >> people around the world were following you and josh and shane and there are other prisoners still sitting in there. appreciate it. hat, t-shirts, even onesies.

president obama's re-election campaign getting up in full gear, but is this enough to fire up supporters? also, a satellite the size of a bus now hurtling toward the earth's surface. the odds pieces of this thing hit land or someone not too high, but perhaps a little too high for some. we've got more answer coming up. [ dog barks, growls ] ♪ whoa, watch out, little man. ♪ [ male announcer ] when you take away the worry, it's easy to enjoy the ride. hey, bud. hey, dad. [ male announcer ] introducing cadillac shield. the most comprehensive suite of owner benefits offered by any luxury auto maker in the world.

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the tumbling satellite, hunk of metal the size of a schoolbus, that's what a lot of you are talking about today. nasa says there's little chance the crashing satellite will hurt anyone. right now, the odds, about 3200 to 1. most of nasa's upper research

satellite is expected to burn up in the atmosphere and then break into pieces, but still, some could be quite sizable and people don't like those odds. terek and chad myers is standing by. wanted you to join the conversation. my first question to you before we ask why this is happening, the significance of this particular tumble, talk to me about when. how soon is this satellite supposed to hit earth? >> well, the latest update we've got from nasa now, all signs point to friday. nasa's been keeping a really close eye on this satellite. six and a half ton, as you menti mentioned. it's just been getting lower and lower from space over the last few days. they think they've got it narrowed down to friday. it could be thursday. could be saturday, but right now, everything seems to be trending for friday some time that day. >> from what i've read, you have these 26 pieces of the satellite

wearing more than 1,100 pounds are expected to survive this ats peeric burn. this happens in terms of satellites falling down to earth, but the news here is the pieces that will survive are fairly sizable. >> that's right. about a half ton of material. biggest piece is going to weigh something like 300 pounds, so it's not small pieces of debris that you might miss if you weren't looking for them. these are big, big pieces of metal, of tanks and things like that they don't want people to touch. it could be coming down sometime, but don't know where. >> if this comes down at night over the u.s., this could be quite spectacular to see, wont it? especially with all these pieces breaking up like a big firework falling out of the sky. where do we look? >> nasa's not going to know

until maybe two hours beforehand, but if it does fall over the united states, if it is at night, the track is about 500 miles long where they expect this thing to break up and it would be a spectacular light show. nasa's expert nick johnson says it would be eye catching. a dazzling display and it could last for several minutes. even in the daytime, it could be bright enough to be spotted for folks that maybe are looking for it. >> you told in your article, that it was tumbling. i didn't know about this. tell me what you know. >> this satellite basically used up all of its gas in 2005 to leave a busy orbit so it wouldn't pose a danger to other spacecraft. so, it has no control. because of that, it's over time, it starts to spin or just can't stabilize itself. what we found out from sky watchers, when they look for it

at night, it's bright and then it's dim. it flashes in brilliant, sometimes to rival even venus and that tells us it's spinning as it's drifting around the earth and it seems like this week is been a pretty exciting one for some sky watchers. >> one on space.com said if you're lucky enough to be in the area, i know the probability you don't like, but still, should be some awesome fireworks. >> don't pick it up and try to sell it on ebay. >> it's the government's. put it down. call the government. chad, thank you. do you remember when texas governor rick perry blasted skoeshl security? >> the idea that they're working and paying into social security today under the current program, it's going to be there for them, is a lie. it is a monstrous lie on this generation. well now, mitt romney is using rick perry's words to pilot in

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gop presidential candidates gearing up for another debate. this one in florida tomorrow. let's go to jim acosta with details. hello. >> you remember last week was sort of a social security smackdown. this might be the rumble in the jobs jungle. earlier this morning, rick perry put out a web video accusing the president of being president zero in his words or in the words of this video. it shows, it's really sort of a slickly put together video. shows these barren warehouses that have been shut down and so forth and it's playing on my iphone right here. very small. but in the middle of this video, the ad refers to president obama as president zero while what's interesting about this is that it didn't take long for the romney campaign to come out with

this e blast to reporters covering the campaign referring to governor perry as governor sub zero and referring to the fact that in the last month, the unemployment rate in texas went up. this is a key part of the romney campaign's offensive against perry to say this texas miracle that the governor of texas likes to talk about when it comes to employment is not what it's cracked up to be. that's going to be one of the flash points tomorrow night. i think it's going to be a lot about jobs. could be some about israel with everything that's happening at the united nations this week and the palestinian push for state hood. i think we'll hear something about israel as well and we're talking about that coming up on "the situation room." we'll have a story on that as welg. but this is, if the back and forth between the perry campaign and romney campaign was any indication, this is going to be a lively one tomorrow night. >> back in florida, another key state for 2012. thank you very much. and i don't know if you were watching the top of the hour, i

hope so. josh fattal, shane bauer racing off the plane. rushing into this crowd there on the tarmac in muscat, oman. had been in the prison for 26 long months. tears, hugs all around. whisked away in a couple of days on the ground should be taken back home to the united states. i did speak right before this amazing moment to josh fattal's uncle. hi, fred, so, how much better are you right now? >> i'm way excited now that i've seen my family released an official statement that they are confidence this is not longer a drill. it's a very good day. two years, two months, too long. >> how have your families been able to with stand these i imagine 26 excruciating months

because the line from the family statement that jumps out at me is that we want nothing more than to wrap shane and josh in our arms. that speaks volumes. >> yeah, and i just want to see the light in his eye shine again and they're both you know, very committed people that i'm sure will having had plenty of time to think about what they want to do next, will be coming back with a clear agenda. >> do you have any idea about what they want to do next, fred? >> all the evidence i've had so far, two things, one is that josh was practicing his gerise while in prison. had the test book, so he might be interested in grad school. when sarah was interviewed with my sister on oprah and they asked what did you do to keep sane? we talked about places we had been that we enjoyed and places we looked forward to going back

to. we're all going to go whale watching when we get out. out in the great northwest, i study killer whales and so, really looking forward to getting them out on the water. >> okay. >> that's a short-term plan. >> forgive me for interrupting you. i hope you are sitting next to a tv because i have just been told this is the plane. live images on the plane. this is muscat, oman. we are now seeing the plane carrying those two american hike hikers, josh fattal, shane bauer, as we watch it here on the tarmac. we have mohamed there watching as well and fred, i know i still have you. from what i understand, the both of the families, both mothers, sisters, sarah shourd, shane's fiancee, they are all there on the tarmac. can you tell me, fred, what kind of contact they've had with family within the past 26 months

as we watch this plane? >> i think only like three phone calls and one visit in that whole time. which is contrary to most international conventions on the treatment of prisoners. made a hard situation worse. >> fred, thank you very much. what a moment that was live here. also, this. breaking news in the troy davis case. this man is about to be put to death by lethal injection in just two and a half hours from now. we're going to check in live with david for new developments in this case there. with interag solutions from dell, mrs. davis can make every student feel like her only student. dell. the power to do more.

a high profile execution, a bizarre crime spree and a typhoon turned tropical storm lashes japan. let's check in with david. i want to begin with you in georgia standing by as we are two and a half hours from troy davis being put to death by lethal injection. tell me who's there and also, what last ditch efforts have davis' attorneys made today to save his life? >> first of all, we have some breaking news at this hour. last minute appeal was filed in

georgia's superior court by davis' attorneys. we found out a short time ago that court denied that appeal and those attorneys are now taking it to the georgia supreme court, so stay tuned as they continue their 11th hour legal hail mary in this case to get this execution stopped or delayed. if all is going according to schedule, troy davis has already said his final good-byes to friends and family, who are visiting today. that probably happened about an hour and a half ago according to the prison spokesman people here. he add about 25 visitors today and this hour, he would be served his final meal. he did not ask for any sort of special meal and it's not known if he will be interested in eating at all as he's preparing for his execution at 7:00 p.m. tonight eastern. >> tell me who is behind you, david, and who will be attending the execution? >> we are just inside the prison

gates on the prison grounds here. everything is very controlled. all of the media is in a specific area. and all of the demonstrators on behalf of troy davis are also in a special area. separated by this area. they've been continuing their vigil, occasionally praying, speaking to people. people trying to keep their spirits up. as far as people who will be attending the actual execution, troy davis does have the right to ask for people to be there on his behalf. prison officials aren't saying who that might be. we do know that members of the slain police officer's family have indicated that they wish to be there as well, but right now, everything just now a waiting game. the stakes couldn't be higher as one man's life is on the line. >> thank you very much. next, the shocking display from mexico's drug traffickers. two open back trucks filled with

bodies are left in the middle of the highway. nearly three dozen bodies, some falling out of the truck straight on to the road. rafael romo is here with more on this story. so, 35 bodies? who are these people? >> well, the most incredible thing is that they did it in the middle of the afternoon when people were shotting at a mall in front of them. they blocked the street and started dumping the bodies. >> this is in vera cruz. what's the cartel connection? >> apparently, one of the victims was connectioned to a major cartel. there was a poster found with the bodies saying this is going to happen to all of those who are operatives of this cartel. >> horrible. thank you very much. next, let's talk about the tropical storm losing some of its punch. chad, let's first talk rain. what are the totals?

>> two feet of rain in 48 hours. tokyo only picked up about six inches, but the big area, still, all that runoff. all this rain happened at 10,000 feet. all this water, rain, mud, is still going downhill. the flash flooding, mudslides, still going on now. people are not out of the woods. it's still bad there. >> can you track it? >> going up to the north. we talk about how bad the forecast for hurricanes can be in america. look at this tropical storm. this is what this thing did. try to forecast that with a computer model. >> good luck. >> yeah, good luck. that's always the case. it's very close to sendai moving up over to the north and that's sendai, where the power plant is. but so far, the winds have only been about 30 to 40 miles per hour and the rain total is about six inches, but some of that

water could wash through the that power plant, get mixed with the nuclear water and take it into the ocean. >> earthquakes, tsunami, now this thunderstorm. thank you very much. that is your reporter roulette. you seen this? hats, t-shirts, onesies for your little one. president obama's campaign, but is this enough? this stuff enough to fire up supporters? that's next.

political season is in full swirng and with that comes the merchandise. selling the names, the messages of the candidates you love or love to hate. joe johns is here with a political pop. i was sort of laughing through the break. it's funny stuff. some of this. >> it's incredible, isn't it? campaigns generate all kinds of gear. it's a way for campaigns or

parties to promote their candidates and so far this year, we've got some pretty interesting stuff from the obama campaign. it is up on their website already. the first thing that caught our eye was the obama 2012 onesie. >> that's what i was laughing at. >> no diapers -- >> babies for obama. >> one piece body suit for babies that come in pink, blue and white. they cost $20. it could be construed as the ultimate out reach to future voters. also, an apron, cat leash. >> gals can barbecue, too. >> i don't know if i'm going to get one of these things. but look at that. that's kind of random, right? you know? pins. coffee mugs, umbrellas, but a cat leash? who knew? >> what about the republicans?

are there republican cat leashes as well? >> no cat leashes. i haven't seen a single one. it's absolutely what you would expect for the candidates, you got t-shirts, hats, buttons, names of republican candidates promoting romney, bachmann, perry, but every year, you also get the folks not affiliated with any of the campaigns or parties putting out their own gear and we came across more than one website that's hawking antiobama stuff. i caught up today, i didn't see any of these websites being actually affiliated with the republican national committee for example, but the stuff these independents, if you will, are selling, has a little bit of an edge. a lot of riffs about change in the captions. quote, how's that hope an change working for you? change it back, a coffee mug says and then one says is it 2012 yet. you get the idea. >> i do. maybe they'll get a little more

creative as time goes by. just can't get over the cat leashes. >> cats don't vote. >> but their owners do. coming up next, wolf blitzer, big developments will be happening on his watch. mohamed abbas about to meet with president obama. wolf has the new developments there. they're in new york. situation room on the road. day three. stay right here with wolf, but before we go to break, today's top five list. business week asked americans if you could live anywhere in the u.s., where would it be? here are the answers. number five, an l.a. suburb. i'm thinking raleigh, north carolina isn't an l.a. suburb. just go with the graphic here. number four. arlington, virginia, just outside of washington, d.c. there. and number three, not a bad place to live.

honolulu, hawaii. scottsdale, arizona. number two. save the number one after the break. to develop its suspension system? or what if we told you that ferrari borrowed technology from cadillac to develop its suspension system? magnetic ride control -- pioneered by cadillac, perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs.

little goof on our end. our bad. during the break, i was filled in. we reversed the order. so people in raleigh, north carolina, you're not number five. you're number one. number one for america's cities. this is according to "business week." raleigh, north carolina is the first, then arlington, then honolulu, then scottsdale and five is irvine, california. now to mr. blitzer. coming up situation room and we know that president obama, mohamed abbas, they should be meeting what, in any minute now?

>> right, they're going to be meeting and it's an important meeting, the president met earlier in the day with benjamin netanyahu and now he's about to meet with president mohamed abbas. we're going to be speaking with one of president abbas's top avisors. he's joining us here. we're reporting live from the united nations as you can see. we'll also get the israeli perspective. the deputy prime minister will be joining us live and on a very different story, ron susskind, the author of a very controversial brand new book on the obama white house, he'll be joining us live in our 6:00 p.m. eastern hour. this is a crazy day in new york and tomorrow and friday, it's about to get even crazier. >> and why is that? >> the traffic. the people. the world r leaders. it's a lot of activity. >> you love it. >> you think it's easy to get a

dinner reservation. >> this is wolf blitzer with cnn, yes, i do think it would be easy. thank you very much. i know you love the hustle and bustle. mean tile, we're going to check in with sunny hostin on the case for us each and every day. standing by with news today on that trial out of orlando, florida, about this millionaire murder trial charged with second degree murder. also, new developments on the second deadly home innovation murder trial. be right back. it's what they do. accept it. you can't change the way banking works. just accept it, man. free ? doesn't close at five ? try nature. you give them all your money, and they put you on hold. just accept it. what are you going to do, bury your money in the backyard ? accept it. just stay with the herd, son. accept it. it's only money. it's a bank. what do you want, a hug ? just accept it, friend. hidden fees, fine print, or they'll stick it to you some other way. smile and accept it. it's been this way since pants.

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now to tomorrow's news today. fast forward here. the so-called congressional supercommittee discusses revenue options and ways to reform the tax code. the 12-member panel laying out a plan to solve america's debt crisis. also tomorrow, pope benedict making his third visit to germany. while there, he is expected to push for stronger relations between catholics and lutherans. and there's the premier of the former beatle, himself, expected to attend. this is the first time mcartny's written at original for dance. a florida millionaire is on trial for the murder of his wife. bob ward heard on this 911 call says not once, not twice, five different times that he shot her inside their mansion. here's just a piece of that call.

>> what's the emergency? >> i just shot my wife. >> you just what? >> i just shot my wife. >> where's your wife? >> she's right here on the floor. >> prosecutors say ward shot his wife in a fit of rage. on the flip side, ward's defense is that his wife was suicidal, the gun went off accidentally as he tried to take it out of her hand and some of this testimony in this trial has been pretty heart wrenching. sunny hostin is on the case here. we know things got pretty heated in the courtroom yesterday as ward's daughter took to the stand. what happened? >> that's right. his youngest daughter was called by the state to give testimony and during that, the state asked her whether or not she was present when her father shot her mother in the face. she became very emotional and so did he. take a look at the exchange in the courtroom.

>> you were not there when your mother shot in the face -- >> no. >> so, you can't tell us what happened in the master bedroom of your parent's home? >> no. >> i have nothing further. >> thank you. >> so, and the noise you hear in the background is bob ward slamming his fists on the defense table, so this was a very emotional piece of the trial. not only for sarah ward, but also for her father. >> you can see being comforted by his attorney there. we know that the prosecution rested yesterday. how effective were they in presenting their side of the case? >> i think as effective as they could be. they rested on the testimony of

the chief medical examiner. you'll remember that she was the chief medical examiner that testified in the casey anthony trial and she testified that this was a suicide, rather a homicide, not a suicide, because there was no weapon placed against mrs. ward's head. she said the gun shot must have been -- the gun must have been shot like 18 inches away and that she had never seen anything like that. i would say it's as effective as it could be, but the defense came out swinging today and is expected really to last about two days, so too soon to tell. to call this one, brooke, but they did a decent job. >> decent job? with regard to the defense though, what had they laid out? they were essentially saying that the wife was suicidal, he was trying to wrestle the gun or take the gun of her hands. have they been successful or in the coming days, what might they

show to help their case? >> they've already called a couple of experts. one says that mrs. ward was taking an antidepression medication and was drinking that night and so the defense is trying to argue and make the inference that she must have been suicidal because of the cocktail found in her blood. they also called a witness that testified to the fact that yes, indeed, that the gun shot, the gun must have been about 12 to 18 inches away when it was shot. they still are trying to prove this was a suicide, not homicide, but i think it is expected that mr. ward will take the witness stand and that probably will make or break this case. >> you've been in hartford covering this home invasion trial, trial number two. i understand some of the jurors were shaken up.

>> they were. they saw the crime scene photos of the victim. that was a very disturbing moment then. they are listening to joshua komisarjevsky's confession now as we speak. in the courtroom, it is very, very quiet except for joshua komisarjevsky's dull voice reverberating around the courtroom as he described what he did that day. >> how likely is it that komisarjevsky testifies? >> i don't think he's going to and he doesn't have to because his confession is being played in front of this jury. it would be, i don't think it would be a good move for his defense team to call komisarjevsky to the stand. >> my thanks to you. thank you for watching. now let's go to new york. situation room. on the road, day three. wolf, to you. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com