prime minister in just a bit. we'll let you hear that live and certainly he'll counter a lot of what you just heard here from the palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. again we are talking about a situation that's not been able to happen through war. this has not been able to happen through peace talks. so today, now palestinians are pushing for statehood through another method. a vote in the united nations. you saw this live. just wrapped up a short time ago. palestinian president mahmoud abbas made the case before the u.n. general assembly. pretty sympathetic to his cause. you heard suzanne talking about the applause he got in that hall. but granting full member slp to palestine as a sovereign independent state will take approval by the u.n. security council. the united states is not going to let that happen. it was just this week president obama reminded the world body that the u.s. supports palestinian statehood -- but, only through direct talks with israel. abbas said israel though is the

problem. >> translator: that the israeli government refuses to commit to terms of reference for the negotiations that are based on international law and u.n. resolutions and emphatically continues to intensify building settlements on the territory of the the state of -- of the future of state of palestine. >> like i mentioned just a short time from now delegates will hear from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. he'll have some of the same points to hit as the president, president obama has hit. he may hit them own more strongly. will you see that live here again. we expect that at any moment. turning to our senior state department producer who is here with me. alise, what happens now? he's asking for statehood, he hand in the paperwork but how is this process expected to go? could go quickly but it could draw out for some time.

>> it could. i think what president abbas is looking to do, get on a plane, go back to his people, claim victory that he went to the u.n. security council and also give this a little time to brew. everybody really dancing on a pin right mao for president abbas, he's looking to see what the international community can come up with to stop him from going back to the council and forcing that vote with the u.n. security council. now the middle east quartet, the u.s., european union, united nations and russia all trying to come up with terms for negotiations that the israelis and the palestinians can live with and perhaps get president abbas to walk it back, not really force that vote but certainly you saw what -- what you saw in the palestinian territories today, president abbas going back right now very victorious to his people and the people are filing a sense of dignity that they haven't in a long time. >> we're showing that picture, till people can make out there the people, palestinian people

in the streets. we're watching this speech and cheering throughout. but how much of the move that the palestinian leader, mahmoud abbas, made today has to do with politics in his own home? he might not believe he could achieve statehood. he might believe he needs neglect aces but still this move is going to mean a lot for him politically back home. >> certainly. and it means a lot politically for him here at the united nations. everyone is talking about really what a smart politician. they didn't really know that he was. he's getting everybody to be rallying around him, looking to see what he's going to do. back home he's been seen for years as a weak leader, someone that doesn't have the confidence of the people, someone who believes in peace and there's been so many questions about how long he would last. right now he is going back to the palestinian people. if you look at those pictures, it's such a contrast to the sense of desperation and frustration that the palestinians have felt.

and today for at least a little while they're going to see the sense of hope that they have and that perhaps this could lead to an ultimate moment of a palestinian state. for him it is very important politically, t.j. >> politically he might have to negotiate with israel but what about negotiation with hamas? are they on board with what he is trying to do? >> no, not at all. hamas has come out and said it does not agree with this bid. not necessarily because they don't want a palestinian state,ostate obviously they do but they do not want to negotiate with israel or recognize israel as a jewish state, something that the palestinians would have to do if there was a peace deal. what they're saying is president abbas is not legitimate to give away these rights, give away these conditions of the palestinian people. there haven't been elected in the palestinian territory in several years. they're saying we have to have elections, we have to have people that can negotiate on behalf of the palestinians and certainly hamas doesn't think that president abbas has the

right right now to give away these concessions. >> thank you at the u.n. today. we'll turn now to other news making headlines right now. the federal government inching towards a partial government shutdown. now they will tell you it is not really a possibility, but it kind of is. just moments ago senate democrats voted down a temporary spending bill passed by the house to keep the government running through most 18th. the house bill include money for federal disaster relief but also cuts in another government program to pay for it. senate democrats want more money for fema without spending offsets. if lawmakers cannot get their act together the federal government could partially shut down october 1st. president obama's making big changes to no child left behind. this morning he announced the state will be allowed to opt out of key requirements over the controversial education reform bill enacted during the bush administration. >> starting today we'll be giving states more flex abl to meet high standards.

keep in mind the change we're making is not lowering standards, we're saying we're going to give you more flexibility to meet high standards. >> the waivers will give states more control over how they deal with drubld schools and allow states to drop the requirement that all students must show they are proficient in reading and math by 2014. turning to tacoma, washington now. 28,000 kids went back to school today after teachers voted to end a strike that kept students home for more than a week. tacoma teachers voted to approve a new contract yesterday. under the agreement teachers will not face a pay cut. that was a major sticking point during negotiations. in orlando, florida, jury deliberations are under way in the murder trial of millionaire bob ward. he is accused of killing his wife, diane, in september of 2009. prosecutors say she was shot just days before she was supposed to give a deposition in a lawsuit. it alleges her husband blew millions on big houses and

expensive cars while his business went bankrupt. defense attorneys say ward's wife was suicidal and he was trying to stop her from killing herself when that gun went off. iranian president ahmadinejad, some questioning, is he all bark? no bite? i'm going to talk to an international security expert, jim walsh. he's spoken personally with ahmadinejad on several occasions. we'll talk about what ahmadinejad did say and what he didn't say at the u.n. this week. stay with me. this one works. ooh, the price sure doesn't.

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i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. we have seen this happen before. we saw it again yesterday. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad triggered a mass

exodus from the u.n. general assembly, led by the u.s. delegation as ahmadinejad once again questioned whether al qaeda was responsible for the 9/11 attacks and blamed the west for everything from slavery to the two world wars and global economic crisis. jim walsh is here with me now. jim, did you hear anything yesterday that you hadn't heard before? are you surprised anymore by these speeches we see him make year after year? >> no, really i wasn't, t.j. this is sort of a classic thing we've seen unfold six times now. he'll give interviews in tehran to american media and those tend to be softer and say nice things about the american people and they're aimed at an american audience. but when he gets to new york and he gets up there on the stage then his audience is different. he's talking to iranians back in iran and to people back in the region. the u.n. speeches are almost always harsher, more provocative, more headline grabbing than the things he says before he comes or when he meets with people on the sidelines of these meetings. >> are you surprised on how little time he spent on the wars

in iraq an afghanistan? >> one of the things i noticed about the speech -- it was not so much what he did say as much as what he did not say. a part of the whole speech is this class being thing where he attacks the u.s. an europe for being great powers who meddle in the affairs of other states and he goes on about iraq and palestine but there's one country that did not appear on that -- in that speech and that was afghanistan. right? you'd think that if it was all about how the evil u.s. is invading a bunch of countries woe have mentioned afghanistan. but he doesn't. why? because afghanistan is on the iranian border. they don't want to have problems in afghanistan. they want to have a stable afghanistan. he's not complaining so much about the u.s. role in afghanistan. >> what's his role in the international stage now? a lot of people, frankly, just put up with him because we are trying to make sure we keep an eye on him and what happens with the nuclear issue in his country at least. so where does his power lie and does he still have i guess a card to play when it comes to the nuclear issue? >> i thought it was interesting in his speech. he did affirm iran is not

interested in developing nuclear weapons. people have suspicions and rightly so but it is better for countries to say they are not planning to do that than to say, you're forcing us to or maybe we are hedging our bets. i was happy to hear that in the speech. in terms of his own power it's really declined. he comes every year and all the press turns out for him but he is in a much worse place at home because of internal divisions. his power is weakening. there was some talk of his arrest. i don't think that's going to happen but he's dichbtly in a weaker position. the other thing he didn't mention and you brought it up with nuclear, in the side meetings and in the run-up to the new york speech he said that they would be willing to stop the production of 20% enriched uranium, they would still do the 3% but they would stop the 20% if they could buy it on the open market. that's not -- that's something worth paying attention to because we do not want them to produce 20% enriched uranium. that's something that wasn't in the speech but i think is worth following up and is significant. >> you got to listen closely to president ahmadinejad sometimes to figure out what it is we are

supposed to be paying close attention to. jim walsh, always good to see you. thanks so much. coming up here, victims of national disasters, including irene and others. they are at risk now of falling victim to partisan politics. we'll tell you what's at stake for millions of people if fema runs out of money because congress doesn't get its act together. stay with me.over and said to m, "you just beat the widow-maker." i was put on an aspirin, and it's part of my regimen now. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go see your doctor now.

live look at texas governor and presidential candidate rick perry, fresh off being treated as a pinata in last night's republican debate speaking at a conservative conference there in orlando. let's listen in for a moment.

>> -- $27 billion more in my state over the next decade. government mandated, government run health care costs too much, it gets in between you and your doctor. as president i will oppose any big government health care plan that costs jobs and raises the tab on taxpayers. as your president i want to make washington, d.c. as inconsequential in your life as i can make it. we have tried 2 1/2 years of government trying to stimulate the economy. it is time to let the private sector grow the economy. we need a flatter, broader, fairer federal tax code. we need to restore investor

confidence by eliminating federal regulations from those activist agencies like the epa. we need to cut the spending, reduce the debt so that our children inherit a country as promising as the one that our parents gave us. you see, i grew up, as al shared with you, in a small farming community west of ft. worth, texas. we didn't spend a lot of time looking around for government to help us out. if a neighbor was sick, we all pitched in together to gather their crops or manage their livestock. in my case we didn't even have indoor plumbing until i was 5 years old. the son of tenet faant farmers,

promise you one thing -- i wasn't born with four aces in my hand. and like a lot of you, i view the pathway to success as the product of hard work and we continue to reject the idea that washington is our caretaker. the nanny state was not needed for our forefathers, the nanny state didn't groom my father's generation, the greatest generation, who freed millions of people from oppression during world war ii. the nanny state didn't inspire innovation an technology, the creation of wealth or the entrepreneurial spirit in this country. >> listening there to texas governor rick perry and presidential candidate fresh off another republican debate last night where a lot of people will tell you it was 8-1, a lot of those candidates coming after him.

he has been atop a lot of polls as he entered the race but certainly those polls are tightening a bit between the governor there and former governor mitt romney. we'll have more on politics and the debate last night a little later in this hour of "cnn newsroom." let me turn now to fema. fema helps a lot of people out. of course during natural disasters. now fema is facing the real possibility of running out of money. yeah. once again the federal government on the verge of a shutdown. but this time funding for fema is the sticking point. give you a clearer picture of what's at stake. this brings us to today's "undercovered." take a look at a map. i'm sure it will look familiar to you. it is the country you live in. the united states. look at it now once again. what we're going to show you here are all the states that are relying on fema for aid. because of major disasters. just about every state in the u.s. a number of these states had multiple disasters and had to go back to fema for more fund.

so what exactly is going to happen? to all those people if fema doesn't get the money it needs? hurricane irene. remember that? wasn't too long ago. communities all along the atlantic were hit. damage estimates for irene alone -- $7 billion. then came tropical storm lee. with that came massive flooding. oh, yeah, what about the wildfires in texas. 21,000 wildfires have burned about 4 million acres there and destroyed about 2,000 homes. and, oh, yeah, then there's this. remember this? the aftermath of the tornado that ripped through the plains and midwest and parts of the south? think about all those disasters and all those people that just gives you a glimpse at what fema has been dealing with. congress right now bickering over an exact dollar amount for fema. what's "undercovered" now are the countless families across this country already victims to natural disasters now caught in the middle, on the verge of

becoming victims of now of partisan politics. we reached out to the fema administrator craig fugate and his deputies. no one was available to answer the simple question -- what are they planning to do if the funds run dry. but last night fugate and janet napolitano suspended long term reconstruction projects an those fund were reallocated to disaster victims to make hur they got immediate assistance. those victims are still getting fema money but according to fema's records reconstruction projects that total nearly $450 million in more than 40 states are right now on hold. also there's this. think about this next time you're out in public somewhere and just look around. 1 out of about every 6 people you see may be living in poverty. cnn taking a closer look at this issue. allan chernoff found dozens of jobless people forced to live in a tent city in new jersey but

many of these folks may be just like you -- professionals. >> i have cooked four nachos in that can many, many times. i was a design director. so how many do you want? >> two. >> i want in radio. producing programs. co-producing programs. co-hosting programs. >> if i had it to do over, i'd never had a career in the arts. aside from the fact that it's so risky and -- look at what's happened to me. if you think about it, it's really kind of shocking, really. such a difference in lifestyle. i will put in long, long hours. i mean it was fun. and i was very successful. that's why i was so shock to have it just -- and not just me. i had friend who were real successful, too. and they're out of work as well. you mow? it's just gone.

it's gone! >> i am concerned. there is anxiety every day about what the next day will bring. we've sent $100,000 taking care of birds that we rescued. if we didn't spend that $100,000 we would have had a nest egg. >> we saved at various times and it always seemed like there was some reason, a family illness or whatever and it would just get swept away. i just never expected that i wouldn't be working for another ten years at least. you know? i don't really feel old. i don't feel like i couldn't be having a full time job. obviously something has to be done. the way things are structured in this country now just will not go on forever. so why not take this as an experiment in living? >> psalm 23, the lore is my shepherd, i shalt not want.

i'm thinking i am lying down in green pastures. >> the minister says the tent city's population has nearly doubled, a sign of how much people are struggling right now. we'll turn in a moment to the amanda knox murder appeal trial. coming to an end now. lot of questions about whether or not this american will be set free. next.am e sandbox as luxury s.u.v.s, it helps to have the quality and craftsmanship of your leather interior test better than the lexus rx 350. it's also helpful to set your "select terrain" dial to "sand." ♪ with $500 bonus cash during the jeep celebration event, there's never been a better time or reason to celebrate at your jeep dealer. two of the most important are energy security

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24-year-old amanda knox entered an italian courtroom today. the american's appeal to her 2009 conviction for the murder of her british roommate now in its final stages. prosecutors finished their final arguments last hour and the defense will wrap up next week and that is today's crime and consequence. joining me now from perugia, italy, matthew chance. matthew, what happened today? >> reporter: well, prosecutor's making basically summing up what's left of their case essentially. remember, the big problem the prosecutors have got is that the

main physical evidence, the dna samples that were found on the alleged murder weapon, a 30 center meter long knife, were found by independent forensic experts appointed by the court to be -- samples weren't large enough they said to draw any conclusions from them. it's really undermined the evidence of the prosecution. what the prosecution is doing that is summing up the other circumstantial evidence that still exists against amanda knox and her boyfriend at the time who has been already convicted of killing amanda's british flat mate meredith kercher. i think a lot of people have been speculating around here that much of that prosecution evidence seems to have had the kind of wind taken out of it with the fact that that physical evidence having been declared.

the parents of meredith kercher, imagine the pain they were going through. some people saying we shouldn't be confusing the two issues, the pain of paints of meredith kercher and whether or not amanda knox is innocent or guilty of killing her. >> matthew, if this appeal does not go her way, does she have any other options? >> yes, she does. it will be the first few days of october when the court will decide whether or not they're going to overturn this conviction and set amanda knox free, whether they're going to uphold it and keep her in jail. there is a third option as well. they could fine her guilty of complicit in a lesser charge and just reduce her sentence possibly to time already served. she's been in prison for four years. if that doesn't work there is one further opportunity under italian law for a further appeal. >> all right, matthew chance for us in italy following the story of great interest there and here in the u.s. for this american. also a story we have been following for the past -- really all week. we knew this was going to be the big story at the united nations.

we just saw a short time ago mahmoud abbas the palestinian leader make his case for statehood for the palestinian people. now we are about to see the counterargument we assume from benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister. let's go ahead and listen. >> thank you, mr. president. ladies and gentlemen, israel has extended its hand in peace from the moment it was established 63 years ago. on behalf of israel and the jewish people, i extend that hand again today. i extend it to the people of egypt and jordan with renewed friendship for neighbors with whom we have made peace. i extend it to the people of turkey with respect and go

goodwill. i extend it to the people of libya and tunisia with admiration for those trying to build a democratic future. i extend it to the other peoples of north africa and the rainian peninsula with whom we want to forge a new beginning. i extend it to the people of syria, lebanon, and iran with all the courage of those fighting brutal repression. but most especially i extend my hand to the palestinian people with whom we seek a just and lasting peace.

ladies and gentlemen, in israel, our hope for peace never wanes. our scientists, doctors, innovators apply their genius to improve the world of tomorrow. our artists, our writers enrich the heritage of humanity. now i know that this is not exactly the image of israel that is often portrayed in this hall. after all, it was here in 1975 that the age-old yearning of my people to restore our national life in our ancient biblical homeland, it was then that this

was branded shamefully as race ism and it was here in 1980 -- right here -- that the historic peace agreement between israel and egypt wasn't praised. it was denounced. and it's here year after year that israel is unjustly singled out for condemnation, it's singled out for condemnation more often than all the nations of the world combined. 21 out of the 27 general assembly resolutions condemn israel the one true democracy in the middle east.

this is an unfortunate part of the u.n. institution. it is the theater of the absurd. it doesn't only cast israel as the villain, it often casts real villains in leading roles. gadhafi's libya chair the u.n. commission on human rights. saddam's iraq headed the u.n. committee on disarmament. you might say that's the past. well, here's what's happening now. right now. today. hezbollah controlled lebanon now presides over the u.n. security council. this means, in effect, that a terror organization presides over the body entrusted with guaranteeing the world security. you couldn't make this thing up. so here in the u.n. automatic majorities can decide anything.

they can decide that the son sets in the west or rises in the west -- i think the first has already been preordained. they have decided that the western wall in jerusalem, judaism's holiest place, is occupied palestinian territory. and yet, even here, in the general assembly, the truth can sometimes break through. in 1984 when i was appointed israel's ambassador to the united nations, i visited the great rabbi. he said to me -- and ladies and gentlemen, i don't want any of you to be offended, because from personal experience of serving here, i know there are many honorable men and women, many

capable and decent people serving their nation here, but here's what the rabbi said to me. he said to me, "you'll be serving in a house of many lies." and then he said, "remember that even in the darkest place, the light of a single candle can be seen far and wide." today i hope that the light of truth will shine, if only for a few minutes, in a hall that for too long has been a place of dark mess for my country. so as israel's prime minister, i didn't come here to win applause. i came here to speak the truth. the truth is -- the truth is that israel wants peace.

the truth is that i want peace. the truth is that in the middle east, at all times but especially during these turbulent days, peace must be anchored in security. the truth is that we cannot achieve peace through u.n. resolutions, but only through direct negotiations between the parties. the truth is that so far, the palestinians have refused to negotiate. the truth is that israel wants peace with a palestinian state, but the palestinians want a state without peace. and the truth is, you shouldn't let that happen. ladies and gentlemen, when i first came here 27 years ago, the world was divided between east and west. since then the cold war ended, great civilizations have risen from centuries of slumber, hundreds of millions have been lifted out of poverty, countless

more are poised to follow, and the remarkable thing is that, so far, this monumental historic shift has largely occurred peacefully. yet a malignancy is now growing between east and west that threatening the peace of all. it seems not to liberate but to enslave, not to build but to destroy. that malignancy is militant islam. it cloaks it self-in the mantel of a great faith, yet it murders jews, christians and muslims alike with unforgiving impart l impartiali

impartiality. on september 11th it killed thousands of americans and left the twin towers in smoldering ruins. last night i laid a wreath on the 9/11 memorial. it was deeply moving. but as i was going there, one thing echoed in my mind. the outrageous words of the president of iran on this podium yesterday. he implied that 9/11 was an american conspiracy. some of you left this hall. all of you should have. since 9/11, militant islam has slaughtered countless other

innocents, in london and madrid, in baghdad and mumbai, in tel aviv and jerusalem, in every part of israel. i believe that the greatest danger facing our world is that this fanaticism will arm itself with nuclear weapons and that is precisely what iran is trying to do. can you imagine that man who ranted here yesterday, can you imagine him armed with nuclear weapons? the international community must stop iran before it's too late. if iran is not stopped, we will all face a specter of nuclear terrorism and the arab spring could soon become an iranian winter. that would be a tragedy. millions of arabs have taken to the streets to replace tyranny with liberty, and no one would

benefit more than israel if those committed to freedom and peace would prevail. this is my fervent hope. but as the prime minister of israel, i cannot risk the future of the jewish state on wishful thinking. leaders must see reality as it is, not as it ought to be. we must do our best to shape the future, but we cannot wish away the dangers of the present. and the world around israel is definitely becoming more dangerous. militant islam has already taken over lebanon and gaza. it's determined to tear apart the peace treaties between israel an egypt an between israel and jordan. it's poisoned many arab minds against jews and israel, against

america and the west. it opposes not the policies of israel, but the existence of israel. now some argue that the spread of militant islam especially in these turbulent times, if you want to slow it down, they argue, israel must hurry to make concessions, to make territorial compromises. and this theory sounds simple. basically it goes like this -- leave the territory and peace will be advanced. the moderates will be strengthened, the radicals will be kept at bay, and don't worry about the pesky details of how israel will actually defend itself, international troops will do the job. these people say to me constantly, just make a sweeping offer and everything will work out.

you know, there's only one problem with that theory. we've tried it. and it hasn't work. in 2000 israel made a sweeping peace offer that met virtually all of the palestinian demands. arafat rejected it. the palestinians then launched a terror attack that claimed 1,000 israeli lives. prime minister olmert afterwards made an even more sweeping offer in 2008. president abbas didn't even respond to it. but israel did more than just make sweeping offers. we actually left territory. we withdrew from lebanon in 2000, and from every square inch of gaza in 2005. that didn't calm the islamic

storm. the militant islamic storm that threatens us. it only brought the storm closer and made it stronger. hezbollah and hamas fired thousands of rockets against our cities from the very territories we vacated. see, when israel left lebanon and gaza, the moderates didn't defeat the radicals. the moderates were devoured by the radicals. and i regret to say that international troops like unifill and lebanon in gaza didn't stop the radicals from attacking israel. we left gaza hoping for peace. we didn't freeze the settlements in gaza. we uprooted them. we did exactly what the theory

says. get out, go back to the 1967 borders, dismantle the settlements, and i don't think people remember how far we went to achieve this. we uprooted thousands of people from their homes. we pulled children out of their schools and their kindergarten. we bulldozed synagogues. we even -- we even moved loved ones from their graves. and then having done all that, we gave the keys of gaza to president abbas. now the theory says it should all work out. and president abbas and the palestinian authority now could build the peaceful state in

gaza. you can remember that the entire world applauded. they applauded our withdrawal as an act of great statesmanship, as a bold act of peace. but ladies and gentlemen, we didn't get peace. we got war. we got iran. which threw its proxy hamas promptly kicked out the palestinian authority. the palestinian authority collapsed in a day, in one day. president abbas just said on this podium that the palestinians are armed only with their hopes an dreams. yeah. hopes, dreams, and 10,000 missiles, and ground rockets supplied by iran, not to mention

the river of lethal weapons now flowing into gaza from the sinai from libya and from elsewhere. thousands of missiles have already rained down on our cities. so, you might understand that given all this, israelis rightly ask -- what's to prevent this from happening again in the west bank? see, most of our major cities in the south of the country are within a few dozen kilometers from gaza. but in the center of the country opposite the west bank, our cities are a few hundred meters, or at most, a few kilometers away from the edge of the west bank. so i want to ask you, would any of you -- would any of you bring danger so close to your cities,

to your families? would you act so recklessly with the lives of your citizens? israel is prepared to have a palestinian state in the west bank, but we're not prepared to have another gaza there. and that's why we need to have real security arrangements which the palestinians simply refuse to negotiate with us. israelis remember the bitter lessons of gaza. many of israel's critics ignore them. they irresponsibly advise israel to go down this same perilous path again. you read what these people say and it's as if nothing happened. keep repeating the same advice, the same formulas, as though none of this happened. and these critics continue to press israel to make far-reaching concessions without

first assuring israel's security. they praise those who unwittingly feed the insatiable crocodile of militant islam as bold statesmen. they cast as enemies of peace those of us who insist that we must first erect a sturdy barrier to keep the crocodile out or at the very least, jam an iron bar between its gaping jaws. so in the face of the labels and libels, israel must heed better advice, bet ter bad press than good eulogy and better still would be a fair press whose sense of history extends beyond breakfast, and which recognizes israel's legitimate security concerns. i believe that in serious peace

negotiations, these needs and concerns can be properly addressed. but they will not be addressed without negotiations. and the needs are many. because israel is such a tiny country. without judea, israel is all of nine miles wide. i want to put it for you in perspective because you're all in the city. that's about two-thirds the length of manhattan. it's the distance between battery park and columbia university. and don't forget that the people who live in brooklyn and new jersey are considerably nicer than some of israel's neighbors. so how do you -- how do you protect such a tiny country? surrounded by people sworn to its destruction and armed to the teeth by iran. obviously, you can't defend it from within that narrow space

alone. israel needs greater strategic depth, and that's exactly why security council resolution 242 didn't require israel to leave all the territories it captured in the six-day war. it talked about withdrawal from territories to secure indefensible boundaries and to defend itself, israel must, therefore, maintain a long-term israeli military presence in critical strategic areas in the west bank. i explained this to president abbas. he answered if a palestinian state was to be a sovereign country, it could never accept such arrangements. why not? america has had troops in japan,

germany and south korea for more than half a century. britain has had an airspace in cypress -- or rather an air base in cypress. france has forces in three independent african nations. none of these states claim that they're not sovereign countries. and there are many other vital security issues that also must be addressed. take the issue of airspace. again, israel's small dimensions create huge security problems. america can be crossed by a jet airplane in six hours. to fly across israel, it takes three minutes. so is israel's tiny airspace to be chopped in half an given to a palestinian state not at peace with israel? our major international airport is a few kilometers away from the west bank.

without peace, will our planes become targets for anti-aircraft missiles placed in the adjacent palestinian states? and how will we stop the smuggling into the west bank? it's not merely the west bank, it's the west bank mountains, it just dominates the coastal plain where most of israel's population sits below. how could we prevent the smuggling into these mountains of those missiles that could be fired on our cities? i bring up these problems because they're not theoretical problems, they're very real. and for israelis, they're life-and-death matters. all these potential cracks in israel's security have to be sealed in a peace agreement before a palestinian state is declared, not afterwards. because if you leave it afterwards, they won't be sealed.

and these problems will explode in our face and explode the peace. the palestinians should first make peace with israel and then get their state. but i also want to tell you this. after such a peace agreement is signed, israel will not be the last country to welcome a palestinian state as a new member of the united nations. we will be the first. [ applause ] and there's one more thing. hamas has been violating international law by holding our soldier captive for five years.

they haven't given him even one red cross visit. he's held in a dungeon in darkness against all international norms. he is the son of aviv shalid. galad shalid is the son of every israeli family, every nation represented here should demand his immediate release. if you want to -- [ applause ] if you want to pass a resolution about the middle east today, that's the resolution you should pass. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, last year

in israel, at the university, this year in the u.s. congress, i laid out my vision for peace in which demilitaryize d state recognizes the jewish state. after all this is the body that recognition the jewish state 64 years ago. don't you think it's about time palestinians did the same? the jewish state of israel will always protect the rights of all it's it's m's my nor tees. i wish i could say the same thing about a future palestinian state, for as palestinian officials made clear the other day, in fact i think they made

it right here in new york, they said the palestinian state won't allow any jews in it. they'll be jew-free. that's ethnic cleansing. there are laws today in ramallah that make the selling of land to jews punishable by death. that's racism. and you know which laws this evokes. israel has no intention whatsoever to change the democratic character of our state. we just don't want the palestinians to try to change the jewish character of our state. we want to give up -- [ applause ]

we want them to give up the fantasy of flooding israel with millions of palestinians. president abbas just stood here and he said that the core of the israeli/palestinian conflict is the settlements. well, that's odd. our conflict has been raging -- was raging for nearly half a century before there was a single israeli settlement in the west bank. so if what president abbas is saying was true, then i guess the settlements he's talking about are tel aviv, haifa, jafa, bersheva. maybe that's what he meant the other day when he said that israel has been occupying palestinian land for 63 years.

he didn't say from 1967, he said from 1948. i hope somebody will bother to ask him this question. because it illustrates a simple truth. the core of the conflict is not the settlements. the settlements are a result of the conflict. the settlements have to be -- it's an issue that has to be addressed and resolved in the course of negotiations, but the core of the conflict has always been, and unfortunately remains, the refusal of the palestinians to recognize a jewish state in any border. i think it's time that the palestinian leadership recognizes what every serious international leader has recognized. from lord balfour and lord george in 1917 to president truman in 1948 to president

obama just two days ago right here. israel is the jewish state. [ applause ] president abbas, stop walking around this issue. recognize the jewish state and make peace with us. in such a genuine peace, israel is prepared to make painful compromises. we believe that the palestinians should be neither the citizens of israel nor its subjects. they should live in a free state of their own. but they should be ready, like us, for compromise. and we will know that they're ready for compromise and for peace when they start taking israel's security requirements seriously, and when they stop denying our historical connection to our ancient

homeland. i often hear them accuse israel of judaizing jerusalem. that's like accusing america of americanizing washington. or the british of anglicizing london. you know why we're called jews? because we come from judea. in my office in jerusalem there's an ancient seal. it's a signet ring of a jewish official from the time of the bible. the seal was found right next to the western wall, and it dates back 2700 years to the time of king hezikiah. now, there's a name of the jewish official inscribed on the ring in heeb are you. his name was netanyahu. that's my last name. my first name, benjamin, dates

back a thousand years earlier, the son of jacob who was also known as israel. jacob and his 12 sons roamed these same hills 4,000 years ago. and there's been a continuous jewish presence in the land ever since. and for those jews who were exiled from our land, they never stopped dreaming of coming back. jews in spain on the eve of their expulsion, jews in the ukraine, jews fighting the warsaw ghetto as the nazis were circling around them, they never stopped praying, they never stopped yearning, they whispered next year in jerusalem, next year in the promised land. [ applause ] as the prime minister of israel,

i speak for a hundred generations of jews who are dispersed throughout the lands who suffered every evil under the sun, but who never gave up hope of restoring their national life in the one and only jewish state. ladies and gentlemen, i continue to hope that president abbas will be my partner in peace. i've worked hard to advance that peace. the day i came into office, i called for direct negotiations without preconditions. president abbas didn't respond. i outlined a vision of peace of two states for two peoples. he still didn't respond. i removed hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints to ease freedom

of movement in the palestinian areas. this facilitated a fantastic growth in the palestinian economy. but again, no response. i took the unprecedented step of freezing new buildings in the settlements for ten months. no prime minister did that before, ever. once again -- you applaud, but there was no response. no response. in the last few weeks, american officials have put forward ideas to restart peace talks. there were things in those ideas about borders that i didn't like. there were things there about the jewish state that i'm sure the palestinians didn't like. but with all my reservations, i was willing to move forward on these american ideas.

president abbas, why don't you join me? we have to stop negotiating about the negotiations. let's just get on with it. let's negotiate peace. [ applause ] i spent years defending israel on the battlefield. i spent decades defending israel in the court of public opinion. president abbas, you've dedicated your life to advancing the palestinian cause. must this conflict continue for generations? or will we enable our children and our grandchildren to speak in years ahead of how we found a way to end it.

that's what we should aim for. that's what i believe we can achieve. in two and a half years we met in jerusalem only once. even though my door has always been open to you. if you wish, i'll come to ramallah. actually, i have a better suggestion. we've both just flown thousands of miles to new york. now we're in the same city. we're in the same building. so let's meet here today in the united nations. [ applause ] who's there to stop us? what is there to stop us? if we genuinely want peace, what is there to stop us from meeting today and beginning peace negotiations? and i suggest we talk openly and

honestly. let's listen to one another. let's do as we say in the middle east, let's talk dugli, that means straightforward. i'll tell you my needs and concerns. you'll tell me yours. and with god's help, we'll find the common ground of peace. [ applause ] there's an old arab saying that you cannot applaud with one hand. well, the same is true of peace. i cannot make peace alone. i cannot make peace without you. president abbas, i extend my hand, the hand of israel, in peace. i hope that you will grasp that hand. we are both the sons of abraham. my people call him -- we share

the same patriarch. we dwell in the same land. our destinies are intertwined. let us realize the vision of isaiah. [ speaking foreign language ] the people who walked in darkness will see a great light. let that light be the light of peace. [ applause ] >> on behalf of the general assembly i wish to thank -- >> all right. there you have the other side. in the past couple of hours we have seen almost back-to-back speeches from benjamin netanyahu as well as the head of the palestinian authority, mahmoud abbas, two differing messages but you just heard from benjamin netanya netanyahu, and i quote, let's

get on with it. he says he wants to start negotiations immediately. he says we have to stop negotiating about the negotiations and he stepped up and issued a challenge to mahmoud abbas. we have flown thousands of miles to be in new york city. we are in the same building. it makes no sense for us not to be meeting right now. let's start these negotiations today. benjamin netanyahu had some strong words for the u.n. body, called it the theater of the absurd at one point at the beginning. a lot to get at. let me bring in jamie rube ep, a former assistant secretary of state and now executive editor of the "bloomberg review." gentlemen, thank you both for being here. jamie, let me start with you here. what did you hear in that almost issuing a challenge. they flew all the way here, they're in the same building and they're not talking? >> yes, i think that was a public relations gesture by the

israeli prime minister. the issue is not whether they'll meet or whether they'll negotiate. he knows perfectly well for many, many months the palestinians have been focused on the question of settlements. and i think what was remarkable was in all those minutes of some very eloquent words, some very eloquent statements about the need for peace, prime minister netanyahu never really answered the basic question which was on everybody's minds, which is why the israelis must continue to extend the settlement building to enlarge their share of the west bank day after day and won't suspend that as a way of getting negotiations going. that's something the united states has called for. and frankly, because prime minister netanyahu regards this u.n. forum as kind of a grand world debating society, i'm not

sure his style was so effective. president obama made a very effective case earlier this week for the israeli security dilemma. and i think when prime minister netanyahu starts criticizing the press from the podium of the u.n., i think he loses his audience. so i think it was more of like an israeli debating society than a globalhussein, let me bring y here. people listening to benjamin netanyahu, it sounds like israel, and certainly everybody doesn't see it this way, but he says he has done all he can. the settlements, he said that's not the cause of the conflict. the conflict caused the settlements. so what did you hear from him in your estimation? >> well, i thought it was a rather bad speech. i think he's capable of giving good speeches, as he did in congress earlier this year, but he didn't give one. it was defensive and he defended

the occupation. i think jamie is wrong, he did actually provide a rationalization for not only expanding settlements but maintaining the occupation. he said israel needs strategic depth. he said whenever israel has withdrawn from territory unilaterally, i might add, that it has been met with attacks. of course he didn't mention that when it's had agreements like the treaties with egypt and jordan that those agreements have been held because there was another party on the other side to agree with this. but i think he was probably rattled by how effective president abbas was. president abbas gave a truly excellent speech, really superb. i don't think the late president arafat made it that effective. he made the moral case for palestinian in a very powerful way. that leaves open the question of what do you do the day after, how do you use that to get back to negotiations or to create conditions for negotiations that can succeed sometime in the

future. i really think that prime minister netanyahu was very defensive about the occupation and he really sort of made the case for it and why it exists, why it should expand and why it should continue. >> jamie, let me bring you back in here. bad speech in hussein's estimation. he just heard an excellent speech by mahmoud abbas. but either one of these speeches, so much focus on them both. do they move us any closer to anything? >> no, they don't. that's what is so troubling. you heard the president abbas give the moral case. i think that's correct. and i think he had the room in his hands. and i think he really did win over the audience. prime minister netanyahu made the kind of speech that you make in sort of the israeli public opinion, but i don't think he won a lot of points from the viewers in the world or in the hallway. and that's really the problem.

these are speech making. these are winning debating points. these are ways to perhaps even win a general assembly vote. but what was really absent was either leader telling their people or telling the other what steps they're going to take to prevent this u.n. exercise from not turning into a disaster, from not causing great protests in the palestinian authority's areas when the u.n. exercise doesn't change anything on the ground, when he -- neither side explained what you need to do the day after to prevent this from being a bad moment. >> hussein, you wrap it up for me here. you just heard james say these speeches don't move the process forward but does it hurt the process in anything you heard today? >> not particularly. i mean it was effective by abbas and i think ineffective by

netanyahu but it doesn't change any of the realities on the ground or even the diplomatic realities because the problems facing palestinian recognition in the u.n. are exactly the same as they were before abbas's speech. people that agreed with him before agree with him more. i think we need to focus on the day after and that's two different things. one is making sure that aid to the p.a. isn't cut as people are threatening to do which could create both a political and a security nightmare for the israelis and palestinians alike. and the security cooperation that has brought law and order to parts of the west bank that were formerly chaotic and to also use the space that's now emerging, since the palestinians are going to make this formal request to the secretary general but not push for a vote to try to look for a statement or eu

initiative or something to help get us past a difficult period where because the parties are so far apart and because we're in an election season in the united states, meaningful negotiations will be difficult to resume in the immediate future. so focus on the ground, build there, make sure the quality of life is maintained and the security cooperation is maintained and we can have a soft landing rather than a hard landing. that's what everybody needs. >> james, if it gets to a point of a veto, a u.s. veto, first, do you think it will get that far? and just how damaging is that going to be for the u.s. in the region if they have to veto it? the u.s. vetoes, goes through and has to veto palestinian statehood? >> well, i think there's a chance that the u.s. will have to veto. there's a chance that the palestinians with the speech that abbas gave today can muster nine votes in the security council and that that would cause a need for the united states to veto. it would be damaging. it would be extremely damaging.

the united states has not made an effective case for why the support in the arab spring is one thing, tunisia, egypt, libya, syria, and that we, the united states, don't somehow support the self-determination and rights of the palestinians. i think the difference, of course, is the palestinians haven't put forward hundreds of thousands of people engaged in peaceful protests. and if they were to do that, that's the game changer. that's when the arab spring comes to the palestinian territories and the world, including israelis, will be affected. so that's not going to happen. it doesn't seem like it's going to happen. what's most likely to happen is that it goes to the general assembly where the palestinians can get a victory. that's not that meaningful. they get a big vote in their favor, they get their status upgraded, but then the day after, they're no better off and that's really the challenge that

diplomats in washington, in europe, at the united nations and in these two areas have to solve is how to prevent the frustration and anger that's likely to come when there's no change on the ground after this exercise and preventing it from turning into a violent result, which would be a disaster. >> go ahead and wrap it for me. >> well, you do that through funding. you do that through not cutting funds to the p.a. you do that by continuing to fund the security services, the institution building, the upgrade in the quality of life that the prime minister under the leadership of abbas has done such a good job of promoting over the past couple of years. that is the great achievement that can be built on here and it can help buy us time until we can arrange the politics to be more in line with everybody's policies. and we can actually resume meaningful negotiations, which can end this conflict, you know, with a palestinian state alongside israel.

that's going to take some time. but there's things you can work with on the ground, they have just got to be funded. defunding them creates the nightmare scenario jamie was talking about. and i do think even if a palestinian movement began nonviolently, both because of israeli forces and because the way some palestinian groups try to take advantage of it, it probably wouldn't stay nonviolent that long. >> gentlemen, thank you both. we're going to turn here in a moment to politics back in this country. it was eight against one at the republican debate. eight candidates taking shots at texas governor rick perry. he is the front runner as of now. but will that last? fair game next.

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let's go beyond partisan talking points and get to the heart of the political debate. all sides are fair game. in last night's gop debate in florida, it was pretty much eight against one. texas governor rick perry again facing incoming fire from his republican challengers on issues from social security to immigration. but they didn't make a dent really in his front runner status. we'll talk about that with will cain, cnn contributor and columnist and eds p s pip -- ed espinosa. let's talk about the crowd. we have seen this in a few different debates, the audience has some kind of reaction. we'll listen to the reaction they had to a question from a gay soldier. listen to this. >> in 2010 when i was deployed to iraq i had to lie about who i was because i'm a gay soldier and i didn't want to lose my job. my question is under one of your

presidencies, do you intent to circumvent the progress that's been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military? >> yeah, i would say any type of sexual activity has no place in the military. >> okay. so you hear the audience booing the question from a gay soldier. there was another debate where there was a hypothetical about a young man who might have been sick and what do we do, just let him die and some people were yelling out yeah in the audience. do these audience reactions in front of a national audience like that, i mean did this play into the debate? do you think this is representative of the republican base and maybe even of the republican candidates? >> no, i don't. i don't think it was representative of even that audience last night. it sounded to me, t.j., like two or three people tops. to hell with those people. there is an intellectual debate to be had about don't ask, don't tell. there are smart questions to be asked about don't ask, don't tell. but because of that guy or those handful of people, you're asking

me about this today. so that's the conversation we get to have. >> ed, what do you think? is it just a couple of knuckleheads, but even so, does it make a difference to the american audience that's watching or really just a couple of knuckleheads getting some attention? >> yeah, i think it does. actually i agree with will. we need to move the conversation forward. this isn't the way to do it. the problem is that these voices you hear when you have members of the audience saying let him die to someone who doesn't have health care, when you have people booing a gay soldier and when you have voters who are given the lead in the republican primary to someone who calls social security a ponzi scheme, this is out of the mainstream. it's not normal. there's polling that supports that this isn't where america is going. i tweeted about this polling this morning. the problem is, is that consultants like myself ask candidates to speak to their audiences. and rick perry is speaking to this audience and he's winning because of it. where that takes them, i don't

know. >> i see you smiling there. we were going to get to rick perry next. will, you go ahead and jump this there. >> i don't like the theme, the string being connected as you said, t.j., and i agree with the word knucklehead in an audience that boos a gay soldier and questioning the validity of social security. there's not a moral equivalency tying those two things together. >> but there is polling. >> go ahead and wrap it up. go ahead, ed. >> well, the point i'm making is that there are comments that there are positions in the party that are making certain people front runners and it's based on polling. i'm sorry, it goes against what popular polling is right now. >> all right. let's go ahead and get past that. you hate we even had to have a question on that. so let's turn to rick perry. we saw his front runner status, don't know how long he might be able to hold on to that. did he do anything last night that's going to help him hold onto that or is mitt romney a

coming? >> t.j., i made the mistake of saying rick perry would be the next president of the united states. i even wrote it. but i had a caveat that assuming he doesn't shoot himself in the foot, that he doesn't self-destruct. either way i was wrong, t.j., because right now it looks like rick perry will just fizzle out. he stammered, he was halting, he had trouble finding his points and he stood next to a guy in mitt romney who was smooth and articulate. right now it looks like rick perry is going to fizzle away. >> ed, on that point, do you think he's going to necessarily fizzle away or he's still trying to find his footing a little bit and he can still pull this off? >> well, about a guy shooting himself in the foot, rick perry is a guy who likes to go jogging with a pistol so it may literally happen at some point. whether it happens in the political arena, the thing is he's running against people like mitt romney and ron paul who run for president a bunch of times before. so what you've got with rick perry is a guy who hasn't really been tested at this level.

he's run texas for 10 or 12 years without any real challenges and now he's got to go through this testing phase and it's proving to be a little difficult for him. will he survive? he's survived before. it remains to be seen if he will now. but he still leads in the polls, 31% of the republicans. >> apparently rick perry is bad at the debating part of debates. >> well, i think he probably needs to correct that, doesn't he? ed, will, always good to see you. will, be careful what you write, it always comes back to bite you. gentlemen, talk to you again soon. as we come up on the bottom of the hour here now, a story that really captured the nation and really captured some international attention this week. troy davis maintained his innocence even as he was strapped to the gurney. his case now sparking a renewed debate in this country over the death penalty. did georgia execute an innocent man? should scientific evidence be required in the death penalty? we're taking on this issue next. ,

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the execution of convicted cop killer troy davis is reviving the national debate over the death penalty. davis was put to death by lethal injection wednesday in georgia maintaining his innocence until the very end. his case triggered an extraordinary amount of national and international attention centered around the fact that there was no dna evidence linking davis to the crime and several of the key witnesses later recanted their testimonies. the davis case perhaps like no other in recent history is bringing the death penalty debate back into the spotlight all centered around the pivotal question. was an innocent man put to death? joining me now, paul callen, law professor at george washington university, jonathan turley and

craig watkins. gentlemen, thank you all for being here. mr. watkins, let me start with you. did this renew a debate about whether or not the country wants the death penalty or just about one man who many people thought was innocent? >> i believe it does. this gives us the opportunity to really look at how we pursue justice in the united states. i can only tell you that my injuries as relates to troy davis is just from what i've read and seen on tv. i mean he's in atlanta, i'm in texas. but i've said all along since i have been the district attorney, we need to revisit how we dismiss justice in this country and it needs to be improved. here in dallas alone, we have had at least 26 individuals exonerated for crimes they have not committed. and i think anyone who has the backbone to say that we have not made a mistake and given a

person the ultimate punishment in this country is just not being truthful with themselves or this country. >> paul, let me bring you in here because i believe it was you who talked about, you know, from conviction to this wednesday was 20 years that this man was on death row. some people question why does it take so long. you know, if we're sure about the outcome, if we're sure about the punishment, it shouldn't take that long. i believe you suggested it takes too long. but on the point mr. watkins just made, shouldn't we take all the time we need to be sure? >> well, we should. but if you're going to have the death penalty, the only way it works from a deterrent standpoint is if a murderer knows that he's going to be punished swiftly and that the public really knows that the crime -- what crime occurred and that the murderer was brought to justice quickly. 22 years later, it doesn't send the message of deterns. if you're not going to send that message, maybe we shouldn't have

the death penalty. on the other hand, t.j., we have to have a system that ensures that the person being put to death is guilty. and it's really in my view, it's got to be not beyond a reason doubt but really beyond all doubt. i think because of that feeling that's why the courts struggle so hard an revisit these cases so often to make sure they get it right. >> jonathan, what do you think about that point. if it takes so long, is this serving its purpose to serve as a deterrent to violent crime out there? why does it take so long and is that a good thing in your opinion to make sure we have the right appeals and that we're sure? >> well, you have to separate the two statements. first, on deterrence, there's very little evidence that the death penalty affects a crime in the form of deterence. i've talked to a lot of people in prison for murder, i've represented some, and i can tell

you i think that's completely fallacious. when people commit murder, they don't do the calculus of risk in terms of the likely punishment they will receive. but in terms of time that it takes, you can't have it both ways as a civilized society. you can't say we're going to execute people and we're going to do it fast. one of the reasons it's so complex is because of a law in 1996 to speed up these cases by preventing people presenting evidence, even compelling evidence after their trial if theoretically it could have been presented at their trial. much of the evidence with mr. davis was barred on that basis. but those seven witnesses who recanted, many of them said they were coerced by the police, the worst type of allegation in a case. so when people say it takes too long, they need to look at a case like davis. >> mr. watkins, should there be a higher standard in some of these cases for the type of evidence that can land someone on death row?

>> yeah, i believe in our country we have a perfect standard in place. the problem is, is that we get caught up in the procedural methods that are in place. when we're dealing with the ultimate punishment, maybe we should look outside of the procedural methods, because sometimes that won't lead us to the truth. and we're dealing with a person's life here. and in the troy davis case, obviously there are individuals that were in the position that he didn't commit the crime and he was barred from introducing information and evidence that he may not have committed a crime because of procedure. >> paul and jonathan -- go ahead, paul. i need you to wrap it up. >> first of all, i don't think that that's true. you know, i don't know personally whether he's guilty or not, but i do know that his case was a thoroughly reviewed case by the georgia supreme court, ultimately the u.s. supreme court ordered an actual innocence hearing. judge moore issued a 172-page decision saying that claims that he was actually innocent were

smoke and mirrors. so i think that -- and this was only two years before the execution. so i think he got a fair trial and he got a fair evaluation of his case. >> jonathan, i've got to go. we have some breaking news but just a yes or no from you. will this case and all the attention it got change anything or people's opinions about the death penalty? >> if it has one positive feature, it will spark a debate over whether this is an efficient and eequitable way to against justice. >> gentlemen, thank you very much. we ran into some breaking news so we don't have as much time as we like but we appreciate you all taking the time with us. quick break here, folks. i'm right back. gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health.

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acapulco, mexico, when you think of that, you don't think about an actual drug war playing out, but that has been what's happening. it's become a battlefield and drug lords there are showing no mercy, even striking out at school teachers. do you remember this back in may? this is a gun battle outside a school in monterey. the teacher stayed calm, told the kids to put their heads down. she even sang to them. in acapulco, let's take you back there where rafael romo is going

to explain that teachers have had it with the drug gangs. >> reporter: the message is clear. no security, no classes. thousands of teachers in the mexican beach resort of acapulco are taking to the streets to tell the government that they're fed up with the violence. some parents and students protested as well. the teachers refuse to go back to the classroom until they get assurances about their security. >> translator: we are asking for conditions that allow us to return both our schools and our homes for normal. that's all we're asking for. we don't think that's too much to ask for. we're asking for something that anybody anywhere in the world would want, peace. >> reporter: late last month, teachers fled from 140 schools after receiving threats. criminal groups left written notes demanding a portion of the teachers' salary. schools where teachers refused to pay kick backs would be attacked. >> translator: we're calling on all seven regions to unite. next may be a statewide strike.

we'll go to other schools in other regions to ask those teachers to join us too. >> reporter: acapulco authorities have created a security program called safe school. they say so far no one has been attacked or hurt at any school. >> translator: we have increased the number and reach of our operations and officers patrolling schools. in the first 15 tadays of the se school program, we had zero incidents at the schools. >> we think acapulco, we don't think that, so just what are these numbers telling us? >> i had an opportunity to interview the director in the city of acapulco earlier this year and he was telling me last year they broke the number of murders with 1,010. this year they broke the record in august. they're at 1288 as of last night. and the murder rate is 126, very, very high. >> rafael romo, who's been covering mexico for us, always good to see you.

thanks so much. well, they are not even old enough to pay the family bills, but the tough economy hitting little kids across the u.s. hard. those details next. stay with us.

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an in-depth look at poverty in america. oftentimes when you think about malnourished children you might not think of children right here, maybe of children in other countries. but you don't have to go outside of our own borders to find children in need of food. we go to boston where the high cost of housing and heat has many family its cutting back on food. >> reporter: looking at juvens lewis, you would never guess this first grader suffers from chronic malnutrition. his mom earns less than $10,000 a year at her part-time job. and even though the single mom gets help from food stamps, she still worries constantly about not having enough to eat. >> i'm shaking. shaking. head like crazy. number one thing you've got to take care of the house, but

after that to see how i'm going to buy food for my kid. >> reporter: figures show nationwide more than 16 million children live in homes with parents struggling to put enough food on the table. >> hi, juvens. >> reporter: dr. megan sandell treats him at boston medical center's unique grow clinic which specializes in underweight and malnourished children. >> step right on the scale. 37.2 pounds. >> reporter: the 6-year-old currently weighs as much as an average 4-year-old. >> people think about acute malnutrition and look at somalia or something like that. what we see is chronic malnutrition, stunted growth, kids that are the size of a 1-year-old when they're 2 years old and they're not going to be able to make up for the rest of their lives. >> reporter: emergency rooms in boston are seeing a spike in severely underweight children ages 5 and younger, a crucial

period for brain growth and child development. these kids are more likely to get sick and fall behind in school. >> all right. so where do i go next? okay. >> reporter: pediatrician debra frank runs the grow clinic and sees as many as 40 children a week. >> some kids, it's pretty obvious, you can count their ribs. their arms and legs look skinny. their heads look too big. the scary thing is that even when you feed kids and get them going again and physically growing, that you can often find deficits in learning and behavior all the way into high school. >> reporter: in other cities like baltimore and minneapolis, many doctors say the numbers of malnourished kids have doubled in the last two years because of the recession. boston's grow clinic opened a pantry where doctors now write prescriptions for food. >> we thought we were going to serve 500 families a month and last month we served 7500 families. we're handing out over 7500 bags

of food every month. >> reporter: more than 40 million people received food stamps in the summer of 2010 alone, a record high. some in congress are now talking about cuts in that and other nutrition programs. >> sort of like somebody saying we're about to have a plague epidemic so the government is cutting back on immunizations and antibiotics to save money. just as the plague is hitting. >> reporter: a plague that could have serious consequences for children. deborah feyrick, cnn, boston. >> squinty eyes a little bit when i say look at the stocks. not as bad as it has been the past couple of days. right now the dow is off 24 points right now, but still that is really pale in comparison to what we saw yesterday, almost a 400-point loss for the dow. we'll keep an eye on the markets for you. also we'll turn to our heroes of 2011. our anderson cooper introduces 2011 cnn heroes when we come back.

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fifth anniversary of our cnn heroes. over the years we've received over 40,000 nominations from you, our viewers, in more than 1 100 countries and now it's time to decide this year's hero of the year. our anderson cooper with a look at the top ten. >> reporter: i'm anderson cooper. all year we've been introducing you to everyday people changing the world. we call them cnn heroes. now we announce the top ten for

2011. the honorees are in alphabetical order by first name, amy stokes. he uses the internet to match teens lacking role models with adults around the world. bruno serato is serving up a solution so motel kids don't go to bed hungry. derrick kayongo collects motel soaps and reprocesses them. >> diane latimer. eddie canales helps football players sidelined by spinal cord injuries. elaina miranda offers poor children a way into school. patrice millot started feeding and coaching children from haiti's slums. robin lim helps poor women have healthy pregnancies and safe deliveries. >> taryn davis who built a

sisterhood of healing for a new generation of american war widows. congratulations, the top ten cnn heroes of 2011. which one inspires you the most? go to cnnheroes.com on line and vote. >> remember, you decide the winner here. you can go to cnnheroes.com right now to vote. that does it for me. after a quick break, brooke baldwin takes this thing over. that everything was getting more expensive, so we switched to the bargain detergent, but i found myself using three times more than you're supposed to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. [ laughs ] thanks, honey. yeah. you suck at folding. [ laughs ] that's my tide. what's yours? [ female announcer ] find the tide that's right for you at tide.com.

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