murray, the gdoctor who was giving michael jackson an iv anesthetic to help him sleep. more than two years after jackson went into fatal cardiac arrest, a jury is now in place and opening statements are less than 24 hours away. jackson's in-house physician is charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter and could face up to four years in prison if convicted. we will have much more on the case in just a moment. but first, i want to catch you upsome on some other headlines of the day. president obama continues his west coast tour talking about jobs and the economy. and laying the groundwork for his re-election campaign. after a pair of fund-raising events in seattle, washington yesterday, he is making stops in california today. the president is scheduled to hold a town hall meeting in mountainview shortly and we'll bring you live coverage. chief white house correspondent jessica yellin standing by in mountain view. hi there, jessica. who's going to be asking questions at this town hall today?

>> reporter: there are about 250 people in the audience and they are all selected by linkedin. we're told that they are either linkedin employees or members of linkedin who submitted questions and all those questions were chosen by linkedin itself. some of them will be asked by audience members and some of them will be asked by the ceo of linkedin who will be there with the president. >> jessica, we know that obviously mr. obama, he relied quite a bit on social media and turned to social media quite a bit in 2008. is this a sign do you think he's planning to do the same thing for 2012? >> absolutely. that's one of the tricks of campaigning these days. he'll be doing it but the difference is this time around so will the other guys. so he doesn't necessarily have the only advantage -- he has an advantage but not the only one. the other piece of it is fund-raising. as you mentioned, he had four fund-raisers yesterday. he told people to shake off the d doldrums, don't give up.

they have to stand up and fight. sources tell me the campaign manager has been telling their top fund-raisers to expect this quarter they will raise $55 million and there on his west coast swing trying to get up as much mrn as they can trying to make up for the sum weather it was very hard for them to raise money during those debt negotiations both because the president was stuck in washington, d.c., couldn't go out and hit the road and raise money, and also people are kind of dispirited by the tone in washington. big donors are starting to give again. >> what does the schedule look like after the town hall? >> reporter: from here he goes down to where you are, first he'll go to la jolla which is a wealthy area outside san diego, little south of you. then he'll come up to los angeles for a total of three fund-raisers. and tomorrow he heads to denver where he'll have an event at a high school to push part of the jobs act where he's talking about the importance of

refurbishing schools, that you can refurbish schools an also put people to work in his jobs act. this is a big double push with pass this bill now, i bet you'll hear him say that. then also raising those big bucks. ran randi, back to you. >> jessica yellin, thank you. in washington you have another government shutdown crisis looming. cnn will bring you in-depth coverage all week on that. congress has until friday, the end of the current fiscal year, to avert the shutdown with new funding legislation but the fight over increased funding for federal disaster relief is holding that measure up. house republicans agree disaster relief funding must be increased but offset by cuts in alternative energy programs. democrats oppose those offsets. the senate may vote on the democratic plan later today. there is new uncertainty surrounding the republican presidential race following a pair of weekend straw poll votes. front-runner rick perry came in

a distant second in both michigan and florida. mitt romney won the michigan straw poll. that's not particularly shocking since romney was born in michigan and his father was a michigan governor. the big surprise was in florida where underdog herman cain pulled off a stunning upset. cain got 37% of the vote in the presidency five straw poll. perry only got 15%. we'll talk it over in our "fair game" segment next hour. one of two fullerton, california police officers charged with beating a homeless man to death entered a not guilty plea today. man well ramos is charged with second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the july 5th death of 37-year-old kelly thomas. we've been following this case here on the show. prosecutors say the homeless man begged for his life as ramos and another officer tasered him an beat him. the judge has scheduled a november 4th pretile hearing for ramos. that is the same day as a scheduled hearing for the other

defendant, who entered a not guilty plea last week. back now to the trial of conrad murray. he's the houston cardiologist whom michael jackson hired back in 2009 to see him through a grueling 50-show farewell tour. well tomorrow, prosecutors here in los angeles will tell a jury that murray committed involuntary manslaughter by giving michael jackson a surgical anesthetic to treat insomnia. the defense will say jackson was in shaky health to begin with and murray did nothing criminal. ted rowlands sets the stage. >> your honor, i am an innocent man. >> reporter: the jury in the conrad murray manslaughter trial will have several questions to answer. one, did dr. murray give michael jackson a lee shal dose of propofol. prosecutors say there's no doubt, murray and his attorneys say there is no way. >> there's no way that dr. murray would pump michael jackson full of propofol sufficient for major surgery and walk out that room.

not going to happen. that's not the doctor dr. murray is. >> reporter: murray claims the day jackson died he only administered 25 milligrams of propofol, far less than what was found in jackson's body by the coroner. how did it get in him? >> well that's a good question, ted. do you have any idea how it got in him? >> the defense is expected to argue that jackson somehow gave himself the lethal dose. could michael jackson have done it? >> is it possible for an individual to inject himself with a drug? yes. yes. >> before jackson died he spent hours struggling to go to sleep, according to a time line murray gave police. murray says he gave jackson five doses of three different drugs between 1:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. at 10:40 a.m. he says he gave jackson the propofol. >> did anybody witness what happened? >> no. just the doctor, sir. >> 911 was called at 12:21.

emergency responders will testify they believe jackson was dead when they arrived. another question jurors must answer is was using propofol an anesthetic for surgery as a sleep aid so reckless that murray should be held responsible for jackson's death? doctor after doctor gets up and says well this should never be used outside a clinical setting, outside a hospital or clinic. >> the fact that the circumstances may be unusual, may be demonstrated to be unusual does not make it agree just. that alone does not make it egregious. >> reporter: murray's defense will argue jackson was a drug addict and in horrible physical shape and that he was getting drugs from other doctors that murray didn't know about. prosecutors plan to argue that jackson was in good shape and planned to show this clip from the documentary "this is it" of jackson rehearsing just days before he died. so now, more than two years after jackson's death, a los angeles jury will be presented with the case and ultimately

decide whether or not dr. conrad murray should be held responsible. he ted rowlands, cnn, los angeles. >> he has been covering it since the beginning, "l.a. times" crime reporter andrew blankstein joins me next about what you need to know about this piz czar and complicated trial after the break. we could've gone a more traditional route... ... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪ [ woman ] my heart medication isn't some political game. [ man ] our retirement isn't a simple budget line item. [ man ] i worked hard. i paid into my medicare.

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the trial of the king of pop's former physician begins tomorrow at 11:45 a.m. eastern, 8:45 pacific here in los angeles. dr. conrad murray is facing involuntary manslaughter charges. he's accused of giving michael jackson a fatal dose of this

powerful sleeping medication, propofol in 2009. 12 jurors, seven men and five women, will report to court in addition to five alternates to decide the fate of the former physician. he could face up to four years in prison if found guilty. joining me now to discuss this, "los angeles times" reporter andrew blankstein. andrew, welcome. thank you. you've covered this case for a couple years now. what do you think this is going to be like, this trial? you think it will be the same sort of circus we saw in the casey anthony case? >> i don't think so. one the primary reasons is we don't have a whodunit here. we really have a case that comes down to technical, medical and science evidence. and so when that case is playing out there's going to be a lot of esoteric discussions about that. the characters that usually populate a whodunit type of trial, whether it's the o.j. simpson case or robert blake, a

lot of that will be really taken up by these technical discussions. >> can you imagine how difficult it must have been just to seat this jury? i would imagine one challenge they had was finding anyone who didn't know michael jackson to some extent and the star that he was or was a fan of his. one person -- one juror i think even had met him. >> that's right. and on top of it they had already seated a jury before an then had the trial delayed. as you might imagine, this is somebody that transcends pop culture across generations. so it was going to be very difficult to fine somebody that didn't have some kind of knowledge. the trick was obviously in the jury selection to get people who could make up their minds in an objective way based on the evidence. >> for anyone who isn't following this case as closely as we are, if you think about what's really at stake here, what the prosecution has to prove is that dr. conrad murray gave michael jackson this dose, this fatal dose, of propofol. he's admitted to giving him propofol within 24 hours of his death but how will they make

that connection, right? that's the challenge. from that's the challenge. obviously the level of care is going to be first and foremost from the time that he was -- exactually from the time that the drugs were administered when he had trouble going to sleep, 1:30 in the morning on the fateful night in question, all the way through when he's given the propofol. and then between that time and then he becomes stricken and then how did he deal with that. there's questions, everything from the way cpr was administered, on the bed, one arm allegedly, and then working backwards. a host of questions that come up during that entire time period, all that's going to come into play. >> they'll also be focusing on this gap in time where michael jackson apparently went into cardiac arrest, according to records, and when that call to 911 was made which is at 12:22 pacific time, there's like a 47-minute gap in there where we don't know what dr. conrad murray was doing.

right? >> tlaer >> that's right. you start from the premise this kind of medicine should knob no administered at home. it should be administered in a medical setting. you say well how carefully did dr. murray observe michael jackson in that 40 minute period. again just to add to that premise that he should have never been administering it in that kind of setting to begin with. >> for conrad murray, how will the defense go at this? >> i think they're going to -- if the past is pro log, they're going to go back to this idea that michael jackson had wanted the propofol and that dr. murray was trying to wean him off it and that the question was during that -- as they put it, five-minute gap, did he administer -- give propofol to himself beyond the 25 mill dprams that dr. murray says that he administered.

that he had to have taken it himself and took it upon himself to administer it. >> i know we'll both be busy probably for the next five, six weeks or so. however long this trial is expected to last. andrew blankstein from the "l.a. times," appreciate your time. thank you very much. opening statements do begin tomorrow at 11:45 a.m. eastern. make sure to tune in to cnn for live coverage and updates as well. coming up -- organ donation can be a controversial topic and a new proposal is stirring up even more debate. that's next. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm getting an upgrade. [ male announcer ] as you wish, business pro. as you wish. go national. go like a pro. now through january earn a free day with every two rentals. find out more at nationalcar.com.

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one minute, two minutes, just how long should doctors wait before removing a heart from a dead person for a transplant in another human? it is the key question at the center of controversial new rules proposed by the united network for organ sharing. that's the group that manages organ donations through a contract with the federal government. each year about 6,000 americans die waiting for donated organs. "the washington post" reports that under the new rules, surgeons would no longer have to wait at least two minutes to be sure the heart doesn't suddenly start beating again. the group also wants to remove a specific ban on using organs from a patient until after doctors and family members have agreed to stop all life support. we're focusing on this highly important and emotional topic because we believe it is actually been undercovered by the media. joining us to talk about the proposed changes, a professor of health law, bioethics at boston

university school of health. charles alexander is also going to be with us. charles, why don't i ask you. why are the proposed new rules needed? >> -- are not new. by are just taking the opportunity to make sure that all institutions in terms of hospitals and organ recovery programs in this country are in line and in lock step with their policies to ensure the full most transparency of the yoorgan and tissue donation. >> michael, let me go to you. what's your biggest concern about these proposed changes? >> first of all, i'm concerned about the open and explicit and verifiable nature of this complicated, complicated protocol. the issue is that by eliminated the kind of uniformity, each transplant unit will have its

own methodology for assessing deaths and the real concern is separating the line between the person who's die and declaring death and taking organs. standard way of doing this is with somebody who's dead by brain criteria so they're dead. but this is the whole process where the person is not dead but is being allowed to die and then organs are taken and donation is discussed and orchestrated before the death so there is a question of premature irreversibility, premature deck layer rati -- declaration. you're using the person as a means to an end i think prematurely and i think there is confusion and blurring of the distinction between death and yore gan transplantation will not only cause fear but may actually cause not only problems for individual donors but actually fewer donations in the long run. >> if i'm hearing you correctly,

michael, it sounds like you seem to be painting a picture of these physicians sort of hovering over these patients waiting for their organs. is that right? >> that's correct. having been a clinician for 34 years, i've actually seen that situation where the organ donor people deal with obviously the people who are in need of organs which is of course a very tragic situation. but i would rather see fewer transplants done in absolute trust in the system rather than getting one more organ transplant. >> charles, what's your response to this notion by michael that creating this sort of culture of vulture like doctors? >> well, i think actually the points are quite interesting because really what we are setting out to do is create a separation between the organ and tissue recovery team so physician is actually responsible for transplant and those who declare death in the hospital. that's the entire goal behind this hospital. the organ donor folks should not

be prescribing how we determine death. that should be done by critical care physicians and nurses and that's exactly what this policy is suggesting that national standards such as the society of critical care medicine and the institute of medicine who have made firm recommendations on how that process should take place should be followed. that's exactly what we're after with these policy changes. >> there should be uniformity -- >> michael, would you like to respond? >> yeah. then there should be uniformity amongst all the various institutions that are carrying out organ transplantation. it shouldn't be left up to each individual unit to decide how it is going to do it. >> and again, i think that's exactly the intent behind this policy. because if we as the organ donor people begin prescribing how that happens, then we lose a layer of transparency that is imperative to this process. we are in the field of medical --fy could finish. we are in the field of public

trust -- >> michael, let him finishing with michael. >> you know, if we do not create this transparency and allow for this public trust in the system then we will have fewer transplants and that would be disastrous to the more than 112,000 people waiting for a solid organ transplant. >> well, how is it that you -- >> michael, you have about ten seconds to respond. >> how is it that you justify starting organ preservation putting in lines and giving anticoagulants and drugs before the bern is dead? that's a clear blurring of the distinction of someone caring for someone in their end of life versus preparing somebody for an organ donation. >> michael -- charles, we're going to have to leave it there. i'm sorry. charles alexander, michael gorden, appreciate your time. certainly an interesting debate we could go on and on with but we are out of time on that one. thank you both. straight ahead, baby turtles, rabbits, chicks, you name it. thousands of live animals sold illegally on the streets of los angeles every day.

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pick any day to visit downtown l.a.'s fashion district, you'll find name brand, knock-off shoes, jeans, name brands, but you'll also find something else db live ams, thousands in fact for sale, some so young so malnourished they'll be dead in just days. underground vendor whose offer them don't care as much about the animals a they do making a quick buck. but a new city ordinance is cracking down on these illegal sales not by target rg the vendors but instead targeting the buyers. joining me now to discuss the crusader of sorts in this fight, los angeles police department commander andrew smith. commander smith, thank you so much for coming on the show to talk with me. it's nice to see you involved in this. tell me about this new city ordinance and how it works. >> well, the new city ordinance is basically going after the buyers. we have prior ordinances in the

city and now in the state against the sellers, people that sell these illegally but we want to have something that we can use to stop people from actually buying these animals on the streets. >> give me an idea of the animals that we're talking about when people hear illegal animal sales on the streets of l.a., i don't know what they're imagining. set the record straight for us. >> well, if you can raise it in your backyard or capture it out in the woods and put it in a box and bring it to downtown l.a., they'll sell it. anything from cats and dogs of course to baby chicks, baby rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, mice, fish, birds, snakes, tarantulas, literally if you can catch it and put it in a box, someone will come down there and try to sell it. >> so where do you think the vendors are getting these animals? >> a couple places. one, a lot of folks do backyard breeding. they'll get a couple of rabbits and crank out rabbits every couple of weeks, bring them down

there and sell them in one of the many areas in los angeles an those rabbits will be sold for $20 each. many times they die immediately because they're too young to be taken from their mothers. we've also heard stories of people trapping ducks out in the wetland either in the l.a. river or out by venice beach where they'll trap little ducklings, put them in a cage and bring them down and sell those right around easter mostly. >> and how long has this been going on and do you think you feel like you have a handle on it yet? >> well, i've been around 23 years and it's been going on ever since i came on the job here in los angeles. i think this is just a small piece of the puzzle. we've got a lot of support from a lot of other folks. we've got the business improvement district down there that has their officers out helping us with enforcement. we've got private people from joy voice for the animals that are trying to help us out. i think this is just a small piece of the puzzle we're trying to solve one bit at a time and this is just one small step forward for us. >> i want to let our viewers know on the streets of l.a. you've earned a bit of a nickname for yourself, dr.

doolittle. give me an idea just very briefly one of these stinks you're involved with looked like when you go after these folks. >> well, many times when people see the police coming they'll just get up and take off and abandon all the animals that they have there. what we do is we'll drive down the street and when they abandon these animals we'll take them up and bring them in. i always had boxes of rabbits and chickens and birds and fish in my office and i think that's where the doolittle nickname came in. a little embarrassing actually. >> and where are those animals today? we're looking at a picture of you with the kittens which is adorable. but what happens to all those animals? >> that's my living room. those two kittens i rescued, they're at my house right now. but most of the animals we turn over to animal services and they're real good about putting them up for adoption or giving to animal rescue organizations. we've got turtle rescue, we've got snake rescue organizations,

we even have hummingbird organizations here in california. they help rescue these animals and keep them from certain death. >> those cats look pretty happy in your lap in your living room. thanks for the good work on the streets here, appreciate that. >> thanks a lot. good to see you again. >> you, too. coming up, a college bake sale that discriminates to make a point. some students are saying it is over the top. we have that story in just 90 seconds. [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com.

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it is about half past the hour. here's a look at the stories that you may have missed. 30 minutes from now in mountain view, california, president obama will hold a town hall at the headquarters of the networking website linkedin. the president is expected to discuss job creation and the economy. the live audience will be made up of linkedin employees an members from across the nation and they will have a chance to ask questions. stay with us for live coverage at the top of the hour. in washington, five days and counting until a possible government shutdown. the senate is expected to vote today on a spending bill to keep the government operating through mid-november. one issue democrats and republicans are divided on is how to fund fema for emergency disaster relief. the senate measure includes critical disaster funning for states hit hard by hurricanes and wildfires but republicans won't support the measure without off-setting spending cuts from clean energy programs.

senators rejected a house passed bill that included offsetting cuts. republican-led house and democratic-led senate must agree on a spending plan by friday when the current fiscal year end. a huge storm ripped through cleveland, mississippi late sunday. the powerful winds ripped the roof off two department stores and damaged homes in a nearby subdivision. one official with the fire department said the storm knocked out the county's communication network and the local hospital stopped taking patients. officials on the ground are trying to determine if the damage was caused by a tornado or straightline winds. no injuries reported. in california a bake sale at uc berkeley is causing quite a ruckus on the campus. campus republicans plan to charge people according to their race. the sale is meant to protest a bill that would allow the consideration of race and gender in student admissions. let's look at how much you'd actually pay for pastries. if you're white, $2. if you're asian, $1.50. latinos, $1.

75 cents for african-americans and 25 cents more native americans. women get a 25-cent discount. in a half-hour you'll hear from the group and why they still plan on holding the bake sale tomorrow amid growing opposition. the first woman from africa to win the nobel peace prize died today. she lost her battle with cancer. she won the peace prize in 2004. she founded the green belt movement more than 30 years ago which is credited with planting more than 40 million trees and she worked for human rights and the empowerment of women in africa's most impoverished people. in 2005 she was honored by "time" magazine as one of the most 100 most influence people in the world and "forbes" listed her as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world. she was 71. herman cain riding high in florida. is his big win a vote of confidence or just a slap in the face of the front-runners? it is all "fair game" and it's next.

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i believe all 10-year-old girls should be vaccinated for hpv so they ken ter into meaningful sexual relationships. i'll try again. i believe social security is a ponzi scheme. i believe we need to build a fence to keep the illegals out. however, should any illegals get through and have children here, think we should open our hearts and pay for their education.

>> this is the time in the show when we go beyond partisan talking points to the heart of the political debate and when it comes to political satire, everyone is fair game. that clip you were just watching was from "saturday night live" taking aim at rick perry. here's another. >> if you order it, pizza will come. pizza will come. oh, pizza will most definitely come. and if you vote for me, america, i promise you that i will deliver. >> once again, herman cain has received wild applause. mr. cain, please know that will not translate into actual votes. >> i am aware. >> that's usually true but this time those kinds of speeches really did mean votes for the real herman cain. take a look. cain won this weekend's florida straw poll way ahead of rick perry an way ahead of mitt romney. here's how cain described the victory on cnn's "american morning." >> i feel great but i feel even

greater because the voice of the people is bigger than the voice of the media with all due respect. and here's the second thing. message is more powerful than money. both of my contenders that came in second and third, they spent a considerable amount of money to try to influence that outcome -- the outcome of that vote. i rented a bus, traveled all over the stays, did some stops, sharing my message of commonsense solutions. >> cain also said now his campaign can't be ignored. let me bring in my guest, a democratic political consultant and associate dean of georgetown university's school of continuing studies. i know you're both getting a pretty good cackle at those "saturday night live" skits but let's talk seriously about this, can we? ed, start with you. should we take this straw poll in florida seriously and herman cain's big win there? >> you should take the straw

poll seriously but i don't know if we should take cain seriously. we look at michele bachmann being the flavor of the month in august, rick perry same thing in december. maybe it will be herman cain in october. the real story here is that the thread you see going in the republican primaries is anyone but romney. it's not good news for the guy who's been in the race longer than anybody else. >> christopher, what do you think? does this straw poll in florida count much? >> well, there are two things. i think the lesson for herman cain in florida is, one winning one straw poll does not a meat lover's pizza make. i think this is the situation relative to cain here. and so here's the problem. i think -- i don't think that it is a matter of the flavor of the month. i think there are two things. one, i think the message was clear for rick perry -- get your debating skills together. and two, unfortunately for cain, he's running for vice president. but i think that marco rubio's

job. sorry. >> but you did mention a message. is there a message here and what do you think rick perry an maybe even mitt romney should take away from this, ed? >> i think there are a couple of things. as it relates to mitt romney in particular, i don't think it is the anybody but romney party. i don't think that's really it. i just think fundamentally republicans have a problem with romney. and so perry is, despite what people have to say about him, think an excellent candidate. the problem, of course, is he now is coming out with this message that debates don't matter. well, actually they do. so the message is, if you want to continue in the front-runner status, what you've got to be able to do is you have to get the debating skills together. an that's the problem. i mean he flubbed one of the easiest lines ever. and so as a result of that i think he is going to now move back and i think you'll see a different rick perry in the next

debate. >> let me ask you guys about this other topic i want to cover. ed, this one to you. i want to ask you about chris christie. this is a guy who has said no, no, no, i'm not going, i'm not going for this, i'm not going to run for president and now it seems like maybe the door is a little bit open. he's at this gop fund-raiser in missouri today. ed, what do you think? >> well, he's reiterated that he's not going to run as recently as this weekend. this is the problem that chris christie has got, is that he's got to go through the early primary states. mainly iowa. i've worked presidential primaries in iowa and they're very difficult. the caucus format requires lots of planning. months. sometimes years. he doesn't have a grassroots organization right now. he's got to put one together in time. because if you enter into one of those caucuses with 14%, you don't reach the 15% viability threshold which means you may as well walk in with 0%. the only way to get past that 15% threshold in the room is with a strong ground game and

good staff. right now he's got neither. >> christopher, very quickly. is there an opening for kris chri krischristie here? what's he bring that maybe perry or romney doesn't? >> maybe a personality. in this case he's got a very big personality. he's a very energizing campaigner around i think on the republican side that's what we are looking for. we're looking for someone who is able to do that and actually get things done. so that's the situation. i think the situation -- as far as chris christie's concerned, there's still an opportunity. by the way, sarah palin isn't running so don't even ask me about that. >> oh, i don't know about that. we'll see. thank you both. ed and christopher, thank you both. >> thanks, take care. coming up, another deadly attack on the u.s. embassy in afghanistan. who carried it out an what's wrong with security in kabul? we'll have a live report for you coming up.

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it is happened again, an attack on the u.s. embassy in kabul. an afghan employee of the embassy opened fire in a cia annex last night killing one american, wounding at least one other person. the gunman was killed by security personnel. it is the latest in several recent high-profile attacks in the afghan capital. nick pay ttopayton-walsh joins phone from abu dhabi. what's the latest? >> reporter: what we're hearing at the moment is that the afghan employee at the embassy actually worked in that particular annex. it is not clear what role he

fulfilled and the investigators are trying to work out how it was he managed to get a hold of the weapon and what his motivation was, was this an argument between employees of the annex, between the americans he killed and so the american he killed and other people he worked with or is this some sort of longer term more thought out insurgent plot what's interesting at this point is that the taliban nor any other militant network has claimed this as their act or claimed responsibility for it. also it is clear that certainly u.s. officials at this point don't have any clear evidence pointing towards that, but still the psychological impact is there. one of the most secure parts of kabul supposedly held down by the americans but you was supposed to be invulnerable has had another violent act perpetrated against it. >> what's this attack and the others really say then about security? if these continue to happen, what needs to happen there in terms of security? >> i think it is hard really. kabul, they're trying to hand

over security there more an more to afghan security forces. nato trying to take a back seat at this point. they're not going to want to stand forward and say i need to run the capital which is supposed to be frankly the american stronghold in afghanistan as they try to construct a timetable for afghan security forces taking over security in the entire country. what this does say, you might see the insurgents hand in there, if later proven, this might suggest they are trying to win this war of perception, to try and tell afghans that they can attack where they wish. they have a reach further than that which nato would like to accept they have. so it is a complicated battle of perception here. attacks like this do suggest the insurgency is far from beaten as some people in nato would like you to think. randi? >> all right, nick paton walsh, thank you for the update there from you a buy todabu dhabi. women of saudi arabia are celebrating today. they've been granted the right to vote for the first time ever. the government says women will

be able to both vote and run in local elections in 2015. with u.s. forces due to pull out of iraq at the end of the year, "the huffington post" says the defense department is handing over military equipment to the iraqis that cost american taxpayers billions of dollars. give-aways included are huge military bases and numerous weapons systems. huffington post says the main reason -- to save the cost of shipping the equipment home. syria's foreign minister is peeking at the u.n. general assembly today. back home more anti-government unrest spilling into the streets. tanks have cut off parts of the city of haams, a hotbed of protest against the government. a shedevil, that's what one lawyer called amanda knox today. the latest on her murder trial appeal next. loaded potato with bacon. that's what we like to hear. where was i? oh right... our rich & hearty soups.. people love the thick cut carrots... we do too! where was i?

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in italy, amanda knox's appeal trial is nearing its climax. two years ago, the american college student was convicted of killing her roommate and sentenced to 26 years in prison. her lawyers are trying to get the conviction overturned, but italian prosecutors are arguing for an even longer sentence, life in prison. today, the court heard from the lawyer for the victim's family and a lawyer for a former suspect in the case. matthew chance is live in italy for us. matthew, tell us about what happened today. what did the kircher family lawyer have to say? >> reporter: well, it's been a very bruising day in court for amanda knox. the kircher family lawyer standing up in court showing very grizzly, gruesome pictures

again of meredith's body. her throat slit after what prosecutors had argued all along was a sex game that went wrong. they say amanda knox and her then-boyfriend were taking part as well as one other person who's now in jail. so very damaging, very emotional pleas made by the kircher lawyer to the jury to uphold the conviction of amanda knox. you mentioned the other lawyer as well. he was representing a man who's a bar owner here who was falsely accused early on in this whole situation by amanda knox in a witness statement she made. he's suing her for financial damages. his lawyer was absolutely sticking the boot, as we say in england. he was really lambasting amanda knox's character, saying he was an enchanting witch, she was a she-devil. her character was half angelic, half satanic. so using all these very emotive

phrases to try and convince that jury to uphold the murder conviction against her. >> wow. those are strong words. let's talk about the schedule here. i mean, in terms of when we might know if she's going to be released. how is this going to work? >> reporter: well, i think what we're going to be seeing over the next few days is the summing up by the defense. so amanda knox and her former boyfriend. the tone of these hearings is going to change somewhat. we're going to hear their side of the story. the rebuttals come on friday and saturday. sunday is a day off. on monday morning we're expecting to hear from the judge, his decision, the jury's decision as well about whether amanda knox is going to stay behind bars or whether she's going to be set free. >> matthew chance in italy for us. matthew, thank you very much. president obama versus the

republican front runners. we have some new poll numbers just out showing how the president stacks up. your political update is next. and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪

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time now to check in with our friend mark preston, see what's happening in the world of politics. mark, i understand there are some new poll numbers in the gop field. >> there sure are, randi. there's been a lot of talk rick perry has been stumbling. he's going to be hurting because

of that. this new cnn orc poll tells a different story. let's look at these numbers. it shows he maintains a seven-point lead over mitt romney in this new poll. now, i do need to point out that that is within the margin of error. still, it does show us that rick perry still has standing power, even when he's faced with adversity. a couple other interesting numbers, newt gingrich is at 10%. that's because he's performed pretty well in some cases in these debates. we see that michele bachmann has tumbled to 4%. bad news for michele bachmann. someone like john huntsman, 1%. not good news for them. good news for rick perry. >> what kind of news do you have in terms of how they stack up against president obama, depending on who plays that role >> let's just lo at the top two. romney numbers first. just in a head-to-head matchup right now, it shows that

president obama only has a one-point lead over mitt romney. romney has been running a general election campaign, even though he's running for the republican presidential nomination. it seems to be working for him. let's look if it was rick perry against president obama. president obama holds a bigger lead over that. he has a five-point lead. so we're often hearing that mitt romney is talking about being the more electable candidate. he'll look at this poll, and he'll say that, in fact, that is true. rick perry still holding strong. of course, these numbers right now in these head-to-head matchups are all within the margin of error. not good news for the president. randi. >> aren't you just sort of kind of tempted to see what those poll numbers would be, president obama against chris christie with all the talk that maybe he'll enter, maybe he won't? >> it would certainly be interesting to see that. i think chris christie is being very wise by staying out of the race, at least until this point. we'll see what happens, randi.

>> yeah, we certainly will. mark preston, nice to see you. thank you. build a network, grow your brand, connect, and link in for the 21st century job seeker and the president who hopes to keep his job. those are all records to live by. president obama, who's done virtual town halls at facebook, youtube, and twitter, takes questions this hour on linkedin, the business-oriented social networking site. he'll be pitching his plan to lower the nation's 9.1% unemployment rate through a combination of infrastructure spending and tax breaks. a live audience is in place at computer history museum in mountain view, california. that's ceo jeff weiner giving the introduction right now. questions will come online as well. all right. back in washington now. the top senate democrat predicts reasonable heads will prevail in the latest showdown that could

bring a government shutdown. others aren't so sure. if you're counting, only four days remain in fiscal 2011, which means only four days remain for republicans and democrats to agree on a spending plan that, by washington's standards, isn't all that big and isn't all that controversial. what controversy there is centers on fema in a year jam-packed with disasters. fema says its emergency relief fund will run out, be completely depleted as soon as wednesday. house republicans want to give the agency roughly $3.6 billion and offset some of it with cuts. senate democrats want to spend almost $7 billion and offset none of it. a compromise due to be voted on today would accept the house figure and eliminate the offsets. even if it passes, the prospects are still uncertain. for one thing, the house is in recess. here's another thing. we've been through this before, remember? more than once. yes, this year. when people talk about broken

government, this is what they mean. but guess what? people inside government think it's broken too. my colleague candy crowely talks to them every week. >> reporter: for the third time this year, a congressional stare down threatens a government shutdown. let me start with you, senator warner and ask you if there is a point at which you think this is embarrassing. >> yes, it is. >> are we there? >> can we once again inflict on the country and the american people the spectacle of a near-government shutdown? i sure as heck hope not. >> reporter: the u.s. govtd runs out of money at the end of this week unless a temporary spending bill is passed on capitol hill. inside the house version is money to replenish the federal merge management agency, fema, which assists disaster victims. the remarkable thing is that basically congress can't agree on something everyone is for, funding fema. the crux of the matter is how

and when to decide how to pay for it. >> the house version says a disaster has to be dealt with. we're going to help people that have been affected, but we're going to start cutting the government in other places where the money is not so important. >> reporter: senate democrats have rejected the house version saying republicans are proposing to pay for increased fema funds with cutbacks in programs that create jobs. nobody's budging, ergo stalemate. >> i'll give the senate democratic leader most of the credit. he manufactured a crisis all week about disaster when there's no crisis. everybody knows we're going to pay for every single penny of disaster aid that the president declares and that fema certifies. >> one point about who to blame or not to blame on this current, hopefully non-shutdown, is that there is a group. i do believe it is mostly senate indi and the house and some of these tea party republican who is say

on every issue, we're going to make this a make or break. >> reporter: pointing fingers about an impending shutdown can be good politics, but an actual shutdown is likely to hurt any politician in a 50-mile radius of washington. odds are good they'll figure this out. they have until friday. candy crowely, cnn, washington. >> it's not clear when the senate might vote on the latest stopgap funding plan, but we still expect it today. we will keep you posted. now let's listen in for a bit to president obama. he's at that linkedin town hall meeting. let's see what he has to say. >> and also make sure we're providing small businesses the kinds of tax incentives that will allow them to hire and allow them to succeed. i have said to congress, i understand that there's an election 14 months away. it's tempting to say that we're not going to do anything until november of 2012, but the american people cannot afford to wait. the american people need help right now.

all the proposals we've put forward in the american jobs act will not only help us now, but will also help us in the future. will lay the foundation for our long-term success. last point i'll make, it's all paid for. it's paid for in part by building on some very tough cuts in our budget to eliminate waste and things we don't need that we've already made $1 trillion over the next ten years. we've proposed an additional $.5 trillion over the next ten years of spending cuts and adjustments on programs we want to keep intact that haven't been reformed in too long. but in order to pay for it and bring down the deficit, we're going to have to reform our tax code in a way that's fair and make sure everybody is doing their fair share. i've said this before, i'll say it again. warren buffett secretary

shouldn't be paying a lower tax rate than warren buffett. somebody making $50,000 a year as a teacher shouldn't be paying a higher tax rate than something like myself or jeff who have been incredibly blessed. i don't know what you make, jeff. i'm just guessing. who have been blessed by the incredible opportunities of this country. i say that because whenever america's moved forwarding it's because we've moved forward together. we're going to have to make sure that we have laying the foundation for the success of future generations, and that means that each of us are doing our part to make sure we're investing in our future. so with that, thank you so much for the terrific venue. i look forward to a bunch of great questions, both live and through whatever other linkages we have here. >> you got it. so we're going to be going back and forth between folks in the audience and some previously

generated questions from the linkedin group. we're going to start. our first question is from linkedin member chuck painter. chuck, we're going to get you a mic. >> good morning, mr. president. >> good morning. >> i'm from austin, texas. i've been in sales in the plastics industry for 20 years. i lost my job in 2009 and am fortunate enough to have found another position, become reemployed. my question is, what can we do as american citizens to unite ourselves and help the economy? >> well, first of all, are you a native of austin? that's one of my favorite cities in the country. >> actually, i'm a native of charlotte, north carolina. just relocated to austin, and i love it there. >> austin's great. charlotte's not bad. >> thank you. thank you. >> that's the reason i'm having my convention in charlotte because i love north carolina as well. how long did it take you to find a new job after you got laid off? >> it took nine months. >> nine months. >> yes, sir.

>> that's one of the challenges that a lot of folks are seeing out there. you've got skilled people with experience in an industry. that industry changes. you were fortunate enough to be able to move. some folks, because of the decline in the housing industry, are having trouble with mobility and finding new jobs and relocates in pursuit of opportunity. >> yes, sir. >> the most important thing that we can do right now is to help jump start the economy, which has stalled, by putting people back to work. not surprisingly, i think the most important thing we can do right now is pass this jobs bill. >> okay. >> think about it. independent economists have estimated that if we pass the entire package, the american jobs act, we would increase gdp by close to 2%. we would increase employment by

1.9 million persons. that is the kind of big, significant move in the economy that can have ripple effects and help recovery take off. there's been a lot of dispute about the kind of impact that we had right after the financial crisis hit, but the fact is, the fast majority of economists who have looked at it have said that the recovery act, by starting infrastructure projects around the country, by making sure that states had help on their budgets so they didn't have to lay off teachers and firefighters and others, by providing tax cuts to small businesses, and by the way, we've cut taxing about 16 times since i've been in office for small businesses to give them more capital to work with and more incentives to hire. all those things made a big difference. the american jobs act is specifically tailored to putting more of those folks back to work. it's not going to solve all of problems. we still have a housing

situation in which too many homes are under water. one of the things that we proposed as part of the american jobs act is that we're going to help reduce the barriers to refinancing so that folks can get record low rates. that will put more money into people's pockets. it will provide tax cuts to not only small businesses but almost every middle-class family. that means they have more money in their pockets. that means that they're going to be able to spend it on products and services which provide additional incentives for businesses to hire folks like you. so it's the right step to take right now. long-term, we're going to have to pull together around making sure our education system is the best in the world, making sure our infrastructure is the best in the world. continuing to invest in science and technology. we have to stabilize our finances. we have to continue to drive down health care costs, which are a drag on our whole economy. and we've got to continue to promote trade, but make sure

that that trade is fair and that intellectual property protection is available when we're doing business in other countries like china. there are a lot of long-term agendas we have to pursue. right now, the most important thing i can do for you, even if you already have a job, is to make sure that your neighbors and friends also have jobs because those are ultimately customers for your products. >> yes, sir. thank you. >> you've been listening to the president there speaking in mountain view, california, talking taxes, jobs. certainly pushing his jobs plan. we'll let that go for a moment. we'll have much more on that later on in the program. in other news, there's new uncertainty surrounding the republican presidential race. apologies for the sirens here in los angeles. following a pair of weekend straw poll votes. rick perry came in a distant second in both michigan and

florida. the big surprise was in florida where underdog herman cain pulled off a stunning upset. cain got 37% of the vote in the poll. perry got only 15%. overseas, there's been another attack on the u.s. embassy in afghanistan in an annex used by the cia. officials say security personnel killed the gunman. one or two other people suffered minor wounds. two weeks ago, taliban militants staged a 20-hour attack on the embassy. there's no word yet on whether militants were behind yesterday's attack or whether it was just the work of a disgruntled employee. college republicans plan to cook up some controversy tomorrow with a bake sale at university of california at berkeley. they say they will sell baked goods at differing prices determined by, get this, race. prices will range from $2 for white men to $1 for latino men to 75 cents for black men and 25

cents for native americans. all women will get a 25-cent discount. they say it's a protest of pending legislation that would allow california universitys to look at race in admissions. we'll have more on that later. one of two fullerton, california, police officers charged with beating a homeless man to death pleaded not guilty today. manuel ramos is charged with voluntary manslaughter in connection with the ket of kelly thomas. prosecutors say the man begged for his life as ramos and another officer tasered him and beat him. the other defendant entered a not guilty plea last week. up next, you are not going to believe this. how america's love for crime,

dramas like csi could be helping the guilty go free in real life. you'll want to know what's going on here. don't go anywhere. 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 find new solutions to manage risk, capital and employee benefits, so american business can get on with business. ♪

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. the trial of the king of pop's former physician begins tomorrow at 11:45 a.m. eastern, 8:45 pacific right here in los angeles. dr. conrad murray is facing voluntary manslaughter charges. he's accused of giving michael jackson a fatal dose of this very powerful sleeping medication called propofol in 2009. 12 jurors, seven men and five women, will report to court in addition to five alternates to

decide the fate. some of them watch crime watching shows. yes, we know what television they watch. why? because it was asked last week in the jury selection process. many prosecutors believe they can make jurors believe the same kind of evidence they see on tv. it's been called the csi effect. >> reporter: jurors in the conrad murray case will hear testimony from crime scene investigato investigators and from the coroner, but it won't be like an episode of "csi." many attorneys believe that shows like "csi" can have an affect on real jury trials. some jurors expect to be shown the same kind of clear evidence they see on tv. >> our show has impacted the culture, i guess you'd say, to the point where people expect csi-type of evidence. >> it's really frustration

because it's unrealistic. >> reporter: mary is a senior forensic scientist in orange county, california. she says the good thing about the csi effect is now when she takes the stand in a criminal trial, jurors know what she does, and she says they're usually riveted to her testimony. the problem is sometimes they expect too much. >> i think they do understand that we don't have fancy cars to go out in the crime scene. we can't solve a case within hours. but i think a lot of people feel that what they see on tv is realistic. >> reporter: the csi effect usually works to a defendant's advantage. jurors are reluctant to convict without some clear scientific evidence. one of the jurors from the casey anthony said there wasn't enough physical evidence to find her guilty. >> there's no solid evidence that there was a crime. >> reporter: on the juror questionnaire, potential jurors in the dr. conrad murray case were asked if they watched "csi." the case against murray will

include evidence taken from michael jackson's bedroom. jurors aren't expected to get any of that csi-type evidence. >> opening statements begin tomorrow. be sure to tune into cnn for live updates. women's rights in saudia arabia, they're few and far between, but the king just decided to grant one right. we're off to the middle east when we come back. (screams) when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing.

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polls in local elections, the king announced saudi women will be able to vote and run in future elections for municipal councils. this week's races were scheduled for 2009 but pushed back and pushed back and pushed back until thursday, september 29th, 2011. the last elections were in 2005, and those were the first since 1963. still, the white house is calling the king's reforms an important step forward in expanding the rights of women in s saudi arabia. women are barred from driving, though some of them did in june this year as a protest. they're also barred from opening bank accounts, getting passports, and going to school without male guardians. we are joined now on the phone. how are women's rights activists reacting to this announcement?

>> reporter: yesterday, it was pure elation and joy that we were hearing from women, especially women's rights activists in saudi arabia. they had been campaigning for a long time to have an expanded role in the political realm in saudi arabia. special they've been wanting to play a role in the last two election cycles. today a bit of reality has set in. women's rights activists that i'm speaking with are saying, look, the problem here is that it's not specified exactly when it will happen. the fact that the next election cycle isn't for at least another four years, they're concerned that a lot can happen in that time. that's if the elections happen by 2015. they could be delayed again like they were the last time. so women now are saying we know that there are conservatives in the government who don't want this to happen. they're worried that even though the king has promised them this that four years is a long time, and what has been given could be taken away. it's important to point out that even though this is being taken

as the king saying women will be able to vote, he didn't use the word vote. he said they could nominate themselves to be on the council or they could nominate other candidates. that's being taken as they can vote, but not completely clear because he doesn't actually use the word vote. today, even though yesterday so many people were overjoyed and said it's a very important step and it is historic, what the king said, today, some of them saying we wish this had been an immediate reform, that had had been something that would happen this thursday or a year from now, not four years down the line when so much can happen between now and then. randi. >> and what more can you tell us about this council? have women been lobbying to become a part of it so the king would open it to them? >> reporter: this is a consultive body that's appointed by the king. it's all male membership. women had been wanting to be a part of this because this is a body that studies laws that are being considered by the king,

makes recommendations. it doesn't really have any legislative authority, but it is something -- their recommendations are taken by the king before passing laws. the women think this is a very big deal. it's the first time women will be official members of this council. they say there's nobody better qualified in saudi arabia, a country so restricted for women. again, the earliest this could happen, that they could be appointed to the council, is about a year and a half. again, today women are kind of saying, look, this is great, but we wish it could have happened right away. there are women advisors to this council that aren't actually on the council. think work as advisors to the council. the women i spoke with today say, we wish these women, these 13 women that act as advisors could have been appointed officially to the council. maybe in a year and a half, they could have appointed more women. that would be an immediate reform. it would be a lot more welcome.

randi. >> mohammed, thank you. let's take a look at some other top stories we're following for you. president obama is continuing to focus on the economy and passing his jobs bill this hour. right now, he's in california answering questions about social security and job creation at the business website linkedin's headquarters in mountain view. some of the questions he's answering were submitted online. the contest for republicans who want to replace the president. herman cain managed a huge upset in the florida straw poll this weekend, dealing a worrying blow to texas governor rick perry's presidential campaign. cain won with 37% of the 2,657 votes. perry trailed a distant second, but he still leads in national polls seven points ahead of mitt romney. on capitol hill, congress is

again flirting with a government shutdown. the democratic-controlled senate effectively rejected the house gop's temporary spending bill in a procedural vote friday. senators are expected to vote on their own plan today. both members of congress must now agree on new spending legislation, which would include disaster relief funding to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the week. if you want to bear it all in san francisco, well, you pretty much can. there is no law that actually stops you, but that could soon change. nudists there aren't so happy about it. so why the change? well, we'll tell you coming up. these nasal allergies are spoiling our picnic.

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perhaps it may come as a news flash to you as it did to many of us that public nudity is actually legal in san francisco. in fact, if you walk around long enough, chances are you'll come across someone who does know it though and exercises that right in plain sight. a city supervisor wants to change things by requiring nudists to cover up in restaurants and put something down before sitting down in public areas. but let's just say that's not sitting well with nudists.

several of whom staged a nude-in this weekend to oppose any new ordinance. they say it's unnecessary. joining me now to discuss all this, san francisco's supervisor scott weiner. scott, thanks for coming on the show and talking abouting this. you're actually behind this proposed new ordinance. why is this so important? >> good morning. thanks for having me. well, san francisco is a tolerant city. we have some folk who is go around naked in public. there's a big debate about whether that should be legal or illegal. but this is really focusing on two very specific issues. one, that when you go into a restaurant, you should cover up. two, if you're going to sit down on public seating, you should put something down, which is already apparently a nudist etiquette. unfortunately, not everyone is following that etiquette. so it's a pretty basic piece of legislation. >> what kind of complaints do you actually get from residents about those going nude?

>> well, i represent several neighborhoods. i get a lot of opinions. folk who is are in favor of banning it completely, people who don't like it but think we shouldn't ban it, and others who think it's just fine. there's a lot of different opinions in the city. i'm sure the debate will continue. this legislation is pretty basic, common sense measure to have public sanitation. >> i mean, if i'm hearing you correctly, i think you're suggesting this might be a health risk to those around there, around the nudes. >> it's just not sanitary. i think if you ask most people, would you want to, you know, be eating in a restaurant and have a bunch of naked people sitting at the table next to you, most people would probably not like that. if you ask someone if you'd want to sit down on a public bench that a naked person just sat on without covering, most people

would probably prefer to avoid that as well. >> i mean, just give us an idea, if you can, of what it's like to walk around there. if it's legal and people are walking around on the street nude, is it that common? >> there's a group that does it on a regular basis. in certain areas, yeah, it's a common occurrence. in most of the city, it's not. this is pretty geographically limited. it's gotten more common in the last few years. >> you know, there's a lot of things that make san francisco colorful. some might say this is one of them. you're shutting it down or trying to shut it down. what do you say to your critics? >> well, no, it's not shutting anything down. it's saying that you need to put a towel down if you're going to sit down on public seating, and you need to dress if you're going into a restaurant. in terms of that, this doesn't prohibit that at all.

that's a debate we're having in the city. it's a discussion for another day. >> so what's the next step here? when will we know if nudists can still roam free in the san francisco area? >> well, again, it's not about nudists roaming free. it's about whether they have to put a towel down or put clothes on to go in a restaurant. it will go to a committee hearing probably next month. i assume it will come to the full board of supervisors within the next few months for consideration. >> scott weiner live from san francisco. please do keep us posted on this. we'd love to know how this turns out. thank you. >> thank you. coming up, the washington monument was damaged, as you know, in an earthquake back in august. in just moments, americans will learn just how bad it really is. we'll have that story for use next.

it is about half past the hour. here's a look at the stories you may have missed. in mountain view, california, right now, president obama is holding a town hall at the headquarters of the networking site linkedin. the president is discussing job creation and the economy and answering questions. the live audience consists of linkedin employees. four days until a possible government shutdown. the senate is expected to vote today on a spending bill to keep the government operating through mid november. the senate measure inkwluds critical disaster funding for

states hit hard by hurricanes and wildfires. but republicans won't support the plan without spending cuts from offsetting spending programs. the republican-led house and democratic-led senate must agree on a spending plan by friday when the current fiscal year ends. a news conference is just getting underway in washington to discuss the extent of the damage to the washington monument. cracks and small pools of water were discovered after a 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck the east coast on august 23rd. the national parks service is offering details about damage and what it will cost to repair it. built between 1848 and 1884, the washington monument is 555 feet tall. the walls are made of white marble. engineers say the monument is structurally sound. that's the good news. the tea party political group is looking for a do main name, but the web address, teaparty.com is already taken.

a band out of canada took the domain in 1993. they are expecting a buyout. they expect to fetch well over $ million for that. macy's plans to hire temporary workers for the upcoming holiday season. the retailer said they're hiring 4% more than last year. they're expecting more sales in online and in their stores. they plan to staff distribution centers and warehouses that store products for online shipping. most of the seasonal positions are for a short time but can lead to year-round jobs. the story of a courageous newspaper editor and what happened when she spoke out against mexico's drug cartels. a shocking live report coming your way next. [♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply.

it's happened again in mexico. this time a newspaper editor brutally murdered. her crime, speaking out against the country's drug cartel. she's the latest victim in an apparent war against the country's social media. rafael romo has the latest. >> reporter: the decapitated corpse was a clear message dumped right across the border from laredo, texas. the victim was 39-year-old march maria elizabeth, editor in chief of one of the three local newspapers, but also famous for

her online social media posts. next to the body, a hand-written warning. i'm here because of my reports and yours. for those of you who don't want to believe, this happened because of my actions and for trusting the defense ministry and the marines, said the sign. the gruesome murder is the third this month in which victims were apparently targeted for their work online. just last week, the bodies of a man and woman who had been hog tied and disthem bowled were found hanging from a nearby bridge. the bodies have not been identified. a hand-written poster attached to the bridge threatened two blogs that follow organized crime in mexico. one of them said, this is going to happen to all of those posting funny things on the internet. you better pay attention. i'm about to get you. the mayor didn't want to talk to cnn about the wave of violence, but earlier this month told an affiliate he's working on improving security. >> it's not at the level that we

want it to be. there aren't easy and fast solutions to the problem of violence. >> and rafael romo joins us now from atlanta. rafael, do mexican officials have any ideas about who might be responsible for these murders? >> there's really no confirmation as to who might have been responsible for this, but what we know is that both messages were signed with the letter "z." there is a cartel operating in that part of mexico by the name of los zetos, the zs. apparently, that's what officials are going for. they might have been responsible for this atrocity. >> all right. rafael romo, thank you for the update. well, this is a little disturbing. a she-devil. that's what one lawyer called io amanda knox today. the latest on her murder appeal coming up next. that's what we like to hear. where was i? oh right... our rich & hearty soups..

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it has been a brbrutal day amanda knox at her appeal trial. two years ago, she was convicted of killing her roommate, meredith kercher. her lawyers are trying to get the conviction overturned. italian prosecutors are arguing for an even longer sentence, life in prison. today, the court heard from the lawyer for kercher's family and a lawyer for a former suspect in the case who called knox, quote, a she-devil. matthew chance is live in perugia, italy. tell us about what happened in court today. what did the kercher family lawyer have to say? >> reporter: he had quite a lot

to say. he was, first of all, showing the jewelry, images that are very gruesome of meredith kercher's body. he showed those photographs to the jury, obviously attempting to pull at their heart strings, to get them to basically vote to uphold this conviction for murder against amanda knox and her former boyfriend. he also said that the kercher family backs the forensic findings and the forensic work done originally by the police here in perugia. that's where authorities have been discredited by independent experts who have been called in by the court to examine the methodology used by the police. so these were all attempts again by the lawyer representing the family of meredith kercher to convince that jury to uphold the murder sentence against amanda knox and her former boyfriend. >> and matthew, who was it who

made this comment about amanda knox being a she-devil? >> reporter: he's the lawyer representing another sort of character in this case, a guy who's a bar owner in perugia and somebody who was initially implicated in a witness statement made by amanda knox early on in this whole sort of tragedy. he's essentially looking for financial compensation from the knox family, saying that he's been slandered and has suffered as a result of it. his lawyer, using absolutely astonishing kind of remarks and phrases to characterize amanda knox, calling her a she-devil saying she's a character that was on one side, angelic, and on another side satanic. he's using these quite colorful phrases that obviously got the

attention of the jury. again, he's also wanting the jury to uphold that murder conviction as well. >> and what happens here in terms of timing? because i mean, her life is on the line here. when will we actually know what her future holds? >> reporter: well, that's a good question. it's obviously the question everybody's waiting to hear the answer to. in terms of the timing, we're going to see the start of the defense summing up over the next few days. i think we might see the whole tone of these hearings change because we'll be getting essentially the amanda knox side of events. then there will be periods of rebuttals. we're expecting the court, the jury, the judge to make their decision early next week. poe possibly as early as next monday morning on whether amanda knox stays behind bars or is set free. >> wow. not long to wait, but certainly i'm sure she's on pins and needles waiting to find out what they decide. matthew chance in italy for us. matthew, thank you.

a bake sale with a pointed message. pay full price if you're white, but minorities and women get a discount. the controversy over cookies, next. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec®, i can love the air®. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

young republicans at university of california at berkeley are cooking up some controversy over their upcoming bake sale. take a look with me at this price list for tomorrow's event. yes, you're seeing that correctly. a cookie costs $2 if you're white. $1.50 for asians. just 75 cents for african-americans. needless to say, this has caused some angry responses. >> the way that they made the statement, the words they used,

the fact that they humorized and mocked the struggles of people of color on this campus is very disgusting to me. >> so is this for real? well, it sure is. the guy behind it is sean lewis. he says that it's all about diversity of opinion. >> right off the bat, the motivation for this event was that our berkeley student government, the asuc, was actually sponsoring a phone bank to call and urge governor jerry brown to sign this bill into law. that event, that phone bank, is at the same time and location we decided to have this bake sale. so the point is that our student government is sending a message to governor brown that uc berkeley students have one opinion, one voice on this issue. the reason for us to organize this event was specifically to show there's another opinion on this issue on campus. not all berkeley students support this bill.

sb-185, which would allow public universitys to consider race and gender, ethnicity in the admissions process. the purpose for the satire and for the pricing structure, which is inflammatory, was to cause some uproar in response to our event because we feel that discriminating people based on their skin color for baked goods is discriminatory in the same way that judging people on the color of their skin for admissions -- >> the bill he's talking about, state bill 185, was introduced in the legislature in february. to be clear, the bill doesn't say schools have to take race or economic issues into account in admissions. it just says they can. while we're talking about diversity, what's the breakdown on the berkeley campus? well, the school is split evenly among whites and asians. both are 33% of the total. african-americans make up just 3.3%. as for tomorrow's planned bake sale, lewis says he's surprised

by the threats this group has gotten on their facebook page from physical injury to burning down their table. the showdown over the shutdown. now a possible deal could keep the government running past friday's deadline. we'll get the latest from capitol hill next.

we're just a few days away from a possible government shutdown. a key sticking point has been funding for fema, but now we are

hearing that a deal could be close. so let's bring in congressional correspondent kate baldwin. what are you hearing? >> reporter: hey, there, randi. this battle, the standoff we've been covering for days now over keeping the government funding as well as offering additional funding for disaster relief for fema, well, there may be a way out of this impasse emerging. it has to do specifically with fema funding. sources are telling my colleagues that contrary to what was previously known, which was thought that fema was going to run out of money for its disaster relief fund early this week, sources are now saying fema may be able to stretch its funds in order to get them through the end of this week. that is key because the end of this week is the end of this fiscal year. it is also key because several senate democratic sources tell me and my colleagues that that fact makes the central issue of this battle a moot point, being

that the big battle was over whether or not the additional money for fema should be offset, should be paid for. but that only had to do with the additional money for fema. if this can play out, this may be the way out of this impasse, meaning the senate may be able to pass, what we call, a clean, short-term spending bill. the federal funding for fema for the next fiscal year would then kick in with the short-term spending bill come saturday, really. so this may be a breakthrough in this stalemate that has really threatened a government shutdown as well as the fact that recovery efforts in many states that were ravaged by many natural disasters, this may be resolved all as early as this evening here in the senate. then all eyes turn to the house and how it will be resolved there. this could be a big breakthrough

here in the senate this evening. >> so, kate, exactly how long would this keep the government running? >> reporter: this short-term spending bill has all along been talking about keeping the government funded. all along, the agreement on both sides of the aisle in both chambers has been the short-term spending bill would take us through november 18th. when you think about it, it's not very long that they really have been battling over. it really had had nothing, very little to do with keeping the government funded. it had all to do with the positions between democrats and republicans over whether or not these additional emergency funds for federal disaster relief should be paid for. that was really the obstacle that was holding this up awl along. if fema can stretch their funds, that battle might go away. >> wow. interesting development there. kate baldwin on capitol hill. thank you. >> reporter: thank you. well, that will do it for me. much more news