murder conviction will are overturned. earlier this morning she pleaded her case directly to the jury. now they are deliberating. we're expecting a verdict today. we go live to italy straight ahead. i'm carol costello, it looks like chris christie had a change of heart. now reportedly reconsidering a run for president, but there's one thing his team needs to figure out first. on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. it is monday, october 3rd. christina's off today. i'm here the whole morning and was going to listen to whatever you were going to say anyway. whatever you said about chris christie has my attention. one thing his team has to consider first. i'm very, very excited about that. renewed talk he's going to get into the race. >> i know. it's really late in the game and there's that money issue. of course, they say he has big

republican backers. don't worry. you run. we'll take care of the money. >> he has rather moderate views on social issues conservatives may not be hip to. >> we'll talk a lot about that this morning. something else we're talking a lot about. amanda knox's first hope for freedom. the american student is waiting to see if her murder conviction will be overturned. she made her case to the jury earlier this morning. now an agonizing waiting game for her. part of what a tearful knox told the court, "the accusations are completely unjust and without any foundation. i am paying for my life with a crime i didn't commit." paula newton has covered this case for years and joins us live from perugia, italy. what else did knox have to say to the jurors this morning? >> you know, she got up and could barely speak,ally. choking back the tears. they asked, do you want to take a seat? she said, no.

she said okay. and she made a tearful plea but maintained her composure each time underscoring i did not kill, i did not rape, i did not steal, i was not there, i was innocent and delivered the speech in fluid italian, really, much more emotional than i've ever seen her. she has been emotional. and ali she threw away the script. normally she would try and read. this time if she had notes she bearly referred to them and this was something that came straight from the heart. let's listen. >> translator: i am not what i say i am. perversity, violence. i respect life and people, and i haven't done the things that they are suggesting that i've done.

i haven't. >> moderator:erred murdered, i haven't raped, i haven't stolen. i wasn't there. i wasn't present in that crime. >> she continually is saying that, look, i refuse to pay for my life for something i did not do, and very interesting, ali, she repeated again that meredith kercher was my friend. i miss her, but i did not kill her. >> interesting point. there was discussion that the two did not have a very good relationship. what are we waiting for, paula? what happens now? she and her boyfriend have gone back to their respective prison cells and are waiting to be called back and we're thinking the jury will likely have a decision with the next few hours? >> reporter: amanda knox returned to the prison behind me about 45 minutes ago. she has a long wait ahead of her. the judge expects to be back

around 2:00 in afternoon. that's 8:00 local. that is a long day for the young woman behind me. the problem as well, ali, it isn't a straight, what, we uphold the verdict or are knocking down the verdict. some are reduced sentences. she has to be thinking what is the best i hope for. what she really wants is to get on a plane and go home tomorrow. ali? >> we'll stay on the story with you. paula newton in prush derugia. >> the appeals process in italy is far different than here in the united states. several options to the jury up to and including a complete acquittal. let's bring in our legal contributor to talk about that and the possible outcome knox faces. i cannot imagine having to wait eight hours for this jury, this judge, to make a decision. >> it's pure torture. on the other hand, a short wait for amanda knox, serving almost

four years in prison for a crime shep said she did not commit. american college student. over that junior year abroad, most exciting thing and a month later locked up for murder. this has been a tragic case for the knox family and amanda knox. >> tell us about the makeup of the jury. >> very different from the united states. first of all, we call it a jury. this is really an appeal of the original case. in the united states, of course, you have a jury trial and then judges review the trial to see if it was a fair trial. they don't rehear the trial. in italy, you get an initial trial. she was convicted at that trial, and then the case goes up on appeal, but there are six lay people. therapy not trained lawyers. just selected-like jurors, and then there are two judges who sit on the appellate jury. and they rehear the case. now, they don't have to hear all of the evidence. they can select the evidence they wish to hear. so it's a shorter procedure than the initial trial, but it's

really like a second trial, and they have reheard pretty much the entire case. the important parts of the case. >> well, the most important aspect of the case, and amanda knox' attorney came out after the proceedings and talk about this. the dna evidence. it's just not there. >> let me tell you why the dna evidence is so important. there is no piece of physical evidence that really linked amanda knox and her boyfriend sollecito to the murder seen except for one thing. he said she was having dinner with her boyfriend on night of the. >> moderator:er. a knife was in the sink presumably she used to chop up tomatoes or help cook. her dna son the handle of the knife. there is a microscopic piece of dna, so say the prosecutors, on the blade that they say is meredith kercher's blood. now, dna experts have looked at this from the united states and italian court-appointed dna experts say, nonsense. that piece of dna is too small

to be subject to a legitimate analysis. if that goes out, nothing physically links them to the crime that's really definitive. so a really important piece of evidence. >> so if this jury and this judge do not uphold her appeal, she can appeal to a higher italian court, but let's say that that higher italian court says the sentence remains. can the president of the united states intervene after that point? >> well, he could appeal, of course, to the prime minister in italy. i suppose. you know, that's not something that normally happens between a western -- two western countries. italy and the united states. i think what you're going to see here is, if there's an acquittal, of course, she goes home. if she goes to the italian supreme court, it's probably going to be sustained, and, you know, i think today is the big day in the amanda knox case. this is going to dictate what her future will be. not the president of the united states. >> is there any sense of which way it will go? i mean, can you get any sense at

all? >> this is the sense i get. lawyers who have been watching the case very closely, american lawyers and to a certain extent italian lawyers, think there's very little or no case against this american student. on the other hand, there is a small number of people who think that italian honor may be at stake. that italian justice may be subject to ridicule if this case is reversed and she is released. so the knox supporters are very worried that the judges and the jurors on this case are going to say, we're going to uphold that verdict, because we don't want italy to look bad to the world's press. so what a terrible tension-filled day for the knox family and those watches this trial. >> again, we probably won't find out anything until 2:00 p.m. eastern this afternoon. amanda knox has a long wait. thank you. appreciate it as always, ali. to politics. new jersey governor chris

christie had a change of heart and is seriously considering a run for the white house. according to the "new york times," christie's advisers are trying to determine whether there's enough time to set up operations in iowa and new hampshire, two very important early states and be able to mount an effective campaign. if christie decides to jump in, fellow republican john mccain is offering up a little advice. >> if governor christie decides to run, i wish him luck. i think that there is a bit of a caution. the swimming pool looks a lot better until you jump right in. the water may not be quite at warm as you think. >> the water may not be quite as warm as you think. if christie enters the race, at serious disadvantage because of campaign organizing and late running. part of the problem, all of these donors who haven't gotten into the race, saying, we've got

money for you. and over the weekend be doing little to stop wall street protesters. the movement, occupy wall street, saying demonstrations are growing and becoming more organized. alison kosik joins us live, following this carefully. to put it into context, alison, this remains a grouping of people without a particularly clear strategy and without a clearly aligned set of goals. >> what's changed from the time i was out there talking to them on the street last week to now is they're really, really growing in numbers, and getting that media attention that they've really craved. that media attention is really more for the arrest that happened over weekend more so than their message. maybe because there isn't one message. you see that, hundreds of protesters marching on the brooklyn bridge essentially shutting it down a few hours. hundreds arrested or ticketed for walking on the roadway.

after that, they went right back to the park near wall street. held up their myriad of signs against everything from corporate greed to high gas prices to wanting a four-day workweek, and that's star power. that continues. we saw susan is a randa out there last week. media mogul russell simmons out there and alec baldwin tweeting, lending encouraging messages, sending pictures. people jumping on the bandwagon. what they've yet to do, have a sit-in on wall street. you know why? because there are barricades around the perimeter of the new york stock exchange. when i go there to work every day, i can't get close. you have to go through sort of this maze of barricades. >> anything stopped happening because of their protests? >> only just convenience. it's inconvenient walking around. susan candiotti was reporting on occupy wall street over the weekend. can we go to this. all of a sudden, take a look. this dog -- what happened to

peace, love and understanding? >> tossing a dog? >> i don't get it. i don't get their message. >> it was the international dog tossing group. >> what was up with that? >> oh, my. the dog's okay? >> the dog is all right. thank goodness. >> interesting. as russell simmons went in and had advice on getting their message straight. this is an issue. i'm going to get a lot of tweets about this, because i do every team i talk about this. my criticism is not of anything they're talking about. it is, it is a very haphazard unclear state of messages. they're mad about wall street. >> passionate about what they want. i think what you're seeing, these celebrities coming out, trying to give them focus, trying to help. >> what they're trying to do, michael moore has his own agenda. he wants them to adopt his agenda. trying to use these protesters for their own megs.

>> they don't have a message. not a bad idea. malleable. a great twitter campaign. >> they do and are tweeting me a lot. keep them coming. it's okay. >> thank you, alison kosik. and injuries in two flights both landing in boston. several people hurt from a flight from san juan to boston. another, a lufthansa. >> a lot of turbulence to divert planes and have those types of injuries. scary. and between a rock and hard space. digging deeper around rick perry. how long has this guy been in the race? a lot of controversy. plus, leader al anwar al awlaki, some are troubled an american citizen was taken out

by his own government without a trial. what do you think? it's our "talk back" question this morning. capital one's new cash rewards card gives you a 50 percent annual bonus. so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain.

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call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. 17 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. weather permitting, the daring inspection of the washington inspection will resume this morning. winds brought the operation to a halt this weekend. one rappelling worker was blown 30 feet away from the tower. a team of engineers is assessing the damage to the monument's exterior after, of course, that 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit back in august. and rob mrs smarciano is in extreme weather center for us. what have you got? >> untelgtsed, continuing to be that way today. good morning, guys. a weather pattern last week stuck in a rut. kicked out by a storm out of canada and that storm that kicked the last storm out is stuck and spinning as well. the unsettled weather, showers

around the d.c. and baltimore area at this time and probably see a couple more pop up throughout the day today across parts of the northeast including boston and new york. farther down south, that cold air to nashville. frost advisories up. 45 degrees right now in atlanta. the storm system out west is creating problems in the northwest and also in the sierra nevadas. first indications for seeing significant snowfall. could see over a foot in spots. over 7,000 feet. what it looked like across parts of pennsylvania and the appalachians over the weekend. some snow. there you go. multiple spots reporting, not a tremendous amount. they didn't need to get the plows out, but still, you know, considering it's the first week of october, to get even some of it stick to the ground, that's a pretty big deal. it's not exactly high elevation areas, but not low elevations, and snow. here we go, guys. buckle up your winter boots, because it's coming.

>> i think you're going to have to wear boston the winter outfit, because, you know, the tigers, they won. yankee-loving fan, rob marciano i. think your lions won as well. >> i know. >> so i think you're winning for week. okay? >> yeah. the tigers. this is far from over yet. >> what? i know, but -- >> make yourself available for friday. carol and i may not be speaking on friday morning. >> rematch tonight. hopefully they'll play the whole nine innings. >> good to see you, my friend. defense secretary leon panetta is delivering a blunt message to israel, repair relations with your neighbors or risk isolation. in his first visit to the region, press israel irand palestinian leaders to restart peace talks. before panetta left for israel he spoke to cnn newest anchor erin burnett and expressed

taking out anwar al awlaki. >> this individual was clearly a terrorist and, yes, he was a citizen, but if you're a terrorist, you're a terrorist, and that means that we have the ability to go after those who would let t would threaten to attack the united states and kill americans. there's no question that the authority and the ability to go after a terrorist is there. >> you can see the rest of erin burnett's interview tonight when her new show "out front" premieres at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. now it's time for your chance to "talk back" on the big question this morning. the question for you, should the united states have targeted anwar al awlaki despite his american citizenship? president obama is two for two. first bin laden, now anwar al

awlaki, top two terrorists. >> -- he took the lead to plan and murder american citizens, repeatedly called on individuals in the united states and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. >> another american al qaeda collaborator was also killed in that raid. what a relief? right? not for everybody. >> if the american people accept this blindly and casually, we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys. i think it's sad. >> yeah. they were bad guys. really bad guys. still, some say that's no e ex-excuse for basically plurder. one accused this, the targeting killing program is a mistake to invest the president, any president, with the unreviewable power to kill any american whom

he deems to present a threat to country. although former president dick cheney would disagree. not only praised the obama administration for targeting al awlaki but says president obama should apologize for his criticism of the bush administration's interrogations. facebook.com/"american morning." i'll read your responses later in the hour. the conrad murray trial set to get underway in a few hours. why he may be facing an uphill battle. and andy rooney, last minutes on "60 minutes." he's certainly not grateful. it's 22 past the hour. you're watching "american morning." starting my progresso soup for lunch plan, huh. nope,

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26 minutes after the hour. welcome back. "minding your business" this morning. this week, it's all about europe and about jobs here in the united states. european markets are down this morning after the brit government announced over the weekend it will mitt its deficit target. this news is raising concerns the next eu bailout of greece may be in jeopardy. and an imf official announce in tokyo further slowdown in the u.s. economy is hurting global growth as a whole and the ratings agency fitch, downgrading all of the world's most powerful economies. pushing stock futures down. futures for the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 all trading lower ahead

of the opening bell. this week a fresh reading on the growth and labor market when the government releases the jobs report for september. thats while we're on the air. and america's economic outlook in front of congress. testifying tomorrow morning in front of the join economic committee. a stock to watch today, eastman kodak, up in pre-market trading after taking a nosedive friday. sank down to 78 cents a share after rumor started swirling the company could be preparing to file for bankruptcy. kodak denies those rumors. gas prices keep dropping. national average, $3.42 a gallon according to aaa. people are cutting back on gas in general. it's making a mark on demand. plus, oil prices down under $80 a barrel for the first time since last year. "american morning" will be right back after the break.

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it is 30 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. time for this morning's top stories. right now a jury in italy is delivering the fate of amanda knox. the american student is appealing her murder conviction and she stood before the jury this morning to proclaim her innocence. a verdict expected late today. scary moments for hundreds of passengers onboard two planes hit by severe turbulence. en route from san juan, puerto rico to boston. turbulence forced a lufthansa flight to the diverted to boston. 11 hurt on that flight. and chris christie, after months of denial, the "new york times" reports advisers are scrambling to discuss whether there's enough time to set up operations in iowa and new hampshire and mount an effective campaign for president. texas governor rick perry must be pining for the good old

days when they took the race by storm and quickly became the gop's "it" candidate. campaign missteps and debates, now at the center of a controversy over a texas hunting camp leased by him and his family that contained the "n" word pap rock painted with the word in big letters. the campaign spokesman says perry's father painted over the rock soon after they began using it. the paper says it was still there much later. paul steinhauser, tell us where this whole controversy stands now. >> i'll tell you, ali, what struck me yesterday morning, how quickly the campaign wanted to react to this moments after i reached out to them they tame out with a response. quick especially for sunday morning. part of that said this, a number of claims made in the story are

incorrect and anonymous including that rick perry brought groups to the lease when the word on the rock was still visible. and herman cain was on the sunday talk showed. he was asked about it. here's what he said. >> my reaction is, that is very insensitive. there are some words that do not basically inspire the kind of negativity like that particular word. and since governor perry has been going there for years to hunt, i think that it shows a lack of sensitivity for a long time of not taking that word off of that rock and renaming that place. it's basically a case of insensitivity. >> another sign, how much should they be worried about this, moments arcane cane was on, another statement, they agreed the word was insensitive but

pointed out it was painted over years ago. will other campaign ises, the romney campaigns and others speak out on this issue and attack rick perry. we'll see. >> the question on carol's mind right now. what does this mean -- just kidding. what does it mean for chris christie? we've heard talk he is having a change of heart. maybe all of this cajoling and convincing is getting to him. is chris christie seriously thinking about getting into this presidential race? >> definitely thinking about it a lot more now than a few weeks ago. this latest round happened after rick perry stumbled at the recent presidential debate, maybe intensifying after this story broke out. his advise rers, these advisers worked with the giuliani campaign in the last election cycle trying to figure is there enough time if the governor decides to run, enough time to raise the money, start up a campaign, especially in iowa, new hampshire and other states, it seems that are moving up a month.

chris christie has one less month to get ready. the clock is ticking for him. had needs a decision very soon. >> good morning to you. thanks. talk to you later on. paul steinhauser. week two in the trial of dr. conrad murray. looks like the defense suffers an uphill battle, because michael jackson's doctor took a beating in round one. we have a glance back then a look ahead. >> reporter: week two of the conrad murray trial will likely pick up where week one left off. on friday we heard from paramedics that reported to michael jackson's house after the 911 call was made and the paramedics told the jury when they arrived michael jackson was cold to the touch and that never throughout their resuscitation process did they ever feel a pulse or see one on the heart monitor, but, of course, the most damning evidence against murray from those paramedics was that they asked him what drugs were in jackson's body, and murray never mentioned propofol.

we started to hear from one of the emergency room doctors at ucla on friday. extend that testimony early next week and the doctors will tell much the same story. that they, too, asked murray what was in jackson's body and again, no mention of propofol at all. we'll likely hear from detectives assigned to the case. they will detail to the jury their investigation throughout this. they've been sitting in the courtroom throughout the week. jurors are starting to get to know them, because they've been referred to a couple of times by attorneys. now they'll really get to know them. they'll be on the stand for quite some time and later in the week we may hear from two of dr. murray's girl friends. one of the girlfriends lives here in the los angeles area. that was the apartment that dr. murray was sending the propofol to throughout this. we'll hear from her likely, and then we will hear from the other girlfriend in houston, texas.

this was the woman dr. murray was on the phone with when he realized that michael jackson was in trouble. >> ted rowlands reporting. dr. murray pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. it convicted he faces up to four years behind bars and the loss of higs medical license. it's the end of an air raye at cbs "this morning." andy rooney, the curmudgeon in chief offers final message on "60 minutes." the 92-year-old writer has been win cbs since 1949, worked on the crew of "60 minutes" for 33 years. here's how he signed off. >> this is a moment i've dreaded. i wish i could do this forever. i can't, though. but i'm not retiring. writers don't retire, and i'll always be a writer. a lot of you have sent me wonderful letters and said good things to me when you meet me in the street. i wasn't always gracious about it. it's hard to accept being liked.

i don't say this often, but thank you. although if you do see me in a restaurant, please, just let me eat my dinner. >> it's hard being liked. that's what he said. that was his 1,097 and final essay on "60 minutes." >> he cemented curmudgeon status by saying good-bye. >> just let me eat. their pencils sharpened, notebooks ready, it is the first day of the new term for the u.s. supreme court. some crucial decisions ahead, including one that will be central to the next election. marry, not so sweet on the commitment issue? we'll take you to where you may want to move. [ male announcer ] robitussin, advil,

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welcome back. it is the first monday in october. that is time for the supreme court justices to get become to

work. >> absolutely. six of the nine justices attended the so-called red mass in washington on sunday. the service traditionally precedes the opening of the new court term. more on some of the major cases on the docket. >> reporter: hi, ali and carol. it's shaping up to be a busy term for the supreme court with decisions expected on several big and politically important issues. today kicks off a new term for the supreme court. and health care tops the lists of big issues nine justices could take on. the obama administration has asked the nation's highest court to rule on the constitutionality of the patient protection and affordable care act. the health care overhaul signed into law last year. lawsuits brought by 28 states and sizzens of individuals and grouped challenged the federal government's right to require people to purchase health insurance. the key provision in the law. analysts say the court will almost certainly address think hot button issue this term, with a decision coming just months

before the presidential election. >> the law itself is obviously really important whether you like it or not. it has tremendous consequences for president obama's re-election, because it's a signature achievement. >> the politics of health care aside, this is a central issue. this could change the way the government and the people interact going forward in our country. >> reporter: among cases already on the court's docket, an electronic surveillance case that asks whether police can attach a gps tracker to a suspect's car without a warrant. the central question -- do motorists have any right to privacy on public roads? another, whether subjected for minor offenses to suspicionless strip searches and whether the federal communications indecency rules violate broadcast networks free speech rights. >> it seems inevitable this term they're going it have to decide what the free speech rights of broadcasters are to put profanity and some nudity on the

air. >> reporter: other charged issues that could come up include immigration, gay marriage, affirmative action and abortion. >> the supreme court term so far is shaping up to are pretty interesting, but it could become absolutely explosive and enthralling. could be the most preinterestinn almost a tenchry. >> reporter: i want to say the supreme court takes on one out of every ten cases its petitioned to review and the justices haven't decide fundamental they're going to tackle health care overhaul. nearly every legal analyst you speak to thinks the court will have to weigh into this debate. an interesting term here. back to you, ali and carol. >> thanks, athena. new this morning, governor jerry brown, trying to ban male circumcision. did i read that right? >> i knew were you a little nervous about this story. >> but i'll carry on, march ahead. backers of a circumstance come sigs ban collected 8,000

signatures to put the mesh other than the ballied in san francisco. they argue circumstance come sigs san unnecessary surgery leading to health and sexual problems later in life. carol? >> from circumstance come sigs, a circumcision to marriage. >> take the shorter deal. mexico city may now let residents pick how long they want to be fared. lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow newlyweds to apply for a temporary marriage license allowing couples to decide the length of their own marriage. there is a two-year minimum, however. >> a gentleman is on the floor, remaining nameless, seems encouraged. nodding his head. giving the thumbs up. >> why get married at all? >> from a financial point of view, do the math. see how many marriages end in divorce, save yourself trouble, if you -- >> because your wife is watching. >> i would never -- they should

be lifelong, if at all possible. carol? >> it's 45 minutes past the hoyer. we're still awaiting a verdict in the amanda knox trial. when the verdict comes down we'll bring it to you live. the "talk back" question of the morning, does it matter that anwar al awlaki killed friday was an american citizen. your thoughts ahead. it is 46 after the hour. our 4 new rich & hearty soups really have people talking... [ guy ] ring, ring. progresso... i love your new loaded potato with bacon. that's what we like to hear. ring, ring. progresso... ...switch our phone service? ...no, i think we're pretty happy with our phones. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service,

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eight past the hour. amanda knox' fate is in the hands of a jury at this hour. appealing her murder conviction and spoke directly to the jury this morning insists she is innocent. a verdict expected today. a massachusetts man accused of planning attacks on the u.s. capitol, saying 6-year-old planned to attack the targets using remote controlled model aircraft filled with c-4 explosives. 30,000 layoffs in greece. approving a preliminary budget for 2012 but misses key deficits for this year and next. greece may be forced to make major cuts to government services. the government blames the shortfall on the deepening recession in that country. and over the weekend, 700 people arrested for blocking traffic on the brooklyn bridge. chris christie is reportedly considering a bid for the

presidency. reconsidering it, according to the "new york times." the new jersey governor's advisers are scrambling to determine wther there is enough time to set up operations in the early primary states of iowa and new hampshire. and for the first time in nearly 15 years, tiger woods is not among the top 50 golfers in the world. when the rankings come out this morning, tiger is expected to be number 51. he returns to action this week after a two-month layoff. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" is back right after this.

ten minutes until the top of the morning. good morning. president obama may have

done a double take when he learned dick cheney praised his decision to kill aun wye al awlaki in yep's. >> and still believes he owes his predecessor an apology. >> reporter: no weekend qualms about killing a top al qaeda operative, also an american. thumbs up from the former vice president. >> i this president ought to have that authority to order that kind of strike even when it involves an american citizen when there's clear evidence that he's part of al qaeda, planning and cooperating, supporting attacks against the united states. >> reporter: okay by the former head of the cia. >> we're a nation at war and as a dlich belligerent, trumps the one or another of those combatants might have u.s. personhood wrapped around them. >> reporter: the former ranking democrat on the house and intelligence committee is in, too, but wants the obama administration to be transparent

about jose legal just fiction for killing an american without due process. >> i believe there is a good case. imminent threat, beyond our ability to arrest him. the authorization to use military force against al qaeda, he was com police ntd with al qaeda. i think the justice department should release that. oh. >> reporter: in fact, two americans were killed in the u.s. attack. the target, aun wire al awlaki, a mastermind recruiter linked to several plots against the u.s., including the fort hood shootings and samir khan. despite his approval something eats at dick cheney. something president obama said in cairo in 2009 about the u.s. reaction to the 9/11 attacks. >> the fear and anger that it provoked was understandable, but in some cases it led us to act contrary to our traditions and our ideals. we are taking concrete actions to change court. change course.

i have unequivocally denied the use of torture from the united states. >> reporter: causing him to rethink that the bush administration's tactics were un-american. >> contrary to ideals when we had enhanced interrogation techniques. clearly moved of taking robust action when justified. >> you'd like an apology. >> not for me but i think for the bush administration. >> reporter: the larger picture is worth noting again. asked if the obama administration is waging a successful war against terror, cheney says, yes. >> that brings us to this "talk back" question of the morning. should the united states have targeted anwar al awlaki? from andy, no rules in love and

war. those participating in terrorism, the u.s. was right to act in defense of its people. phillip, a terrorist is a terrorist. nationality doesn't come into play. thomas says, it was unconstitutional and should never have happened. the president should have requested an emergency trial. if al awlaki failed to appear in court, the trial continued and found guilt they would have given president obama the power to order the assassination. from robert, seems clear they're at war with us and willing to, in fact, and desire to kill americans. clearly documented he was strategizing to kill americans. therefore, he is fair game. keep the comments coming. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read more of your thoughts later on on "american morning." now i'd like to talk about bears. >> oh, geez. >> no other way to make that transition. >> you're right. >> an uninvited guest for breakfast. climbed up on to a deck in

pennsylvania. raiding the bird feeder. mean bear. once the food was gone, the bear apparently still in no particular rush to leave. >> when it came on the porch, however, we thought, how is this bear going to get off the porch, because he didn't like the idea of jumping. >> the couple eventually called the police and were able to scare the bear back into the woods. >> at least he didn't eat the bird. but i guess bears don't eat birds? >> they want the feed more than the birds. >> they're vegetarians. just ahead, reports a plane is waiting for her if the jury let's her off the hook. we are awaiting the amanda knox verdict in italy.

amanda knox verdict watch. could she be sent home today? [ chanting ] clashes on the brooklyn bridge. more than 700 arrested.

wall street protesters saying they have the money, but we have the numbers. race and the race. rick perry, criticized for taking his family to a camp with the n word on it. and chris christie, will he run for president? all ahead on this "american morning." good morning. it is monday, october the 3rd. christine is off today. welcome to "american morning." up first, amanda knox waiting anxiously whether she will be set free or going back to prison. the american student is hoping her murder conviction will be overturn and appeal. she made her case to jurors this morning. now it's nail-biting high-stakes waiting game. here's part of what she tearfully told the court. "the accusations are completely

unjust and without any foundation. i am paying with my life for a crime i did not commit." matthew chance joins us live from perugia, italy. tell us more about what amanda knox said. >> reporter: carol, a very emotional speech indeed. the speech of her life, as we said, the opportunity to stand up in front of this court in perugia, address the judges and the jury and make that personal appeal, in her own words, for her release saying that she was not guilty of killing meredith kercher and she was being held unjustifiably inside the court. a very emotional speech indeed. she'd spent months according to her parents deciding what she would say and how she would say it. she spoke apparent italian and at times could not hold back the tears. at one point the judge said she could sit down, but she didn't. she kept herself together and delivered her plea of innocence. take a listen.

>> translator: i am not what they say i am. perversity, violence. i respect life and people, and i haven't done the things that they are suggesting that i've done. i haven't murder. i haven't raped. i haven't stolen. i wasn't there. i wasn't present in that crime. >> reporter: amanda knox speaking there in court, giving that heartfelt appeal. the jury is deliberates. we're expecting a verdict not before 8:00 local time, about 2:00 p.m. eastern time.

somehow the jury is expected to come back and decide on amanda knox' fate. carol? >> matthew chance reporting live from perugia, italy. ali. there are subtle differences between the appeals process in italy and here in the united states. there are several options available to the amanda knox jury, which, by the way, has lay people on it and a couple of judges. their options are up to and including a complete acquittal. let's bring in paul cowen to talk about that and the possible outcomes for amanda knox this morning. what is the -- what are the ranges? >> lots of options. you indicated. they could release her. find in her favor in acquittal and also could reduce the charges against her and give her a reduced sentence. for instance, actually convicted of the killing originally sentenced to over 20 years in prison reduced to 16 years by the appellate court.

that's something that could be done here as well. >> any sense having watched how the trial has gone on, what a likely outcome would be? or is it like a typical trial where you don't know? >> a roll of dice. where's the case? it's fallen apart. the chief judge on the panel hellman, ordered a reanalysis of the dna, the real evidence against him and his experts said, no case. you can't rely on that dna evidence. on the other hand, italian honor may be at stake. the italian justice system is being closely watched by the world. >> and has been criticized because of this case. >> yes, it has, and, of course, if there's an american student involved, american criticism of italy and there might be ruffled feathers on that. people worry that the political atmosphere could affect the verdict. >> whatever happens today, she convicted. do they have to overturn that,

reinstate her guilt if they say these guilty? an appeal, normally the prior court decision's is upheld. how does it work here? >> here if they overturn the prior conviction, she will go back to prison do paperwork and can be put on a plane right back to the united states. she'll be free to go. now, the prosecutor could appeal to the italian supreme court, and then they would try to extradite her back to italy, if the italian supreme court, once again, upheld the conviction, but this will be a great day for amanda knox if this court aquits her, wah she can leave. she won't be stuck in italy except for one thing in respect is a criminal slanlder case brought against. her. >> a civil case? >> criminal slander is the charge in that civil case. it's very complicated with respect to the italian. bottom line is this, the kerchers are suing for wrongful death, they've recovered money

damages. a guy lumumba, she said was involved, he's suing and and the police because she criticized the interrogation. maybe could be held on incrimination of the police. nobody said it will happen but it's a theory. for the first time the american public is getting focused on this case. an innocent american college student going over to do her year abroad and getting tied up in this horrible nightmare. so will american public opinion force the president to make inquiries? i really don't know. it's very unusual to see two western countries, the u.s. and italy, for instance, criticizing each other the criminal justice system. it remains to be seen if diplomatic efforts will are made on her behalf. >> we're still about seven hours away from a verdict. we don't know when, but that's the time the judge has said it

may happen about 2:00 eastern our time. paul, stay with us. paul callan. carol? week two of testimony begins in the trial of dr. conrad murray, michael jackson's former doctor. he's facing an uphill battle because in week one, paramedics who saw the king of pop on the day he died say that dr. murray failed to tell him jackson had propofol in his system. the paramedics who tried to bring jackson back to life before declaring him dead. and in court later today in boston, the 26-year-old planned to attack the targets using remote control model aircraft filled with c-4 explosives. it looks like new jersey governor chris christie had has a change of heart and is now seriously considering a run for the white house. according to the "new york times," christie advisers are

trying to determine whether there's enough time to set up operations in iowa and new hampshire and to mount an effective campaign. now, if christie decides to jump in, fellow republican john mccain is offering up a little advice. >> if governor christie decides to run, i wish him luck. i think that there is a bit of a caution. the swimming pool looks a lot better until you jump right in. the water may not be quite as warm as you think. >> if christie enters the race he'll in be a serious disadvantage. in 20 minutes, the inside story on governor christie when we're joined by "new york times" reporter david hall pinger and letter at 8:10 joined by ars ar senator john mccain. see can ask about if the new jersey governor gets in the race at this late date. and rick perry involving a texas hunting camp he and his

family leased in texas in the early '80s that carried the "n" word in his name. the name, n word-head. saying it was painted over quickly. according to "the washington post," it was still visible years later. and getting down to business when the new term begins. analysts say the justices will almost certainly take up president obama's health care reform with the decision of its constitutionality expected months before the presidential election. other high-profile cases deal with immigration and affirmative action. still to come, two planes rocked by severe turbulence. n nearly two dozen passengers hurt. we'll have the frightening details. plus police are cracking down. the wall street movement is spreading. and andy rooney, signing off for the time time last night on "60 minutes." did you hear how he said

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the protesters on wall street vowed they are in it for the long haul, but we're not entirely clear what the long haul means to them because the whole message is unclear. even after more than 700 people were arrested over the weekend for blocking traffic on new york's brooklyn bridge, the protesters claim they were lured on to the bridge by officers who said they could use the roadway. shows police using a bull horn to tell the crowds to leave the roadway or they'll face charges. severe turbulence blamed for nearly two dozen injuries in two flights. seven onboard a flight and the other involving a luft stanza plane. and repelling down the washington monument again this

morning inspecting for earthquake damage. halted over the weekend because of high wind which blew one worker 0 feet away from the tower. they're assessing the exterior after the earthquake in august. the weather didn't infect the tigers' play at all yesterday. in fact, rob, i think the tigers beat the yankees. >> rob, we're going to be hearing about this. the yankees, they're getting off to a slow start. >> the tigers certainly prayed to the rain gods late in the game to try to get this thing called early. either way, they won it fair and square, and that will be the last one. detroit, shouldn't have weather issues there. although the same weather pattern that gave us the untelgtsed weather overed weekend is stuck and spinning. d.c., baltimore, a few showers and actually detroit through cleveland, showers. slowly moving off to the east. behind it, certainly colder air. frost advisories out for parts of the ohio valley. 42 degrees.

current temperature in national. touching what's going on with what's now tropical storm ophelia, at one point a category 4 storm making its way towards newfoundland. now making landfall with 70 mile-an-hour winds. delays because of that rain and unsettled weather across the new york central, and boft boston, d.c. to a lesser extent as well as rain showers in san francisco. bring you out there. impressive system. not only bringing you rain, it's the rainy season, but snow in the higher elevations of the sierra nevadas. over the 7,000 foot mark, 6 to 12 inches of of snow expected. in between those systems, warm and windy conditions. 76 degrees in atlanta. 59 in new york. of course, it is summer down under. at least it's spring. what will the folks at guinness think of next? on the gold coast, guinness book of world records set this past

weekend for having the longest bikini-clad parade. 350 young ladies dressed in stantly clad bikinis made their way up and down the coast breaking the record in the cayman islands, which was 331. meanwhile a live shot to central park to see if they've tried to aassemble the same -- >> no. no bikini contest. >> but a lovely sunrise over the big apple this morning. >> this morning, rob you need your flannel bikinis in central park. it's pretty cool. >> that's not breaking records. >> and a bunch of people in flannel bikinis -- >> amazing to me every single woman in that parade was fit and beautiful. >> i did notice that the fifth time i watched it. >> rob, stick with me this week. you and i will be under attack all week with this whole yankees, lions, tigers -- >> just a couple days and then reality sets in. >> yeah. whatever. thank you, rob marciano. >> carol, see ya.

now's your chance to "talk back" on one of the big stories of the day. the question this morning, should the united states have targeted anwar awlaki despite his american citizen jp president obama is two for two. first osama bin laden now aun wire al awlaki. one of the most wanted terrorists. >> he took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent americans. he repeatedly called on individuals in the united states and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. >> another american al qaeda collaborator was killed in the al awlaki operation. what a relief. right? but not for everybody. >> if the american people accepts they blindly and casually, we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys. i think it's sad. >> yeah. they were bad guys. really bad guys. still, some say that is no excuse for basically murder.

the american civil liberty unions which one accused obama of morphing into bush says, the targeted killing program violates both u.s. and international law. it is a mistake to invest a president, any president, with the unreviewable power to kill any american whom he deems to present a threat to the country. former vice president dick cheney disagreed, praising the administration and saying president obama should apologize for his veiled criticism of the bush administration's enhanced interrogations. sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do. so the "talk back" question today, should the united states have targeted anwar al awlaki despite this american citizenship? facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read your comments later this hour. and cbs news, andy rooney, the network's curmudgeon chief offering his final essay on "60 minutes" last night.

the 92-year-old writer and commentate hear been with cbs since 1949. he's worked with "60 minutes" for 33 years, and this is how he signed off. >> this is a moment i've dreaded. i wish i could do this forever. i can't, though. but i'm not retiring. writers don't retire, and i'll always be a writer. a lot of you have sent me wonderful letters and said good things to me when you meet me in the street. i wasn't always gracious about it. it's hard to accept being liked. i don't say this often, but thank you. although if you do see me in a restaurant, please, just let me eat my dinner. >> a curmudgeon until the end. >> till the end. rooney's 1,097 and final commentary on "60 minutes." >> have a great time. i'm sure he'll keep working and we'll hear more from him. coming up, elmo is back with a serious new lesson for your kids and he's talking than with

christine romans. you do not want to miss this. it's 19 minutes -- >> christine with elmo? >> it was funny. [ 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.

welcome back. "minding your business" this morning. 23 minutes after the hour. this week it's all about europe and jobs here in the united states. european markets are down this morning after the greek government announced over the weekend it will miss its deficit targets. now, the news is raising concerns of the next eu if greece may be in jeopardy and the country will have to default

on its debt. two more warnings an the growth of the economy. an imf official announced in tokyo further slowdown in the u.s. economy is hurting global growth as a hole. and fitch down. graded forecasts for all of the nation's powerful economies. this news pushing u.s. stock futures down. futures for the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 trading lower ahead of the opening bell. this week a fresh reading on growth in the labor market when the government releases its big jobs report for september. that comes out friday morning. also this week, investors watching closely ben bernanke's testimony about america's outlook, testifying in front of congress. tomorrow morning speaking to the joint economic committee. also big this week, apple is expected to unveil the iphone 5. hosting an event in cupertino, california entitled "let's talk iphone." no word steve jobs will make an appearance at the event.

eastman kodak stock is up. the stock sank more than 50% friday. town down sow 78 cents a share after rumors the company could be prepares for bankruptcy. kodak denies knows rumors. "american morning" will be right back after the break. ♪ [ multiple snds ng melodic tune ] ♪ [ malennounc ] at northrop grumman, makthworld a feplace. th's value performance. northr gruan.

but they also go beyond banking. we installed a ge fleet monitoring system. it tracks every vehicle in their fleet. it cuts fuel use. koch: it enhances customer service. it's pretty amazing when people who loan you money also show you how to save it. not just money, knowledge. it's so much information, it's like i'm right there in every van in the entire fleet. good day overall. yeah, i'm good. come on in. let's go. wow, this is fantastic. ge capital. they're not just bankers. we're builders. they helped build our business.

"american morning" will be in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to.

ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ ooh, that's pretty. good morning, new york. that's the sun over central park. it's chilly outside, though. 48 degrees, and, yes, we're expecting showers later today with a high of only 59. welcome back. the brand new season of "sesame street" brought to you by s.t.e.m. elmo and the gang are about to get schooled in s.t.e.m.

science, technology engineering and math. because we're slipping in those subjects here in the united states. christine romans talked with elmo about this. take a look. >> elmo, what does s.t.e.m. >> that's hard. what does it mean? >> remember, elmo, it's science, technology, engineering and m's the easy one. >> math. >> do you like math? >> yes, elmo likes math, yeah, because elmo likes to count. >> could you count for me? >> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 -- >> is math fun? >> yes, math is a lot of fun, because you were use it when you're cooking. >> hmm. >> if you're going to use two eggs or three eggs. things like that. >> why is it important to get kids excited about s.t.e.m.? science, technology, engineering and math? >> we recognize as a nation we're falling behind in these areas and it's always been

"sesame street's" tradition to give kids a head start, a leg up. when you boil down the curriculum, it's perfect for preschoolers because it's about asking questions and experimenting. that's how you learn. >> experimenting. >> it's a big word, elmo. >> i'm told you've learned about amphibian, and balance. >> yeah. and ingredient and liquid. yeah. >> why are you learning these words? >> because they're really cool words, and it's really fun to learn what they mean. >> you also learned engineer. what's an engineer? >> well, that, you know, when you -- build something, you engineer. >> so it's creative? >> good word. creating. >> static numbers, and math and tables, something you're trying to show kids is part of learning and part of life. >> very physical. s.t.e.m. is fun. it's physical fun. it's about testing out things and any question kids have, we encourage parents not to answer the questions that kids have, but explore the answers with their kids together.

>> i don't know what to say about that. catch christine romans in "your bottom line" every saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. eastern and every morning here on "american morning." time now, 7:30. time for the top stories. a jury in italy delivering the fate of amanda knox. the american student is hoping to have her murder conviction overturned. she spoke to the jury earlier this morning calling accusations against her unjust. >> translator: i am the same person that i was four years ago. exactly the same person. the only thing different from four years ago is my suffering. in four years i've lost my friends and the most terrible and unexplainable way f. her

conviction is thrown out, knox is expected to be on the first plane out of italy for america. and an american plotting to attack the pentagon. 27-year-old rezwan ferdaus from massachusetts, allegedly planned to carry out the attacks using remote control aircraft filled with c-4 plastic explosives and attempting to provide support to al qaeda. and a major scare for passengers on two different flights. a flight from san juan to boston his turbulence, and a lufthansa flight had to be diverted to boston after hitting rough air. 11 passengers onboard that plane were injured. and hurricane ophelia bearing down on newfoundland. forecasters say the storm with 75 mile-an-hour winds is threatening to cause large waves and life-threatening surf conditions. ophelia is expected to weaken heading farther out into the northern atlantic later today.

now to politics. the big wigs in the republican party can't take no for an answer. who can blame them? they're convinced the president is beatable. and the man that can beat the president is on the outside looking in so far, they say. new jersey governor chris christie, after much denial, is now considering a presidential bid. "new york times" reporter david hil figg helfigger joins us now. >> a few things are going on here now. you no many like henry kissinger, big donors, trying to prevail upon governor christie to get in for the good of the country and good of the country. in christie-land, in the last week to ten days, his advisers have been sorting through just a

deluge of incoming offering of help. more of these appeals to get in, heb that could be, you know, financial donors, fund-raisers, also operational help on the ground. they're trying to sort through all of that incoming while at the same time going through what you might wall the mother of all checklists. if the governor decides to go, what do they have to do? a gazillion things they have to do overnight. and at the same time get the governor to make this decision. >> chris christie supposedly wanted to run in 2016. maybe now the time is right, because one of the things that his advisers are terrillitellin you're hot right now. go for it. by 2016, you might be the ho-hum governor of new jersey. >> more complicated than that. stakes are high. 2016 was his plan all along, we think, and they say, but, you know, if the president's numbers show he's pretty vulnerable and

getting more vulnerable by the day, it seems, the economy doesn't appear to be getting better fast enough or at all, if a republican does win, 2016 will be off the table. a re-election year. that opportunity will slip through this fingers. sometime as man can't choose the moment. >> the moment is chosen for him. i like when you say christie-land. he appeared over the weekend and had this to say about chris christie possibly jumping into the cool, john mccain said this. let's listen. >> if governor christie decides to run, i wish him luck. i think that there is a bit of a caution that always the swimming pool looks a lot better until you jump right in. the water may not be quite as warm as you think. >> exactly. you could certainly point to rick perry, because he was the "it" candidate what? just a few weeks ago. now he's sort of diminished in popularity, shall we say.

chris christie has more moderate views on social issues like gun control. pro-gun control, supports clean energy. being in the country without proper documentation is not a crime. so many conservatives say he's kind of soft on immigration. once those things are coming out about him, maybe he'll fare just as rick perry did? >> there's a lot of areas in which you might say, a distance between christie's stance and the popularity he seems to be generating in the conservative base, but i think, you know, those who are fond of him would -- i actually think that if he got in, christie would say to american voters and to republican rank and file what he said in '09 in new jersey, you may not agree with me but you'll know where i stand. >> so why does that work with chris christie and not rick perry? >> may be the personality and the style and the moment. creating a big boom for

christie, his style, combativeness, in your face new jersey attitude. you know, there's a hope if anybody, if any moderate or centrist has a chance of finessing the conservative base of the party, many republicans think chris christie can do that. >> well, supposedly we'll know in a couple days. right? just a couple of days. dank h david helbinger, thanks for coming in. live, tuesday night, october 18th, 8:00 eastern time. we'll cover the debate. and our next guest says not only is a double dip recession inevitable bought may have already begun. how bad might it get? we'll talk to him after the break at 37 minutes after the hour.

welcome back. mrnd money "minding your business," head towards a double dip recession. there's a debt crisis here and in europe, not hiring and companies stashing cash. the co-founder of the economic research institute, this is your bread and butter. you track economic cycles. kind of agnostic as to the politics of it or things like that. >> absolutely. totally. >> and you've often come here and told us ahead of what's going to happen, what's happening. you have now looked at the data. for the first time late last week you said, we're not going to have a double dip recession and might actually be in one? >> right. it's very hard, but in this case a conceptual underpinning how things take place in the country. in a market economy, part and partial, we're not getting away from them. looking at the facts we see that the forward-looking indicators. not one, not two, dozens are

falling, there's contagion among the indexes, falling in a way we only see when a recession is underway or starting. >> let's look at the gdp growth since we got out of the last recession. >> sure. >> you can see there, basically, the third bar is the third quarter of 2009. that's when we emerged from the recession and saw greth and a slowdown. look at the end there. second quarter of this year. second three months of 2011. we saw some growth. it looked like it was going the other way. and people were saying, maybe we're out of the woods. >> transitory soft patch. that's what a lot of people heard earlier on. it was a critical moment because indicators were rejecting that idea saying, no, this is much more dangerous than that and since then we've sleeped into a recession call. a couple points i would say. eight bars of positive gdp growth. since the begins of 2010 we've added almost 2 million jobs to this economy. that is why this is a new recession.

>> not the continuation? >> right. >> many said we never got out of the recession. you're saying we clearly got out of that one. >> because of the positives. i will not argue that was an underwhelming recovery. i will not argue the economy felt bad for many years. it absolutely has. the point is the news is, that it's going to be worsening from here on a persistent basis. so as bad as it is, it's going to get worse, and i think that's the main thing that people want to be aware of. >> you have a sense of this new recession, this double dip, what it's going to feel like in comparison to the last one? >> well, look, the last one actually, not only this one, started off kind of mild. the gdp up a little bit. that, by the way, the reason it was up earlier was because we were able to export to the rest of the world. that's fading quickly, if you look at the headlines. the rest of the world is kind of soft, too. right now we're in for a recession that's going to be at least a mild recession. that's like 2001 or 1990, if people can remember those.

soft periods. they were recessions. but the open question is, does something go bad? is there a negative shock? prior to lehman, we were forecasting a pretty heavy duty recession and then had a shock and it was worse than even -- >> froze credit. no one would lend money and deepened what was already going to be a serious recession. >> a takeaway, what we know are recessions, conviction base and theory and facts. we do not recommend policy at all, but i think people, policymakers, would be wise to take this call on the environment we're in very seriously, because if there is a negative shock, i don't know there will be, that would be a very bad -- >> can policymakers, meaning the government of the united states, the sen pral banks, federal reserve, central banks elsewhere in the world, can they do things around the edges to mitigate this or make it less bad? >> not really. i wouldn't hold out much hope for that, but if they can do anything to avoid a negative

shock, there's a policy-driven shock. you want to do no harm, if you can. >> right. >> and so in broad terms, right, you don't want to hike taxes nap would really hurt in the near term. this is all near term stuff. or cut spending. i know that's tough for both sides to deal with, but do not harm near term. medium and long term, we absolutely have to address those things. that's a separate thing. >> would a massive stimulus or for qe 3 help? >> no. this recession will not be denied at this point. it's going to hack. >> locksmann. never good news. your forecasts tend to be accurate. thanks for joining us from the national research institute. your morning headlines are next.

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eight-person jury is deliberate ing the amanda knox case. she spoke earlier. a verdict expected later today. an american is sharing this year nobel prize in medicine. brois boyteler along with two others won the prize for this work on the immune system. it's for chemistry, physics, economics and peace, given out over the next week. we could be in for a rough morning in the markets with stock futures trading lower ahead of the opening bell right now, and world markets are down, too. all because greece announced over the weekend it will miss

its deficit targets, increasing its chances of default. over the weekend 700 people arrested after police say they blocked traffic on the brooklyn bridge. rick perry fighting back against charges he and his family used hunting grounds in texas with the n word in its name prominently displayed. herman cain says it's very unsensitive. governor perry says it was changed and painted after soon after his family left the camp. and according to the "new york times," chris christie is considering the death defying leap into the race. the new jersey governor advisers are scrambling to see if there's time to set up. and two flights grounded due

to severe turbulence. people onboard both flights were injured. and tiger woods, not among the top 50 golfers in the world. the rankings came out laters they morning and tiger's predicted to be number 51 on the list. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning," back after a break.

d i hope i'm reading this right. it says it's 44 degrees in atlanta right now and sunny. it's going to get up to 75 later on in the day. but i guess it's october, but that just seems cold. >> i know.

you can see people freaking out in atlanta because of that. welcome back to "american morning." there's a new study that says more than one in 10 children in the united states are not getting vaccinated. according to recommendations. >> our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is joining us live from the chilly cnn center in atlanta this morning. >> it is. >> how many parents are making this choice to hold off on vaccinations despite whether or not they are advised to get them for their kids? >> it's a minority of patients. most patients are doing what pediatricians tell them and are getting vaccines on schedule. but a small but significant number are sort of deciding to do things a little bit differently. so let's take a look at the specific percentages. 2% of parents are saying, i don't want any vaccines for my child. this is a really extreme and many would say really dangerous point of view. don't give me anything. 7% are skipping at least one vaccine. and 7% are delaying at least one vaccine, saying, you know, doctor i don't want this now. i want to get it later. so those are, you know, i would

say small but significant numbers are not doing it the way pediatricians officially are telling them to do it. >> which are the ones we're talking about here? >> there's about a dozen vaccines that kids are supposed to get, everything from polio to the flu to mmr, which is measles, mumps, and rubella. and people have different opinions on different ones. i really should point out here that a big chunk of the parents who decided to skip a vaccine and said, i don't want it, they were skipping the h 1n1 shot. it was new, and i think a lot of parents were saying, i don't know about this. let's not get it at all. >> i can understand that. but isn't it risky if you don't get your child vaccinated? not just for your child, but other people in general. >> it is risky. and i'll be honest with you, sometimes i personally as a mother and as a public health professional feel very frustrated talking to parents because they say, oh, this shot is risky. terrible things could happen. when the science says, terrible

things are not going to happen to your child, and terrible things could happen if you skip it. there is a huge risk to skipping a vaccine. your child could get very ill. and your child could possibly make someone else get very ill. so i think parents really need to sit back and think not once, not twice, but many, many times before they say no to a vaccine. >> elizabeth, thank you very much for that. >> thanks. we asked to you talk back this morning. the question for you this morning, should the u.s. have targeted anwar al awlaki despite his american citizenship. this from dave. the usa has become kill crazy since 9/11. i have never heard so many government officials speak so loudly of killing people. have we forgotten about just skpis presumed innocence? dane says, people seem to forget about the crime known as treason. while assassination may not be the most ideal method, the alg tern tifs would likely have cost more american lives.

>> this from steph. have we lost ourselves? we can't suppose innocence or guilt without allowing for a fair trial. the true enemies of state here are those who would stand by and allow something like this to happen. as much as anyone may or may not deserve punishment, we must abide by our founding values. and this from mckenzie. a terrorist is a terrorist. if you plot to destroy the country you grew up in and join a major terrorist organization, that makes you a terrorist. he was raised here, educated here. instead of protecting his adopted country, he chose to act against us. american or not, his actions made him a terrorist. keep the comments coming. facebook.com/americanmorning. we'll read more later. all right. top stories when we return. and john mccain. senator john mccain live. it's 54 minutes after the hour. [ male announcer ] it's a fact:

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waiting to find out if her murder conviction will be overturned in italy. a plane reportedly waiting to fly her home if she is off the hook. race is suddenly a campaign issue for rick perry. the texas governor defending his family's use of a texas camp ground that had the n word in its name. on this "american morning." and good morning to you. happy monday. it is october 3. christine has the morning off. >> well, we begin this hour with the amanda knox situation, waiting to find out whether she'll be free or going back to prison in italy. right now, the american student is hoping her murder conviction will be overturned. she made her case to a jury in italy earlier this morning. and now she's waiting for a verdict. >> i want to go back home. i want to go back to my life.

i don't want to be punished. to have my life, my future, taken away from me, for things that i haven't committed. because i am innocent. >> matthew chan is joining us live now from perugia, italy. matthew, what's the situation right now? are they deliberating? >> reporter: they are, yes. the court has been taken back. they have said that the judge and the jury will go away. they'll discuss their decision over the course of the next seven hours or so. we're not expecting a verdict until about 8:00 local time, so 2:00 p.m. eastern time. so plenty of hours for them to discuss what they want to do. meantime, amanda knox, along with her former boyfriend, also serving a lengthy prison sentence for the murder of meredith kircher, back in 2007. they have been taken back to

their prisons to await the decision of their the court on their fate. >> matthew, how is the process different than what we would normally expect to see certainly here in the united states, an appeal of a trial where either it's successful or it's not, and she goes back to jail? there's more range in the possible decisions here. >> yes. i think there are. i certainly think that, you know, the idea this is going to be a clean cut verdict on the part of the jury and the judge may be a bit wishful thinking. but certainly they have the option of setting a free and sort of cautioning all the convictions against her. they have the option of keeping her in prison, of course, to serve out the sentence, or even increasing the sentence as the prosecution have asked to life imprisonment. but they could also kind of find her guilty of some of the lesser charges she's been convicted of, sentence as of time served or just for a few more years in prison. so there's a whole range, a whole gamut, of possible sentences they could hand down at the end of the day.

>> and the earliest we're likely to hear about this in about six hours from now. matthew chance in perugia, thank you. and just in to cnn, the only man convicted in the bombing of pan am flight 103 is speaking out, saying the truth will come out hopefully in the near future. >> rueters spoke to the man convicted of the bombing over lockerbie, scotland, that killed 270 people, and sent to a scottish prison to serve a life sentence back in 2001. but scotland released him in 2009 because he had cancer. with gadhafi now out of power in libya, the hope was that country would assist in new investigations, but libya's interim justice minister has said that the lockerbie bombing case is closed. we're trying to get nick robertson up, because the last time we saw him, he was in a coma. and now he's giving interviews. so we are kind of confused about that. >> we'll keep you posted on that as well. now to politics and a firestorm over race engulfing

texas governor rick perry, involving his family's lease on hunting grounds in texas. that had the n word on a rock in front of that hunting ground, in front of that property. that stone bearing the name stood at the entrance. perry says he had the name painted over years ago, buts that has not stop a campaign rival from attacking perry. how damaging might this be, paul? >> it's definitely putting perry in the spotlight this morning, and it all started with a "washington post" article that came out this morning and talked about that property in west texas that they leased. they say yes, it was painted over years ago when they first leased the property. but in "the washington post" report, the people there who are quoted in that article say, no, that's not the case. that the name was there just a few years ago. what struck me was the quick reaction from the perry campaign. i reached out to them yesterday morning soon after seeing the article, and they were quick to react especially on a sunday morning. and part of the statement said

this. >> as you both mentioned, herman cain, a fellow republican running for the presidential nomination, who is also african-american, he was on the sunday talk shows and asked about it. here's what he said. >> my reaction is that is very insensitive. there are some words that do not basically inspire the kind of negativity like that particular word. and since governor perry has been going there for years to hunt, i think that it shows a lack of sensitivity for a long time of not taking that word off of that rock and renaming the place. it's just basically a case of insensitivity. >> another telling sign, minutes after cain made those comments, the perry campaign came out with another statement reacting to cain saying they agreed that the

word was insensitive but said once again the rock had been painted over. where does it go from here? we'll see. will mitt romney jump into this and attack perry over it? and what will perry say specifically on this? all eyes on rick perry right now. >> your quick take on this. there's increasing talk that chris christie is getting very seriously considering running for president. >> this may be another reason why he is again thinking of this. because this latest round of talk came after rick perry started to stumble in that debate about two weeks ago. this could be another factor weighing on chris christie's mind. >> thank you, paul. paul steinhauser in washington. if you're thinking that the economy is tough right now, just wait. according to the widely respected economic recycle research institute, we are headed for another recession. last hour i spoke to a member of the group about why he believes there's nothing the politicians or the fed can do to avoid it. you have now looked at the data

and for the first time late last week you said we're now going to have a double dip recession. we might even be in one. >> right. absolutely. and look, it's very hard to have conviction about anything. but in this case, we have a conceptual underpinning of how recessions and recoveries take place in this country. in a market economy, recessions are part and parcel of a market economy. and lookinga the facts, we see that the forward looking indicators, not one, not two, but dozens of leading indexes are falling. there's contagion among the indexes. they are falling in a way that we only see when a recession is underway or starting. >> i notice he said underway or starting. he said we could be in it already. he went on to say that the recession could be mild, much like 2001, or 1990. but the question still remains, does something go bad, like lehman brothers, which made a normal recession into a much worse recession, is there going to be a negative shock to the system. that's something that he couldn't tell us, although the

one that weighs on everyone's mind is something very bad in europe. >> yeah. greece comes to mind. the arrest of hundreds of protesters from brooklyn bridge over the weekend has done little to stop the wall street protesters. the movement is now entering its third week, and organizers say the demonstrations are growing, and becoming more organized. alabamas allison is joining us live. >> they are growing across the country, in seattle, la, these sort occupy wall street type of demonstrations. right now it's for the media attention from the arrests in new york. as for what happened over the weekend, hundreds of protesters marched on the brooklyn bridge, essentially shutting it down to traffic for a few hours. hundreds were arrested or ticketed for walking on the roadway, for blocking it. and after they got out of the pokey, they went right back to

the park. >> the pokey? >> talking about the jail, yeah. they went right back to the park holding the signs saying they are against corporate greed, high gas prices, and even calling for a four-day work week. when i was out there, susan sarandon was out there. media mogul russell simmons. alec baldwin offering encouragement as well. they have actually not been able to have a sit-in on wall street because it's pretty much barricaded all around the new york stock exchange. you can't really get around the perimeter. not sure if that's essentially what they really want to do at this point. it's branching out. one weird thing that happened this weekend, i want to show you during susan kennedy's live shot there -- >> watch closely. this is crazy. >> someone just catapulted a dog across. is that bizarre? >> that's the weirdest thing. >> what about peace, love, and understanding? they are throwing dogs. >> it was international dog tossing day. >> will that bring the message to light, ali?

>> every time we talk about this, you and i both get a lot of tweets. and i was getting a bunch this morning. and someone said, you know, just like the arab spring, the message evolved. a, that's inaccurate. and b, as a business journalist, you kind of take offense to these folks comparing themselves to the arab spring where people were under full oppression, being thrown into jail without trial, being killed arbitrarily by their government. but, again, there are some legitimate messages in there. >> sure. it's the whole kitchen sink mentality. they are throwing too much in there. the question i have, they say they will be out there until they see change. change of what, and how will they get there? and if it's change for the country, they are going to be out there a long, long time. >> i could go for the four-day work week thing. >> it's economically not unsound. >> that's true. >> friday off. >> i think that the celebrities lending their support, they are co-opting this group now for their own purposes, like michael moore. he's yearning for a revolution. maybe this is his chance. >> and they are.

they are offering their advice and saying focus your message more. at least they can take that and try to run with it. they even came out with a newspaper. it's called "the occupy "wall street journal."" >> that is clever. >> so i are trying to hone their issues. it's evolving. >> yeah, it is evolving. their social media campaign is effective. and it didn't hurt them that the police had some missteps early on. >> yeah, go figure. >> but if they keep on tossing dogs -- >> i know. i'm stepping in. >> i do want to tell you, talking about the four-day work week, we might need to negotiate something on friday. if there's a game five between the tigers and the yankees, i suspect we'll both have late nights. we'll have to do a coin toss to see who works friday. >> it's verlander versus sabathia again. it will be exciting. >> sorry. i didn't mean to talk baseball there. coming up, john mccain will

join us live fresh off his trip to libya. plus, does he think that president obama owes george w. bush an apology? and why he is cautioning chris christie about a possible run for the white house. in some places, snow has started to fall already. the wintry forecast next. plus the latest on hurricane ophelia. it's 10 minutes after the hour. n for a day. i want healthy skin for life. [ female announcer ] don't just moisturize, improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair, try nourish plus haircare. only from aveeno.

♪ time to get up now. good morning, new york city. clouds right now. 48 degrees. showers later with a high of only 59 degrees. i think fall is here. >> fall is here. dramatic, beautiful picture of new york, but it's going to rain again. rob mars i don't knis in the we. all sorts of rainy weather today. >> and a lot of spots across the east coast seeing their first snows of the fall. check it out.

this pedestrian weeke this past weekend, dusting on the ground in west virginia and even north carolina seeing accumulating snows with this cold air mass that's continuing to spiral around the northeast. here it is. and it's causing the un-sethed weather and will continue to cause unsettled weather across the i-95 corridor. chance of showers there. but the back half of this across the western great lakes is starting to see things dry out. 40 degrees currently in nashville. frost advisories out for parts of the tennessee valley and 45 degrees in atlanta. 43 currently in montgomery. so certainly a nip in the air. out west as well, a strong storm system is about to slam into northern california and the pacific northwest. our first winter storm watches of the season have been posted. six to 12 inches of snow expected above 7,000 feet. and winds could be gusting to 50 miles per hour. windy and warm across the midsection of the country. and there's your cool showers across the eastern part of the country. and that unsettledness will create some travel delays today. boston, new york metros, d.c.,

philly, and of course san francisco as well. we will see a bit of a bounceback in temperatures after temps only getting into the 60s across the deep south yesterday. 76 degrees expected for a high temperature in atlanta. and 59 degrees in new york city. briefly, tropical storm ophelia hitting newfoundland, but it is screaming northeasterly at about 35 miles an hour. and back by popular demand, if you missed it in the 6:00 hour, this black bear making its way towards a bird feeder. you can't help but laugh. it's a small bear. and obviously needs to eat a bit more. maybe it should eat elsewhere for nourishment. but nonetheless, the folks who own this property watched it climb up, eat the bird feed, and climb back down. that will get your monday off to a decent start. >> the birds in the neighborhood not so pleased. >> no. but they can fly, they can cover more ground. >> that's right. can't ever get enough of bears. >> he was smarter than your average bear. arizona senator john mccain just back from libya says he was

inspired by what he saw. senator mccain and three other republican senators are the highest ranking american officials to visit libya since the fall of moammar gadhafi. senator mccain joining us this morning from capitol hill. good morning, senator. >> good morning. how are you? >> i'm good. thank you for being here. so you went on this trip to tripoli to assess the situation there and to sassess the new government leaders. i think right now the american people are still wondering where the heck moammar gadhafi is. did you get any upbeat? >> well, there's a lot of rumors that he is either in his hometown of sert or on the border with chad. actually, they don't really know where he is. but they are certainly making progress. and i think that within days if not weeks they will have the entire nation secure. >> some people are worried that extremists could be part of the government there. how concerned are you about that? >> i'm concerned about the fact

that they don't have a national army. they just basically have these militias running around and some of them are fine, some of them are not so fine. so they need to form up a national army. but one thing we could do is help care for their wounded. they have 30,000 wounded people. many of them maimed, many of them amputees. and they simply don't have the capabilities to care for these people. the germans and the french have already are helping out. we could send a hospital ship. we could bring some of them to our hospital in germany. but right now, they need a lot of medical assistance. and the wounded continue to pour in. i went to a hospital there in tripoli and saw a lot of the gravely wounded. and they clearly need our assistance. we could do that. they'd be very grateful. >> wow. we just got word that abdul basset al magrahi has awoken from this coma, and he says that

the truth will come out. this is the convicted lockerbie bomber, responsible for so many deaths. do you think he should be brought back to the united states and did you have any conversations about him while you were in libya? >> yes, we did. and they want to cooperate with us on this issue, whether he should be brought to the united states, international criminal court, is something for discussion. but frankly, i'm not surprised at this miracle that he is, again, hanging on in a lazarus like fashion. >> would you like to see him brought back to the united states? >> either there or the international criminal court. you know, there were other citizens of other countries who were killed as well. in all candor, this is a black mark on the government of scotland and the british. the guy never should have been let go. >> on another subject, al qaeda's online preacher anwar al awlaki was killed by an air

strike over the weekend. dick cheney was asked about that strike. and i'd like you to listen to what he said and then get your reaction. here it is. >> i think that it's very effective use of our drone technology. the thing i'm waiting for is for the administration to go back and correct something they said two years ago when they criticized us for, quote, overreacting to the events of 9/11. they in effect said that we had walked away from our ideals or taken policy contrary to our ideals when we had enhance the interrogation techniques. they clearly have moved in the direction of taking robust action when they feel it's justified. >> senator, can you equate the two, an attack on an american citizen on foreign soil and enhanced interrogations? >> i cannot. there's two entirely different things. one is that this was specifically authorized by congress after 9/11.

and it's action that is taken against a declared enemy of the united states of america. i'm glad they did it. i'm glad that they will continue. in the case of, quote, enhanced interrogation, ie, torture, there are geneva conventions and laws that prohibit it. and it is very obvious that one of the great recruitment tools that our enemy has is the fact that we tortured people, which is not in keeping with the standards of the treatment of prisoners which is a long held custom. and by the way, we never got useful information as a result of torture, but we sure got a lot of angry citizens from around the world and deservedly so. >> so president obama owes no apology to president bush or vice president cheney? >> i think as a partisan republican, i am a critic of the administration from time to time. but i along with i think almost every american congratulate the administration and congratulate

the president and his team for carrying out this elimination of an avowed enemy of the united states who was bent on our destruction. >> and no apology necessary from the obama administration to the bush administration? >> about what? >> about the enhanced interrogation matter. >> well, it was 90-6 in the united states senate to prohibit cruel and inhumane mistreatment. it was an amendment in a peaceful legislation that i was the sponsor of. the senate has spoken. the american people have spoken. the people of the world have spoken. torturing people in violation of international agreements such as the geneva conventions is prohibited, and frankly very harmful to the image of the united states of america. >> senator mccain, thank you so much for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> thanks for having me on. now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, should the united states have targeted anwar al

awla awlaki? first president obama got osama bin laden and now anwar al-awlaki. >> he took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent americans. he repeatedly called on individuals in the united states and around the globe to kill innocent men, women, and children to advance a murderous agenda. >> another american al qaeda collaborator was killed in the al-awlaki operation. what a relief, right? not for everybody. >> if the american people accept this blindly and casually, we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys. i think it's sad. >> yes, they were bad guys. really bad guys. still, some say that's no excuse for basically murder. the american civil liberties union, which once accused obama of morphing into bush says, and

i quote -- although former vice president dick cheney disagrees, he praised the obama administration for targeting al-awlaki, and says that president obama should apologized for his veiled criticism of the bush administration's enhanced interrogations. cheney added in essence, sometimes you've got to do what you've got do. so the talk back question today, should the united states have targeted anwar al-awlaki despite his american citizenship? took.com/americanmorning. i'll read your comments later this hour. a check of the early morning markets up next. the futures are down over more of these concerns over what's going on in europe. and a little later, we'll talk to the first african-american to walk in space. former nasa astronaut dr. bernard harris jr. will join us live, and he's going to talk about how he is inspiring

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welcome back. 27 minutes after the hour. minding your business this morning. this week it's all about europe and jobs here in the united states. european markets are down this morning after the greek government announced over the weekend that it will miss its deficit targets. the news is raising concerns that the next eu bailout of greece may be in jeopardy and that the country will have to default on its debt. two more warnings about the growth of the global economy also weighing heavily on markets this morning. an imf official announced today that a further slowdown in the u.s. economy is hurting global growth as a whole. also the ratings agency fish downgraded the economies of all of the world's most powerful economies. this news is pushing u.s. stocks down right now. the government will release its big jobs report for september on

friday morning. eastman kodak is up in trading after taking a nose dive on friday. the stock sank more than 50% down to 78 cents a share after rumors started swirling that the company could be preparing to file for bankruptcy protection. kodak denies the rumors. the ceo of the chinese internet giant alley baba says he is interested in buying yahoo. right now yahoo's stock is 5 1/2% higher on this news. they have no comment on the report, but they will hold a press conference today in new york. still ahead, the top five must have apps that you need now. it's 28 minutes after the hour. "american morning" is back after the break. [ marge ] psst.

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32 minutes past the hour. here are your top stories. a jury in italy deliberating the fate of amanda knox right now. the american student hoping to have her murder conviction overturned. she spoke to the jury earlier this morning, calling the accusations against her unjust. if her conviction is thrown out, she is expected to be on the first plane out of italy for america. an american charged with plotting to attack the pentagon and capital will appear in court today. the 26-year-old from massachusetts allegedly planned to carry out the attacks using remote controlled aircraft filled with c-4 plastic explosives. he is also charged with attempting to provide material support to al qaeda. a major scare in the air for hundreds of passengers aboard two separate flights. six people were hurt when a

jetblue flight there san juan, puerto rico, to boston hit turbulence. meantime, a lauufthansa flight d 11 passengers hurt. the only man convicted in the bombing of pan am flight 103 is speaking now, saying that the facts about lockerbie will be revealed in a few months. over a month ago, he wasn't talking. he was in a coma. nick robertson is joining us now on the phone. nick, what's the latest? >> reporter: well, he seems to be speaking in this rueters interview. his wife places an oxygen mask over his face at various moments. the family tells rueters what they told me, that he is short of medication. but clearly he is in a better condition than he was when i saw him a month ago. his family told me then he was slipping in and out of a coma. now he is protesting his innocence, saying that he was seen in jail by the head of the

victims committee, the scottish victims committee, and says that during that visit, the doctor told him that he believed that megrahi was innocent and the truth would one day come out. so megrahi right here seems to be in better health, slightly, although he could die in days, weeks, or months, wants to be left alone, but still maintaining his innocence, saying that the truth will come out. >> nick, what's the best guess that the truth is going to come out as to where it will come from? this must be something that megrahi knows. >> reporter: he says that he was a victim of many liars, more than you could know. the piece of scottish territory designated in the netherlands for the trial back about 12 years ago. he said that he was a victim then. and certainly his family believes that he's been a victim of not only international justice but of the gadhafi regime as well, who used him essentially as a scapegoat to be the fall guy for something that

the regime was responsible for. and this is why megrahi's testimony and his knowledge and information about exactly what transpired within the regime leading up to the attack is so critical. and that's why there are demands for him to go to the united states and face questioning and certainly face having answers to those questions demanded of him. he says he wants to remain at home, that he doesn't have long to live. but the real question is, if he believes he is innocent, who does he believe is guilty? and that's information that he has, and many people want to hear. ali? >> nick, this is carol costello. i'm just wondering, moammar gadhafi has now been ousted. he ain't coming back to power. everybody is wondering if moammar gadhafi gave the order to put that bomb onboard that lockerbie plane. if this guy is innocent, why doesn't he just come out and say, either moammar gadhafi ordered it or not? >> reporter: that's actually i believe certainly -- he

certainly benefited from gadhafi when he returned to libya, although he says he was treated badly. but his family is building a huge new house in a very upmarket part of tripoli at the moment. clearly with an aim for him being around for some time. we took a look at the house. it's got four levels. plans for a very expensive elevator to be installed in the center of the house. he may well fear that gadhafi may come back and attack him. he may fear that he will be used as a political pawn in some way. he still is clearly feels that he's not in a strong position that, he's sure that he is relying on people to help him out of goodwill at the moment. but this is a man who still has answers, and he won't say what is keeping them hidden. >> nick robertson, thank you very much.

joining us on the phone about abdul basset megrahi. love them or hate them, smartphones are a way of life. whether you use them to order food or track your family expenses or organize your next vacation or check the weather, we'll check out the top five apps that you need to have. it is 37 minutes after the hour. with 5-loxin advanced. shows improvement in joint comfort within 7 days. osteo bi-flex. the #1 doctor and pharmacist recommended brand.

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whenever i would ask my grandfather a complicated question, he would say, you know, there's an app for that. that's not true. the term was coined by apple, and it really underscoring the amount of information at your friendsh fingertips when you're on your smartphone. joining us for a look at the apps that every person needs is joe brown, the editor-in-chief of gizmoto.com. the apple world is so big. whether you're use think an iphone or android or blackberry, you sort of narrowed some of the apps down for us. show us the first one. >> it's huge. there are over 425,000 apps in the app store. can i just pull that down? >> yeah, pull that down. >> sorry. i've always wanted to do that.

>> there you go. we have an app for that. you have shown us one to start your day. one called simple note. tell me why this is important. >> this is my most essential app ever. >> really. >> it is what it says it is. simple note. it's the essence of note taking distilled. the promise of iphones is it makes your life easier. it's completely connected from your phone, to the web, to your ipad. and you take notes and they appear everywhere simultaneously. the syncing is instantaneous, and it doesn't overwrite anything. if you want to share it with something, instant. >> we overthink that we need complicated apps but this is a simple one called simple note. and it's free. >> yeah. >> now for travellers. >> trip it. if you travel at all, get this an. tripit pro is $50 a year. i travel a lot. the regular tripit is worth it

as well. you can track your itinerary, your mileage points. you can share your itinerary with your girlfriend or your wife, whoever needs to know where you are. if you don't know where you're supposed to be, it will help you. >> this is for the iphone, android, blackberry? >> it's everywhere. >> all right. tripit or tripit pro. >> tripit pro is $50. >> this one appeals to me for your money. >> mint. it's a pretty old name. they have had a web interface for a long time, and now they have apps on most every platform. the thing that's great about mint is you enter in your account numbers and passwords, and it's all in one place. >> it shows here they are showing you the budget in a particular month and where you are today. >> yeah. >> and the thing that i like about it is you get these weekly financial statements, keeps me in check. >> very good. that's one is for your cash. things when you have downtime. i love kindle. >> i love kindle too.

i love to read. and the great thing about kidnapped kindle -- kindle on your smartphone, you can just read it there and you don't have to worry about taking the actual device with you on the subway, on a plane, to a boring meeting. it's all on the iphone and synced up perfectly. >> you can look like you're doing work, but you're actually reading a book in a meeting. it's available now for all of the platforms. and this one i like. epicurious. tell me about this. >> this is a product of condi nast. they are the editors of "bon appetite" magazine. this app is simple, searchable, beautiful. you can do you can say, i have chicken. what should i make? this one is really just good.

step-by-step instructions from some of the most talented cooks out there. it's easy to use, fun, and free. >> this is great. great ideas, free apps that are just handy for everybody, for busy people. i'll check them out and we'll call you back and talk about some more. try one more. take this one off the screen. >> there we go. >> "american morning" is what you're watching right now. and coming up, are kids dreaming big enough today? we'll talk with dr. bernard harris squooujr., the first african-american to walk in space. we'll tell you what he's doing to help kids do a little better. we'll be right back. careers. we provide you with instructors who are professionals working in the fields they teach. it's an education designed for today, from a university that holds the same level of institutional accreditation as america's top schools.

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46 minutes past the hour. here are your morning headlines. the only man convicted in the bombing of pan am 103 speaking from libya. abdul basset al-megrahi telling rueters his roll in the attack was exaggerated and the truth about what really happened over locky beer will soon come out. an eight-person jury in italy is deliberating the fate of amanda knox. she spoke to the jury earlier this morning declaring her innocence, calling the accusations against her unjust. a verdict is expected later today. u.s. markets open in just about 45 minutes, and we could be in for a rough day. u.s. stock futures trading lower ahead of the opening bell right now.

and world markets are down too. all because greece announced over the weekend that it will miss its deficit targets, increasing its chances of default. the protests against wall street entering a third week. 700 people were arrested over the weekend after police say they blocked traffic on the brooklyn bridge. rick perry fighting back against charges that he and his family used hunting grounds in texas with the n word in its name prominently displayed. gop campaign rival herman cain called it very insensitive. governor perry says the name was changed and painted over soon after his family leased the camp. he said no, no, no, a thousand times no, but the republican leadership may have finally gotten through to chris christie. reports say the new jersey governor is now considering getting into the presidential race. his advisors are assessing if there's enough time to set up winning operations in iowa and new hampshire. and that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" is back after a break.

♪ good morning, new york. cloudy and 53 degrees. going to get up to a balmy 59 degrees. and there will be some rain today as has been the case recently. getting kids to extreme big, giving them the tools to make those dreams a reality, all part of a program trying to get kids excited about science, technology, engineering and math. what are known as the stem subjects. with kids' scores in math and sciences in the united states slipping, it's more important than ever. dr. bernard harris is the first african-american man to walk in space. he's going across the country

with the dream tour to get kids to reach for the stars. he joins he now. dr. harris, pleasure to see you again. you are in harlem right now i believe. you're with some students. and you're in this post shuttle era where kids got to dream about being astronauts. you are now trying to get kids to dream big again. and take on -- study the things that are going to make them well equipped to compete in science and technology and engineering and math. tell us what you've got. i think you've got some kids there. >> i sure do, ali. you named it right. or you said it right. what we're trying to do is go around the country and support math and science education. but right here at the harlem armory -- and i do have a couple of kids i'll show you in just a few minutes. what we're trying to do is excite kids about math and science, because that is the future. >> those kids i just saw, they are sort of on their backs lying down. what on earth is happening? >> let me get down here, if i can.

and i have sydney and vance here that are demonstrating what it's like to blast off in space. we do this during our program where we put kids in this position. and about two hours before a liftoff, we get in a position like this. and as you can see, we have the smoke going. and then we do a countdown. so are you guys ready to do a countdown? ok. let's see if we can hit it. do the countdown. there we go. there is the shuttle launch. >> announcer: 10, nine, eight, seven -- >> are you guys nervous yet? not yet? ok. because you're not moving. so what we try to do here is demonstrate how the shuttle that i flew, both colombia and discovery -- >> that smoke is nothing to worry about, right? >> it's nothing to worry about, ali. but we are trying to excite kids about math and science. this is a program we have been doing with exxon mobil for the last 3 1/2 years. so it's been well received as we go across the country. >> if there isn't a shuttle

right now, and there will be commercial enterprises and nasa will come up with something else. but at the moment, it's a little tougher to convince people to become theoretical physicists and mathematicians than to do what you're doing, and convince them they may be restaurants. tell me about that. and just remind viewers about your own background. african-american, born on an indian reservation. astronaut was not likely to be in your future. >> yeah. you know, i grew up poor. came from a broken home. and the thing that got me through was education. and my dream of becoming an astronaut. so this is the kind of thing we're trying to do here. that's why we call it the dream tour. so to your question about where we are going in the future, kids these days still have the opportunity to become astronauts. this change in our program is really a transition where we'll have private industry involved in getting us to lower earth orbit. but nasa will be involved with that. we'll continue to be involved with further exploration to the

moon and mars. >> so what is it that -- this is great. you're showing these kids what it felt like to be in the chair. and by the way, the thatsa astronauts always tell me, shuttle astronauts always tell me, that was the worst part about it, just sitting around and waiting for that launch to happen. but what is it that you're hoping these kids take away from this and they end up doing? are you hoping they go away and say, i want to keep studying math and keep studying science? >> that's exactly right. you know, being an astronaut provides me the platform to have dialogue with young people about math and science. as i always say, we're in the 21st century. where technology drives everything. and if you look at the studies, you know, folks say that 80% of the jobs require expertise in math and science. and i would say in these days, 100% of the jobs involve some type of math and science. so we're going to make sure that we are investing in these young people for their future. >> all right. dr. bernard harris, always a pleasure to see you. great that you're doing this.

you're spreading this kind of great message to our kids. so important to keep american kids competitive on the world stage. dr. bernard harris, a former nasa astronaut, going across the country trying to get people to think about this. >> those kids were very cooperative. >> they were. and the real astronauts like you said have to sit there for two, sometimes three hours. the first one is always the worst, because it takes so long to put each one in. they say that's really the worst part. and then it's those fakouts when you're counting down for launch and they don't really happen. because all you want to do is get into space at that point. >> exactly. that was a nice interview. coming up next, the talk back question of the day. should the united states have assassinated anwar al-awlaki despite his american citizenship? we'll have your answers coming up. ♪ sent her back to college for her sophomore year ♪

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good morning, washington. it is cloudy and 50 degrees. going to get some rain up there, down there, wherever you're looking at washington from. but up to 54 degrees. balmy october monday. >> at least the redskins won, huh? >> even in texas it's like in the 80s. it's just a cold day in america. >> that is cold for texas, huh? now to our talk back question. we asked you this question, should the u.s. have targeted anwar al-awlaki despite his american citizenship. this from ed.

you know, at first, the comments were 50/50. we shouldn't have taken out a u.s. citizen. we should have tried at least to bring him back to the united states. but then the comments took a turn. >> and so now mostly