place tomorrow night. sanjay gupta is next meantime with ac 360. thanks, erin. we have the protest that is being called the most significant of its kind in its country in nearly 100 years. when you see what triggered it you'll understand. this is what started it outside of tahrir square in cairo. keep in mind as you're watching this, this is a video taken back during the demonstrations in the spring that toppled the old regime. it's from this weekend. this is what the new regime is doing. what happened next sent egyptian women in the streets in a protest not seen in a very long time. it's also sending shock waives across egypt and the entire world. a fair warning what the camera caught, what the women are protesting was hard to watch. there's also no sound which perhaps is just as well because the images speak for themselves. watch.

now we don't know what ultimately became of this woman except that she suffered serious cuts, serious bruises, but we do know this, she's not the only one. yet keeping them honest until tonight the generals in charge of egypt these days were insisting that what you just sawed was only an isolated incident. >> translator: here i want to mention an important point. they have pledged not to use violence against protestors, physically or verbally. now do these troops look like they've taken some sort of pledge against nonviolent protestors. it's been going on for days. riot police for all intents and purposes engaged in rioting of their own.

yet keeping them honest we'll speak shortly with the "new york times" david kirk patrick who reports that no one in the military has been publicly investigated or charged with any sort of misconduct. in a statement today the military supreme council said it had already taken, quote, all the legal action to hold whoever is responsible accountable. as we show you these pictures consider the rest of the statement. the supreme council, quote, says, reassures its respect and appreciation for egyptian women and their right in protesting an their active, positive participation in political life. the council also finally said it acknowledges and regrets that violations, that's plural, took place over the last several days. activists already knew all of that. this woman's been seeing it firsthand. we spoke earlier today. mona, this brutal video, it's hard to watch, a woman being severely beaten and dragged through the streets. you say that egyptian

authorities are specifically targeting women, is that right? >> yes, and saying that in the current clashes it seems to be part of the tactic that they are specifically targeting women. they are specifically beating up women and harassing them and sexually assaulting them to threaten them, and i think also to send the signal that there are no more red lines for them. what we would have thought are things they would never dare to commit are things they are now doing publicly in the middle of the street with people around them. i think this is a sign that it's open war between us and them. >> they're not even trying to hide it you're saying. we see this incident here. we're watching it right now on the monitors on tv. is that an isolated thing? are you seeing that off camera as well? is this happening more and more? >> i am saying that what you are seeing right now has happened in the past three or four days to

more than one girl. on the 16th there was more than nine girls detained by the army. actually, more than 20 girls detained by the army. nine of them were hospitalized, were detained for overnight in the cabinet building. they were then sent to hospital because of the wounds and because of the bruises they suffered from the assault they endured because of our army. so i'm saying that this is not an isolated incident. this seems to be a conscious decision to target females and to make them reconsider joining the street protests again. >> yeah. the video, again, is hard to watch. people literally stomping their boots on people's bodies. up until yesterday, as you know, military authorities were claiming they haven't used violence against the egyptian people. you can decide for yourself

watching the video. today, today, mona, they did issue an apology. >> a written apology is nothing. we have hundreds of detainees that are facing trial right now, are facing prosecution right now. all of them are tortured. the majority of them are minors and they were all tortured. we have officially 13 marchers so far. we have tens and hundreds of wounded. all the women tried to protect another girl, she's currently in the hospital with hemorrhage and a broken skull. so we are talking about a horrible, horrible sequence of crimes against all sorts of ages and number of revolutionaries and citizens.

definitely an apology and on facebook is not enough. >> thanks so much. i know you told me earlier you're in a safe place. i hope you continue to be safe. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. with us now in cairo is david kirkpatrick with "the new york times." also from new york. welcome back. david, again, i think a lot of people have seen this video of a woman being brutalized, undressed partially. it was stunning to see. what's been the reaction where you are inside egypt? >> well, you know, i think that video may have been viewed more often in the united states than it has been in egypt. it's been widely shown on the independent satellite television here. they've proliferated since mubarak left. a lot of people get their news from government television which have told a different story, portraying the protesters as paid thugs out to take down the

egyptian government, egyptian buildings, and assaulting egyptian soldiers. so it came as something as a surprise tonight when so many egyptian women took to the street over this image and over this story. thousands, maybe even 10,000 women carrying a picture of the woman. the people here calling her the blue bra girl marching through the streets. it's been a really galvanizing moment for a lot of egyptian women. >> we're looking at some of those images now as you're talking. secretary clinton said this today. this systematic degradation of egyptian women dishonors the revolution. she said women were being targeted. based on what you're hearing and learning, is that true, do you believe? are women specifically being targeted there? >> i think they are being targeted. i think what it tells us, what we're witnessing is a mix of class and sexual violence. remember, these recruits, these

people you're watching, you described it right, sanjay, when you said it's the riot police have a riot of their own. when they're charging these protesters, these recruits, these security forces, they come from the poorest strata of egyptian society. to them the protesters are educated, they're paid agents by foreign powers -- unnamed foreign powers. what you're witnessing is an animus towards the women and protesters. the young recruits are poor, very poorly paid, very poorly trained. i think it's the time for the march shals to come out the great oz to come out and own up to this violence. >> professor, some of this is disheartening to hear. there seemed to be a hope at that time that the revolt of the arab spring would hold them accountable and broaden social afl reforms.

is that goal realistic with all we're seeing now? >> these were 18 magical days. the 18 days in liberation square in tahrir square. i think in a way the promise of this arab spring, asia warasia . we're witnessing the violence of the security forces. trained, nurtured by the mubarak regime. so when people look at these events now they say democracy is failing. this liberty, the new liberty is failing. it's the repression of the old regime that are failing. >> david, as you hear all of that and you put together the events of the last couple of days, we heard a general of the ruling military council at first denying there was any violence against protesters. today that same general expressing great regret for attacks on women promising to punish the assailants. did today's march make a difference? is this some indication that

change is possible? >> well, i think it is. whenever you see in a world of marshall law, whenever you see the ruling military council bend the way they did tonight and cough up that apology while the women were still in the street, you know they have some kind of power. i have to say over these last few weeks we've seen the military council increasingly move to try to carve out for itself permanent political powers and autonomy in the coming constitution. they want to hold on to power perhaps behind the civilian mask. for a while i thought they were going to get away with it. it's been a violent few weeks here, but it's really made me question whether the egyptian people are willing to go along with that. i think what we're seeing is a very meaningful resistance to that plan and a really strong back and forth between the military council that doesn't really want to go so fast and a

lot of egyptians who are just as eager for democracy as they seemed to be in february. >> professor, does the united states, do you believe, have a role here given the extent of the violence that we're witnessing here? >> we have a role. we're invested in egypt. we're invested in the egyptian regime. we're invested in the officer class who run this country. you do have an officer class, they're really kind of a ruling class. they wish to, as david kirkpatrick says, they are not willing to relinquish power. we do have ties to the officers. we subsidize this officer corps. there is $1.3 billion american aid. we have enormous leverage and we are implicated in some of this. i think we should speak out as our secretary of state has spoken out. it's the proper thing to do. >> you're hearing a lot of people speaking out but still what happens next remains to be seen. there's elections coming up in just about a month from now.

we'll keep on top of that. as always, thank you. david kirkpatrick, please stay safe out there. at home, let us know what you think. we're on facebook, google plus. you can follow me on twitter. i'll be tweeting trueout the night. up next house republicans block tax cuts and not only is the president upset at this move, so is john mccain. we'll explain what happened. what it means for your paycheck. also what some republicans think it might mean for the overall gop brand. later fascinating, our series on junk science in court. >> based on the evidence that was heard in this trial, are you comfortable saying that mr. hornick is guilty of murder? >> i'm not, no. >> we've got that am could go up. let's check in. >> sanjay, i'm not going to sing it because it there is nothing festive about it. the weather outside really is frightful. in fact, it's beyond that. try dangerous, even deadly. we'll show you where this

massive winter storm is hitting and where it's heading. that and much more when "360" continues. get the technology they love, on the network they deserve.

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extend a payroll tax cut. they rejected compromise legislation that passed the senate with overwhelming support from both parties. then they called for new talks between the house and the senate and then they called it a day. >> we've done our work for the american people. now it's up to the president, democrats in the senate to do their job as well. >> earlier president obama lashed out. >> i saw today that one of the house republicans referred to what they're doing as, quote, high stakes poker. he's right about the stakes, but this is not poker. this is not a game. >> the stakes, to be clear, about $1,000 for the average taxpayer. the political stakes in an election year could be significant. we're going to explore the split this is causing. ana barb is at the capitol. she's been reporting on this all day. what's the latest you're hearing? >> reporter: the latest is this is an honest to goodness stand

up. i've been covering congress for more years than i'd like to couldn't. even in the past year when they've been really tough, you've still had quiet conversations about potential compromise going on. i don't hear any of that right now. what makes this standoff really different and interesting is that everybody, sanjay, this is important to underscore, everybody wants a one-year payroll tax extension. the issue has been how to pay for it. it costs about $120 billion. that's why the senate passed a two-month extension to sort of patch that up while they work on the long term. republicans as well. that is something that house republicans simply say is not good enough. that's why they're stuck here. >> are they concerned as far as you can tell, diana, the members of congress, the republicans in particular, about simply getting blamed if the tax cut expires? >> reporter: you wouldn't know this from the public bravado frankly from republicans and democrats, but in talking to members in both parties, particularly republicans, sanjay, in the hallways today, there is concern. there's no question about it.

especially those who have been around here for a long time. even some of the new members who really want to make a stand on things like this. they're saying this they are concerned. this is something that's different. this is say pocketbook issue. as you mentioned at the top of this show, the segment really affects people's pocketbooks. people making $50,000 they will see $1,000 sliced out of their paychecks. >> thanks so much. great reporting. to that point there is some new cnn orc polling out today suggesting the tax battle is hurting republicans and helping the president. take a look at this. by a 50-31% margin people say they have more confidence in president obama than in the others. it shows mr. obama's job approval at 49% which is up 5 points from last month. the disapproval number, 48%, is down 6 points. to be clear, they're not exactly stellar numbers going into a re-election campaign, not by any means. it is something to ask our

political panel about. you can follow these guys on twitter, democratic strategist, paul bagala. paul, let me start with you. december 20th, five days before christmas. are you surprised at the way this is all playing out, this payroll tax cut debate? >> you know, i think we've seen this coming all year, sanjay. if you go back to the spring, the republicans were flirting with a government shutdown. they wanted to shut down the government. in the summer they flirted with defaulting on the national debt. something we hadn't done in 200 years. now in the winter they apparently want to kill the president's middle class tax cut to force a tax increase on 160 million middle class americans. forgive me if i see a pattern here. i think there's pretty good evidence now that the republicans seem to be willing to tank the economy in order to hurt the president politically. i don't think it's going to work. i don't think it's good politics or good economics, but i think that's what they're doing. >> aria, i can't imagine you

agree with all of that. before you respond, i want to play a clip of how senator john mccain characterized the fight today. >> it is harming the republican party. it is harming the view, if it's possible, anymore of the american people about congress. >> so do you agree with that assessment? >> i disagree with john mccane and paul. the senate has turned into a killing ground of all good things in washington, d.c. they haven't passed a budget in two years. instead of doing what's always been dorngs passing tax cuts that's last a year, they pass something that has never been done, a two-month tax cut. that doesn't make any sense. they did what they always do, they rubbed each other's backs, did something meaningless, and called it a day. the senate left the town. the house has called the senate's bluff.

nobody likes to see this type of dispute happening in washington, d.c., but the fact of the matter is from a pure policy point of view what the house has passed is far superior to what the senate has done. much more serious and substantive. politically risky, yes, but it is the sounder, better approach of the two approaches. >> isn't it significant to you though, ari, that in the senate we're talking about a vote 89-10. both parties agreeing or voting on this particular proposal in the affirmative. 89-10. isn't that significant in terms of -- >> no. it's exactly the sign of what's wrong with the senate. they couldn't get their act together to pass anything meaningful that lasted a year so what they did was they said we give up, throw our hands in the air. let's get together and pass a bad poll simpt they all got together to pass a two-month extension. this is meaningless. we'll be right back two months later into the same fight and argument. the house has passed something meaningful. the other thing here, to, is the senate's walked away from the table. always when there's a disagreement between the house and senate on how to pass

legislation, it's typical, happens in every congress, they meet in what's called a conference committee to work things out. the senate's refused to meet in a conference committee. this is an abdication of duty by the senate so they can stick to that i'll rub your back, you rub mine bad policy. >> a lot of people have various sort of opinions on what's going on here and what's driving it. paul, i want to play another clip. this is what obama strategist david axle rod told fox news. >> you have to wonder whether folks over there think screwing up the economy is a good political strategy for them, that somehow if they can throw the economy down, if they can cost a half million or delay half million jobs that that will hurt the president. >> so do you agree, paul, this is an intentional republican strategy to try and hurt the president? >> if we look at what they do, i

think the answer has to be yes, if you look at what they have said. it's been their stated policy for quite some time. the senate minority leader, the republican leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell, his exact words were the single most important thing we want to achieve is for president obama to be a one-term president. when speaker boehner was told that his economic ideas would cause layoffs he said, and i quote, so be it. a dozen or more prominent republicans wrote a ler to ben bernanke, the chairman of the federal reserve essentially threatening him if he stimulated the economy. the letter said that they didn't want him to do anything more to stimulate the economy. i can go on and on. their pope and prove fit, buddha, rush limbaugh began his presidency saying he wanted him to fail. they think that maybe they have a strategy here. >> sanjay, if you want to do something foolish to hurt the

economy, pass a two-month tax cut. that's bad economics, bad planning, bad poll six bad for decision making. it's economically meaningless. that's what the senate has decided to get together and do. that's why house republicans are a much higher substantive ground. they're trying to pass a one year tax cut for $1,000. that's nothing. that won't stimulate anything. that only stimulates the senate getting out of town. >> you have 11 days left before the end of the year. paul, how do you think this plays out? >> honestly, i have no idea. >> i don't think i've ever heard you say that. >> i know. i'm trying to read the minds of people who the only thing i can see is they're trying to hurt the president, economy, middle class. in my lifetime republicans have never opposed a tax cut, one for five minutes or 50 years. they're opposing this one. president obama put it into law. by the way, last year about this time they cut what i thought was a terrible deal on the budget.

i was very frustrated with president obama. it cut taxes for rich guys like fliesher for two years. working people only one. they don't want to agree to the middle class, they don't want to stimulate the middle class. why else cut taxes for rich people for two years and working people for one? that's the strategy here is to tank the economy. >> ari, i know you have something -- >> he wanted a one year tax cut. he told us it was a one-time year, a one-time tax holiday. he said it would be good for the economy. he's changed his language. he said this is all about fairness. that's the other factor of this. it was supposed to come and go and now we'll be into this debate every two months. >> i wish we had more time. obviously a lot stronger opinions on this. we'll stay on top of it until the end of the year. paul, ari, thank you so much, guys. next on "360" a massive deadly storm is hammering parts of the central united states. we'll tell you what's happening,

where it's headed. plus violence taking more lives on the streets of syria. dozens of protesters reportedly killed by police and soldiers. any fan of "csi" has heard of blood spatter. in real life it's not always so reliable. >> i'm troubled by the results in this case. i'm troubled that this was the only testimony that resulted in this conviction. >> we'll have the story of one man who says that science sent him to prison for a crime he didn't commit. we'll explain when "360" continues. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills.

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a deadly blast of winter weather is pummelling the central rockies and southern plains. the storm is being blamed for six deaths as it stretches from southeast colorado to northern texas. ten foot high snowdrifts, winds of 50 miles an hour. frigid temperatures are part of this monster storm. any holiday travel in the area

that's at a stand still. karen, it seems like a huge storm. you saw some of the images. blizzard conditions spanning from colorado to kansas. how is the storm looking? >> this is a very fast-moving system. it has raced all the way from the four corners region and plowing into the central mississippi river valley. it's taking with it a lot of that moisture. it's getting modified quite a bit. we're starting to see some of the thunderstorms erupting across the leading edge of this system. this is the warm sector. on the northern edge that's where we've seen the snowfall. it has moderated quite a bit. taking a look at some of the pictures, images coming out of kansas, right around hayes, kansas. around interstate 70 going into and out of colorado. interstate 25 as well. through wyoming. very difficult travel here. we did see some blizzard conditions. in some instances the winds were

gusting as high as 80 miles an hour. visibility was poorly reduced to in some cases near zero. now i know for the holiday shoppers and the travelers, it isn't just being on the interstate. folks trying to get to these airports. some of them are smaller airports like the yellow stone cody wyoming airport. some of the airports in colorado like grand junction, denver. some of these airports could be impacted over the next several days primarily due to rain fall. >> it's cooling down a little bit or improving a little bit. do you have any idea how long it's expected to last and where the storm might go from here? >> well, it's holding together, but as i mentioned, as it makes its way further towards the east it's moderating a bit. what we've seen lately have been some thunderstorms. they erupted over louisiana into quincy, louisiana. they had a tornado it was described as an ef 1. it is low on the enhanced

fugita scale. it blew the roof off of the hospital. they did have patients in there. the roof landed on top of the cars. no one was injured. there was quite a bit of damage. the patients that were in the hospital, sanjay, they were moved to another facility and are being taken care of. >> imagine being in the hospital when the roof literally blows off. thanks for keeping on top of that. there's a lot more happening tonight. >> sanjay, another bloody day on the streets of syria. government opposition groups say dozens of protesters were shot to death by syrian troops and police. they called monday the deadliest day of the antigovernment protests between 100 and 110 people killed. kim jong il's body went on display today in the capitol city of pyongyang. among the mourners, his son and kim young un. both the u.s. and korea sent messages of condolence to the

people of north korea. piers morgan testified today in a british inquiry of phone hacking by tabloid journalists. morgan appeared by video link. he denied phone hacking. the news of the world shut down after it was discovered the paper had hacked into the voicemails much a teenager. 17 nasa scientists are celebrating the discovery of two new planets. kepler 20 e and kepler 20 f. they marked the first discovery of planets close to earth in terms of size. sanjay, don't plan any trips. the planets are too close to their sun and too hot for human habitation. >> it's so fascinating. they come up with the strangest names. i heard about 800 degrees on these planets. it's the first time we've found planets so close in size to earth. stick around with us. coming up in crime and punishment tonight, we have a fascinating story. there's a man in texas convicted

of killing his wife. the testimony that put him in prison was about blood spatter at the scene. just how reliable is that sort of evidence? we'll take a close look at the case and why some people are suggesting junk science could have put an innocent man behind bars. also ahead a 360 follow up 126789 charged with federal crimes in ohio related to a string of attacks on amish people in which their beards and hair were forcibly cut off. where there's magic. and you now understand what nature's been hiding. ♪ at dow we understand the difference between innovation and invention. invention is important. it's the beginning. it's the spark. but innovation is where we actually create value for dow, for society, and for the world. ♪ at dow, we're constantly searching for how to use our fundamental knowledge of chemistry to solve these difficult problems. science is definitive. there is a right answer out there.

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in crime and punishment tonight we begin a new series called junk science. if you've ever seen a host of detective shows, you might know a little bit about blood spatter. the science behind the pattern blood makes is interesting. the question is how reliable is it. a report by the national academy of sciences back in 2009 says when it comes to blood spatter analysis too much is left open to interpretation and that while it's a valid investigative tool, it shouldn't be the only thing

that determines what happened at a crime scene. in the case that we're looking at tonight, it was exactly what convinced a jury to find a man guilty of murder, a man who insists he's innocent. gary tuchman has the story. >> reporter: this man is in a texas prison locked up since 1996 after being convicted of murdering his wife bonnie by putting a .38 special at her chest and firing. >> reporter: did you shoot your wife. >> absolutely not. >> reporter: instead he claims that fewer than 30 minutes after he and his wife returned home after a night when they both got drunk at a bar she committed suicide. >> >> reporter: why would your wife shoot herself? >> i don't know. i didn't see it coming. >> reporter: total surprise to you? >> it was a total surprise. >> reporter: prisons are full of people who believe they're innocent, including warren. but what's much different about his situation is that the prosecutor who was assigned to deal with this case also thinks warren hornick is innocent. the prosecutor refused to

prosecute and the case only went to trial because texas law allows private attorneys to pursue prosecutions. bonnie's parents wanted it pursued. one of the forth worth crime scene investigators on the scene that night also believes the case should not have been prosecuted. >> there's no question that she took her own life that night. >> reporter: there is this man who is the technical administrative director of the county medical examiner's office. >>. >> reporter: based on the evidence that was heard in this trial are you comfortable saying that mr. hornick is guilty of murder? >> i'm not. >> ultimately i offered my opinion truthfully and honestly. >> reporter: befl was paid to testify by the private attorneys who were appointed by a judge. he analyzed the bloody t-shirt worn by warren that night. the blood spatter to the left side of the t-shirt is from back

spatter caused by the discharge of the weapon. during an appellate hearing after the trial the foreman of the jury said bevel's testimony is what convinced the jury hornick was in the room at the time of the shooting which he denied. >> he has blood on his knees where he was kneeling. >> he made a mistake. >> that same pattern of blood on warren's t-shirt was caused by him administering cpr to his dying wife. >> having listened to the 911 tape, everything i see, particularly on his shirt and on his person, is entirely consistent with his performing cpr on her. >> reporter: this is warren hornick talking on that 911 tape. >> yeah, what's the problem, sir? >> my wife just shot herself. get over here, now. >> we're on our way, sir. >> reporter: the dispatcher tells hornic to start cpr. his wife could be heard moaning. >> reporter: she was still alive. he does have a shady past.

he admits once firing a gun in his bedroom while his wife was sleeping. he had a serious drinking problem which led to him quitting his job as a cop. >> reporter: is there a chance that maybe you shot her and you just don't remember it? >> no. not at all. >> reporter: how do you know? >> i wasn't that incapacitated. >> reporter: this forensic scientist also believes horn anything. >> if the blood spatter didn't occur from the gunshots, then it would follow he didn't shoot her. >> reporter: she conducted a test similar to what she's doing for us now. she's one of several experts who reviewed the case after crime scene investigator varnin brought it to her. >> a deer sternum was added. so was latex material to simulate a woman's body and clothing similar to what she was wearing that night. the idea to see what happens to the white t-shirt that this firearms expert when he fires

a .38 special to the same spot of her chest where bonnie hornic was shot. >> we don't have any actual blood spatter. we have some of the tissue that was on top of the deer sternum, which is more than we even got during the first -- >> reporter: is that blood spatter? >> take a look at your shirt. no, these are all pieces of tissue. >> reporter: she believes the blood came from the cpr. >> i'm troubled that this was the only testimony that resulted in this conviction. >> reporter: in a 2009 report about forensic evidence the national academy of sciences said, uncertainties associated with bloodstain pattern analysis are enormous. still, tom bevel is undeterred. >> reporter: is it possible that all that blood spatter on the left side of his t-shirt came

from him performing cpr and her bleeding on him through breathing? >> again, the best explanation in my opinion came from back spatter. could any of that, a spec or two possibly be from something like cpr? >> reporter: my question is could all of it have been from cpr. >> in my opinion, no. >> >> reporter: he remains a sought after blood pattern expert in trials for prosecutors and defense attorneys. warren hornic still has 15 years left in his sentence. >> reporter: if tom bevel was in this room with you, what would you say to him? >> why don't you correct your mistakes? >> reporter: despite that opinion and the support he's gotten, warren hornic's efforts to be paroled or get a new trial have failed. gary tuchman, cnn, fort worth, texas. >> it's a fascinating story with lots of questions. earlier i spoke about this case with jeffrey toop bins toobin.

doctor, let me start with this. this whole series was borne from this 2009 national academy of sciences report that called for a complete overhall of forensic science practices. i'm sure you saw the report. i wondered what you made of it. essentially seemed to conclude that forensic science had a junk science quality about it. >> sanjay, the fact is we're living in an era of dna technology and that is considered the gold standard for forensic evidence. what's happened is that people are now comparing all of the other kinds of science within forensics to dna and it just doesn't live up to that same standard. the purpose of this report is to generate more funding to do more research to make sure that any kind of evidence that gets to the court is reliable evidence. >> and it seems like dna has certainly raised the bar. jeff, you heard the story, i'm sure, with mr. warren hornic.

given the discrepancies with blood spatter analysis, as a starting point should blood spatter evidence ever be relied on solely to determine guilt or innocence? >> if it's the only evidence i can't think of a good reason. as dr. k say, dna really showed what science can do in a courtroom, but in the process it showed how bad so many of the other so-called scientific tests are. dna can tell you within a percentage certainty that there is a match between the test sample and the test at a crime scene. none of these other technologies have that kind of validation studies behind it, and without those validation studies, you have an enormous possibility of misleading jurors about how good this science is because mostly it's not very good. >> dr. k, if i may call you that as well as jeff did. >> sure. >> so they thought the blood spatter could have been from a

gunshot wound or from cpr. that sounds like a pretty inexact sort of thing. is it an exact science to look at blood spatter? both the former crime scene investigator, dr. k, and the m.e. director disagreed with the blood spatter finding sz yet he was in prison for 30 years. >> oddly enough blood spatter analysis is based on the laws of physics. we're looking at the size of the droplets and the symmetry of these droplets and then trying to develop an understanding of how these droplets got on the surface to which they were observed. and so the question is not whether the evidence is lying. physical evidence doesn't lie, it's a matter of the interpretation. has the analyst interpreted it properly? i think gunshot residue, for example, leaves a very fine mist, very tiny particles that don't travel very far, whereas, in cpr of course because blood

is being pushed out of a small space, it does form a mist as well. so you can be very easily fooled by the pattern and so the testimony has to be very conservative in what it says. in that case i would say that blood spatter evidence is fine. >> and, jeff, i think as you alluded to, you'd like to have all kinds of evidence, but in the absence of that other evidence from a legal standpoint, can we still rely on this type of blood spatter analysis? >> boy, i'm awfully skeptical. i don't know if i want to make a categorical statement that you can never rely on it, but jurors have all watched "csi." people in the criminal justice business talk about the "csi" effect. they want to see this scientific tests. it's good because science is often reliable, but the problem is after watching "csi" they think it's all as good as dna and it's not. >> i have to ask you dr. k, you

can add all of those shows to the list, what do you think of those shows as a forensic scientist? what do you think it does to the whole system? >> it's been terrific for universities and colleges because there's a lot of interest on the part of students in our programs. on the other hand, if you're talking go jurors that have watched these kinds of programs, they certainly have high expectations and hold the prosecutors to those high standards. a prosecutor that goes in without an analysis of physical evidence is going to lose his case. >> dr. laurence kobalinski, thanks. up next, a "360" follow up. sammuel mullet and 11 other members of his break away sect including two women are now indicted in a somewhat bizarre crime spree. also an act of kindness reunites a girl with her friend. [ male announcer ] tom's discovering that living healthy can be fun.

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coming up we have our couldn'tdown on the top ten ridiculists of the year. tonight is number 9. first we have 360 news and business bulletin. >> sanjay, the justice department has announced that 12 residents have been charged with federal crimes. the indictment covers five separate attacks in the amish religion, the way men wear their beards is a symbol of their

faith. a new report is warning that government budget cuts could be hurting the united states' ability to respond to bioterror attacks and natural diseases. report which two health advocacy groups said improvements made since the 911 attacks are being eroded. a strain in the housing market had a surge in the dow. it gained 337 points. the s&p rose 36. the nasdaq added 80 points. sanjay, a woman in florida helped a girl reunite with her dog. it was picked up as a stray in tampa after a visit with relatives. a microchip helped animal services identify the dog and the good samaritan used her sky miles to escort the dog back to kansas city, missouri, to the 14-year-old owner abby who is a happy girl tonight. >> in time for the holiday season. i didn't know you could use your sky miles for that. i have lots accumulated.

that might be a good use for some of them. >> i'll find a reason to get them from you. >> i'd be happy. stick around for this. we have our top ten ridiculist for 2011. tonight number 9. it's about a cat that looks awfully familiar. that's next. the droid razr by motorola. the newest droid armed with motocast. granting you wireless access to files on your home computer from almost anywhere. 4g lte equipped to pull pictures, music, and movies. all at mind-melting speeds. powered by verizon, this droid is too powerful to fall into the wrong hands.

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counting down the top ten ridiculists of 2011 based on your votes. tonight we have number nine. a cat that looks a lot like someone we know. here's anderson. >> time now for the ridiculist. tonight we're adding this cat who apparently thinks he looks like me. we saw this -- it does sort of look like me. we saw this on a blog that's called totally looks like. yes, i'm now going after defenseless animals on the ridiculist. back with you, cat, with a lot

of nerve. i don't know who you are, where you're from, whether you were here to foreaware of my steely blue eyes. i once peed on the floor. interesting timing with the rampup in publicity for my upcoming daytime talk show. along you come, cat, with your white hair and aloof facial expression. nice try. we're nothing alike. just ask my staff. they'll tell you i'm not at all aloof on the days that i allow them to make eye contact. by the way, cat, don't think that i don't know that there's a whole group of you wanna-bes out there. well done, cat. but spread the word to all your friends, i'm on to your scam. i spotted this alpaca who knows there's sex in the air but doesn't care. that alpaca looks like it might be a bit of a freak in the barn if you know what i'm saying. there's that horse, you know the one i mean, the one who looks

like donald trump supporter gary bucee. he was nominated for an academy award in the late '70s. he was on a reality show. not everyone looks scary. here's modern family's eric stonestreet. i think he and that dog should be doing those depressing aspca commerce alls. i digress, cat. i've seen it right here on cnn. perhaps the most famous animal celebrity combination. sorry. let's see that again. that makes me giggle every time. most famous animal celebrity combination of them all, larry king. this monkey. curious george, you're on with omar.