york city says corporate cash entering the subways helps keep fares low. conductors will have more to announce. >> why? same reason. money. >> from the new york subway system, that was richard ross. "newsroom" continues right now with rick sanchez. rick? what a scene in honduras. the president not allowed to land. the public revolting. and look who's directing the chaos. was this nfl superstar killed by his mistress? >> it is clear that steve mcnair's death is a homicide, as the result of being shot four times. >> new information on this shocking crime. republican congressman peter king questions the expanded media coverage of this quote, pervert and pedophile. and he talks to cnn. what you are saying about it.

>> this has gone too far. this is enough. sarah palin twitters her defense against all who question her ethics, while americans try and figure out why she's quitting her job as governor in the first place. on your national conversation on your national conversation for monday, july 6th, 2009. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello, everybody. i'm rick sanchez in the world headquarters of cnn with the next generation of news. this is a conversation, not a speech, and certainly, it's your turn to get involved. we will begin now with breaking news developments. it's a possibility that a serial killer has finally been caught. these are pictures that we have coming in to us right now from the carolinas. let me try and put this together for you. we have just learned of a shootout with police. now, keep in mind, this happened not far from the very place where people have been completely freaked out thinking that there's a serial killer in

their midst and on the loose. five people killed, random killings like in monine days. people are buying guns and there's a possibility, you see that police car that says gaston? that's gaston, north carolina. apparently about a half hour from where all this was going on in south carolina. we've got -- do we have him? david mattingly is standing by on the phone. he will let us know what's going on with this. david, what are police saying? >> reporter: well, at the moment, all eyes from investigators in south carolina and north carolina are on this what looks like a run-down house on a two-lane county road in gaston county, north carolina. that was the scene of a shootout between police officers and a suspect inside the building which happened about 3:00, 3:30 this morning. police were originally called to the scene on a possible robbery call. when they got there, they encountered some people inside

the building. one man pulled out a gun and started shooting at the officers, wounded one officer in the leg. police returned fire and killed him. they are now looking to see if this man might be serial killer -- >> i think we just lost david. let me bring mike brooks into this while we try and get david back on the line. does this sounds like it fits the m.o. of what this guy's been doing in the past? >> it does to a certain extent. this is only 35 miles northeast of gaffney, where the other ones occurred. because consider it, we have five murders in the last nine days, and all within a ten mile radius. i have spoken to my law enforcement sources close to the investigation in south carolina. he's telling me they were able to link those five murders to the ballistics, the same gun used during the five murders, so that's one thing they do have. they were looking for other evidence so they should be able to link this particular shooting, rick, in short order after they come back and say okay, is it the same kind of weapon that's been used in the other five. >> this is magnificently

frightening. i remember you and i both covered the situation in washington, d.c. >> oh, yeah. >> where they had the so-called d.c. sniper. not so-called, he was convicted and may be executed. nothing can frighten a populace more than somebody going around taking shots at people and you never know where it's going to come from. i was ducking, so were you. >> this is a small community. they put the composite out there, that sketch. that came from two separate witnesses that they interviewed both and said they came up with this, and it's someone who lived in this community because it's so small, someone would recognize it and the general description of the car. now, on the shooting in gaston, there is some surveillance video apparently that shows this truck and it fits almost to a tee the description of the truck that was given in the shootings in gaffney. >> really. >> yeah. >> apparently what was it, a ford -- >> explorer. >> early 1990s explorer, rights? >> right. >> they say the guy's 6'2" so they kind of know who they're looking for. shouldn't be hard to nail this

down. probably we will know within the next hour, you think? >> probably by the end of the day, we should know. it shouldn't take too long to put a rush on this. south carolina law enforcement is in north carolina now, in gaston, because that is in north carolina, but they had been working together before, before all this happened anyway. because it's so close to the north carolina border. >> what a story. if it's a spree or serial killer that has, in fact, been caught or apprehended there in north carolina, what we'll do is flip everything around and bring you that story right away. as you heard, david mattingly is there on the scene. we will try and hook up with him again before the end of the newscast. if there's a confirmation on that, if nothing else, it will make a whole lot of folks and i'm sure you would agree with this, in south carolina breathe a sigh of relief. >> absolutely. >> let's do this. here's another big story we're following. glad you're here. i want to talk to you about this. was a former nfl quarterback killed by his mistress? while his wife and four children had no clue about what was going on until the very end, with their dad or their husband. police will not confirm it but

all indications do seem to point in the direction of sahel kazemi allegedly shooting and killing steve mcnair and then shooting and killing herself. that's a picture of her before she died. so why does it appear that that's how this happened? well, consider this. here's the information. police say that he was shot twice in the head and twice in the chest. she was shot once in the side of the head. and the semiautomatic hand gun used in the crime was found under her body. oh, and there's one more thing. police now say they're not seeking any other suspects. now we're getting this as well. a possible gun purchase by the other woman just days before the death, this according to a relative, cited by the associated press. what does this all tell you? by the way, here's what else we can tell you that we're learning today. she was a waitress who was busted for dui while allegedly driving his suv while officers gave him a break and let him leave in a taxi. his car, her driving and here

she's very young. sounds like a story for brooks and banfield. here now, ashleigh banfield and cnn law enforcement analyst, mike brooks. let me begin with you, ashleigh. it appears that he met this young lady at a dave and buster's and according to the information that we're receiving, he had told her, look, my wife and i are either divorcing or on the brink of divorce so let's start dating and sounds like that was a lie. >> well, what we know is that they may have had their house up on the market. some said that the football player and his wife might not have been having the greatest relationship at this time but i think a lot of that's beside the point. the issues here are the forensics. mike will probably back me up on this. when you're talking about a murder-suicide, there are some very clear telltale signs, even if someone tries to stage it. police are pretty good at finding things that will prove -- >> let's start with gun powder residue.

if she shot that weapon four times and it was probably something like a glock, right? >> that's what we're hearing. >> gun powder residue would be all over her arm. you would know if she shot that weapon. >> absolutely. also take a look at the bodies, see exactly how far away the rounds came that shot steve mcnair as well as the rounds, the one round that shot her in the head. but you know, my source, we got on this early yesterday afternoon after we found out about this, early on, they were saying, the police at the scene were saying yes, it is a double homicide, because when you go into a crime scene, you get an overall view, start taking pictures, start your investigation. but when they moved her body, that's when they found the gun under her body. they did not even notice it until they went ahead to roll the body. >> doesn't that tell you just somebody who's investigated these kind of cases that the possibility of this being a murder-suicide and that she killed him is very high? >> it's very high. also, espn is reporting that the door was locked from the inside. now, there was one other person, the person who found him, it was a friend of his, former body

guard and best friend, they call him big daddy, he had a key to the condo. he was the one that came over, could not get in touch with him, came over and found him about 1:35 in the afternoon. now, law enforcement thinks the investigators told me they believe that it happened sometime overnight or the early morning hours of that morning. >> just an incredibly sad story. ashleigh, what do you make of this report that just last thursday, they were stopped by the same police officer who apparently had given him, listen to this, the same police officer who gave him a dui back in 2003 stopped them last thursday and gave her a dui, but let him skate, let him, because he wasn't driving the car, i should say, but let him get into a taxi and drive away from the scene. apparently giving him some kind of break because she was still driving his car. what do you make of that? >> well, i hate to say i'm not surprised. that does happen a lot, especially in a community if he's been visiting that area a lot and has had some interplay with these police before. i wouldn't be so surprised that would happen. i want to actually take you back

on something mike was talking about. i've covered a lot of cases, believe it or not, where the suicide has been in question because of the actual positioning or the trajectory of the bullet. think for a minute, i will do something really weird here, but i will put my gun to my head and if you're going to commit suicide, typically it is straight to the temple, if that's where you're heading. apparently she was shot in the side of the head. but if you have to bend your arm a lot to the front, if the trajectory comes this way, that's a telltale sign that maybe this was not a suicide and it is positioned that way. and what, is she right-handed or left-handed because if the gun was taken to the right side of the head but she's left-handed, it becomes a question. >> it shouldn't take long to figure out, right? >> no. but they already said homicide but there's no rush to judgment. why not make sure it's not -- i can tell you also -- >> we should add, she did have a boyfriend who apparently had been stiffed by the fact she was now going out with -- which

doesn't mean anything other than what i just said. >> they apparently broke up about six months ago. i'm also hearing that the black escalade that he gave her as a present for her birthday was registered to both of them. so you know -- >> and there will be people of interest but whether they're announced that way or not. the former boyfriend and believe it or not, mcnair's wife will be investigated because you always look to those who are closest in an affair. >> i'll tell you this. in memory of the guy, i watched him play football, he was phenomenally talented. >> tremendous athlete. >> tremendous athlete. to see it all end this way is really very, very sad. and sad, we should say, most of all, for those four children. those four boys who are left without a dad. my thanks to both of you. let us know if you learn anything new. i determined it's best to transfer the authority of governor to lieutenant governor parnell. >> sarah palin defends herself against critics of her ethics in the wake of her stunning announcement that she's quitting as alaska's governor which, by the way, you saw the news broken

right here last friday. and as the world prepares for michael jackson's memorial, a republican congressman is calling him a pervert and a child molester. >> this is crazy. this is insanity to be giving this type of coverage, this type of reverence, to this individual who i think was guilty of such a deviant lifestyle which affected innocent young kids. >> is he saying what many americans are thinking? go to my website right now and let me know. it is cnn.com/ricksanchez. do you agree with congressman king about too much coverage of a guy who had a questionable reputation? let's leave it at that. hi, rick. regarding representative king's comments on michael jackson, i think it's just sad that at the time of somebody's death, you can't keep your opinions to yourself.

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the option to name your price -- new and only from progressive. call or click today. just as i was watching the commercial, don lemon got in my ear. he's in l.a. following the very latest with michael jackson. he's telling me there's a new development. this goes right to the thing he and i last were talking about, having to do with this will that michael jackson supposedly left behind. there may be some questions going on here now. let's let don lemon explain this to us. don, what's the latest with this thing? >> there's a whole lot going on, rick. stick with me. first of all, let's talk about what you and i were just discussing. here's what it's boiling down to with the developments today. the judge in this case said that he is going to give john branca, john mclean, that they can continue to be the special administrators to michael jackson's estate. the special administrators which

basically gives them power until this august 3rd hearing to do what they want. katherine jackson, the jackson family had wanted that power to do that. here's what it's going to boil down to. you've got the jackson family and then you've got branca and -- who are the administrators. they don't want to be seen, i'll tell you this, as guys going up against an 80-year-old woman. and -- because it just looks bad. i do have to tell you, though, john branca has a very long and established relationship and friendship with michael jackson. as a matter of fact, this exclusive video that we have, john branca and norman winter, who was on our show last night, they arranged this meeting at the white house where michael jackson, and this is exclusive stuff, guys, we should get an exclusive bug up here, they arranged this meeting. you see michael jackson there with the first lady, you see what's her name who ran for

president back in 2000, libbie dole. this is i believe 1982 when he got a special commendation. there's one part that's going to come up where john branca, they're in the roosevelt room. i will be quiet because i want you to hear what they say. okay. there's a part on here where they're in the roosevelt room and norman winter, who is michael jackson's publicist at the time, i know we have that video if we can find it, it says hey, look, we're in the roosevelt room, there's j.b., john branca and john branca goes hey, we're inside the roosevelt room. just to give you an idea -- >> let me bring you back to this branca thing. here's what i'm thinking. the way this will is structured right now, branca and maybe a couple of these other attorneys, since they're the ones in charge of the will, could they literally freeze katherine jackson out of this thing? and just for the sake of -- let

me take this to a ridiculous end here and say do they have so much power over this will that they could literally take all the money in the estate and give it to whoever they wanted to, including their own children? >> yes and no. a lot of that will be determined by the trust, because there are specific names in the trust that is attached to this will, the 2002 will. i got to talk to you about 1997 as well because there's another will that popped up. hold that thought for just a second. the very interesting point is that the jackson family, especially katherine jackson, they want respect. they want to be kept in on the loop because they're asking john branca for papers to try to, you know, everything he does, if he decides to change some of the assets, if there are new businesses that are established. yes, he has the power to do that. now, the judge did say today communicate with katherine jackson, let her know what you're doing. he didn't say that she had complete veto power. she doesn't have any. but the judge says communicate,

communicate, communicate. also, interesting point, before you go, aeg, same thing. you know that video we have been showing of the rehearsals, they can take those, turn them into dvds, do whatever they want with them and the jackson family wants to know what they are going to do with that as well and that money. they have to keep katherine jackson informed as well. she doesn't have veto power but the judge says let her know. after all, she's the mom here. >> you have been all over it. >> and 1997, a will popped up but since 2002, it happened after, it supersedes the 1997 will. it hasn't been formally accepted. >> it's a fascinating case. thanks so much, don. appreciate it, my friend. speaking of michael jackson, did you hear what a new york lawmaker said about michael jackson? congressman peter king said he's sick of all the jackson coverage and calls it like he sees it but what are others saying about what he said?

pervert? pervert, congressman? we'll be right back. as representative king heard of the justice system? mr. jackson went through the justice system, was acquitted of all charges and that's it. lowerr bad cholesterol but your good cholesterol and triglycerides are still out of line? then you may not be seeing the whole picture. ask your doctor about trilipix. statin to lower bad cholesterol, along with diet, adding trilipix can lower fatty triglycerides and raise good cholesterol to help improve all three cholesterol numbers. trilipix has not been shown to prevent heart attacks or stroke more than a statin alone. trilipix is not for everyone, including people with liver, gallbladder, or severe kidney disease, or nursing women. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you are pregnant or may become pregnant. blood tests are needed before and during treatment to check for liver problems. contact your doctor if you develop unexplained muscle

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b.j. from atlanta. i think representative king has committed libel. why does he think he can condemn michael now that he's dead? he was found innocent of molestation charges. i hope someone sues this ignorant, hateful man because it

sounds like he has anger issues. there's a lot of people making comments like that one about what congressman peter king has said. look, we have all muttered under our breath at one point or another whether the coverage of the michael jackson saga is just too much. just like many of us did after the death of princess di. but is it right to call a dead entertainer a pervert, a child molester and a pedophile who shouldn't be glorified? those exact words spoken not by a fringe activist or angry man on the street. this is congressman peter king of new york. >> when you put aside all the psychobabble, he's a pervert and he was a pedophile, child molester. none of us would let our children or grandchildren in the room with him, yet he's getting all this front page headlines and stories, television, radio. >> that was over the weekend. congressman peter king saying stop glorifying the man he calls

a pedophile and a pervert. so we asked him today does he stand on the names he's calling michael jackson. he was fair enough to sit down with one of our correspondents to answer these tough questions and what about the fact that jackson, first of all, the question that all of you have asked us to ask him, the guy was acquitted by a jury of his peers in a court over these molestation charges so why, congressman, are you still calling him a molester and a pervert and most specifically, what would he say to a mother he says of small children -- let's do this. let's let him answer that charge. why is he calling him that if, in fact, he was found not guilty. take a look. >> i would say to that woman or to any of these people who are glor fi glorifying michael jackson with any of them, leave their children or grandchildren in a room with michael jackson, no.

>> he was acquitted in court. >> there's more involved than the simple facts of that case. by his own admission in interviews and documentaries, he admits to sleeping with young children. we know of elaborate alarm systems he had built in his house when he was sleeping with young children. so by his own admission, we're talking about someone who put young children at risk. whether or not he was convicted of a precise crime by his own admission, also by cases he settled, lawsuits that he settled against him, there's an admission that he acted very, very inappropriately with young kids. >> to candy crowley. you know what's interesting about this, you and i could probably go to a cocktail party tonight, we would hear people saying exactly what he just said and you know that's true. you would also hear people saying i'm sick of michael jackson and you know what, the guy did this and did that. that aside, this guy's a congressman. does that make it a little different? >> well, as people who don't know this particular congressman at this point, they now know

that he says what is on his mind. that's clearly what's on his mind. you're right, he has a platform that ordinary people do not. having said that, it seems to me there's two issues here. one is about the coverage, which you and i would hear a lot about, and the other is about his private life. i think you saw a lot of public officials actually grappling with this and coming up with a far more diplomatic and correct, legally correct things to say about michael jackson. we saw the president saying he changed music, he was such a force, which he totally was. he did change the face of music, he crossed race barriers and so the fact of the matter is, he was a moving force. he is going to be a legend in music, if not already. so there is that part of michael jackson. then the president went on to say and then of course, he had quite a controversial, sad private life. i'm glad we're looking at his music. so i think that this has been something that public people

have kind of struggled with a little bit because you can't deny that there has been a lot of controversy. congressman king is perfectly right that michael jackson did say that he slept with young boys, in innocent fashion. he did pay millions to have another case go away but you and i know that oftentimes people with the money to make a case go away can do that without being guilty, just to not have the hassle of it. he's got a platform that an ordinary person doesn't so it takes on a microphone other people don't have. >> could this be considered, a lot of times you and i in the past have talked about the so-called wedge issues that all the pundits talk about. it's one of those things you know to a particular type of person, demographically speaking, that argument will work. they'll go yeah, man, you're talking for me. is that one of those issues? this michael jackson criticism of coverage and so forth? >> i don't think that it's an issue if you mean will this play out in an election.

i think it does -- >> no, i mean is it an easy republican talking point is what i mean. and he knew that going in and he said this is the way to motivate my folks here? >> i don't know what was going on in the congressman's head but i can tell you he had a 62% election last time around. i don't think he needs to worry about his particular district. i think you saw a guy who's sitting in front of an american legion hall on the fourth of july saying wait a minute, what about the heroes in iraq and afghanistan, what about the teachers and the firemen and you know, that kind of thing, and just popped off. i don't get the sense that this was well, i have an election next year so let me say this. >> here's what people say on my poll. you ready? let's watch this together. neither one of you have seen the results. we have been tabulating them throughout the day. we asked folks do you agree with representative king on what he has to say. there is in fact our website, we invite you to go down and fill it in.

i suppose we don't have the results yet. but when we do, we will turn them around for you and share them with you. my thanks to you, candy crowley. look forward to having another conversation with you. take a look at this clash between honduran soldiers and supporters of the ousted president. supporters want him back. only problem, his venezuelan plane is preventing him from landing. deadly riots and unrest in china. that's right, china. it's just amazing. also, we are monitoring president obama's trip to russia. what will possibly come out of this? successful trip? we will break it down with an international expert in just a bit. this is cheryl from ohio. i just wanted to say that i think more comments like representative king's will come out just because we're all sick to death of hearing just the information that's given about michael jackson. not that we didn't love him, but it's time to move on to other things. ♪

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there's the big board. we'll be following numbers out of wall street for you. did you see this over the weekend? honduras's ousted president tries to return to his country by plane, but soldiers line up at the tarmac. they even put trucks there to prevent the plane from landing. by the way, this plane that you're looking at right there, it was lent to the president of honduras or the former president of honduras, manuel zelaya, but hugo chavez of venezuela. you think that doesn't get strange. meanwhile, zelaya's supporters tried to storm the airport and soldiers opened fire, killing at least one. what is going on in honduras and why does central america stand with obama on the same side of the fence? we will look at that in just a little bit.

this is our conexion connection, where we connect you with the stories going on in our hemisphere. if you think back to the 1980s and 1990s, think of all the turmoil that rocked central america, tensions in honduras and the united states in the middle of all of this. then for 15 years, there seemed to be relative calm so do we need to be worried about what's occurring right now in honduras? we may need to be. first of all, i want you to watch this remarkable report filed by cnn's karl penhaul. >> reporter: gun shots ring out. honduran soldiers fire at supporters of ousted leftist president, manuel zelaya tried to bust through the airport perimeter. protesters lobbed rocks. the military responds with bullets and tear gas.

it's unclear if they're firing into the air or directly at civilians. a dying man is carried through the crowd. video clearly shows him bleeding from a head wound. the red cross confirms the initial death toll. we have one person dead, a man in his 20s, from a gunshot in the head, and eight people wounded, he says. amid the violent clashes, protesters report more may have died. this man soaked in blood, says a child died in his arms. i ran over and laid beside the boy to try and help him because i didn't want him to die, but he died, he tells me. word comes that mr. zelaya's arrival was imminent. he was sent into exile after the military coup a week ago and is trying to reclaim his presidency. we've just had word that mr. zelaya's plane is already in the air and now dozens of soldiers

are heading towards the airstrip to try and prevent the plane from landing or arrest him if it does. a white executive jet carrying mr. zelaya buzzes the airport. the runway is heavily guarded. a military fighter plane is scrambled to force mr. zelaya's jet out of the air space. thousands of zelaya's working class supporters turned out sunday, vowing to risk their own lives to protect their president. >> ready to die! >> reporter: interim government put in place by the military coup threatened to arrest zelaya and put him on trial for corruption and treason. riot police attempted to block the highway to the airport but later backed off. they're hondurans like us. we don't want to fight our own people, he says. there's no way on to the run way for zelaya's supporters.

the airport is closed off. zelaya headed off to neighboring el salvador. we're calling on the people of honduras to stage a peaceful insurrection. we will not give up. we want manuel zelaya back, he says. the struggle to restore zelaya to power seems far from over. the revolt against the coup is now turned bloody. karl penhaul, cnn, honduras. >> joining me once again from washington is the senior fellow at the brookings institution, also a former vice president and minister of planning in the government of costa rica. thanks for being with us. americans are looking at this scratching their heads and trying to figure out what's going on there but there's one part of this game that is probably most dangerous. that's the fact that hugo chavez allowed one of his planes to be used for zelaya to be flown back into a country. he can get himself in some trouble doing things like this, can't he?

>> this is one of the several strange things going on here. if anything, rick, i have to say, i mean, i don't know if the situation is going forward or backward but i can tell you it's going downwards. this is fast descending into a farce. we're talking about a country that has at this point two presidents, two governments, two ministers of foreign affairs. it is just crazy. >> who has the ultimate authority? as i read it, and you can maybe instruct us, the supreme court of honduras decided that the previous president, zelaya, needed to be removed. aren't they the ultimate authority then? >> it's more complicated than that, in my view. because if this were only a law enforcement kind of thing, i mean, you probably wouldn't send in the military to pick up the

president at 5:00 in the morning, take him out of the house, put him on a plane and fly him all the way to costa rica. that's not normal law enforcement. >> hold on. maybe that's the way they do it. we have an impeachment process in this country which we used or tried to use with nixon and did use with president clinton, for example, but as i read their constitution a couple days ago, i didn't see any impeachment provision in their constitution. so maybe this is the only way they have to do it. >> i seriously doubt it. i mean, this is by all accounts and by what one can see, a throwback to a bygone era in latin america. this is, no matter how we want -- we may want to cloak it, is a military coup. >> what does the united states and what does president obama do any different from what he's done so far? >> i mean, that's the big question, rick. that's an interesting question

here. my impression is that the only way to stop this farce, because the sad thing, rick, is this is a farce in which people are starting to die. it's a farce in which the fate of the very poor and vulnerable country's at stake. so the only way to stop this farce is really for the u.s. administration to use a much more aggressive diplomacy than they have been using so far. the only actor, the one and only actor that can stop this farce from descending further is the u.s. administration. >> this president has the credibility to step in there and try to be a mediator, you think? i know president bush couldn't have done this. not because he's not capable of it, because he just wasn't the right man and the right party for the time to get that credibility in latin america. nou what i'm saying? >> yes, absolutely. >> but obama does because he is probably seen as more of a lefty by them. >> he certainly does. so does secretary clinton and

perhaps, i mean, they could use some help from some of the more serious allies that the u.s. does have in latin america, countries like brazil, mexico. but i mean, one of the things -- >> i got to let you go. you're going to have to hold that thought. i'm being told we have other stuff coming up real quick. always enjoyable talking to you. thanks so much for sharing your expertise with us. coming up, why is sarah palin quitting and what is she saying about it on twitter? her twitter page. we found it. we'll share. stay with us. in your relationships and hurt your pride ♪ ♪ it's the credit roller coaster ♪ ♪ and as you can see it kinda bites! ♪ ♪ so sing the lyrics with me: ♪ when your debt goes up your score goes down ♪ ♪ when you pay a little off it goes the other way 'round ♪ ♪ it's just the same for everybody, every boy and girl ♪ ♪ the credit roller coaster makes you wanna hurl ♪ ♪ so throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em around ♪ ♪ like a wanna-be frat boy trying to get down ♪ ♪ then bring 'em right back to where your laptop's at... ♪ ♪ log on to free credit report dot com - stat! ♪ vo: free credit score and report with enrollment in triple advantage.

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the discussion about why sarah palin quit continues. much can be learned, though, from sarah palin herself.

in her twitter page and profile, as a matter of fact, there it is, i put it up so you could see it, we have been kind of perusing it ourselves today. this is the last entry. grateful todd left fishing grounds to join me this weekend but now he's back, slaying salmon and working the kids at the site. anxious to join them. hear who she's following. first cnn, also following fox news, you see the little icon right there. which persons does she follow? there's bill o'reilly, there is sean hannity down there. what else did we learn from her? well, we learned that she's making a pretty strict defense against her critics who have been criticizing her ethics, looking into stuff, her reasons why she quit.

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her lawyers and telling her supporters to prepare for spin with false information about her, prepare for spin with bad information, false information about her. this as most of us still try and figure out exactly why she quit in the first place last friday, to the surprise of most of us. a story you saw right here. by the way, does she even need to give a reason? it's her life, right? matt cooper's a contributor for "the atlantic" and thinks there might be at least three reasons out there. the problem is, you know, being definitive and finding one of them. matt, good to see you again. she's running from something. maybe there's some bad news out there. that's one of your working theories, right? >> well, that's conjecture and she fired off a tweet the other night linked to a letter from her lawyer saying don't imply she's in any legal trouble or you might get a cease and desist order or some kind of defamation suit from us. >> everybody is up there.

we sent our own correspondents to look around wasilla. i'm not saying it's over. they have only been there for a couple days. from all reports we received, they're not finding anything. >> i agree. i think part of it, rick, is owing to her timing. her choice of doing this on the friday before the july fourth holiday weekend. traditionally, a time when you dump bad news, news you want to bury, led a lot of people to speculate about maybe there was something coming in a legal sense. so far, not. >> this woman, you and i both know, could make a lot of money outside of government, right? i mean, she's got all the tools to be able to do so. she's very visible and very popular, and people want to hear her speak. >> right. well, that is another reason i speculate, sheer cash. it's very hard to turn down the bucks for so long and you think maybe your moment in the sun's going to pass and you know, maybe she just wanted the money. she is certainly in her statement on friday, cited the

fact that she wracked up a fair number of legal bills because of state investigations about her. so money is not a bad guess. >> listen, i've got four kids, i understand that. one is going to college this next year. it is about money in many of our cases. what about the fact she just wants to quit? doesn't a person just have a right to quit? i heard bill bennett this morning criticizing her saying quitting is not a good thing and it won't serve her well. i heard the criticisms as much from republicans and democrats. a person has a right to do whatever they want to do, right? >> you certainly have the right to quit, rick. the question is whether you have a right to or an obligation to explain why you quit, especially after you sought the votes of tens of thousands of alaskans. then you said look at all the great things i've been doing as

governor, elect me as vice president. then i've got 18 months to go, forget about it. i think the explanation has been less than satisfying. >> i think she may hurt herself with something like this. who knows? it may be coming at a different way, a way we don't get it. >> that's the thing. >> a lot of people are saying this can't be good in the end. why did you leave the job? we've got a lot of other stuff going on. always good to talk to you. >> thanks, rick. >> rioting in china leaving dozens dead. china? what could be going on in china the police couldn't control?

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incredible images of rioting coming out of china, similar to those taking place in honduras. at least 140 people killed in china. most businesses remains closed. china blames the violence on the uighars. they wanted an investigation into a fight last month. both groups have a long history of ethnic tensions, by the way. we'll be all over that with jim clancy. first of all, president obama travels to russia to improve relations and strength entice. did he get an arms control deal? what about help for afghanistan? there he is, international guru and specialist. there he is. jim clancy joining me to break this one down. you just realized you were on

tv? >> just now. it's a new experience for me, rick. >> we'll do it just a little bit, all about china and the u.s. and russia. i think i'll go with the preferred package.

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president of the united states goes to russia to talk to medvedev, the president of russia. some would argue whether he is the most powerful man in russia. there is the president today. the new president of russia is there with him. jim clancy is our international specialist here with us now to go through this. what did the president need to do? did he accomplish it? >> i think he did accomplish it. he talked about going to reset the relationship. not outstanding missile cuts. some of this has been announced by bush and putin. if you look at it in the most optimistic terms, it would amount to reducing the number of war heads to around 1,500. the number of launched vehicles to around 500. there are multiple launched vehicles. one long-range missile could be carrying three war heads. >> this is something as americans we should be pressing our leaders to get done, right? makes for a safer world for our kids. >> well, it does, as a matter of fact. both leaders know they've got to reduce these arsenals anyway.

this is costing a lot of money. a lot of this weaponry is outdated. this is the easy part. resetting their relationship is bigger. >> it looks like the real threat to the united states isn't going to come as a missile. it's a guy walking across the border. >> they said that today. medvedev dade we are in an era of new threats. >> that it's technology we need to figure out. >> the new guys that never joined the nuclear club suddenly acquiring nuclear weapons. we need russia's help with this missile defense shield, with radar stations and launch vehicles in poland and chic republic. the russians hate it. they say if you want it -- >> does that work? >> that is what obama is saying. he didn't say he was going to give it up, but we are going to reassess it. does it really work or not? then he gives them some room to back off a little bit and maybe

come up with a new deal that does provide a missile shield against north korea and a country like iran for all of your pan for russia, get the russians involved. >> i mentioned this a while ego is meeting with medvedev -- >> with putin tomorrow. >> the real guy calling the shots there is putin, right? >> okay. people say about 90% of the power is in putin's hands. he hand-picked medvedev. it's a government. u.s. president holds some of the power, but you have to have congressional approval. you are still dealing with russian government. that's the bottom line. and they are the russian government. >> is the russian government still on shaky soil economically or have they pulled themselves out? >> as long as energy prices hold up, they are in good shape. you saw their stock market retreated 70% at one point. they recovered about 50% of that. >> that's incredible. >> hours didn't do that much better, rick. >> we talked about it right here. thanks. always good to see you, jim.