tv CNN Newsroom CNN September 30, 2011 1:00pm-3:00pm EDT
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to try a gold atm. gold to go machines are already located in germany, the u.s., the uk, italy, and the united arab emirates. they're placed only in locations with high security such as banks, hotels, casinos and airports and presumabably near e people who can afford them. jonathan mann, cnn. >> amazing story. cnn newsroom right now with randi kaye live from los angeles. hey, randi. >> hi, suzanne. thank you very much. have a nice weekend. he inspired recruited and plotted. he was born in america but considered americans enemies. he was the face of al qaeda but lived as a fugitive in yemen, until today. today we're following the fallout from the killing of anwar al awlaki, considered by many the osama bin laden of the internet. a government source says he was taken out in a u.s. drone strike some 90 miles east of the yemeni capital. sanaa, along with three
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companions. another one, reportedly another american al qaeda propagandist. he has been linked to several of the highest profile terrorists or terror sp suspects of the de including the christmas day underwear bomber. the accused ft. hood attacker, u.s. major anadal hasan and three 9/11 hijackers and faisal shahzad. >> the death of awlaki is a major blow to al qaeda's most active operational affiliate. awlaki was the leader of external operations for al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. in that role he took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent americans. >> reporter: for more on awlaki, the al qaeda off shoot he
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represented and where we go from here, i want to bring in cnn's international correspondent nic robertson. nic, this was a huge development. why was awlaki such a threat and a priority for the snus. >> he was an intellectual. he was smart. he was well educated. he knew how to sort of manipulate his audience and the one thing that he had that al qaeda really wanted was a way to communicate the potential recruits in the west. he spoke english and he spoke it with a charisma and a meaning that drew in radicals or potential radicals towards al qaeda. and really that's what gave him an edge over sort of other arabic-speaking who couldn't appeal to this westerned a audience. so he's been able to do things for al qaeda that oers this opportunity. that also meant revenue streams, potential for money to flow into funds. he sold thousands and thousands of inspirational dvds.
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no not all of them calling for terrorist actions by any stretch of the imagination but he had become very popular with a wide english-speaking muslim audience around the world. >> nic, help us understand how he went from this privileged childhood, a privileged kid, to a mouth poopiece and really mas plotter? >> some of it is kind of bizarre because this is a man picked up for soliciting hookers when he was in california which doesn't sort of fit the profile and the image you would expect. however, what we have seen over the past is other extreme radicals who have trodden a path of alcohol and women and drugs and finding their way and becoming holier than thou, if you will, extremely religious. he seems to have fallen into that pattern, that over the sort of period of the late '90s and 2000s, he became more and more radicalized, leaving the united states, preaching mosques in
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england, drawing huge crowds here before going off to yemen, arrested in yemen, put in jail in yemen, before being freed the son of a government minister. his access to education, educated at several u.s. universities that really set him above the others, if you will. >> all right. nic robertson, thank you so much for the background. a appreciate that. my colleague drew griffin has reported in depth on recruitment and radical. me he joins me now on phone from north carolina. drew, tell us first about the view in some quarters that awlaki can still with a potent threat even after his death. >> yeah, i think this is something the obama administration has struggled with, whether to make this man a military target or not, because you know, he was an american. let's make no toys mimistake ab. nic said he spoke english, he
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actually spoke american english because he was born and raised here until he was 21 years old. you have to cross the hurdle of killing an american. also, he was a religious leader to many, many muslims across the world, randi. so to take him out, to kill him in some fashion, very, very popular preacher and teacher of the koran could be seen as making this guy a martyr. and i know that the obama administration struggled with that up until about the summer of last year when awlaki really made a very, very hard turn and became, as they say, operational, involved in the planning. and i think you heard the president today using those very words of a justification to to take this guy out who had been a spiritual leader to many terrorists become a terrorist himself involved in actual planning and plotting. >> i mean, drew, you look at the people who he influenced and those that he even trained and
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he spoke to directly. i mean, how would you say he was more dangerous, as a recruiter in a propagandist or really as a mover and shaker and someone who really had an incredible influence on these wannabe terrorists? >> yeah, it would be hard to say. i almost look upon it, if you were examining this, as a kind of filling a void to become operational. i think he may have been much more dangerous inspiring terrorists. he didn't pack matallab's underwear with explosives or put a gun in hasan's hand. maybe cheaply, you know, should i or should i'm not attack americans and he would write back with some cherry picked version of the koran, a quote here, giving them the spiritual justification for the killing that they were about to take place. and also, randi, consider the source. this is an american muslim
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telling these would be terrorists, it's okay to attack people in my country. in that warped world they all live in, that was giving a lot of people justification for carrying out these attacks. if awlaki, the american says it's okay, then it must be okay. so i think he may have been much more dangerous as a religious figure. >> chilling messages from him. that is for sure. drew griffin, thank you so much. before we move on, i want you to know about our security clearance blog. it is your online source for the best reporting and analysis of terrorism, intelligence, military matters, and diplomacy from washington and around the world. it is really, really interesting. check it out. you can find it at cnn.com/security. and you can follow the tweet at@national security cnn. other stories developing. the pentagon has issued new rules allowing military chaplains to perform same-sex marriages. chaplains can perform weddings for same-sex couples but only if
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allowed by state lieu and if permitted by the chaplain's religious beliefs. the marching orders come ten days after the end of the don't ask, don't tell policy that kept gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. the u.s. economy is headed for another recession. the ecri produces wildly followed leading indicators which predict when the economy is moving from recession and expansion and how do americans feel about the economy? apparently take a look there. not so hot. c-poll shows 90% of americans say conditions remain poor. and a majority of americans still blame former president bush and his party for economic conditions. 52% blame bush and the republicans. 32% became president obama and the democrats. are you ready for more bank fees? it will cost you $5 a month to use your bank of america debit card starting next year. the fee applies even if you only
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use your debit card once that months. other big banks are also testing the monthly fee idea. they point to new regulations limiting how much they can charge retailers each time you swipe your debit card. this afternoon america's top atom smasher closes. the world's second largest energy particle accelerator atom smasher will power down after 2 1/2 decades. facility just outside of chicago has made major contributions to physics, including the discovery and measurement of an essential building block of matter called the top quirk. in january it was announced the accelerator failed to find funding to continue operation beyond the close of the fiscal year. coming up, we'll see what's happening in the trial of michael jackson's physician, dr. conrad murray. a doctor will give his perfect i on theestimony so far on what happened right before and after 911 was finally called. we'll be right back with much more from los angeles. [ woman ] my grocery bill isn't wasteful spending.
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i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. it is now day four of the trial of michael jackson's doctor here in los angeles. testimony reveals more and more details of the final minutes the superstar was alive and the crucial moments just after no one could revive him. today the paramedics who arrived at jackson's home in june 2009 are expected on the stand. they will help show, prosecutors say, that conrad murray is to blame for the pop star's death, wrongly giving him surgical anesthetic propofol to treat insomnia. join meg now is dr. rodriguez, a board certified internist. dr. rodriguez, thank you for coming on. as someone who provides care for patients, what would you say the
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biggest mistake was that you think dr. murray might have committed? might it have been leaving michael jackson while he was sedates? >> certainly. that was one of the ones that was crucial. you never turn your back on a woman in labor or someone that's deze da sedated. something can happen to quickly. the fact that he left the room is very damaging to him. >> the head of logistics for michael jackson, alberto alvarez, testified yesterday. and he said that when he got to the bedside of michael jackson, dr. murray started giving him some orders. i want you to listen to what he testified to in court and then ask you about it. >> what were the exact words he said when he had these vials in his hand and he was reaching them out to you? >> he said, put these in a bag. >> did you grab a bag? >> i did. i looked towards my right and there was a plastic bag sitting on top of the chair.
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and so i proceeded to get the bag, and i opened it and he placed the vials in the bag. >> it sounds as though, according to that testimony, that cleaning up the drugs and the vials became priority before even calling 911. what do you make of that beha behavi behavior? >> i think it's absolutely not the usual standard of practice. what should have been happening in that room is that when someone is in a cardiac arrest that doctor should have been performing cpr simultaneously from the most moment. and then maybe giving orders to call the paramedics. not the clean the room, not to hide any evidence. he should have been working on his patient to try to save that paint's life. that's the standard of care. >> and one of the drugs that michael jackson was being given there by dr. murray was this drug propofol. if he had been combining that with lorizapam and maybe even demerol which is a stimulant and actually works against propofol,
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how dangerous is that to combine all of that? >> that's very dangerous. he would be stacking sedatives. even though demerol can have a paradoxical effect to be a stimulant, it do is a sedative. as a gastroenterologist, we sedate people with them but they're monitored every single step of the way. those other medications have a very long half life so you don't know how much is in the system. you add something like propofol on top of that, and you know what, you're asking for trouble. at the very least that patient needs to be monitored and nobody needs to leave the room while they're on that medication. >> dr. rodriguez, appreciate your expertise as always. thank you. >> you're welcome. up next, the story of a 95-pound, 14-year-old boy legally executed in south carolina. don't go anywhere.n sec... progresso... i love your new loaded potato with bacon. that's what we like to hear. where was i? oh right... our rich & hearty soups..
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death last week for the 1989 killing of an off-duty police officer in georgia, his case grew international attention. his story was told on every major news network and big names like pope benedict, former president jimmy carter all said the execution should have been called off. another controversial execution was that of george stinney jr. never heard of him? it may be because he was put to death back in 1944. why should we know his name? because he was the youngest person, the youngest person legally put to death in the u.s. since the 1800s. at 14 years old, 6 months as well, and 5 days old he was legally electrocuted for murdering two white girls with a
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railroad spike. national public radio reports he confessed to the crime. the trial lasted less than three hours. no witnesses were called. no defense evidence was presented. and it took an all white jury ten minutes to give him the chair. some report that stinney was bribed into confession for ice cream and that 5'1" they actually needed to stack up books to fit him on the electric chair. joining me now or today's undercovered story, a professor at columbia university and host of "our world" with black enterprise. do you think that this boy was physically capable of killing two girls with a railroad spike? >> absolutely not. you know, when you weigh 95 pounds at that age it is nearly a physical impossibility to kill one, much less two girls with a railroad spike. all the other evidence says he didn't do it as well but that part alone should have stopped anyone from moving further. >> and when you think about this, he's 14 years old.
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the possibility according to some reports that he was given ice cream to confess. what do you make of that? >> i mean, it just speaks to just how disturbing. even disgusting the whole process was. first of all, a 14-year-old boy should have never been in police custody without an attorney or certainly without his parents. but none the less, he was there. and then the idea that there was no written confession. all they had was supposedly an oral confession of this boy which was prompted by ice keep, suggests again that something was foul here. everything was foul here. there's no way a 14-year-old broi could do it and if they did do it, certainly wouldn't confess knowing the stakes were that high over a scoop of ice cream. >> yeah. i'm glad you pointed that out because there was no written confession. it was simply a verbal confession, according to the sheriff there. how did stinney become a suspect in this case? >> well, that's the worst part of all. he became a suspect because he was part of the search party looking for the two girls.
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many members of the down that day decided to help find the girls. he joined the search party and in the process he mentioned he had seen them earlier that day and somehow the fact that he had seen the girls that day made him accounted for reasonable suspicion and suddenly decided to bring him in to police custody. so it was his willingness to help which made him a suspect in the first place. >> will this case be reopened? if it has been undercovered. looking back at 1944. >> well, it's going to get reopened most likely. there's the political will to do it. there's a desire to do it. the sad part, of course, is that the stakes are relatively low. even after we find out that he was ultimately not guilty, that he was, in fact, completely innocent, we can't bring him back to life. he can't get his family back. his family can't get him back. tragic circumstance. it's still worth reopening because we want to show just how flawed our criminal justice system is and how flawed our death penalty is as a moral and
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political project. if we can do that consistently we can stop having executions today. our system is just as flawed today. we saw that by the execution of troy davis last week. mayors across the nation are fed up with all the bickering in washington. their message? quit the fighting and focus on jobs. and one mayor in particular is leading the charge. l.a. mayor antonio is joining us here onset, next.
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as our cities go, so goes the nation. those are the words from los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa. he knows perhaps more than anybody right now how the political gridlock is hurt ourg cities. as president of the u.s. conference of mayors he led a delegation of city leaders through the capital last week urging president obama and congress to put aside politics and focus on one thing, that thing is jobs. villaraigosa says hundreds of thousands of them could be created right now if the government agrees to fund local infrastructure projects. l.a. could receive more than
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$600 million in loans to kick start some of those projects. if washington gets its act together, that is, of course. mayor villaraigosa joins us now here. mayor, welcome. so nice to see you. >> great to be here. >> you're not waiting on washington, are you? >> no, we're not. we put up our own money. halfpenny sales tax generating $40 billion over the next 30 years. double the size of the rail system to repair our roads and our highways. but, we can accelerate that from 30 years to 10 years if the government would leverage what we're doing with a transportation loan program. there is support, bipartisan, by the way. miraculous. >> that is miraculous. >> john micah in the house, barbara boxer in the senate, both support increasing the loan program for transportation projects from $122 million to $1 billion a year. it's a great way to get people
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to work now without putting a lot of money up on the part of the federal government. and those are the kind of innovative ideas that we put together in our common sense agenda for jobs that the mayors across the nation has put together. >> let's talk about jobs and something that new york mayor michael bloomberg said. i'm sure you're aware of this. he said there could be riots in the streets if young men remain unemployed. do you think that's right? can you see that happening here in los angeles? >> i think the poverty rate is higher than at any time since 1993. one of the highest poverty rates that we've had in decades. the unemployment rate at 14.5% here in l.a., some places as high as 20% in south los angeles. we have to put people back to work. i don't want to focus on what happened if we don't. because i don't think we should be in that position. the federal government has the wherewithal to focus on jobs. the biggest deficit is the
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deficit of jobs. that's what these people in washington out to be focused on and they're not. i think that's why michael bloomberg said what he said. >> as president of the u.s. conference of mayors, which you are, nonpartisan group which unveiled its own common sense jobs agenda. tell me about this agenda and why you think it might work better than what washington is trying to do. >> actually, the president has embraced a number of the initiatives that we have put forward. these are initiatives, by the way, that have historically had republican and democratic support. as you said, our organization is bipartisan. they're a number of very significant cities that have republican mayors. michael bloomberg is an independent, was a republican for a while, a democrat before that. we're not focused on ideology and orthodoxy.
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there's not a republican or democratic way to pick up a trash or to keep neighborhoods safe and there shouldn't be a republican or democratic way to put people back in work. >> for people that think the gridlock in washington doesn't affect states or cities like yours, they're wrong. >> they're go. as cities go, so go the nation. the you just took the top ten cities, metropolitan areas in the country, we would have a $5 trillion economy. we're roughly a third of the u.s. economy. so if you put people back to work in our cities, you're putting america back to work. just new york, chicago, and l.a. alone are the size of the french economy which is the fifth largest economy in the world. putting people back to work, repairing our bridges, roads, highways, rebuilding our schools, avoiding teacher layoffs, all of these things are good things because they're investing in the infrastructure and the foundation of our economy. >> i want to talk to you about next year's election and we have
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a new poll, a brand new cnn orc poll that i want to share with you and our viewers, as well. a staggering 90% of americans say that economic conditions are poor. you're a democrat. you're a supporter of the president. can he ride this out? will this hurt him come 2012? >> look, everybody in public office right now are in jeopardy of losing their jobs. and they are because people are hurting. they're losing their homes. they're unemployed. they're struggling to make ends meet. we're duty bound. i think the president understands that. he's focused on that. that's why he put his jobs agenda out. that's why he put a number of initiatives that appeal to both sides of the aisle. but it's the congress, frankly, that has failed their job. particularly, a small group of people that are putting ideology and orthodoxy and their party before the country. >> since here we're in los
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angeles we're covering the conrad murray trial, michael jackson's doctor. is the city making any preparations for when the verdict might come down, a few weeks from now? do you expect any trouble here? >> we're not expecting trouble but we're always prepared. the lapd is one of the finest law enforcement organization anywhere in the world and i can tell you that we have events all of the time, from the grammys to the sleshtity trials. >> you're rae. >> we're ready. >> your crime is down. lowest since 1952. noisily done, mayor. coming up, sex acts, booze, and a big fine. how a strip club busted a movie theater and why the movie "hangover 2" is involved. can't make this stuff up. much more on that. keep it here on cnn.
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it is half past the hour. here is some of the news that you may have missed. president obama says the death of anwar al awlaki is a major blow to al qaeda, the muslim cleric born in the united states became the face of al qaeda in yemen. a government source says he was killed today when a u.s. drone air strike hit his motorcade. born in new mexico, al awlaki lived in the united states until age of 7 when he's family rurpd to yemen. he returned to the u.s. in 1991 for college and remained until 2002. al awlaki had ties to the so-called underwear bomber accuse of trying to bring down the u.s. plane and the accused ft. hood gunman. more questions today about dr. con rald murray's response in the critical moments after
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michael jackson's cardiac arrest. murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter in jackson's death. yesterday jackson's head of logistics testified that murray asked him to help gather up drug vials before asking him to call 911. >> i was standing at the foot of the bed. he reached over and then grabbed a handful of vials. and then he reached out to me and said, sure, put these in a bag. >> paramedics is expected to take the stand today and possibly discuss what murray told them about jackson's condition when they arrived. the funeral for a stunt pilot who crashed into spectators at arena, nevada, air show began last hour in florida. 11 other people were killed when his world war ii race craft appeared to lose control last week. the national transportation safety board is investigating the accident. authorities say it could take more than a year to complete a
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final report on the cause. he leaves behind his wife of 52 years, 4 children and several grandchildren. in utah, a movie theater that also serves alcohol has been hit with $1600 fine for showing the "hang over 2" this summer. in case you don't know the r rated film about four men and a wedding in thailand has strong sexual content. the problem, according to the salt lake tribune, is that state liquor laws forbid bars and laws fro showing newtity. the bub was cited for attire and conduct violations. they showed the film without any problems. the tribune says authorities conducted a sting based on a complaint from a nearby strip club. amazing survival story in california after a man's car plunged 500 feet into a ravine. david who is partially disabled managed to survive six days on leaves and water from a nearby
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creek. his son found his father after driving the route, stopping at every curve and hearing his dad's faint calls for help. >> you know, you don't know if it's echoing or where it's coming from. i just ran up to the top where those bushes are and i looked down and i saw my dad's car. of course my heart dropped. i was like, oh, my god. i realized running all of the way down here everywhere i went i couldn't see how to get down there. i could not figure it out. >> his family began the saurch search soon after he failed to come home. they rescued him from the ravine where they also found another car with a deceased driver still behind the wheel. amazing survival story. florida has moved its primary date, throwing the gop nominating calendar into complete chaos. but could it actually be good for the country? everything is fair game when we come back. [♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals.
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welcome whack back. leave you talking points at the door. for the next few minutes nipg is fair game. that includes the hallowed tradition of small states having first dibs on selecting our future president. you see, florida has approved a motion to hold the state's presidential primary on january 31st. that will move the carefully arranged republican nominated calendar into disarray and jump-start the nominating process a month earlier than party leaders hoped. although the state may lead limited delegate seating at the
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convention, florida republicans think it is worth it. the fair question to ask, of course, is this. is it better for the country to have a larger, more diverse state such as florida toward the beginning of the nominating process? joining me now to discuss this talk all about it is nancy, former senior policy adviser to john mccain, along with us, ed and cnn contributor, john avlon. i want to start with you, ed. our current system starts the process off with four small states. so why is this a good idea? >> the thing about small states. i've worked in iowa and nevada on when you have smaller states with smaller media marks your money goes a lot farther. if you have a candidate with big ideas and a small war chest, they can still compete. $2,000 gets you a week's worth of media in davenport, iowa. doesn't get you a whole lot in some of the bigger states. it makes sense for the early
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states to be able to task the candidate in a more retail politics. >> nancy, what do you think? shouldn't a larger state like florida be able to jump in earlier? >> i guess you could make a case for either side. theoretically i agree with the fact that you will find out right away whether the candidates have the money and the organization to go the distance by making them clear a bar like a state of florida. on the other hand, you could argue that we lose the opportunity for some challengers who have big ideas and -- because think about how the other process worked last time around. it's not just who wins iowa. it can even be who comes in second if it was unexpected. but they need a little time to build up ahead of steam. and so i think this really benefits somebody like a romney. obviously he's got the money, the organization, the name id. agent acts as an insurance policy like romney. if he loses one of the earlier
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races like anticipated. >> john, what do you think about the idea of rotating who goes first? >> election reform is badly needed. this is a good example. we do need to look again at the things that have a power of resident but don't make so much sense practically. the chaos of the primary calendar, the fact that we're 100 days out roughly and we don't know for sure what the order is going to be, that's no way to pick a leader of the free world, people. we have some work to do. we should look at wholesale election forum. >> that's not going to change. part of the problem is that -- >> what is the answer here? >> that's not really an answer. the problem we just have to play the cards as they're presented to us. >> right. >> national parties can set their own nominating process. but the states still determine and pay for the elections. and there's no real connection there. what we have to rely on is our best efforts when the national
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parties are coordinating with the state parties and the state governments, years in advance, that these agreements are held to. what we're seeing right now, what we didn't see in 2007 were states actually stick to these agreements. until we can stick -- make a plan an stick to it, this problem is going to persist. >> i have to agree. >> nancy, you -- >> yeah? >> best efforts are not working. that's the problem. the system is not working. we can talk about the power of pre dent, and they show they play an important role. important new hampshire with a primary. but this level of chaos doesn't make any sense. there are implications beyond the parties themselves and the states themselves. so i do think we need to think anew, think a little bit bigger about this process because it affects a lot of people. >> but even the unpredictiveness of it favors candidates who have the war chest and have basically have decided two years ago that
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they're going to run because they are best able to handle the unpredictability. we have seen people gamble when they thought they understood the calendar before and the calendar shifted. you know, let's look at florida just for a second. we mentioned that it's a prize worth getting but it's a prize worth a lot less right now. it's kind of like getting the date with your -- you know, the guy you wanted to date in high school ten years later, only he's gained 40 pounds and he's gone balding. it's just not worth it. >> that doesn't sound very good. >> well, if florida does come up early, john, does it hurt perry, help perry? >> what do you think? >> i was always unreali isistic think that new hampshire was going to be february 14th. i liked the symbolism but never made sense. the gauntlet makes sense for the republican party. iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, florida. but when we start getting into the spin cycle, florida barely
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is a crucible. because it is a representative state, broad, diverse, big. and they are trying to run down the center right. the real contest is new hampshire/florida. that is more reflective of the general electorate than my home state. a representative state in ters of political overview but the caucus itself is disstarting because it's inherently small. >> i know that all of you will be marking your calendars in pencil. i will be doing the same just in case all of these dates change. so use a pencil and bring a bigger rabig eraser. >> thank you very much. born in the usa. he grew up to become al qaeda's youtube jihadist. but anwar al awlaki's father tells cnn his son was the all american boy. paula newton met the father face to face. whether it can be done safely and responsibly.
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a man considered a major threat to u.s. home dland r land security is dead in yemen. that is one of the countries where the terror group al qaeda in the arabian peninsula is believed most active and where a anwar al awlaki was killed today in a air strike. paula newton joins us live. paula, you have spent a lot of time in yemen tracking down members of awlaki's family. people who paint a very different picture it seems of the public face of al qaeda. what can you tell us about that? >> well, i had a rapport with his father, dr. nasser, educated
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his children in the united states. anwar was one of them. he described to me a son who was involved in everything that was culture in the u.s., went to school there. he showed me picture of them at disney world. he paints the picture of a man who was very devout muslim and reached peace. he does admi that in the last few years the preaching had turned more radical. but he was desperate. even when he spoke to me and i had a rapport with him over a couple of years now that the u.s. not track him down in this way. he often told me that he believes his son would be better captured. and if they wanted to, to charge him with something and try him with something. what he did not want was him assassinated in this way. he didn't really have any insight into what had turned his son against the united states. it was a point of contention with him, randi, enwhen i presented him with evidence, supposed evidence that his son was encouraging the death of americans and the death of innocence, he still refused to believe it. he was though very anguished by
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this torment about how this happened. randi, you have to imagine. here's a guy who is taking care of his family, grandchildren, his wife. a lot of pressure on him to keep this together. he wouldn't tell me if he had any communication with anwar. he normally would tell me that he didn't but he was sure that his clan, his relatives in yemen were keeping him safe. randi? >> when you look at somebody like him who really grew up rather privileged from what i understand, he still wasn't able to point to one turning point in his son's life that really turned him radical? >> he certainly said that 9/11 had a big impact on him. but he felt that at that point in time he said that anwar was appalled by what happened after 9/11 and only really taught peace and understanding. he wanted to be a bridge between the muslim world and the western world. but in the middle there the only thing that he ever alluded to was the fact that really the wave of war on terror was prosecuted, that he felt perhaps
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had persuaded him. other people i talked to on the ground though in yemen had a completely different story. the fact that anwar awlaki wanted to rival osama bin laden and that is the picture they painted of the man who complete story. the fact that anwar al awlaki and the picture of the man who was a very much a radical for many people on the internet. randi? >> paula, thank you. appreciate that inside story from the family. thank you very much. coming up, now that florida has moved its primary date, what does this mean for the gop and the country as a whole? your political particular ser next on cnn. we're cracking down on medicare fraud. the healthcare law gives us powerful tools to fight it... to investigate it... ...prosecute it... and stop criminals. our senior medicare patrol volunteers...
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. florida is making some big moves that could affect the gop. let's check in with paul steinhaus. what is happening? >> florida republicans down there moved their primary state and they are holding it now on january 31st. what does that mean? iowa, new hampshire, nevada, south carolina, those four are supposed to go first. they vow that they will stay first and expect an announcement that they will move up, even earlier, into the early and middle january. that means one last month for the candidates to meet with voters and beef up their campaigns. this is putting everything in fast forward. randi? >> it certainly is. i hope you're ready, paul. thank you very much. >> thank you. it's a four-year court saga coming to an end one way or another.
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knox, hoping that she will be able to return home. amanda knox and her former boyfriend are being accused of the death of meredith kercher. their appeal claims that the police made mistakes and the evidence does not support the convictions. but today the prosecutors say that the evidence is clear and the dna proves guilt. joining me now from italy, amanda's father, curt knox. thank you so much for joining us today. first, i want to ask you your impressions on the prosecution's -- >> thank you for having me. >> -- closing arguments today. >> well, really the closing arguments that they presented were virtually circumstantial.
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because having court-appointed independent experts evaluate the dna evidence and bring back totally unreliable results. we're hopeful that that will lead to an acquittal for amanda and rafael. >> what are you expecting a decision? >> it's actually going to probably come down sometime from around 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., pe rue gentleman time. >> do you think that there's a chance that your daughter is not going to be freed? >> well, there's always a chance. after what happened with the first trial, you take an 11-month trial and crystallize it during five days for the defense and break it down
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completely and have the devastating guilty verdict that we did in the first trial, it's something that's always in the back of your mind but we're very hopeful that they've heard the same thing that we have heard in the appeals trial that will lead to her acquittal but they are the ones that make that decision. >> here on cnn, we had exclusive pictures yesterday that we aired of your daughter dancing behind bars there. can you tell us how she's doing? >> well, i'm not certain that you've really got the real effect of what happens in prison. prison is not an enjoyable time. there is very certain moments that take place that all of the prisoners try to feel what it's like in the real world and those
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moments are few and far between and shouldn't be distorted that that is something that happens on a daily basis. but it's nice to see her smile or do something, given that her freedom has been taken away for four years for something that she hasn't done and see nothing about steel and concrete. but hopefully we'll be able to take her away from there soon. >> as we came in from the commercial break, we had video of you during happier times. you had hoped that your daughter would be home in 2009 for the holidays. what would it mean for you to have her home for the holidays this year? >> more than you know. it has been a very hard journey and we're hopefully near the end of it and i can't tell you what it would mean again and not just for the family but for her family and her friends that have
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supported her and stuck by her and us and we will hopefully be able to bring her home. >> let's look beyond monday, beyond when you get the news that, for your sake, hopefully your daughter will be prfreed. what do you think you will want to do and amanda will want to do and that you will want to do as a family? >> you know, she's actually mentioned, it's something that you and i take for granted but she's been in a steel and concrete prison now for four years and just the simplist thing of lying down in some grass is something that she truly looks forward to. it's just those small little steps that are going to help her find her way back and get herself reconnected into something besides prison life. we're going to work with her
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and. >> how soon do you think you will get her out of italy? >> it's actually premature before the court renders a decision and at that point we'll go from there. >> have you had any contact with the kercher family, have you seen them on the street or had any discussions with them? >> we never ran across them the one time that we saw them in court when the first verdict was delivered and we extend to parents the deepest condolences that we have done and i want them to understand and hopefully
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see the truth and hopefully we will be able to see that ourself and the ability to have the loss of their daughter and endure for the last four years and hopefully remember her in foreclose. >> is there any case that there may be left against rafael or do you think if she is freed he will be released along with her? >> my opinion is that they will both be freed or convicted at the same time. they are their own alibis. they spent the night at rafaels. it's as sim people as that. hopefully the judge and jury will render their decision based on that decision and hopefully they will be able to both walk out. >> and have you thought about, once your daughter is freed, she is going to be able to be
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bombarded with requests for interviews, have you or she given any thought about who is going to give that first interview? >> you know, we really have a main focus, and that's to take her home. at that stage of the game we will fine out what trauma she's experienced in prison and we'll determine when, and if, she continues to talk. it's a circumstance where heth is a very personal experience and we'll deal with the other stuff later. >> curt knox, we're very sorry for what your family has been through. we hope that you get your wish and your daughter comes home for the holidays. thank you so much for your time. >> well, thank you for having
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me. . >> a very bad man just had a very bad day. that's the quote of the day for an unnamed senior defense official on the death by drone strike of on war awlaki, considered by many the osama bin laden of internet. he was killed today east of the yemeni capitol. his writings and teachings have been linked to several of the high-profile terrorists of the decade, including the so-called underwear bomber, and three of the hijackers in times square and when he was seven and
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degrees in colorado, and president obama says that an awar awlaki. >> remains dangerous and a weakened terrorist organization. going forward, with will remain vigilant against any threats to the united states or our allies and partners. but make no mistake, this is further proof that al qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world. >> my colleague, drew griffin, has reported in depth on terrorist recruitment and he joins me on the phone from north carolina. drew, awlaki was a jihad dist long before he was gone after in a very serious way. what changed? >> last year, awlaki, who had
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been the religious and inspirational leader for a lot of these would-be terrorists, he became operational, randi. he really did declare himself at war for america and we will find out and he took part in the individual plots and mainly with the printers, directly involved in staging that. he became less religious, more operational. that's when the obama administration declared this guy is an enemy and we are going to kill him despite the fact that he has such strong american ties. >> and even with him dead, is he
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a danger? >> with this martyr ever so popular leader among a certain sect of muslims across the world will become a martyr in his death and also because he had extensive ties in the u.s. i must tell you, i just got off the phone with new york city police department and there's already a heightened security level because of the september 11th anniversary that has remained in effect. and samir has been considered a very dangerous enemy of new york because he grew up there, he went to high school in queens and may have an extensive outreach of supporters there. so the new york city police
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department remain vigilant on this very day because of this attack. >> nic robert tson is standing . everything we here is in up peeve val. what does it say to that? >> they are taking a firm wide against al qaeda but with only seeming to have serious success and it's got u.s. backing. the drone strike that killed awlaki was a u.s. drone strike. al qaeda is taking control of three provinces in the country. that's what the vice president there told me just a few months ago. the government has had to pull
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back its troops and the opposition, a street movement, tribes in the north of the country trying to bring down this current government. the very fact that al qaeda has suffered a loss today has a lot to do with the united states and only something to do with the yemeni government. >> give us an idea of how this guy went from being a privileged kid to a master plotter, as drew put it. >> well, he really seems to have gone through his own radicalization process. he was picked up for prostitutes and that's not something that islamists are usually associated with and we certainly see radicals that have started out with drug problems, women that come into the rblg and then get
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more religious and awlaki seemed to be on the path after he left the united states in 202, he settled in britain for a while and was on a preaching surge in britain, winning over the hearts and minds of young radicals here and then went to a radical the past few years, and he that again has ratcheted up and his cover has been blown. believed to have killed 13 service u.s. servicemen in ft. hood in 2009 and other connections to al qaeda, operational activists. so this is sort of circumstantial evidence that has pointed to him and it has ratcheted it up his rhetoric against the united states. so it appears to have started off not so radical and
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radicalized over the past decade, also, randi. >> it certainly does. nic robertson, thank you very much. before we move on, i want you to know about our security clearance blog. it's your online source for the best reporting on terrorism and intelligence and military matters and diplomacy from washington and all around the world. find it at cnn.com/security and you can follow the tweets at national security cnn. that's natlsecurity@cnn. the pentagon has issued new rules allowing military chaplains to perform same-sex marriages. they can perform marriages for same-sex couples only if allowed by state law. the marching orders come ten days after the don't ask, don't tell policy that kept gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. according to the research
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institute, the u.s. economy is headed for another recession. the economy is moving between recession and expansion, and how do americans feel about the economy? not so good. a new poll shows that 90% of americans say that conditions replain poor and a majority of americans, well, they actually still blame former president bush and his party for economic conditions. 52%. you say they blame push and 32% blame president obama and the democrats. ready for more bank fees? it will cost you. $5 a month now to use your bank of america credit card. debit card starting next year. the fee applies only if you use your debit card once that month. other big banks are testing the monthly fee idea. they point to new regulations limiting how much they can charge retailers each time you swipe your debit card. when we return, day four in the trial of michael jackson's doctor. we'll talk to an attorney for
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several of the witnesses who were there when the superstar was dying. we'll be right back. t's a coffe. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. ♪ [ dog barks ] [ birds chirping ] ♪ [ mechanical breathing ] [ engine turns over ] ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new volkswagen passat. a new force in the midsize category. ♪
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[♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. welcome back to los angeles. the trial of michael jackson's personal assistant is now in the fourth day. prosecutors are trying to show that dr. conrad murray was reckless when he gave jackson a surgical anesthetic called propofol as a sleep aid, the drug listed as the superstar's death. damaging evidence coming from the director of logistics, alberto alvarez. yesterday he described what murray told him to do once he
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got to jackson's bedroom. >> i was standing at the foot of the bed and he reached over and grabbed a handful of vials and reached out to me and said, here, put these in a bag. >> joining me now is carl douglas. thank you for coming on today. you represent michael amir williams who was jackson's assistant, how well do you think they knew dr. murray? >> they did not know him very well. they would have brief conversations about general things of concern. >> i know yesterday on the stand alberto alvarez testified and he said that dr. mur murray was
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doing cpr wrong. he was using one hand. also, that he was calling on alvarez himself to put away and do away with the stash of pills and vials of propofol and other things in the room before calling 911. did any of your clients ever tell you why they believed the doctor waited to call 911 for so long? >> they had no real understanding of why. they didn't know what was going on when they entered the room. all they wanted to do was file the instruction and directions that the doctor was offering because they assumed that he had michael's best interests at heart. >> did they already know that 911 had been called? >> they didn't know what was going on. they were following the direction of the doctor.
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he laid limp and his eyes were opened and his mouth was agape and there was no move of any kind and they were trying to do all that they could to save him. the reality was, he was already dead. >> it seems as though, when you look at the defense, that they seem to be almost accusing your client of collaborating, sharing testimony against mr. murray, sharing accounts of what happened. can you set the record for us straight on that? >> as a defense lawyer myself, i understand that is the tact that they have to give. but these guys did not ask to truthful, honest testimony and they gave the statement to the police, testified at the preliminary hearing and trial and on every occasion they've all said the exact same thing. >> alberto alvarez testified in
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court that he actually helped with cpr, that conrad murray had asked several of them, do you know how to revive someone? can you help with cpr? and he helped. obviously nothing worked to revive michael jackson. does alberto alvarez wish that he could have done more? >> certainly there is great regret that he could not do more. he did all that he could to help but certainly he feels bad that michael could not be saved. >> what do you think is the greatest weakness, as someone who represented o.j. simpson, what is the greatest weakness in conrad murray's case? >> i think it's going to be difficult for the defense to explain why they would have this drug used in the home and why there was not better monitoring, not only monitoring of michael, but then also leaving the room with a drug of this power.
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it's difficult for them to explain away the decision to have a drug of this kind being used in a home setting and i cannot understand how they get around that. >> and just very quickly, before we go, you compared this trial to o.j. simpson trial. do they even compare? >> o.j. was the first kind of trial of the century and it's difficult to compare the two. they don't have the sort of sexiness in this case that there was in o.j. and i'm not sure that that is going to capture for the extent of the trial the same way that o.j. did. >> carl douglas, thank you for your time. >> my pleasure. packing heat on college campuses. it is something more and more states actually want to allow but is it a good idea? that's next. g his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy. one a day, gummies for grown-ups. whether it can be done safely and responsibly.
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at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right.
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should college students be allowed to carry a concealed weapon on campus? so far 14 states would allow students and faculty to carry concealed weapons at state colleges and universities. it's a situation that is split across the nation and current laws reflect that. take a look at the state with laws on concealed weapons. 22 banned them on college campuses and though in many of these states like texas a and colorado, the ban is being tested right now either through court or proposed bills. 25 other states, on the other hand, leave the decision up to the individual college or university and even with these states that's being challenged, just this week, an oregon court repealed a ban saying that the college didn't have the authority to prevent students and faculty from carrying
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weapons. right now utah is the only state allowing campuses with guns. that's a deadly mix. think drugs, alcohol, hormones. they say it only leads to violent. one has to think back to 2007, the massacre at virginia tech where 32 people were killed. a supreme court ruling made clear that an individual's right to bear arms does not undermine public spaces like college and campus. where does all of this lead? like so many other hot topic issues, right back to the supreme court. patients prescribed marijuana for their medical conditions from a federally licensed firearm dealer. that's according to the atf, the bureau of alcohol, bureau of and specifically last week forbidding them from selling weapons to anyone that says that they are a regular marijuana
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user. gun rights groups and pro marijuana groups both claim that policy goes against the second amendment. marijuana used under a doctor's supervision is legal in 16 states as well as washington, d.c. we've heard politicians and pundits debating warren buffett's take on taxing the rich. but we will hear from the billionaire himself right here next.
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billionaire warren buffett has the president's ear and now he's talking to krmplt nn. our alison kosik went one on one with the buffett enthe trading floor. what does he have to say about the buffett rule? >> he wanted to clarify what he meant and saying that it's going only to affect a small portion of the population. president obama came out wanting to behoove the rich in paying
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more and millionaires, crying foul about this, don't lump them in with buffet who is clearly a billionaire and in a class above everybody else but said that it will affect only a small portion of millionaires, 50,000 people. meaning that it wouldn't offer a lot of help in chipping away at the deficit. here's what he had to say. >> it probably would come in at $20 billion a year. no one thing is going to solve the deficit of over 1 trillion. but i think when you're going to ask the poor and middle class to give up things like medicare or whatever it may be as part of the shared sacrifice, the idea that you don't get $20 million from this group from whom it's only ten points on a very low tax rate to start with, i think it's simply unfair. >> so even though it's not going to affect a lot of people, i think his idea that he's getting out there is that we are all in this together. he's saying that you can't ask one group to give something up
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without asking something else from another. maybe it's about a change in attitude. that we all have to give a little. randi? >> did you get a chance to talk to him about europe at all, how europe is affecting us? >> oh, yeah. and we see it happen in the market here every day. europe is a huge question that is hanging over wall street. so, yes, i did talk to him about it. especially with the dow moving every day this week. it can't figure out where it's headed because of europe. buffett is actually pretty bullish and he says that we're doing okay. >> this has not brought our economy down. people are worried about what is going on in europe. business is still improving. not at a very rapid rate in the united states, but we have 70-plus businesses every day to figure out what is going on. and our recovery is still under way but at a very small incline and europe has a lot of problems
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to work through. but i don't worry about that in terms of where we will be in three years, five years, ten years. >> obviously he's more optimistic. people feel differently. there's a new report out saying that we're staring down at another recession. this is coming from the research institute. one analyst is saying that it's just gbegun or right in front o us and then another poll says that 90% of americans say that the economy stinks. it's a different view than what buffett has but he's looking more at the long term. there is one bright, shining moment for those of us worried about this recession talk. one thing that buffett told me is that this is not like 2008. i'm talking about the financial crisis. randi? >> all right. well, we'll take his word for that. alison kosik, thank you very much. have a nice weekend. disabled and stranded for days, after driving off a mountainside and plunging 500 feet. how did he survive?
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we'll have his amazing story next. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein to protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. and immune balance to help support your immune system. ensure clinical strength... helping you to bounce back. ensure! nutrition in charge!
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it's half past the hour and this is the news that you may have missed. president obama says that the death of anwar awlaki is a major blow to the al qaeda. he became the face of al qaeda in yemen. he was killed today by a u.s. drone strike on his motorcade. born in mexico, he lived in the united states until the age of 7
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when his family returned to yemen. he returned to the u.s. in 1991 for college and remained until 2002. awlaki had ties to the so-called underwear bomber. murray's response in the critical moments after jackson's cardiac arrest, today, a paramedic took the stand. richard senneff described jackson's condition when he entered the bedroom. >> describe your observations of the patient, please. >> the patient was dressed with pa pa jam ma bottoms. a pajama top. the top was open. the patient was wearing a surgical cap or something similar covering his hair. and he appeared to be underweight to me. >> thin? >> thin, yes. >> a former patient of dr.
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murray's also testified today. now he says that murray saved his life after a heart attack just months before michael jackson died under his care. an amazing survival story in california after a man's car plunged 500 feet into a ravine. david is partially disabled and managed to survive six days on leafs and water from a creek. his son found him after stopping at every curve and hearing his dads faint call for help. >> i ran up to where the bushes were and i looked down and saw my dad's car. i thought, oh, my gone. running all the way down here, i couldn't see how to get down there. i could not figure it out. >> lavau's family resumed the search soon after he failed to return home.
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they also found another car in the ravine with a deceased driver still behind the wheel. just into cnn, senate majority leader harry reid's wife has been diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer and is receiving treatment, including chemotherapy in washington, d.c. a spokesperson for the senator says that they appreciate the thoughts and concerns during this time. they ask that they be afforded the respect and privacy that any family would want. senator and mrs. reid met in high school and have five children together. today was the funeral for the stunt pilot who crashed his plane into the ground. his world war ii aircraft crashed during a performance last week. the service was held at blessed unity catholic church in florida. family members joined the
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memorial. ap final report could be more than a year away. he leaves behind a wife of 52 years, four children, and several grandchildren. al qaeda is striking major blow after the death of awlaki. that is all next. meineke's personal pricing on brakes. i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing.
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drone strike were woet born in this country but both belong to an organization sworn to fight against the united states. i'm talking about al qaeda members off the terrorist group created by osama bin laden. paul cruikshank is with me. how much weaker is al qaeda after what happened today, do you think? >> well, this is a real blow against them. awlaki was the key inspirational figure for the group in terms of recruiting westerners into the organization, being the most likely able to launch attacks back in the west. it was the magazine put out by al qaeda sent out to english-speaking radicals all around the world telling them
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how to launch operations against the west or how to guide and things like that. a very, very big blow against al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, randi. >> would you say that yemen is the next front for the war on terror? is there any chance that we will see coalition troops there possibly? is that next? >> i think there is real concern of this. they expanded their safe haven in yemen and have taken the turmoil there to expand their ability to operate in the southern tribal areas of the country and to attack against the united states and an attempt to bomb an air cargo jet. the concern is that they may be able to expand the safe haven. awlaki was really driving the group's ambition to attack in
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the united states. he once sent an operative of a small attack in the united states was given in united states and not much on attacking and expanding and in time may become a real threat, randi. >> it was actually a cia drone used in this strike. how unusual do you think this is the target, a u.s. citizen. how dangerous are they and what kind of a threat? >> awlaki is a threat, both because he was an inspirational figure for these jihadist in the west and launch attacks in the west and playing this very important operational role for the al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. he was actually dealing with the group when they came into the
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country, and really conception nalizing how the west, the u.s. counterterrorism, he was a very, very dangerous figure and that obviously played into the decision to target, randi. >> paul cruickshanch, thank you. do you know that every time you swipe your debit card, the merchant pays a fee to your bank. it's true. starting tomorrow, that fee will go way, way down. guess how the bank plans to make up that revenue? or no collars. we are business in america. and every day we awake to the same challenges. but at prudential we're helping companies everywhere find new solutions to manage risk, capital and employee benefits, so american business can get on with business. ♪ and here's what we did today:
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some of the biggest banks in america, including bank of america, want to charge you to buy stuff with your debit card. that's because as of tomorrow they won't be able to charge businesses as much as they like. christine romans breaks it all down. >> reporter: $5 a month. that's how much it will cost bank of america customers to use their debit cards. it's set to take effect in 2012. the fee will not apply if you only use your debit card at atms or have a premium account with a high minimum balance. why the fees? a spokesperson says, the economics of offering a debit card has changed with the regulations. the regulation that they are referring to goes into effect on saturday and reduces the amount of money that banks charge merchants every time a card is used to make a purchase. it will drop from 44 cents to 21
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cents. that difference may seem like pennies but it is expected to cost banks $6.6 billion per year. and b of a is not the only bank making changes. chase and wells fargo are testing in select markets. sun trust started charging $5 fee and expected to roll out a $4 fee on debit cards next month. with the latest regulation, shutting down the banks's overcharges are finaling new ways to generate incomes. customers are jaded. >> it is a matter of very little time before they send you a notice that they are tacking on a fee in another way. >> christine romans, cnn, new york. a recent survey finds that 64% of americans will consider
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switching banks if their current bank changes their fees. fed up with washington, their message, quit the fighting and focus on jobs. i'll talk to the man leading that charge. [ male announcer ] it's a fact: your nutritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein to protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. and immune balance to help support your immune system.
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politics and focus on one thing, jobs. this could be created right now local infrastructure projects. l.a. could more thafr $600 million in loans i spoke to the mayor and he says that he's not waiting for washington. >> we put up our own money over the next 30 years to double the roads and we can accelerate that if the government would leverage what we're doing with a transportation loan program. that is bipartisan support, by the way, miraculous. >> that is miraculous. >> john increasing the loan
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program and paying a million a year, it's a great way to make people to work and not putting money up on the part of the government and those are the innovative ideas that we put together in our commonsense agenda for jobs that the mayors across the nation, put together. >> let's talk about jobs and something that new york mayor michael bloomberg said. he said that there could be riots in the streets if young men remain unemployed. do you think that's right? could you see that happening here in los angeles? >> well, i think that the poverty rate is higher any time since 1993, one of the highest poverty rates that we've had in decades. the unemployment rate of 14.5% here in l.a., some places as high as 20% in los angeles. we have to put people back to work. i don't want to focus on what will happen if we don't. i don't think we should be in a that position. the federal government has the
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wherewithal to focus on governments. the biggest deficit facing the nation is not the deficit of the debt. it's the deficit of jobs. and that's what these people in washington ought to be focused on and they are not. that's what michael bloomberg supports. >> the jobs agenda, tell me about this job agenda and why it might work differently than what washington is trying to do. >> the president has embraced the number of initiatives that we have and put forward. these are initiatives, by the way, that have historically have republican and democratic support, as you said, our organization and cities that have republican mayors and michael bloomberg was an independent and democrat before that. we are not focused on ideology and orthodox. we're focused on jobs and
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putting people back to work. i'd like to say that there's not a republican or democratic way to keep neighborhoods safe. >> for anyone who thinks that the gridlock in washington doesn't affect states or cities like yours are wrong. >> they are absolutely wrong. as cities go, so goes the nation. if you took the two ten cities in the metropolitan areas in the country, we would have a five trillion economy. we're roughly a third of the u.s. economy. if you put people back to work in our city, you're putting america back to work. just new york and chicago and l.a. alone are the french economy which is the fifth largest economy in the world. putting people back to work, repairing our bridges or roads or highways, rebuilding our schools, all of these things are good things because they are investing the infrastructure and
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foundation of our economy. >> i want to talk to you about next year's election. we have a brand-new poll that i want to show with you. our staggering 90% of americans say that economic conditions are poor. you're a democrat and support the president. could this hurt him come 2012? >> look. everybody in public office right now are in jeopardy of losing their jobs. people are hurting. they are struggling and losing their homes and they are trying to make ends meet. that's why he put his jobs agenda out and a number of initiatives that appeal to both sides of the aisle. but it's the congress, frankly, that has failed their job and particularly a small group of people that are putting ideology
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and parting before the company. >> now that florida has moved its primary date, what does this mean for the candidates that haven't announced yet? paul stein houser will join us next. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare,
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plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. time now to check in with our deputy political director, paul steinhauser. he's at the political desk in
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washington. paul, we've been talking a lot about florida moving its primary date. how would that affect the candidates that haven't even announced yet? >> you know what it does to them, people like chris christie, rudy giuliani, they are all thinking of jumping in but they haven't made any announcements. randi, they are going to jump in immediately now. if they do decide to run, they've got to get staffs and organizations and speed things up. take a look at this. new hampshire just announced a few hours ago that if you want to be on the ballot in the new hampshire primary, you have to register at the latest by october 28th. there's another date, another deadline for those people that have announced that they are not going to run. december 1st is the date that cnn and the arizona team party are going to team up and have a presidential debate. arizons
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