are what are the chances she could be hauled back to italy to face charges all over again? and the suspense almost over now for millions of iphone fans. apple preparing to unveil its new version of the smartphone, the iphone 5 coming your way in hours. what are the updates? it we'll have it for you. i'm thomas roberts. breaking news, nbc news is confirming that governor chris christie will not run for president. the new jersey governor is holding a press conference two hours from now to talk about his decision. joining me now is nbc's jamie who has been following the story. so how do we know that decision is a no-go for the presidential run? >> i just got off the phone with sources who tell me that he is not the going to run. he came very close to deciding to get into the race, but at the end, he decided that he was just going to wait. i'm told that one of the things

that made the last two weeks different and why he was reconsidering, was really an accumulation of people coming to him to ask him to get in the race. and this went beyond donors and party leaders. but he was getting letters from farmers in nebraska and iowa asking him to get in. and that's why he seriously considered over the last two weeks. we've already heard the reports henry kissinger had come to him, a lot of big donors had come to him. so he felt he needed to take another look at it. i am told that he came very close to getting in. people pushed him very hard on the politics of getting in but, in the end, he decided exactly what he's been saying for the last year was he's not ready yet but he owes it to the people of

new jersey to finish his job. it was the tipping point so we can ebbs inspect him to come out at 1:00 and announce that he will not be getting into the race this time. thomas is this. >> as you point out it has to be seductive to hear from all these people, especially henry kissinger and the farmers, as you point out, all across the board of wanting him to throw his hat into the ring. do you think this was a family decision? >> i really think -- i was told earlier that his family was behind him, that they had said to him whatever you want to do, that they would support, and so i don't think it was at all his wife or kids objecting to it. i think that they would have supported his getting in. i think that just the way chris christie has been saying for the past year, i'm not ready yet. i don't feel this is the time to run. in the end, that's what tipped

the balance despite this big push. >> jamie gangel in washington, great to see you this morning. thank you. joining me now is professor of political science and public policy at brown university and politico's david canton. it's good to see you both. wendy, i want to start with you because you look at how many people don't know enough about chris christie now and were in october. do you think he felt he didn't have enough time to pull off the campaign that he needed to is this. >> i think that's exactly right, thomas. i think he believed he didn't have the manpower, the fund-raising organization, the time, and, look, look at what the tea party activists have done to rick perry because they think he's not conservative enough anymore. i think chris christie has positions that we're probably going to be seeing as moderate for the tea party activists and i think it was going to be a rough ride for him even just to get organized would have been difficult. once he got in, i think it was going to be rougher than i think anybody anticipated. when you're hearing all great

things, oh, this is going to be great. everyone is going to love me. you get into it and if he had burned out early that would have hampered his chances in 2016. >> time being of the essence, logistical problems, organizing staff, massive fund-raising needed. take a listen to how he swatted away the rumors of a presidential run throughout the year. >> you've got to believe in your heart that you are ready to walk into the oval office and to lead the nation. and i don't feel i'm ready. i don't feel ready in my heart to be president. i don't feel i'm ready to be president. i do not have the desire to do it nor do i think i'm ready. >> all right. so that would be tough to overcome, but don't you think he could have done that easily by saying i've heard from so many people that i need to be in this race, that i feel the call, and i am ready now? >> sure he could have done that. there's been a lot of candidates who said they weren't running and then came back and ran. president obama and hillary clinton being two of the most recent. but those clips that you just played would have been replayed

by his republican opponents and if he became the nominee the democratic national committee and president obama's campaign against him saying i am not ready is pretty tough to recant just a few months later, even if you have this groundswell of support coming from around the country and urging him to the race. there's also another political issue here. a poll came out this morning that said he only placed fourth nationally so it wasn't a slam dunk. and i think that had to weigh on him as well. >> when it comes down to it, wendy, in your estimation do you think that he's going to start throwing his weight behind another candidate or do you think that there's potential that he could show up as a vice presidential nominee? >> i don't think he's going to do either actually. i think he's going to wait this out, see how everyone does, focus on new jersey, being successful as a governor of new jersey, getting the experience he claims he doesn't have yet and positioning himself for a future run. so i don't see him doing that and i don't see him taking the vp job either. i think that it's a tough call when you think you actually

could get the nomination just four or five years from now and be president of the united states. i think leaving new jersey early to be vp wouldn't be the decision he will make. >> we will know at 1:00 definitively. wendy schiller and david, thank you. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> thank you. amanda knox is on her way home, less than an hour ago. the newly freed american arrived in london after taking only from rome, italy. she is expected back in the u.s. within hours. knox's long journey back to seattle follows an emotional whirlwind of a day in perugia where an appeals court cleared her of the 2007 murder of her british roommate meredith kercher. it was a joyous moment for knox and her hometown supporters as well. [ inaudible ] >> thank you, god. thank you. >> i just felt like coming apart. that was it. and then -- then joy took over. >> there is the other side.

the family of meredith kercher, there are questions that linger. >> we do find we are now left obviously looking at this again and thinking how a decision that was so certain two years ago has been so emphatically overturned now. really for us it feels very much almost like back to square one and the search goes on to find out what truly happened. >> there are signs the case isn't over yet as an italian prosecutor says he plans to appeal this decision. nbc's stephanie gosk is in seattle where amanda's friends and family are eagerly awaiting the arrival of amanda and the rest of her family. i imagine, stephanie, a lot of people are going to be coming out to greet her and welcome her back to the united states. >> reporter: there probably will be, thomas. they are expected to arrive here later on this afternoon. consider this for just a second. the last time amanda knox was at this airport, she was packed by her parents and dropped off. she was heading off as a student for a school year abroad. four years later she comes back

after this experience. it's unimaginable what will be going through her head. they have obviously cleared their first very important hurdle. she is free. she is coming home but there are still so many challenges that await her and her family. her family has to deal with an enormous financial burden. it's been estimated about $1 million they're in debt. her grandmother has said she's put $250,000 of her own money into the legal fund. the and amanda herself, friends say she's not entirely aware of how famous she has become. that may change when she gets on the ground here and sees the kind of attention that her arrival gets. and then beyond that, what does she do next? what kind of life will she be able to have? what kind of normalcy will she achie achieve? thomas? >> and earlier today on the "today" show friends of amanda spoke out. take a listen to this. >> in the first trial i think she tried her best to tune the outside world out because it gave her a better chance of staying grounded in who she was. i think she realized that the

media and the general discussion about her kascharacter and her story had played a big role in being convicted the first time. this time she has been more aware of that and i think that it's -- it's very weird for her because that's not really the kind of person she is. she is not the person to go seeking the limelight all the time. i think it will take some adjustment for her to realize that although she gets to have her life back, she is never going to be the same. >> it's really interesting to hear her friends put it in that type of context. i know as you've been reporting on this, amanda is a prolific writer. a the lot of people are wondering if she will be putting a book out. >> reporter: there are some expectation that she will put a become out for a couple of reasons. one, it will be helpful to have that money. as i said, her family is in debt but, also, to set the record straight, there have been a number of books already published that have taken advantage of her story. some the family has supported. the others that they have not.

this would be a chance for her to go on the record publicly and tell her story and to put it in her own words. and there is some suspicion maybe she has even written some of this within her jail cell. but none of that has been confirmed yet. certainly those plans are things they're going to be deciding in the weeks to come first and foremost this is going to be an opportunity for her to get back here, be with her family and try to have some quiet tile. we spoke to a friend of the family who said he really hopes they take her away to the mountains to try to escape all of this intense attention that she is going to be receiving. thomas? >> stephanie gosk in seattle for us, thanks so much. as we told you top of the hour the freaking news in the political world now chris christie will not the jump in the race for president. will this open the door for other canned tats to surge forward? that is the big question. and president obama hitting a number of campaign events today calling him seven the underdog in the presidential race. how is this tactic playing out with his democratic base?

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ben bernanke in the past hour told an economic committee that congress should not sharply cut spending when the economy is weak but he also said eventually more needs to be cut than the $1.5 trillion already earmarked. bernanke was also asked if greece defaults on its debt could it trigger another recession here in the u.s.? >> the direct exposure of our banks to greece are minimal but if there were disorderly defaults that led to, for example, runs or defaults of other sovereigns or to stresses on european banks it would create a huge amount of

volatility globally that would have a substantial impact not only on our financial system but on our economy. >> as bernanke testifies there is a sell-off tippicontinuing ol street. red arrows across the board. the dow is now down 17% from its april high. and this morning the s&p 500 hit bear market territory meaning that it's now down 20% from its high that it saw in april. president obama is on his way to the lone star state to sell his american jobs act. he will be landing in dallas just an hour from now. he will be fund raising in texas for his re-election campaign. last night he told abc he faces an uphill battle when it comes to 2012. >> because, you know, given the economy there's no doubt that whatever happens on your watch -- >> you embraced that pretty quickly. >> i don't mind.

i'm used to being an underdog. >> kristen welker is at the white house. the president says in his words he's the underdog. so how concerned is the white house about low enthusiastic and how are they trying to frame this narrative by calling him the underdog? >> reporter: hi there, thomas. well, i think with the 9.1% unemployment rate it's hard to imagine the white house isn't concerned to some extent. i think the comment underdog, the president trying to be realistic about the economy right now. but this comes amid some more sort of negative news for the president today according to the latest "washington post"/abc news poll. only 37% of americans believe that the president will be re-elected. so his larger strategy right now is raeally rallying his base. we've seen a more combative, energized president obama as he hits the road to sell his jobs act. we will likely see that today when he speaks from the lone star state later on. he'll likely make the case his

american jobs act will prevent the layoffs of 280,000 teachers, will put more construction workers back to work. right now, thomas, it's just not clear if they have the votes in the house and the senate to actually get that bill passed. republicans actually accusing the president of playing politics with this bill. here's what senate minority leader mitch mcconnell had to say. take a listen. >> the president can govern as though this is the congress he wants or he can deal with the congress he has. along the first path lies gridlock, and along the second, the kind of legislative process americans want. my suggestion to the president is that he put aside proposals for which we know there is bipartisan opposition and focus instead on proposals for which we know both sides can agree. >> reporter: thomas, the white house believes they have the winning argument here because congress' approval rating is about 30 points lower than the president's. so he'll make that case later

today and throughout the upcoming weeks. thomas? >> kristen welker, thanks. is michele bachmann's campaign running on empty? why there's an exodus of some of her staffers and what it means for her presidential bid. and the alleged christmas day underwear bomber begins trial with an outburst in court. we'll tell you what he said. look, every day we're using more and more energy. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪

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she's been out of prison less than a day but amanda knox's legal worries may not be over yet. a prosecutor says he plans to appeal yesterday's decision to set her free. knox's attorney said he wouldn't speculate on the prosecution's motivation for an appeal, but that he is prepared for whatever argument they tray to make. >> it's hard to say because we need to read the motivation. the motivation has to be filed so we will know exactly what is

the ground they are going to make the accusation. we are ready. >> joining me is a former sex crimes prosecutor ricky kleeman. what could they try to apile the appeal on? >> well, the prosecution has to file the appeal as we would file appeals in the united states of america, that is we're dealing with legal issues. we are not dealing with factual issues. the we are not dealing with emotion here. and i think that mostly everyone who is looked at this case both in italy and in the united states, doesn't feel there are legal grounds that would overturn this verdict. >> if the jury, since they overturned this verdict, the original conviction, would amanda knox need to be back in court for any of this? would she need to come back to italy if they were able to successfully put an appeal through? >> well, during the process of the appeal i do not expect amanda knox would have to come

back to italy. on the other hand, we certainly have extradition treaties with italy and italy with us. and we don't like it if we, that is the united states, decides that we're not going to mirandize someone then when we want someone in italy they're not going to give that person to us. i've heard many experts say, well, this is a time if there were a question of rendition when the people in the department of justice would take a close look and we would look at this on legal grounds and this individual but, boy, that's a challenging precedent. >> i want to talk to you, though, about the other case that's dominating the headlines, the conrad murray trial that's taking place in los angeles. we heard more dramatic testimony yesterday from one of the e.r. doctors who tried to revive jackson once taken to the hospital, said that propofol which conrad murray allegedly administered is only used in a hospital setting. here is more of what she had to say. >> propofol could cause severe

lung collapse, respiratory collapse, breathing collapse, and it could cause cardiovascular collapse. >> we we go on to say in testimony that we learned throughout the court trial conrad murray was talking, texting on the phone. if he is trying to prove that he's not negligent as a doctor, this is pretty damning testimony given the fact he would not reveal the drugs in michael jackson's testimony. >> it's actually hideous. it's horrendous. you have two interests here you've alluded to. one is he's supposed to be paying attention to his patient, especially one taking propofol which is, of course, an anesthetic. if he's texting, e-mailing, if he's on the phone, if his mind is elsewhere, that's perfect evidence for the prosecution for abandonment and perfect evidence to show gross deviation from the standard of care. his not telling the doctors or the paramedics that he had used propofol, again, how were they supposed to deal with the patient even though we know at

that time there probably was no hope of resuscitating michael jackson. >> conrad murray's mistress taking the stand, the mom of his toddler son. he gave her money for rent. do you think this witness will reveal interesting secrets about the doctor? >> we know there is a big secret out there and that is if she is indeed the person who was getting the propofol shipped to her. i mean, why isn't it being shipped to the doctor's office? this is a bad situation for conrad murray. >> in your estimation of watching how this is moving forward, how is the defense doing? how is the prosecution doing? >> well, it's the prosecution's case and they are doing well. they should be doing well. the only way the defense gets out of this case is if they have really sterling experts, and i do have a great deal of respect for ed chernoff as a lawyer. i think he's terrific, but it's going to be an expert or nothing. >> rikki klieman, great to see you, thanks. news about chris christie, his

1:00 p.m. announcement. apple's first launch since its ceo/corporate rock star, steve jobs, stepped down. all eyes on its new leader, tim cooke and of course what's new in apple's crown jewel, the iphone.

good morning, everybody. following breaking news here on msnbc, reporting governor chris christie will not run for president in 2012. that announcement is expected at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. a staff writer for "the star ledger" joining us via skype from new jersey's capitol in trenton. this is big news, sources telling nbc he was seriously thinking about this over the last few days. in your estimation from covering him as a governor, why do you think he decided not to throw his hat into the ring? >> well, it was a tough decis n

decision. there's a lot of down side to start a presidential race this late in the game. it's hard to put together an organization so quickly. there were doubts among some conservatives that he was too liberal to compete in the presidential primary. and, also, there are other things he wants to do in new jersey, too. it's a difficult situation. the. >> there's a poll out today that found 63% of republican voters didn't even know enough about him or were unsure about how they felt about him. do you think that had a heavy consideration about whether or not he had the time to get well known nationally? >> maybe but a lot of people who aren't -- the name recognition is not that great and that could be a plus or a minus. for example, he could have a chance to define himself but also it means that defined in a negative way. >> we will know officially, again, we'll remind everybody, at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon.

the governor of new jersey will be making that announcement and we'll be tuning in to it here for everyone on msnbc. chris, appreciate your time. >> sure, thank you. is michele bachmann's presidential campaign running out of gas? the minnesota republican is campaigning in des moines, iowa, today amid reports of crack forming within her presidential team. now a campaign spokeswoman said two staffers are leaving. bachmann's pollster and a senior adviser will exit adding fuel to speculation about a failure to secure major republican donors. the other stories we're following today for you in the news now. the nigerian man accused of being the christmas day underwear bomber says the mastermind behind the plot is still alive. jury selection is under way in the trial of umar farouk abdulmutallab. he is charged with trying to blow up an airplane with chemicals hidden in his underwear on a flight in 2009. now radical cleric awlaki was

killed last week. the pro-it tetesters speaking o showing no signs of dying down. corporate zombies took to the street even eating monopoly money as organizers say it's a metaphor for what's going on in the business community. and the protests are spreading. thousands of people from l.a. to boston to chicago. among the cities with rallies blaming wall street for the nation's economic problems. all right. so if you are a regular of ""monday night football"" you may have noticed something missing last night. ♪ are you ready for some football ♪ >> so last night hank williams jr.'s theme was pulled from espn after he compared president obama to adolf hitler. this happened yesterday on fox news. a short time later williams i issued a statement through his publicist saying, quote, my analogy was extreme but it was to make a point. i was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me, how

ludicrous that pairing was. they're polar opposites. they don't see eye to eye and never will. i was always respected the office of the president. public schools in seattle launched a new campaign to boost attendance among its students. ice cream, pizza parties and wake-up calls reported by rap stars are some of the buzz worthy tactics employed by the school district. in 200925% of high schoolers were chronically absent in seattle. missing more than 18 days or more. we've been talking about chris christie making an a announcement at 1:00. in less than two hours apple is expected to make an announcement unveiling the latest version of its widely popular iphone. the highly and tticipated new device is expected to have a larger touch screen, a better camera and a slimmer body than the current iphone 4 which was launched just over a year ago. joining me now is technology expert daniel seaberg. obviously chris christie would

know -- >> he is a blackberry guy. >> the big announcement comes this afternoon. what are the updates? >> if i had a dollar for every raw more that surrounded the latest version of an apple product, i would have at least $17 to that. the rumors abound and this is always the way with every apple event. they keep their secrets very close to the vest. i think the governments could learn about secrecy from apple in terms of how they keep the secret but what we do know is that, of course, there will be an iphone 5. what weigh don't know is if it could be exclusive to sprint. now reportedly paid $20 billion to apple to get the iphone. the question is, is it exclusively on sprint. people will watch that very closely. in addition to how it looks and everything else. >> what does that do to existing customers of the iphone? is it going to mean they have to

drop at&t or drop whoever? >> it probably annoys them. i think if there is an iphone 5 deal exclusively with sprint then of course eventually it will come for at&t and verizon customers but it means you have to wait and it's been 16 months since we saw the iphone 4. so a lot of folks are very excited about this. >> people are itchy, daniel. >> itchy is the understatement. >> for those people who love a new apple product, people are itching to get their hands on this. they'll jump through whatever hoop they have to. >> we may see an iphone 4-s. it may be speeded up in some way. there's going to be a faster processor and of course everybody always asks me, why do we care about what apple does? an ad for apple and, frankly, they really do set the market trends. as apple goes, so do so many other companies and it's worth looking at whatever they come out with and of course who presents it today is a big story as well with tim cooke who is the new head of apple coming out on stage. >> how much, i guess, is there, everyone watching the

speculation about how much pressure there is on tim cooke to perform in the absence of steve jobs, especially when we're talking about the iconic product. >> i think there's a lot of pressure. he's been at apple for a number of years. he's very experienced. he's a little more laid back. you can see him on stage there. he doesn't have the same sort of dynamic stage presence a steve jobs would have. will steve jobs make any sort of appearance today? we've heard he's in ill health. he has stepped back from any day-to-day duties. my feeling is he probably won't show up. this is maybe tim cook's chance to shine in the spotlight, maybe he'll be remotely available somewhere or make a very quick appearance. but, you know, there's always that one more thing at every apple event and we'll have to see what is the one more thing they announce. >> steve jobs shows up in a face time application or something like that. >> right. they may be demonstrating new technology. we'll all be watching chris christie. >> we'll have the news on that,

too. great to see you, daniel. thanks so much. hiring now, starbucks hoping to perk up the job market but the coffee chain ceo howard schulz announcing a job fund-raising plan this morning. kicking it off with a $5 million donation. starbucks is asking customers to continue with small donations all to back job creating loans for small and local businesses. all right. growing up gay and stopping the suicides. mitchell gold, a longtime advocate and businessman will join me on how to prevent tragedies like the suicide recently from ever happening again. [ female announcer ] starbucks via® is planted the same... ♪ ...harvested the same... ♪ ...and roasted the same as our other premium coffees. ♪ it only makes sense it would taste the same. so, try it for yourself. buy a pack of 100% natural starbucks via® ready brew. we promise you'll love it or we'll send you a bag of starbucks coffee.

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poll shows the texas governor lost about half of his support over the past month. that dramatic decline is owing the door for fellow candidate, herman cain, who is now tied with perry for the number two spot. i'm joined by wayne slater, senior political writer for the dallas morning news, co-author of "bush's brain." this afternoon as we've been covering chris christie will announce that he is not going to be throwing his hat in the ring for this presidential bid. what does that do for the kerry campaign? is that going to give it a surge or a boost of confidence that it needs? >> i think the perry people are not worried anyway. they thought that chris christie was probably going to take more votes from mitt romney than they would from rick perry but i think ultimately this does give them more confidence. perry's strategy is to be the anti-perry. it's going to be -- the anti-romney that perry would be the candidate who would not be mitt romney in the race and right the ship of his campaign and it has been trouble in the

last two or three weeks, if he can right that ship, bring back some of the christian conservatives and tea party members, have a good performance with a debate or two, then he can show himself to be the anti-romney. i think this field is about done. >> i was going to say he's had a few tough days here with perry being slammed by herman cain, now tying him in these polls. how damaging has it been for cain to be out there calling him racially insensitive? >> that's a real problem because when this story first came out, they were going to attack the media, attack the messenger, saying the reporter and paper were wrong. when herman cain raised the debate, joined questions about this intense tiff word, then it wasn't just the media anymore. it was his own opponents. so that was a real problem for him. what perry has to do is quit talking about this. i hope there are no new developments, and get back to talking about jobs. if he can't do that then his campaign continues to slide.

>> and when we talk about the fact chris christie is not going to be getting into this race, do you think, though, that someone like chris christie -- who would he support if he had to go behind one candidate or the other, perry or romney? >> yeah, you wonder. my instinct is that if he backs one candidate, it would be more li likely to be romney. actually christie has some fairly moderate viewsry are more in line with mitt romney. my guess is that romney is going to begin to solidify the establishment support even more now especially if republican donors and thoers think this is pretty much the race. you'd better choose between in this case romney or perry. but i'm not positive. who knows? rick perry might make an appeal and that chris christie might like southerner rick perry after all. >> i want to talk about the fact president obama comes through texas today. he's framing the narrative selling the jobs act that he is

the underdog. how do you think that's going to play? >> i think that's what he has to do. nobody is surprised. everybody understands that this has been a very difficult year or two for barack obama. to pitch himself as the underdog, the message he's sending it his base is we have to fight. don't give up. and raise the real prospect that a republican will be in the white house. he has to do this if he hopes to win. his campaign is on the ropes. even though he's likely to have a billion dollars on his side, he very much is the underdog. >> wayne slater, senior political writer for the dallas morning news. as always, great to see you. thanks. >> sure. today the parents of jamie rodemeyer are fighting for tougher laws. he committed suicide two weeks ago after chronic harassment at his buffalo school. his father says he is sickened by reports that students taunted jamie's sister just days after his suicide chanting that he was

better off dead. this happened at a high school dance. a nonprofit civil rates advocacy group, just released a book in paper back called "youth in crisis: what everyone should know about growing up gay." >> thank you, good morning. thank you for having me. >> absolutely. let's talk about the book, what is the message that you wanted to put out there in this book itself? >> well, the message is that when we talk about kids that are committing suicide, as a result of bullying in schools, it's much more deeper than a that. and i want to talk about bullying that kids get from their parents and bullying that they get from their religious institutions. these are the things that are really deep and hurting these kids. and i want to talk about kids that are doing the bullying, who are these kids? who are their parents? what do they believe? and we really have to, as a country, have a serious discussion about religious views

that cause harm to other people. >> besides the fill aphilanthro work, people may know you as a furniture maker. you have a big, booming business. people may lift up their chairs right now to see your logo on their seats. senators richard bur and kay hagan are holding a reception for you on capitol hill. it's not, i guess bipartisan when we talk about what's taking place in north carolina where they voted to put a gay marriage ban on the ballot next year. as you fight for equality nationwide, what are you doing in your own backyard where you have a million dollar business? >> well, we are inkred play dcr disappointed and i am ashamed. i was involved in the campaign to try to avoid having that legislation which will put an amendment on the ballot in may. it was very clear that the republican leadership yielded to

the worst part of their party, the worst fraction of their party that continues to use their religious beliefs to deny other people equality and they made all kinds of back room deals. last week when they saw they didn't have the support of a lot of good, moderate republicans, and those moderate republicans yielded and became complacent with the bigotry. it was one of the most frightful things i've ever seen, how legislators really at the end of the daycare more about protecting their job and legislation than protecting young kids and people who are minority in the state. i will be joining a group of people and we will be fighting it as hard as we can. >> mitchell, through that example, though, when we talk about how kids bullying other can kids need to change their own behaviors, when they see adults bullying other people whether it be in their own state or country nationally, isn't that the message they're paying attention to? they learn from us. >> oh, i agree with you 100%.

the bullying that takes place by adults -- i would say this. that clergy people who stand at their pulpit and they speak about gay people as sinners and abomination, that is bullying a young kid and that is really -- and i know this might sound exaggerated but that is nothing less than child molestation of a child's mind. i know from writing this book and all the people i talked to throughout my state and the country that it is devastating to a 14-year-old kid to hear their rabbi or priest or clergy person say that they are a sinner and an abomination. they're at a young, vulnerable age. they believe in the concept of sin, and they think they're doing something wrong when the reality is they are god's creation and i'm here to tell them they are full and whole and wonderful and they will learn as life goes on that there are many, many people that feel that way. and part of faith in america's mission is to give voice to faith leaders who have come to change their views or who never even held a view that

homosexuality is a sin. we have southern baptist ministers, catholic clergy, who have over time realized how wrong it was to have an outdated, misguided view just as clergy did in the '60s. when i was dwroeg up i remember how people used to use their religion to deny people of co r color, to deny women, minority religious groups, their equal rights. history has been the arbiter of showing how wrong that is. today it is equally wrong against the gay community. >> mitchell gold, nice to see you today. i want to tell everyone, the book is titled "youth in crisis." it's now available in paper back. mitche mitchell, thanks. herman cain shaking things up, surging several points to tie rick perry in a new poll. is he serious or does he have another agenda? we look at that in today's flip side. or does he have another agenda? we look at that in today's flip side.

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welcome back, everybody. the trial against michael jackson's doctor beginning any moment now. expected on the stand today, conrad murray's mistress and the mother of his toddler son. prosecutors are making the case the doctor's messy personal life kept him preoccupied and kept his focus off michael jackson's health. that mistress, nicole alvarez, is one of three of the doctor's girlfriends testifying at the trial. it was alvarez's apartment that murray had shipped numerous bottles of the surgical anesthetic propofol from a las vegas pharmacy telling the pharmacist the drugs were for his clinic. it's time for our flip side, a look behind the headlines. today a big political story is godfather's pizza mogul herman

cain delivering big on the campaign trail proving he's a force to be reckoned with. it's not just the fact the donald braced cain with his presence while refusing to meet with jon huntsman, cain cat bull putted 12 points in a "washington post" post poll. this comes after winning three straw polls including one in florida and a tea party straw poll this week. is he better suited to make a run for the vice presidency? his solid business experience and strong tea party credentials and is also not shy about taking on rivals or bringing up race. slamming perry over the name of a family hunting camp. >> that is a more vile negative word than the "n " word and leae it there as long as he did before i hear they finally painted over it is plain insensitive to a lot of black

people in this country. >> while there's lots of talk about people like marco rubio for vp or chris christie who's not running for president, choosing an outspoken african-american businessman could shake things up in this race in a whole new way. we shall see what happens here. that will do it for me. i'll see you back here tomorrow 11:00 a.m. eastern time. follow me on twitter @thomasaroberts. you have a lot of things to talk about running up to the 1:00. >> two big developing stories we are following as you just mentioned, of course. at 1:00, the chris christie announcement in new jersey. he is expected to say he is not running for president. what will that mean for the race now? we'll talk about that. plus, amanda knox just hours away from arriving home in seattle. one of her friends is going to join me to talk about what's next for her and what will happen if italian prosecutors appeal yesterday's ruling.

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good day. we start with breaking news. chris christie holding a news conference about an hour from now in new jersey where, again, it is believed he will announce he will not be running for president. for the very latest let's go to "today show" national correspondent in washington, has been following the story very closely. jamie, what are you hearing from your sources this afternoon? >> good afternoon. wel well, sources close to governor christie confirmed he decided not to get into the 2012 presidential race and that is exactly the announcement he's going to make at 1:00. i've been told that the new jersey governor did seriously reconsider getting in over the last two weeks. and it was because there was, he says, a ground swell of support from party leaders, donors and regular voters who reached out to him.