♪ get ready ♪ third wife was found dead in a bathtub, opening statements begin in the murder trial of former bolingbrook police officer drew peterson... and it's already been an eventful morning. i am steve sanders. and i'm dina bair. wgn's randi belisomo is live at the courthouse, where peterson's lawyers continue their opening statements. during the trial peterson's... the defense maintains that

kathleen savio was bitter about an affair that drew peterson was having with his soon-to-be fourth wife and the prosecution says that he was trying to avoid sharing his six-figure pension with kathleen savio ... this trial could stretch to one month ... a van transporting the defendant to court ... he is now in court wearing a charcoal gray suit ... the former bollingbrook police officer is charged with the murder of kathleen savio who was found dead in her bathtub ... he is also a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth and much younger wife stacy peterson ... he has not been charged ...

the state's attorney is trying this case himself and he is relying on circumstantial evidence and hoping that hearsay evidence will be submitted to allow his ex-wife's to speak from beyond the grave ... the judge denied the defense request to limit opening statements ... the defense maintains the prosecution has no evidence ... >>the way they do a murder case is they will present someone whom i have been the last person to see the woman alive ... and then there will be someone who found her dead ... there will logically go there to neighbors and then move on from there ... >>he is correct prosecutors

will first call to neighbors who found her body and a locksmith at peterson called to open up kathleen savio is home ... during the trial the attorneys for drew peterson may call to the witness stand his missing fourth wife stacy peterson ... stacy peterson vanished in 2007. her disappearance, but hasn't been charged. his attorneys listed her as a potential witness... as a way of saying they believe she simply ran away, and is still alive. peterson's lawyers were asked about this last week.

>> stacy who? >> joining us now is our legal analyst, terry sullivan.... this idea of calling stacy peterson as a witness in these attorneys for the defense being so flippant ... will this work? >>the defense wants the idea put out there that there is no evidence by the prosecution ... i would not try a case this way and i would not be joking around about it before the advent of the trial ... >>this was initially classified an accidental drowning and no one is doing anything to protest the finding is this a huge

element? >>yes it is ... they're hoping to get certain statements in their prosecution ... they hope it will be incriminating ... they believe they can get this in front of the jury ... a problem the prosecution has ... these are strong statements from drew peterson with these threats circumstantially ... and there @vis a pitfall it may get to a point where the witness comes up in the judge denies them the opportunity to use the hearsay statement the jury will say that the prosecution did not complete the submission of evidence ... and also important

is the circumstances surrounding the " on " accident six-eight people can be brought to the trial to talk about how the death was accidental ... it's an old style of working ... the first in the prosecution must do is to prove that there was a murder and that this was not accidental ... either kathleen savio was around and they must have an expert to prove this and make it believable to the jury that there may have been some sort of blunt trauma or strangulation

these are some of the things that the prosecution must convince the jury and get them to understand and believe and this is a difficult task >>and it could come down to the expert testimony ... >>and the defense was accused of an inappropriate representation ... >>this judge is very no- nonsense and educated he does his own research ... he wanted to say from the beginning to take the jury out and then admonish the prosecution for not getting down to the facts ... this did not change the opening statement on the part of the defense budget the judge wanted it out there right away that no-

nonsense would be tolerated from either side ... >>we're getting late word that the opening statements have concluded ... beginning tonight at at 7:00 -- lourdes duarte will host special coverage on the drew peterson trial on our 24-hour news channel... cltv. the day's testimony and activity in court will be analyzed... and experts will be here answering our questions and taking your calls. again - that's drew peterson trial special coverage tuesdays through fridays at 7pm. a world war ii veteran who was beaten and robbed is thanking several strangers for helping him. from good samaritans who helped police make an arrest... to a dentist who offered free services after seeing his story on our air. wgn's nancy loo has more from west englewood. >>crime is not uncommon here but the beating and the robbing at this intersection has people anchored there are rage and

their actions led to the quick arrest of the suspect's ... >>87 year-old porter cross is feeling battered and bruised and surprised that these three young suspects targeted him they broke his glasses the shattered his dentures and took off with his wallet >>why would you do a thing like this to an old man? if you asked me for a couple of dollars it would have given it to you ... >>the retired postal worker in world war two veteran was on his way home from a corner store yesterday afternoon when the suspects jumped him samaritans sprung into action thereafter one captured images on his cellphone as the man lay on the sidewalk one person said the suspects were laughing as they walked away >>for thugs in this communique to beat this man down in broad daylight is ridiculous ...

>>they say he had the same routine walking every day and in this favored with all the seniors here it's never been a problem ... >>he would go get his lemonade and his lottery ticket and take his daily walk ... the good samaritans tracked the three suspects helping police to make these quick arrests ... it 20 year-old a 17 year-old and a 15 year-old juvenile were arrested ... they are in the courts system now but the veteran doesn't think he will be taking his afternoon walks ... >>i am going to stick to my backyard ... >>to take this out on a senior citizen? he did not deserve this ... >>they're concerned about his medical care because his v a id card and his medicare card or in his stolen wallet ... but a

dental office on east washington downtown has offered to replace his broken dentures for free ... ñ coming up next staff of mitt romney has to apologize to the press for an outburst ... and live in the studio we have the legendaspivanpaon

[ "i'm only human" plays ] humans -- sometimes life trips us up.

and sometimes, we trip ourselves up but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance we can "untrip" you as you go through your life with personalized policies and discounts when you need them most. just call... and speak with a licensed representative about saving on your policy when you get married move into a new house... [crash!] or add a car to your policy. don't forget to ask about saving up to 10% when you combine your auto and home insurance with liberty mutual. security, coverage and savings. all the things humans need to make our beautifully imperfect world a little less imperfect. call... and lock in your rate for 12 months. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? while some fiber ads use super models, metamucil uses super hardworking psyllium fiber which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make

you a model, but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol. another major power failure has struck india... the second in two days. the first power grid collapse happened on monday and was the country's worst blackout in a decade. today's outage was even worse with as many as 600-million people left without electricity... half the country's population. both blackouts cut power to india's capital, new delhi... and delayed railways and public transit systems. the cause of the outages is still unknown. congressional republicans are criticizing federal officials in a new report about the fast and furious gun-trafficking operation the operation was designed to track the flow of guns from the u.s. to mexican drug cartels. but a u.s. border patrol agent was killed by one of the weapons. the report says senior officials from the bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms and prosecutors allowed the operation to continue ... even after they grew uncomfortable about the volume of gun smuggling being allowed by

agents. u-s attorney general eric holder was found in contempt of congress for failing to release certain information related to the operation. republican presidential candidate mitt romney is continuing his european tour with a visit to poland today. romney paid his respects to poland's war dead.. laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in warsaw, and then shaking hands with a small gathering of polish military veterans. as he made his way back to his vehichle.. reporters tried to ask romney about some of the mishaps on his trip.. and his traveling press secretary, rick gorka, lost his cool. >> show some respect ... {bleep} this is a holy site... gorka later called reporters to

apologize. romney went on to deliver a foreign policy speech in warsaw. aides say he visited poland to highlight the nation's growing economy and honor its contributions to the war in afghanistan. just ahead: where you can take your kids next month for free haircuts! and, still ahead: apple prepares to debut the new i-phone. we'll tell you when you can expect to see the new design. and later in lunchbreak: the chef from wicker park's "storefront company" is here... we're making skate wing....with seasonal summer ingredients from local sources.

...time for the bloomberg "on the money" report, live from the n.y.s.e. congressional leaders have agreed to a $1 billion spending plan to keep the government running for six months after september 30th ... this may clear the house and the senate this week and that will avoid the automatic spending cuts

scheduled for january ... apple plans to introduce its new i-phone with a larger screen and a design change it will be its first since the release of the i phone 4 ... in anticipation of a new model has hurt the sales of its current devices ... j.c. penney is offering free haircuts and august for kids in stores that have salon's ... the retailer is also featuring automated checkout kiosks ... coming up next: today's being called "dream relief day".... how a new measurecould help more than 800,000 young people in america. and still to come this midday -- than fifty years.... "the zombies" perform live in the studio!

a girl who was pulled out of the lake on friday, has died. lifeguards rescued 12 year old aiyonna jones near north avenue beach after she had been struggling in the water. jones was in the lake with relatives, when they got separated by large waves. it took more than 20 minutes to find her. she was hospitalized in critical condition, until she died yesterday morning at lurie children's hospital. the step-mother of a toddler who died over the weekend is now charged with beating the girl to death in their south side home. 25-year old keisha jones is scheduled to be in bond court at this hour. her step-daughter...one-year old iyonna davis... was rushed to the hospital on saturday. jones told paramedics the little girl was playing when she started having trouble breathing. an autopsy later showed iyonna died of blunt force head trauma from child abuse. the girl's father has not been charged. the sons and daughters of undocumented immigrants are getting some help in their fight to stay in america. if they're eligible ... young adults facing deportation can win more time in the u.s. through a new web site. wgn's julian crew is live in the loop with the story. 15 days from today as many as 100,000 students across the state of illinois may be able to apply for work permits that will help them avoid deportation

... navy pier will have hundreds of volunteers with that will be trained and equipped to help fill out those forms ... the congressman is urging people to go to navy pier august 15th for help for those who are eligible promising and hard- working illinois students facing deportation are workers unable to attend college because his children there were brought to the united states by undocumented parents ... but an effective executive action by the president in june opened at the window of opportunity for the law-abiding immigrant students and citizens to have this chance ... those caught in legal limbo will have the opportunity to apply for a two- year work permit to allow talented engineering undergraduates like this fellow

from elgin to follow the dream to go to medical school ... >>this is a step forward for my dream to be part of economically to this magnificent country i have always felt part of ... for more information you can go to our web site ... or dream relief.org governor quinn has called a special session in springfield to discuss fixing the state's critically underfunded pension system. but some say, one session won't change anything. governor quinn appeared on cltv's "pension games" program last night ... calling out lawmakers who won't take action. the special session scheduled for august 17th, will be costly ... lawmakers must be paid extra, plus compensated for gas. the tab for these expenses could add up to $40,000 per day. chicago public schools ceo jean- claude brizard will be reaching

out to parents today.. getting ready for the start of the new school year. as he did at this same time last year, brizard will be taking part in the c-p-s "back to school" phone bank. he'll be placing calls to parents.. reminding them that "early start schools" begin fall classes on august 13th.. and students in "regular start schools" go back on september 4th. it's part of a grass-roots campaign aimed at increasing attendance on the first day of school. still to come this midday .... tom skilling has your full forecast i'm on break sweetheart. [ woman ] you know you don't have to put up with this. those annoying period symptoms. general pain relievers like advil, only treat cramps, but midol has three active ingredients to take care of that... and fatigue and bloating. because you deserve better. [ female announcer ]

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... one of my colleagues in rockford called it the best lightninged display he has seen in years ... it was quite vivid we have fantastic shots from the viewers ... these towered up to 58,000 ft. the atmosphere was loaded with energy ... they produced wind and hailstones ... here's another photograph sent in by one of our viewers ... and here is are some of those hailstones that fell on bourbonnnais ... tennis ball sized hailstones as well as in

southern wisconsin ... the northeast wind is coming ... we will see that humidity come down ... you can see the way this stuff collapses and fades ... we have just a scattering of clouds ... we're looking at the blue areas on the map where the structure of the storm produces some hailstones and this is where the rain fell the heaviest in a portion of the southern suburbs and scattered areas north and west of the city had substantial rain as well ...

we are looking at these wind gusts ... in the wake of the storms it is beautiful 78 degrees right now at wrigleyville ...

we are looking at the rainfall totals around the region ... the northeast wind is taking that canadian air and bringing down those temperatures ... the pattern developing could produce some spots of heavy rain later on this week ... temperatures here are forecast above normal on the models we have here ... and here is that bubble of high pressure ...

that's where the heat is happening downstate and further ... please be careful swimming in the great lakes these riptides are very dangerous ... the deserts' of all places are getting rain in this upside down meteorological world we are looking at the return of the southerly flow said the scattered-thunderstorms will be back in the picture thursday friday saturday ... storms can occur again on sunday as well we're closing the books on the warmest july in 57 years ... the average temperature was

81 degrees ... is the third warmest july 8th since the record keeping began in about a hundred and 46 years is the warmest we've had in 57 years ... every day this month was above normal in temperatures ... and lakeshore water temperatures were the warmest we have ever seen in this area ... we will be six degrees cooler ... it is pretty warm outside ... for now. to the far west and southern suburbs the temperatures will be peaking pushing 90 degrees the

temperatures will be coming down the high temperature at o'hare today will be 85 degrees ... tonight mainly clear steady northeast wind warm and more moderate humidity low temperature to 967 degrees ... wednesday mostly sunny and warm not as humid 89 degrees ... building clouds thursday hot humid by afternoon scattered thunderstorms the high temperature 92 degrees lower at the lakeshore ... we're going into a muddy and warm spell for the weekend ... august begins tomorrow ... time for today's trivia:

the british band "the zombies" was formed in 1961.... which other wildly popular band was formed the same year? a. the beach boys b. the rolling stones c. the monkees the answer is ahead in this hour of the wgn midday news.

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let the good hands people give you great protection and a great rate. call your local allstate agent now for a fe quote or find one at 888-allstate. that's 888-allstate. time for sports: the cubs traded three players last night.. and more could be on the way out before today's 3 p.m. trade deadline. reed johnson and paul maholm go to atlanta. the cubs get pitching prospects

arodys vizcaino and jaye chapman in return. vizcaino pitched in 17 games last year but had tommy john surgery in april. the cubs also trade geovany soto to the rangers for another pitching prospect, jake brigham who's pitched well at aa this season. on the field last night.. the cubs got a three-run homer from darwin barney in the fourth inning. then.. a monster fifth inning, including a three-run shot from anthony rizzo. the cubs beat the pirates in a rout.. 14 - 4. sox vs. twins at target field: the white sox started out great.. four runs in the first including a three-run homer from a.j. pierzynski. but they couldn't hold the lead. in the ninth, the twins' jamie carroll hit the winning sacrifice fly. sox lose to minnesota 7-6. but they're still in first place in the al central. highlights from the summer olympic games in london... lake forest's matt grevers sets an olympic record in the 100- meter backstroke and wins the gold medal. american nick thoman won the silver. 17-year old missy franklin sets an american record in the women's 100-meter backstroke and wins the gold.

she won just 14 minutes after swimming a qualifying heat for another race! but, the big disappointment: the u.s. men's gymnastics team. they drop from first to fifth place and fail to medal. here's a breakdown of the medal count... china has won 19 medals, including 10 gold. the u.s. has claimed 18 medals, including six gold. and japan has won 12 medals, with one gold. that's a look at sports. your live illinois lottery drawing is next. good afternoon. here are the winning pick three numbers: 8 7

8 here are the winning pick four numbers: 5 0 4 8

[ "i'm only human" plays ] humans -- sometimes life trips us up. and sometimes, we trip ourselves up but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance we can "untrip" you as you go through your life with personalized policies and discounts when you need them

most. just call... and speak with a licensed representative about saving on your policy when you get married move into a new house... [crash!] or add a car to your policy. don't forget to ask about saving up to 10% when you combine your auto and home insurance with liberty mutual. security, coverage and savings. all the things humans need to make our beautifully imperfect world a little less imperfect. call... and lock in your rate for 12 months. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

in medical watch.. "seal flu" could pose a threat to human health. a new flu strain called h-3-n-8 was identified after more than 160 new england harbor seals turned up dead last year. post-mortem examinations showed five of the seals were killed by a flu infection. experts now say the h-3-n-8 flu virus has the potential to pass to other mammals.. including humans. h-3-n-8 is closely related to the flu strain that's been circulating in north american birds since 2002.. but unlike

the avian strain, it's adapted to living in mammals. overworked nurses may be putting patients at greater risk of infection. university of pennsylvania researchers compared the number of hospital-acquired infections with the ratio of patients to nurses. they report, the more patients a nurse looked after, the higher the number of infections patients picked up while in the hospital. the researchers also found a higher rate of "emotional burn- out" among nurses was associated with more catheter and surgical site infections. it's an old adage: when times get tough, just grin and bear it. now, a new study shows smiling can reduce stress and boost heart health. researchers investigated the potential benefits of smiling and how it affects a person's ability to recovery from stressful episodes. they report during testing study participants who smiled had lower heart rates after stressful activities than those who held neutral expressions. smiling actually reduced the body's stress response.. whether or not the person actually felt happy.

please stay with us: lunchbreak is next. [ kate ] most women may not be properly absorbing the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about

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