all the things you do 'neath your red white and blue. >> free speech, but how free? the supreme court tests the limits of the first amendment. angry in alaska. leaked e-mails reportedly from sarah palin's husband criticizes a candidate she supported. lost and found. a quick-thinking samaritan rescues a kidnapped girl. >> i said, well, that's the guy. >> this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, october 6th, 2010. good morning, everybody. i'm betty nguyen. thanks for joining us. freedom of speech is fundamental to the american way of life, guaranteed to all in the constitution. today the supreme court takes up

a provocative case that tests the limits of that guarantee. >> reporter: good morning. it surrounds a churches decision to protest outside a military funeral. of course there are two sides to the issue. on the one hand a family's right to grieve privately, on the other hand the church members' rights to free speech. the westboro baptist church is putting free speech to the test. >> they are using the event to say we're all good, god bless america, things are going well, brag about the military. turn them into a patriotic pep rally. >> reporter: at the supreme court today, church members will argue for the right to hold anti-gay protests outside a the group and its pastor fred phelps believe the deaths are god's way of punishing america for tolerating homosexuality. in 2006, members picketed this funeral of marine lance carp pral

matthew snyder, who died in iraq. he was not gay. >> the worst thing i fight now is the anger with the phelps for taking away that last moment that matt was on the earth. >> reporter: his father sued and won $5 million in damages but a federal appeals court overturned the ruling on first amendment grounds. while the protests are almost universally seen as distasteful, phelps' position is supported by the american civil liberties union and several media organizations. >> we can't have a legal standard that allows for these multi-million dollar judgments if someone is offended even if it is legitimate. >> reporter: for albert snyder, no amount of money or court decision could give him what he wants most. >> somebody said to me $5 million, i bet you'd give it up to have matt back. i would give it up just to say good-bye. >> reporter: the church is showing no signs of backing down. members plan on holding another protest this morning at

arlington national cemetery. and there are also a number of people outside of the supreme court this morning. these are people on both sides of this issue who slept there overnight because it was that important for them to be there today. betty, back to you. >> all right. thank you. here in new york, opening arguments are set this morning in the trial of acmaud khalfan ghailani the first guantanamo bay detainee to face court in a criminal court. he's also accused of being a personal aide to osama bin laden. now to the trial of times square bomber faisal shahzad, who learned his fate yesterday, life in prison and who got his chance to speak out in court. he used it to warn americans to brace themselves because, quote, the war with muslims has begun. randall pinkston has more. >> reporter: faisal shahzad

smirked when the judge handed down the mandatory life sentence. defiant to the end, the 31-year-old calls himself a muslim soldier and told the court he felt no remorse for his failed may 1st bombing attempt in times square. he said, quote, i'm happy with the deal that god has given me. the pakistani-born shahzad also told the court we are proud terrorists and will keep on terrorizing you. >> we are going to arrange an attack inside america. >> reporter: shahzad became a u.s. citizen last year and received explosives training at a pakistani camp and says the taliban gave him money to carry out a terror attack in times square. prosecutors made a tape to demonstrate what would have happened if his bomb had gone off. shahzad told investigators he hoped to kill 40 people here in times square and was planning another attack, two weeks later. the judge said shahzad's sentence should be a warning to anyone who tries to follow in

his footsteps. she told shahzad, he should spend his time behind bars thinking carefully about whether the koran really advocates killing lots of people. randall pinkston, cbs news, new york. it is reported high-level talks about ending the afghan war are under way between the afghan government and officials representing the taliban. the "washington post" says the talks include discussion about the withdrawal of u.s. troops and the taliban participating in the afghan government. in southwest pakistan today, another attack against tankers carrying fuel to u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan. suspected taliban gunmen struck a parking area, setting fire to a dozen tanker trucks and killing one driver. according to the "wall street journal," a new white house report is critical of pakistan's government for failing to aggressively take on either the taliban or al qaeda. in yemen this morning, an attack on a british diplomat. a yemeni official says a mortar round exploded near a motorcade not far from the embassy in the capital. at least three bystanders were

injured. in western hungary, efforts under way to contain an ecological disaster. a flood of toxic red sludge escaped from a metal refinery monday when a reservoir overflowed. at least four people died and more than 100 are injured. many suffering burns from the toxic sludge. emergency workers are struggling to prevent the flood from reaching the vital danube river. back in this country, the sentencing phase of a murderous home invasion in connecticut is set for later this month. a paroled burglar was convicted in the brutal murders of a mother and two daughters. dan dra hughes has our report. >> reporter: it took a jury less than five hours to return a guilty verdict against steven hayes in the murder and sexual assault of jennifer hawke-petit and her daughters. her husband, william, survived after he was beaten with a baseball bat >> there's some relief of my -- my family is still -- still gone. >> reporter: the women were

apparently targeted while grocery shopping and prosecutors say hayes and his co-defendant joshua komisarjevsky followed them to their connecticut home. jennifer was sent to the bank to withdraw $15,000 while the family was tied up at the home. she confided to the teller. >> we have a lady who's in our bank right now who says her husband and children are being held at their house. >> reporter: when hawke-petit returned home, she was raped then strangled. her 11-year-old was also sexually assaulted. her daughters were then tied up, doused with gasoline and the house set on fire. despite the gruesome and disturbing testimony, dr. petit was in court most every day. >> most of you out here, you know, are good human beings. i think that you probably would all do the same thing for your families, if -- if your family was destroyed by evil. >> reporter: both defendants wanted a plea deal but were turned down. now steven hayes faces the death penalty. sandra hughes, cbs news.

just ahead on the morning news how president obama reacted at a podium mishap and why sarah palin's husband sent angry e-mails to an alaska senate candidate. first a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." they're responsible for a third of our food supply but over the past three years tens of millions of bees have been dying off. now, researchers think they know why. find out tonight only on the "cbs evening news." bway. i'm all over it. [ male announcer ] a big day deserves a better breakfast. take your pick of a dee-licious lineup of our newest $5 footlong breakfast melts -- from the sunrise subway melt to the tasty steak, egg and cheese. they're all around delicious! knock out morning hunger. with breakfast at subway. hard hitting flavor. make it the way you want. [ glazer ] make breakfast the play of the day. at subway. [ glazer ] subway. build your better breakfast.

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more snow is expected in the area today. the republican senate nominee in alaska could be in hot water. former governor sarah palin endorsed joe miller for the senate seat and he won the nomination but when asked if palin is qualified to be president, he didn't answer. that did not please palin's husband, todd who purportedly sent angry e-mails about miller saying, quote, sarah put her expletive on the line for joe and yet he can't answer a simple question is sarah palin qualified to be president. another e-mail asked joe, please explain how this endorsement stuff works, is it to be completely one sided, end quote. some think that indicates sarah palin may, indeed, run for president in 2012. a presidential oops moment. the president was giving a speech at a women's event yesterday when the presidential seal fell off the podium. >> we cannot sustain -- oops.

was that my -- [ laughter ] oh, goodness. that's all right. all of you know who i am. [ laughter ] but i'm sure there's somebody back there that's really nervous right now. >> no doubt. after a few jokes, president obama finished the speech. on the "cbs moneywatch" stock markets in asia were up sharply this morning. ashley morrison is in new york with much more on that. good morning, ashley. >> good morning. asian markets jumped on speculation the fed will take bigger steps to help the u.s. economy. japan's neck kay gained more than 1.5% and hong kong's hang seng was also sharply higher. today, wall street hopes for another day like tuesday. stocks rallied to a five-month high after unexpectedly good news on the service sector, the dow surged 193 points. the blue chips now up 5% for the year. the nasdaq gained 23.

30 california lawmakers are calling for a federal investigation of foreclosures. they want federal regulators to find out whether mortgage companies broke the law by using paperwork that may have contained errors. three banks halted four closers in 23 states after evidence surfaced their employees or outside lawyers signed documents without reading them. for the second year in a row, social security beneficiaries are not expected to see more money in their checks. experts say there simply has not been enough inflation to justify a bump in benefits. retail sales slightly higher last month clothing sales rose 3.8% helped by stores offering back-to-school discounts. electronic sales rose 6.4% but fell 5.4% from last year. the ipad the fastest selling gadget in history. according to "wired" magazine about three million of them were sold in the 80 days following its release by comparison, apple sold one million of the original

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baseball's division playoffs begain today. in the national league philadelphia hosts cincinnati and in the american league, texas visits tampa bay. in the other a.l. game the defending champion yankees play the twins in minnesota. the yankees say they aren't worried about being the wild card after finishing second to the rays in the a.l. east. >> everyone saying about our month of september and this and that but who cares? it's done. it's over with. we're in the playoffs now and time to flip the switch. >> maybe so but the twins have high hopes, since they were the best team in the league at home. in the nfl, randy moss could be returning to the vikings. new england and minnesota are said to be discussing a trade that would send the star receiver back to the team he started with. and in the nba lebron james, dwyane wade and chris bosh made their debut for the miami heat, but three minutes into the preseason game,

wade left with an injured hamstring. james and bosh combined for 38 points in the 105-89 win over detroit. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories and a young kidnap victim saved by a quick-thinking good samaritan. it's the columbus day weekend event. get 50-60% off coats for the family. and now 20% off all craftsman power lawn and garden and outdoor storage. plus get $70 cash back after mail-in rebate when you buy 4 michelin tires. sears vo: it's america's egg farmers who feed millions in need... vo: ....it's families who are active in their communities... ...and it's kids who learn the value of nutritious foods. clint hickman: go to goodeggproject.org to learn more. gotta get that bacon! smokey bacon, crispy bacon, tasty bacon! where is it? where is the bacon? tv newscaster: bacon popular, story at 11. dog: yummy. crunchy. bacon. bacon. bacon. there, in that bag! mom: who wants a beggin' strip!? dog: me! i'd get it myself but i don't have thumbs!

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lo> on the "cbs morning news" a on the "cbs morning news" a look at today's weather, breaks of sunshine will appear today in the northeast as a lingering weather system moves slowly north but a few more showers are likely as it goes in the southeast and the air is warm and dry. more severe weather is in store for the southwest. here's another look at the day's top stories, the supreme court takes up an important and controversial free speech case today. the court hears arguments in the case concerning o offensive protests at a military funeral. a hopeful sign for the economy. the dow jones industrials surged to their highest close in five months on news the service sector grew for the ninth month in a row.

now to a british twist on the old neighborhood crime stopper program. british police have asked for the public's help monitoring the many security cameras online. anyone with a computer can volunteer to monitor video feeds from public places. if they spot a thief or suspicious activity they can call in and report and collect a cash reward. a little girl is home safe this morning in fresno, california, after being abducted yesterday from her own front yard. it was a terrible ordeal but fortunately a quick-thinking good samaritan took action before more harm could be done. >> amen. we are all happy and we are thankful. >> reporter: the 8-year-old kidnapped was playing outside her central fresno home monday night with friends when police say gregoria gonzalez pulled up in this 1975 chevy truck. he convinced her to come with him then grabbed her and pulled her into the truck before her mom could save her. >> saw the news and got a

description of the truck and saw him driving by and just wanted to go see if it was him or not. >> reporter: per zest says words were exchanged between him and the suspect and at first he didn't notice the little girl in the truck but then he saw her. >> second time i cut him off he got a little aggravated and the little girl stuck her head out and i said that's the guy. >> the police chief thanks perez at a press conference, thankful this ended the way it did. >> knowing samaritans are willing to step forward and do what they do at great risk of them self makes me even more proud as a chief and i want to say thank you again to the media. you folks are stellar. you stepped up, you did what you needed to do. >> reporter: for perez, he says he needed to do exactly what he did to save this little girl's life. >> i got family of my own and i live here with my cousin and her kids are always running around here in the same neighborhood, so -- this morning on "the early show" you'll meet the good samaritan, victor perez. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news.

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. we are back to damp day start. marty is in the first warning weather scepter. >> let's look at first warning doppler. we will not see the rain we had on monday but there are showers around this day and it is real interesting. we will talk about this but you can see the rotation of low pressure. it makes a run northeast to get out f here and that's what will bring showers. let's look at the day part. we are in the low 50s now, going to the mid-60s. in the news, on trial. does a church group have the right to protest soldiers funerals. the u.s. supreme court gets that case today. a fire at a popular restaurant send fire fighters

scrambling. what happened yesterday. start saving, what's in a popular christmas catalog and where you can buy the item. more news and first warning weather in a couple of minutes. ♪

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baltimore. good morning maryland now don scott, marty bass and the latest breaking news, the first warning weather and morning traffic control. it is wjz maryland's news station. >> in 25 seconds it will be 5:00 on this wednesday morning. it is once again a damp day start that we are dealing with. sharon will have the latest on traffic. marty is over at first warning weather. >> let's check it out. i want you to look at