investigation, prior to everything, really, your intuition or your detective knowledge led you to amanda knox first few weeks we were convinced because of the behavior of the two people and especially amanda, that they were both involved in a crime. >> but almost immediately after the arrests, there was a problem. the third suspect, patrick had an air tight alibi. he was in his crowded bar that night. company not have been involved. then, the actual forensic tests came back. >> when i looked at it, i was horrified. >> you can watch the entire special murder abroad the amanda knox story tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. >>> checking our top stories ney none bigger than this one new images of osama bin laden seized from his hideout in abbottabad, pakistan. five different videos of the man who was the most wanted terrorist released today by u.s. intelligence officials. each of them with the southern removed to avoid spreading bin laden's words. >>> at least six people have been killed and 120 injured in clashes between muslims and christians in cairo, egypt. muslims attacked

>>> plus to italy for the amanda knox case. was convicted of killing her british roommate and now appealing the verdict. knox is getting support from a grum of italian lawmakers. why and what does this mean for her? we'll explore that coming up. >>> and then celebrity reinventions. britney spears did it. the robert downey jr. did it. both were successful. but what about arnold schwarzenegger? can he bounce back from shame and from scandal? we'll have the latest on that, also, coming up. >>> but we want to begin in joplin, missouri, with today's memorial service for the victims of the tornado. the death toll now stands at 139 with about 100 people still missing. nbc's ron allen joins us from joplin. ron, good morning. >> reporter: good morning tu to you, lester. yes, those numbers continue to change a bit. one variable is the number of missing and unaccounted for, about 100. many of them could be among the dead or they could also perhaps add to the death toll. the problem is that there are so many bodies and remains that have no

police during questioning arc charge the authorities deny and are fighting in court. >> this was amanda knox back in court for what has almost become a trial within a trial. already appealing against her murder conviction, the 23-year-old american now faces a charge of slander. knox and her former boyfriend, seen here together, were convicted of killing meredith kercher at this house in 2007. 21-year-old meredith from south london died in the house she shared with knox after a violent attack. in the days following meredith's death, knox was questioned by police. then, at her murder trial, she claimed she was hit in the head during that interrogation. the police officers involved denied the claims, saying they acted professionally, and that's why the case of slander has now come to court. traveling from his home in seattle, knox's father said it still wasn't clear what took place in the police station. >> the question really becomes what truly happened, and you know, we would all be in a position that's much better off had her interrogation been recorded, and we would really know what happene

. >> sonny, i want to ask you one more case, really and this is amanda knox, the american college student, she is appealing her case. says she didn't do it. the italian legal system seems to be going through this appeal where a lot of holes in the original prosecution are appearing and italian lawmakers are coming to amanda knox's defense. saying perhaps we need to open an investigation on the prosecutor over there. where does this case stand now, and is it likely any kind of italian political involvement could spring amanda knox? >> i think so. i think it is extremely significant that policymakers are saying this doesn't smell right. there's something wrong. we need to investigate this. we know that she's, her trial is now on appeal and in italy that's almost like getting a trial and what we're hearing from italy is that there were experts that found that the evidence wasn't credible and so, you know, i wonder then, that part of it, the appeal finding that perhaps the evidence isn't credible and up have lawmakers also saying we don't like the way this investigation was done. that is goin

does this case stand now and is it likely any kind of italian political involvement could spring amanda knox> i think so. i think it is extremely significant that policymakers are saying this doesn't smell right. there's something wrong. we need to investigate this. we know her trial is now on appeal, and in italy that's almost like getting a new trial. what we're hearing from italy is that there were experts that found that the evidence wasn't credible, and so, you know, i wonder then that part of it, the appeal, finding that perhaps the evidence isn't credible, and now you have lawmakers also saying we don't like the way this investigation was done. that is going to certainly put the pressure on the appellate court, on the italian judicial system, and we may see amanda knox coming home. >> sunny hostin joins us every week at this time to discuss legal issues and you can watch her week days during "in session" on trutv. >>> the taliban taking credit for another attack. that report next. plus restoring rinse.ing it's the only listerine® that gets teeth two shades whiter and makes tooth ename

amanda knox returned as part of the appeal process. and once again, she said she is innocent. keith miller reports that this time some of the evidence might support that claim. >> reporter: appearing eager to have her day in court, knox greeted friends and family attending the court session. including her father kurt knox. her defense team is growing more confident as the weight of the dna evidence appears to be leaning in knox's favor. also in court today, the chief of the murder squad. monica napolioni who was questioned about the police procedure during the murder investigation. the defense claims the police work was sloppy. but this appeal is all about the dna. forensic scientists appointed by the appeals judge asked for a 40-day extension to file their report because police have failed to produce all of their dna lab findings. >> i think it's more disappointing in why the forensic police will not provide the information, the independent experts feel is necessary for them to do a full evaluation and provide an opinion. >> reporter: knox, along with her former boyfriend raf

we have the developments. >> reporter: in an emotional plea before the judge, amanda knox said she is innocent and she found prison life frustrating and mentally exhausting. she said a 23-year-old girl is now facing life in prison for a crime she didn't commit. in court today the judge allowed another 40-day extension to the forensic scientist appointed by the court to go over the evidence. what we're hearing from very good sources is there is no dna left to evaluate going back to the original records. if that is the case, it's quite possible that the prosecution's case will fall part. we're told that there are some other witnesses that will be coming later in the trial, and this appeal process, which has been going on now for eight months, has been extend pd again. we're not expecting a wrap to this until september and perhaps no actual verdict until the fall. lester. >> keith miller in italy. >>> pope benedict had a direct line to the heavens today. he spoke to the astronauts, the first time a pope has done that. he told mark kelly he hopes his wife gabrielle giffords recovering qui

some will say it's not amanda knox or rudy giday who was convicted. whose dna was all over the crime scene admitted to doing it alone and amanda had nothing to do with it. >> amanda knox had an emotional appeal to the judge over the weekend. will that have an impact, do you think? >> quite frankly the press attention on the case has gotten in the way of justice a little bit. i believe when the italian justice system came under attack by our media for the most part they sort of had a bunker mentality and tried to verify and validate their findingses. i don't think any emotional pitch for appellate court will work. look, she's a 23-year-old girl who spent three and a half years in jail for something i don't believe she did. >> public opinion was a factor in the original trial. a lot of italians felt the entire justice system was on trial. it got hated. do you expect the same thing here? >> surprisingly enough there was a groundswell of support for the appeal in italy which is important. >> which you wouldn't expect. >> you wouldn't. but enough cracks in

amanda knox makes an emotional plea declaring her innocence as she tries to get her conviction overturned. at issue, key dna evidence. we're live in italy. >>> apocalypse now. the preacher and many believers who say we're hours away from judgment day, today's saturday, may 21, 2011. 0 captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday. i'm lester holt. >> i'm amy robach. according to evangelists, harold camping and his followers, today is judgment day for christians. >> a lot of people have made this prediction over the century. this guy spent a lot of money getting the word out. it's the rapture and he claims it's all in the math. we'll take a look at the doomsday prophesy coming up. >> tensions were thick at the white house as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu publicly opposed obama's vision of the middle east. where does this relationship go from here and what does it mean for the rest of the region. we'll get insight. >>> casey anthony, the mother who stands accused of murdering her daughter three years ago. polling the s

amanda knox proclaimed her innocence in court today saying she was far too young to spend the rest of her life in prison for a crime she did not commit. forensic scientists appointed by the appeals judge asked for a 40-day extension to file their report because police have failed to produce all of their a lab findings at this point. it could take until september for the appeals process to wrap up and a final appeal verdict is handed down. >>> and in libya, the country's government took journalists on a tour of damage caused by air strikes. they said nato planes struck an interior ministry building in a place where corruption cases are examined. journalists were taken to a badly damaged building in tripoli as well. nato said its war planes bombed command centers near tripoli and southwest libya. >>> still to come at 6:00 -- we'll show you more ways to point and click your way to savings at a time when every penny truly counts, especially at the pump. >>> and they are planning to pave paradise to put up a parking lot, as the song goes. the college of san mateo is planning to do just tha

oh. [ horn honks ] >>> a probe into the evidence against amanda knox was extended for another 40 days saturday. knocks is the american student convicted in the murder of her roommate in italy. the results of new dna tests had been due today. experts say they needed more time to complete their work. >>> one of the big legal stories this week is also filling the gossip pages, talking about the split between arnold schwarzenegger and maria shriver. the announcement came on the revolution that schwarzenegger fathered a child with family housekeeper. that's more than enough to get our legal guys going. >> let's move on to the arnold schwarzenegger maria shriver case. little dribblings come out every day. now we're talking about the case of maria shriver hiring a fairly well known celebrity divorce attorney, avery. clearly the couple probably had prenup agreements before they got married, but the wealth changed over the years. they've been married for 25 years. isn't california kind of that 50/50 state? after ten years usually the wealth or the assets get split in half. would that apply her

. >>> and convicted murderer amanda knox made an emotional appeal during a hearing in an italian courtd them for giving them more time to for their report. she said that she doesn't want to be in prison the rest of her life. >>> they inspected damage to the belly of the space shuttle. nasa said that there's no reason to be alarmed. the astronauts got a call from pope benedict this morning. >>> the vatican is slamming a new sculpture of pope john paul ii outside of rome's train station saying it doesn't look like him. time now for the weather. >> good morning, ron, and good morning, everyone, once again. let's take a look at our live shot in atlanta. thank you very much to our affiliate wsb. it's 66 degrees. but guess what, hotlanta, you're going to get up to 91 today, 10 degrees above the norm. we've got very warm weather south of the jet stream, in fact for the next two days, take a look at these two cities. 91 and 92 in atlanta. orlando, you're going to coast at 93 degrees. very warm weather and that should be consistent for at least a few days. meanwhile, this major system, i was tr

. ♪ >>> american student amanda knox made another emotional plea to be released from an italian prisoned to 26 years in prison last december in the death of her roommate back in 2007. presencic experts are retesting evidence as part of her appeal. >>> back in this country, the split between arnold schwarzenegger and maria shriver is getting a lot of buzz. the announcement come on the heels of the news schwarzenegger fathered a child with a family housekeep housekeeper. >> let's move on to the arnold schwarzenegger maria shriver case. little dribblings come out every day. now we're talking about the case of maria shriver hiring a fairly well known celebrity divorce attorney, avery. so clearly the couple probably had prenup agreements before they got married. but the wealth change oefd over years. they've been married for 25 years. isn't california kind of that 50/50 state? after ten years usually the wealth or the assets get split in half? would that apply here even if there were prenups? >> well, ordinarily the prenup will expire after a certain period of time. 10, 15 years. they've be

cbs news correspondent allen pizzey has the latest. >> reporter: amanda knox came in to court lookingan in previous appearances. the order of business was to determine how much more time experts could have to examine the dna evidence that convicted her and her former boyfriend raffaele sollecito of murder. the answer was another 40 days. knox spoke out and told the court, thank you for having accepted the review by experts, which is very important. i have been in prison for 3 1/2 years now, as an innocent person, and it's exhausting me. adding, i do not want to stay in prison unjustly for the rest of my life. knox's dna and a minute spec of blood from victim meredith kercher found on a knife and sollecito's on a bra clasp are crucial to the case. the defense hopes the experts will establish that the evidence was so badly mishandled it is inadmissible. the next session will be on june 18. at which point five prison snitches will be called to give evidence. including claims that drifter rudy guide who was convicted in a separate trial in taking part in the murder says knox and sollecito

tomorrow, the campaign to free amanda knox. >>> and the casey anthony murder trial is back in sessiononight on ""nbc nightly news,"" so long, everybody. have a great day. >>> good morning. coming up next on "today in the bay," did you feel it? we'll have the latest on an overnight quake here in the bay area. >>> and robberies connected to a frightening rape case. the port of oakland's plan to make our air cleaner. we'll see you in just a few.

. >>> also overnight, american student amanda knox broke down and declared her innocence to an as courtlit. she was accused of sexually assaults and murdering her british roommate. she said that nothing is more important than finding the truth. independent experts are now reviewing dna evidence and are expected to have results back by june 30th. >>> opening arguments in the trial of a florida mother accused of killing her two-year- old daughter will begin on tuesday. it took 11 days to pick them, but a jury has now been sworn in, but the process was not without controversy. >> you're talking about someone's life, and -- >> (indiscernible). >> that outburst came while the judge was questioning a potential juror who was then excused, and the woman who interrupted was escorted out of are the courtroom. 25-year-old casey anthony is accused of killing her two-year- old daughter caylee who disappeared in 2008. her body was found five months later. the jurors will be sequestered for the duration of the trial, which could last 8 week. >> items belonging to the unabomber are up for auction, and

. >>> american amanda knox was back in court in italy this morning.n for a slander trial brought against her by the police. knox is serving 26 years for the conviction of her roommate in 2007. she accused police of beating her and prosecutors filed the slander charges and knox's parents were also charged for repeating her statements. >>> the end of an era this morning after 45 years, jerry lewis is stepping down as the host of the labor day muscular dystrophy association telethon. he'll perform his signature song, "you'll never walk alone" on september 4. >>> president obama comforted a graduate in booker t. high school in memphis. he spoke to a senior class of 155 students. you see her crying there yesterday before he spoke. the school won the contest to have mr. obama address the students, thanks in part to the vastly improved graduation. it's five minutes past the hour. back over to erica. >> thanks. >>> i want to get you the latest on dominique strauss-kahn. the judge sends the head of the international monetary fund back to jail to face charges o