i think amy is speaking more of the cultural and human aspects of the job. our system as you know is based on the theory that any accused person who comes to court is presumed innocent. they are protected by that preassumption. that's why, in fact, we provide council for an indigent person whoke not afford counsel. unfortunately, it paints a rather discouraging picture because i found that there is a fundamental disconnect between that theory and actual practice in california and that disconnect occurs because the system, the indigent defense system is funded by local politicians. now these are public officials who must make decisions. they must choose among many worthy, competing concerns that are vying for those scarce taxpayer dollars and not surprising, most of them or at least many of them assume most defendants are guilty, they tend to make decisions about indigent defense systems based on the presumption of guilt. that has made a system in many county where is processing the presumed guilty as cheaply as possible is given a much higher authority than

then he left. >> reporter: amy says it was an agonizing decision, but she and her parents agreed amy should stay with her boyfriend. but things began to fall apart when amy and her boyfriend separated within just a few months amy was homeless. the plight of children like amy was highlighted in a recent study by the nonprofit urban institute. researchers noted that at least 100,000 parents living and working in the u.s. illegally have been detained or deported over the past decade, often in workplace raids. they have left behind thousands of children. the study finds when those kids are separated from their parents, they suffer a wide range of financial, social and emotional hardships. the most common is not having a stable place to live. martha flores is a social worker in vista. she says she's seen an increase in the number of children left behind. >> for the time being, i mean, they are homeless. their home they would have gone back to, there's no parents there anymore. they obviously aren't able to stay there. and so usually somebody will step in, a family member, a friend or the

amis is now 60 and going strong. ron charles of the "washington post" says "there's not a smarter cleverer writer alive than martin amis." "the pregnant widow" is his 12th novel. i'm pleased to have him here back at this table. and there's also this in the beginning of the book. from that you chose this title. >> yeah. he was talking about social and political revolutions and the revolution i'm talking about is the sexual revolution, that that was no different than from any other in that it isn't a flip, it isn't a capsize when you have a revolution, it's a... you know, you start from a new basis but then it takes forever to adjust itself because your old beliefs and inhibitions in the case of the sexual revolution don't evaporate at the snap of a finger. they have to work their way through you. and i think, for instance, the rise of women-- which i applaud and encourage whenev i can-- will take at least another century. so "the pig are widow" is in her first trimester. it isn't a fate acomply. it's something that wi

our first panelist is amy bach. miss bach spent eight years studying courts throughout the country and she wrote a book called "ordinary injustice." it is really an incredible book that looks at the perspective of the justice system from a contract public defender's per spivet, a prosecutor's perspective and a judge's perspective and she was able to come up with some brilliant insights about not whoonl the problems are not only what the problems are but what to do about it. professor bener wrote incredible tweetice studying public office throughout the state of -- tweetice studying public office throughout the states of california. why they are not equipped to properly handle all of the cases that they have and the challenges involved in it and what to do about it. next we have the public defender of fresno county. ken tagucci. he has fought a valiant battle. it is still going on on. a raging battle with the board of supervisors in fresno county and last year, they cut his staff by 12 attorneys and at the same time

amy is one -- the issue of cleanup came up and amy always did the right thing. she spoke the truth, relied on science, and -- walker once said, the truth has roads -- a line has roads -- thank you. the point was, we stood there over and over again. we were wonderfully well- represented. they toil hard under a hard deadline. we did something very important that is very hard, and we did it well. so thank you. [applause] maor newsom: all right. there we have it. now we have the opportunity to sign the legislation. we are going to get people to work. we have made a lot of promises, and it is incumbent -- to fulfill the promises, and that starts with this legislation.

amy is one -- the issue of cleanup came up and amy always did the right thing. she spoke the truth, relied on science, and -- walker once said, the truth has roads -- a line has roads -- thank you. the point was, we stood there over and over again. we were wonderfully well- represented. they toil hard under a hard deadline. we did something very important that is very hard, and we did it well. so thank you. [applause] maor newsom: all right. there we have it. now we have the opportunity to sign the legislation. we are going to get people to work. we have made a lot of promises, and it is incumbent -- to fulfill the promises, and that starts with this legislation. >> i have 2 job titles. i'm manager of the tour program as well as i am the historyian of city hall. this building is multifaceted to say the very least it's a municipal building that operates the city and county of san francisco. this building was a dream that became a reality of a man by the name of james junior elected mayor of san francisco in 1912. he didn't have a city hall because it was destroye

i think amy pointed out the most salient point. first of all, we're still here and people predicted we would not be. secondly, i think the people here have shown tremendous resillence, especially in the face of the b.p. oil spill. thirdly, they've shown a capacity to build back better than before, not concentrating getting where we were but how transformationally the change structures in the areas she spoke about. when you're on the ground you really get a tale of two cities. some people are doing better, some people are doing worse, some people are doing both at the same time. i think there is a sense of eternal optimism here as hard as it's been. it's very hard. this is not an easy walk that we're walking but at least i think most people think we're heading in the right direction. they're impatient. they're a little bit frustrated of where we have gone because of course you want to get back as quickly as you can but i think they know we will get there. >> ifill: let me read some numbers-- $67 million budget deficit which you talk

amy, i'll take you back out here.en they first saw it. and now to see it in 3d, to see the distances and what is close, what is far, and maybe they might be able to see if there is a gash in the hull. they're really hoping to answer a lot of questions. if that gash is there, it explains how the water entered in and caused the watertight compartments to fill up and go down, or maybe rivets popped. they'll be able to determine if there were faulty rivets. there are still questions, even though everybody knows it was an iceberg that brought down the titanic, the unsinkable. amy? >> i know we've been describing it as awesome. and i don't even think that describes those images. so super cool. thank you so much, kerry sanders. enjoy the view from where you are. >>> and coming up next here on "today," brian williams with brad pitt and brian will also interview president obama this coming sunday. you can watch it on "nightly and we're back, but first these messages. and itch! when allergies make your precious eyes itch, don't

amy has written this book, and a cup of book award. -- it got a book award. [applause] how can defense attorneys or people who work in the system make that known and worked with journalists? >> i generally bring everybody out to lunch or to a bar or to both. journalists and police officers have this classic cold war, and there was even a cold war between defense attorneys and journalists -- certainly between prosecutors and reporters, and i find if i write a story they cannot just come back and say, this is wrong, and this is wrong. if they are faced with the fact i have busted my butt to get everything right and have gone to them and really tried hard to represent my view points, then they do not have an argument about going to a bar with maie. we have people whispering to us, and that is part of the dynamic, but i find once you develop a reputation for trying hard to understand all the things you people learn in hastings and asking stupid questions over and over again -- is there a police called in continent? -- plea called in continent? if you ask the ques

and amy windham was already asleep in bed.ed robber wearing a ski mask broke into her home hit her in the forehead with his handgun. and then used shoe laces to tie her hands to the corners of her bed. he left with her cell phone, ipod and her car. but for some reason left this laptop behind. she was tied to the head board. but was close enough to reach the laptop with her feet. she says she started typing into the computer with her toes. using this power cord to tap the keys. sending instant messages to her girlfriend over the internet. hours later, at 5:01, she managed to write help. a few minutes later, call 911 police. she didn't spell correctly but got the message across. i'm hope tied to bed. typing with toes. >> i was in shock. i didn't believe it. >> reporter: her boyfriend, who was up and logged in called police immediately. while he's dialing 911, he wrote back. did they have any weapons? she wrote, gun. have car. >> she's creative. she's a fighter. she knows how to use what she's got. >> reporter: when police arrive