i'm fredricka whitfield.s a nato air strike has killed at least nine people in a tripoli neighborhood. nato says e it is investigating. a spokesman says the alliance is doing everything it can to avoid civilian casualties and it is taking the allegations very seriously. >>> firefighters in the western u.s. are up against some of the worst weather conditions this wildfire season. strong winds and high heat are fanning the flames of several major wildfires. there is an extreme fire risk in parts of seven states. right now the top priority is the so-called monument fire in arizona. it has burned several dozen homes to the ground. >>> and music fans are mourning the loss of clarence clemens today. the saxophonist was bruce springsteen's sidekick for almost 40 years. he was influential in establishing the sound of the e street band. at 6'4", clemens towered on stage. his nickname, big man. he died from complications of a stroke he suffered last week. clemens was 69. i'm fredricka whitfield. i'll have more stories

richelle carey in for fredricka whitfield at the top of the hour.ood to see you, too. thanks for welcoming me in here. it's a little cold but it's okay. >> i'll leave my jacket when i take off. what have you got? these legal guys this weekend. what are they going after? >> they have a lot of good stuff to talk about. in particular, we're going to focus on a case that it seemed like the country is focusingen o on, casey anthony. casey's been on trial for the past two weeks. and it seems like every week, the testimony gets more dramatic. it started with the closing arguments where jose baez alleges that her father molested her. this week, her mother, cindy, took the stand and also her brother, lee. what's critical about cindy, is they brought in evidence, that 911 call that set everything into motion. her mother called and said, i haven't seen my granddaughter in 31 days and my daughter's car smells like there's been a dead body in it. >> and they're in court right now on saturday. nice to hear the legal guys are going to take that on. this is a live

we're 13 minutes to the top of the hour and just a few minutes away from talking to miss fredricka whitfieldassward to protect your personal data online. the latest security breach allowed anybody to use any password to access fernl data of some 25 million people. this had to do with something that a lot of people will be the next big thing out there. it's called the cloud. earlier, i talked to our digital lifestyle expert, mario armstrong, and he explained the technological breakdown here. >> -- hard drive in your computer. the hard drive looks something like this inside of your computer. this hard drive has programs and it has files. image if this hard drive is sitting up on the internet. now, if it's on the internet, any device, a phone, a laptop, a tablet can now connect to this hard drive to pull down those files, to sync them together or to access them on any device. so the bottom line is, with the cloud, through the internet, you can access software and files on any device. >> so, essentially, you don't have to have your physical hard drive anymore, you are trusting yourself, literall

i'm richelle carey in for fredricka whitfield. >> gunfire sends demonstrators scattering in western syria. this is north of damascus. witnesses say military forces and police fired indiscriminately into this massive crowd of anti-government protesters yesterday at a and a human rights group estimates as many as 80 people were killed. we have to rely on eyewitnesss and youtube videos because cnn is not allowed to report from inside syria. >>> a suspected u.s. drone strike in pakistan may have killed the man considered al qaeda's military brain. cashmerery's group says he was killed in an attack on a tribal area near the afghan border. the killing has not been confirmed by pakistan or the united states. >> he was a man who was believed to be mounting or in the process of planning large, spectacular global attacks. and that is why he is such a key darth for the u.s., a man whom they believe had the ability and the resources to conduct strikes that could attack the west, particularly in europe and possibly even the united states, michelle. >> here in the u.s., the coast guard is closing a 182

ynl dab raw ferric in for fredricka whitfield. new developments in the anthony wiener scandal. he said he's going to file for a leave of absence. it would be used to seek professional treatment. this is after calls from top democrat leaders asking for him to resign. let's bring in jason carroll who is in the congressman's district in queens. you spoke to the congressman earlier. did he give you any indication anything was up? >> no, but the indication maybe should have been when he was running errands, picking up money at the atm, picking up clothing at the dry cleaning. he's going to be boarding a tra leaving for treatment. i want you to read the quote, congressman weiner departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on his professional issues so he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well. it's unclear where he's headed and how long he'll be there. before the congressman left this morning, we had an opportunity to speak with him wiabout a numr of issues, specifically the issue involving the teenage girl from delaware. congress w

i'm fredricka whitfield. more graphic testimony today in the trial of casey anthony, which, at times, appeared to upset the defendant. attorneys for the young woman accused of killing her little girl called their leading experts to the stand, renowned forensic pathologist dr. werner spitz testified about the condition of the child's remains and the duct tape found on her skull. >> is it your opinion that the duct tape was applied to the skull after it was fully skeletonized? >> it is my opinion that the duct tape was stuck on there after the skin had deteriorated, after the skin was decomposed. >> another expert was dismissed from the stand. >>> there is talk of a diplom diplomatic breakthrough in afghanistan today. barr starr says this could be a first step to ending the nearly ten-year long conflict. >> it has long been said that afghanistan will be solved by a political settlement with the taliban and with the insurgents. you can't kill them all. this is not going to happen. so there will be eventually, it

. >>> here in the cnn newsroom on this sunday, june 12, i'm debra feyerick in for fredricka whitfield. a web site says that weiner took partially nude photos of himself in the house of representatives gymnasium and sent them to at least one woman. the photo shows a man who appears to be weiner taking pictures of himself in the mirror. he verified that the photos were taken in the white house gym. >>> there was one small piece of good news for anthony weiner today. they closed his investigation into his twitter communications with a 17-year-old girl because they found no evidence of illegal activity. weiner's admitting that he sent texts and nude pictures to adult women. we join that force today. >> it's my understanding that mr. weiner has indicated he wants to take a leave. i would hope he does so. i hope he reflects upon whether or not he can proceed. it seems to me extraordinarily difficult that he can proceed to represent his constituents in an effective way given the circumstances this bizarre behavior has led -- >> you think he should resign? >> i think he certainly has to consi

i'm fredricka whitfield in atlanta. here are our top stories at this hour.eet fighting taking place in syria this weekend. security forces trying to shut down crowds of anti-government protesters. human rights activists say more than 1,100 demonstrators have been killed in the fighting since march. syria's military says more than 400 security forces have been killed. >>> delegates from the african union are meeting again to try to hammer out a cease-fire in libya, and who's not at the negotiating table? libyan leader moammar gadhafi. an au official did not specify who, if anyone, is representing libya. previous peace talks that included gadhafi have fallen through. >>> the worst seems to be over for minot, north dakota. the source river, which runs through the heart of the city, is finally cresting higher than ever before. but water levels are supposed to start falling this evening. at least 3,000 homes have been flooded. join me for more news at the top of the hour. >>> will greece default? will portugal, italy, spain and other nations fall like dominos if

i'm fredricka whitfield. topping our news this news hour, first to the flooding in minot, north dakota. the souris river is cresting. it may be another week or so before a lot of people could actually get back into their homes. cnn's jim spellman is standing on the edge of the once flooded out neighborhood. jim, it still looks like it's very much flooded out. how are things? >> reporter: yeah, indeed, it's crested. people are happy it's not going to come up any higher. but believe me, it's done plenty of damage. just take a look around here. it goes on for blocks and block. we're right at the edge, so these houses only have water up to about their first floor line. even just a few houses down the block, it's higher and higher. it just goes on and on for blocks and blocks. fredricka, this is what you need to get around this neighborhood right now is a boat. it's really the only way to get around. we just went out for a little trip on this boat a few blocks away. some neighbors are here saying can you check on

i'm martin savage in for fredricka whitfield. thanks for joining me. >>> in the northern plains this hour an anxious wait as flood levels rise above record levels. the missouri river threatens hundreds of homes. sandbags are in place in threatened areas. hundreds of people have already left their homes. the flooding brought on by heavy spring rains and melting snow. in iowa there's word of a levee breach along the missouri. right now fortunately no reports of any damage or injuries. >>> in arizona, the complete opposite. disaster brought on by flames. several big wildfires burning across the state. right now they've scorched more than a quarter million acres. hundreds of people have been told to pack up and get ready to leave. >> my heart just simply goes out to them and i want them all to know that certainly they are all in our prayers and that we hope that god protects them and -- and their homes and their communities. it's a very tragic situation that they're facing. >> smoke from the arizona fires is affecting air quality in

i'm richelle carey in for fredricka whitfield. >>> they call this man al qaeda's military brain. the jihadist group he belongs to says he is dead, killed by a drone strike last night. ilyas kashmiri was considered a potential successor to osama bin laden. neither the u.s. or pakistan has confirmed a drone strike even occurred. >>> gunfire sends demonstrators scattering in western syria. this is hama, syria, where police fired indiscriminately into this massive crowd of anti-government protesters. arwa damon is watching events in syria from lebanon. >> reporter: what we saw on friday was tens of thousands of people, according to activists and eyewitnesss, gathering in various neighborhoods, trying to converge on the main square in hama when eyewitnesss tell us syrian security forces as they have repeatedly in the past according to eyewitnesss, indiscriminately opened fire on people peacefully demonstrating, people who were unarmed. >> a human rights group estimates 80 people were killed in that crowd yesterday. arwa was reporting from lebanon because the syrian government does not

deb feyerick in for our frld fredricka whitfield. always good to have you down. >> really appreciate it, t.j. you have a great afternoon. >>> well, we begin this hour with a growing scandal surrounding congressman anthony weiner. police are investigating another set of twitter messages. this time, it involves a teenage girl. cnn's jason carroll is in the congressman's home district in queens in new york city. he caught up with the congressman earlier today. jason, it is just not getting any better. what did he tell you? >> reporter: well, a number of things. first let's talk about this online contact that congressman weiner had with this teenage girl in delaware. she's reportedly 17 years old. detectives did speak with her. she told them that none of the contact that she had with the congressman was inappropriate. well, early this morning, i had an opportunity to speak with congressman weiner. he came out of his apartment here in queens. he was running errands, just dropping off dry cleaning, going to the atm, things like that. i ask

i'm fredricka whitfield, much more of the newsroom straight ahead with my buddy, don lemon.ium is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. new citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. >>> hello,ve

i'm fredricka whitfield. keeping watch on the rising river in minot, north dakota. we should see it crest in ten hours or so from now. a fifth of the city is underwater with the floodwaters already at record levels. now people in the nearby small town of sawyer are being told to evacuate. >>> wildfires in oklahoma forcing the governor there to declare emergencies in 33 counties. thousands of acres are burning. some residents in central oklahoma were forced to evacuate, making matters worse, the drought and heat could spread those fires. >>> and a half dozen children are in the hospital after an e. coli outbreak in alabama. it developed severe gastrointestinal illnesses after visiting an indoor water park in opelika. the health department was temporary closed or has temporary closed the splash park while it runs tests. >>> legendary mob boss whitey bulger is behind bars this weekend in plymouth, massachusetts. he had been on the run for 16 years until the fbi caught up with him on wednesday in southern california. bulger faces numerous charges including murder and ra

and i'm fredricka whitfield. stay tuned for "your money." >> president obama is being hammered on the economy as fear of another recession persists. but are republican presidential hopefuls offering any fresh resolutions? welcome to "your money." i'm christine romans. ali velshi is off today. cnn opinion research polls continue to show 4 out of 5 americans feel that economic conditions today are poor. will cain is a cnn contributor. will, numbers aside, people are not feeling this recovery. the republicans just had their first new hampshire debate seen here on cnn. what are they offering in terms of a solution that president obama is not? >> tax cuts. how about that, christine? ever heard of a republican offering tax cuts? what i wish i heard from them is tax reform. talking about taking all the deductions and dumping them in the trash. then you could lower rates. that would have a posive effect. how about coupling that with even little infrastructure and education spending and how about entitlement reform? >> ne

i'm fredricka whitfield in atlanta. in southwest this hour firefighters are up against the worst conditions possible as they battle a rash of wildfires. red flag warnings are up in parts of seven state. that means weather conditions, mainly high heat, low humidity and strong winds pose an extreme fire risk. a live report in about one minute from now. >>> this just in. nato has just confirmed that an air strike in tripoli today may have caused a number of civilian casualties. libya, which took reporters on a tour of the neighborhood, says at least nine civilians died. nato says it appears that, quote, one weapon did not strike its intended target, unquote. a nato spokesman says the alliance regrets the loss of innocent civilian lives. u.s. defense secretary robert gates discussed libya today on cnn's "state of the union." >> we are seeing the gadhafi government weaken. this is not, i think -- i think this is going to end okay. i think gadhafi will eventually fall. my own bet would be he will not step down voluntarily, bu

fredricka whitfield. >> he always says that because he knows it's the end of the hour. >> no. people feel in for you, i'm not this excited -- >> don't say that out loud. >> i'm just kidding. it is always good to see you. i think you were gone for a couple of weekends. had some time off. >> but back in the saddle. glad to be here and glad to see you and our legal guys will be back with us. >> did they miss you? >> yeah, and i missed them. well, i don't know if they missed me. we'll see if they say that. but i missed them. they're going to be with us. we're going to talk about a new tennessee law which bans anyone from transmitting harassing images, anything that may cause emotional distress to anybody. you can use your imagination about what those images might be. >> we don't want to use your imagination too much. does the law clearly define or kind of define what kind of images or it can be a lot of things? >> it can be a broad range of images from someone's body parts to something that someone might find disturbing. yeah. but that's where the challenge comes. our legal guys a

. >>> "cnn newsroom" continuing right now with fredricka whitfield in for randi kaye. >> let's talk aboutdowns and body scans and inspections all aimed at making sure airline security know who is getting on airplanes, so how did a man with no valid id and somebody else's boarding pass fly across the country last friday from new york's jfk to los angeles? the nigerian national was arrested. he was trying to board a flight from los angeles to atlanta, and they found other several boarding passes that were phoney in his bag. a spokesman did say this, every passenger that passes through security check points is subject to many layers of security including thorough, physical screening at the check point.

you can see richard every weekend, every saturday with our fredricka whitfield here in the "cnn newsroom we'll see you soon. >>> there is a special on the trial, tomorrow night, 10:00 eastern, but before that we will have nancy grace who has been following this case from the very beginning here with us to give us her thoughts. >>> meanwhile, we're standing by still. there is a house vote on libya funding, and we're waiting for that and we'll bring you the details of the boat as that continues. >>> and the president made a decision to release 30 million barrels of oil, and that has landed him in hot water. that's after the break. stay here. ir factories more environmentally friendly. producing products that save on fuel and emissions, and some that can be reused again. ♪ and promoting eco-friendly and safety driving campaigns. ♪ one team. one planet. bridgestone. >>> 19 minutes past the hour now. time to take a look at some of the stories making headlines. president obama's poll numbers have dipped in recent weeks. he's in pittsburgh to promote u.s. manufacturing. there is a new partnersh

fredricka whitfield looks at other ways to help kids get the support they need in this "what matters"rter: it is a typical day this household. >> you are becoming quite the cook. >> reporter: an average american family. but lashonda is barely making ends meet. >> every day is a struggle, figuring out what we're going to week. >> reporter: she says her ex-husband owes her more than $82,000 in child support. she's taken him to court but his payments have been sporadic to nonexistent because his income is also sporadic. as a minimum wage employee, she makes too much to qualify for government assistance. so she and her three kids live in a barely turnished two-bedroom apartment. dorothy brown is trying to help custodial parents as an illinois county clerk. she is responsible for managing a child support system that owes its residents almost $3 billion. >> a lot of times noncustodial parents don't know how to go into court and get their child support reduced. how does it help a child if a noncustodial parent is in jail and can't pay child support. we need to really have a national re-inven