invokes a special restriction on the posse coming tatas act but i thought that bush and then john warner defense authorization act in two thousand and seven already suspended the posse qantas act i was going if you can explain what that exactly means to civilians. well i got to say from all the artsy shows i've done that are excellent you are asking the best questions it's three hundred plus pages it actually states that well there is a posse comitatus but the president can suspend that so all intents and purposes it's already suspended kind of like congress told obama you've got to get authorization to launch a war in libya and he said i don't need that anymore and so they talk about posse comitatus but only to state it's hollow and dead and yes the john warner defense authorization act the n.d.a. all of these just further suspend posse comitatus the eight hundred seventy eight law barring the military being used on the streets of america do you think these measures alex are being set up an anticipation for some sort of global you know unrest and i think we i mean it just seems like after nine

it's unclear if john edwards will choose to speak in his own defense. for "cbs this morning: saturday," anna warnerro, north carolina. >> joining us "48 hours" correspondent and also a lawyer, erin moriarty. >> it's great to be here. >> thanks for being here. distasteful behavior for hur. is it illegal? >> well, i think that this parade of aides really does help the prosecution in the sense that they tell the prosecution's story that, yes, john edwards was having an affair. members of the campaign knew about it. they were concerned about it. there might have been a reason to hide. and as anna warner mentioned, there was testimony that one of the aides actually overheard fred baron and john edwards talking about how fred was whisking rielle around. but there was also some evidence that actually helped the defense. he took the stand and talked about how -- how andrew young isn't dependable, called him shady. when you have one key prosecution witness talking about another being unreliable, that helps the defense. so, it kind of -- as you've seen, every single day, there's been son-in-law good for pros

margaret warner explores the dramatic results of a new study showing paralyzed patients moving their robotic arms just by thinking. >> brown: we update the trial of john edwards, as the defense rests its case without calling the former presidential candidate or his mistress to testify. >> woodruff: and we remember mexican writer carlos fuentes, whose prolific literary career spanned more than five decades. that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the confrontation over raising the national debt ceiling consumed washington for much of 2011. now, the issue has re-emerged. it was raised at a white house meeting today, and sparked a new war of words in congress. >> the issue here is the debt-- almost $16 trillion worth of debt, $1.3 trillion budget deficit again this year. >> woodruff: battle lines were already being drawn today for a new fight over raising the country's borrowing limit.