it's working. >> hello. >> prego. >> i'm deanna knox, amanda knox's sister. i have a few words on behalf of our family. we are thankful amanda's nightmare is over. she suffered for years for a crime she did not commit. we are thankful to our lawyers and their assistants. not only did they defend her brilliantly, but they also loved her. we are thankful for the support we have received from all over the world. people who took the time to research the case and could see amanda and raffaele were innocent. at last we are thankful to the court for having the courage to look for the truth and overturn this conviction. we now respectfully ask you to give amanda and the rest of our family our privacy that we need to recover from this horrible ordeal. thank you. >> there she is the sister of amanda knox, deanna knox, speaking on behalf of the family. becky, i guess a lot of viewers are going to ask what happened in between the time of the original conviction for murder until now. there were a lot of new pieces of information that came out, but the most damning, i gues

the sentence the knox family and 24-year-old amanda knox had been hoping they would hear. has become a reality. cheers, tears, we saw amanda knox followed by her father kurt knox followed by raffaele sollecito being held up and walked out of this courtroom. victory for the knox family. let's go straight to outside the courtroom to becky anderson. becky, i know you didn't see the images from outside, but i can only imagine it is a tremendous scene now where you are. >> reporter: yeah. an audible gasp when that was delivered. in fact, we were calling out as we heard it in our ear so people here could hear it. partially overturned. do remember she was acquitted on all charges except on defamation. that was the charge she defame ed labumba when she said he was involved and they weren't. what i think i heard was the sentence for that would be three years. of course, they served already that amount of time. one assumes at this point she is free. she will go back to prison, as far as i understand it. i'm just keeping my eye on who is coming out of the courthouse behind me. i'll g

is amanda knox evil? just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. >>> almost immediately after police say she confessed to her crime, amanda knox recants. she tells her parents she broke under stress. in court she would tell jurors how a police officer struck her from behind, how she was denied water, food, a translator and how she says under pressure by police she was asked repeatedly to dream up, imagine scenarios for how it could have happened. this spring cnn traveled to perugia, italy, to sit down with the lead prosecutor of amanda knox. for three hours he answered our questions and his critics that he prosecuted knox with little evidence, that he played on erosion motions and rumor rather than facts and the linchpin of his case, the so-called confession of amanda knox was coerced out o

be set free immediately. 30 hours after a sobbing amanda knox left an italian court, a now smiling knoxmily arrives to cheers in seattle. amanda knox is home, speechless, but finally approaches the podium. it is the first time she has spoken publicly since her release. just before she approaches, she is reminded this time to speak in english. >> what's important for me to say is just thank you to everyone who has believed in me, who has defended me, who inspired my family. i just want my family's the most important thing to me right now, and i just want to go and be with them. so thank you for being there for me. >> what's next for amanda knox? according to her family, that will be up to amanda. they say the young college student so full of life and headed for adventure, the person who left here four years ago, has no idea just how big her story has become. or how big the pressures of her unwanted fame will be. they realize getting back to normal will mean getting used to an entirely new normal. as for julian know mignini, he

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amanda knox is seated. individuals in what look like police garments protecting the area. what is the scene look like outside? >> very packed. hundreds of people lined up here and along with the cameras from all over the world, i have got french on one side and british television on the other. live cameras waiting for this decision. amanda knox goes into the court. >> i'm afraid i need to interrupt. the court has been called to order and they have risen. we are expecting the judge at any moment. this is the judge. we will translate the moment he begins speaking. >> in the name of the italian public and the court of perusia, referring to article 600, in the court of perusia the charges against the defendant amanda knox, we declare amanda knox -- >> we are following proceedings and you will hear translation as we have it. the judge is >> they've found her guilty of defamation. but part of the murder conviction has been overturned. [ speaking foreign language ] and there she is, breaking down at this moment, a

people ask who is amanda knox. i'm the same person who i was four years ago, but i have lost my friend, i have lost my faith in the italian police system and i am paying with my life for something i hadn't done. four years ago i didn't know why i was suffer egg. do remember they were convicted of killing amanda knox's roommate meredith kercher who died in the house back in 2007. we also heard amanda gaining influency -- talking in italian for 15 minutes or so. she started strongly, but the emotion almost overcame her. it's been an incredibly emotional day for amanda. before amanda, we heard from raffaele sollecito. he describes the night of the murder as a happy one, an idyllic one. he wasn't there at the house that night. he was about to send in his thesis. he just met amanda, a beautiful sunny girl. her employer had given her the time off so we could go away and spend the weekend together. in what was a highly charged speech bim him, he said he'd been wearing a bracelet for the last four years that said "free ama

amanda knox as a rock, and seattle. she says she is thankful to those made it possible. >> amanda knox acquitted of the murder of meredith kercher. she spent nearly four years in jail. the moody's investors service has downgraded italy's consumer credit rating. citing in risk. the decision will make it hard for the anti-government to service its debt. meanwhile, the approval of the creation of a back tax for assets held by the troubled franco-indulgent bank. shares have felt -- shares of fallen sharply over the last trading days. here is our business editor. >> it started as a sovereign debt crisis with european countries like greece not being able to pay their debt and because of fears about whether banks are strong enough to withstand losses. it is now a banking crisis. >> the whole financial sector is getting dumped. >> the only solution for greece is to go into default. >> the euro authorities are so shocked by what is going on, they have not spoken. >> today, european finance ministers meeting in luxembourg did not

last up will be amanda knox. a statement or comments but will not take questions as is her right. so thank you, and here's mr. theodore simon. >> thank you for coming. as david told you, my name is theodore simon. i'm a philadelphia lawyer. i've been a criminal defense lawyer for 37 years in philadelphia. it has been a trying and grueling four-year nightmarish marathon that no child or parent should have to endure, but amanda and her parents, kurt, etta, chris and cassandra and family -- [ cheers ] as i was saying, kurt, etta, chris and cassandra and family have demonstrated unquestioned and unparalleled patience, steadfast courage, dignity, resilience and fortitude, but most of all, they have relied upon their faith that this unjust conviction would not stand. they have persevered with unusual grace and under extremely difficult circumstances. given those circumstances, the significance and severity of the charges and the unrelenting pressure they faced, they have been and continue to be deserving of our support

obviously, the knoxes wanted the opposite. when it went the knoxes' way, there were whoops and chants. and powerful tension. amanda was just so overcome with emotion. she could barely walk she was crying so much when she walked past me. but there were tears as well from the kerchers because they were obviously upset. they've gone through such a lot in the past few years since meredith was killed. they truly believed the first conviction was the right way for the police to go and they're devastated that it's gone this way. >> the kerchers, unless i'm wrong, haven't really said anything since this verdict came in in public, whereas the knox family, as you would expect, have been pretty jubilant. what's going through the kerchers' mind. their daughter was brutally murdered, and right now they don't know who did it. they obviously suspected and believed it was amanda knox and her boyfriend. but now the justice system and many people would argue fairly has said there wasn't the evidence. >> reporter: well, that's right. in fact, th

amanda knox was very emotional. >> she was.ked very emotional, actually when she arrived in the court. she was being escorted, as she always is, by the various police officers. escort her into the court. she had her head hung down, she looked extremely pale indeed. first to speak was her former boyfriend, raffaele sollecito. he was very emotional. he made that point to the judge and jury, he wanted to say lot more, but he couldn't. and amanda knox stood up to address the jury in that court. this must have been the biggest moment in her life. to insist that she was not guilty of killing meredith kercher. she was very upset indeed. the judge said at one point she could sit down. but she didn't. she kept on standing. she managed to compose herself and say ha she wanted to say. her parents told us earlier that she had been months working on the contents of that address to the judge and the jury and as you just heard, she insisted that she did not kill meredith kercher. she insisted she was innocent. she spoke with meredith kercher

knox's mother he hedda and her father, curt. knox herself arriving in an armored police van. one by one through the medieval courtroom's double doors they came. edda, the prosecutor giuliano mignini and then surrounded by a phalanx of security officers amanda herself cloaked in an overcoat. in their final closing arguments knox's attorneys restate the core of their case. the dna evidence used to convict her in the murder of her roommate, meredith kercher, had been discredited and now amanda must be freed. next raffaele sollecito, amanda's former boyfriend and co-defendant insisting he never hurt anyone in his life. he shows the court a bracelet he has worn bearing the words "free amanda and raffaele." i have worn this for four years, he said. today it is finally the day to take it off. then the court falls silent as amanda knox rises to deliver her much anticipated statement. the intensity of the statement almost overwhelms her. she is shakes as she struggles to get the words out. >> okay. >> reporter: but as she continues she seems to gain a bit of confidence, the young woma

amanda knox and raffaele sollecito have been freed. >> sobbing, amanda knox left the court. >> thanks to the court to have the courage to look for the truth and overturn this conviction. >> this morning, amanda knox had been given a last opportunity to sway the court's decision. >> i have not done what they suggested i did. i did not kill, i did not steal. i was not there. at this crime.t >> alongside the legal action, her relatives mounted a big pr campaign to free her. >> what everyone needs to remember is the brutality of what actually happened that night. everything that mair death must have felt that night. everything that she went through. the fear and the terror and not knowing why. >> amanda knox's family want to get her back to america as soon as possible and hope to rebuild her life. >> and italian lawmaker who has spearheaded amanda knox's case said that she and her family would leave on board a commercial flight from rome. witnesses reported seeing amanda knox in one of those cars. this is how peirce sister reacted to the verdict. >> we are thankful that amanda's nightmare

her on the blade, knox on the ham. they also found footprint that is prosecutors say matched those of knox, they used a chemical that actually glows when it reacts with blood. that's how they found those. prosecutors also say that she confessed to being at the murder scene when this happened, then later changed her story. but the evidence in favor of amanda knox is also that dna. that's the key. an independent panel of experts appointed by the courts saying the dna was at best flawed and at the very least it was nonexistent, that the amount of kircher's dna on the knife was so low it should not even have been considered. the defense pointed that luminol that glows the blood t. reacts with russ, fruit juice and detergent and that no dna evidence from amanda was ever found at the crime scene. here's more from her father. listen: >> that's absolutely ludicrous. i mean, if you take a look at the crime scene video of that particular room and the horrific actions that must have taken place in that room, there is no possibili

amanda knox is free.ive, complete coverage of the breaking news from italy continues. >>> jailhouse video. a judge releases sealed tapes of casey anthony, too inflammatory to show jurors. what do they show? >>> and it feels more like october -- it is october outside, right? yes, it is. it's nice outside. feels like fall. bob will update the forecast coming up. >>> wjz 13 is on. for the top stories on wjz.com. for instant updates and first warning weather all the time, click wjz.com. toothpaste is the wrong thing to use on a denture, it could be very abrasive. if the surface gets abraded, it's just the environment that bacteria likes to nestle into and they can cause the odor. your denture needs to be cleaned gently on a daily basis. i like to recommend polident, it kills the bacteria without causing any abrasion. when my patients follow my instructions, their dentures feel clean and fresh. >>> i think we're trying to say it feels more like november out there. >> 51 degrees now. it's like the middle of nov

amanda knox has a lot of supporters here. for almost four years, many of them have been tireless in their efforts to raise objections with the way things were going in italy and to focus attention on her case. i have to say, if you talk to people in seattle, there are not many people that you can find to believe that she had anything to do with the murder of meredith kercher. >> much speculation about the book deals and interviews. do you know of anything that may have been cited by her or her family? >> we do not. there is a lot of speculation to that effect. you're absolutely right. talks of a book deal, talks of a hollywood film based on the story of her last four years, i have to say, though, that the family has spent a lot of money going backwards and forwards to italy. they are not wealthy people to start with. there have been estimates that they are all in a million dollars or so for all that they have had to do in terms of hiring lawyers. clearly, they will be looking at to what offers to come and to this remarkable s

in knox's hometown, seattle. many had stayed up most of the night watching knox's emotional plea and awaiting the jury's decision. >> i was a nervous wreck, no doubt, because i'm a mother and i was thinking about the mother and the grandmother. and i'm very happy for her, very happy for amanda and her family. >> four years in the coming, it's been a torturous robbing of two innocent people's lives. but also meredith lost her life, you know? it's just tragic all the way around. >> knox's supporters and friends had raised over $100,000 to offset her legal fees. then the other side of this story, following the verdict, the family of murder victim meredith kercher said they respect the decision but don't understand how the first trial could be so radically overturned. earlier, meredith's sister said the world must not forgot how brutally meredith was murdered. >> everything meredith must have felt that night, everything she went through, the fear and the terror and not knowing why, and she didn't deserve that. >> the

knox.'s talk about amanda she is free and she could be out of the country within hours. >> she is now being taken back to prison and then there is a procedure of an hour or two hours, and she will be taken out of prison. she will be driving down to rome, and boarding a flight. >> they have always supported the prosecution's theory that three people were involved. >> for meredith family, it has to be complete bewilderment. they believed the courts made the right decision and they believed and the police work. they believe that amanda knox and raffaele sollecito were guilty. what they may do, if they continue to support the prosecution, i would expect them to back the prosecution's appeal. >> we just saw the gentleman from the british consul. he came up this morning to offer -- offer support. we are seeing live pictures outside the court. amanda knox and raffaele sollecito were acquitted of the murder. they spent 1400 days in prison, nearly four years. they were arrested four days after the mu

he and amanda knox have made very emotional statements proclaiming their innocence. in the murder charges of a 21-year-old demrish student. watching their statements with me, mike wooldridge. look at the press interest, mike. it's absolutely incredible. we are going to get a verdict, but not before this evening. >> that's right. i mean, that kind of media attention, of course, we've heard in many ways throughout the whole trial, and what we've really had today is both amanda knox and raffaele sollecito trying to defend their characters as much as to protest, once again, their innocence in this case, to try to suggest to the judge and jurorser who now weighing up the whole case that they could not have been associated with that level of brutality. >> sorry so interrupt. we're going to listen to this statement from outside the court. >> absolutely fair and i'm not going to say anything else on that. this is -- what has been said during the first and second degree trial, we've heard about it now, we have different opinion anyway. what will the judge have to do in order

but today knox spoke for herself.t in perugia in italian, i am not what they say i am. let's go straight to cnn international correspondent matthew chance. he's been following this for us out of italy. let's begin with the news we learned. you have learned there will be a decision in this case in an hour and a half from now. >> reporter: that's right. that came out from rumors first of all we spoke to lawyers of one of the defendants. in the last few minutes, it's been confirmed by the court that at 21:30 so half past 9:00 local time, less than 90 minutes away, that court behind me will resume. the jury, the judges will come back, having made up their mind what will be the fate of amanda knox, that american exchange student and her former boyfriend. a number of options on the table. they could quash their murder convictions and set them free tonight or uphold their 26-year and 25-year respectively murder sentences for will killing of meredith kercher. >> matthew, if you can, just talk to me a little bit more about whe

so knox amanda is free and raf raffaele as well. >> knox and her boyfriend are both exonerated on murder charges. the court's upholding knox's slander conviction but sentencing her to time served. a powerful incentive to overturn including evidence casting doubt on the state's dna evidence and amanda knox's own words earlier today. [ speaking italian ] >> outside the courtroom competing outcries from onlookers shouting victory, victory as the legal team laughed, others yelling shame, shame. amanda's sister deanna read a statement. >> we're grateful for the support we received from people all over the world. people who took time to research the case and could see that amanda and raffaele were innocent. for having the courage to look for the truth and to overturn this conviction. >> knox said nothing herself after leaving the prison in a two-car convoy after picking up her belongings and saying good-bye. she's in rome preparing to leave for seattle. matthew chance was in perugia when the verdict came in. where is amanda knox right now and do we know what her plans are for the next two hour

it may be amanda knox's best last chance of freedom. she was convicted of murder in italy pleads her case to an appeals court this morning. she has spent four years behind bars. the jury is expected to announce its verdict sometime today. >> reporter: amanda knox's italian nightmare may soon be coming to an end. >> as a mom, you worry. you know she is suffering and lost weight and she can't eat and can't sleep because of the stress. of course! it breaks your heart. >> reporter: in an interview, her parents, curt knox and edda mellas said they hope their daughter who has served nearly four years in prison will be free. >> obviously, my hopes is she overturn her conviction and tell her she is free to go home. >> reporter: but she faces a harrowing task in italian who will decide her fait. >> she is pleading for her life. it's a big thing. i think she wants to be pointed but i think it's going to be really heartfelt to really have that judge and jury understand that she had nothing to do with the death of meredith. >> reporter: after knox

knox spoke in italian.nox was convicted in december 2009 on charges of murdering her roommate, meredith kercher. back then her home state senator complained perhaps anti-american sentiment played a part in the verdict. is the italian system that different from the american system? here's tonight's truth. let's take a look at compare them as we go through. the first trial, of course, was a jury trial. amanda knox was convicted in the first trial. how does the italian system stack up next to the american system. number one, the biggest difference, the judge is nonn t nonneutral. in our system is judge is neutral. here a judge determines if the charges have merit, the jury decides if the charges have merit. the jury includes the presiding judge. in the american system the judge is neutral. prosecution and defense both given equal time. the jury decides the verdict. the judge has no role in that process at all. that's the trial process. it was here that amanda knox was found guilty. now, of course, today was ab

knox told an italian courtroom today. >>> right now amanda knox is making her final plea to a court. what she said and when the decision will be in it. >> good morning to you. taking a live look outside, still dark. 46 degrees. let's see how much warmer it's going to get when the sun comes up. >> not much warmer. we're continuing with the same old trend. so it feels like november still out there. looks a lot like september, which means gray and wet because we remember that so well. we're trying to get out of the clouds -- from under them. 48 degrees. we've got showers coming down throughout the area right now. there are some light showers, though. 48 degrees the temperature right inside the beltway. other locations up into montgomery county, 43 degrees right now in rockville, maryland. gaithersburg at 41. 46 now in ft. belvoir. and 44 degrees over in fairfax, reston, and vienna right now. you can see the showers there. that's what's rotating around. and right there where there aren't any showers, north and east of charlottesville, virginia, that's where we've got another stubborn low

>>> tonight on "nightline," amanda knox speaks. finally home again after a four-year nightmare abroad, the american student stops at the airport to personally thank supporters. >> thank you for being there for me. >> we're in seattle with the very latest. >>> killing in the classroom. an eighth grader shoots a fellow student, execution style, in class. he says in retaliation for taunting. now, should he really be facing a life sentence? >>> and great expectations. it's a glimpse of the future. apple, without steve jobs, as the company unveils its latest iphone today. bill weir previews what could be the coolest phone yet. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 4th, 2011. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. and right away tonight, we want to take you to the seattle airport, where not long ago, amanda knox, the 24-year-old american student released just yesterday from prison in italy landed after a nine hour flight, cleared cus

day of days for amanda knox. in this courthouse behind me there was high drama today and a lot of tears as amanda spoke from the heart. with her future, her life on the line, a clearly terrified amanda knox. the former student from seattle rose in a courtroom in perugia, italy, this morning, to proclaim her innocence. >> translator: i'm afraid. anywhere i am, i am afraid. >> reporter: amanda gathered her strength and asked the six judges and two jurors for justice. >> translator: i insist i'm innocent and that must be defended. i just want to go home, go back to my life. i don't want to be punished and deprived of life because i am innocent. raffaele is innocent. >> reporter: amanda said she lost a friend and was shocked when her british roommate meredith kercher was murdered on november 2nd, 2007, in the house where the two were roommates. >> translator: i can't explain how i felt when meredith was killed. >> reporter: she saved her sharpest criticism for the police, who she tried to help by answering all their

i think amanda knox is safe at home. >> and knox should be safe at home in seattle, where hundreds of friends have been waiting for her return. >>> coming up on "good morning america," complete coverage from our team in italy and seattle, as amanda knox heads home. >>> and turning, now, to presidential politics. and what our new poll says about some potential matchups for next november. the poll finds president obama with razor-thin leads against republican front-runner mitt romney and new jersey governor, chris krity, who is still considering whether to get in the race at all. for more on this, we're joined by abc's john hendren in washington. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, rob. those matchup numbers are not overwhelmingly positive for the president. but the poll overall is downright horrible. our poll finds that 37% of americans believe the president will be elected. while 55% say the republican candidate will win. president obama says he knows americans don't think they're better off thar than were four years ago. and he realizes the unemployment rate is still way t