loyalists are held up in bani walid. negotiations between both faqs broke down over the weekend after gadhafi s chief spokesman insisted rebels disarm before entering the fortified town. thousands of rebels, though, are currently at checkpoints near bani walid waiting for orders to go on. the appeal trial for amanda knox is under way and should continue every day until the next decision is reached. this was the scene earlier in the courtroom. knox and her family are holding out hope that her murder conviction is overturned, opening the door for amanda s safe return home. nbc s chapman bell is live for us in perugia, it laly with the latest. reporter: today in court it picked up more or less as it ended in the last set of sessions before a month-long summer recess, and that was an attack on this independent forensic report by appointed by the appeals judge. the attack came from the prosecution and from the
the state, including one farther east that killed two people over the weekend. california s also dealing with a wildfire. this one triggered by a plane crash. two people are dead. that small plane went down south of bakersfield. it sparked a stubborn blaze that spread to more than 3500 acres. the appeal trial for amanda knox is now underway and it should continue every day until the next decision is reached. this was the scene earlier in the courtroom there. knox and her family are holding out hope that her murder conviction is overturned, opening the door for amanda s return home. chapman bell is live in italy this morning. reporter: craig, what we have today in court is a battle over forensics, a battle which began over a month ago before the court took its summer recess when a team of independent forensic experts testified in court there were over 50 breaches of international
anything but a holiday for americans reeling from extreme weather. lee is weakening to a tropical depression, but still a massive rain maker that could make travel across much of the country a nightmare. storms winds have helped fuel wildfires in central texas. at this hour, a thousand homes are in danger near austin. and later today, hurricane katia will unleash its first impact on the east coast. we re tracking this storm and tell you where that s headed in a moment. first, we want to begin with the flooding rains pounding the gulf coast since lee made la landfall in louisiana over the weekend. ed lavandera is in the city of lafitte this morning. what s it looking like where you are? reporter: they have shut it down because it is just after high tide here in southern louisiana. and that means that these floodwaters are going back up. many of the roadways in this area simply look like this. this isn t actually that deep but definitely treacherous enough for not allo
the city. the president will be here to survey that damage. there are several options of places where he could go to see exactly what happened here. and it s money that this community is desperately in need of in the wake of a devastating storm. thomas? thank you. the appeal trial of amanda knox continues on monday. she has already served four years of a 26-year prison stint for the murder of her college roommate meredith kurcher. but this new trial is based on dna evidence and we are live in perusia. reporter: tomorrow morning amanda knox will be back in the courtroom after a break of more than a month. in the courtroom, emotions are
these things that we stop electing united states senators directly by the people. you will still have many opportunities for his opponents to put this stuff up in ads and had on the campaign trail, perry saying i m not backing away from my book. you throw up a couple of excerpts, him saying that, and have you your 30-second ad. it will be difficult for him to distance himself from this book he wrote less than a year ago. jason embry, thank you for weighing in on it from austin. thank you. see the full field of presidential republican contenders for the first time, this wednesday, september 7th, on msnbc. the appeal trial of amanda knox continues in italy tomorrow. knox is in perugia, serving a life sentence for the murder of her roommate. and her boyfriend is serving 25