hello, everyone. welcome to monday. i m erin burnett. and out front tonight, big ideas. ron paul wants to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget. herman cain wants to toss out the current tax plan and go to 9-9-9. some people have laughed at the candidates for these big ideas, but the reality is a bold idea, not necessarily cain s or paul s, is what we need to break through the paralysis in washington that s hurting americans and america s reputation. paul, cain, and the other republican candidates are gathering in nevada for tomorrow s debate. and nevada is a place that needs a really big idea. the state s unemployment, 13.4%, highest in the united states of america. 4 percentage points above the national average. housing is a bust. nevada ranks number one in foreclosures. las vegas prices down almost 60% from the peak. we need big ideas. we re going to be getting a democrat s view in just a moment with mike warner, but first let s find out if the nation is ready for a big
on the stand thursday, and the defense attorney repeatedly attacked her credibility. thursday the prosecution introduced evidence that could be hard for dr. conrad murray to overcome. his fingerprints on the propofol bottle they say was dripping through the i.v. when michael jackson died. it could help jurors answer the question at the center of this trial. was there enough propofol that that is what ended up causing the death? and was it dr. murray who administered it? reporter: murray s lead attorney, ed chernoff, suggested several mistakes were made. while cross-examining the investigator he questioned how she prepared the official report. did you lose them or intentionally delete them? i destroy all my notes from scenes. once i write the form 3a. reporter: he asked why she didn t note the bottle of propofol inside the iv bag, until this passed march, nearly two years after the singer s death.
that time there probably was no hope of resuscitating michael jackson. conrad murray s mistress taking the stand, the mom of his toddler son. he gave her money for rent. do you think this witness will reveal interesting secrets about the doctor? we know there is a big secret out there and that is if she is indeed the person who was getting the propofol shipped to her. i mean, why isn t it being shipped to the doctor s office? this is a bad situation for conrad murray. in your estimation of watching how this is moving forward, how is the defense doing? how is the prosecution doing? well, it s the prosecution s case and they are doing well. they should be doing well. the only way the defense gets out of this case is if they have really sterling experts, and i do have a great deal of respect for ed chernoff as a lawyer. i think he s terrific, but it s going to be an expert or nothing. rikki klieman, great to see you, thanks. news about chris christie, his
kercher s family is backing the prosecu prosecutor s plan to appeal the case. they say justice would have been served if the jury followed the evidence, not the media hype. you can t forgive somebody if they haven t admitted something, so what would they be forgiving. if as was decided yesterday they are innocent, then we say fair enough and all try and move on in that respect. a third person convicted in kercher s death in a separate trial is serving a 16 year sentence. knox s haurs suggest that man was the sole killer. michael jackson s doctor will be face to face with old girlfriends in an l.a. courtroom today. prosecutors hope to establish a time line when conrad murray s manslaughter trial resumes. phone records show murray talked with three girlfriends the minutes before and after jackson stopped breathing. jury selection begins in detroit today in the terror trial of umar farouk abdul thattal lab. prosecutors say he tried to detonate a bomb in his understand wear
faults? and a new book tainting the legacy of walter payton. we talk to the author, right here, right now on cnn. hello, i m don lemon. you know near the cnn newsroom. we ll start with a word that you may find uncomfortable. it is a controversy that s putting a hopeful into an uncomfortable position. governor rick perry has to respond to his association with the most poisonous word in the english language. perry and his family it is reported that they leased a hunting camp that went by the head nigerhead. it was painted on a huge rock by the entrance. the name has been changed and the rock painted over and obscured, but when it was painted over is a matter of dispute between perry s people and the washington post, which published its lengthy article just today. the word niggerhead sounds backward today. and herman cain, the only african-american among the hopefuls didn t care for the connotation in any form. here s what he told fox news. my reaction is that s just ver