let s say, 20 years in prison, we are in, effect, talking about a life sentence. that s why so much of this it sounds like it was a reputation, it was a legacy defense for whitey bulger. as you point out, 83 years of ash. i want to bring in ashleigh banfield here who can help in the coverage. ashleigh, as i m glancing down at some of the tweets from deb feyerick inside the courtroom for us, kevin coltman following this minute by minute for the boston globe tweeting whitey has just taken his seat. whitey s chair just fell over. an oman. ashleigh. this is why cameras in courtrooms are so critical. this is real life drama. it s not just drama for spectators. it is drama for those who are affected by these crimes. and the greater society who has had to pay for the prosecution and had to live with the effects of these crimes as well. and what s happening inside that building, brooke, is critical. it spans decades. and why is that so difficult when it comes to a courtroom? thin
0 which is something that we do see in these types of cases, in these mafia cases. he s also been accused, brooke, of extortion of several people. and so i think what is significant about this case, as you mentioned, is the tortured history. because we know that at one point he was even an fbi informant. right. and then apparently got or allegedly got tipped off by an fbi agent. and then he went on the run for almost two decades. and so the fact that he is now facing life in prison is just so significant in the history of the fbi, in the history of these types of federal rico cases. i think one of the reasons why so many people have been watching this case. because it s so unusual in the history. i think it is important, brooke, to mention that bulger is 83 years old. while we ve been talking during our coverage about these maximum life sentences, let s be honest. if he is convicted of anything and the judge sentences him to, let s say, 20 years in prison, we are in, effect, talk
0 today, he teaches students. the school is standing by him. but the mayor wants him gone. i m brooke baldwin. the news is now. investigation 17 floors up. an ad executive on a first date falls to her death. is al qaeda planning to attack this weekend? the u.s. not taking any chances. plus, in one state, the plug gets pulled on a special plan to arm teachers. but the fight, not over. and just a small town girl, living in a lonely world no stranger to drama. glee announces plans to deal with the death of one of its stars. all right. here we go on this friday. good to be with you. i m brooke baldwin. to hear the government tell it, there is danger afoot overseas right now, especially in parts of the arab world. today the state department is saying watch your back if you travel. let me show you just a live picture from cairo at this hour. this is the tip of the iceberg. when you think about really the chaos that is currently gripping the middle east, north africa, the
0 fewer americans are filing for unemployment benefits. consumer confidence is climbing. we ll have answers on a brand new your money at 2:00 p.m. my handle is @christine mow rans. from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, this is cnn saturday morning. i have a house or i don t have a house. there s nothing i can do about that. flames have destroyed almost 500 homes and forced an area the size of manhattan. now evacuees of the black forest fire are wondering if they have anything to come back to. does he have a relationship with a foreign government and is there more to the story? he leaked united states secrets, and now he s on the run. but some think he s already working for another government. fewer flights, more money for bags and now this. what one airline is doing that may make your flight even more uncontractage. good morning. i m alison kosik. we re glad you re with us. our top story of the morning, facebook, it s coming clean about its role in the way the u.s. gove
0 that s it for me, see you 5:00 p.m. eastern in the situation room. brooke baldwin picks it up from here. she s live in cleveland. wolf blitzer, thank you so much. good to see all of you. i m brooke baldwin live here in cleveland for special cnn coverage of two major stories unfolding this hour. first, very soon, jodi arias will be walking into a courtroom for a mini trial to decide whether she lives or dies. we will take you there to phoenix. but first, here in cleveland as we learn more about the horrors that these three young women endured during their nearly ten years of captivity in that house right there. let me fill you in, i walked around the back of this home and talked to a home owner. we couldn t go anywhere near this home. it s actually still considered part of the crime scene, but i sat there with him and looked at the pictures he took. we know these young women were freed on monday, and he said the very next day, we ve seen the activity in the front of the house, b