there, or are you alone? >> reporter: i am alone except for the crew and some other reporters. i had to look around. we're sort of in a bubble. you know how that is, but, where do we start, ali? oh my gosh. there is so much to talk about in this case. when you talk about propofol. we didn't know anything about propofol before michael jackson. some people get it when you go into procedures but you didn't know the name of it. as you said, opening statements, starting about 8:45 local time, which is 11:45 eastern. that's when the judge will come in, give the jury instructions, about 15 minutes. after that, the arguments are expected to start in this case. the prosecution and from the defense. that are ge on for a bit. 10:15, they'll take a little breather. after that, ali, they're going to come back, continued with the arguments. we don't expect -- we don't expect -- doesn't always go as planned, we don't expect the first witness to start testifying until a little later on this afternoon. that video you're looking at from "this is it," supposed to be his big comeback, just eight days out. of course, then michael jackson died, and the person who is the choreographer and producer will actually be the first witnesses. >> i was going to ask you who would be the first witnesses, and you think we'll hear from them today? >> reporter: yeah, starting today. as you said, this is what the judge has planned. >> right. >> reporter: you know, ali. you've covered these things. they don't always go as planned. kenny ortega has been with michael jackson for 20 years. even produced his funeral at the staples center and other high-pro file things and produced most of michael jackson's tours. can we talk about the jury? do you want to know about the jury? >> yes. >> reporter: let's talk about the jury. you may have some questions about this. seven men, five women. a lot of people are thinking this is important. six white, five hispanic, one african-american. some say, why one african-american? as they say, it's not race. both of the people here involved are african-american and they don't look at this as a race case, you know, that may have racial overtones to it. it's going to be interesting to hear. >> they could end up being very famous jurors at some point. this is going to be a case everybody in the country is looking at. you've covered it a lot, don. you'll be able to interpret as we go along. don lemon in los angeles this morning as the conrad murray case opens up. we'll talk to you later. for complete statements about the trial check out our sister network hln. and a live partisan budget deal has been reached in the senate. figuring out a way to keep the government operating while keeping the aid flowing for those hit by natural disasters. an agreement not by compromise but by fema. kate bolduan with how the deal got done flrt a series of votes the senate was able to pull off what it hasn't been able to do to this point as another government shutdown looms. reach bipartisan agreement to avert that very scenario. this deal came after fema announced it will be able to stretch its currenten in its disaster relief fund to make it through the end of the week without running dry, which it had previously said was not likely. this is key, because the end of the week is also the end of the fiscal year essentially making a central obstacle to reaching the government operating a moot point. democrats and republicans all along had been battles whether or not the additional funding they wanted to give fema for disaster efforts needed to be paid for by cutting spending elsewhere, but only the money they were offering for the rest of this current fiscal year ending friday. republicans said, yes, it should be paid for. democrats saying, no. now that issue is off the table. the senate approved to fund the government through november 18th and giving some $2.6 billion to fema for the next fiscal year, but that part was not in dispute. now the house needs to have its say on this short-term spending measure. kate bolduan, cnn, washington. and a big staff change in the works in the white house this morning. cnn learned stephanie cutter will leave the west wing to join the president's re-election campaign. she's currently serving as deputy of the white house senior adviser david bluff, a top aide to first lady michelle obama during the 2008 campaign. cutter will assume her new role towards the end of the year, seen with treasury secretary tim geithner there. according to a new cnn orc poll, rick perry is still the top choice among republican voters in the race for the gop nomen ace, but mitt romney poses the biggest threat to president obama in 2012. perry finished seven points ahead of romney as the top choice among republicans and independents who lean republican. but a less than stellar performance in last week's orlando debate may have taken a poll. romney performed best in a head-to-head with the president finishing just one point behind president obama. ron paul had a strong showing, too. he finished four points behind the president, and that was better than rick perry. the texas governor finished five points behind president obama. 51% to 46%. >> it's just a strange season. isn't it? political season. really strange. in the heat of the race for the white house next summer, the supreme court could be deciding the president's signature piece of legislation. an appeals court ruled congress overstepped rts boundaries by mandating health care for all. the justice department confirming last night it will not appeal that ruling to the full appellate court. instead, the white house is not expected to ask the supreme court for a final ruling to boil this all down u.s. supreme court will probably get the case about obamacare right in the middle of the 2012 election. excellent. what timing. just the timing you all need. right? also new this morning, an explosion destroys a section of an egyptian gas pipe that supplies israel and jordan. authorities say an extremist group with links to al qaeda is believed to be responsible. the pipeline has been attacked at least five other times in recent months, leading egypt to crack down on terror groups in the area. coming to a standstill in athens. taxi drivers and public transportation drivers walked off the job protesting new benefit cuts. needed for crucial bailout funds. officials fear without a loan the country could run out of money by next month. >> people are not going along with austerity. they do not like it. >> a big problem in greece. talk about nasa. it's concerned a meteor shower next week could pose a danger for spacecraft. officials are looking at ways to protect the international space station and the hubble space telescope from hits by any orbital debris. they're expecting a shower with 1,000 shooting stars an hour at its peak. >> considering options what could the options be? >> i don't know. >> sending rocket ships up to shoot down the asteroids? >> big shields? >> meanwhile, ozzie guillen considering his option going from the south side to south beach. the chicago white sox granted the manager his release after last night's game refusing to extend his contract. he was fined several times for speaking his mind during his years with the white sox. he was even ordered once to take sensitivity training. he did manage then, their first world championship in 2005. he's expected to take a job with the florida marlins. just ahead on "american morning" a stunning new look inside the washington monument on the day that the earthquake hit last month. we'll tell you how crews plan to get a better ok at damage. and president obama is fired up mocking the republican presidential candidates, calling out republicans booing a gay soldier at a recent debate, budget is this new fiery persona resonating? it's our "talk back" question this morning. and this isn't another "batman" sequel. watch a man with wings soar 7,000 feet into a cave. >> yeah. ooh. wow. >> that's a guy. nine minutes after the hour. ♪ and the flowers and the trees ♪ ♪ all laugh when you walk by ♪ and the neighbors' kids run and hide ♪ deep inside you, there's a person who refuses to be kept deep inside you. ♪ but you're not ♪ you're the one be true to yourself. what's healthier than that? 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[♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. a developing story out of libya this morning. forces loyal to libya's new government seized control of the port in the city of sirte. that's the hometown of the ousted dictator moammar gadhafi. nato aircraft watching air strikes on monday to pave the way for the offensive. they have taken the port during the day but pulled back at night. when an earthquake rocked the east coast in august, the washington monument was hit hard. they discovered a big crack at the top and closed it to the public. for the first time we're seeing pictures from the very day of the quake. >> walls began to shake. people scramble and debris falls from the ceiling. this is what it looked like inside the washington monument when a 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit on august 23rd. announcing monday the monument will remain closed indefinitely and that the damage is worse than they originally thought. >> the heaviest damage appears to be cons traft concentrated i top, called the pyramidian, cracks an inch wide developed through stone and mortar joints. >> reporter: daylight is visible through some cracks and a significant amount of rainwater seeped through them which could cause more damage. the monument remains structurally sound but requires further inspection. their plan sounds more action movie than parks department. >> climbers will rappel all four faces of the washington monument to perform a close-range survey of the exterior surfaces. >> parks officials expect the rappelling inspection to last five days, and in addition to surveying the damage they're going to remove any loose material from the side of the building. the rappelling begins this morning about 8:00 and we hope to bring it to you live right here on "american morning" when it happens. very cool. rappelling down the side of the monument. >> i hope it's not windy. can you imagine? that would be scary. actually, would have been scary to be inside the monument when the earthquake happened. shaking. you'd want to just get out of there. >> and rappelling on a normal day would be creepy. i agree. jacqui jeras is in the extreme weather center this morning. good morning. >> good morning. a foggy start for a lot of people out in this morning. given yourself extra time to get where you need to be. we have fog advisories. when there's an advisory that means visibility will be a quarter mile or less. looking at places like birmingham, huntsville, into eastern kentucky and columbus, ohio, new york city, long island, towards providence and out on to the cape. this will last until maybe 9:00 this morning and is already causing problems at the airports. delays around 40 minutes into philadelphia, that's trying to get into philadelphia. we're expecting more extensive delays throughout the morning and maybe spotty stuff in the afternoon, too. chicago also looking for problems due to heavy rain. expecting delays in new york, boston, d.c. and miami looking for lots of showers and thunderstorms in the forecast as well. most of the weather action today happening across the eastern half of the state. or country, rather. this area of low pressure sitting here since the weekend keeping you cool. keeping you damp. also keeping rain in the forecast. we have area of high pressure offshore working to keep bringing all the tropical moisture up and down the east coast. these two things will finally start sliding off a little bit and we'll start to watch for improvement by thursday. in the meantime a high of 6. minneapolis only 60 degrees in chicago. seen very warm across the southern tier. lots of 90-degree temperatures. 94 in dallas. 96 in houston and we'll stay in the 70s and 80s up and down the east coast as you get rain showers moving in that's going to keep you cooler from time to time. that's the latest on the forecast. back to you. >> jacqui, we're check in with you a little later on. jacqui jeras, extreme weather center. the top stories of the day -- the question of the day, is president obama's new fiery persona resonating? president obama is picking it up a notch these days. hit with low approval number, it's president seems, well, fired up. we're seeing a rock 'em sock 'em obama. listen to the speech before the congressional black caucus. >> i expect all of you to march with me and press on. take off your bedroom slippers. put on your marching shoes. shake it off. stop complaining. stop grumbling. stop crying. we are going to press on. we've got work to do. cbc. god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. >> in case you hadn't noticed, the new alpha obama first appeared in the jobs speech before the joint session of congress and then when he blasted the rich for not paying their fair of taxes. he was feisty saying about rick perry "you've got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change." and mr. obama said this about the republican debate audiences. "cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don't have health care and booing a service member in iraq because they're gay. come on." no question about it. the president is throwing some red meat out to a liberal base upset he seems weak in the face of republican attacks. >> we don't have bedroom slippers. we've been out there for years doing this kind of thing. we take it he just kind of got off the teleprompter a little bit and got fired up, but we want to help him. we want to make sure that the base is protected. >> so the "talk back" question for us this morning -- is president obama's new fiery persona resonating? facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. read your responses later this hour. we found the real batman. this is very cool. an american professional wing suit flier, jeff corliss, the bird man, jumping nearly 7,000 feet, soaring through the skydiving into a cave -- >> no way. >> in central china. banned from the empire state building when he tried to parachute off of it and so he went to chain no to do this. i don't actually see him going in, reports are that he did. take a look at this. does he actually get into that cave? >> he flies right through, it appears. now he'd going to land. >> this is the other part of the trip. flies through it and comes out the other end. didn't it seem like that? the speed he was going at? >> i didn't know there were professional wing suit fliers. >> oh, yeah. >> there you go. still ahead, she was called a diabolic she devil. a diabolic she devil. they called her in court yesterday. court lawyers have their turn in the appeal of the amanda knox conviction. that's next. and no secret the new jersey governor chris christie is no fan of the "jersey shore" crew. he's done away with the so-called snooki -- what? uh-huh. you know it. it's 20 minutes past the hour. >> wow. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ that should do it. enjoy your new shower. [ door opens, closes ] i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. 23 minutes after the hour. welcome back. "minding your business" this morning. a global rally stretching into the united states this morning. stock futures up one day after the dow and s&p 500 both gained about 2.5%. the gains are fueled by reports of a plan to resolve the european debt crisis. efforts under way to secure another bailout for greece. that country's prime minister is in germany and just spoke saying greece will live up to all its commitments. meanwhile, back in athens, more cutbacks and a new property tax to keep the government from defaulting next month. back here in the united states, the big banks were some of the biggest winners in yesterday's stock rally. we'll watch them today, because they could affect your 401(k). jpmorgan chase up. bank of america up, citigroup and wells fargo also up. more ditching free checking according to a study by bank rate. 44% don't come way fee. down 20 percentage foints from last year. you can beat the fee making minimum deposits. and folks are worrying about deflation. a slowdown could cut into demand so much that falling prices will hurt the economy more than rising prices will. now, on a brighter note, retail giant macy's announcing it will add 78,000 temporary jobs this holiday season. that's a 4% increase over last year. the company said the increased hiring is needed because of continued sales growth in stores and online. "american morning" back right after this short break. life insurance companies treat you like a policy, not a person. instead of getting to know you they simply assign you a number. aviva is here to change all that. we're bringing humanity back to insurance and putting people before policies. aviva life insurance and annuities. we are building insurance around you. just about half past the hour. good morning to you. time to check top stories. opening statements begin in the manslaughter trial of dr. conrad murray accused of michael jackson's death by administering a lethal death of the anesthetic proposal faal. the defense will argue murray was trying to wean jackson off the drug and gave the deadly dose, that is, michael jackson dave the deadly dose to himself. and the senate reaching a bipartisan agreement on a spending plan that keeps fema fund and the government operating through november. the house is expected to pass the measure. surveillance video given of the first look at the terrifying moments for people inside the washington monument during last month's earthquake. it has been closed since the quake. crews will rappel down the side to check for additional damage. called a diabolic she serval devil in court yesterday. amanda knox herself is expected to make a personal plea to go free this week. matthew chance is covering the case live in italy this morning. so she's preparing -- i mean, it's just so strange that she can either get a life sentence or walk completely free. >> reporter: well, it's not just a stark choice between that. another option for the court is to find amanda knox guilty of a lesser crime than murder and reduce her sentence. that's certainly a possibility. but, you know, we won't really know for sure, carol, until next week, early next week. possibly as early as monday, when the court has heard all the defense arguments, all the prosecution arguments, all the rebuttals and go in and make its decision. so we are in the final phases but not quite there yet. >> so how is she preparing to make this final statement, amanda knox? because she's been effective in court, and she's been not so effective, to her detriment. >> reporter: yeah. certainly i think it's fair to say that over the past