republican backers. don't worry. you run. we'll take care of the money. >> he has rather moderate views on social issues conservatives may not be hip to. >> we'll talk a lot about that this morning. something else we're talking a lot about. amanda knox's first hope for freedom. the american student is waiting to see if her murder conviction will be overturned. she made her case to the jury earlier this morning. now an agonizing waiting game for her. part of what a tearful knox told the court, "the accusations are completely unjust and without any foundation. i am paying for my life with a crime i didn't commit." paula newton has covered this case for years and joins us live from perugia, italy. what else did knox have to say to the jurors this morning? >> you know, she got up and could barely speak,ally. choking back the tears. they asked, do you want to take a seat? she said, no. she said okay. and she made a tearful plea but maintained her composure each time underscoring i did not kill, i did not rape, i did not steal, i was not there, i was innocent and delivered the speech in fluid italian, really, much more emotional than i've ever seen her. she has been emotional. and ali she threw away the script. normally she would try and read. this time if she had notes she bearly referred to them and this was something that came straight from the heart. let's listen. >> translator: i am not what i say i am. perversity, violence. i respect life and people, and i haven't done the things that they are suggesting that i've done. i haven't. >> moderator:erred murdered, i haven't raped, i haven't stolen. i wasn't there. i wasn't present in that crime. >> she continually is saying that, look, i refuse to pay for my life for something i did not do, and very interesting, ali, she repeated again that meredith kercher was my friend. i miss her, but i did not kill her. >> interesting point. there was discussion that the two did not have a very good relationship. what are we waiting for, paula? what happens now? she and her boyfriend have gone back to their respective prison cells and are waiting to be called back and we're thinking the jury will likely have a decision with the next few hours? >> reporter: amanda knox returned to the prison behind me about 45 minutes ago. she has a long wait ahead of her. the judge expects to be back around 2:00 in afternoon. that's 8:00 local. that is a long day for the young woman behind me. the problem as well, ali, it isn't a straight, what, we uphold the verdict or are knocking down the verdict. some are reduced sentences. she has to be thinking what is the best i hope for. what she really wants is to get on a plane and go home tomorrow. ali? >> we'll stay on the story with you. paula newton in prush derugia. >> the appeals process in italy is far different than here in the united states. several options to the jury up to and including a complete acquittal. let's bring in our legal contributor to talk about that and the possible outcome knox faces. i cannot imagine having to wait eight hours for this jury, this judge, to make a decision. >> it's pure torture. on the other hand, a short wait for amanda knox, serving almost four years in prison for a crime shep said she did not commit. american college student. over that junior year abroad, most exciting thing and a month later locked up for murder. this has been a tragic case for the knox family and amanda knox. >> tell us about the makeup of the jury. >> very different from the united states. first of all, we call it a jury. this is really an appeal of the original case. in the united states, of course, you have a jury trial and then judges review the trial to see if it was a fair trial. they don't rehear the trial. in italy, you get an initial trial. she was convicted at that trial, and then the case goes up on appeal, but there are six lay people. therapy not trained lawyers. just selected-like jurors, and then there are two judges who sit on the appellate jury. and they rehear the case. now, they don't have to hear all of the evidence. they can select the evidence they wish to hear. so it's a shorter procedure than the initial trial, but it's really like a second trial, and they have reheard pretty much the entire case. the important parts of the case. >> well, the most important aspect of the case, and amanda knox' attorney came out after the proceedings and talk about this. the dna evidence. it's just not there. >> let me tell you why the dna evidence is so important. there is no piece of physical evidence that really linked amanda knox and her boyfriend sollecito to the murder seen except for one thing. he said she was having dinner with her boyfriend on night of the. >> moderator:er. a knife was in the sink presumably she used to chop up tomatoes or help cook. her dna son the handle of the knife. there is a microscopic piece of dna, so say the prosecutors, on the blade that they say is meredith kercher's blood. now, dna experts have looked at this from the united states and italian court-appointed dna experts say, nonsense. that piece of dna is too small to be subject to a legitimate analysis. if that goes out, nothing physically links them to the crime that's really definitive. so a really important piece of evidence. >> so if this jury and this judge do not uphold her appeal, she can appeal to a higher italian court, but let's say that that higher italian court says the sentence remains. can the president of the united states intervene after that point? >> well, he could appeal, of course, to the prime minister in italy. i suppose. you know, that's not something that normally happens between a western -- two western countries. italy and the united states. i think what you're going to see here is, if there's an acquittal, of course, she goes home. if she goes to the italian supreme court, it's probably going to be sustained, and, you know, i think today is the big day in the amanda knox case. this is going to dictate what her future will be. not the president of the united states. >> is there any sense of which way it will go? i mean, can you get any sense at all? >> this is the sense i get. lawyers who have been watching the case very closely, american lawyers and to a certain extent italian lawyers, think there's very little or no case against this american student. on the other hand, there is a small number of people who think that italian honor may be at stake. that italian justice may be subject to ridicule if this case is reversed and she is released. so the knox supporters are very worried that the judges and the jurors on this case are going to say, we're going to uphold that verdict, because we don't want italy to look bad to the world's press. so what a terrible tension-filled day for the knox family and those watches this trial. >> again, we probably won't find out anything until 2:00 p.m. eastern this afternoon. amanda knox has a long wait. thank you. appreciate it as always, ali. to politics. new jersey governor chris christie had a change of heart and is seriously considering a run for the white house. according to the "new york times," christie's advisers are trying to determine whether there's enough time to set up operations in iowa and new hampshire, two very important early states and be able to mount an effective campaign. if christie decides to jump in, fellow republican john mccain is offering up a little advice. >> if governor christie decides to run, i wish him luck. i think that there is a bit of a caution. the swimming pool looks a lot better until you jump right in. the water may not be quite at warm as you think. >> the water may not be quite as warm as you think. if christie enters the race, at serious disadvantage because of campaign organizing and late running. part of the problem, all of these donors who haven't gotten into the race, saying, we've got money for you. and over the weekend be doing little to stop wall street protesters. the movement, occupy wall street, saying demonstrations are growing and becoming more organized. alison kosik joins us live, following this carefully. to put it into context, alison, this remains a grouping of people without a particularly clear strategy and without a clearly aligned set of goals. >> what's changed from the time i was out there talking to them on the street last week to now is they're really, really growing in numbers, and getting that media attention that they've really craved. that media attention is really more for the arrest that happened over weekend more so than their message. maybe because there isn't one message. you see that, hundreds of protesters marching on the brooklyn bridge essentially shutting it down a few hours. hundreds arrested or ticketed for walking on the roadway. after that, they went right back to the park near wall street. held up their myriad of signs against everything from corporate greed to high gas prices to wanting a four-day workweek, and that's star power. that continues. we saw susan is a randa out there last week. media mogul russell simmons out there and alec baldwin tweeting, lending encouraging messages, sending pictures. people jumping on the bandwagon. what they've yet to do, have a sit-in on wall street. you know why? because there are barricades around the perimeter of the new york stock exchange. when i go there to work every day, i can't get close. you have to go through sort of this maze of barricades. >> anything stopped happening because of their protests? >> only just convenience. it's inconvenient walking around. susan candiotti was reporting on occupy wall street over the weekend. can we go to this. all of a sudden, take a look. this dog -- what happened to peace, love and understanding? >> tossing a dog? >> i don't get it. i don't get their message. >> it was the international dog tossing group. >> what was up with that? >> oh, my. the dog's okay? >> the dog is all right. thank goodness. >> interesting. as russell simmons went in and had advice on getting their message straight. this is an issue. i'm going to get a lot of tweets about this, because i do every team i talk about this. my criticism is not of anything they're talking about. it is, it is a very haphazard unclear state of messages. they're mad about wall street. >> passionate about what they want. i think what you're seeing, these celebrities coming out, trying to give them focus, trying to help. >> what they're trying to do, michael moore has his own agenda. he wants them to adopt his agenda. trying to use these protesters for their own megs. >> they don't have a message. not a bad idea. malleable. a great twitter campaign. >> they do and are tweeting me a lot. keep them coming. it's okay. >> thank you, alison kosik. and injuries in two flights both landing in boston. several people hurt from a flight from san juan to boston. another, a lufthansa. >> a lot of turbulence to divert planes and have those types of injuries. scary. and between a rock and hard space. digging deeper around rick perry. how long has this guy been in the race? a lot of controversy. plus, leader al anwar al awlaki, some are troubled an american citizen was taken out by his own government without a trial. what do you think? it's our "talk back" question this morning. capital one's new cash rewards card gives you a 50 percent annual bonus. so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? 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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. 17 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. weather permitting, the daring inspection of the washington inspection will resume this morning. winds brought the operation to a halt this weekend. one rappelling worker was blown 30 feet away from the tower. a team of engineers is assessing the damage to the monument's exterior after, of course, that 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit back in august. and rob mrs smarciano is in extreme weather center for us. what have you got? >> untelgtsed, continuing to be that way today. good morning, guys. a weather pattern last week stuck in a rut. kicked out by a storm out of canada and that storm that kicked the last storm out is stuck and spinning as well. the unsettled weather, showers around the d.c. and baltimore area at this time and probably see a couple more pop up throughout the day today across parts of the northeast including boston and new york. farther down south, that cold air to nashville. frost advisories up. 45 degrees right now in atlanta. the storm system out west is creating problems in the northwest and also in the sierra nevadas. first indications for seeing significant snowfall. could see over a foot in spots. over 7,000 feet. what it looked like across parts of pennsylvania and the appalachians over the weekend. some snow. there you go. multiple spots reporting, not a tremendous amount. they didn't need to get the plows out, but still, you know, considering it's the first week of october, to get even some of it stick to the ground, that's a pretty big deal. it's not exactly high elevation areas, but not low elevations, and snow. here we go, guys. buckle up your winter boots, because it's coming. >> i think you're going to have to wear boston the winter outfit, because, you know, the tigers, they won. yankee-loving fan, rob marciano i. think your lions won as well. >> i know. >> so i think you're winning for week. okay? >> yeah. the tigers. this is far from over yet. >> what? i know, but -- >> make yourself available for friday. carol and i may not be speaking on friday morning. >> rematch tonight. hopefully they'll play the whole nine innings. >> good to see you, my friend. defense secretary leon panetta is delivering a blunt message to israel, repair relations with your neighbors or risk isolation. in his first visit to the region, press israel irand palestinian leaders to restart peace talks. before panetta left for israel he spoke to cnn newest anchor erin burnett and expressed taking out anwar al awlaki. >> this individual was clearly a terrorist and, yes, he was a citizen, but if you're a terrorist, you're a terrorist, and that means that we have the ability to go after those who would let t would threaten to attack the united states and kill americans. there's no question that the authority and the ability to go after a terrorist is there. >> you can see the rest of erin burnett's interview tonight when her new show "out front" premieres at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. now it's time for your chance to "talk back" on the big question this morning. the question for you, should the united states have targeted anwar al awlaki despite his american citizenship? president obama is two for two. first bin laden, now anwar al awlaki, top two terrorists. >> -- he took the lead to plan and murder american citizens, repeatedly called on individuals in the united states and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. >> another american al qaeda collaborator was also killed in that raid. what a relief? right? not for everybody. >> if the american people accept this blindly and casually, we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys. i think it's sad. >> yeah. they were bad guys. really bad guys. still, some say that's no e ex-excuse for basically plurder. one accused this, the targeting killing program is a mistake to invest the president, any president, with the unreviewable power to kill any american whom he deems to present a threat to country. although former president dick cheney would disagree. not only praised the obama administration for targeting al awlaki but says president obama should apologize for his criticism of the bush administration's interrogations. facebook.com/"american morning." i'll read your responses later in the hour. the conrad murray trial set to get underway in a few hours. why he may be facing an uphill battle. and andy rooney, last minutes on "60 minutes." he's certainly not grateful. it's 22 past the hour. you're watching "american morning." starting my progresso soup for lunch plan, huh. nope, just having some tender chicken and some tasty noodles. let's see...south western vegetables...60 calories. ya' know those jeans look nice. they do? yup. so you were checking me out? yup. 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"minding your business" this morning. this week, it's all about europe and about jobs here in the united states. european markets are down this morning after the brit government announced over the weekend it will mitt its deficit target. this news is raising concerns the next eu bailout of greece may be in jeopardy. and an imf official announce in tokyo further slowdown in the u.s. economy is hurting global growth as a whole and the ratings agency fitch, downgrading all of the world's most powerful economies. pushing stock futures down. futures for the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 all trading lower ahead of the opening bell. this week a fresh reading on the growth and labor market when the government releases the jobs report for september. thats while we're on the air. and america's economic outlook in front of congress. testifying tomorrow morning in front of the join economic committee. a stock to watch today, eastman kodak, up in pre-market trading after taking a nosedive friday. sank down to 78 cents a share after rumor started swirling the company could be preparing to file for bankruptcy. kodak denies those rumors. gas prices keep dropping. national average, $3.42 a gallon according to aaa. people are cutting back on gas in general. it's making a mark on demand. plus, oil prices down under $80 a barrel for the first time since last year. 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