Amanda Knox

AC360°

Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state, is speaking out against the Amanda Knox verdict. She talks to Anderson about the case tonight. Take a look at the letters she has sent Sec. of State Hillary Clinton.

Amanda Knox looks on during a session of her trial last week at the courthouse in Perugia, Italy.

Cate Vojdik
AC360° Writer

U.S. Senator Mary Cantwell is urging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help American college student Amanda Knox, who was convicted of murdering her study abroad roommate in Italy and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Senator Cantwell, who represents Knox’s home state, has issued a statement saying she has profound concerns that Knox has been failed by the Italian justice system. She wants Secretary Clinton to intervene and ensure that Knox gets a fair appeals trial. Tonight, Anderson talks to the senator about why she thinks U.S. officials need to step in. We’ll also hear from Former Assistant Secretary of State James Rubin. Even if Secretary Clinton decides she wants to intervene, can she? How m uch leverage does she have?

Also tonight: science, skepticism and allegations of conspiracy. World leaders have gathered in Copenhagen for the United Nations climate summit but leaked emails from an internationally-renowned climate research unit are threatening to overshadow the talks. Climate change skeptics say the emails are proof that scientists have manipulated data and public perception of global warming. We’ll explain the controversy. You can decide if you think it’s a conspiracy or much ado about nothing.

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CNN

Amanda Knox is in an Italian jail, sentenced to spend the next 26 years there for the 2007 slaying of her roommate, Meredith Kercher, while the two were exchange students in Italy.But despite a trial lasting nearly a year, many questions about the case remain unanswered. Knox's family will talk to Larry King tonight at 9 p.m.

Go here and scroll down to view a photo gallery of Amanda Knox's childhood.

Number, rate, and ratio of abortions performed, by year - selected states, United States, 1996–2006

Centers for Disease Control

Each year, CDC requests abortion data from the central health agencies of 52 reporting areas (the 50 states, New York City, and the District of Columbia); these data are provided to CDC voluntarily. In 2006, data were received from 49 reporting areas. For the purpose of trend analysis, data were evaluated from the 46 areas that reported data every year during 1996–2006.

For 2006, a total of 846,181 abortions were reported to CDC. Among the 46 areas that provided data consistently during 1996–2006, a total of 835,134 abortions (98.7% of the total) were reported; the abortion rate was 16.1 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years, and the abortion ratio was 236 abortions per 1,000 live births. During the previous decade (1997–2006), reported abortion numbers, rates, and ratios decreased 5.7%, 8.8%, and 14.8%, respectively; most of these declines occurred before 2001. During the previous year (2005–2006), the total number of abortions increased 3.1%, and the abortion rate increased 3.2%; the abortion ratio was stable.

In 2006, as during the previous decade (1997–2006), women aged 20–29 years accounted for the majority (56.8%) of abortions and had the highest abortion rates (29.9 abortions per 1,000 women aged 20–24 years and 22.2 abortions per 1,000 women aged 25–29 years); by contrast, abortion ratios were highest at the extremes of reproductive age. Adolescents aged 15–19 years accounted for 16.5% of all abortions in 2006

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Barbie Latza Nadeau
The Daily Beast

Is the real Amanda Knox the sex-obsessed, cold-blooded murderer that the prosecution depicted? Or worse?

Amanda Knox should be finishing college and polishing her résumé for her first job. She should be buying Christmas presents for her friends. She should be falling in love. But so should Meredith Kercher, the British woman Knox was just convicted of killing. Knox, who was sentenced to 26 years in prison for sexual assault, murder, staging a crime scene, and criminal defamation, will one day walk out of prison. She will likely be out in time to marry and have children, should she chose to. Kercher has been wiped from existence.

 Knox is a convicted murderess but she is not necessarily an assassin. She is a 22-year-old woman who followed a dream to study in Perugia, but instead found herself in an unthinkable situation that led her to Capanne Prison just outside of town. She has a recognizable face, but she is no longer the young woman from the pictures taken on November 2, 2007, snuggling outside the crime scene with her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who was also convicted for Kercher’s murder. Back then, Knox seemed naïve and carefree. Now she is withered. The lines in her face are deep with concern.

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Ready for today's Beat 360°? Everyday we post a picture – and you provide the caption and our staff will join in too. Tune in tonight at 10pm to see if you are our favorite! Here is the 'Beat 360°' pic:

Senator Max Baucus speaks to reporters after a meeting with President Barack Obama and other Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill December 6, 2009 in Washington, DC.

Have fun with it. We're looking forward to your captions! Make sure to include your name, city, state (or country) so we can post your comment.

Staff:

Kirk McDonald

"No, young lady, I will not nominate you to be a US attorney if you date me."

Viewer:

Sean, Boston, MA

"No, no, no, I told you I'll only speak to Anderson, he's got gray hair, about this tall..."

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AC360°

"Planet in Peril: Battle Lines" traveled around the world to document threats to the environment.

Go here to learn more about each location.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

The Obama Administration is expected to slash the estimated cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program by $200 billion, effectively paving the way for a massive federal jobs program.

The latest projection, which will be officially unveiled by the White House this week, would cut TARP's price tag by $200 billion to $141 billion, according to a Treasury Department official.

And officials tell CNN that President Obama will recommend using the $200 billion to fund a series of projects - including building bridges and roads and weatherizing homes, as well as providing further aid to the unemployed and to small businesses. That’s expected to come in a speech on Tuesday.

Such a move is certain to draw fire from Republican lawmakers, who have railed against using any leftover bailout funds or money that has been paid back by banks for any new projects.

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Amanda Knox looks on during a session of her trial last week at the courthouse in Perugia, Italy.

Richard Allen Greene and Paula Newton
CNN

Amanda Knox is in an Italian jail, sentenced to spend the next 26 years there for the 2007 slaying of her roommate Meredith Kercher while the two were exchange students in Italy.

But despite a trial lasting nearly a year, many questions about the case remain unanswered.

Reporters who have covered the crime and its aftermath for years left Perugia after the verdict Saturday saying they felt they knew no more about what happened in Knox and Kercher's house on November 1, 2007, than they did when Kercher's partially naked body was found the next morning.

The verdicts against Knox, an American, and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito came early Saturday, delivered in a vaulted brick courtroom two levels below ground in this Italian university town. Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years in prison. A third suspect, Rudy Guede, was convicted earlier and sentenced to 30 years.

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Andrew C. Revkin
The New York Times

Jonathan Pershing, the State Department deputy special envoy on climate change, represented the United States as climate talks opened in Copenhagen on Monday. Mr. Pershing addressed reporters after the initial,  largely ceremonial and administrative, opening session.

At a news conference, he fended off questions from European reporters about the adequacy of  President Obama’s plan for emissions cuts, which is roughly parallel to what is laid out in legislation in the House and Senate. The proposal calls for a 30 percent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels by 2025, 42 percent by 2030 and more than 80 percent by 2050.

He said the targets were in line with a long-term trajectory for emissions that scientists had defined as avoiding the worst risks, but only if all countries – including emerging economic powers among developing countries — did their part, as well. “It’s a vision that moves the United States down the curve of greenhouse gas emissions at a level that no other country has even begun to seriously contemplate,” Mr. Pershing said.

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