Live Blog from the Anchor Desk 12/03/09
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/01/02/liveblogfinal.copy.jpg]
Who dropped the ball in the Maurice Clemmons case? He's the man who shot and killed four cops in Washington State over the weekend. There is new evidence tonight that Washington state tried to keep Clemmons behind bars. But they ran into resistance from Arkansas. We're keeping them honest.
Want to know what else we're covering? Read EVENING BUZZ
Scroll down to join the live chat during the program. It's your chance to share your thoughts on tonight's headlines. Keep in mind, you have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules.
Here are some of them:
1) Keep it short (we don't have time to read a "book")
2) Don't write in ALL CAPS (there's no need to yell)
3) Use your real name (first name only is fine)
4) No links
5) Watch your language (keep it G-rated; PG at worst - and that includes $#&*)
Video: Huckabee in the hot seat
Drew Griffin | BIO
CNN Investigative Correspondent
Photo Gallery: The Amanda Knox case
AC360°
Amanda Knox's high-profile case is coming to an end. After two years in prison, her verdict is expected to be delivered this Friday. If found guilty, she could spent the next thirty years behind bars. Her defense in the trial for the gory 2007 sex-murder of her British housemate Meredith Kercher rejected the charges that she and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecitothe killed Kercher in a drug-fuelled sexual misadventure.
Here is a photo gallery overview of the Knox case.
This file picture taken on September 16, 2008 at a court hearing in Perugia shows Amanda Knox being escorted by police. The first audience of Amanda Knox' trial, took place on January 16, 2009 in Perugia. Amanda Knox, from Seattle, Washington, has been held awaiting trial since a few days after British exchange student Meredith Kercher, aged 22, was found dead semi-nude in her bedroom with her throat slit on November 2, 2007.
One of the three suspects in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, Rudy Guede, 21, from the Ivory Coast (C), of the United States, leaves at a court hearing in Perugia on September 27, 2008.
He was found guilty and is currently serving a 30 year prison sentence.
The third suspect in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, Knox's former boyfriend, leaves a court hearing in Perugia on September 27, 2008.
British student Meredith Kercher.
The lawyer of the family of slain British student Meredith Kercher, Francesco Maresca, leaves the courthouse in the central Italian city of Perugia on October 28, 2008.
Amanda Knox testifies at the sitting of the Meredith Kercher murder trial at the Perugia courthouse on June 13, 2009 in Perugia, Italy.
Curt Knox (L) and Edda Mellas, the parents of US student Amanda Knox speak to journalists prior to the trial session of their daughter Amanda on November 28, 2009 at Perugia's courthouse.
Amanda Knox is comforted by her lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova during her trial on December 3, 2009 at the courthouse in Perugia. American Amanda Knox asked a jury not to put the 'killer's mask' on her as she and her boyfriend made emotional final appeals denying the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
According to her parents, Amanda was an easy child to raise. She, amongst other things, excelled at soccer, where she inherited the nick name "Foxy Knoxy". The name was later used by the prosecutor and taken out of context.
A knife found in Raffaele Sollecito's house which has the DNA of Amanda Knox on the handle and victim Meredith Kerecher on the blade, is suggested by the prosecutor to be the murder weapon. But the defense argues that the knife does not match the shape and size of wounds on Kercher's body or an outline of the knife left on the bed.
Evening Buzz: W.H. Security Breach Investigation
Maureen Miller
AC360° Writer
The White House is coming under fire for not having its social planner testify at a congressional hearing today on the state dinner security breach.
The ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, New York Rep. Peter King, addressed the panel's Democratic Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson.
"This was a bipartisan request, Mr. Chairman. A bipartisan request to the White House which prides itself in being open, which prides itself on cooperation – but in this instance they are stonewalling. And for our committee to work with the White House there has to be an element of trust. They have breached that trust, " King said.
Do you agree? Should White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers have been at the hearing?
Thompson said he didn't think Rogers had to testify, since the hearing focused on security issues.
Rogers wasn't the only no-show. Tareq and Michaele Salahi who are accused of crashing the state dinner last month also stayed away.
"Maybe they didn't show because they were on the guest list," joked Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Arizona.
But Thompson isn't laughing over the Salahis skipping the Q-and-A session. He said they will subpoena the couple to try to get them to testify on another date.
The one person who did show up on Capitol Hill was Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan.
"In this case, I fully acknowledge that proper procedures were not followed and human error occurred in the execution of our duties. This flaw has not changed our agency standard which is to be right 100-percent of the time," Sullivan said.
That was met by some anger from another Republican on the committee, who wanted to hear from the White House Social Secretary.
"I am very impressed by your willingness to take responsibility for this incident. But, you know, I never, ever expected, you know, we always expect the Secret Service to take a bullet for the president. We don't expect the Secret Service to take a bullet for the president's staff," said Rep. Charles Dent of Pennsylvania.
We'll have the latest on this story, including new insight on Mrs. Salahi's claim she was a Washington Redskins cheerleader.
Join us at 10 p.m. ET on CNN. See you then!
GOP congressman accuses White House of 'stonewalling' House committee
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/31/art.peterking.0831.gi.jpg caption="Congressman Peter King accuses the White House of 'stonewalling'"]
CNN
The ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee accused the White House of "stonewalling" Thursday by blocking its top social planner from testifying at a hearing on a security breach.
New York Rep. Peter King was angered by the administration's refusal to let Social Secretary Desiree Rogers speak at a hearing examining how a Virginia couple was able to enter the White House for a state dinner last week, even though they were not on the guest list.
Rogers' office planned the dinner.
Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan testified Thursday that there was a lone agent at the initial checkpoint where Tareq and Michaele Salahi entered the White House grounds. He acknowledged that if someone from the social secretary's office had been there, the couple may have been stopped.
Raw Data: Offenders on compact supervision
Editor's Note: We take a look tonight at the case of Maurice Clemmons and the legal provision called Interstate Compact Supervision that allows offenders across state lines amidst pending charges. Jeffrey Toobin joins us tonight on AC360° at 10pm ET.
Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision
|
TOTAL OFFENDERS SUPERVISED FOR OTHER STATES
|
TOTAL OFFENDERS TRANSFERRED TO OTHER STATES
|
|
| Alabama
Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas US Virgin Islands Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming |
3,423
254 1,746 2,860 7,181 2,290 1,033 464 563 6,899 4,360 228 664 5,995 3,452 1,356 2,267 2,832 2,095 478 3,038 2,404 2,132 1,569 1,889 3,034 443 940 946 555 2,530 2,011 4,899 1,250 668 3,602 3,350 1,369 3,311 312 479 2,368 421 3,899 6,733 38 562 330 3,101 2,527 1,228 1,333 584 |
1,731
274 2,514 2,597 4,460 2,929 1,381 443 398 7,193 8,829 537 1,447 3,774 2,356 1,035 2,315 3,446 2,074 306 1,671 1,180 2,087 2,641 1,319 5,341 1,023 452 1,080 759 3,747 1,196 3,689 4,207 463 2,875 1,378 1,909 4,572 112 1,088 510 828 2,293 11,429 12 416 346 7,211 1,046 693 3,035 |
Documents: Maurice Clemmons bail receipt
(Image courtesy of The Stranger)
AC360°
There are still unsolved questions surrounding the case of Maurice Clemmons. Questions that prompt us to take a deeper look at the legal system and why Clemmons had been released from jail just last week despite pending felony charges and a lengthy criminal history.
According to a document posted by the Seattle newspaper, The Stranger, Clemmons had posted bail on his recent charges allowing him to walk free after being charged with assualt and child rape. The bail had been set at $190,000 but records indicate that he had only paid $15,000.
These charges were separate from those which were commuted in 2000 by then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Clemmons had received a 95-year prison sentence in Arkansas in 1989 for a host of charges, including robberies, burglaries, thefts and bringing a gun to school.
Beat 360° 12/03/09
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:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee December 3, 2009 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The hearing was to examine President Obama's plan to send more troops to Afghanistan.
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.
_________________________________________________________________________________ 
Financial Dispatch: White House opens job summit
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/29/art.bankofamerica.gi.jpg caption="Bank of America said late Wednesday it planned to return the entire $45 billion in bailout money it received from the government over the past year."]
Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer
President Obama called on business leaders this afternoon to help his administration kick-start hiring as policymakers contend with rising unemployment that’s weighing down the economy.
Some 130 executives, economists, small business owners and non-profit officials are gathering for the jobs summit at the White House on the eve of the government's November unemployment report. The nation is expected to have lost another 114,000 jobs, with unemployment remaining at 10.2%, the highest in 26 years, according to an economists' survey.
"I'm not interested in taking a wait and see approach when it comes to creating jobs," Obama said. FULL POST
