i wasn't there. i wasn't present in that crime. >> cnn's matthew chance was in the courtroom. matthew, walk us through this morning's hearing, will you? >> reporter: yeah, martin. it was very emotional. amanda knox came in escorted by the guards and looked very stressed indeed, very pale. her head was hung down. she didn't even look at her family, who were gathered in one corner of the courtroom to give her support. her former boyfriend also serving a lengthy prison sentence for the murder of meredith kircher, spoke first. he said they were both innocent. then the big moment came. perhaps the biggest speech of amanda knox's life. she turned to the jury and managed to compose herself because she was in tears, and, you know, make this impassioned plea for them to set her free. she said she wanted her life back. she was tired of being punished for something she didn't do, she said. and so she said it all as well in fluent italian. over the past four years since she's been in prison she obviously has perfected the spoken local language that. may have endeared her somewhat to the jury as well. the jury has now retired from the court. we're not expecting to hear back from them for several hours from now. >> matthew chance, thank you very much, outside the courthouse there. and i am certain that, yes, speaking fluent italian did have an impression on the jury. paula newton is now outside the courtroom where the jury is deliberating. if the jury does overturn the verdict, how soon could she go free? >> amanda knox believes she could be free tonight, that's returned here to this prison where she sits right now, and that she would be on a plane home within hours. i just spoke to an italian parliament earn who was allowed in to visit with her. he says she is in the prison chapel. she is singing hymns, playing hymns. she is being allowed to stay with the chaplain, the prison's chaplain, and that she is absolutely confident, she's calm, she does believe she will be on a plane bound for home tonight. martin? >> and there is also even though this is an appeal, still a further appeal that is possible here. is that true for both sides? >> reporter: it is true for both sides, but they cannot hold her. if she is absolved, if she is acquitted in this appeal, she is a free woman, she'll be given her passport back. she will be able to go home. if they order another appeal case, that means that the italian government can appeal for extradition from the united states to italy. but that is a long way off, and that is after a high court ruling which would be several months away, and if the prosecution wins that. >> paula newton standing by outside of the prison where amanda knox is currently being held. thank you very much. we'll stay in touch with both and you matthew. thanks. here in the states occupy wall street protesters are not backing down. 700 people were arrested on the brooklyn bridge saturday. and now the demonstration is spreading across the country. allison is at the new york stock exchange. allison, this protest is now in its third week, right? >> exactly, martin. and it is growing. you can see the difference from when i was out there on the street talking with them just a few days ago to now. you can see how the numbers are growi growing. they wanted media attention, and now they've got it. but this time the media attention is more for the arrests that happened over the weekend here in new york. hundreds of protesters marched on the brooklyn bridge, essentially shutting it down for a few hours, so hundreds were either arrested or ticketed for walking on the roadway. after that, after they were released from lockup, they went straight back to the park right around here in the financial district, went back to holding their signs. denouncing everything from corporate greed to high gas prices and calling for a four-day work week. and you know, we're seeing this star power continue as well. along with susan sarandon, who we ran into last week, media mogul russell simmons jumping on the band wag an, lending advice to help protesters define their message. even alec baldwin took to twitter, offering his support, sending encouraging messages to them. one interesting thing that happened this weekend, martin, if we can go to that, our reporter was doing a live shot out there, and they literally threw a dog across the way. i don't quite understand what they were trying to accomplish there. so much for peace, love, and understanding, martin. >> tossing the dog. thanks very much, we'll check back with you and see how the markets are doing. and it's not shaping up to look like a good day. thanks. now to politics. texas governor rick perry at the center of a controversy. over the name of a texas hunting camp once leased by him and his family that contained the n word. according to "the washington post," a rock at the camp entrance was painted with the name in big letters. campaign spokespersons thsays ty painted over the rock soon after they started to use it. >> rick perry definitely in the spotlight because of that "washington post" article yesterday. and what was telling was how quick the perry campaign early on a sunday morning reacted to cnn when we reached out to them. very quick with the reaction. and here is part of the statement from the campaign saying a number of claims made in the story are incorrect, inconsistent, and anonymous, including the implication that rick perry brought groups to the lease when the word on the rock was still visible. the one consistent fact in the story is that the word was painted over years ago. but some sources say the word was on the rock just a few years back. herman cain, also running for the presidential nomination, he was asked about it. here's what he said. >> my reaction is that's just very insensitive. that there -- there isn't a more vile, negative word than the n word. and for him to leave it there before they finally painted over it, it's just plain inssensitive to a lot of black people in the country. >> just moments after herman cain went on the talk shows, the perry campaign came back with another reaction saying that they agreed with herman cain that the word is definitely insensitive, but said that again the rock was painted over. what will be telling, martin, will other campaigns like the mitt romney campaign speak out this issue and attack rick perry. it was a controversial weekend for him not only for that story but his comments on maybe the possibility of sending u.s. troops into mexico. rick perry definitely in the spotlight this morning, martin. >> and this brings up the issue with all of these problems, could it mean that chris christie might now change his mind, jump in? >> yeah. and a lot of speculation on whether he will be doing that. the latest chorus of calls for him to do that came after perry stumbled in that debate about a week ago. right now, christie supporters are trying to decide if there's enough time to start up a campaign to raise the money to get the teams together in the early states. all eyes are on chris christie this morning. >> indeed. all right. paul steinhauser, thank you very much. we'll have your next political update in one hour. for all of your latest political news, go to our website, cnnpolitics.com. coming up, president obama's health care law is about to get a checkup of sorts. the supreme court will examine it to rule if it's constitutional. we'll take a closer look. plus, prince harry swoops into the u.s. for some flight training. we've got details on his military mission. my name is jill strange, i'm forty-nine years-old, i love gardening, and i love volleyball. i've been taking osteo bi-flex for several years now. i really can't see myself not taking it. osteo bi-flex is a great product. i can go back and do gardening with comfort. 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[ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex. the #1 doctor and pharmacist recommended brand. checking stories right now cross country, a rocky night in the skies over boston. as many as 18 people were injured when two different flights experienced extreme turbulence. 11 were onboard a lufthansa flight from charlotte to munich. another fron a jetblue flight fm san juan to boston. >> i saw the plane going, down, down, down. >> i thought, it was so scary. it was quite a surprise. >> speaking of surprises, in new orleans, police are searching for the driver of this pickup truck. it slammed right through the main door of the district attorney's office. the driver ran off. police are calling it a hit-and-run. but aren't quite sure of the motive. and then people in phillipsburg, pennsylvania, woke up to the first snowflakes of the season. up to one inch of snow was reported in some parts of the state. snow in early october is rare, but apparently not unheard of. at least not there. it is the first monday in october, and that means a new term for the u.s. supreme court. justices have several politically charged issues before them, including president obama's health care law. and cnn's athena jones explains. >> reporter: monday kicks off a new term for the supreme court. and health care tops the list of big issues the nine justices could take on. the obama administration has asked the nation's highest court to rule on the constitutionality of the patient protection and affordable care act, the health care overhaul signed into law last year. lawsuits brought by 28 states and dozens of individuals and groups have challenged the federal government's right to require people to purchase health insurance. the key provision in the law. analysts say that the court will almost certainly address this hot button issue this term. with a decision coming just months before the presidential election. >> the law itself is obviously really important, whether you like it or not. it has tremendous consequences for president obama's re-election because it's a signature achievement. >> the politics of health care aside, this is a central issue. this could change the way the government and the people interact, you know, going forward in our country. >> reporter: among cases already on the court's docket, an electronic surveillance case that asks whether police can attach a gps track toer to a suspect's car without a warrant. the essential question, do motorists have any right to privacy on public roads? another about whether prisons can subject people arrested for even minor offenses to strip searches. and whether the federal communications indecency rules violate broadcast networks' free speech rights. >> they'll have to decide what the free speech rights of broadcasters are to put profanity and some nudity on the air. >> reporter: other politically charged issues that could come up include immigration, gay marriage, affirmative action, and abortion. >> the supreme court so far term is shaping up to be pretty interesting, but it could become absolutely explosive and enthralling. the most interesting one in the century. >> reporter: one more important point to reiterate, and that's that the supreme court only takes one out of every 10 cases it's petitioned to review. and the justices haven't decided if they are going to tackle this health care overhaul. still, nearly every legal analyst you speak to believes that the court will have to wade into the debate. athena jones, at the supreme court. coming up, the recession officially ended two years ago. but some economists are now raising the odds of another one. we'll go to the stock exchange for details. plus, the british are coming. yeah. prince harry himself leading the military charge. we'll tell you why. he is heading to arizona. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy? all right. let's get you showbiz headlines update. "dolphin tale" soaked its box office competition. the movie earned another $14 million, bumping "lion king" from the top spot down to number three. get this. five years after its cancellation, possible new life for "arrested development." the creator plans a short spinoff series. he says it will be a prequel. the long rumored "arrested development" movie. and the end of the broadcast era. after more than 30 years, andy rooney hangs it up at "60 minutes." in his final message, rooney says he's not totally retiring. he plans to keep writing. and also saved some time for his fans. >> a lot of you have sent me wonderful letters and said good things to me when you meet me in the street. i wasn't always gracious about it. it's hard to accept being liked. i don't say this often. but thank you. although if you do see me in a restaurant, please just let me eat my dinner. >> and with that, rooney wrapped up his 1,097th "60 minutes" essay. congratulations to him. prince harry's deploying to the desert this week for military duty, but no, it's not afghanistan. he's headed to arizona. max foster is here to explain. what's going on? >> yeah. he's heading there this week as i understand it. it's the military training exercise. he is training the final part of his training to fly the apache helicopter. they have missiles on them and machine guns. and he's going to fire a live missile for the first time. he is there for about two months, but he'll also spend some time in el centro in california. we're told no media access to him. these images of him are from afghanistan in 2008. and we got these images after he returned. we expect the same sort of thing to happen again. so there are photographers heading that way. people are hanging out in las vegas, hoping the party prince will show his true colors. he's famous for enjoying the odd drink. but certainly palace sources saying it's all work, work, work while he's there, martin. >> all right, max. i know you are not one to brag, but i do have hear you've got a very special invitation this morning. >> well, as you ask, martin, i received this today. it's an invitation from the queen. her majesty's command to invite me to a reception. it's part of a buildup to the diamond jubilee celebrations next year. she has been on the throne, the queen, for 60 years. there will be lots of pomp and ceremony next year. you can expect to see a bit of what we saw with the royal wedding really this year. lots of celebrations, a buildup to that. next summer expect to see lots of parties here in the uk. i'll get you details after the event. looking forward to that, max. you know, i got an invite to burger king. that's the only royalty here in this country. thank you, max. we'll be back in touch. alicesabamalalison coskoe the new york stock exchange. >> today, fitch ratings has cut its global economic forecast for growth saying that even emerging markets are slowing right along with the u.s. and europe, because what we're seeing happen is volatility has intensified. and there's much not confidence in government and policy makers at this point. fitch doesn't expect a double dip reception, but does say the likelihood has increased. but we did speak with someone from the economic research institute, and he says we're there, we're in a recession, or we're about to be in one. he was on "american morning" today. listen to what he had to say. >> in this case, we have a conceptual underpinning of how recessions and recoveries take place in this country. in a market economy, recessions are part and parcel of a market economy. we're not going to get away from them. and looking at the facts, we see that the forward looking indicators, not one, not two, dozens of leading indexes, are falling. there's contagion among the indexes. they are falling in a way that we only see when a recession is underway. >> and he says basically what's happening with the economy right now is just there are too many negative factors weighing on it. we have home prices extremely low. no jobs were created in august. manufacturing is slowing. economists expect greece to run out of money this month. he does say along with others that if we are in a recession or headed for one, it would not be as bad as 2008. it would be more mild. on cusp of hearing this, we have u.s. markets looking like they'll open lower today. that will follow what overseas markets did, they are down 1% to 4% today. >> all right, alison. thank you very much. we are waiting to hear about amanda knox and her fate at any time. a jury could overturn her murder verdict or give her more prison time. and taking out al-awlaki. a big win on the war on terror. but was it legal? we will talk about the legality of targeting u.s. citizens overseas after the break. checking top stories right now, the second week of testimony in the involuntary manslaughter trial of dr. conrad murray will start this morning. defense secretary leon panetta is in the middle east, urging israeli and palestinian leaders to restart peace talks. he says that israel has to improve its relations with other countries in the region. and bruce beutler is one of three scientists sharing a nobel prize for their discoveries on how the immune system works. right now, amanda knox's fate is in the hands of an italian jury. she is the american student who was tried and convicted of killing a roommate. knox has always maintained his innocence, and today she finds out if the jury believes her. here's what she told them earlier. >> translator: i want to go back home. i want to go back to my life. i don't want to be punished. to have my life, my future, taken away from me for things that i haven't committed. because i am innocent. knox could go free or she could go back to prison for a stiffer sentence. today is the culmination of four years of denials by knox and her co-defendant. cnn drew griffin shows us how knox got to this point. >> reporter: american amanda knox was intent on spending her junior year of college studying abroad, an adventure of sorts which would land the 20-year-old in the picturesque italian town of perugia. it was late summer 2007. knox had moved in this house with three other girls. one was british-born meredith kircher. knox settled in, took classes at the local university, got a part-time job and even found a new boyfriend, 23-year-old rafaela. the adventure soon became a nightmare. on the night of november 1, 2007, knox's roommate, meredith kircher, was sexual assaulted and left for dead in the home that the girls shared. as police searched for clues, knox had originally told them she spent the night at her boyfriend's place. but just four days later, november 5, 2007, amanda knox changed her story. after hours of interrogation, knox confessed to being in the home the night kircher died, adding that her boss, patrick labum ba was there as well. kircherkilled, according to one theory, after refusing to take place in a group sex game. kircher and her boyfriend were arrested, so was lamum ba, but he was released. it became a sensation in italy and in knox's hometown, the tabloids labeling her foxy knoxy. november 2007, police identify yet another suspect. 20-year-old rudy guday, an immigrant from the ivory coast who appeared to be on the run. he was caught in germany the next day. one month later, he was charged with kircher's murder. october of 2008. he was found guilty, sentenced to 30 years. his lawyers would get it down to 16 years on appeal. he had claimed amanda knox and her former lover were with him. but their trial wouldn't begin until january 16, 2009. throughout, both insisted they were innocent. the court didn't believe them. and on december 5, 2009, knox and her for