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U.S. Hikers Finally Coming Home; Troy Davis Execution Tonight; Google Excused of Bullying

Aired September 21, 2011 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

I want to get you up to speed for Wednesday, the 21st of September.

Two Americans are now out of an Iranian prison and will be on their way to Oman any time now. Now, Iran held Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal for 26 months. The price of freedom, $1 million bail. It is not clear who paid that money.

The Americans say they were hiking when they accidentally strayed into Iran. Well, Iran said that they were spies. The release comes a day before Iran's president speaks at the United Nations in New York.

Well, Troy Davis has eight hours -- eight hours to live -- but his lawyer is not giving up. He filed an emergency appeal a couple of hours ago, asking a Georgia judge to call off tonight's execution because of new evidence.

Just a short time ago, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles refused to reconsider their decision against clemency. Davis got the death penalty for the murder of a Savannah police officer back in 1989. No DNA evidence ever linked Davis to the crime.

Most of the witnesses who testified against him recanted, but the man who prosecuted Davis stands by his case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPENCER LAWTON, FMR. CHATHAM COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: There are two Troy Davis cases. There is the legal case, the case in court, and the public relations case. We have consistently won the case as it's been presented in court. We have consistently lost the case as it's been presented in the public realm on TV and elsewhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Prominent figures from former President Jimmy Carter to Pope Benedict have asked Georgia to spare Davis' life because of doubts about his guilt.

At the U.N. right now, President Obama and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Well, they're scheduled to discuss Palestinian statehood and how to stop it. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is set to ask the U.N. to declare Palestine a state, and that's supposed to happen on Friday. Well, President Obama will personally press Abbas to work for statehood through negotiations with Israel. The two meet later this afternoon.

And just a few moments ago, President Obama spoke to the General Assembly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations. If it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now.

Ultimately, it's the Israelis and the Palestinians who must live side by side. Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians, not us, who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(CHANTING)

MALVEAUX: Thousands of Palestinians poured into the streets in Ramallah today to support statehood. The West Bank city is the seat of the Palestinian government. Now, other towns, including Bethlehem, also held rallies.

This is a shocking scene. It's quite disturbing, orchestrated by Mexico's drug cartels.

Drivers left, if you can believe this, two trucks filled with bodies sitting in the mid of a highway in the tourist town of Boca del Rio. Now, some of the 35 corpses spilled on to the street. Authorities expect at least some of the dead were rival drug traffickers.

Typhoon Roke is blasting Japan today with 100-mile-an-hour winds, buckets of rain. Seventeen inches have fallen so far in some places. The storm is brushing past Tokyo right now. It will then push into the area already wrecked by the an earthquake and tsunami last March.

There is concern that the typhoon could spend radioactive water at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Of course there is still vast pools of radioactive water that have to be treated within these reactors. Remember, for months, cool water had to be poured on to the reactors to try and cool them down. And, of course, heavy rain could cause that water to overflow and maybe go into the sea or go into the groundwater.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Four people have died in Typhoon Roke, three others are now missing.

Well, some people are questioning Tony Bennett's patriotism because of his remarks about 9/11. Radio host Howard Stern asked the singer how the U.S. should deal with terrorists. Well, Bennett responded by asking, who are the terrorists? Quoting here, "Are we the terrorists or are they the terrorists?"

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BENNETT, SINGER: They flew the plane in, but we caused it.

HOWARD STERN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Why, because --

BENNETT: Because we were bombing them and they told us to stop. They said, what are you doing? And they came on stronger and they said, come on, we're going to have to retaliate. No, no, no. They said, give them four times as much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Bennett tried to dial back on his Facebook page. He apologized if his remarks suggested anything other than love for his country.

So now is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the United States is just one of 58 countries that allows the death penalty.

Today's question: Is it time to rethink the death penalty?

Carol Costello, she is here with the question.

And Carol, you know, there are a lot of other nations who look at the United States and say, yes, you guys are sophisticated, but barbaric when it comes to the death penalty here, the fact that you kill your own, even how terrible they are, how terrible they may be.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I think many Americans, Suzanne, are conflicted about the death penalty. Hence the question today: Is it time to rethink the death penalty?

Troy Davis, a convicted cop killer, will die tonight, despite this rally and despite assertions of Davis' innocence from Amnesty International, to the pope, to President Jimmy Carter. Whether you agree with them is up to you.

But Davis' case aside, American juries seem increasingly reluctant to see any inmate put to death. Since the 1990s, the number of executions in America have significantly declined from 98 executions in 1999 to just 46 last year.

That decline seems at odds with the strong feelings many Americans still have about the death penalty. Witness the Republican debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN WILLIAMS, MODERATOR: Your state has executed 234 death row inmates, more than any other governor in modern times.

(APPLAUSE)

WILLIAMS: Have you struggled to sleep at night with the idea that any one of those might have been innocent?

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, sir, I've never struggled with that at all. I think Americans understand justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That's Texas, but 16 other states do not have the death penalty.

As for why juries seem loath now to impose a death sentence, that's unclear, but maybe it's because more than 130 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence since 1973. Many juries now prefer another option: life without the possibility of parole.

So, the "Talk Back" today: Is it time to rethink the death penalty?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.

MALVEAUX: OK, Carol. Thank you.

Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are covering.

First, they spent two long years in an Iranian prison. Well, now two American hikers, they are finally free. We've got a live report on their release.

And less than eight hours before Troy Davis' planned execution, I'm going to talk with an expert about the danger of eyewitness testimony which convicted him.

And then Google's CEO is grilled over allegations that his company bullied his competition.

Also, from six figures, now to poverty. This is the new face of the poor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to pick and choose what you want to do. It's either eat that day or pay a bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: OK. If you're one of those people who likes to finish a bag of chips, or even eat a pint of ice-cream in one sitting, we've got a great trick to stop yourself from overeating up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: After more than two years behind bars in Iran, two Americans are finally coming home. Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal say they crossed into Iran accidentally in July of 2009 while hiking with their companion, Sarah Shourd. Shourd was later set free for medical reasons, but until this morning, Bauer and Fattal have been sitting in a prison cell facing down an eight-year sentence. Well, today, they're free.

A senior U.S. official tells CNN the men have been handed over to Omani officials.

Mohammed Jamjoom is live from Oman, where the hikers are expected to arrive.

Mohammed, first of all, why Oman? Why where you are now?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, if I can just start by saying that we've just received finally confirmation from the Omani government that they were indeed involved in the negotiation for the release of Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer. Let me just read the statement that we got from Dr. Salama Ismaeli (ph). He's the Omani envoy in Tehran.

He wrote that, "The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has handed Shane and Josh to the custody of Dr. Salama Ismaeli (ph), the envoy of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the sultan of Oman, a country that enjoys excellent relationships with both the IRI and the USA. Dr. Ismaeli (ph) is with the hikers, and they are now on their way to Muscat, where they will spend a couple of days before heading home."

And that's really one of the key reasons why Oman is involved. Oman is a diplomatic rarity in this region. Oman is a country that enjoys a warm relationship with both Iran and the United States.

Analysts tell us that they're seen as kind of a go-to country here in the region when there are disputes to be resolved between the U.S. or other Western countries and Iran, because those countries can't speak directly. Now, there was a lot of speculation all week that the hikers would come here once being released, and the Omanis were involved in the release of Sarah Shourd last year. They paid her bail, as we know -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Sure. Mohammed, do we know about the million-dollar bail, who actually paid that?

JAMJOOM: Well, we don't know yet who paid it. There's been a lot of speculation that the Omanis paid it. We expect to find that out in the coming hours.

The Omanis haven't been commenting, but Obama administration officials said last year, after the release of Sarah Shourd, that the Omanis had paid the $500,00 in bail money that secured Sarah Shourd's release. And she came here once she was released. This was her first stop.

So, speculation mounting now that the Omanis did indeed pay the bail money to release Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, although the Omanis have not officially confirmed that -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: An do we know what their plans are for when they arrive? What are they going to do, what are their families going to do when they finally taste freedom?

JAMJOOM: Well, Suzanne, we're not sure. We're trying to find out exactly when they will arrive tonight. We're trying to find out specifically if the families are here.

Many diplomatic sources say that the families are here, but the Omanis have not officially confirmed that. Speculation has been building that the families are here, that possibly Sarah Shourd is here, that there will be a reunion this evening, but we just don't know at this point.

The Omanis saying that they expect that the hikers will spend at least two days here before heading back to the U.S. What they will do during that time, not yet known. But we expect that we'll get more details that will emerge in the coming hours -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. Well, we certainly hope the very best to them. And we're so happy that they're finally on their way home.

Thank you, Mohammed. Appreciate it.

Well, he is scheduled to be executed less than eight hours from now. But just hours ago, lawyers for Georgia inmate Troy Davis filed a new request to block the execution.

His supporters say there's not enough evidence for him to be put to death. Davis was convicted of killing police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989. He is set to die by lethal injection at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

Here's how Davis is likely to spend his final hours.

From now until 3:00 p.m., he is allowed to meet with family, friends, clergy members, and his attorneys. And then he's scheduled for a routine physical exam.

At 4:00 p.m. Eastern, Davis will be offered his last meal. Prison officials say he did not request anything special.

At 5:00 p.m., he'll have a chance to record a final statement.

And then one hour before the execution, Davis will be offered a sedative.

Well, the prosecution in the Troy Davis case says that he has no doubt that Davis is guilty. CNN's David Mattingly asked former D.A. Spencer Lawton about the allegations that witnesses were coerced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you think there's any credibility in their claims that they were intimidated by police to make false statements?

LAWTON: No. No, I don't.

I know the police involved. I know they're professional. I know them individually and personally, and I can vouch for the character and the professionalism of any one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: But an editorial in today's "New York Times" says egregious errors were committed by the police in the Davis case.

Now, joining us to talk about that is Mike Brooks. He's a law enforcement analyst with our sister network, HLN. He's also a law enforcement contributor for "In Session" on truTV.

Mike, thanks for joining us.

First of all, according to "The New York Times" editorial here, there were a number of serious mistakes that were made. First, the paper says that Savannah police reenacted the crime with four of the people together who turned out to be eyewitness.

Take us through how this identification process is supposed to work. What is wrong with that?

MIKE BROOKS, LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, HLN: Well, Suzanne, first of all, I don't know whether they were asked, OK, where were you, show us where you were when this crime was committed, or if law enforcement recreated it in front of them as they stood by and watched. Usually, sometimes if I'm an officer, I will bring one at a time in and say, OK, where were you standing, what did you see, what did you hear? And just do one at a time, and not all of them together.

MALVEAUX: Well, what's the problem with having them all together?

BROOKS: Because you don't want one to hear the story of the other and then to say, oh, yes, that's what I saw if there was any doubt of what they possibly saw when the crime was being committed.

MALVEAUX: OK, Mike. So, secondly, they say the police allegedly showed some of the witnesses Davis' photo, even before the lineup.

So how would that impact how they recall things if they see the picture before the lineup?

BROOKS: Right. If there was -- sometimes officers or detectives will show a victim or a witness a photo lineup with usually at least six or possibly nine pictures. And they will make their initial identification and then take them in for a physical lineup.

You know, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., they had a unit, the lineup unit, Suzanne, that was dedicated just to lineups. And they would bring people in, say, on September 21, 2011, you were the victim of or witness to a shooting. Can you identify anyone in this lineup that was involved in this offense?

And they would go up and down, and sometimes they would say it would be number one, or was it number two? But, prior to that, you have a defense attorney and a prosecutor there to review that lineup, and they can make their objections. Was this done in this case? I don't know if it was or not.

MALVEAUX: Right.

And third, they say that Davis' lineup picture was set apart and had a different background than the other photos. Why would they do that? Is that proper?

BROOKS: Well, it depends on the photos that they had available to them to do, a photo array or a photo lineup. But usually you try to get photos, Suzanne, that are similar, because you don't want to have, you know, five white guys and one African-American in a photo lineup. You don't want to have anything that stands out.

But if that were the case, they should have objected to this photo lineup and tried to have it thrown out in a pretrial hearing on evidence. You know, apparently, that was not done either.

MALVEAUX: All right. Well, all of this, clearly, they bring up as being egregious errors in this case. In addition to those practices, they say that six of those eyewitness were threatened, that if they didn't identify Troy Davis, that they would have bad things happen to them. So we know that clearly, that is a practice that is not legitimate and was used in this case.

BROOKS: Right. Definitely.

MALVEAUX: Mike Brooks, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

BROOKS: Thank you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Well, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles today refused to reconsider its decision on the Troy Davis case. The board refused his request for clemency yesterday.

Here's a profile of the five people who made that final decision on Davis' faith.

James Donald, he's chairman of the board. He's a former corrections commissioner who was appointed by the former governor, Sonny Perdue. He was elected chairman by the other board members in 2010.

The vice chairman is Albert Murray. He was also appointed by Governor Perdue. He previously served as commissioner of the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Gale Buckner, also a Perdue appointee. She was a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Robert Keller was appointed by Governor Perdue as well. He's a former chairman of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia.

And Terry Bernard, another Perdue appointee. He served almost 16 years in the Georgia House of Representatives.

Well, next hour, we're going to hear from a man who says prison is hell, death row is torture. And he should know. Randy Steidl spent 12 years on death row before he was exonerated.

Google faces some tough questions at a Senate hearing. It is accused of being a bully by some of its online rivals. We're going to go live to New York to find out more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's your chance to "Choose the News." Text "22360" for the story you would like to see.

Text "1" for "Social Media Campaigns." All right, so just forget about kissing the babies, shaking hands, all that intense debate. Some candidates in China are focusing on social media to get their message across to millions of people at once.

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And text "3" for "Animal Kitchen." Yes. So what's the recipe to feed lions, tigers, bears at the Washington, D.C., Zoo? A behind-the- scenes look at a very different kind of kitchen that feeds 3,000 animals.

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The winning story is going to air in the next hour.

We're going to take a look at CNNMoney.com's lead story here. Republican leaders sending a letter to Ben Bernanke, the Fed chair, asking him to refrain from more stimulus spending.

We're also taking a quick look at the markets here. The Dow Jones, down now by 67 points.

And we're also taking a look at another story. It seems like everybody who uses the Internet uses Google to search for information. Right? Well, now lawmakers are looking at the company's business practices, and there's an antitrust hearing that is taking place today on Capitol Hill.

Alison Kosik, she's from the New York Stock Exchange with more on what is happening with Google's rivals.

And what are they actually accusing Google of doing that they say is unfair?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Suzanne. Google's rivals are coming out and saying, you know what, Google? You're abusing your power, you're throwing your weight around.

So now there is a Senate committee. It's holding a hearing this afternoon. And up to bat, testifying today, Google's executive chairman, former CEO Eric Schmidt. The CEOs of Yelp, Expedia and Nextag as well.

Now, what's happening here is that Yelp, Expedia and Nextag, they all say that Google is just pushing people to its own specialized sites, not competitors' sites. Remember, Google, it's not just about e-mail and search anymore. There's Google Flight, Google Books, shopping. You have to remember, it owns YouTube, Zagat.

So Yelp says Google is putting links to Google places before Yelp, listing this on the search results. Expedia says Google puts links to Google Flight. And Nextag says Google puts its ad at the bottom of the Web site instead of the side. And just like at the grocery store, Suzanne, it's all about product placement. You know, where you fit in the lineup depends on how likely someone is to click on your site, as opposed to someone who is higher up -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Sure. If it's like on the bottom shelf there with the gum and all that, easy to go to. I got it.

KOSIK: Exactly.

MALVEAUX: What do we think is going to come out of the hearing? Does it have any kind of legal implications?

KOSIK: Well, you know, this hearing really isn't meant to build a case against Google. The Senate is really exploring both arguments and kind of raising policy questions. It's really up to the FTC.

The FTC is actually investigating Google's business practices. But that is actually separate from this hearing.

Google, no surprise here, is defending itself. It's been quoted in "The Wall Street Journal" saying they understand that with success comes scrutiny. But also, you know, there's also that question, should there really be a level playing field? Should these search engines be regulated?

So it really brings up a lot of questions, a lot of debate -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Alison, thank you.

Well, it's a call for a new nation, but not everybody wants to hear it. We're going to take a look at the roadblocks to Palestinian statehood, what it means for the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we're working on.

Next, the Palestinian bid for statehood forces a showdown with the United States. We're going to tell you about the strained talks that are behind the scenes.

And then, for those who still have college debt, well, we have got some tips on how to manage that.

And later, new surprising tools to stop you from overeating. We want to hear more about that.

Well, there are some big speakers making a stand on the world stage this week at the 66th United Nations General Assembly. That is taking place in New York. Everything from the teetering global markets, the future of Libya, famine in Somalia, all of those things are on the table.

But after a year of seismic changes, big decisions, it's the power plays that are happening behind closed doors that are really making a difference. President Obama, he is meeting privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to talk about the road to peace, the potential for a Palestinian state.

The president's also going to meet with the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, separately. That's happening later today. And Abbas is expected to demand statehood this Friday in front of the General Assembly. Now, that would be a huge change to the face of the region. It is something that neither the United States or Israel wants to see happen without having a hand in the negotiations.

So the president made his own address to the General Assembly about that this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that many are frustrated by the lack of progress. I assure you, so am I. But the question isn't the goal that we seek. The question is, how do we reach that goal?

And I am convinced that there is no shortcut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So what is the path to statehood for the Palestinians if their president, Mahmoud Abbas, decides to go through with that bid, going to make demands on the assembly floor? Well, the Palestinian leader would need to get the Security Council to adopt that resolution.

Now, an interesting note here. As a member of the Security Council, President Obama would be able to veto the motion, but if the resolution passes, would that -- that would followed up by the vote of the General Assembly where a two-thirds majority of the member states would have to get behind it. That means 129 countries would have to vote for Palestinian statehood for it to go through. So what are the chances of all of this happening?

I am joined by Fawaz Gerges. He is a professor of Middle Eastern politics, international relations at the London School of Economics.

Professor -- he is also author of the book "The Rise and Fall of Al Qaeda."

Professor, thank you very much for joining us.

first of all, if you could, watching what's playing out here in New York, what are the chances that this is going to go through, that when it's all said and done the leaders are going to go home and we might see a Palestinian state next week?

FAWAZ GERGES, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Very unlikely.

The United States has made it very clear it will veto the Palestinian bid in the National Security Council. So there will be no decision in the National Security Council on the Palestinian bid for statehood.

But the Palestinians will also likely take their bid to the General Assembly, where they are most likely to get more than 129 states voting for the Palestinian state. So no Security Council resolution because of the U.S. veto, probably a Palestinian state declared in the U.N. General Assembly in the next few days or next few weeks.

MALVEAUX: And, Professor, what does that mean? If they, in fact, had that resolution passed among the General Assembly there, what would that allow the Palestinians to do? Would they be empowered in any way?

GERGES: You know, Suzanne -- you know, Suzanne, the Palestinian strategy has been to rely on American diplomacy to deliver a Palestinian state.

MALVEAUX: Right.

GERGES: And the last two years and a half, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has put all his eggs in President Barack Obama's basket.

In fact, a year ago, President Barack Obama promised the Palestinians that they would be sitting in the United Nations as a state next to Israel.

MALVEAUX: Right. Sure.

GERGES: But the Palestinians have decided now that American diplomacy has failed, that President Barack Obama has failed to carry out his pledges. They're coming to the United Nations now in order to shift the focus from direct negotiations into getting international support for a Palestinian state.

This will give them a stronger position to negotiate with an Israeli government, an Israeli government that continues to build settlements on Palestinian lands and continues to reject what we call the broad parameters of an international settlement based on a two- state solution.

MALVEAUX: Right. Let me ask you this. President Obama is going to be meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, today. And this is a pragmatic relationship.

When I covered the White House, remember, when Obama walked out on Netanyahu because he didn't have more to offer here at the table, do you think Netanyahu now will offer President Obama something more, like perhaps even freezing those settlements because of how things have developed with the Palestinians?

GERGES: You know, Suzanne, you know as much as I do, if not more, that the Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu, has repeatedly rejected President Obama's requests for even a partial freeze of Jewish settlements on the West Bank and East Jerusalem, repeatedly.

In fact, the reason why you and I, Suzanne, we're talking about the Palestinian bid in the United Nations because, basically, President Barack Obama has not been able to convince in the last two years and a half Netanyahu to basically begin the process of negotiating in goodwill with the Palestinians.

So I doubt it very much whether Prime Minister Netanyahu will offer the president of the United States any concrete initiatives. The reality is, President Barack Obama finds himself in a major dilemma, pressed between a rock and a hard place. If President Obama vetoes the Palestinian bid in the Security Council, you know, Suzanne, this will fuel anti-Americanism throughout the region.

And given the fact that the Middle East has changed forever, given the fact there are awakenings throughout the regions, this will undermine America's strategy of outreach to that part of the world basically embracing the democratic waves in the region.

But the president, President Barack Obama, has already made up his mind that he's not vetoing -- not vetoing the Palestinian bid would basically be politically very costly. And already, as you know, Republican presidential candidates are playing electoral politics. They're saying Barack Obama is appeasing the Palestinians.

Well, far from appeasing the Palestinians, I would argue the Palestinians are going to the United Nations because they realize that the president of the United States, who means it, he is genuine, really does not have the political capital to deliver a Palestinian state in the United Nations.

MALVEAUX: Professor, thank you very much for your time, obviously a very difficult situation. As you said, the president stuck between a rock and a hard place, already a very hot political issue, and it complicates it even further when you look at the larger context here, rapid, radical change now in the Middle East.

Thank you very much, Professor.

GERGES: You're right. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Sarah Palin, she's popular, but not as a presidential candidate. The story ahead -- that in our "Political Ticker."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A reminder to vote for today's "Choose the News" winner. Text 22360 for the story you would like to see.

Text one for social media campaigns. Chinese candidates use the cyber-world to get their message out to millions at a time. Text two for secret sauce, an Iraq war vet now realizing his business dream by selling his own secret sauce. Or text three for animal kitchen. We're going to take you inside the unique kitchen that feeds 3,000 animals every day. The winning story is going to air in the next hour.

And President Obama gets ready to take on the Republicans.

Mark Preston, part of the best political team on television, live from the political desk in Washington.

Hey, Mark. I understand we have got some fighting words from the president over class warfare, yes?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, no question, Suzanne. Last night, the president was in New York. Of course, he's in New York today for the U.N., but last night he attended a campaign event for the Democratic National Committee and he took the critics head-on. Those are the critics who are angry at him when he has proposed raising taxes on the wealthy to help try to get out of this economic mess.

Let's take a quick look at what he had to say last night at this campaign event with the DNC. He said: "Now you're already hearing the Republicans in Congress dusting off the old talking points. You can write their press releases. Class warfare, they say. You know what? If asking a billionaire to pay the same rate as a plumber or a teacher makes me a warrior for the middle class, I wear that charge as a badge of honor."

You know, Suzanne, he went on to say to the folks in the room that he is ready to fight. And he asked them, are they ready to fight? No question about it, we are full throttle in the reelection campaign of President Obama -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Oh, absolutely. Using words like warrior, that certainly would seem like he's ready to fight there.

Also, we're seeing something interesting on the other side, the Republican side, Sarah Palin, some new poll numbers about whether or not she's liked? PRESTON: Yes. Well, no question. You know, Sarah Palin hasn't announced if she's going to run, if she's not going to run. And we're still waiting to see what her final decision is.

But she polls very highly. In fact, let's look at this new poll out that is just out of McClatchy and Marist. It shows that she's within striking distance right now in a head-to-head matchup, of course a hypothetical matchup, with President Obama. She only trails him by 5 percent, but within the margin of error.

However, Republicans and independents that are leaning Republicans don't seem to want her to run for the Republican nomination. In fact, let's take a quick look at these numbers, Suzanne. Only 24 percent want her to seek the Republican nomination -- 74 percent do not want her to seek the nomination.

So as she's considering whether to run or not, clearly she sees numbers like this, they have got to weigh heavily on her decision -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, well, we will follow and see what happens. Thank you, Mark. Appreciate it.

For the latest political news, you know where to go, CNNPolitics.com.

Well, next, we have got a simple trick to show you how to slow down if you're eating too much. And it's scientifically proven.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

MALVEAUX: We are getting some tape now out of New York. This is a meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the two of them sitting down, a sidebar meeting, if you will, from the main meeting that's happening at the United Nations, the two of them discussing, of course, what is on the top of the agenda.

That is Israeli/Palestinian negotiations, how to move that forward, and the Palestinians' effort, their move to actually bring forward statehood, the issue of statehood before the United Nations Security Council.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... both to the United States and to New York.

As I just said in the speech that I gave before the U.N. General Assembly, the bonds between the United States and Israel are unbreakable. And the United States' commitment to Israel's security is unbreakable. Indeed, I think it's fair to say that, today, our security cooperation is stronger than it has ever been. I'm looking forward to a good discussion with Prime Minister Netanyahu about the events not only here in the United Nations, but also the developments that have been taking place in the region.

As I just indicated, peace cannot be imposed on the parties. It's going to have to be negotiated. One side's actions in the United Nations will achieve neither statehood nor self-determination for the Palestinians, but Israelis and Palestinians sitting down together and working through these very difficult issues that have kept the parties apart for decades now, that is what can achieve what is, I know, the ultimate goal of all of us, which is two states side by side living in peace and security.

Recent events in the region remind us of how fragile peace can be and why the pursuit of Middle East peace is more urgent than ever. But as we pursue that peace, I know that the prime minister recognizes that America's commitment to Israel will never waver and that our pursuit of a just and lasting peace is one that is not only compatible, but we think puts Israel's security at the forefront.

So it is a great pleasure to have the prime minister here. I want to thank him for his efforts and his cooperation. And I'm looking forward to an excellent discussion.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Mr. President.

OBAMA: Thank you very much.

NETANYAHU: Thank you.

Well, I want to thank you, Mr. President, for standing with Israel and supporting peace through direct negotiations. We both agree that this is the only way to achieve peace. We both agree that Palestinians and Israelis should sit down together and negotiate an agreement of mutual recognition and security.

I think this is the only way to get to a stable, endurable peace. But you have also made it clear that the Palestinians deserve a state, but it's a state that has to make that peace with Israel, and, therefore, their attempt to shortcut this process, not negotiate a peace, that attempt to get a membership, a state membership in the United Nations, will not succeed.

I think the Palestinians want to achieve a state through the international community, but they're not prepared yet to give peace to Israel in return. And my hope is that there will be other leaders in the world, responsible leaders, who will heed your call, Mr. President, and oppose this effort to shortcut peace negotiations, in fact, to avoid them, because I think that avoiding these negotiations is bad for Israel, bad for the Palestinians and bad for peace.

Now, I know that these leaders are under anonymous pressure, and I know that there are also, in this house, from personal experience, I can tell you automatic majorities against Israel.

But I think that standing your ground, taking this position of principle, which is also I think the right position to achieve peace, I think this is a badge of honor. And I want to thank you for wearing that badge of honor, and, also, I -- to express my hope that others will follow your example, Mr. President. So I want to thank you for that.

Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: Thank you, everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: You're watching the two leaders side by side, the United Nations sidebar talks that they're having on one of the critical issues that those world leaders are facing, whether or not to recognize Palestinian -- as a state through the United Nations body, and not through negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.

We're going to have more on this after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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So you have been sounding off on our "Talkback" question.

Carol Costello, she is here with some of your responses.

Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: It's a spirited discussion this morning, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: I can imagine.

COSTELLO: The "Talk Bck" question, is it time to rethink the death penalty?

This from Marisa: "No, I think we need the death penalty, but how about we actually do some police work, instead of sending innocent people to death? That sounds like a good idea."

This from Kristy: "The death penalty is immoral and lowers the state to the level of the murderer. Statistically, it does nothing to deter crime."

This from Chris: "Until we can say 100 percent that our legal system never makes mistakes, we absolutely should not have a death penalty."

This from Chris: "The death penalty is needed for those who decide to take someone's life. They deserve to die. The death penalty is justice for the people who have had their lives stolen from them."

This from Darrell: "Rethink? The people of Iowa have no reason to do so. We gave up that barbaric practice of murder by government decades ago."

And this from Dirk: "We're playing God by our allowing our courts to decide who lives and dies, sending the message that in some circumstances it's proper to end the life of another. We open the door for anyone to decide for themselves who deserves death."

Please, keep the conversation going, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I will see you again in seven minutes or so.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.