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Amanda Knox's Emotional Homecoming; Rick Perry's Open Records Nemesis; Wall Street Protests Spread; University of Dallas Comes Up With Cloaking Device; Will Wall Street Protestors Be New Political Party; Freedmen Returned as Members of Cherokee Nation; Government Shutdown Avoide

Aired October 05, 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. Want to get you up to speed for Wednesday, October 5th.

Protesters in lower Manhattan will get reinforcements this afternoon. Three labor unions are calling on members to skip work and join demonstrators in New York's financial district. Occupy Wall Street is an organization made up of mostly 20-somethings. They're angry about fat Wall Street paychecks, Washington's political bottleneck, war, the environment, you name it. The protests have been going on for three weeks now and have now have spread to other cities.

Well, Americans absolutely fed up with Congress. New numbers leave no doubt. A "Washington Post"/ABC News poll found that just 14 percent of the public approves of the job that Congress is doing. That's Congress's lowest rating ever in any "Washington Post"/ABC News poll.

Amanda Knox says right now, she just wants time with her family. Knox is home in Seattle today for the first time in four years. She went to Italy for college studies but ended up in prison for murder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANDA KNOX, MURDER CONVICTION OVERTURNED: They're reminding me to speak in English because I'm having problems with that. I'm really overwhelmed right now. I was looking down from the airplane, and it seemed like everything wasn't real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Knox was serving a 26-year sentence for killing her roommate. An appeals court overturned that murder conviction on Monday.

Well, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice is calling it an outrage. She walked out of the U.N. after China and Russia blocked a measure targeting Syria. Rice says that China and Russia would rather sell weapons to the Syrian regime than stand with the people who want freedom.

You're seeing pictures there of a brutal crackdown on the protesters. The U.N. resolution condemned Syria's crackdown on those protesters and opened the door to sanctions. Well, the U.N. said that 2,600 Syrians have been killed since March in those protests.

Well, as unreal as this sounds, a wildfire once again threatening people and property in Bastrop County, Texas. About 1,000 acres are burning today. Fires forced 30 families to leave their homes. It was just last month when a huge firestorm destroyed 1,500 homes in that county.

A New York congresswoman says it's time to look at limits on helicopter traffic over Manhattan.

Now, you're looking at this scene here. A crash on Tuesday killed an Australian tourist who was celebrating her 40th birthday. Three other passengers and the pilot survived, and witnesses say the helicopter belly-flopped right into the East River right after takeoff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT DRESS, WITNESS: This thing just went up and it went down. I thought I was going to see people bobbing up and down in the water. There was no one. It was just those two struts pointing towards Queens, and then they popped up. And I honestly think they went down to try to, like, rescues the others and came back up, and they were like, look, they're dead (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Since 2005, five helicopters have crashed into the Hudson or East River surrounding Manhattan, killing 10 people.

Unbelievable. Would you believe that explosion did not hurt the firefighters?

They were going inside a burning restaurant -- that's in Franklin, Ohio -- and then, boom. A backdraft ripped out the windows and the doors. You can see it there. That is when fire suddenly got a burst of oxygen, typically when someone opens a door or a window.

So here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question today: Could Occupy Wall Street become a new political party?

Carol Costello, she has got more from New York.

And Carol, I guess what we heard about the Tea Party at first is that they didn't have an organized leadership, they weren't really sure who was speaking for their organization. And people are talking about this protest movement becoming somewhat in the model of the Tea Party.

Yes?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, the Tea Party was a grassroots movement. Some say that the Wall Street protesters, grassroots movement. And Suzanne, ever since the dawn of the Tea Party, liberal activists have yearned for a revolution of their own.

Example, Michael Moore, who's hungry for a mass movement. How better to get than railing against Wall Street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: This is the end result of these bankers overplaying their hand. They were already filthy rich, but filthy rich wasn't enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Moore is lending his celebrity to the movement and paying to help protesters expand the use of social media. With the help of Twitter and Facebook, the movement has spread to other cities.

Hundreds of people have been arrested. Though we see some protesters dressed like zombies, and with often confusing messages, those protesters are also attracting some powerful allies, including a half-dozen unions who will march on New York's City Hall today.

So, when you combine clout, money, and anger at the powers that be, it kind of sort of sounds like the start of something. Although protesters don't consider themselves political animals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYLER COMBELIC, OCCUPY WALL STREET: We don't want to be, you know, a left political group. We don't want to be a political group at all. We want to be a group that calls for activism. Ideally, you know, if this continues to grow, if more people get involved, suddenly, people will have the same power that lobbyists have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Heads up, Wall Street. Even FoxNews.com says this could be more than just another loony protest movement from the left.

So, the "Talk Back" question today: Could Occupy Wall Street become a new political party?

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

MALVEAUX: Yes, Carol, you do it all. You start really early in the morning, and you go through the rest of the day. That's OK. That's all right.

COSTELLO: Thank you. I appreciate it.

MALVEAUX: We know you're on all the time.

Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

(NEWSBREAK) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: She was cleared of murder. And today, Amanda Knox is back home in the United States for the first time in four years. Now, Knox arrived in her hometown of Seattle last night. It was the end of a long, legal and emotional journey from murder suspect, to being tried and convicted, to having her conviction overturned.

Sandra Endo reports on Knox's emotional homecoming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amanda Knox's nightmare is over. She's back home in Seattle.

KNOX: I'm really overwhelmed right now. I was looking down from the airplane, and it seemed like everything wasn't real.

ENDO: Knox seemed almost as overcome with emotion upon arriving in the U.S. as she was when an Italian jury cleared her of her roommate's murder.

KNOX: What's important for me to say is just, thank you to everyone who has believed in me, who has defended me, who has supported my family.

ENDO: Knox's parents joined their daughter in thanking supporters.

CURT KNOX, AMANDA KNOX'S FATHER: It's been a very long four years, but we couldn't have made it through it without all of you people out here that have supported us.

EDDA MELLAS, AMANDA KNOX'S MOTHER: There's no way we could thank anybody individually, so here's our way to just say thank you.

ENDO: Knox and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito both walked out of an Italian courtroom Monday, acquitted of the 2007 murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher. Kercher's family is now left waiting for answers.

LYLE KERCHER, MEREDITH KERCHER'S BROTHER: One of the things that we're left questioning is how the decision that was so adamant the first time around has been, as I said, so emphatically overturned.

ENDO: Knox's legal saga may not be over. Prosecutors in Italy say they plan to appeal her acquittal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: So the family of Meredith Kercher is left with agonizing questions about what happened when she was killed. Some legal observers question whether Amanda Knox is innocent or whether she played some role in Kercher's death.

Nancy Grace of our sister network HLN thinks that the jury got it right the first time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST, "NANCY GRACE": I said that there was miscarriage of justice. I believe her original statement to police that she was there in the home when her roommate was murdered was true. I have never believed she wielded the knife herself, but I think that animosity erupted, along with drugs and alcohol, and the death occurred. That's why I think her original story to police was the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: But the defense argued successfully that the DNA evidence was contaminated and unreliable.

Earlier this week, I talked with a DNA expert who worked with the defense to get Knox's conviction overturned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Essentially, you contend that there is not enough DNA evidence to link her and the boyfriend to this murder.

GREG HAMPIKIAN, DNA EXPERT: Yes, I would say that there is no physical evidence whatsoever to link either Amanda or Raffaele to the murder. And more importantly, the day the murder was committed, the Italian police went in, took a lot of evidence, and unfortunately they arrested Amanda and her boyfriend, Raffaele, before allowing the DNA to be processed. All of that evidence taken from where the victim was killed, the day she was killed, all of the DNA points to one man, Rudy Guede.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Joining us with some legal insight on the Amanda Knox case is Holly Hughes. She's a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor.

So, Holly, help us understand this. How is it that people who watched this trial came to opposite, very different conclusions, and even different verdicts when it came to Amanda Knox?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, it's fascinating. We see such poll rising opinions on this. And part of it is social media and the cult of personality, if you will.

We are seeing legal sagas played out in a way that's never happened before. So, more so than Amanda Knox or even Troy Davis, which was a big debate a couple of weeks ago here in the state of Georgia --

MALVEAUX: The death penalty case.

HUGHES: Right. And it is the overriding concept. It's more like a social more. If you're opposed to the death penalty, you're going to jump on the bandwagon that says we should not execute Troy Davis. If you think that this is an American girl who has been done wrong by the Italian justice system, you're going jump on that bandwagon.

You are -- more so than supporting an individual, you're supporting a theme of a miscarriage of justice, and we can get behind that. And with the advent of social media, this is no longer just lawyers involved in this. Like, this isn't somebody who reads the legal newspaper and says I think the DNA is tainted and I think the witnesses are not credible, so, therefore, I'm going to get behind this stance. We now have social media where people can get on Facebook and tell millions of people at the same time what they think, and they're not even familiar with the facts of the case.

MALVEAUX: So let's talk about that, this kind of cult of personality. How much do you think played a role in the fact that those in Seattle, the friends in Amanda Knox, painted her as this kind of all-American, girl-next-door-girl type, and then you had, on the other hand, the Italian prosecutor painting her as someone who was this sadistic and demonic character in a way?

HUGHES: They called her a devil.

MALVEAUX: Right.

HUGHES: Yes, absolutely.

What happens is, you have people who truly, truly get entrenched. The people who know her, of course they love her. That's their perspective.

That's why we have an adversarial system, because one side wants to convince the judge or the jury of something and the other side wants to convince them of the opposite. So, when you have those positions, and you entrench in them, then you get on social media, again, people who have never met Amanda Knox, but think, oh, how dare they lock up an American girl in a foreign country, that's the concept they're fighting against.

They're fighting against, you know, we don't like unreliable evidence. We don't like a prosecutor claiming DNA shows one thing and another expert says, no it doesn't, the DNA you said is the victim's could have come from rye bread.

MALVEAUX: And there was a question that came up in our meeting earlier today. It was really fascinating.

Some people were asking, if Amanda Knox -- if she had tried, and that same case happened here in the United States, and not over in Italy, would it have been different? Would people have rallied to her cause and thought that she was innocent if she was not overseas, for instance?

HUGHES: I think we still would have seen those same polarizing, because here in the U.S., that DNA would never had passed muster in the first place. And the defense team in the U.S. would have hired the best of the best to go in there and say, in the first trial, this could have come from rye bread, as opposed to a prosecutor saying, no, I'm sure of it, absolutely.

And again, the cult of personality. So here you have this American she-devil who they're calling "Foxy Knoxy," and this promiscuous woman. Clearly, she's guilty of something, so believe me when I say the DNA is the victim's.

Here in America, you would have had a much harder fight the first time, and we may never have seen a conviction on the word of an admitted rapist. And the second witness who placed them there, the only other witness who placed them there, was a heroin addict who was homeless and suddenly said, oh, yes, now I remember. We all know how unreliable eyewitness identification is.

MALVEAUX: All right, Holly. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

HUGHES: Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Thanks.

Well, Texas Governor Rick Perry, he doesn't let the e-mail pile up in his inbox. His staff destroys many of them after seven days. We're going to introduce you to a man who's fighting to make Perry save thousands of e-mails. He says it's a push to pry open a secretive government.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Text "1" for "Denmark Fat Tax." The country has just become the first in the world to tax foods that are high in saturated fats. Well, before the tax took effect, the Danes started hoarding some foods. We're going to show you which ones.

And text "2" for "Surfing Becomes Sport." Move over football, basketball. Surfing is about to become an official sport for high schoolers in Hawaii.

And text "3" for "Leaf Blower Ban." A group in Florida wants to ban those noisy machines. Yes. We're going to tell you about their push and how far they have gotten.

So you can vote by texting "22360". Text "1" for "Denmark Fat Tax"; "2" for "Surfing Becomes Sport"; or "3" for "Leaf Blower Ban."

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

Well, Texas Governor Rick Perry, he is finding out that running for president certainly puts you under the microscope. But even before Perry jumped into the presidential race, he was under a bit of scrutiny. Advocates for open governments say that Perry's administration, one of the most secretive in Texas history, and one man is determined to pry it open.

That story from our Ed Lavandera. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To find the man who has become an unlikely thorn in the side of Rick Perry, drive more than 1,200 miles from the Texas governor's mansion to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and meet John Washburn. Washburn is a computer programmer, open records advocate, self-described Ron Paul Republican, and the lead character in a battle over forcing Rick Perry to save thousands of government e-mails.

JOHN WASHBURN, OPEN RECORDS ADVOCATE: He doesn't like the idea of people looking over his shoulder, seeing what he's doing, where he's going. But the whole idea of American government is you don't trust people of power, you watch them.

LAVANDERA: Four years ago, Washburn learned Rick Perry's staff destroys many of its e-mails after seven days. Open records advocates say this is an unusually short time. So from his home computer, Washburn created a program that sent automated open records requests to the governor's office every four days.

WASHBURN: This is the --

LAVANDERA (on camera): All the back and forth it took just to get those e-mails?

WASHBURN: Yes.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): But it was the price that Perry's office charged that stunned Washburn.

WASHBURN: Five hundred sixty-eight dollars for four days of e- mails.

LAVANDERA (on camera): What did you think?

WASHBURN: I laughed. I did. I laughed out loud the first time I saw it.

LAVANDERA: Did you ever come across a response like this?

WASHBURN: No. Certainly not for this kind of money.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): But it wouldn't be the last time Governor Rick Perry's office would shock John Washburn. As words spread through Texas of his fight with the governor's office, Rick Perry defended his e-mail destruction policy like in this memorable interview with the "Texas Tribune" Web site.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not have them stay around longer, for the purpose of open records and

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How long?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. You tell me.

PERRY: But I'm asking you. I've already said it's seven days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, do I get to pick? How about a month?

PERRY: No, you don't get to pick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it ought to be 30 days.

PERRY: OK, I don't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's the end of the conversation?

LAVANDERA: Governor Perry went on to say he didn't want state employees wasting time organizing open records requests for people going on fishing escapades.

WASHBURN: He is the most obstructionist by far. There's not even anyone in his league in that regard.

LAVANDERA: After Perry announced he was running for president, John Washburn fired up the automated open records request again. The governor's office just sent Washburn the latest bill.

(on camera): And the bill for that for another four days with the e-mails is now how much?

WASHBURN: Twenty-three hundred and four dollars.

LAVANDERA: Twenty-three hundred dollars for four days of e- mails?

WASHBURN: Correct.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): If he ever wants to see them all, it will add up to almost $210,000 for a full year of e-mails, a hefty price tag, but John Washburn says it's the principle of his battle that's priceless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Wow. Great line.

Ed joins us now.

Good to see you here in person.

Tell us, are there any revelations that have come from Perry's e- mails?

LAVANDERA: Well, this is interesting. Let's be clear, Washburn has no idea what's in these e-mails. You know, they're just kind of like -- it's a wide net that he's cast with this request.

But when he did this in 2007, he put out I think almost 10 requests. He actually went through and paid for one of them, which was the $568. He took some donations to help pay for it. He found in one story -- there was one story that emerged from that was a story that got a lot of attention in Texas about underfunded foster care homes and the foster care situation there, and that foster -- children in foster care were sleeping in the offices of state employees because they didn't have any place to put them. And that's kind of his point, is that story would not have emerged, we wouldn't have known about that story had this not been paid for.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. Thank you, Ed.

LAVANDERA: You got it.

MALVEAUX: Appreciate it.

Well, the Occupy Wall Street movement is gaining ground after hundreds were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Hear why so many are protesting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's what's ahead "On the Rundown."

Next, they are leaderless and growing. Protesters on Wall Street want to inspire similar demonstrations across the country. We're going to have a live report from New York.

And then, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain says he can fix the economy with a tax plan that he calls 999. But what is it exactly?

And then, 11:40 Eastern, scientists are finding ways to make objects vanish. It's not magic, it's a mirage. We're going to show you how that works.

Well, Wall Street protesters are rallying for a third straight week. Today, thousands of labor union members, they are joining them. The protests have stretched from New York and Boston to Seattle, Los Angeles.

The movement is called Occupy Wall Street. Protesters, they've got a lot of messages, but one overall point is how the average American worker is struggling, while corporate bosses continue to make millions.

So here are the numbers. Let's break it down.

Last year, CEOs earned 343 times more than the typical American worker. That's according to the AFL-CIO using Labor Department statistics and Chief Executives at the nation's Fortune 500 companies earned an average of $11 million while the average American worker made about $33,000. Twenty years ago the ratio of executive to worker pay was 42:1.

So, income inequality. It's not the only thing the protesters are concerned about. Our own Susan Candiotti, she is joining us from the protest in New York's Financial District. Susan, you've been covering these protests for days now. You've been talking to folks there. What are they telling you?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, these are people who represent various walks of life. There are people who, in fact, are students here. There are a lot of people who are unemployed or have been laid off. Here in this part where they have taken up occupancy for almost -- no, for more than three weeks now, and they represent different points of view with different beats, talking about job cuts, talking about benefits that have been slashed, lots of things like that which is why, in part, a lot of unions are coming here today to participate in a demonstration to, frankly, inject more manpower into this movement and possibly make it grow.

A couple of people who are not camped out but who coordinated their long-planned vacation to be here today and found out about the march and will participate in it, four people who are retired, you are in different lines of work. This is Francine who had worked as an auditing manager and Paula, who worked as a drug counselor and therapist. Now, why did you feel important to join in this protest today? What do you think their message is?

FRANCINE HYDE, HAS WORKED AS AUDITING MANAGER: OK, for one thing I want to say I'm glad that young people are involved in this protest but I'm here because I want politicians, our representatives, to know that seniors are also very interested, mature people, and that's what I'm here because our representatives and our senators are not listening to their constituents. This wouldn't be necessary if they were listening to us and representing what we want to be done.

CANDIOTTI: How do you -- how do you think gathering here today will get politicians to listen and do something because, clearly, there is no consensus in Washington right now.

PAULA TUREK, HAS WORKED AS DRUG COUNSELOR AND THERAPIST: Absolutely, I can't agree with you more. I think the more that our politicians see that the people are just totally fed up with what is going on and realize that they are being paid to represent us, the people, the everyday people, not the corporations and -- and that they need to make laws and pass the laws to benefit the people in the country and not big business. Big business, yes, it's necessary but we are the people who need the incomes, we need the jobs, we need the health care and it's not happening, it's not happening.

CANDIOTTI: There seem to be no solutions offered by this group now and no leader. Does that bother you right now?

HYDE: No. I think the -- the movement has to start somewhere, OK, and, gradually, as you go along, like they're refining their goals, making them more focused, OK, and, hopefully, with having the labor union representatives here today as well as representatives of some political organizations, the government will see that this is not just a short-term protest. Something has to change in this country.

We cannot cut back on education, infrastructure, research and development, climate change, innovation. That has to be funded. And, as a senior on fixed income, I'm willing to pay more taxes to do that as long as the corporations and the top one percent wealthy people in this country pay too. Hear that loud and clear, every Senator and Representative in Washington, D.C.

CANDIOTTI: Sounds like you should run, perhaps.

HYDE: No. I just get out there and try to, you know, educate my friends. The thing is, most people don't have the time to learn what's going on in this country. There's two earners in every family. They have kids. They don't have the time to educate themselves so that they know when politicians are lying and there's plenty of it going on right now on both sides of the aisle.

CANDIOTTI: Thank you very much for joining us today. Obviously, there's a lot of anger out here, a lot of frustration and a lot of people looking for solutions but, so far, no one's been able to find. Back to you Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you Susan, appreciate it. Next hour, I'm going to talk to Patrick Bruner (PH). He's a 23-year-old college graduate, says he plans to live at the protest site since he can't find a job. Well, how to reform the U.S. economy, presidential -- Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan is getting a lot of attention. He says it's going to simplify the nation's tax code.

(VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Here's what we need to do to fix the economy. We need a bold solution which is why my team and I developed 9-9-9. Throw out the current tax code. I know that makes people nervous but we need to be bold because this economy is on life support, 9-9-9.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Want to get more on Cain's plan. For that, we turn to Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. And, Allison, first of all, break down this plan, if you will, this 9-9-9 plan. What does he mean by that?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK, well, first of all, keep in mind that overhauling the U.S. tax code is really the centerpiece of Cain's campaign because his goal with this plan is to, what he says, is to create a fairer tax system.

So, here -- here's how it would break down. He wants to throw out the current tax code in favor of a flat tax so you'd have a 9 percent corporate tax, a 9 percent personal income tax and a 9 percent national sales tax. Keep in mind, right now we do not have a national sales tax. It also would look to end almost all deductions. It would also end payroll taxes and state taxes, even capital gains.

Now, the flat tax has actually been proposed in other presidential races before now but the tax code issue is really, really heating up these days, isn't it? You know, even if Cain's plan doesn't pass, I'll tell you what, we're likely to hear more discussion about it. He's definitely opening the debate even more, Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Allison, do we have any idea what economists are saying about the plan? Do they think it's going to work?

KOSIK: You know what, at this point there are just a lot of questions about this plan. Right now, the plan is really short on some details. One of the big questions is this 9 percent tax rate. It's low. You know, will there be enough money to fund the government. You know, we've had all these debt issues already with our current tax system. Cain says yes, there would be enough money to fund the government.

Right now, we're not hearing specifics. Especially, t though, of concern here is Social Security and Medicare. Where -- will there -- is there going to be enough money to fund those programs because, remember, Social Security is funded by the payroll tax and Cain is proposing to get rid of that. Also, one other thing, the national sales tax. That's going to be a real hot button issue because analysts say that this is a tax that would go across the board. I'm talking about food, housing clothing and in some states right now in the U.S. you do not pay tax on some of these things right now.

But, to his credit, to Cain's credit, his proposal does simplify the tax code. I'll tell you what, Cain is probably going to use all of his time before the election to explain these details. He's got more than a year to do so. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right. Alison Kosik in the New York Stock Exchange. Thank you Alison. We're following a breaking news story. I want to bring this to you now. This is a California workplace shooting. The latest reporting that we have is that a disgruntled employee went into a quarry early -- early today, shot eight people, officials are now saying two of whom may have died from their injuries.

They say that the shooting took place at the Permanente Quarry in Cupertino, California, that Sargeant Jose Cordoza of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office says that a man entered the quarry business at about 7:30 this morning Eastern time, that's 4:30 local time, armed with a handgun and a rifle, that two of the eight people shot are possibly dead. That is according to the Sargeant.

The suspect, we are told from Cordoza, is armed and dangerous. There are also reports of another incident involving a gunman earlier in -- again, in Cupertino. Investigators are looking into whether or not that is actually the same suspect. Cordoza is describing the suspect as a black male adult in his 40s, possibly driving a dark- colored sedan.

But that's the very latest coming out of Cupertino, California. A shooting where, perhaps, two now have been killed. We'll be following that as we get more details and the story develops. We also have a reminder to vote for todays' Choose The News winner. Text 22360 for the story that you'd like to see.

Text 1 for Denmark fat tax. We're going to show you what flew off the shelves right before Denmark started taxing fatty foods. Text 2 for Surfing Becomes Sport. We're going to take you to the state where surfing now is about to become an official sport for high schoolers. And text 3 for Leaf Blower Ban. We're going to tell you who's behind the push to ban those noisy machines and who's fighting to keep them around.

The winning story's going to air in the next hour. Now to see it, now you don't. Researchers coming up with a special cloak that makes objects, yes, disappear. We're going to show you how this works.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right, if you're a Harry Potter fan, you're going to remember this. Take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP)

RON WEASLEY: My (INAUDIBLE)'s gone. I know what that is. That's an invisibility cloak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That's so cool. Harry Potter disappears right before your eyes. Now, not so far-fetched. Researchers at the University of Dallas have come up with a cloak that makes objects vanish. Chad Myers is with us. Chad, how -- how does it work? Is it really real?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You've been in the desert, right? You've seen -- you've seen the mirage in the desert where it looks like there's water there but it's not.

MALVEAUX: Right.

MYERS: There's no water, it's just very hot. When the sun comes down the light bends and it looks like there's actually water there. What if there was a car behind that mirage? You wouldn't see it. That mirage would actually be hiding it. It's the light bending because of how the heat makes the light bend so, if you make something hot enough could you bend the light so that behind it you couldn't see what was there and yes, yes, now we can.

MALVEAUX: No way.

MYERS: Yes, now we can. If you take these one -- this is a molecule, you can't even see it, and you put it into a tube, you make a small tube out of it, you heat that tube, you excite those carbon molecules, you get them very hot, they deflect the light and you can't see through it. You cannot -- you would not be able to see the other side of this. I mean, you can go through and play that again because the light is deflecting and you're seeing the reflection of that little white wall there on the other side. If a person was standing behind that that person would be invisible.

MALVEAUX: No way.

MYERS: It's the same kind of thing...

MALVEAUX: So it disappeared -- can they do that? I mean, I notice it's underwater. Could they do that not underwater? On land or...

MYERS: They're afraid that at this point in time that those carbon pipes would -- those tubes would melt. So you have to-- they're still going to have to find a way to keep them cool because they do get so hot to get this light to bend but it turns on, the light bends, and you see a reflection of the other side just like as you're driving through the desert and it looks like you're driving down the road and it looks like the road isn't there anymore. It looks like you're going to drive into a lake. It's the mirage.

MALVEAUX: Wow.

MYERS: Love it. That is the -- you know...

MALVEAUX: I want that, Chad.

MYERS: ...you tell us 15 or 20 years ago that you're going to build us an airplane that you can't find on radar and you tell DARPA that -- those guys to do it and they did it. They found these guys and said you find us something that will cloak and they did it.

MALVEAUX: That's pretty awesome. I think Wonder Woman had an invisible plane.

MYERS: You can go onto wire and this is all about wire too -- oh invisible -- wonder -- I did not see Wonder Woman.

MALVEAUX: Yes.

MYERS: I was a Batman guy.

MALVEAUX: OK, well, this is pretty cool. If this could actually happen, I'm all for it. All right. You're not going to disappear on us are you Chad?

MYERS: Next hour.

MALVEAUX: Next hour, good. I want to see this. I won't see it. All right. See you, Chad.

MYERS: Good luck.

MALVEAUX: Civil rights and tribal rights, they're on a collision course in Oklahoma. We're going to explain why some 3,000 descendants of African slaves say that they have a right to be part of the Cherokee Nation.

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MALVEAUX: Almost 3,000 descendants of African slaves are fighting for citizenship in Oklahoma's Cherokee Nation. A hundred and fifty years ago their ancestors were enslaved, no by white men but by the Cherokees. CNN's special correspondent, Soledad O'Brien explains what happened when both sides went to federal court.

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SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Sam Ford is a Cherokee Freedman.

SAM FORD, CHEROKEE FREEDMAN: I am an African-American with Cherokee heritage. My great-grandmother, Phyllis Thompson Pettit was a slave of the Cherokees.

O'BRIEN: It's a little known chapter in American history. The Cherokees were one of five Indian tribes whose members owned slaves. So what were those slaves doing for the Cherokee Nation?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were agricultural laborers. They were also individuals who worked as domestic slaves.

O'BRIEN: But in 1866 the Cherokees freed their slaves. They signed a treaty guaranteeing that all Freedmen and their descendants would quote "have all the rights of Native Cherokees." Today that treaty is at the center of a controversy involving nearly 3,000 African-Americans. On August 22nd, Cherokee Nation kicked them out of the tribe.

DIANE HAMMONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL, CHEROKEE NATION: The Treaty of 1866 did not give citizenship to the Freedman nor their descendants.

O'BRIEN: Diane Hammons is the Attorney General for Cherokee Nation.

HAMMONS: The heart of the issue is whether or not an Indian tribe can describe -- can determine who is eligible to be a member of that tribe.

O'BRIEN: In 2007 Cherokee Nation passed a law requiring proof of Indian blood to be a member. The proof is based on a record that was created a century ago called the Dawes Rolls. The Freedman say the Dawes Rolls are wrong, because they were based on how you looked.

FORD: If you looked black, they wrote Cherokee Freedman. If you looked not black, they wrote Cherokee.

O'BRIEN: Many Freedman were of mixed Cherokee and African blood on the rolls they were listed with no Indian blood. Last month it all went to federal court.

FORD: I was restored as a member of the Cherokee Nation.

O'BRIEN: A settlement has let the Freedmen back into the tribe for now. The descendents can vote in the election for the Cherokee Chief but there's no guarantee that they'll get to stay in the tribe. Reporting for In America, Soledad O'Brien, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Today's talk back question, could the movement Occupy Wall Street become a new political party? Harry Allen writes, "We don't need any political parties so I hope the protests are the death of political brakesmanship." More of your responses right after this.

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MALVEAUX: You've been sounding off on our Talk Back question. Could Occupy Wall Street, the movement, become a new political party? So, our own Carol Costello has the answers, some of your responses. Carol, a lot of folks thought, OK, Tea Party, not that organized, didn't have one message. They all came together, became a political party, maybe this could happen for the folks who are occupying Wall Street. Yes?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some say you never know so Talk Back question today, could Occupy Wall Street become a political party? This from Elizabeth, "It's not meant to be a new political party because they all are broke and it will be the beginning of the end of the two-party system, however, since they obviously don't work for the people anymore."

This from Robert, "This is a movement, it's red, blue, purple, it's also global. It's for the 99 percent, those who pay taxes, those who vote, not those who buy the votes or pay no taxes. Once it becomes party affiliated, momentum will be lost.

This from Jackie, "It's a protest. American people are angry and discouraged about what's happening in this country. It's not a political fight. It's a protest."

And this from Glenn, "Our government bailed Wall Street out and they were part of the reason our country is in this mess. President Obama has to listen to these protestors and act now. This could be his second term in the making."

And this from Daniel, "The radical left makes the radical right look sane, sadly." Keep the conversation going, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll be back with you, oh, in about 15 minutes or so.

MALVEAUX: All right, before you go, Carol, we have a -- a very special picture to show you. This is the newest member of our CNN Newsroom family, this little guy is Henry Patrick Meagher. He was born on Friday at 7 pounds 8.5 ounces. Now his dad, you know his dad, Ed, is one of our amazing writers, a producer on our team, and we wanted to take this time to wish him the best, his wife, Mara, as well, baby Henry all the best.

They're not going to get a lot of sleep, Carol. And, you know, there's a funny story when we interviewed President Jimmy Carter. Carter had suggested a name for the kid, so, he gave him that name, Henry.

COSTELLO: Really?

MALVEAUX: Jimmy Carter had something to do with this, yes.

COSTELLO: That's awesome. And, I was just going to say, most newborn babies really aren't that attractive but this baby is really cute. This one is very cute.

MALVEAUX: Yes, so Ed will be back with us in a little bit, you know, and it will be nice but he should stay home and help Mara and Henry and it's going all very well.

COSTELLO: Now, he should wait on his wife hand and foot.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. I agree. I agree. But we still need him, Carol. We do. We do. All right. Thanks. We'll see you in a little bit.

Well, a stroke of the pen from President Obama is preventing the government from shutting down, that is for now. The latest on where things stand in our Political Ticker update.

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MALVEAUX: Lawmakers in Washington avoid a government shutdown, that is at least for now. Dan Lothian, part of the best political team on television, is live from the White House. So, Dan, how long do we think the government is going to stay open? Is this shutdown really over?

DAN LOTHIAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, for now it is over. You know, we've been close to a shutdown a couple of other times recently. This time, Republicans and Democrats were at odds over cutting spending in order to offset an increase to disaster relief. That was resolved so President Obama signed what's called the CR last night after returning from Texas where he was pushing his jobs bill and this is, according to the White House, a measure that will keep the government funded through November 18th. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Dan, one of my special times of year when the White House puts up the Christmas Tree. I understand that it's actually been chosen. Do we know where the Christmas Tree is coming from this year?

LOTHIAN: That's right. It has been picked. It's amazing, you know, I haven't even bought my Halloween costume yet or even bought a turkey and we're talking about Christmas. But, yes, it's the beauty pageant of Christmas trees across the country and this time the honors, the crown, goes to North -- Northeast Wisconsin, a farm there where this tree was found.

It is an 18 foot or 18-and-a-half foot Boston Fir. It has been described as great color, great thickness, and awesome smell. It will remain on the farm until sometime next month, it will be cut down and brought here to the White House where, as you know, it is the centerpiece of the holiday seasons here at the White House where tens of thousands of people will get a chance to enjoy it.

MALVEAUX: Oh, I love that, love that time. All right, Dan, thanks. I guess we've got to work on our Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas trees.

LOTHIAN: That's right. And get my -- and my costume as well.

MALVEAUX: OK. You'll let me know what you're going to be this Halloween. OK?

LOTHIAN: OK.

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