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A Message for the Bankers; Oakland Mayor Apologies for What Happened With Police at 'Occupy' Protest; Population Milestone Approaching; One Year Waiting Period for Divorce; Expert Testifies for Conrad Murray; Overweight Teen to Pageant Winner; New Polls Shows Hillary Clinton May Win Against GOP; Flood Crisis in Thailand

Aired October 28, 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 Friday, October 28th.

Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, they are taking their message where the money is. That is the banks.

Protesters plan to march on the offices of five major banks today. They say they're going to deliver thousands of letters to top board members of Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase.

Well, a Wall Street CEO who says he's part of the one percent confronts the Occupy protesters who say they represent the 99 percent. Demonstrators argue that the wealthiest one percent of Americans keeps getting richer while the other 99 percent struggle.

Well, CEO Peter Schiff and a camera crew, they went to the park in New York to challenge him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're in the one percent and we're in the 99 percent!

PETER SCHIFF, CEO, EURO PACIFIC CAPITAL: Well, wouldn't you like to get into the one percent? You don't want more money? If I offered to put you in the one percent right now, you'd turn me down?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not a matter of whether -- and I would pay my share and get rid of Bush tax cuts immediately.

SCHIFF: OK, look -- wait a minute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Immediately!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Investors are taking a step back after yesterday's huge rally. Well, the Dow fell 25 points in early trading. Right now, it is up at six points.

The big picture, it is encouraging. October shaping up to be the best month for the S&P 500 since 1974. The Dow industrials are up almost 1,300 points this month.

Well, in Tunisia, anger over the country's election now turning to violence. Supporters of the Popular Petition Party attacked an office of the party that won. Now, protesters, they were angry that some of the candidates who won seats were accused of violating campaign finance rules and disqualified.

So, the big winner in all of this, the moderate Islamist party, Al-Nahda.

Another remarkable story of survival is emerging from the rubble of the earthquake in Turkey. Rescuers pulled a 13-year-old boy from a collapsed apartment building. That happened early today. That's 108 hours after the quake struck.

A hundred eighty-seven people now have been rescued, but officials say the number of those who were killed rose today to 570.

Rising water, high anxiety in Thailand. The next high tide could send floodwaters pouring deep into the capital. That, Bangkok. The outer suburbs are already flooded.

Now, officials, they are hoping that the levees and other defenses will protect central areas of the city, but as our Sara Sidner tells us, the system already is being put to the test.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At one point this morning after high tide came in, you could see water on nearly every single street leading in and out of Chinatown. Some of it about a foot high.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Some college students in Maryland can already say their ship has come in. More than 200 students from St. Mary's College in Maryland, they are going to be living on a cruise ship because of mold in the dorms. That's right.

The Sea Voyager is expected to stay docked for the rest of the semester. Classes are canceled today so the students can actually get on board.

Well, the comeback Cardinals forced the World Series into a seventh game tonight to decide the championships. St. Louis stunned the Texas Rangers last night, winning 10-9. A homerun by David Freese in the 11th inning gave St. Louis that win. Earlier, Freese tripled in the 9th to tie the game.

Today, the Occupy protesters, they're on the move. They plan to march through the streets of New York in just a couple of hours.

Now, they're headed to the offices of five major banks. They want to hand deliver letters to executives to institutions like Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and they've got a message. CNN producer Sheila Steffen, she is with us live. She is there at the site.

It has been said time and time again, Sheila, that the protesters, they don't have a hard and fast set of demands here. So taking on the banks seems to be one of the big themes here.

What do these letters say specifically? Do they give us any sense of what the demands are?

SHEILA STEFFEN, CNN PRODUCER: No list of demands, Suzanne. There's never been a list of demands, but this seemingly leaderless group has lots of frustrations.

And the letters, nearly 7,000 of them, organizers say, are from people who are facing foreclosure, eviction, student debt, extended unemployment, and they're coming together express these feelings and deliver these letters, one of which is from a woman who is facing foreclosure. And she writes a letter to the CEO of Chase, Jamie Dimon, and she says, "I've submitted applications for a mortgage modification more than a dozen times and I'm still waiting for a straight answer. Every night, I lie awake hoping you do not take away my home before that happens."

And she goes on and she invites Mr. Dimon to visit the area in Queens, where she says it has been devastated by foreclosures. So these are the kinds of letters that they will be delivering to the banks this afternoon -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Sheila, over the last couple of days, we've seen some peaceful protests unfortunately turn ugly. In Oakland, on Tuesday, protesters, they were throwing paint and bottles at police. Police responded with tear gas and beanbags.

Can you give us a sense of what the mood is like? Is there tension between protesters and the police?

STEFFEN: Well, there's no real tension at the moment, Suzanne, but a move by the fire department this morning at the park where the occupiers have been camping out now for 42 days caught them off guard. Four generators were removed, and many of the occupiers felt this was a tactical move rather than any real safety issue. And, of course, the timing of this comes right before an expected cold snap in the area.

MALVEAUX: Do we have any response from those banks, from the letters that are actually being delivered?

STEFFEN: We do not. I suspect they may know that this is happening today, and it will be interesting to see how they may respond to some of these very personal letters that take issue with the way the banks have handled their situation.

MALVEAUX: All right. Sheila Steffen, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

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

An Iraq War vet is seriously injured at an Occupy Oakland protest. And now the mayor is apologizing. We're going to have a live report.

Also, an 18-wheeler catches fire near Houston, lights up the night sky.

Plus, a child born on Monday will be number seven billion on Earth. So do you know what your number is? We're going to show you how to find out.

And should couples be forced to wait a year before they get divorced?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only people that it would affect are people that are using marriage as dating. I mean, if you get married every two years, yes. You know, but I don't know. I think it's silly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Finally, a new poll suggests Hillary Clinton would do better than the president against the current field of Republican candidates.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: He survived two tours in Iraq, but it was in the middle of an Occupy Oakland rally that 24-year-old former Marine Scott Olsen really needed a medic. Olsen had his skull cracked Tuesday night by what witnesses say was a tear gas canister. The blow landed him in the intensive care unit of an Oakland hospital, where he is said to be in fair condition.

Well, Olsen's roommate spoke to CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" about what actually happened that night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH SHANNON, SCOTT OLSEN'S ROOMMATE: They were on just a peaceful march, and police officers started randomly pulling protesters out of the march and arresting them when the protesters started throwing water and paint at the police officers. And as the protesters started marching back towards their encampment, the police officers opened up with rubber bullets, tear gas, and smoke canisters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So now the mayor of Oakland is apologizing for what happened Tuesday night.

I want to bring in Dan Simon. He's live in Oakland.

And Dan, what is the mayor saying?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, because of what happened, and the negative backlash we've seen, because of what happened to Scott Olsen, the mayor has apologized, and she has reversed course. She's now saying that those protesters can actually go back to that spot in front of City Hall, and they can stage their protest. It's an amazing reversal, and she had this to say in a press conference last night --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JEAN QUAN, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: I am very deeply saddened about what happened last Tuesday. It clearly didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. People were hurt, and I am the mayor, so I take responsibility and I apologize to those who were hurt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: And what this does is it really raises the question about her leadership, about the city's leadership, why they wanted to boot these protesters in the first place if, 48 hours, you're just going to let them back? What's the strategy going forward? She hasn't answered that yet, but clearly, because of the negative tension that the city received, they felt like this was the best way to go forward -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Sure, Dan. I mean, it sounded like she was pretty genuine in her apology, but the protesters, they want more than that. Clearly, they do want some answers.

Do we have any new details about how Olsen got his head fractured in what was supposed to be a peaceful rally?

SIMON: Well, we don't really know what happened. You know, the video is fairly inconclusive.

It shows him clearly injured right after it happened. In terms of what occurred, we don't know. You can only sort of assume that he was hit with some sort of police projectile, maybe a tear gas canister. We don't know.

What we do know is that it's really galvanized the movement not only here in Oakland, but elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay area and across the country -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Dan, do we get a sense that now they are going to fight even harder, stay even longer at that site? Is there any tension between the protesters and the police now?

SIMON: Well, no question there is some lingering resentment. In fact, they weren't even going to let the mayor speak yesterday. They said if she wanted to speak to the protesters, that she had to wait in line just like everyone else. And from what I gathered, she was frustrated and just left, and then issued that statement last night.

What we seem to have figured out here is that the police, they are adopting a hands-off policy at this point given the negative attention that they received. But how long this can go on, we just don't know. It seems like the protesters are intent on staying there indefinitely, and what the city will do going forward, they haven't laid out those plans yet.

MALVEAUX: All right. We'll just have to wait and see.

Dan Simon.

Thank you so much, Dan.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right. So we asked you, what is the most tweeted event per second in the world so far this year? Osama bin Laden's death, well, that comes in tenth. Japan's earthquake and tsunami, that is number seven. Number one tweet, Beyonce.

Yes, revealing her baby bump at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards back in august. She got a record 8,868 tweets per second. Unbelievable, and kind of surprising, actually.

So, while we're talking numbers, let's talk about this one -- seven billion. This is soon going to be the world's population.

I want to bring in our CNN's Errol Barnett. He joins us with more on the milestone.

So, Errol, Monday, right, is when we expect we're going to hit the seven billion mark on the planet?

ERROL BARNETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's the prediction.

MALVEAUX: Seven billion folks here. How do we find out where each of us fits into that number, our place in the world?

BARNETT: Well, I've got some Web sites that our viewers should take a note of.

So, the U.N. estimates the seven billionth birth takes place Monday. But the question is, where do we rank in all of that? Here's one of the Web sites. You can check this out now as well.

It's called populationaction.org. And you simply click on "What's your number?" They've got the running tally as we approach that seven billionth birth there.

You enter your birthday, as I've done here, and click "submit." So here it goes.

I was born in '83, on April 3rd, and my number is right there. I was the 4.7 billionth birth. And it goes on with the other numbers as well.

But take a look at the graph. It shows where you placed in it. And this is the exponential growth that the U.N. talks about.

So, it was just more than two billion people in the world back in 1950, but by 2050, they expect there will be more than nine billion people in the world. So you get to see what you contribute to that. And as I've talked about this week, as we look at more people in the world, we'll have to figure out better ways to share resources and use energy more wisely as well.

Another Web site that the United Nations in fact has set up -- this is the U.N. Population Fund -- they have their tally as well. But you get to figure out what birth you were out of all the people who have ever lived since the first Homosapiens.

This Web site, the number 7, billionandme.org. You enter a bit more information -- your birth date, where you were born, so they can look at regional trends -- and then you click on "enter." And here's the massive number.

In the entire history of the world, I was the 79, 395, 657, 944th birth. And then it gives you a regional breakdown of where other people lived in the world when you were born and how many people were born on the day you were born as well.

Generally, this just makes you feel very small in the grand scheme of things, but helps you understand where your birth contributed to the big number.

MALVEAUX: Wow. That is really pretty cool. I'm going to put in my numbers. I'm not going to tell you my numbers though. You were born in '83. I'm a little bit older, Errol.

BARNETT: You were just born a few months before me, I think.

MALVEAUX: Oh, OK. Yes, we'll let everybody believe that.

So you asked iReporters to help visualize what seven billion could actually look like. What did they send you?

BARNETT: We got some great -- these are ways to visualize that number, some great submissions out of Chicago. But let me show you first some of our international contributions from iReporters.

This is what we got from the Philippines. So, a single grain of rice represents one person. This is from someone in San Juan City.

That grain of rice was added into a cup of rice. Five cups makes up a kilogram of rice. And to get to seven billion grains of rice, you'd need almost 440,000 pounds of rice to get to seven billion.

Over in Santiago, Chile, Bernadush Thruma (ph) took us on a walk to help visualize seven billion, and he figured out that taking seven billion steps would take him around the planet 133 times, which would take 152 years.

And finally, take a look at this out of Chicago. Wendy Oltz' (ph) seventh grade class, they decided to run laps around the building to help visualize seven billion. Why would they do that? Well, if you've ever taught seventh grade, you know it burns energy.

But the class figured out that if two students ran around the building at certain speeds for seven billion seconds, it would take them 132 million laps, 217 years, to complete their journey.

Because this number is so astronomical, Suzanne, these are ways that iReporters have helped us visualize it. Our viewers can do that as well. Just head to CNN.ireport.com.

MALVEAUX: Any way you look at it, whether it's rice or running laps, that's a huge, huge number.

Thank you, Errol.

BARNETT: Indeed. Sure.

MALVEAUX: All very fascinating.

Well, all year, we've been introducing you to everyday folks who are changing the world. We call them CNN Heroes. And I'd like you to meet one of this year's Top Ten CNN Heroes.

Hospitals in Indonesia, they often keep newborns from their mothers until they can pay for the delivery. Robin Limb gives free prenatal care, birthing services, medical aid to anyone who needs it. And she's joining us via Skype from Bali.

So, Robin, first of all, just congratulations for the amazing work that you do, one of our Top Ten CNN Heroes.

Tell us first about your work, these birthing clinics, and what inspired you to open them in the first place.

ROBIN LIM, 2011 TOP TEN CNN HERO: Thank you.

I had my fifth child here in Bali, and during that time, I discovered talking to other pregnant women, visiting with health providers, that it wasn't really an easy time for anyone on this island, and even more so on other islands in Indonesia when one was having a baby. And that was 18 years ago. And up until now, I've been working very diligently to make it better for mothers and babies and families at the time that they're having their babies.

MALVEAUX: What kind of progress has been made through your clinics? Obviously, you're doing very important work for the women there.

LIM: Well, I think that one of the other things that has happened at the Bumi Sehat clinic is that we have popularized the idea of a kind, gentle, clean, hygienic, midwife-to-mother care model of birth that is not only life- saving, but also is culturally appropriate and gives women the integrity that they deserve at the time they are going to their prenatal visits and having their babies, and during the postpartum as well.

MALVEAUX: What do you hope this award will do for the clinics that you actually operate?

LIM: Well, I see it as a huge step for our clinics. We have a clinic in Aceh which is the tsunami relief clinic that is still open. The conditions there in Aceh after the 2004 tsunami are still very critical.

Of course, for both the clinics that we operate here in Bali, and then in Aceh, it's very important financially, this award. It already has been very beneficial.

But in the bigger picture, I really worry about that 981 mothers that die every single day on earth from complications from pregnancy and childbirth. And 21,000 infants die under the age of 5 on our planet every day.

And I'm really concerned with those millennium development goals, 4, 5 and 6. Four concerning child mortality; five, maternal health; and then six being the prevention of diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS. Those are what the organization that I've dedicated my life to are really concerned with, and we've taken a step-by-step approach. You know, one mother, one baby, one birth (ph) at a time.

MALVEAUX: Sure. Well, Robin Lim, thank you so much. Just, really, congratulations already for the incredible work that you do.

You can go to CNNHeroes.com now online and on your mobile device to vote for the CNN Hero that inspires you the most. All 10 will be honored live at "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," hosted by our own Anderson Cooper. That is Sunday, December 11th.

So, let's say you fall in love, say your vows, but a year, five years, 10 years later, maybe, not working out so well, you want a divorce. Well, what if the government forced you to wait a year before you could break it off?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not something you, oh, yes, I think I'll go get a divorce today. Yes, it's 12:00. No. You've been thinking about it more than a year already.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do think people give up too easily sometimes, but I think it's a personal issue and not maybe one that should be mandated by the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So my next guest is proposing states adopt a one-year waiting period. We're going to hear why.

But first, did you know most states already require you to wait before you can break it off, anywhere from a month to two years? But it's a different story in Europe. Can you guess how long the usual waiting period is? A, no waiting period; B, one year; C, three years?

That answer in just a minute. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: So did you guess how long most people in Western Europe have to wait before they get a divorce? No waiting period, one year, or three years?

The answer, three years. Many of those countries also have high rates of people choosing just to live together and not get married as well.

So, just ahead "On the Rundown," a retired chief justice in Georgia wants all troubled couples to wait a year before being allowed to divorce. We're going to ask her why.

Then the Michael Jackson death trial resumes. Attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray are close to wrapping up the case.

Then Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is clarifying his remarks on abortion.

So let's get back to this story. Say you get married, doesn't work out quite well. You want a divorce. But the judge forces you into a cooling off period.

All right, so remember the movie, "What Happens in Vegas"?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMERON DIAZ, ACTOR, "WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS": What's mine is yours, baby. We're married now, remember?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am freezing the $3 million and sentencing you two to six months hard marriage.

DIAZ: Objection.

ASHTON KUTCHER, ACTOR, "WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS": Welcome home, sweetheart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Well, in the end, the waiting period, it worked out fine in this movie, but what about in real life?

My next guest is proposing a one-year waiting period before you can get a divorce. She's calling this proposal second chances. Justice Leah Ward Sears is a retired chief justice of Georgia Supreme Court.

And I'm glad you laughed when you saw that clip.

LEAH WARD SEARS, FORMER GEORGIA SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE: I have to. I love a good movie.

MALVEAUX: You kind of have to have a sense of humor about it as well. SEARS: Yes. Certainly. Certainly.

MALVEAUX: But give us a sense of what is behind this proposal? Why this cooling off period?

SEARS: Well, Professor Bill Daugherty, in talking to a judge in Minnesota -- Professor Daugherty is a family -- family therapist in --

MALVEAUX: Sure.

SEARS: In Minnesota, was asked by a judge, do some couples really want to reconcile, and he did a study of 2500 people and he found that 40 percent of the people who filed for divorce either one or both parties really wanted to reconcile, which sort of undercut the myth that most people that were already filing for divorce were so unhappy and so entrenched and the marriage was already over.

MALVEAUX: Right.

SEARS: And so the idea behind the Second Chances Act, this model act would be that we would give those people, people who really wanted to consider reconciling, a chance to do so, which doesn't happen these days.

MALVEAUX: So -- what about the folks who are like, you know what, we really know this isn't working out so well? Why do we think the government would have any better idea than oh, this marriage is going to work out, they should wait?

SEARS: Well, you know, marriages with children -- and when divorces happen with marriages with children, it has a profound effect on all the rest of us. Including the government. There was a study done a few years ago by Professor Ben Scafidi that shows that the cost to the United States government including states is a $112 billion a year conservatively for those who people who just choose to have divorces. Everyone wants to exercise the right to divorce, but nobody recognizes the devastation.

MALVEAUX: Now just to be clear here, this is a proposal. This is something that lawmakers would actually have to vote on.

SEARS: That's correct.

MALVEAUX: That each particular state --

SEARS: That's correct.

MALVEAUX: To make it -- to turn it into law. How are people then responding to your proposal here?

SEARS: Very, very enthusiastically. This is a very modest proposal. It's not in any way an attempt to roll back no fault. It's not an attempt in any way to go back to the battle days of the '40s and '50s in this country where many people who needed to get divorced could not get divorced without a lot of pain and suffering. We don't want to -- MALVEAUX: Well, let's talk about that a little bit.

SEARS: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Because clearly there has to be some language in this proposal if you're in an abusive relationship in any way --

SEARS: Absolutely.

MALVEAUX: -- that you could end it very quickly.

SEARS: And you need to. You know -- as I said, it is a modest proposal. Some marriages need to -- need to end and they need to end today. But most marriages, we are finding, there is some room for discussion, perhaps a need for some cooling off.

MALVEAUX: Right.

SEARS: A need for some educational services. And an attempt to talk reconciliation if that's not possible, but this is not an attempt by a judge, as in the movie, where any -- you know, legislative body to force people who do not want to stay married.

MALVEAUX: And this was such a popular topic with our production team this morning. A lot of -- got a lot of people talking about their own relationships, marriages and divorces.

SEARS: Sure.

MALVEAUX: And I guess the question is, why not make it harder actually -- perhaps to get married than, you know, easier to get divorced?

SEARS: That is excellent and for those people who on your production team who thought that was a good idea, it should be harder. We should have more education up front about what marriage means. People do need to understand the skills needed to get married and stay married.

That -- you know, very few people have those skills coming into a marriage. But it's also should be hard to get out of a marriage. It shouldn't be like you can in Georgia, 30 days after 30 years, then you can just walk out of a marriage regardless of what the consequences are.

MALVEAUX: All right, Judge, thank you very much. Obviously got a lot of people thinking about their relationships today.

SEARS: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Appreciate it.

SEARS: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Star witness for the defense goes back on the stand minutes from now in the Michael Jackson death trial. I'm going to talk to a criminal defense attorney about how the case against Dr. Conrad Murray is shaping up as it's winding down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Court has resumed -- resume shortly in the Michael Jackson death trial there. Lawyers for Dr. Conrad Murray could wrap up the case today after testimony from their star witness, anesthesiologist, Steven White.

Criminal defense attorney Richard Herman is here.

Richard, nice to see you in person here.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Finally.

MALVEAUX: Yes, absolutely. So the prosecution says that it is the doctor who actually gave the fatal dose of Propofol and that it was negligence that Michael Jackson died. The defense is saying that's not the case, that Michael Jackson actually gave that fatal dose.

Have they provided the kind of evidence that is needed to make that argument?

HERMAN: I think what they've provided, Suzanne, is an ulterior explanation in contrast to the prosecution. Now we heard that Dr. Conrad Murray is a womanizer, that he was reckless, everything under the sun. Didn't care. All he cared about was money.

And now we hear another side. We hear the defense case. We hear that he was a hard-working guy, that he saved lives, that he was not driven by money, the almighty dollar, and that the amount of Propofol that Conrad Murray says he delivered could not have killed Michael Jackson. Could not have.

So if the jury's getting confused and you've got to believe they're getting confused at this point in time -- when Chernoff stands up in summation and says, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, if you are confused, if you're not sure, 25 milligram, 100 milligram, if you're not sure, you must acquit.

Because the burden of proof is on the prosecution. And if they haven't proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt, you must acquit Dr. Murray.

MALVEAUX: And what do you think? How do you think they've actually done in terms of portraying the doctor as somebody who's a reasonable and caring guy?

HERMAN: Well, I think what we saw -- we saw compelling testimony two days ago by some of his patients, and we see how hard working the guy was. And he did save lives. He does not medicine. He does know cardiology.

And -- look, his motivation had to be to keep Michael Jackson alive. He gets $150,000 a month if he keeps him alive. So by dying, that wasn't in his best interest, Dr. Murray. I think you're going to hear Dr. White finish his testimony today. The defense will complete their case today. The prosecution will cross-examine on Monday. They have the weekend to prepare and maybe some rebuttal witnesses. By midweek, this case should go to the jury.

MALVEAUX: And Richard, one thing that we've been watching here is that the family now, the Jackson family, sitting in the front row in the courtroom. How could that impact how the jurors feel about all of this?

HERMAN: Well, Suzanne, I think some of the jurors could be stealth jurors. And they're for Michael Jackson no matter what, but I think there are a handful of jurors on this panel who are going to look at all the evidence. Look at the fact that Michael Jackson was addicted to at least Demerol and other painkillers and opiates, and they're going to say, you know, we're just not going to pin it on Dr. Conrad Murray, his death.

We're going to say, Michael Jackson, you're responsible for yourself, you're responsible for your own condition. And most those family members in the front row, they watched him deteriorate for the last 30 years. What did they do to help their brother, who they proclaimed their love for today? What did they do to help this man who is obviously in a lot of pain?

MALVEAUX: So you think it could actually help the doctor to have the Jackson family there? I mean because they're looking at them saying, hey, you know, you guys didn't do anything to help him?

HERMAN: Well, when Latoya gets interviewed and talks about conspiracy theories, I mean, it's preposterous. It's ridiculous. So that Conrad Murray would want in any way, shape or form to have Michael Jackson passed away. It's ridiculous.

So I don't think that does the family well. And I think, look, if you love Michael Jackson, you're going to want to go see Dr. Murray go down. But if you're going to go in there with an open mind, assess all the evidence, and if you're confused, and I think that's what the defense is doing, they're building confusion. A lot of technical testimony coming in this case. These are lay people. These are not lawyers. These are not medical professionals.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

HERMAN: If they're confused, there's a jury instruction on that. You could see an acquittal here.

MALVEAUX: All right, we're going to be following this very closely.

HERMAN: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Richard, good to see you again.

HERMAN: Nice to see you, Suzanne. MALVEAUX: Thanks.

Well, if you're having a hard time getting rid of a few extra pounds, you're going to want to stay here. You're going to meet a young woman who will be the Miss America -- excuse me, in the Miss America pageant after losing 100 pounds. Good for her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Each week, we profile ordinary folks who have overcome extraordinary obstacles. In today's "Human Factor" Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to a young woman who's able to transform herself from overweight teen to pageant winner. Now she's helping others who are struggling with their weight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BREE BOYCE, MISS SOUTH CAROLINA 2011: I actually used to sit where you're sitting. I'm the same person that I was in high school. Although my exterior may have looked a little different.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Bree Boyce, becoming a beauty queen was beyond her wildest dreams.

BOYCE: I was just so unhappy with the way I looked, but yet I still continued to eat unhealthy and lack of physical activity.

GUPTA: And at 17 years old, Boyce weighed 234 pounds.

BOYCE: I would come home from school, sit on the couch for hours, watch TV and snack all day long.

GUPTA: It was nagging pan in her knees that led her to go see her doctor and what he said led her to change her life.

BOYCE: He said, you know, this weight has to come off. At that moment, I knew that, you know, he's right and it's up to me and only me to change it.

GUPTA: She then tried a quick fix to losing weight.

BOYCE: I completely threw out all the junk food. I joined the gym. I educated myself. I went to a nutritionist. I did all the right stuff.

GUPTA: Three years later, Boyce had transformed her body from pudgy duckling to beauty queen. In July, she was crowned Miss South Carolina, even winning an early round of the bathing suit competition.

BOYCE: Are you really excited? That's good.

GUPTA: Every beauty queen has a platform. Hers, as you might guess, is eating healthy and fighting obesity and it's a mission she happily promotes, whether it's doing Zumba with kids at health fairs or speaking at her hometown city council meeting.

BOYCE: -- best of my ability I'm going to bring the crown back to Florence.

GUPTA: Or talking to students at her former high school.

BOYCE: I challenge you all to make a change today and to make a change to be a happy, a healthy and confident individual in whatever it is in life that you want to set out to accomplish.

GUPTA: And she practices what she preaches. Still making her health a top priority.

BOYCE: I block out, you know, where am I going to eat, how am I going to eat that day.

GUPTA: Boyce still wants to achieve more. She has her sights on winning the Miss America title 2012 in January and she's not afraid of this next challenge.

BOYCE: Anything in life that you want to do, it takes hard work and determination and best of all perseverance.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: There are a lot of Americans who would like to see Hillary Clinton in the White House. So how would she stack up against the Republican presidential candidates?

We're going to show you the latest poll numbers in a live report from our political desk in Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Following a breaking news story here. This is out of Greenville, South Carolina. We are being told by a police chief there that there was -- there are six schools now that are on lockdown.

There's a shootout that occurred earlier in the morning, a gun battle. The shooter is still on the loose here. We don't have any information about injuries and what the extent of the damage is. But I want to go to some sound from the police chief who is giving us a little bit of information about what we know so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I'd like to reiterate to our live viewers that this is -- we're standing on the grounds of your training facility. Tell them about the officers that were here and how you were all able to respond so quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had 30 officers that are in training for situational leadership so -- within a half mile. So we deployed them very quickly to be able to assist with the situation. So we have a lot of officers on the scene.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: That is just a bit of sound that we have from the police chief. So far what we know, this is out of Greenville, South Carolina, that there are six schools that are currently on lockdown. That there was some sort of gun battle that took place earlier this morning outside or close to one of those schools. And that the suspect, the shooter, is still on the loose, and what we've just heard from that sound was that there were at least 30 officers who were involved potentially in this shootout, and this manhunt that is taking place once again.

This is out of Greenville, South Carolina. We're going to try to get more information and bring that to you as soon as we do.

The race for the White House. Some Democrats would like to see Hillary Clinton as the party's nominee next year instead of President Obama. A new poll shows she would do better than the president against the field of Republican candidates.

Our Joe Johns is live from the political desk in Washington.

So this is kind of an interesting what if, don't you think? I mean there was some talk about it before that, you know, would they make a deal? Would folks say, hey, you know, we should put you up as the nominee? How does Clinton stack up against the Republicans?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Suzanne, this definitely goes in the category of things that make you go, hmm, but you --

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNS: You've got to use your imagination. You imagine if Hillary Clinton decided to challenge the president for the Democratic nomination which she says she has no interest in doing.

Imagine if she were to actually win the nomination, the polling makes you think she would cruise into the White House. The poll shows the secretary of state ahead of Mitt Romney, 55 percent to 38 percent. Ahead of Rick Perry, 58 percent to 32 percent. Ahead of Herman Cain, 56 percent to 34 percent.

And in fact that poll shows Hillary Clinton would do better even than President Obama himself in the same match-ups. The president is ahead of those guys, too, but a smaller margin. Ahead of Romney, 46 percent to 43, ahead of Perry, 50 to 38, ahead of Cain, 49 to 37.

So see what fun you can have with numbers. It is a --

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNS: Moot point, though, because of course Hillary Clinton says she's not running.

MALVEAUX: Right. And what about Republican Herman Cain? He's always making some news here. He's trying to clarify, he says, his position on abortion. JOHNS: Right, right. Question of whether it's flip-flopping, he's actually been accused of some real acrobatics if you will on the issue of abortion. It's gotten a lot of people really confused. He claims he's been quoted out of context, but he plainly has taken some contradictory positions as we've reported right here on CNN following his recent interview with Piers Morgan, which the campaign says may have been attributable to a lack of sleep.

First, he said he was pro-life, no exceptions, then he said the choice would be up to the family. And now a campaign adviser says Cain follows the same policy used by the George W. Bush administration on abortion which said abortions should be allowed in instances of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is at stake.

Campaign says Cain is working on overdrive and may slow down going forward just to make sure he's better rested -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. All right. Joe, thanks. Have a good weekend.

JOHNS: You too.

MALVEAUX: People are leaving Thailand's capital by the thousands. Floodwaters are spreading across Bangkok. Tomorrow, the devastation could get even worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The situation in Thailand's capital is now at a critical stage as the city is coping with historic flooding. Tides are threatening to push the floodwaters even further into Bangkok. And while the city's commercial district is still dry, that might not be the case just hours from now.

Our CNN's Sara Sidner is in Bangkok.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're inside my neighborhood. It's the eastern part of Bangkok. This is where the government has told people they need them to evacuate. And you're starting to see people do that. They were supposed to have evacuated earlier, but we're seeing now more and more people leave.

This lady has told us that she has run out of money. She is afraid for the safety of her animals. These are her dogs. She's got a few rabbits there. And she's just trying to get them to higher ground. She's starting to become very, very worried.

That's what's happening in a lot of this area. We are seeing some of the elderly people also getting into the trucks that the army has brought and jumping in there because their homes are inundated with water.

And just take a look at this water here. Now this water right now is about calf high on me. But as you walk further into this neighborhood, and let me take a turn here. As you walk further into this neighborhood, just over there, you'll see a home, it's green and blue, the water is inching ever closer to the window level. It is about up to my hips here. So very, very high water. That doesn't seem to be receding much here. This water has come and flown in partly from a canal that's overflowed.

The government is very concerned, of course, also about central Bangkok. We were in central Bangkok today, we were in Chinatown, we did see when the morning high tide happened. We saw water coming in to Chinatown, which is right there in the middle of Bangkok, but then the water quickly receded. It seems that the drainage system seemed to be working quite well.

And so the middle of Bangkok and some of the business districts has been pretty dry over the past day. But there is another big concern. And that is there is another high tide, the highest tide is coming within the next 24 hours. And people are bracing for that.

The government now opening nine evacuation centers so that people have somewhere to go if the water gets too high.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)