we begin keeping them honest with a protest that is being called the most significant of its kind in its country in nearly 100 years. when you see what triggered it, you'll understand. this is how it started. just outside tahrir square in cairo. a wall of riot police charging at protesters. keep in mind as you're watching this, this isn't video taken back during the demonstrations in the spring that toppled the old regime. it's from this weekend. this is what the new regime is doing. and what happened next september egyptian women into the streets again in a protest not seen in a very long time. it's also sending shock waves across egypt and the entire world. fair warning, what the camera caught, what the women are protesting, well, it's hard to watch. and here's also no sound.

which perhaps is just as well because the images speak for themselves. watch. now, we don't know what ultimately became of this woman except that she suffered serious cuts, serious bruises. but we do know this. she's not the only one. and yet keeping them honest, until tonight the generals in charge of egypt these days are insisting that what you just saw was only an isolated incident. >> translator: and here i want to mention a very important point. the armed forces and police have pledged not to use violence against protesters, physically or even verbally. >> now, do these troops look like they've taken some sort of pledge of nonviolence against protesters? i mean, does beating the

daylights out of defenseless people qualify as nonviolence? it's been going on for days. riot police, for all intents and purposes, engaged in rioting of their own. and yet keeping them honest, we'll speak with "the new york times" david kirkpatrick who reports that no one in the military has been investigated or charged in connection with any sort of misconduct. in a statement the military supreme council said it had already taken, quote, all the legal action to hold whoever is responsible accountable. now, as we show you these pictures, consider the rest of the statement. the supreme council, quote, says reassures its respect and appreciation for egyptian women and their right in protesting and their active positive participation in political life. the council also finally said it acknowledges and regrets that violations, that's plural, took place over the last several days. activist mona safe already knew all of that, in fact, she's been seeing it firsthand. we spoke earlier tonight. mona, this brutal video, it's hard to watch, a woman being

severely beaten and dragged through the streets. people have seen it all around the world now, as you probably know. you say that egyptian authorities are specifically targeting women. is that right? >> yes. i'm saying that in the current clashes, it seems to be part of the tactics, that they are specifically targeting women. they are specifically beating up women and harassing them and sexually assaulting them, to threaten them. and i think also, to send a signal that there are no more red line for them. what we would have thought are things they would never dare to commit are things they are now doing publicly in the middle of the street with all cameras directed at them. i think this is just a sign that it's an open war between us and them. >> they're not even trying to hide it, you're saying. i mean, we see this incident here, we're watching it right now, on the monitors on tv, but, i mean, is that an isolated thing, or are you seeing that off camera as well? is this happening more and more?

>> i'm saying that what you are seeing right now has happened in the past three or four days to more than one girl. on the 16th, there was more than nine girls detained by the army. actually, more than 20 girls detained by the army. nine of them were hospitalized or detained for overnight in the cabinet building. and they were then taken to hospital because of their wounds and because of the bruises they suffered from twhat they endure because of our army. so i'm saying that this is not an isolated incident. this seems to be a conscious decision to target female protesters and to make them reconsider joining the street protests again. >> and the video, again, is hard to watch. people literally stomping their boots on people's bodies. i mean, up until yesterday, as you know, military authorities were claiming they haven't used violence against the egyptian

people. you can decide for yourself watching the video. but today, mona, they did issue an apology and said they will investigate these incidents. what do you make of that? do you trust that they're going to do this? >> reporter: no, of course. an apology -- a written apology is nothing. we have hundreds of detainees that are facing trial right now, are facing prosecution right now. all of them are tortured. the majority of them are minors. and they were all tortured. we have officially 13 marchers so far. we have tens of hundreds of wounded. with the girl you have just seen, there's another one, an older woman who tried to protect another girl, and she's currently in the hospital with hemorrhage and a broken skull. so we are talking about a horrible, horrible sequence of time against all sorts of ages and gender of revolutionaries and egyptian citizens and

definitely an apology on the tv and on facebook is not enough. >> mona, thanks so much. i know you told me earlier you're in a safe place. i hope you continue to be safe. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. and with us now in cairo is david kirkpatrick of "the new york times." and in new york, professor, senior fellow at stanford university. welcome back. david, again, i think a lot of people have seen this video of a woman being brutalized, undressed partially. it was stunning to see, what's been the reaction where you are inside egypt? >> well, you know, i think that video may have been viewed more often in the united states than it has been in egypt. it's been widely shown on the independent satellite television here, television networks here, and they've prolivproliferrated mubarak left, really portraying the protesters as paid thugs out

to take down the egyptian government, egyptian buildings and assaulting egyptian soldiers. so it came as something of a surprise tonight when so many egyptian women took to the street over this image and over this story, you know. thousands, maybe even 10,000 women, carrying this picture of the woman who -- we don't know her name, so people here just call her the blue bra girl -- marching through the streets. it's been really a galvanizing moment, i think, for a lot of egyptian women. >> we're looking at some of those images now as you're talking. flaud, secretary clinton said this today. this systematic degradation of egyptian women dishonors the revolution. she says women were being targeted. based on what you're hearing and learning, is that true, do you believe? are women specifically being targeted there? >> i think they are being targeted. what we're witnessing is a mix of class and sexual violence.

remember, these people you are watching and you describe it right, sanjay, when you said it's the riot police having a riot of their own, when they're charging these protesters, these recruits, these security forces, they come from the poorest strata of egyptian society. and to them, the protesters are educated. the protesters are paid agents by foreign powers, unnamed foreign powers. so what you witness is, if you will, an animus toward women and protesters and young recruits who are poor, who are very poorly paid, very poorly trained. and i think it's a reckoning time for the great oz who is hiding behind the curtain. he must come out and own up to this kind of violence. >> professor, i mean, some of this is just disheartening to hear especially after all we heard this spring. there seemed to be hope at that time of the revolts of the arab spring would hold governments more accountable but also broaden social reforms.

i mean, is that goal realistic with all that we're seeing now? >> well, you know, these were 18 magical days. i think we all remember them, sanjay, the 18 days in liberation square in tahrir square. and i think in a way, still the promise of this arab spring, of this arab awakening, is still alive. we are not really witnessing, by the way, the violence of the arab spring. we're witnessing the violence of the security forces, trained, nurtured by the mubarak regime, by tantawi. so people say democracy is failing. the new liberty is failing. no, it's actually the repression of the old regime that are failing. >> david, i mean, as you hear all that and you put together the events of the last couple of days, we heard a general of the ruling military council at first denying there was any violence against protesters. today that same general expressing great regret for attacks on women. promising to punish the assailants. i mean, did today's march make a

difference? is this some indication that change is possible? >> well, i think it is. i mean, whenever you see, in a world of martial law, the rule of the military council then the way they did tonight and cough up that apology while the women were still in the street, you know they've got some kind of power. and i have to say, you know, over these last few weeks, we've seen the military council increasingly move to try to carve out for itself permanent political powers and autonomy in the coming egyptian constitution. they want to hold on to power, perhaps behind a civilian mask. and for a while, i thought that was -- they were going to get away with it. and it's been a violent few weeks here, but it's really also made me question whether the egyptian people are willing to go along with that. i think what we're seeing is a very meaningful resistant to that plan and a really strong back-and-forth between the military council that doesn't

really want to go so fast and a lot of egyptians who are just as eager for democracy as they seemed to be in february. >> professor, does the united states, do you believe, have a role here, given the extent of the violence that we're witnessing here? >> we have a role. we're invested in the egyptians in egypt. we're invested in the regime. we're invested in the officer class who run this country because you do have an officer class, they're really kind of a ruling cast. and they wish to, as david kirkpatrick says, they are not really willing to relinquish power. we do have ties to the officers. we subsidize this officer corps. there is $1.3 billion american aid built to the officer corps. we have enormous lempverage, an we are implicated. and i think we should speak out as our secretary of state has spoken out, that's the proper thing to do. >> you're hearing a lot of people speaking out, but still what happens next remains to be seen. there's elections coming up in just about a month from now.

we'll keep on top of that. professor, as always, thank you. david kirkpatrick, please stay safe out there as well. let us know what you think, we're on face bobook and also google plus and twitter. up next, house republicans block tax cuts. not only is the president upset at this move, so is john mccain. we'll explain what happened and what it means for your paycheck. also, what some republicans think it might mean for the overall gop brand. later, our series on junk science in court and the potentially innocent people who could be doing time because of it. >> based on the evidence heard in this trial, are you comfortable saying that mr. hornic is guilty of murder? >> i'm not, no. >> we've got that coming up. first, let's check in with aisha. >> i'm not going to sing it because there's nothing festive about it, but the weather outside really is frightful. in fact, it's beyond that. try dangerous. even deadly. we'll show you where this

massive winter storm is hitting and where it's heading. that and much more. dinner! [ garth ] we get double miles every time we use our card. and since double miles add up fast, we can bring the whole gang! it's hard to beat double miles! i want a mace, a sword, a... oww! [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one and earn double miles on every purchase, every day. go to capitalone.com. i wonder what it could be?! what's in your wallet? with two children and no way to support them. people told me i wasn't going to do anything. and i just decided i have more to offer than that. i put myself through nursing school, and then i decided to go get a doctorate degree. university of phoenix gave me the knowledge to make a difference in people's lives. my name is dr. kimberly horton. i manage a network of over a thousand nurses, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu.

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your money and how partisan politics could take some of that money literally right out of your pocket. just as those christmas bills start arriving.

today house republicans refused to sign off on a deal to extend the payroll tax cut that 160 million americans had been getting this year. they rejected compromise legislation that passed the senate with overwhelming support from both parties. then they called for new talks between the house and the senate and then they called it a day. >> we've done our work for the american people. now it's up to the president and democrats in the senate to do their job as well. >> earlier president obama lashed out. >> i saw today that one of the house republicans referred to what they're doing as, quote, high-stakes poker. he's right about the stakes. but this is not poker. this is not a game. >> the stakes, to be clear, are about $1,000 for the average taxpayer. the mipolitical stakes could be significant. we're going to explore the split this issue seems to be opening between moderate and tea party republicans in just a moment. first dana bash is at the

capital, she's been repoca capit capitol. what's the latest you're hearing? >> reporter: this is an honest to goodness stand-up. i've been covering congress for more years than i'd like to count. even in the past year when sa stalemates have been tough, you hear about compromise. i don't hear about that. what makes it interesting is that everybody, sanjay, this is important to underscore, everybody wants a one-year payroll tax extension, the president, senate democrats, house democrats, republicans. the issue has been how to pay for it. it costs about $120 billion. that's why the senate passed a two-month extension to sort of patch that up while they work on the long term. republicans as well. but that is something that house republicans simply say it's not good enough. that's why they're stuck here. >> are they concerned, as far as you can tell, dana, the members of congress, the republicans, in particular, about simply getting blamed if the tax cut expires? >> reporter: you wouldn't know this from the public bra brovad.

particularly republicans, sanjay, in the hallways, there is concern, no question about it. even some of the new members who really want to make a stand on things like this, they're saying that they are concerned. this is something that's different. this is a pocketbook issue. it really, as you mentioned at the top of the show, really the segment really affects people's pocketbooks. people making $50,000 a year, they will see $1,000 sliced out of their paycheck. that really makes a difference. >> especially this time of year. dana bash, thanks so much. great reporting. to that point, there is some news cnn/orc polling that's out today suggesting the tax battle is hurting republicans and helping the president. take a look. by a 50% to 31% margin, people say they have more confidence in mr. obama than in congressional republicans to handle the major issues facing the country. the survey also shows mr. obama's job approval at 49%, which is up 5 points from last month. the disapproval number, 48%, is down 6 points. now, to be clear, they're not exactly stellar numbers going into a re-election campaign, not

by any means. but it is something to ask our political panel about. former george w. bush press secretary ari fleischer, follow him on twitter, and also democratic strategist paul begala. good evening, gentlemen. thanks for joining us. paul, let me start with you. december 20th, five days before christmas, are you surprised at the way this is all playing out, this payroll tax cut debate? >> you know, i think we've seen this coming all year. if you go back to the spring, the republicans were flirting with a government shutdown. they wanted to shut down the government. and then in the summer they flirted with twaudefaulting on national debt. and now in the winter, they apparently want to kill the president's middle-class tax cut to force a tax increase on 160 million middle-class americans. forgive me if i see a pattern here. i think there's pretty good evidence now that the republicans seem to be willing to tank the economy in order to hurt the president politically. and of course, you tank the economy by hurting the middle class. i don't think it's going to

work. i don't think it's good politics or good economics, but i think that's what they're doing. >> ari, i can't imagine you agree with all of that, but before you respond, i want to play a clip of how senator john mccain characterized the fight over the payroll tax extension today on "the situation room with wolf blitzer." take a listen. >> it is harming the republican party. it is harming the view, if it's possible, any more of the american people about congress. >> so do you agree with that assessment, ari? >> i disagree with john mccain and paul begala. look, the senate has turned into a killing ground of all good things in washington, d.c. they haven't passed a budget in two years, and now instead of doing what has always been done, passing tax cuts that last a year, which is the way tax cuts work, they passed something that has never happened before. a two-month tax cut which makes no sense. why? because the senate couldn't figure out how to pass anything more meaningful, so they did what they always do. they rubbed each other's backs, did something meaningless and

called it a day and the senate left town. so now the house has called the senate's bluff. nobody likes to see this type of dispute happening in washington, d.c., but the fact of the matter is, from a pure policy point of view, what the house has passed is far superior to what the senate has done, much more serious, much more sub standive. politically risky, yes. but it is the sounder, better approach of the two approaches. >> isn't it significant to you, though, ari, in the senate, we're talking about a vote, 89-10, both parties, you know, agreeing or at least voting on this particular proposal in the affirmative, 89-10. i mean, isn't that significant in terms of where we should go -- >> no. it's exactly what's wrong with the senate. they couldn't get their act together to pass anything meaningful that lasted a year. so they said we give up, throw our hands in the air. let's get together and pass a bad policy, and they all got together to pass a two-month extension. this is meaningless. we'll be right back two months later into the same fight, the same argument. while the house has actually passed something meaningful. the other thing here, too, is

the senate's walked away from the table. always when there's a disagreement between the house and the senate on how to pass legislation, which is typical, and it happens in every congress, no matter who controls it, they meet in what's called a conference committee to work things out. the senate's refused to meet in a conference committee. and barack obama won't even call the democrats to meet in a conference committee. this is an abdication of duty by the senate so they can stick to something that's i'll rub your back, you rub mine bad policy. >> a lot of people have various sort of opinions on what's going on here and what's driving it. paul begala, i want to play another clip. this is what obama strategist david axelrod told fox news. >> you have to wonder whether some folks over there think somehow screwing up the economy, throwing a wrench in the works, is a good political strategy for them, that somehow if they can slow the recovery down, if they can -- if they can cause a half million or delay half a million or a million jobs, that that will hurt the president. >> i mean, do you think -- do you agree, paul, this is an

intentional republican strategy to try and hurt the president? >> if we look at what they do, i think the answer has to be yes. if you look at what they have said. it's been their stated policy for quite some time. the senate minority leader, the republican leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell, he said, and let me get his exact words, we're at the single most important we want to achieve is for president obama to be a one-term president. when speaker boehner was told that his economic ideas would cause layoffs, he said, and i quote, so be it. a dozen or more prominent republicans wrote a letter to ben bernanke, the chairman of the federal reserve, essentially threatening him if he stimulated the economy. the letter said that they didn't want him to do anything more to stimulate the economy. so -- and i could go on and on. of course, their pope and prophet in buddha, rush limbaugh, began this presidency saying he hoped president obama fails. so forgive me if i look at this

sack tahj th sabotage. >> if you really want to do something foolish, pass a two-month tax cut. it's bad economics, bad planning, bad policy, bad for decision-making. it's economically meaningless. and that's what the senate has decided to get together and do. and that's why house republicans are a much higher substantive ground. they're trying to pass a one-year tax cut for $1,000. what the senate passed is 150 to $175 tax cut. that's nothing. the only thing that stimulates is the senate getting out of town. >> so what happens? you've got 11 days left before the end of the year, paul. how do you think this plays out? >> honestly, i have no idea. >> i don't think i've ever heard you say that. >> i know. because i'm trying to read the minds of people who the only thing i can see is that they're trying to hurt the president, the economy and the middle class. in my lifetime, republicans have never opposed a tax cut, one for five minutes or 50 years. they're opposing this one because president obama put it

into law. by the way, last year tilt they passed what a thought was a terrible deal. i was frustrated with president obama because it cut taxes for rich guys like fleischer for two years but for working people one. why? because republicans wouldn't agree to a two-year tax cut for the middle class because they don't want to stimulate or help the middle class in an election year. why else help the rich for two years and working people just for one? that's the only strategy here is to tank the economy. >> ari, i know you've got -- >> that's what he asked for. he wanted a one-year tax cut. he told us it was a one-time dell, a one-time tax holiday. and he said it would be good for the economy, which obviously it wasn't. now he's changed his language and he said this is all about fairness. that's the other factor of this. >> guys -- >> this tax cut was supposed to come and go and now we'll be into this debate every two months. >> i wish we had more time. obviously, lots of strong opinions on this. we'll stay on top of it at least until the end of the year. hopefully something happens. thank you so much, guys. next on "360," a massive

deadly winter storm is hammering parts of the central jaunited states. we're going to tell you where it's headed next. plus, violence taking more lives on the streets of syria. dozens of protesters reportedly killed today by police and soldiers. and any fan of "csi" has heard of blood spatter, the kind of forensic evidence that always convicts the television criminal, but in real life, it's not always so reliable. >> i'm troubled by the results in this case. i'm troubled that this was the only testimony that resulted in this conviction. >> we'll have the story of one man who says that science sent him to prison for a crime he didn't commit. we'll explain when "360" continues. [ child ] it's so cool!

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a deadly blast of winter weather is pummeling the southern rockies and central plains tonight. the storm is already being blamed for six deaths as it stretches from southeast colorado to northern texas. ten-foot-high snow drifts, winds of up to 50 miles an hour and frigid temperatures. got any holiday travel in the area? that's pretty much at a standstill. cnn meteorologist karen mcinnis joins us with the latest. karen, it seems like a huge storm. you saw the images, blizzard conditions span from colorado to kansas. how is the storm looking now? >> this was a very fast-moving system, and it has raced all the way from the four corners region and now plowing on into the central mississippi river valley. it's taking with it a lot of that moisture. and it's getting modified quite a bit. we're starting to see some of the thunderstorms erupt across the leading edge of this system. this is called the warm sector. on the northern edge of this, that's where we've seen the snow fall.

but it really has moderated quite a bit. you're taking a look at some of the pictures, images coming out of kansas right around hayes, kansas, along interstate 70 going into and out of colorado along interstate 25 as well. and through wyoming, very difficult travel here where we did see some blizzard conditions. in some instances, winds were gusting as high as 80 miles an hour. visibility was poorly reduced to in some cases near zero. now, i know for the holiday shoppers and the travelers, isn't just being on the interstate, it's folks who are trying to get to these airports. some of them are smaller airports like the yellowstone cody, wyoming, airport. some of the airports in colorado like grand junction and denver. some of these airports could be impacted over the next several days, primarily due to rainfall. >> it's cooling down a little bit or improving i should say a little bit. do you have any idea how long it's expected to last and where the storm might go from here?

>> well, it's holding together, but as i mentioned, as it makes its way further towards the east, it's moderating a bit. so what we've seen lately have been some thunderstorms. and they erupted over louisiana into quincy, louisiana. they had a tornado there. and it was described as an ef-1 which is low on the fujita scale, the enhanced fujita scale. it blew the roof off of this hospital. they did have patients in there. the roof landed on top of the cars. no one was injured. there was quite a bit of damage. the patients that were in the hospital, they were moved to another facility. >> i can't imagine being in the hospital when the roof literally blows off. glad to hear no one was injured. thanks so much for keeping on top of that. there's a lot more happening tonight as well. a "360 bulletin." >> sanjay, another bloody day on the streets of syria. government opposition groups seeing dozens of protesters shot to death by syrian troops and police. the same groups called monday

the deadliest day of the recent anti-government protests who are between 100 and 110 people killed. kim jong-il's body went on display today in the capital city of pyongyang. among the mourners, kim's son and chosen successor, kim jong-un. both the u.s. and south korea sent messages of condolence to the people of north korea. cnn host piers morgan testified today in a british inquiry into phone hacking by tabloid journalists. morgan appeared via video link and denied ordering phone hacking when he was editor of rupert murdoch's "news of the world" or "the daily mirror." news of the world was shut down after it was discovered the paper hacked into the voice mails of a murdered teen. and sanjay, nasa scientists are celebrating the discovery of two new planets. the planets marked the first discovery of planets close to earth in terms of size. sanjay, i hate to break it to you, don't plan any trips. scientists say the planets are too close to the sun and too hot for human habitation.

>> i heard about 800 degrees on these planets, but it's the first time we've found planets that are so close in size to earth. absolutely fascinating stuff. stick arched with ound. coming up, a fascinating story about a new story in forensic science. there's a man in texas convicted of killing his wife. the testimony that put him in prison was about blood spatter at the scene. just how reliable is that sort of evidence? we're going to take a close look at the case and also why some people are suspecting junk science could have put an innocent man behind bars. also, 12 charged with federal crimes in ohio related to a string of attacks on amish people in which their beards and hair were forcibly cut off. we've got the latest coming up. ? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less.

in "crime & punishment," junk science. if you've ever seen "csi" or a host of other detective shows, you might know a little about blood spatter. the science behind a pattern that blood makes during a shooting or stabbing is incredibly interesting. the question is how reliable is it? there's a new report by the national academy of sciences back in 2009 says had it comes to blood spatter analysis, too much is left open for interpretation. and that while it's a valid investigative tool, it shouldn't be the only thing that determines what happened at a crime scene. but in the case that we're looking at tonight, it was exactly what convinced a jury to find a man guilty of murder. a man who insists he's innocent. gary tuchman has the story. >> reporter: warren hornack is in a texas prison, locked up since 1996 after being convicted of murdering his wife, bonnie,

by putting a .38 special to her chest and firing. did you shoot your wife? >> absolutely not, no. >> reporter: instead, a former cop claims that fewer than 30 minutes after he and his wife returned to the ft. worth home after a night where they both got drunk at a bar, she committed suicide. why would your wife shoot herself? >> i don't know. i didn't see it coming. >> reporter: total surprise to you? >> it was a total surprise. >> reporter: prisons are full of people who believe they're innocent including warren hornick. but what's much different about his situation is that the prosecutor who was assigned a deal with this case also thinks warren hornick is innocent. so the prosecutor refused to prosecute. and the case only went to trial because texas law allows private attorneys to pursue prosecutions. and bonnie hornick's parents wanted it pursued. one of the ft. worth crime scene investigators on the scene that night also believes the case should not have been prosecuted. >> there's no question in my mind, bonnie took her own life

that night. >> reporter: and then there is this man who is the technical administrative director of the county medical examiner's office. based on the evidence that was heard in this trial, are you comfortable saying that mr. hornick is quiguilty of murder? >> i'm not, no. >> reporter: criticism is aimed at this man, the star witness in the trial, tom bevel, an expert in blad spattood spatter eviden. >> i offered my opinion truthfully and honestly. >> reporter: he was paid by attorneys appointed by a judge to prosecute the case. he analyzed the bloody t-shirt worn by warren that night and in a report declared the blood spatter to the left side of the t-shirt is from back spatter caused by the discharge of the weapon. during an appellate hearing after the trial, the foreman of the jury said bevel's testimony is what convinced the jury hornick was in the room at the time of the shooting when hornick denied. >> he's got blood on his t-shirt and his knees where he's been dealing in blood. >> reporter: his critics say he

made a mistake. >> the same pattern of the blood was caused by mr. hornick administering cpr to his dying wife. >> having listened to the 911 tape, everything that i see, particularly on his shirt and on his person, is entirely consistent with his performing cpr on her. >> reporter: this is warren hornick talking on that 911 tape. >> are you there? >> what's problem, sir? >> my wife just shot herself. get over here now. >> we're on our way, sir. >> reporter: the dispatcher tells hornick to begin cpr. his wife who was a ft. worth attorney could be heard moaning. she was still alive. horinek does have a shady past. he admits firing a gun while his wife was sleeping and admits he had a serious drinking problem. is there a chance that maybe you shot her and you just don't remember it? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: how do you know? >> i wasn't that incapacitated. >> reporter: this forensic

scientist at syracuse university also believes him. >> if the blood spatter didn't occur from the gunshots, then it would follow that he didn't shoot her. >> reporter: anita conducted a test similar to what she's doing for us right now. she's one of several experts who reviewed the case after former crime scene investigator varnen brought it to their attention. this is a big heart. this is human blood. in addition to that pig heart and blood, a deer sternum was added. so was latex material to simulate a woman's body. and clothing similar to what bonnie horinek had on that night. the idea, to see what happens to the white t-shirt of this firearms expert when he fires a .38 special into the same spot on the chest where bonnie was shot. >> we don't have any actual blood spatter. we have some of the tissue that was on top of the deer sternum. which is more than we even got during the first -- >> reporter: is that blood spatter?

>> let me take a look at your shirt. no, these are all pieces of tissue. >> reporter: anita believes the blood came from the cpr. >> i'm troubled that this was the only testimony that resulted in this conviction. >> reporter: in a 2009 report about forensic evidence, the national academy of sciences said, "uncertainties associated with bloodstain pattern analysis are enormous." still, tom bevel is undeterred. is it possible that all of that blood spatter came from performing cpr through breathing? >> again, the best explanation, in my opinion, is that it came from back spatter. could any of that, a speck or two, possibly be from something like cpr? >> reporter: my question for you, sir, is could all of it have been from the cpr? >> in my opinion, no, sir.

>> reporter: tom bevel remains a sought-after blood spatter expert in trials, for prosecutors and for defense attorneys. warren horinek still has 15 years left in his sentence. if tom bevel was in this room with you, what would you say to him? >> why do not you correct your mistakes? >> reporter: despite that opinion and the support he's gotten, warren horinek's efforts to be paroled or to get a new trial have failed. gary tuchman, cnn, ft. worth, texas. >> it's just a fascinating story with lots of questions still. earlier i spoke about this case with cnn senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin and also a forensic scientist, larry kobilinsky, who is a professor at jon jay college of criminal justice. dr. kobilinsky, let me start with this. you know, this whole series was borne from this 2009 national academy of science report that essentially called for a complete overhaul of forensic science practices. i'm sure you saw the report. i wondered what you made of it. essentially seemed to conclude

that forensic science had a junk science quality about it. >> well, sanjay, the fact is is we're living in an era of dna technology. and that is considered the gold standard for forensic evidence. and what's happened is that people are now comparing all of the other kinds of science within forensics to dna. and it just doesn't live up to that same standard. the purpose of this report is to generate more funding to do more research, to make sure that any kind of evidence that gets to the court is reliable evidence. >> yeah. and it seems like dna has certainly raised the bar. jeff, you heard this story, i'm sure, with mr. warren horinek. given the discrepancies with blood spatter analysis, as a starting point, should blood spatter evidence ever be relied on solely to determine guilt or innocence? >> if it's the only evidence, i can't think of a good reason. i mean, as dr. k. said, dna really showed what science can do in a courtroom. but in the process, it showed

how bad so many of the other so-called scientific tests are. dna can tell you, within a percentage certainty, that there is a match between the test sample and the scene -- the test at a crime scene. none of these other technologies have that kind of validation studies behind it. and without those validation studies, you have an enormous possibility of misleading jurors about how good this science is. because mostly it's not very good. >> i mean, dr. k., if i may call you that as well as jeff did, so they thought the blood spatter could have been from a gunshot wound or from cpr. i mean, that sounds like a pretty inexact sort of thing. is it an exact science to look at blood spatter? both the former crime scene investigator, dr. k., and the m.e. director disagreed with the blood spatter findings, yet horinek was in prison for 30 years.

>> oddly enough, blood spatter analysis is based on the laws of fids fidices. we're looking at the size of the droplets and the symmetry of these droplets and then trying to develop an understanding of how these droplets got on the surface to which they were observed. and so the question is not whether the evidence is lying. physical evidence doesn't lie. it's a matter of the interpretation. has the analyst interpreted properly? i think gunshot residue, for example, leaves a very fine mist, very tiny particles that don't travel very far, whereas in cpr, of course, because blood is being pushed out of a small space, it does form a mist as well. so you can be very easily fooled by the pattern. and so the testimony has to be very conservative in what it says. in that case, i would say that blood spatter evidence is fine. >> and jeff, i think as you

alluded to it, you'd like to have all kinds of evidence, but in the absence of that other evidence from a legal standpoint, can we still rely on this type of blood spatter analysis? >> boy, i'm awfully skeptical. i mean, i don't know if i want to make a categorical statement that you can never rely on it, but jurors have all watched "csi." people in this business, in the criminal justice business, talk about the csi effect. and they say, you know, jurors want to see these scientific tests. and it's good because science is often reliable. but the problem is, after watching "csi," they think it's all as good as dna. and it's not all as good as dna. >> i've got to ask you, dr. kobilinsky, "csi," you could add "dexter" and "bones" to the list as well. what do you think of those shows as a forensic scientists? what do you think it does to the whole system? >> well, it's been terrific for us as universities and colleges because there's a lot of interest on the part of students in our programs. on the other hand, if you're talking about jurors that have

watched these kinds of programs, they certainly have high expectations and hold the prosecutors to those high standards. a prosecutor that goes in without an unless of physical evidence is going to lose his case. >> dr. lawrence kobilinsky, thanks so much, jeff toobin, you as well. thank you. and up next, a "360 follow." new charges in that string of amish beard attacks. samuel mullet and 11 others of his breakaway sect including two women are now indicted in a somewhat bizarre crime spree. fish. fantastic. ♪ this holiday, chevy's giving more. now qualified buyers can get 0% apr for 72 months on a 2011 chevy silverado. or 0% apr financing for 60 months plus no monthly payments until spring. ♪ gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash.

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zachary tomaselli has pleaded guilty to charges he sexually abused a teenage boy. tomaselli faces up to three years and three months in a maine prison. the dow gained 337 points. the s&p rose 36. and the nasdaq added 80 points. and a woman in florida helped a girl reunite with her dog. khsb reports the dog was picked up as a stray in tampa after a visit with relatives. a microchip helped animal services identify the dog and a good samaritan used her sky miles to escort the dog back to kansas city, missouri, and to her 14-year-old owner, abby. sanjay? >> thanks. coming up, our top ten ridiculous countdown of 2011 continues. tonight, number nine. it's about a cat that looks awfully familiar. that's next. sovereign of the se. you never take an upgrade for granted.

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counting down the top ten

"ridiculists" of 2011 based on your votes, today, number nine, a cat that looks a lot like someone we know. >> time now for "the ridiculist." tonight we're adding this cat who apparently thinks he looks like me. we saw this -- it does sort of look like me. we saw this on a blog called "totallylookslike.com." and yes, consider yourself on notice. back with you, cat with a lot of nerve. i don't know who you are or where you're from or where you were here-to-foreunaware of my steely blue eyes. yes, i once peed on a floor but who hasn't in wolf blitzer's "situation room." with the ramp-up of my upcoming daytime talk show. go to andersoncooper.com. with your aloof facial expression and white hair, nice try. we're nothing alike. just ask my staff. they'll tell you i'm not at all aloof on the days that i allow

them to make eye contact. and by the way, cat, don't think that i don't know that there's a whole group of you wannabes out there. the "new york daily news." i'm on to your scam. i spotted this alpaca who like rihanna knows there's sex in the air but doesn't care, she likes the smell of it. looks like it might be a freak in the barn. then there's that horse. you know who i mean. the one who looks like donald trump and gary busey. you might be interested to know that mr. busey was nominated for an academy award in the late '70s and more recently on a reality show with star jones and that naked guy from "survivor." here's "modern family's" eric stonestreet. frankly, i think they should be doing those depressing aspca commercials. watch out, sarah mclachlan. but idy gress. the reason i'm on to your scam, i've seen it here on cnn.

perhaps the most famous animal/celebrity combination -- sorry, let's see that again. that makes me giggle every time. those famous animal celebrity combination of them all, larry king and this monkey. curious george, you're on with bill maher. what's your question? the monkey for the hour. a more uncanny resemblance i have not seen. i don't know who's who, left or right. i don't know. speaking of 9:00 p.m. hosts on cnn, there's piers morgan who resembles, well, never mind. you know, cat, i don't know what you say. if i haven't gone -- i don't know what to say. if i haven't gotten through to you now, all i can say is watch your step. you and your posse don't want to anger me and you sure don't want to anger wilford