Case

Eight years ago, a Manhattan judge ruled convicted pedophile Jose Ramos was responsible for the death of Etan Patz after investigators built up a tremendous amount of circumstantial evidence. Now, Tony Guida reports how Pedro Hernandez's confession to murdering Etan Patz has turned the case upside down.

Maryland governor makes his case for how the Obama administration has better served the American economy than a Republican leadership would.

Sam Morison, former staff attorney at the US Pardon Attorney s office, joins Melissa Harris-Perry to talk about Clarence Aaron who is serving three life sentences for a first-time drug offense, and whose clemency request was allegedly mishandled.

Two children who were allegedly abducted by their father in 2008 have been found in Mexico this week.Dominic and Abby Maryk, 7 and 6 years old when they went missing from their mother in Winnipeg, Canada, were found safe in Guadalajara after someone watching their story on Mexican TV recognized them, according to CTV News.'He saw them and said, 'Wow! I know those kids. They are my neighbors.' He reported them to the army, and no one would listen to him,' private investigator Wilhelm von Mayer told the station.But Mayer, who worked with the Find Foundation in Louisiana, did listen and followed up on the tip.The two children were reportedly held 'under lock and key' by their father, Kevin Maryk, since their August 2008 disappearance, Mayer said.Canadian authorities issued an arrested warrant in 2008 for Kevin Maryk and two other men, CBC News reported. Kevin Maryk is accused of abduction.Police in Canada wouldn't confirm the details, but told news stations that there were 'significant developments' in the case last week.The Maryk children are reportedly on their way home to their custodial mother, Emily Cablek.

Maryland governor makes his case for how the Obama administration has better served the American economy than a Republican leadership would.

NEW YORK -- Poll after poll shows public support for same-sex marriage steadily increasing, to the point where it's now a majority viewpoint. Yet in all 32 states where gay marriage has been on the ballot, voters have rejected it.It's possible the streak could end in November, when Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington state are likely to have closely contested gay marriage measures on their ballots.For now, however, there remains a gap between the national polling results and the way states have voted. It's a paradox with multiple explanations, from political geography to the likelihood that some conflicted voters tell pollsters one thing and then vote differently.'It's not that people are lying. It's an intensely emotional issue,' said Amy Simon, a pollster based in Oakland, Calif. 'People can report to you how they feel at the moment they're answering the polls, but they can change their mind.'California experienced that phenomenon in November 2008, when voters, by a 52-48 margin, approved a ban on same-sex marriage in the state constitution. A statewide Field Poll that September indicated Proposition 8 would lose decisively; an updated poll a week before the vote still showed it trailing by 5 percentage points.California is an unusual case. It's one of a few reliably Democratic states that have had a statewide vote rebuffing same-sex marriage. The vast majority of the referendums have been in more conservative states, which have a greater predilection for using ballot measures to set social policy. The 32 states that have rejected gay marriage at the polls make up just over 60 percent of the U.S. population.Voters in liberal states such as Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, where gay marriage was legalized by judges or legislators, might vote to affirm those decisions but haven't had the opportunity.Most of the states that voted against gay marriage did so between 2004 and 2008. Since

Maryland governor makes his case for how the Obama administration has better served the American economy than a Republican leadership would.

New Yorkers left flowers and candles outside the building where six-year-old Etan Patz is said to have been killed 33 years ago. The man who confessed to that crime now stands accused of second-degree murder. But as John Miller reports, whether his arrest solves the mystery remains to be seen.

Oct. 13: The severed head of Rolando Flores, the lead Mexican investigator in the alleged Lake Falcon Jet Ski shooting, was delivered to the Mexican military. The wife and mother of alleged victim David Hartley say they are grieving again after the gruesome development.

Oct. 18: The penalty phase begins in the Connecticut triple-murder trial, where a man convicted of killing a mother and her two daughters during a 2007 home invasion, is attempting to avoid the death penalty. NBC's Jeff Rossen reports.

Oct. 15: Diena Thompson, the mother of kidnapped and murdered 7-year-old Somer Thompson, fights back tears to tell TODAY s Matt Lauer that she will be in court every day to be there for her daughter in the death-penalty case against accused killer Jarred Mitchell Harrell.

St. Francis of Assisi was an extraordinarily complex and difficult figure whose effect on his contemporary society was electrifying. Even today, many people are moved by his visionary message of universal toleration. Twelfth-century Italy had an exceptionally grim and regimented society, but the barefoot monk from Assisi undoubtedly had the courage that comes from deep faith and was able to transcend the oppressiveness of the time. In this Italian/British-produced film, director Franco Zeffirelli attempts to bring his vision of this great man to the screen. The contemporary (1970s) example of the hippie movement contributed a great deal to the style in which the story is told. The musical score, using ancient Italian melodies, was arranged by Donovan. The film is visually beautiful in a way which tends to minimize the squalor of the times. As the movie begins, Francis (Graham Faulkner) is the son of wealthy merchants, and enjoys his share of wine, women and song without serious thought. When war and disease devastate his neighborhood, Francis undergoes an anguished transformation which culminates in his appearing before the local bishop and removing his clothes to renounce his previous life and family before dedicating himself to God. The culminating dramatic moment is Francis' appearance before Pope Innocent III (Sir Alec Guinness), to make his case for an independent religious order under new rules.