Italian Forensics Team Searches Suspects' Hotel Room
KINKADE: Welcome back. You're watching CNN and this is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks for joining us. We're going to Italy where the search for clues in the killing of that police officer continues. Police now returning to the hotel in Rome where the two American suspects stayed. Forensic teams are expected to search through their rooms. Melissa Bell has this report from Italy.</s>MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): American teenagers Finnegan Elder and Natale-Hjorth running through the streets of Rome in the early hours of Friday morning, carrying a rucksack they'd allegedly just stolen after a botched drug deal.</s>FRANCESCO GARGANO, CHIEF OF ROME CARABINIERI:  (through translator): We examined the surveillance footage of both Trastevere and the road the fugitives took to the hotel</s>BELL: What happened next has shocked the country. According to Italian authorities, a police officer, Mario Cerciello Rega, tried to stop the pair but was stabbed to death.</s>NUNCIA D'ELIA, PROSECUTOR OF ROME:  (through translator): They were after money and drugs. We have clear evidence indicating that.</s>BELL: Police say the two Americans had arranged to meet the owner of the bag to return it in exchange for money and drugs. They weren't expecting police to turn up instead.</s>GARGANO (through translator): And as soon as they identified themselves as carabinieri, they were unexpectedly and immediately assaulted.</s>BELL: Police say Cerciello was stabbed 11 times. According to court documents, Elder was carrying a 7-inch knife and also confessed to the stabbing. Police say he'd brought the knife with him from the United States.</s>GARGANO (through translator): Some of the stab wounds went straight through the body the length of the blade -- through the stomach, the spine, and the intestines -- so it was impossible to react.</s>BELL: The two teenagers dispute the police account, saying the plain- clothed officers did not identify themselves as Italian police. But the pair have now seemingly turned on each other. Natale claims he was not aware that Elder was carrying a knife. His lawyer issued a statement saying -- EMILIANO SISINI, NATALE HJORTH'S LAWYER (text read) Mr. Natale has clarified his position, which is completely extraneous to the unpredictable conduct of others, which led to the death of a servant of the state.</s>BELL: Under Italian law, the two suspects can be held in custody for up to six months, if not longer, before any charges are filed for a crime that has outraged the country.</s>KINKADE: That was Melissa Bell reporting. Still to come here at CONNECT THE WORLD. A decision just hours away as the U.S. Federal Reserve considers lowering interest rates. What would a cut mean for America's economy? Plus, a toddler in China clings to the edge of a sixth-floor balcony. Onlookers watching nervously below. The heart pounding video you can't miss. That's to come.