Return to Transcripts main page
Erin Burnett Outfront
Sexual Harassment Accusations; Market Nosedives; Corzine's Firm Fails; Immigration Status
Aired November 01, 2011 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, HOST: Thanks, John. We're on the "Front Line" in Warsaw where a flight that originated in New Jersey was forced to make an emergency landing. No landing gear. Captain Sully Sullenberger comes OUTFRONT to talk about it tonight.
And things pretty bleak on Wall Street, 600 points in the past two days to the down side. How much longer will Greece hold the world hostage?
And the "Bottom Line" on Herman Cain, one of the women that accused him of sexual harassment wants to speak out. What does it mean for him? We've got that and tonight, some camel horn (ph).
Let's go OUTFRONT.
I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight markets plunged today and it was pretty grim, 297 points for the Dow. The two-day drop, as I indicated is close to 600, 573 points. It's a big story and we are covering it tonight. But first, we're starting with some breaking developments regarding Herman Cain.
Tonight, a report that one of the women who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment wants to speak out. "The Washington Post" getting everyone's attention after posting a quote from the woman's attorney who told "The Post" quote, "it's very frustrating that Herman Cain is going around bad-mouthing the two complainants and my client is blocked by a confidentiality agreement."
He's asking the Restaurant Association to release his client from that agreement. It has been a gut-wrenching 24 hours for Herman Cain. Allegations that he sexually assaulted two women have his campaign back on its heels. It actually wasn't the allegations or the fact that the women reported -- reportedly got financial settlements, but that he seems to keep changing his story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am unaware of any sort of settlement.
She and her lawyer were demanding a huge financial settlement.
This was 12 years ago. I was falsely accused, and secondly, the word settlement suggested to me some sort of legal settlement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. He said he was, as you could see, unaware of any sort of settlement that she and her lawyer were demanding. He also spoke to Greta van Susteren last night in an interview where he said well he remembered certain parts of what happened, but not the whole story. And he said he never heard of the second claim and called the whole thing a smear campaign.
John Avlon is a senior columnist for "Newsweek", "The Daily Beast", and a contributor for us. Jeffrey Toobin is our legal analyst joining us from Denver and obviously legal is a big part of this story. But John Avlon let me start off with you. What is going on inside the Cain campaign? You've been reporting on it. Is it mayhem right now?
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Chaos behind the scenes. Look on the surface they are trying to put a brave face on this, saying they raised $400,000 in online donations on Monday alone from supporters citing conservative icons like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter to defend themselves. But, look they've set up a seminar in what not to do in terms of a political communications strategy, changing their stories. It's definitely taken a momentum out of their step in terms of gaining new supporters. Big question mark hanging over this campaign and they've shown the cost of being inexperienced when it comes to political combat.
BURNETT: Right. Let me ask you Jeff Toobin and make sure that we're very clear here. The allegations here are of sexual harassment, not assault. But what is the meaning of confidentiality agreement? I mean if you had one, has Herman Cain already violated it by saying the story that he's already related which is, oh, I remember a woman coming into my office and commenting to her that she came up to my neck just the same height as my wife. That's all I said. That's not harassment. I mean just by saying that much, has he already opened up the confidentiality agreement?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, here's where things get complicated and you have to know what's in the confidentiality agreement, which we don't know because they are contracts. And, you know, there are certain standard forms, and I'm familiar with those, but I don't know what this one says. Usually both sides are bound by it. So if Herman Cain, as a representative of the National Restaurant Association breached it, she would have a right to breach it as well.
But chances are he was not a signatory to the agreement. Probably it was just the Restaurant Association. So it's not clear if he could breach it. I mean, these are the questions you can only know if you look at the contract. But it's important to remember the larger context here. In the United States of America, people who want to tell their stories usually wind up telling their stories. This woman obviously wants to go on the record --
BURNETT: Very politely said, Jeff.
TOOBIN: -- and say what happened. BURNETT: Yes.
TOOBIN: You know and she's --
BURNETT: Yes.
TOOBIN: However the confidentiality agreement is worded, I think we're going to be hearing more from her sooner rather than later.
BURNETT: Right and of course, then there was potentially the second woman. We've heard no detail about, whatever that incident may or may not have been or from her. But I also want to ask you this, Jeff, because sometimes these settlements are made. It is my understanding and personal experience from people that I know on both sides of this and various companies sometimes you settle these situations even if the person isn't guilty.
TOOBIN: Absolutely. You know, sometimes corporations, Time Warner where we all work, any big company says, look it would cost us "x" dollars to defend this suit. If we gave her "x" minus $20, we're ahead of the game. Even though we think our employee did nothing wrong. That is certainly a possibility here. Obviously, today we learned the woman in question doesn't think that's what happened. She thinks something much more serious than that happened because that's why she wants to speak out.
BURNETT: Right.
TOOBIN: But the possibility that this was a nuisance settlement and that Herman Cain did nothing wrong, that is clearly a possibility as well. And we need to keep that in mind.
BURNETT: All right, so what does Cain do now, John?
AVLON: His only recourse right now is to try to get out -- ahead of this story at this late, late date by putting out all the information. By asking the Restaurant Association to suspend the NDA (ph), to put the information out, to see if it corroborates --
BURNETT: Oh, so he should say, I want --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: -- let her tell her story?
AVLON: This is not in his control. Again, this is an association issue. But just as the woman is now saying she wants to be released to tell her side of the story, he's got -- his campaign has to get all the information out there otherwise this will hang over every step of his campaign.
BURNETT: And ultimately, Jeff, what is the bottom line here? It is going to be the National Restaurant Association's decision, right?
TOOBIN: It is, but if Herman Cain publicly says tomorrow, as he will certainly be asked tomorrow, I encourage the National Restaurant Association to let this woman speak her peace. I think the Restaurant Association will more or less be assured of doing that. So I think the ball is really in Cain's court.
Now does he want the Restaurant Association to release this woman from her confidentiality agreement? That's the big question to him. But you know however we talk about the technicalities, it's really -- it's going to come out. This stuff always comes out.
BURNETT: Yes.
TOOBIN: And I just think he's going to have to prepare and answer to her substantive comments about what happened here.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much. We'll all look forward to seeing how he handles it and what happened.
Now let's bring in Cheri Jacobus, a Republican strategist and columnist for "The Hill" and Steve McMahon, former adviser to Howard Dean's presidential campaign and a Democratic strategist. Cheri, I wanted to start with you with this.
Mike Huckabee said in an interview with Laura Ingraham that he could almost guarantee that this whole story was planted by a rival campaign. Now that these additional revelations have come out and the woman's attorney is speaking, what do you think?
CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think it's possible that it came out by somebody within the Republican circles. I doubt very much that there's a rival candidate that would be aware of it. I really don't think there's anybody in the field that seems capable of that. But look, there might be some Republicans that are looking out for the party and they would rather have something like this come out now than six months from now or at a time when Herman Cain is on the ticket, so -- but I don't think it really matters where it came from.
At this point, I think Herman Cain needs to get out in front of it. As John said, he needs to put everything out there, give his side. I would not like to see this woman come out front and do the book tour in a very lucrative 15 minutes of fame but I think --
BURNETT: Well --
JACOBUS: -- it would be appropriate for her testimony or whatever she put in those documents 12 years ago to be made public without her name. I think that would be fair and just get past this at this point.
BURNETT: I sure hope she does come out front, maybe on this show. But any kind of lightheartedness aside --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Right -- any kind of lightheartedness aside, what is your perception, John, from talking to the campaigns?
AVLON: Look, the chances that this is all a big liberal media conspiracy are nil. The opposition researchers are -- this is the dark arts in political campaigns and it was almost certainly one if not more campaigns that when Herman Cain started to rise, they started digging dirt to figure out who this guy is and they stumbled upon this. You know so I think let's not be naive about how modern campaigns work. As Huckabee said, this is -- this is -- there are sharp elbows here, the same bean bag.
BURNETT: Steve, who benefits the most?
STEVE MCMAHON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well I mean I think whoever is next in line to be the alternative to Mitt Romney. You can make the case that Rick Perry is the most logical person to benefit because he was at 40 a few weeks ago before some very, very bad debate performances. And he is the sort of conservative that people thought they wanted until these very bad debate performances. He's tried to reset his campaign. He didn't do it perfectly on Friday night when he gave sort of an odd speech.
But he has tried to restart it. He's got the money to be competitive. He's got the record to be competitive. And so he's somebody who obviously would perhaps benefit. Newt Gingrich might benefit. You've seen a little rise in Newt. The conservatives in the Republican Party are -- sort of grew up with Newt. And I think that there's a soft spot for Newt in many of their hearts even though he's not running a very effective campaign. But it's the next anti-Romney who benefits, and I think it's going to happen pretty quickly here.
BURNETT: Right. Cheri, John, Steve, thanks to all three of you and just a note to viewers. Newt Gingrich will be coming OUTFRONT tomorrow and we're going to put these questions to him. He'll be our guest exclusively here on the program tomorrow night.
Still OUTFRONT tonight though, the markets take a nose dive because of Greece. Is there any relief in sight?
And then an emergency landing in Warsaw, truly incredible video whether you fly a lot or not. The hero of the miracle on the Hudson, Captain Sullenberger comes OUTFRONT with his take on 767 landing on its belly, no wheels.
And the strangest race you will ever see. We have all the details in the "Camel Report".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Two hundred-seventy, that is the millions of dollars that Yahoo! is paying to buy Interclick. The company they are hoping will help them, well, do better with ads. Yahoo! investing in advertising, it's a huge business. They have had a lot of problems at that company; $76.6 billion is how many dollars will be spent on interactive marketing in 2016. That is more than double what is being spent this year. And that's just on what you do online.
OK, well, that may be good news for advertisers. But it has been bad news for a lot of people today. It was a terrible day on Wall Street. The markets nosedive affecting the half or more percent of American homes who own stocks. The Dow down nearly 300 points, S&P and Nasdaq down about three percent. Now if you look at the two-day Dow total it's even worse close to 600 points lower in the past 48 hours.
And that's on top of the best October since the early '90s, why? Greece, that is who is to blame. The world economy is held hostage by Greece and Greece is going back and forth and back and forth over a bailout deal and it's done and then it's not done and now they're going to vote on it and it's a disaster. And judging by tomorrow's headlines in Europe it is a disaster. The "Daily Mail", "Greece in Meltdown", "The Guardian", "Germany and France Battle to Save the Euro".
Peter Costa is a New York Stock Exchange floor trader. Peter, you were there today.
PETER COSTA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, EMPIRE EXECUTIONS: Yes.
BURNETT: Never thought you'd be held hostage by --
COSTA: Yes, me, right --
BURNETT: -- Greek prime minister said he's going to have a vote or not have a vote and every half an hour you go through a roller coaster.
COSTA: But you know it's strange, Erin, because you have these people, this country is sinking in quick sand. Two countries, major countries are throwing them life savers, including you know, people are trying to get them out of this hole that they are in and they refuse to take that help. You know, they can't do it on their own. And I think that's where this contagion just, you know, spreads from that point. They can't get out of it. They are being offered a lifeline and they refuse to take it. So you know yesterday they were taking it. This morning they're not taking it. This is a real whipsaw market because of that.
BURNETT: All right. Well Peter Costa, thank you very much. We're going to keep following this with Peter because it is a whipsaw for all of America's portfolios. And another part of the problem for markets tonight is something that happened to a financial institution. The FBI investigating failed financial firm MF Global after the company said it couldn't account for $600 million of its customers' money.
Now MF Global would maybe be a small headline, but for this man. If he's not familiar to you, he may be when I remind you who he was. Jon Corzine, former New York -- New Jersey governor and former Goldman Sachs CEO. And there is Jon Corzine.
Leigh Gallagher is assistant managing editor for "Fortune" magazine. William Cohan is author of "Money & Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World". Jon Corzine, this is a spectacular blemish on a man who ran Goldman Sachs, got out at the right time. Governor, senator --
WILLIAM COHAN, AUTHOR, "MONEY & POWER": Not voluntarily.
BURNETT: Right. Well, that's true.
COHAN: Right.
BURNETT: And so what can you tell us about this fall?
COHAN: It's a spectacular fall from grace. And if he were involved in the disappearance of this money or the using of the customer funds to shore up, you know, MF as it was falling apart, that would be a very, very serious situation. As it is, this was meant to be, Erin, a redemption for Jon Corzine --
BURNETT: Right.
COHAN: -- back on Wall Street. Back with the land of the giants of Wall Street after he got booted out of Goldman Sachs in 1999 and he's been absent from Wall Street all that time. He comes back to MF. This is supposed to be his chance to make a big mark again, and look what happened. It did not happen because he did not learn the lessons of 2008, unfortunately.
BURNETT: And Leigh, Jon Corzine though is still an incredibly wealthy man. I mean I know you've run the numbers, but when he left Goldman Sachs he was worth $400 million and he is still worth a couple hundred million.
LEIGH GALLAGHER, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Yes, he's worth whatever -- less whatever he spent to run for governor a couple of times. But -- and his wealth in MF Global was almost nothing compared to that, even though it was generous.
BURNETT: Right.
GALLAGHER: But this is really significant. In addition to the reasons Bill said, this was if he, in fact, did take this money to cover up the firm's trades, which were risky bets, proprietary trading. He tried to turn MF Global into a proprietary trading firm. If he used clients' money to do that, that -- he may be the one person that ends up being criminally prosecuted out of the whole financial crisis. We haven't seen that yet --
BURNETT: Yes.
GALLAGHER: -- it hasn't been possible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being greedy --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Goes to jail --
GALLAGHER: Well I'm just suggesting. I mean --
BURNETT: Yes, exactly --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one has yet.
COHAN: We're a long way from that because you know --
BURNETT: Right. Well we are --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't know whether he knew --
GALLAGHER: This is supposition. But here's the thing. Up until now, I mean being greedy is not illegal. Going after easy money is not illegal. That's why no one has been successfully prosecuted.
BURNETT: Right.
GALLAGHER: But these allegations that he might have used money to cover trades, that's a big deal even for a small firm as Bill said.
(CROSSTALK)
GALLAGHER: So --
BURNETT: And quickly, Bill, this raises the question more broadly. We've had all this financial reform and now here we go again.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Unbelievable.
COHAN: Well I mean as I said, no -- I mean we have these laws, Dodd/Frank. We have a Volcker rule that's supposed to be implemented. But in fact, no one has apparently learned anything. For Jon Corzine not to have learned the critical lesson of 2008 --
GALLAGHER: But he wasn't there. It's almost like he didn't have a seat at the table in 2008 so now he's reliving it.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Our rules are not yet sufficient it appears.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: All right, well Leigh, Bill, thanks to both of you. We appreciate it.
Well in a letter today, the U.S. Department of Justice asked Alabama school districts to prove they are following the law when it comes to giving children equal access, regardless of immigration. Nick Valencia is following the story for us. Nick, of course this was -- comes on the back of the heels of basically schools being asked to verify whether children were legal or illegal. What information is the DOJ asking the state for?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: That's right, Erin. This is just the latest clash between the federal government and states that have designed laws to step up enforcement against illegal immigration. On Tuesday, Civil Rights Division for the Department of Justice issuing a letter to the state of Alabama school districts asking them to prove that they are not denying access for public education to students that have an immigrant status.
Among the things they are asking for in this letter is a list of students by ethnicity, by racial breakdown. Also they want to know how many students have officially withdrawn from the Alabama school district. And one last thing, Erin, they are asking for is a list of all students that have enrolled or are part of English language training programs -- Erin.
BURNETT: And they're going to -- that's what they are going to give in those numbers tomorrow? That's your expectation? We'll get all of that?
VALENCIA: Well tomorrow there's a list coming out from the Alabama State Department of Education. It's very different from what the DOJ is asking the school districts to comply.
BURNETT: OK.
VALENCIA: I want to make this clear. The letter from the DOJ was sent specifically to the school districts, not to the Department of Education, which is very peculiar. We were on the phone earlier today with the spokesman for the State Department of Education, Michael Sibley (ph). He's saying tomorrow the numbers that are going to come out essentially do comply with what DOJ is asking for without really being asked --
BURNETT: Right.
VALENCIA: What they're saying is that they're going to release numbers, average daily membership numbers. Now these lists may not really give a good look at what the DOJ is asking for. Because as they mentioned the State Department of Education mentions that students of immigrant parents often don't officially withdraw from schools, Erin.
BURNETT: Right.
VALENCIA: They're often just -- they leave without going through that official process. What Michael Sibley with the State Department did say, however is that we've had one rule and one rule only since the beginning of this debate. We will comply with the law. Students of all kinds are welcome in Alabama schools. No matter what their ethnicity, no matter what their ethnicity is.
BURNETT: All right, well Nick thank you very much. All eyes around the country are on this obviously having big implications on employment, especially in the agricultural sector in Alabama too.
Well there's been more legal trouble for Casey Anthony. A woman claims that Anthony defamed her during her trial. We're going to take you there and then that emergency landing in Poland, a flight that originated in Newark.
Captain Sullenberger is here for his take on the latest miracle landing. Look at the video -- you'll see it was. And we're introducing a new segment tonight. You will not want to miss "The Camel Report".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Yes, it is time for "The Camel Report". The Hare (ph) Park Country Club in Australia hosted the Daily Mercury Melbourne Cup today. It's a lot like the Kentucky Derby. Race goers deck out in their best clothes, lots of hats, big bets are placed. But there's a big difference. Instead of horses it is camels.
And unlike the camel races we saw in the United Arab Emirates, jockeys still ride the camels around the track in Australia. But they still go slow because you know camels cannot corner. But trust me nothing rallies the spirits like a good camel race. If you don't believe me, well have a look at this new movie trailer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Men and women (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You must all join as a united nation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Lord has answered the prayer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
(MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down to the wire and it's Seabiscuit the winner!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Still OUTFRONT, the "OutFront 5".
Rising threat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are seeing this water rise and rise and rise. There have been people who had to be rescued.
BURNETT: Powerless.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was 49 in our house. It's freezing.
BURNETT: To the jury.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people rest their case?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The defense rests its case?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BURNETT: All this OUTFRONT in our second half. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: We start the second half of our show with stories we care about where we focus on our own reporting, do the work and find the OUTFRONT 5.
Up first, breaking news: we told you earlier that one of the women who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment wants to speak out, according to "The Washington Post."
CNN has just received a statement from the National Restaurant Association that says, quote, "We have seen media reports saying that Attorney Joel Bennett is publicly making requests on behalf of former National Restaurant Association employee." Doesn't say her name. "Mr. Bennett has not been in contact with the association. If we are contacted by Mr. Bennett, we will respond as appropriate."
Number two, Bank of America officially backing off its plan to charge a $5 monthly fee for debit card use. We've been OUTFRONT on this story since the first week of our show. Calling out the banks for punishing customers for these kinds of fees. They are listening. Bank of America's decision comes after a handful of national banks have abandoned similar fees.
Number three: power slowly coming back to parts of the Northeast hit hard by the weekend's snowstorm. Connecticut Light and Power told OUTFRONT 100,000 customers have gained power in the past 24 hours. But there are still more than 650,000 customers without power, someone in each of the state's 149 towns. In Massachusetts, there are 300,000 outages, 200,000 in New Jersey.
Number four: the number of deaths from painkillers has spiked in recent years according to a Centers for Disease Control report out today. The CNN medical team looked over the report for OUTFRONT.
Fifteen thousand people died from painkillers in 2008, triple the number in 1999. The medical team also found doctors prescribed enough painkillers last year to give every American adult a pill every four hours for a month.
It's been 88 days since the U.S. lost its top credit rating. What are we doing to get it back? Nothing yet. In fact, the supercommittee heard testimony today that failure to find enough savings could trigger another downgrade.
Well, one place the supercommittee wants to cut is farm subsidies. Within 24 hours, the congressional agriculture committees are expected to send the super guys. We hope they are superheroes and do their job. But they are supposed to get $23 billion in proposed cuts to American farms.
Did you know that the USDA forecasts that farms in America will report record profits this year of nearly $104 billion? And that those farms, most of which are big, big businesses, will get $10 billion in direct taxpayer subsidies this year? The subsidies are supposed to keep our food inexpensive. But do they go too far? They are a big part of the reason we are the fourth largest exporter of rice in the world. With Arkansas, California and Louisiana, number one in rice in America. Yes, America -- a rice exporter. Confused?
We spoke to the Farm Bureau today and they told OUTFRONT, quote, "We believe that we got to do something about the deficit problem in this country. We've said all along we're happy to do our fair share, but not more than our fair share. Our fair share would be $8 billion, so this is three times our fair share." They're referring, of course, to the $24 billion we said is going to be proposed tomorrow.
Thomas Kostigen is the author of "The Big Handout." He's OUTFRONT with us tonight.
Thomas, thanks so much for coming on.
You've done a lot of work on this. I just want to ask you the bottom line question. How much is the American farm subsidies that we talked about, the American farm bill, costing taxpayers?
THOMAS KOSTIGEN, AUTHOR, "THE BIG HANDOUT": Well, the farm bill, you know, when you put all the subsidies together, you are talking about $1,500 per household in the United States, because that's about a $20 billion package. But where it gets really interesting is there are so many gnarly, squirrely subsidies that get thrown into this stuff. It's really difficult to nail anybody down on the exact amount that we're subsidizing anything. And that's the big fake in America today.
BURNETT: And so, overall, though, don't we save money? I guess it's supposed to be an issue of, yes, we subsidize them but then we've got, you know, more corn and more cows and -- actually, we have less cows. But the point is that meat becomes cheaper and food becomes cheaper. Is that not true?
KOSTIGEN: Yes, in some cases. In some cases, actually, it causes retaliation by different nations. So we have higher sugar prices, famously. We have higher dairy prices, famously. And some cases, things like peanuts actually increase in price.
So, it depends on the food group, you know? And it also depends on the cost to the farmer and then the cost at the shelf, two different things. And that's what people have to remember.
You know, when we're subsidizing something at the front end, sometimes it doesn't come out the back end the same way. So, we end up paying higher prices.
BURNETT: Interesting point. You've also done the research that when you have a farm policy that is protectionist, whether you like it or not, that's what it is in this country, you end up in a situation where countries that naturally produce rice don't have as many markets because America is producing so much, or countries like Pakistan that produce cotton no longer have that source of income, which can feed all the way through into things like terrorism, correct? KOSTIGEN: Oh, absolutely. And that's one of the most interesting things about this because it has a boomerang effect. We actually pay cotton farmers in Brazil with the American taxpayer dollars because we got nailed on subsidizing our cotton farmers so much and the same thing happens with rice. You know, we subsidize our rice which -- you know, look for rice paddies in the United States, very curious thing, right?
But they call it Miami rice in Haiti, and we shove a lot of American rice down Haitian throats and put a lot of those farmers out of business. So, they were forced to go deeper into poverty. And, you know, President Clinton several years ago actually apologized for that tactic.
So, you know, it happens all over the world. And as you pointed out, whether it's Africa, whether it's in the Middle East or other kind of hot spots for terrorism, you know, when all of a sudden, you are out of a job and you are looking at the big U.S. as the guy who did it to you, you go, wait a minute. Maybe we can do something about that and not a pretty way.
So, you know, there's all sorts of things that happen all around the globe and it ties in from tariffs and protectionist policies like you just pointed out, to actually subsidizing people on the ground here in the United States.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Thomas, thank you very much. We appreciate it.
And, viewers, let us know what you think about this. Whether we need to make a dramatic change to the subsidies and benefits we pay America's big farms.
Well, a Polish airliner left from Newark airport yesterday. And then it was forced to make an emergency landing today as it approached Warsaw, Poland. It is incredible video.
The 220 passengers and 11 crew are safe. But what a ride they had. Just look at this landing. You can see the Boeing 767 skidding on a runway on its belly, 231 people on board. Lot Polish Airlines operates the plane.
The company says the landing gear got stuck after a hydraulic systems failure. That led to what many are calling a heroic landing.
A man who knows a thing or two about airplanes and heroic landings, miracle landings would be Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and we're lucky enough to have him tonight.
Sir, thank you so much for coming on. I am just -- I can't watch that video enough. It is so amazing. You saw it.
I mean, what do you think actually happened in that cockpit? Was that a close call?
CAPTAIN CHESLEY "SULLY" SULLENBERGER, CBS NEWS AVIATION AND SAFETY EXPERT: Well, hi, Erin. Great to be with you.
I wouldn't call it a close call. It's certainly unusual. That may be the first time that all three landing gear have failed to deploy on a 767 in its 30-year history in service. But, you know, it's important to have not only flying skills but the skills necessary to analyze the situation, to develop a plan and then to lead the crew in the execution of that plan. And that's what led to this good outcome.
BURNETT: And how did they actually manage this landing? I mean, was that that they would soak the runway down or how in practicality does the pilot realize there's a problem with enough time in advance to actually prepare a runway?
SULLENBERGER: Well, I think they knew about this problem for some time. And they had, I think, over an hour and a half to prepare both on the ground and in the cabin for this emergency landing. So, the flight attendants had time to review the location and operation of the emergency exits with the passengers, to inform them what the brace position was and those kinds of things.
And, of course, the pilots would have been talking to air traffic controllers who were relaying this to airport authorities and getting the rescue equipment out there.
BURNETT: And is this something pilots train for and are prepared to have a situation where this happens? I mean, I know theoretically it could happen. But as you said, it's never happened before for a 767.
SULLENBERGER: I think we've had a partial landing gear failure on a 767 before, and this is something we have procedures for. And we might practice a few of the procedures in the flight simulator. But just as with a water landing in our flight simulators, it's usually not able to replicate a completely gear up landing. You can approach the runway but not actually practice the landing itself.
So, this would have been a first for this crew.
BURNETT: And it's amazing. I mean, just because -- as we're showing now an angle from behind the plane and then we had earlier had shown one from the side. I mean, clearly, you know, they were ready. They were filming this. This isn't necessarily -- this isn't amateur video. They were prepared.
Was this anything here, though, that brought back memories for you and your miraculous landing in the Hudson?
SULLENBERGER: Oh, of course. I think these things always remind me of that day. I'll never forget it. I was very grateful this also was a great outcome.
And this required great piloting skill, too, because you have to remember, this is not like a normal landing. Without the landing gear underneath you as you approach the runway to land, your eyes in the cockpit will be much lower, much closer to the runway. It's going to be a different picture looking out the window. And you have to account for that.
And also without the ability to have the nose landing gear extended and be able to steer the airplane by steering the nose gear, the pilot's only ability to directionally control the airplane on the runway was with the rudder. As you slowed down, that rudder would become less effective. So, it was as very important to touch down at exactly on the center line and then maintain that alignment throughout the landing so you wouldn't go off the side.
BURNETT: Truly amazing. All right. Well, thank you so much. Certainly, the one person we'd want to talk to with an event like this. Thanks again, captain.
SULLENBERGER: You're very welcome. Good to be with you.
BURNETT: In tonight's "Outer Circle," the world's leaders meeting, but there's a problem.
And then, the latest details from the Michael Jackson death trial. Conrad Murray, he was deciding today whether he would testify. His decision.
And Casey Anthony facing another legal problem. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: We do this at the same time every night. Our "Outer Circle" where we reach out to our sources around the world.
First to Nice, that's where we find our Dan Rivers. He's not there on a lovely French vacation, he's there out of the G-20 summit, where the most powerful world leaders are trying to solve the financial crisis.
Dan, what is the mood on the streets of Nice?
DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erin, it is freaking noisy. (INAUDIBLE) through the streets of Nice. There is a real undercurrent of anger at what they perceive as cuts to public services to help bail out the banks and the bankers -- Erin.
BURNETT: And thank you very much.
Next to Istanbul where Ivan Watson is monitoring talks between Afghan and Pakistani leaders. It's all being brokered by Turkish officials.
Ivan, the focus today on security. What did the president of Afghanistan and the top Pakistani general do?
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erin, Afghan President Hamid Karzai credited these talks with saving relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan which he said had all but collapsed after last September's murder of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani in Kabul. Now, both countries have agreed to share intelligence on the investigation into the murder. But Turkish diplomats here say it was also very important that the top Pakistani military commander was present at these talks. He, General Kayani, is seen by many to be the real power behind the Pakistani presidential throne.
Back to you, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much.
And now to Missouri where the parents of baby Lisa have hired another local attorney to represent them. They, of course, also have an attorney in New York.
Jim Spellman is in Kansas City following the story for us.
And, Jim, what were police up to today?
JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erin, Kansas City police today went to the home where the parents of baby Lisa had been staying the last few weeks and they brought in the brother of Deborah Bradley for an interview that police say lasted about two hours. They won't comment on what they asked or what the interview was about. Just that this is an active and ongoing situation.
New on the scene here in the Kansas City is Attorney John Picerno. He replaces Cyndy Short who left the case last week. No idea whether this will signal a new strategy for the family members. They've refused to speak to police for over three weeks now -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much.
After 22 days of testimony and 49 witnesses, the case against Dr. Conrad Murray has finally come to a close. The defense rested its case after Murray stood before the court and told the judge he wouldn't testify on his own behalf.
The state finished with one rebuttal witness and outside the courthouse, Michael Jackson's sister La Toya said she was disappointed Murray didn't take the stand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LA TOYA JACKSON, SISTER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: I wanted him to talk. I really did. I wanted him to testify.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Ted Rowlands has been following the case from the beginning. He's OUTFRONT tonight with the latest.
So, Ted, I just first want to -- I know you just came from outside the courthouse. La Toya and Katherine Jackson both exiting. What was the scene like?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, now that this trial is coming to an end, things outside are ramping up like they were at the beginning of the trial, a lot of people coming to the courthouse. And when the Jacksons come and go, that's when they get out their bullhorns and really make a ruckus.
So, I suspect once there's word of a verdict, it will be a madhouse in downtown L.A. here.
BURNETT: Oh, my gosh! Yes, I can imagine.
What about this whole issue? I mean, last night, you were saying it may be Conrad Murray would testify, he had to make a decision. He made his decision. Was anyone surprised that he decided not to take the stand?
ROWLANDS: No, not really. I think people were surprised yesterday when he told the judge that he hadn't made his decision. It made everybody collectively think, rethink, and think oh, my goodness. Is he going to change his mind here in the 11th hour?
But this morning, he, after being asked once again by this judge, said, no, I'm not going to take the stand in my own defense.
BURNETT: All right. So, now, everybody has concluded their case. What's your overall sense after watching and watching the jurors of how quickly I guess, would be the best way of saying it -- how quickly we're going to get a decision?
ROWLANDS: Well, you know, it really depends on the jury makeup. Who's the foreperson going to be if they take a vote right away and they all agree -- we're going to see, obviously, a very short deliberation because keep in mind, there's only one count here. A lot of times jurors have to decide, you know, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 counts which automatically takes time. There's only one count here.
So, the odds of a quick verdict very real here. Of course, with any jury, if somebody doesn't agree with the others, this could stretch out.
BURNETT: And what about Conrad Murray himself? I know from your reporting and talking to you it's possible even if convicted, that he may not actually end up serving any jail time for this.
What would be his next -- his next steps? I guess in both cases, whether guilty or if innocent? Has he talked about his plans?
ROWLANDS: If he's found guilty, he'll do some jail time. He may not have to go to state prison. He may be able to do his jail time in county jails.
It will be -- the maximum is four years here. So, he's probably looking at about two, 2 1/2 years in California. If he's found guilty, he'll lose his medical license. If he's found not guilty, well, he still has a lot ahead of him. He's got civil suits. And then he'll get a medical review board in all of the three states he practices -- California, Nevada and Texas.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much, Ted. Talk to you tomorrow.
Well, she has the try to remain silent, and that is exactly what Casey Anthony did for a total of 60 times during a deposition in a civil suit against her today. Now, Anthony, you probably are well- familiar, was acquitted of murder in July. But she is now being sued by a woman who claims Anthony defamed her. Anthony told police a nanny named Zenaida Gonzalez took her daughter Caylee in July 2008.
Investigators found a woman with that name but she claims she never met Casey Anthony or her daughter. She said as a result of what Casey Anthony said, Gonzalez lost her home, her home and received death threats.
Ryan Smith is an attorney and host of "In Session," on TruTV. He's OUTFRONT tonight.
Ryan, Casey Anthony acknowledged she was being sued but -- I mean 60 times she didn't say much else.
RYAN SMITH, HOST "IN SESSION" ON TRUTV: Nope. She didn't have much to say. She mentioned she hadn't spoken to her brother in six months and her parents in over a year. But the key was keep pleading the Fifth.
And when you look at this, in a sense, she doesn't have to offer anything in this case. Even though they wanted to know a lot about Caylee, her family life, any particulars, she kept pleading the Fifth throughout and didn't offer any information. Her lawyer is concerned that anything she says might incriminate her.
And even though she's been tried on murder, child abuse and lying to police charges, doesn't seem like there's a whole lot Florida can do about her going forward. But still, he wants to avoid anything else coming from this.
BURNETT: So, can she be forced to answer any of these questions, like whether she ever met this woman, whether she ever had a nanny with the same -- any questions at all? Never mind ones about when's the last time you saw your daughter.
SMITH: I don't think so. I don't think -- maybe she can be questioned at trial and the question was what will she say there? But if she reaches a trial, one of the big problems they have here is that they can't prove that this was the Zenaida Gonzalez that she was talking about. It could have been anyone, in the sense what the defense is going to say. So, unless she decides to take the stand and talk a little bit about that, she could very well not say anything about this or anything that happened to Caylee.
BURNETT: All right. Ryan, thank you.
SMITH: Sure thing.
And now, let's check in with Anderson Cooper.
Anderson, what's coming up on "A.C. 360"? ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "A.C. 360": Erin, we're keeping them honest tonight on the program. We're going to continue to unravel the allegations of sexual harassment against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. Tonight, Cain is saying he is the victim of a smear campaign but does he have the facts to back that up?
Also, late word one of the accusers reportedly wants to tell her side the story despite a confidentially agreement. Can she talk legally? That's the question. We'll ask CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Keeping them honest.
Also ahead, a "360" follow on what we are calling "ungodly discipline." -- kids being punished, sometimes being beaten, sometimes even dying all their parents believe in the name of God.
This is a 7-year-old Lydia Schatz beaten to death by her parents. This is 13-year-old Hannah Williams left outside. She died of hypothermia.
A so-called how-to book how to train up a child was found at both crime scenes. The authors say they cannot be held responsible for the death. Dr. Drew Pinsky and parenting author, Po Bronson, weigh on the controversial teachings.
Those stories and tonight's "Ridiculist" at the top of the hour -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Anderson, looking forward to it, as always, sir.
All right. What does the average American family spend $2,000 on a year? We're going to tell you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: The economy is still in bad shape. So it may shock you to hear that Americans are giving and generously.
In 2009, Americans gave an average $2,000 per household to charity, for a total of $300 billion. But that is honestly just the tip of the iceberg.
Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen is the author of "Giving 2.0: Transforming Your Giving and Our World." She joins us now.
Laura, what accounts for the incredible generosity, even during the worst slowdown, the great recession since the Great Depression?
LAURA ARRILLAGA-ANDREESSEN, AUTHOR, "GIVING 2.0": So, Americans have the opportunity to express their personal beliefs and values through their giving. Last year, over 63 million Americans volunteered their time, for example. And that totals an excess of 8 billion hours.
BURNETT: Which is -- wow -- which is nearly $200 billion on top of the $300 billion. That's half a trillion dollars, which is incredibly generous.
And where does that lot of that come from? Does that come from individuals or is that coming from the big corporations that give to the United Way and things like that?
ARRILLAGA-ANDREESSEN: Over 80 percent of giving, Erin, comes from individuals. It is actually ordinary people with extraordinary generosity that drive American giving. And importantly, in "Giving 2.0," I redefine what a philanthropist is. A philanthropist is anyone who gives anything -- time, money, expertise, networks or dollars in any amount.
BURNETT: OK. So in your book you talk about some of the more creative ways in the modern day, "Giving 2.0" -- giving in small amounts has become different because of technology. How?
ARRILLAGA-ANDREESSEN: Yes. So, "Giving 2.0" is about making your giving matter more, and using technology is an incredible force to democratize philanthropy. It gives individual givers the opportunity to be not just charitable but rather strategic. Not reactive but proactive because we have access to information, to giving opportunities, and we're able to self-identify by the organizations and issues that we care about most through our social networks.
BURNETT: So, the bottom line is, you can give through time and you can use technology to target it better, something you care about to find the right way, the right place to give, in a way you couldn't before?
ARRILLAGA-ANDREESSEN: Yes. Absolutely -- to move your giving from reactive to proactive, from sympathetic to strategic, from giving 1.0 to giving 2.0.
BURNETT: All right. Which matters whether you're giving $10 or $100 million. You want to know the return on your donation.
ARRILLAGA-ANDREESSEN: Yes. Every gift is equally important and making your giving more meaningful both to the people and organizations you aspire to help and to yourself is ultimately the beautiful ripple effect that drives philanthropy.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you so much, Laura. We appreciate it.
ARRILLAGA-ANDREESSEN: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Pretty amazing how generous Americans still are despite the financial crisis.
Well, we go a big day tomorrow and we are really excited about it. We are going to have on GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich as we continue to interview all the candidates. Now, we're going to talk to Newt Gingrich about -- well, Herman Cain, what he really thinks happens. As you heard earlier, a lot of people thought he's going to be the guy to benefit that most from what's happening to Herman Cain. We're going to talk to him about that.
Plus, the two men in charge of writing a letter to Congress, the two congresswoman, Democrat and Republican -- they say they need to go big on the super committee. You know how we feel about that. They're our guests exclusively tomorrow.
Anderson Cooper starts now.
