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Herman Cain Sexual Harassment Scandal; Occupy Oakland Clash with Police; Oakland Protestors Hit by Car; Sparks Flying at G-20 Summit; Greek Parliament Backs Bailout Vote; Michael Jackson Death Trial; Texas Judge Admits Beating Daughter; Do We Understand What Constitutes Sexual Harassment; Michael Jackson Death Trial; Cain Scandal Grows; Obama Meets With Sarkozy At G-20; CBS Wins 'Wardrobe Malfunction' Appeal
Aired November 03, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A third accuser Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain trying desperately to keep the focus on his campaign this morning as new allegations of sexual harassment surface.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Chaos in Oakland. Police use tear gas on occupy demonstrators after they shut down one of the country's busiest shipping ports.
ROMANS: Crisis mode, President Obama arriving in France for the G-20, but the big story is Greece. It's gamble with the global economy, and how could it cost the membership in the E.U. on this AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It is Thursday, November 3rd. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Ali Velshi is in stormy France. It's bad weather there. We will be talking to him in a few minutes about the G-20 Summit.
ROMANS: Stormy weather and stormy politics. Global politics in France. We'll get to that in a minute, but up first, the scandal dogging Herman Cain's presidential campaign, growing larger this morning.
The Associated Press is reporting there is a third woman who accused Cain of unwanted sexual advances when she worked for the National Restaurant Association.
The report says she considered filing a complaint but didn't. Cain for his part is trying to stay on message. Here he is facing reporters at an event in Northern Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me say one thing. I'm here with these doctors and that's what I'm going to talk about. So don't even bother asking me all these other questions that you all are curious about. OK? Don't even bother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But are you concerned about the fact that these women want to --
CAIN: What did I say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aare you concerned about --
CAIN: Excuse me. Excuse me! What part of "no" don't these people understand?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: This morning his campaign maintains the charges are baseless. He's the victim of a political smear campaign even pointing the finger at Texas Governor Rick Perry.
We begin our coverage this morning with CNN's Joe Johns. Good morning, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. That's what we know. The Cain campaign has blamed the Perry campaign of leaking the story. The Perry campaign has flatly denied it.
And like everything else on the story so far there isn't much proof certainly nothing conclusive. What is interesting here, though, is that while some conservative supporters of Cain originally suggesting the story was a product of some kind of liberal plot to discredit Cain.
This is a clear signal that at least from the view point of the Cain campaign, the leading suspect for the leak of this story is the campaign of another contender for the Republican presidential nomination.
Cain said at a town hall that they had been able to trace the story back to the Perry camp. Mark Block, Cain's chief of staff, was more accusatory than that saying on Fox, that the actions of the Perry campaign are despicable.
Rick Perry and his campaign owe the Herman Cain and his family an apology. The Perry camp fired back saying, nobody at our campaign was involved in this story in any way and any claim contrary is patently false. The first we learned of it was when we read the story in "Politico." So a lot of back and forth and as I said, nothing conclusive.
ROMANS: All right, nothing conclusive. We don't really even know many details, quite frankly, of the allegations because of confidentiality agreements and because now a third seems to be missing according to the AP. What can you tell us about this one?
JOHNS: Well, I mean, what you reported there at the top is just about all you can say about this. And that is that a third woman came forward according to the Associated Press and said she considered filing a complaint. However, it is pretty clear she did not file a complaint. So you put that on top of what we heard about the other two. There really aren't any solid facts on the record and the fact of the matter is this is not a situation where you are going to get some type of a fact finding because it has been so long.
So who knows at the end of the day, this could be just a lot of shooting back and forth. More troublesome perhaps for Herman Cain is that a pollster and a former employee of the National Restaurant Association.
Where all of this business is said to have occurred in the 1990s has said that whatever Cain was allegedly doing was a topic of conversation back in the day and was pretty much assumed that it would end up out in the open. Can we just listen to that?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WILSON, FORMER POLLSTER, NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION: I was actually around a couple of times when this happened. It was only a matter of time because so many people were aware of what took place.
So many people were aware of her situation. The fact she left after this. That it was -- it was -- everybody knew at the campaigns, with every campaign, that this would eventually come up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: So there you go. Chris Wilson's take on the whole matter and we are waiting because we'd love to hear a little bit more information. Some indication that the attorney for one of the accusers is actually in a conversation with the National Restaurant Association to try to release some type of statement.
But it is also clear that this accuser that attorney represents doesn't want to go out public at least now because she just doesn't want to become another sort of Anita Hill-type figure. So a lot of -- if you will -- pieces to the story moving and nothing real clear this morning.
ROMANS: All right, Joe Johns. Thanks, Joe.
COSTELLO: You heard Joe say that the Cain campaign claims Rick Perry's camp is behind the sexual harassment story and the Cain camp is demanding an apology from the Texas governor.
On "AC 360" Cooper asked "Politico's" editor-in-chief if they were tipped off by a rival campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC 360": Was "Politico" tipped off to the story by one of Cain's rivals? Some including Cain himself now seemed to be suggesting.
JOHN HARRIS, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "POLITICO": Jonathon was on message last night, Anderson. I will try to stay on message. I will tell why you I think it is important. This is a sensitive story. We haven't been reporting on innuendo or things we think we know.
So in our public comment we try to stick closely to what is in our published story. That story was edited pretty extensively and we're comfortable with it. So I'm not trying not to go beyond that. I would say the question of motive to me, Anderson, is pretty secondary to the question of facts.
Everybody or anybody rather who speaks to a reporter any time on any subject presumably has some motive for doing so. What's important is not the motive, but the -- but the facts. "Politico's" two main facts in that initial story, one that there have been complaints and two, those complaints have been settled or agreed - agreements reached, to use Mr. Cain's phrase.
Both those things have been validated by Mr. Cain himself as true and accurate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right, coming up at 8:15 Eastern, we're going to talk live with Kurt Andersen, the Perry campaign adviser, who Herman Cain blames for leaking information about these allegations.
COSTELLO: "Politico" says it wasn't him. So it's getting uglier and uglier. As it is in Oakland, California, anger in the streets of Oakland. "Occupy Wall Street" protesters clashing with police overnight.
Police in full riot gear shot tear gas into the crowd. Thousands of protesters shut down the city's shipping port, vandalizing banks and a grocery store, several businesses had to close their doors. Officers are trying to get the crowd to disperse right now.
They say some demonstrators are throwing rocks at them and setting off fireworks. The city is still reeling from last week's violent clash that put an Iraq war veteran in the hospital with a fractured skull.
What you are looking at now is cell phone video from downtown Oakland. A couple of "Occupy Wall Street" protesters hit by a car. Keep your eyes on the Mercedes in the back. See it there?
You can see one of the people banging on the car's hood. Then the car runs smack into them. Police say the man and woman were hurt, but their injuries are not life threatening. The driver was questioned, but was allowed to leave the scene.
ROMANS: OK. In France, the G-20 Summit is under way. Greece has been put on notice accept the euro zone bailout package or get out. Prime Minister George Papandreou rattled a lot of world leaders when he announced the bailout plan would be put to a vote by the Greek people. That could happen within a month and now, French President Nicholas Sarkozy is warning Papandreou that pass this plan or else Greece must exit the E.U.
Our Ali Velshi is covering the G-20. He's in live in Cannes, France this morning. Ali, didn't take long for the sparks to fly. Even this morning now, we hear the Greek minister is calling an emergency meeting with his cabinet.
There's so much uncertainty around all this, every little development and rain, every little development gets so much attention.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Where am I? What is this? Is this Cannes? Is this the south of France? It was a dark and stormy night when the G-20 started. This is probably -- this is kind of indicative of what is going on.
This was supposed to be, you know, relatively stayed meeting. They have these couple of times a year. Christine, you followed them to deal with sort of the global crisis and global growth and things like that.
But yes, it was all sparks. Last night, two-and-half-hour meeting between Sarkozy of France, Angela Merkel of Germany and Papandreou of Greece. Basically, they were telling him number one, if there is -- until the uncertainty is settled not a cent more will go to Greece.
They are supposed to receive much more money that's not going to happen. They also said that while it is technically not a referendum on staying in the euro zone, Christine. If Greece votes against this plan that the Europeans came up with on October 27, it will essentially be a referendum on stating the euro zone.
Papandreou reinforced that last night saying it is very clear that this is a referendum. It almost, Christine, seems as if he was looking for Sarkozy and Merkel to be tough on the Greeks and tell them that if you go the wrong way on this vote, you may end up leaving the euro zone.
Papandreou went back to Greece. He has an emergency cabinet meeting under way right now. Tomorrow morning, there is a confidence vote on his government. He only has a two-seat lead in parliament.
Once he passed that they are looking on a referendum on December 4th, which means between now and then about five weeks. We will have continued uncertainty in the euro zone about whether a deal is going to get done and this crisis is going to be averted -- Christine.
ROMANS: Five weeks or more uncertainty when so many people are hoping the bailout deal would put this all behind them.
VELSHI: You know what is -- you know what is certain, Christine? What is certain is I'm not going to get a chance to use these.
ROMANS: My goodness, Ali in a Speedo in the south of France. We had to go there at 6:11. Thank you, my friend. See you soon.
COSTELLO: I'm in shock. I can't speak.
ROMANS: Keep the mental picture with you as you go through all of your stories throughout the hour -- Carol.
COSTELLO: My God, my head is going to explode.
Let's talk about news now, shall we? Closing arguments begin today in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor. After six weeks of testimony, 49 witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence, the jury will soon decide the fate of Dr. Conrad Murray.
He faces four years in jail if he is convicted. The big question, did Murray give Jackson the fatal dose of Propofol? Casey Wian joins us live from Los Angeles. Good morning, Casey.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That's right. Twenty two separate days of testimony over six weeks in the manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. It is finally nearing an end. Here is what happened so far.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the entire question --
WIAN (voice-over): Dramatic moments at the Dr. Conrad Murray manslaughter trial including an audiotape of Michael Jackson slurring his words and disturbing pictures of the singer's dead body. In court a procession of Murray's former girlfriends and a constant presence of Jackson family members. Outside supporters of both sides.
Several prosecution medical experts testified about the dangers of treating Jackson's insomnia with the powerful anesthetic Propofol, especially outside of a hospital. Murray declined to take the stand. His former patients did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm alive today because of that man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have an opinion about whether Dr. Murray treats his patients with care and caution?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have never had a doctor that was more caring.
WIAN: Prosecutors clashed with medical experts for the defense who sought to portray Jackson as a drug addict and could have injected himself with Propofol.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any reason why it is so difficult for to you answer my questions and so easy for to you answer Mr. Chernoff's questions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection, argumentative.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sustained. WIAN: The judge find defense expert Dr. Paul White, an anesthesiologist for suggesting that Michael Jackson had his own supply of Propofol, allegation not in evidence.
Prosecution also extracted a seemingly key concession from Dr. Wyatt that he never would have treated Jackson the way Murray allegedly did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Michael Jackson had come to you, Dr. White, and indicated he would like to hire you to administer Propofol to him, to put him to sleep each night in his bedroom, would you do it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely not. That would be a job that I would never consider accepting.
WIAN: Murray faces four years in jail and the loss of his medical license.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: Now in closing arguments later today, prosecutors are expected to argue that no matter how Michael Jackson received that fatal dose of Propofol, Dr. Murray is still responsible because he was in violation of the standard of care that's required with administering that drug.
The defense team is likely to counter with its theory that Michael Jackson was so desperate to get to sleep in preparation for his upcoming world tour that he could have actually injected himself -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Casey Wian reporting live in Los Angeles, California. Thanks so much, Casey. Again, closing arguments do begin today in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. HLN has wall-to-wall coverage that begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern and will be talking to our own court analyst, Paul Callan on why he thinks that the jury will make its decision like in a day.
ROMANS: Wow. Things happen quickly.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ROMANS: All right. Good.
Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, a Texas family court judge, a family court judge admits beating his daughter. We are going to show you the stunning YouTube video that has exploded on the Internet. A million people watching this video and talking about the future of this judge this morning.
COSTELLO: It's pretty hard to watch.
And visual proof that you should not do everything your GPS tells you to do. The story behind this wreck, coming up.
Fifteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back.
A family court judge in Texas now facing a police investigation after a shocking video surfaced on YouTube. It shows him beating his then teenage daughter. We want to warn you this video is quite difficult to watch.
The judge, William Adams, is seen whipping his daughter with a belt and cursing at her for disobeying him. The full video lasts more than seven minutes. It's seven minutes of this. It was shot the on a webcam seven years ago and then posted last week by the judge's daughter, Hillary.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDGE WILLIAM ADAMS, ARANSAS COUNTY COURT-AT-LAW JUDGE: In my mind I haven't done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing, and I did lose my temper. But I've since apologized. It looks worse than it is. There is a story. It will come out in due time. OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you do acknowledge that's you in the video?
ADAMS: Yes, absolutely. It's me.
HILLARY ADAMS, JUDGE'S DAUGHTER: I feel exhilarated (ph). I don't know if I can call it happy, but I'm very relieved that these things have been brought to light. And not because I want to see my father burned or anything like that. That's - that's a hideous way of thinking and I don't want to put that upon him.
I just - I cannot stress enough, I can't repeat myself enough that he just needs help.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Judge Adams has been temporarily relieved of his duties and faces a state judicial review.
COSTELLO: Wow.
Now is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. This morning's question - do we understand what constitutes sexual harassment?
1991, Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill, that Coke can? You think after all of that we'd know what constitutes sexual harassment.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LAURA INGRAHAM, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR/TALK SHOW HOST (voice- over): We have seen this movie before and we know how it ends. It always ends up being an employee who can't perform or who underperforms and who's looking for a little green.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Conservative Radio Show Host Laura Ingram is talking about one of Herman Cain's accusers. Of course, we don't even know the accuser's name or her version of the story, yet she is under attack and, yes, so is Herman Cain.
But let's put politics aside and talk about an issue that still seems to confuse us. As Senator Rand Paul told the National Review, there are people now who hesitate to tell a joke to a woman in the workplace, any kind of joke because it could be interpreted incorrectly.
Women's advocates say sexual harassment is the number one issue in the workplace for women. It denies them equal employment opportunity and if they file a claim it puts them in a no-win situation.
What's the legal definition? Harassment can include unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. But it can also mean making offensive comments about women in general to the point where it creates a hostile work environment.
So the "Talk Back" question this morning - do we understand what constitutes sexual harassment? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your responses later this hour.
ROMANS: Sounds interesting.
All right. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, the Michael Jackson death trial wrapping up. Closing arguments set to begin this morning. Did the prosecution prove its case against Dr. Conrad murray? CNN Legal Contributor Paul Callan weighs in.
COSTELLO: Five people trapped in an underground tunnel trying to cross into the United States illegally. It's up to U.S. border agents to save their lives. The dramatic rescue caught on camera.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
U.S. stock futures trading sharply lower ahead of the opening bell. World markets, they're down this morning, too. All because of Greece again. It's on top of the agenda at the G-20 Summit that kicks off today in Cannes, France.
Late last night, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said if Greece does not push through that bailout plan that leaders who have been working on for months Greece - Greece could get kicked out of the E.U. But Greek Prime Minster George Papandreou says he's confident the Greek people will support the bailout plan in the end in that popular vote planned for December. Back in the U.S., we'll get a fresh read on the employment situation the country later this morning, that's with the initial jobless claims report. Expected to show that 401,000 unemployment claims were filed for the first time last week. Any time in December comes in above the 400,000 level it shows you that the labor market is weak. We'll get the big jobs report, though, the really important reading on the labor market comes tomorrow.
More bank fees. Yes, indeed. More bank fees. TD Bank showing no signs of fear about a consumer rebellion. It's rolling out a brand-new $9 fee on savings accounts transactions. It only kicks in after six transactions are made during a billing cycle. The bank says after six transactions, the billing cycle starts to lose money on that account. The bank also plans to hike four other fees that are already in place.
A big time place for bargains going broke. All Syms and Filene's Basement Department Stores will be closed by the end of January. The company filed for bankruptcy protection for the third time in the past decade yesterday. I mean, nearly 2,500 people who work for Syms or for Filene's Basement stand to lose their jobs.
A group of lawmakers in the plan on the table to save the U.S. Postal Service. It would cut Saturday service within two years. It will close a number of post offices and it would offer buyouts, cash buyouts at $25,000 to up to 100,000 employees.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Good morning. It's 30 minutes past the hour. Here are the morning's top headlines.
New sexual harassment allegation against Republican presidential front runner Herman Cain. "The Associated Press" says a third woman says she was the victim of Cain's aggressive and unwanted advances. Cain claims he is the victim of a smear campaign. He blames Texas Governor Rick Perry's campaign for spreading the story and has demanded an apology.
President Obama wrapping up a joint news conference G-20 in Cannes, France. Big stories were the French President Nicolas Sarkozy warning if the Greeks don't accept a Euro zone bailout package, they'll be kicked out of the E.U.
A big day in the manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. Closing arguments are set to begin this morning and the case could go to the jury before the end of the week.
The prosecution is alleging that Murray administered the lethal dose of Propofol to Jackson. If the jury agrees, Murray faces four years in prison, Carol.
COSTELLO: Six weeks of dramatic testimony in that trial. We heard from a string of Murray's ex-girlfriends, even listened to a chilling audio of Jackson slurring his words. So, did the prosecution proved its case?
Joining us now with the look at what we can expect, CNN legal contributor Paul Callan.
Welcome, Paul.
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
COSTELLO: So closing arguments are set to take place. Will we hear anything new?
CALLAN: Well, no, I don't think you'll hear anything new. All of this has to have come out in evidence during the course of the trial. But you'll see it put together in a very, very dramatic fashion by both the prosecutor and the defense attorney, presenting their strongest arguments to the jury.
COSTELLO: OK. So, if it's tough to get past what was presented in the opening arguments of this trial by the prosecution, this audiotape of Michael Jackson -- that was actually recorded by Dr. Conrad Murray, slurring his words. Let's listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MICHAEL JACKSON, SINGER/SONGWRITER: When people leave my show, I want them to say I've never seen nothing like this in my life. Go. Go.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I mean, it took Michael Jackson 20 seconds to say one short sentence. It's difficult to understand how the defense can overcome that recording, can overcome the fact that Dr. Conrad Murray went on and administering drugs to a man who was clearly having a problem.
CALLAN: Well, you know, I can't disagree with you there. I think that when you look at the case, the defense has a real uphill battle to prove their case. Of course, they don't have to prove the case. It's the prosecutors' responsibility.
But let me talk for a minute about how they will use that tape as part of the defense. The defense is going to come in and say Michael Jackson was addicted to drugs. He had a terrible, terrible problem. One man was trying to save his life, Dr. Conrad Murray, because Murray was trying to slowly wean him from the drug Propofol and so he was administering it at the Jackson home to try to get him off of the drugs.
They are going to say, had Conrad Murray walked away from this case, Jackson probably would have killed himself, because some other uncaring doctor would have just prescribed drugs. So how can you convict a man who was trying to save Michael Jackson's life?
That's how they will use the slurred speech. That's how they're going to use the train wreck of Michael Jackson's life to present the defense to the case.
Now, will the jury buy it? I don't know, Carol. I mean, you have an I.V. set up in a man's bedroom administering Propofol and operating room drug. This stuff is supposed to only be used when you are having surgery. It is not Tylenol PM.
COSTELLO: Right.
CALLAN: You are not -- you are not going to sleep with it the way you do with that drug. So, I really don't know how they are going to convince a jury on this. But you never know with jurors.
COSTELLO: I know. You do never know with juries. You said before you don't think it will take the jury a long time to make its decision.
CALLAN: I don't, because even though this case has gone on for 22 days, and there have been lots of witnesses, you know, girlfriends, doctors, paramedics, in the end, it comes down to one thing. Can you administer Propofol in a home setting to help somebody sleep? If that is a deviation from an extreme deviation from good and accepted medical practice, and it caused death, that's all that's required.
A lot of people think that this is a murder case. Well, this is not like somebody aiming a gun and pulling the trigger. All this is, is this is involuntary manslaughter, an accidental death caused by extreme and gross negligence. It is almost like a suit for money damages on steroids. It is one step higher, which is why the maximum penalty is only four years in prison instead of life in prison.
So -- yes?
COSTELLO: If Dr. Conrad Murray is found guilty, will this change things in the medical world as far as how cases are prosecuted?
CALLAN: I don't think it will. I will tell you why.
When doctors, nurses, people who know the medical profession look at this case, they are stunned by it, because they have never in their entire career seen a situation where a doctor administered Propofol in a home setting. Nobody else does it. So, it's not going to change.
Other doctors don't do it; Murray didn't have any influence on the profession in that respect.
I think, of course, you know, the defense will say well, this is going to put doctors in fear and if they treat patients and accidentally cause death, they are going to be prosecuted for murder. That's not going to happen. This is an extreme case.
And frankly, even if it wasn't Michael Jackson, I think Murray would have been prosecuted for using the drug in this way. But will the jury convict? Will the jury think, well, Michael Jackson hired this guy, why should he be punished for doing what Michael Jackson himself wanted? You never know what's going to go through the jurors' minds in the jury room.
COSTELLO: That's true. We'll see. Paul Callan, thank you for coming in so early. We appreciate it.
CALLAN: OK. Thank you.
COSTELLO: Christine?
ROMANS: All right. What's over-under on this one? Lindsay Lohan is heading to jail. The troubled starlet may only serve a matter of minutes on a 30-day sentence. Officials say Lohan could be booked in and booked out on the very same day. At a hearing yesterday, she admitted to violating her probation on a necklace theft conviction. So, her sentence begins next week.
Lohan's judge warns if she messes up again, she faces 270 days behind bars. No word on how many minutes that would be.
All right. It's 36 minutes after the hour. Here's what's new this morning:
Five would-be undocumented immigrants rescued from a tunnel while trying to cross into the U.S. Local authorities say that border agents saw them enter through a manhole near Tijuana. They were sniffed out by the K-9 team.
Five people were found trapped underground. Agents then turned around and were able to dig them out. They were treated and brought to a nearby border patrol station.
COSTELLO: This is what could happen when you blindly trust the GPS. The pizza delivery guy in Michigan followed his GPS right on to the train tracks straight into the path of an oncoming train. He missed the street by 10 feet. He bailed but he did grab the pizzas, too.
Now that's a hero. But he's car was left in a pile of mangled metal. No one on the train was hurt either.
ROMANS: It may look like the end of a movie chase scene. But this is what really happened when a car slammed into a fire hydrant in San Diego. The force of the water lifting the back of the car 10 feet into the air. It stayed like this for more than an hour until crews were able to remove it. Police say the driver ditched the car and ran away after the crash.
COSTELLO: I never get tired of looking at it. It's just a strange picture.
ROMANS: I know.
COSTELLO: Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: shocking news from the TSA. Wait until you hear how many passengers are caught carrying guns every day at U.S. airports.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 41 minutes past the hour. Good morning.
A notorious Russian arms dealer nicknamed "the merchant of death" has been convicted in a conspiracy to kill Americans. Viktor Bout was found guilty of trying to sell weapons to U.S. agents posing as Colombian terrorists. He's also been accused of selling weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Officials say he believed the weapons would be used to kill Americans. He now faces life in prison.
ROMANS: The TSA saying screeners routinely find four or five guns on a typical day at airport security checkpoints. And passengers usually respond by saying they forgot the weapon was in their bag. So far this year, more than 900 guns have been recovered by TSA agents by U.S. airports.
COSTELLO: A long overdue "thank you" for thousands of Japanese Americans that fought for the United States in World War II. They were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Capitol Hill and ceremony. Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye who lost an arm in the fighting was one of the honoree. Some 19,000 Japanese-Americans served in the units that were honored.
Let's head to Atlanta to check in with Reynolds Wolf to see if they have any problems at the airport this morning.
Good morning, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Of course. What's a morning without problems at the airport? There are going to be a few delays out there. And we're going to see some of them last on and off throughout much of the day.
Right now, one of the big stories you have is a heavy snowfall that caused a few problems to say the very least in parts of Colorado. In fact, you take a look at Boulder, 13 inches of snowfall is what they had just over the last 24 hours. Genesee, Colorado, had a right out a foot. And a little bit less over toward Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Greely, Colorado.
These are just the numbers you see. Let's show you the real stuff. In fact, the video is pretty compelling itself.
A winter wonderland. This is just the beginning of a long winter in the Rockies. You know, it's a beautiful thing if you happen to be a skier, or snowmobiler, or snowboarder.
But if you are just trying to get from point A to point B, goodness gracious, what a frustrating thing it can be. And I'll tell you, they're going to see this thing quite a bit of it to say the very least.
The same storm that brought the snow is now going to drive its way to the east, bringing with it a chance of scattered showers and rumble of thunder in places like, say, St. Louis. Back over to Memphis, Tennessee. Perhaps even into places like Chicago and in Chicago is where you might have a few more of those delays we were talking about. In fact, just under an hour in Chicago and in Detroit by the afternoon, thunderstorms and wind are going to keep you grounded in a few spots.
St. Louis and Memphis basically the same story. In Dallas, you're going to be in the other side of the frontal boundary where rain won't be the issue but the wind could be very strong and that, of course, is going to cause some delays. Maybe even as far south as Austin, perhaps even San Antonio before the day is out.
As we take another 30 seconds, I'm going to show your temperatures nationwide. Fifty-five, that's where you're headed in Billings. That's high for the day. Forty-eight degrees in Seattle; 60 in San Francisco; 52 in Minneapolis; 50 in Chicago; 63 in Washington, D.C.; 72 in New Orleans; and 59 in New York and in Boston.
That is the latest in the forecast. Let's send it right back to New York.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
COSTELLO: Coming up, our talk back question of the morning on the Herman Cain scandal. This is the question: do we understand what constitutes sexual harassment? We'll read some of your responses just ahead.
ROMANS: And you may remember Janet Jackson's infamous wardrobe malfunction during the 2004 Super Bowl. Well, that half-a-second slip got CBS slapped with half a million dollar fine. An appeals court ruling -- should that fine stick?
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COSTELLO: Forty-six minutes past the hour. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
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COSTELLO (voice-over): New allegations threatening to derail Herman Cain's presidential campaign. The Associated Press reporting a third woman claims Cain engaged in inappropriate behavior when she worked at the National Restaurant Association. Cain blames Rick Perry's campaign for spreading that story. We'll hear Perry's response when he is interviewed tonight on "John King USA."
President Obama meeting with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, in France this morning at the start of the G-20 summit. The two leaders holding a joint news conference afterwards. Sarkozy warning Greece to accept a Euro Zone bailout package or be kicked out of the EU.
Posing argument said to begin in the manslaughter trial with Michael Jackson's doctor this morning. Dr. Conrad Murray is accused of giving Jackson the lethal dose of propofol. He faces four years in prison if he is convicted.
A new report says pilot error caused the plane crash that killed an entire Russian hockey team back in September. The plane went down when the pilot inadvertently put the brakes on during takeoff. Forty- four people were killed including several former NHL players.
The U.S. air force cutting 9,000 civilian jobs at the same time, but plan to add about 6,000 new ones. They say they're getting rid of some management and support's (ph) position, making room for new jobs in fields like nuclear development and intelligence.
A big win for CBS. An appeals court ruled against the FCC saying the agency wrongly fined CBS after that famous 2004 Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction. The reason? The FCC wasn't clear on its policy for briefed nudity. Jackson's breast was exposed during a live Super Bowl half time show.
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COSTELLO (on-camera): That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING back after this.
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COSTELLO: We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question this morning, do we understand what constitutes sexual harassment?
This from Laura, "it's a complex issue, and I don't think we do fully understand what constitutes sexual harassment. Part of that is because it's based on how others feel. A statement or joke that may be fine with one person could be highly offensive or even threatening to another. So, the advice given by most HR departments is err on the side of caution."
This from Custodio, "No, we don't. In a world of political correctness, the door is wide open to any interpretation. If anybody woke up on the wrong side of the bed, is having a bad day at work, or is full of himself or herself, then anything can be taken out of context and viewed as sexual harassment."
And this from Raul, "some may know, some say they know, and others are just clueless regardless. I feel a little common sense can go a long way."
Keep the comments coming. Facebook.com/americanmorning. We'll read more of your thoughts later on on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Two Iranian soccer players that have been in trouble for their version of the old pat on the butt celebration. Here's Jeanne Moos' interpretation. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Giving your teammates a hand to celebrate does not include a hand on the butt, not in Iran. Call it a funny pat, call it goosing, a bottom pinch, a butt squeezed. It's called immortal in Iran. Iran's most popular team, Persepolis, was celebrating a goal. Apparently, it's OK to kiss but don't try this. Yikes.
Number 13 jumped and so did the video to YouTube. And slow motion with a helpful arrow. Number 13 was also seen giving not quite as good as he got, a more subtle butt grab, but nonetheless, caught on camera. The two bottom pinchers got more than a spanking. The Iranian Football Federation said both have been banned indefinitely from all football activities for committing immoral acts.
And talk about getting squeezed. Each player was fined almost $40,000. A member of Iran's parliament called it a very ugly thing. Guy on guy contact isn't appreciated there. After all, remember what Iran's president said.
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country.
MOOS: With a laugh from the audience at.
(on-camera) Here in the U.S., we don't penalize butt grabbing. We honor it.
(voice-over) Take for instance, the 25 greatest butt grabbing moments in sports history can found (ph) on a blog. More blatant to butt grab, the more popular. There are butt pats between the sexes and between celebrities on the stage and in the movies. And on TV.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to have you aboard.
MOOS: Among friends, even among girlfriends.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would never congratulate Monica on a great stew by, you know, grabbing her boob.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: But even in the west, the butt pat is usually a playful, gentle thing, but one person posted (ph) about the Iranian players. He was trying to give this guy a colonoscopy. Goal!
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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ROMANS: That is insane.
COSTELLO: And indefinitely. I wonder -- I mean, if they're very good players, maybe, they'll get over it next year, but yes. I don't think so in Iran. I don't think it makes any difference, but the fine, 40,000 bucks apiece. That's insane.
ROMANS: Yes. That really is.
COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about the crazy world of politics. We've been talking a lot about Herman Cain this morning. And the Cain campaign is wondering who leaked this information to Politico and splashed those sexual harassment allegations over the airways everywhere.
It's the story that just will not die. So, right now, the Cain campaign is pointing the finger at Rick Perry's campaign accusing Rick Perry's people of sort of leaking the story. Newt Gingrich was on CNN's Erin Burnett show last night. And, he responded to these allegations of finger pointing straight to the Perry campaign.
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NEWT GINGRICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If it turns out that a Republican presidential candidate deliberately went out and created this kind of a story about a fellow candidate, they would pretty rapidly become a pariah among the rest of us, and they better fire the people who did it. I would think that that's the kind of despicable behavior. That is the worst possible behavior.
We, Republicans, need to be unified to beat Barack Obama and that kind -- I don't know who did it. I'm not taking Herman's word for it, but if it turns out he is right, they better fire a bunch of people in the next 24 hours or expect all Republicans of every background to turn against them, because that's the kind of behavior I find totally repulsive in this political system.
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COSTELLO: So, specifically, the Cain campaign is accusing a pollster who did work -- who does work right now for Rick Perry of leaking the story. He has denied he leaked anything about Herman Cain.
ROMANS: Or that he even knew anything about it.
COSTELLO: Right. He released this statement saying look, I admire Herman Cain. I didn't leak anything. Rick Perry, himself, will be on "JKUSA" later on tonight. And, of course, I'm sure John King will ask --
ROMANS: Oh, yes.
COSTELLO: -- Rick Perry all about this. So, be sure to tune in.
ROMANS: All right. Ahead next hour, continent in crisis, your money on the line. President Obama right in the middle of it this morning. We're live from the G-20 summit in Cannes ahead of a crucial vote on Greece.
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