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American Morning: Wake Up Call
NBA Cancels Regular Season Games; Key Vote on Obama's Jobs Bill; CDC Official Arrested; Trial Begins For "Underwear Bomber"; Study: Vitamins May Boost Death Risk
Aired October 11, 2011 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is not looking good for basketball fans. The first two weeks of the NBA's regular season canceled.
Netflix pulls a 180, but will it be enough to calm thousands of angry customers?
Taking multivitamins. Find out why one group of researchers believe you may be doing yourself more harm than good.
Good morning to you. It is Tuesday, October 11th. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Carol Costello, joining you live this morning from New York.
President Obama's $447 billion jobs bill faces its first vote in the Senate later today. In a warning to Republican critics, the president's senior campaign strategist says that voting against the measure could cost them the election next year.
In a memo released by the Obama campaign, David Axelrod wrote, quote, "The more people know about the American Jobs Act, the more they want Congress to pass the plan." Axelrod also takes aim at critics of the bill's millionaires tax, quoting, "While Republicans claim it is class warfare, the American people are seeing right through their opposition to asking the wealthiest to do their part."
Some Democrats also have doubts about the bill and while they control the Senate, there is no guarantee the bill will get the 60 votes needed to clear tonight's procedural hurdle.
The "Occupy Wall Street" protesters in New York on the march uptown. Why uptown? Because that's where a lot of the rich people live. Organizers say they plan to visit the homes of such money men as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, billionaire David Koch, and News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch among others. As for the cost of three weeks of protests, the New York Police Department puts the tab at $2 million in overtime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Overnight in Boston, things got tense when police say demonstrators refused to leave a downtown park. About 60 people who did not comply were arrested.
If you're a pro basketball fan, now may be the time to find another sport to follow. The NBA Commissioner David Stern canceled the first two weeks of the regular season. The reason, of course, management and players are still at loggerheads over a new labor agreement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
DAVID STERN, NBA COMMISSIONER: We now know where we are and where the players are. We don't have to guess about it and we part on good terms with the negotiators. We just have a gulf that separates us.
DEREK FISHER, NBPA PRESIDENT: Right now, we're not at that place where a fair deal could shall reached between ourselves and the NBA and, you know, at this point, we're not sure how this will proceed.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
COSTELLO: Stern says no further talks are scheduled. He says the league lost some $300 million last year and is seeking cost- cutting help from players. For their part, players are calling for an average salary cap of $7 million which would be an increase of $2 million above their current average salary.
Surveillance video captured a gun battle inside a Houston gas station. Take a look. Two suspects are seen dashing into the station and opening fire on two clerks who ducked for cover. Look at that. One clerk is shot in the leg as one of the suspects jumps over the counter and frantically looks for money. Suddenly, the other clerk opens fire, hitting the suspect twice in the upper body as he jumps back over the counter. Oh, geez.
Both suspects managed to get away. It wasn't long before the wounded suspect was arrested. The other suspect remains at large. As for the injured clerk, he is recovering at home.
Turning now to the battle for the White House, Herman Cain is surging in the polls among Republican leaning voters.
In a new "Washington Post"/Bloomberg survey of Republican leaning voters, Cain came in second behind former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Romney was the favorite of the -- of 25 percent of those questioned. Cain followed with 16 percent, next was Texas Governor Rick Perry with 13 percent. Texas Congressman Ron Paul got 6 percent and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann was favored by 4 percent. The other candidates received lower figures.
The poll was conducted ahead of tonight's Republican debate. That debate will be held in New Hampshire.
It could be a harbinger of what happens on Wall Street this morning. Right now, markets in Asia are surging, but not so much in Europe where stocks fell in early morning trading. Investors there are focused on Slovakia's parliamentary vote on expanding the Euro zone to rescue fund.
This coming as the stocks soared on Wall Street yesterday with the Dow gaining 329 or almost 3 percent to close at 11,433. That was the biggest one-day surge in two months. The big rally was due in large part to a pledge from European leaders to produce a plan for solving the Euro zone's debt crisis by the end of the month.
Let's head to Atlanta now and Jacqui Jeras.
Wow, some dreary weather heading for parts of the South, I hear.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's really ugly. It was not a fun drive in for me. And that was like at 3:00 in the morning, Carol. So, unfortunately, you know, it's going to be like people starting heading in rush hour, lots of clouds across the Southeast, lots of rain, it's kind of on and off.
So, you're going to have some spurt where it's really light and misty and then you're going to see some heavy downpours at times. We could see a good 1 to 3 inches of rainfall in parts of the Carolinas, into parts of Tennessee and to the central Appalachians and look at that cloud deck. That's already starting to spread into the Northeast and we'll watch those clouds thicken up there as we head into the afternoon, so that's why we're going to start to see some delays taking in.
All right. So, major delays expected over an hour in Atlanta today. D.C. metro and Charlotte will have delays probably just under an hour.
Kansas City, a lot of fog there this morning. So, be careful driving and flying.
Seattle and Portland expecting rain and wind and that fog in San Francisco as we take a look at the big picture, the nation's midsection is seeing the best weather today but we will even see a few spotty showers there from the Great Lakes towards the Gulf Coast. It's really the Northwest and Southeast seeing the worst of the weather.
All right, Carol, check out this story. This is amazing to me. Anybody who runs a marathon in my book is huge, right? Try running a marathon when you're 38 1/2 weeks pregnant. There you can see that's baby June.
June Miller was born right after the marathon. Her mother made it through. Her doctor gave her permission to do this, by the way. He said run half the marathon and then walk the second half. She said she paid for it. So, she was still pregnant. She was going to run it.
Good for her. Mom and baby are both doing well, but I still say pregnant or not pregnant, I'm not doing a marathon.
COSTELLO: That's like insane. I saw her interviewed right after she had the baby and she looked great. It was like nothing to her. So, the secret to having an easy birth is to run a marathon before you give birth.
JERAS: Sure have. Well, she said she started having contractions before the end of the race, so --
COSTELLO: That's just a little crazy, don't you think?
JERAS: Help those things along a little bit, huh?
COSTELLO: Yes. Hopefully, the baby will become a runner. Who knows?
JERAS: She's got to be an avid runner. There's no way you could do that unless you've been running marathons for years, right?
COSTELLO: It's either that or that the baby, when it grows up, will hate running.
JERAS: Correct.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Jacqui.
Some Republican voters became a bit deflated after the news that Chris Christie would not run for president but Jimmy Fallon has some ideas on how to energize the GOP.
Here's your punch line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
JIMMY FALLON, COMEDIAN: After Chris Christie and Sarah Palin announced that they weren't running, it seems like Republicans are trying to hard to keep people excited. Take a look at this promo for tomorrow's debate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight Republican presidential candidates will go head to head in a verbal cage match. Rick sanitarium Santorum, hot as an oven Mitt Romney, Newt the Gingrich that stole Christmas, John hair-comb Huntsman, Rick the corndog Perry, Michelle I'll be Bach-man, Herman Cain will make it rain blood, and Ron Paul. They'll be slandering, arguing and some of the most insane political conversing you've ever seen.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's what gives me the experience to put together a plan to help restructure the basis --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do it down with GOP u no me, Tuesday night at dark mouth college.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, I love that. I needed to laugh this morning.
Coming up, if you are a woman and you are about to down a multivitamin with your morning coffee, you are going to want to hear our story before you do.
And the world's largest social network is finally on one of the world's most popular tablets.
But, first, our "Quote of the Day." This is the quote, "The fact that some moron can stand up and make a comment like that, you know, first of all it's outrageous," end quote. That's in reaction to a Dallas pastor calling Mormonism a cult and discouraging Republicans from voting for Mitt Romney, who is Mormon. Can you guess who said that, though? We'll give you the answer in 90 seconds.
It's nine minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 11 minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
Today's "Quote of the Day," quote, "The fact that some moron can stand up and make a comment like that, you know, first of all it's outrageous," end quote. If you guessed GOP presidential hopeful, Jon Huntsman, you were right. He said it yesterday on CNN's "SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer in reaction to a Dallas pastor calling Mormonism a cult.
Huntsman, like GOP rival Mitt Romney, is Mormon.
It's helped fueled global revolutions. It's been visited by a sitting president and that spooky guy you barely knew from high school is still trying to friend you on it. Now, another milestone for Facebook.
Let's head to Hong Kong and Kristie Lu Stout.
So, tell us about this, Kristie.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIIONAL ANCHOR: Hey there. That's right.
Finally, there is the iPad app for Facebook but we've been waiting for over a year for this. So, why the delay?
Now, some rumors suggest it was a rift between the Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Apple's executive team over Apple's social network ping. Another say Facebook wanted a web-based application.
But one former Facebook developer who was the lead engineer on the iPad has blogged about all this. His name Jeff Verkoeyen and he said has been in the work since 2010. He would not get into details about why the app was delayed but he said, quote, "This was a frustrating experience for me. The experience of working on this app was a large contribution to the reasons why I left Facebook," unquote.
But even though there is a Facebook app for the iPad finally, carol, there is still no app yet for Google's android tablets.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: I'm sure it's only a matter of time.
Something else that's really cool this morning, teenagers who like science or gadgets or just like making YouTube videos, two of them will get their idea -- actually, if they sell their idea, they get a ride to the International Space Station. This is pretty incredible.
STOUT: Yes, it's incredible.
Here are the details. If you're a student age 14 to 18 or you know one, listen up and take notes. On Monday, YouTube and Lenovo, they announced a space contest. It's called Space Lab and the prize as Carol just mentioned you get a chance to get your experiment flown to the International Space Station. And students, they can work on their own or in teams of up to three.
All you have to do is make a two-minute video pitch for an experiment to be conducted in zero gravity. And this experiment, it can cover science questions in biology or physics but there are rules.
For example, no use of dangerous animals, no explosions, and nothing sharp.
Now, the deadline is December the 7th. This is real research in orbit. Pretty school stuff. If you fit the bill, you can start at YouTube.com/spacelab.
Back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Very cool. No dangerous animals, huh? That leaves me out of the running.
STOUT: No explosions.
COSTELLO: No explosions.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Kristie Lu Stout, thank you so much.
The candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination get ready to go head to head once again. Just ahead, a look at who has the most at stake heading into tonight's debate.
It's 14 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Fifteen minutes past the hour. Welcome back.
Herman Cain has been gaining popularity with Republican voters and comedian -- well, they're certainly taking notice.
Here's Stephen Colbert's take on why Herman Cain has become so darned popular.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: Listen how much Cain believes in himself in the last paragraph in the book. He says, "Well, I'm just about at the elevator up to the family quarters. But bear with me for just a minute more as I confirm who I am. It's obvious; I'm the president of the United States of America."
Folk, this is a brilliant strategy. With that one sentence, Cain has taken away Obama's strategic advantage of being America's only president. Cain has picked up all the voters who don't like Romney, used to like Perry and can't have Christie. Republican voters have been reduced to using the same criteria as a 4:00 a.m. barroom pickup. He has a pulse and no visible cold sores.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That is so wrong but -- I know -- but so very funny.
Time now for your Political Ticker with Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius POTUS, live from Washington.
Good morning, Tim.
TIM FARLEY, SIRIUS POTUS: I just started singing Mickey Gilley in my head. The girls all get prettier at closing time.
COSTELLO: Perfect.
Let's talk about the GOP debate tonight in a more serious way. Of course, that takes place in New Hampshire. The big focus will be, of course, the economy. But there is a lot at stake for Rick Perry who's been slipping in the polls of late. He's actually out with a new web video attacking Mitt Romney.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, POLITICAL AD)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, I'm a conservative businessman.
CHRIS HAYES, THE NATION: The White House has pointed to the Massachusetts law as the model for its Obamacare.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I agree with Mitt Romney. He's right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jimmy Carter throwing his weight behind Mitt Romney.
ROMNEY: Once you follow the path that we pursued, we'll find it's the best path.
I like mandates.
In my book, I said no such thing. I stand by what I wrote.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Noting that the line about doing the same thing for everyone in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Most of you probably missed it because it's very early in the morning, but my favorite part is when Mitt Romney looks into the mirror and he sees Barack Obama. It's just kind of weird and horror movie-like.
But it's interesting that Rick Perry is still attacking Mitt Romney and ignoring Herman Cain in.
FARLEY: And Mitt Romney is trying to attack President Obama as often as he can to separate himself from the candidates.
Look, Mitt Romney has still maintained the status as front- runner and tonight's debate is another opportunity for -- an opportunity he can't miss, by the way, for Rick Perry to go after Mitt Romney and try to re-establish his credentials. I don't know that he really feels like he has to attack Herman Cain, that that could take care of itself in time because he's got a little bit more money and I think he's got the ground game going, but he's going to go after Mitt Romney tonight no question about it. Supposedly he's prepping for the debate and that will be the next step and we'll be watching closely for it.
COSTELLO: Oh, boy, has he been prepping for the debate. There was an article in "The New York Times" a couple of days ago that the biggest suggestion for Rick Perry was to get some sleep.
FARLEY: Yes. That's good advice. He was a little tired last time, yes.
COSTELLO: We'll see if that works.
President Obama, let's talk about him today for just a little bit because he heads to Pittsburgh today to push his jobs bill while the Senate prepares for a crucial vote I guess that will happen sometime tonight.
FARLEY: You know, this procedural vote you mentioned at the top of the show and the David Axelrod memo that he put out, this vote tonight is a vote to end the debate on whether or not they should debate the bill. And that's how cranky they're getting these days.
Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, has an op-ed in today's "Washington Post," and "The New York Times" has an editorial about the procedural chicanery and tomfoolery that's taking place right now.
The problem for the president, it's not just about Republicans. There are three Democrats who are solidly against the bill as it stands, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jon Tester of Montana. And unless the president and Senator Harry Reid get all the Democrats in on it, they can't make the Republicans look like exclusive obstructionists.
But the bottom like is that it's very unlikely that this bill will make it through the Senate. We'll see how the vote goes tonight. But even if it gets through the Senate, it's got an unlikely path through the House. So, this is just about politics and that's why the president is going to talk to a popular group today. People in the electricians union in Pittsburgh and that's where he's headed.
COSTELLO: OK. Let's continue on that cynical note that this is just all about politics. Do you think the American people are buying the president's jobs bill?
FARLEY: Well, according to polls, most people seem to enjoy what or support a lot of elements of it. What is key here, though, is that it seems that the White House is actually saying and this is part of a strategy session they had Friday with Democratic Senate members and the caucus, and that is that they will accept portions of this. So, we'll see exactly which portions will be passed.
I guess the ultimate answer to your question, though, Carol, will be determined at the polls next November as to whether or not this argument does or does not work and where we are in the economy at that point and who the Republican candidate is and all those other questions that have yet to be answered and only time will tell.
COSTELLO: Kind of makes your head want to explode.
Tim Farley -- host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius POTUS Radio, live from Washington -- thanks for joining us this morning.
FARLEY: Thanks.
COSTELLO: Torturing detainees to get a confession. That's the finding of a new United Nations report. The troubling details for you, next.
But, first, go ahead and celebrate you today as we mark It's My Party Day. Your party can be as simple or elaborate as you want it because, remember, it's your party.
It's 21 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Twenty-four minutes past the hour.
According to a new United Nations report, some Afghan detainees are being coerced into confessions through torture.
Let's head round the world now with Monita Rajpal. She's live in London.
Monita, this is a disturbing report.
MONITA RAJPAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. Carol, they're saying that there is -- according to this report, there is compelling evidence, as how they're describing it, of systematic abuse of detainees in Afghanistan. The report also revealed children who were being held, children under the age of 18 who were being held, were also tortured. It was year-long investigation that included interviews of more than 300 detainees in more than 40 detention centers right across Afghanistan.
And, of course, it raises serious concerns and questions about the readiness of Afghanistan's security force as American forces are expected to leave by 2014. There are also questions about the fact that these -- that the training of these forces and the running of these detention centers are funded by Western powers such as the United States. So, how complicit are they and how much of what was actually happening within these prisons was widely known, and, of course, if any of the information obtained from the detainees who had been tortured was useful to U.S. intelligence.
Now, an American official who spoke on the condition of anonymity has been quoted in a report as saying that they didn't know of anyone who knew these alleged abuses took place. But in another report, a senior NATO official is quoted as saying they knew this was happening but the question that's being asked is, quote, he says, "What do we do about it?"
Well, the Afghan government explicitly condemns torture but the transparency and accountability were questionable -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Monita Rajpal, live from London, thanks so much.
It's something you hope never happens when your flight lands. Just ahead, new video of a plane skidding off a runway.
And before you pop that multivitamin, why researchers think you might be putting yourself at risk.
It's 26 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It is Tuesday, October 11th. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Carol Costello, joining you live this morning from New York. It's 30 minutes past the hour.
Bad news for basketball fans, the NBA has canceled the first two weeks of the regular season after players and owners failed to reach a labor agreement to end the lockout. League commissioner David Stern says the two sides remain far apart on all major issues. No further talks are scheduled. The key disputes are over salary caps and revenue sharing.
With the cancellations and the entire season in doubt, the economic fallout could be huge. We have much more analysis coming your way in about ten minutes.
President Obama's $447 billion jobs package faces a key procedural vote later today in the Senate. Among other things, the plan cuts payroll taxes for workers and employers. It extends unemployment benefits and gives tax credits for hiring the long-term unemployed. The president will spend part of his day in Pittsburgh pushing his jobs plan. Of course, the bill faces fierce Republican opposition.
A top official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention faces child molestation charges. Police in the Atlanta are arrested Dr. Kimberly Lindsey on Sunday along with her live-in boyfriend. The case involves a six-year-old boy. Lindsay is a deputy director for the laboratory science policy and practice program office at the CDC.
Caught on camera. Video of a passenger plane skidding off the runway. Take a look, the National Transportation Safety Board just released pictures of a southwest plane as it overran the runway at midway airport in Chicago. This incident happened back in April. You see it there?
Flight 1919 from Denver landed in rainy weather and was moving too fast when it tried to turn on to a taxiway. The jet ended up in the mud. The video was recorded by a camera on the runway. No one was injured in that incident.
Opening statements expected today in the trial of the so-called underwear bomber. The 24-year-old Nigerian national faces charges for attempting to bomb a Detroit-bound northwest airlines flight on Christmas Day in 2009. The defendant is acting as his own attorney.
Ladies, if your morning routine includes a daily vitamin supplement, you know, a multivitamin, you might be doing yourself more harm than good. I'm not kidding. A University of Minnesota researcher says they offer very little benefit. The data suggests older women taking the supplements had slightly higher death rates. Nutrition experts call the findings puzzling and say more research is needed.
Netflix now reversing course but will the new change help bring bad customers -- bring back customers, rather, who dumped their service? It's 32 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Thirty-three minutes past the hour. Welcome back.
For morning money news, let's head to Christine Romans. She's here in New York with me. So, let's talk about Netflix. I guess, it did a big flip-flop, huh?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Just forget about that whole Qwikster thing, the rebranding, the streaming business, and the DVD by mail business. Forget all that. They're going back to the future. They want to go back, Carol, to the day when the stock wasn't 60 percent below where it is today.
Many of you know the whole Netflix Qwikster drama, but the Netflix backlashes and something I haven't seen in a very long time in a company in corporate branding. It raised prices this summer, as you know, 60 percent. It rebranded its DVD by mail business to something called Qwikster which immediately people said qwik what? Huh? What?
And now has returned to the single Netflix brand. You know, the CEO of this company had said that he lived in fear of going the way of, you know, blockbuster, one of these companies that was an early mover and then really found itself struggling to adapt to new technologies.
Instead, the way the company has behaved and its corporate strategy has been worse almost than failing to move with the times. So, there you go. R.I.P., rest in peace, Qwikster.
COSTELLO: It lost a bunch of money because of this, too, right?
ROMANS: A million customers. They lost a million outrage customers because of this. Yes.
COSTELLO: Wow. Third quarter earnings, I know we're supposed to talk about that.
ROMANS: Yes, third quarter earnings. Let me tell you very quickly. This is what drives sentiment in the stock market. The stocks are reflected -- you know, the stock market prices reflect what companies are earning.
We know that in the months and quarters after the recession ended and the recovery began, corporate America felt that recovery, and they had double-digit profit growth, but that profit growth might be slowing, and we're going to learn more from that when companies report their earnings report today. We're going to get Alcoa after the closing bell.
You know, aluminum prices and metal prices have fallen pretty dramatically this time around. We'll see if that's reflected in there. Thursday, Google, JPMorgan Chase, and now, Carol, you're going to see all these banks. This is really important, the investment banks, banks have been lowering their expectations for what their earnings are going to be like because the economy is slowing.
And we've got some major problems with systemic banking problems in Europe. In fact, Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB president this morning, making some pretty, pretty dramatic comments about systemic risks, big risks because of their banks and banks' exposure to Greece and sovereign debt in Europe.
The whole system is interconnected, of course. So, we'll be closely watching to see what the banks here have to say about their earnings -- Carol. COSTELLO: OK. We'll talk more about it on "American Morning." Thank you, Christine.
You heard his name a lot during the 2008 presidential race. Now, Joe the Plumber is back in the spotlight, this time, for his own political ambitions. We'll fill you in just ahead.
But first, time for your "Get Smart" question of the day. Here it is. First Lady Michelle Obama kicks off a 24-hour jumping jack challenge today. So, how many people does she need to break the Guinness World Record? Is it A. 20,899, B. 20,426, or C. 20,325? It's 36 past the hour.
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COSTELLO: Hit a milestone. Good morning to you. It is 39 minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
Now, back to our "Get Smart" question of the day. First Lady Michelle Obama kicks off a 24-hour jumping jack challenge today. So, how many people does she need to break the Guinness World Record? Is it A. 20,899, B. 20,426, or C. 20,325? The answer is, oh, it's B, 20, 426. The first lady hopes to inspire people from around the world to do at least one minute of jumping jacks at some point between 3:00 p.m. today and 3:00 p.m. tomorrow. Good luck with that.
Time now for your "Political Ticker." The economy is expected to be the big focus as the Republican presidential candidates square off tonight at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Mitt Romney spent time campaigning there yesterday trying to tout himself as a champion of the middle class.
Missing on the trail, Rick Perry who, perhaps, has the most at stake. His poll numbers have been slipping as Herman Cain surges ahead. Cain finished second behind Romney in a new Harvard poll released just ahead of tonight's "Washington Post"/Bloomberg debate.
Remember, Joe the Plumber? He's the man who emerged on the national stage during the 2008 presidential race. He questioned then Sen. Obama about his plan for small business growth. Well, he is now ready to enter politics himself. Joe the Plumber whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher is taking steps to run for Congress as Republican in Ohio's ninth district.
The first two weeks of the NBA season cancelled. Players and owners can't seem to come up with a profit sharing deal. So, with no talks currently scheduled, more of the season may be at risk. And as CNNs Mark McKay tells us, it's not just the fans who are hurting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK MCKAY, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Philips Arena is home to the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, but these doors won't be opening for basketball any time soon. The league's decision to cancel some regular season games made sure of that. But that decision just doesn't impact team owners and players. It also affects surrounding businesses that count on those games being played.
SCOT HUMPHREYS, GM DANTANNA'S: There's definitely going to be a decrease in business on what would have been home games. We usually get a nice pop two hours before the game then depending on how they do some after-game business.
AARON BUGGS, ASSISTANT GM, STATS RESTAURANT: We always try to make sure we have a good showing of conventioneers to come to the restaurant, but as far as filling the void from Philip's Arena, there's pretty much nothing that we can do. I mean, our hands are pretty much tied when it comes to that.
MCKAY (voice-over): The NBA just completed one of its most successful seasons in year, attendance, merchandise sales, and television ratings were all up, but that momentum could be lost if the current lockout continues for an extended period.
CHRIS MANNIX, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SENIOR WRITER: These two sides should be sitting in a room in New York City for the next, you know, week, two weeks, however long it takes to get done, but right now, they seem content to not negotiate, not meet and to sort of let this thing play out and see who blinks first.
MCKAY: The cost for this waiting game will be expensive. NBA commissioner, David Stern, said the league lost $200 million by canceling the preseason. If a significant amount of regular season games are lost as well, the league will find itself having to satisfy broadcast partners who paid billions to televise those games.
KURT BADENHAUSEN, FORBES, SENIOR EDITOR: The NBA is going to have to make good with their TV partners. They're not going to continue to pay for no games. And, you know, it has an effect on the TV partners because they use NBA games which are strong ratings drivers for, say a TNT. They're strong ratings drivers, and that helps boost ratings for other programming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Mark McKay reporting. Players won't start feeling financial sting until November when they would normally start collecting their paychecks.
The Detroit Lions and their legion of fans in the MotorCity are celebrating big time this morning. For the first time in 55 years, the Lions are undefeated through the first five games of the NFL season. Yes. They hit the milestone by defeating the Chicago bears 24-13 last night. People are so excited around the country. The Detroit Lions and Jahvid Best, you see him running there, they're both trending tops on Twitter this morning.
OK. Back to news. Outrage from an Iranian opposition group claiming that a harsh sentence has been handed down against an actress there. We'll have the details for you in a live report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It is Tuesday, October 11th. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Carol Costello joining you live this morning from New York. It's 46 minutes past the hour.
Developing this morning, outrage from an Iranian opposition group claiming that a harsh sentence has been handed down against an Iranian actress for starring in a movie. Let's go around the world with Reza Sayah. He's live in Islamabad. So, tell us about this, Reza.
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol. Human rights groups are starting to put a lot of pressure on the Iranian government to overturn the sentence and free this actress. Her name is Marzieh Vafamehr, 38 years old. She was, according to an opposition website, sentenced to one year in prison and 90 lashes after she appeared in a very controversial movie called "My Tehran for Sale."
This movie was roundly criticized by Iranian (INAUDIBLE) hard- liners because it depicts Iranian society is one that oppresses artists, filmmakers, and actresses. In it, Vafamehr plays an actress who can't work in Iran so she tries to leave and touches on a lot of subjects that are taboo in Iran drug use and AIDS.
Also, in the movie, Vafamehr appears without a head scarf, which is deemed unIslamic by a lot of hard-liners. It was shot in 2008 in Iran by an Iranian-Australian filmmaker. It was really never meant to be distributed in Iran, but with the internet these days, it started appearing online, on YouTube.
And that's when this opposition Web site says, somewhere in July, she was arrested, and sometime during the past week, according to this opposition Web site, Marzieh Vafamehr was sentenced to one year in prison and 90 lashes. Her lawyer says she's appealing it and, again, Carol, a lot of human rights groups outraged at the sentence, putting a lot of pressure on the government to overturn the sentence.
COSTELLO: And she's the only one being punished for taking part in this movie. The producer and director, there's no punishment handed down on them, right?
SAYAH: Well, that's probably because they're in Australia. The producer and the director both based in Australia, and according to this opposition website, other performers in this movie were briefly detained. They were released. She was kept in custody and, again, sometime over the past few days, she was sentenced.
Every few months it seems a case emerges in Iran that really depicts this ongoing fight between Iranian authorities and artists, filmmakers, and actresses who have been long fighting for their creative freedom and human rights. This appears to be the latest case, Carol.
COSTELLO: Reza Sayah live in Islamabad, thanks so much.
President Obama's $447 billion jobs bill faces its first vote in the Senate later today. IN a warning to Republican critics, the president's senior campaign strategist says that voting against the measure could cost them the election next year.
In a memo, David Axelrod takes aim at critics of the bill's millionaire's tax quoting "While Republicans may claim that this is class warfare, the American people are seeing right through their opposition to asking the wealthiest to do their part."
Some democrats also have doubts about the bill, though, and while they control the Senate, there is no guarantee the bill will get the 60 votes needed to clear tonight's procedural hurdle. We'll keep you posted.
The "Occupy Wall Street" protesters in New York are on the march today, and they're going uptown. Why uptown, you ask? Because that's where a lot of rich people live. Organizers say they plan to visit the homes of such money men as JPMorgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, billionaire, David Koch (ph), and News Corp CEO ,Rupert Murdoch, among others.
As for the cost of three weeks of protests, the New York police department puts the tab at $2 million in overtime.
Overnight in Boston, things got pretty darn tense when police say demonstrators refused to leave a downtown park. About 60 people who did not comply were arrested. They were also part of "Occupy Wall Street."
We now know the cause of Steve Jobs' death. A California public health official says Jobs died of respiratory arrest brought on by a pancreatic tumor. The Apple co-founder died in his home in Palo Alto last week. He was 56.
Now, let's head to Atlanta and Jacqui Jeras. Any flight delays to speak of this morning, Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not yet, but we think there are going to be a whole lot of them later on this morning, Carol, especially across the southeast and as we head into the afternoon as it's going to spread into the northeast. It's all due to an area of low pressure storm system that's bringing this huge shield of clouds from the Florida panhandle all the way up into New England.
The rain, though, pretty confined here to parts of Georgia into the Central Appalachians and the Carolinas. It's going to be heavy at times, in fact, a good one to two inches can be expected widespread. A few areas will get a little less than that, but overall, it's going to be a nuisance for you and going to make things really tough to travel.
So, major delays expected in Atlanta with the rain and the low clouds today. Delays expected but under an hour for you in D.C. and Charlotte. Kansas city, you're going to have some fog this morning. So, it'll be rough on the roadways as well as the airways. Our storm in the Pacific Northwest will keep rain and wind in the forecast for Seattle and Portland and some fog this morning in Seattle -- San Francisco, rather, excuse me. As you take a look at the big picture, though, the nation's midsection overall looking pretty good, but a weak front there will be enough to bring some spotty showers. Tomorrow will be a worse day for you as that front in the pacific makes its way to the midsection, but really nice to start out your day into the northeast. So, enjoy it before those clouds really thicken up and lower down.
All right. We have some dramatic video for you coming in out of England this morning of a cliff collapsing. Take a look at those pictures. These are the famous Cornwall Cliffs. There have been a lot of storms there recently, and the waves really washing up had eroded this cliff.
It's been estimated somewhere in the order of 100,000 pounds of rock and debris crumbled down about 150 feet to the water below. Crazy pictures, Carol.
COSTELLO: I know. Dramatic pictures.
JERAS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Thanks for sharing.
JERAS: Hey, also, I noticed you're wearing black today. I didn't know if that had to do with your Tigers or anything.
COSTELLO: It was such an emotional roller coaster for Detroit's fans last night, because the Tigers, they stuck (ph), right? And then the Lions, the Detroit Lions were --
JERAS: They won, though, yes.
COSTELLO: They were like the New England Patriots.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Mixed emotions. I know. So, I don't know what to think this morning. But, I'm just going to concentrate on the Lions.
JERAS: Good to have one winning team for sure.
COSTELLO: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Thanks, Jacqui.
Are you getting up for work today thinking this is just not worth it? Well, maybe it is time for a change. Coming up, a breakdown of the best jobs in some of the fastest-growing industries.
But first, let's take a look at the word of the day, shall we? Actually, it's a phrase. Solar dimming. Find out what it means and why you need to know after this short break. It's 53 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Four minutes until the top of the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
Back to our word of the day, actually, it's a thing (ph). Solar dimming. What does it mean? It's a cyclical drop in the sun's radiation that can trigger unusually cold winters in parts of North America and Europe. Solar dimming is an important new finding, because scientists say it could improve long-range forecasts and help countries better prepare for blizzards. Now, you know.
You've possibly heard about someone throwing a hot dog at Tiger Woods during a tournament on Sunday. Well, the comedians aren't done talking about it or should I say joking about it. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": They're playing a golf tournament. One of those big-time PGA deals. Tiger Woods is in the putting on the green. A guy charges the green and throws a hot dog at Tiger Woods. The guy was arrested and fascinating thing about this, legally, half that hot dog goes to Tiger's ex-wife.
(LAUGHTER)
JAY LENO, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO: Tiger was furious. Not that the guy threw the hot dog. The guy hit the green. Tiger hasn't done that in two years. The guy hit the green.
(APPLAUSE)
LENO: Go on, I tell you, it was a tough day all around for Tiger. Here's a news story.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A surprise for Tiger Woods at the Frys.Com Tournament right here in Northern California as Tiger was lining up a putt on the 7th green, a fan tossed a hot dog at him. Things got worse for Tiger later on at the 13th green.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I thought that was funny. OK. In business news this morning, well, the upswing continue on Wall Street? Let's head to the NASDAQ MarketSite and check in with Carter Evans. So, will it? Will it remain on an upswing?
CARTER EVANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: What do you think?
COSTELLO: No.
EVANS: No. Yes. Up one day, down the other. Up yesterday, down today. Here we go. Take a look at futures right now. Dow futures down 67. NASDAQ down 10. S&P 500 down about 8 1/2 at the CNNMoney.com pre-market page.
We are going to get the minutes from the Fed's most recent meeting today. Alcoa unofficially kicks off earnings season after the close reporting its third quarter numbers today.
COSTELLO: Yes. I'm sure you'll keep us posted. Tell us something better this morning.
EVANS: OK.
COSTELLO: Because CNNMoney.com has a cool feature called best job. Tell us about it.
EVANS: Yes, best jobs, and it takes a look at this from all different angles. Take a look here. This is one of the slideshows on CNNMoney.com. These are the best jobs for fast growth. The number one in this category is a software developer with a median pay of $82,400. A great job. If you can get it.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: And CNNMoney.com will tell us how, right?
EVANS: Right. They'll tell you exactly where -- no, no, they won't tell you where, but they'll tell you where you should be looking.
COSTELLO: Good, good enough. Carter Evans, many thanks to you.
"AMERICAN MORNING" continues right now.
