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American Morning: Wake Up Call
Cain Denies Latest Allegations; Italian PM Berlusconi to Resign; Holder Asked About Border Agent's Death; Study: Autistic Kids Have More Neurons; NBA Players Face Deadline
Aired November 09, 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: New this morning, the Penn State board says it's outraged and planning to investigate the allegations of child sex abuse involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. In the meantime, students are showing their support for head coach Joe Paterno.
Developing a short time ago, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he will not take part in the next election.
And it was one of the most watched votes around the country. In the end, Mississippi voters said no to the personhood initiative.
Good morning to you. It is Wednesday, November 9th.
This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Carol Costello, joining you live this morning from New York.
Herman Cain and his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination lock horns tonight in a debate in Michigan. One thing Cain probably will count on, more questions about the sexual harassment allegations that have engulfed his campaign since the story first broke more than a week ago. Cain held a nationally televised news conference yesterday once again denying all of the accusations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The charges and the accusations I absolutely reject. They simply didn't happen. They simply did not happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Despite Cain's strong denials, another one of his accusers went public. Karen Kraushaar is one of the women who made accusations against Cain in the 1990s while Cain headed the National Restaurant Association.
Speaking to CNN, she called Cain a serial denier and says she'd like to hold a joint news conference with some of Cain's other accusers.
In an interview with "The New York Times," she said, quote, "When you are being sexually harassed in the work place, you are extremely vulnerable. You do whatever you can to quickly get yourself into a job someplace else safe. That's what I thought I had achieved when I left."
Kraushaar told CNN that she received a $46,000 sexual harassment settlement with the National Restaurant Association, not a severance agreement as Cain has described it.
Democrats in several states are all smiles this morning after scoring some impressive victories in yesterday's elections. CNN projects that voters in Ohio overwhelmingly struck down a law restricting collective bargaining rights of public workers. The result is a stinging defeat for Republican Governor John Kasich, who pushed the measure as a way for cities to cut costs.
In Mississippi, voters rejected another conservative measure, the so-called personhood amendment that would have outlawed all abortions and many forms of contraception.
And in Arizona, Republican State Senator Russell Pearce, who wrote a controversial immigration law, was defeated in a recall election widely viewed as a vote on tough measures against illegal immigrants.
The European debt crisis appears to have a new victim, Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. He vowed to resign after Italy's parliament government passed a budget that includes austerity measures demanded by the European Union.
Berlusconi has been under pressure for weeks to step aside. He says he's making the move to prove to international investors that Italy can reform its finances. Berlusconi tells an Italian newspaper that he thinks there will be early elections in February and that he will not be a candidate.
Berlusconi's announcement comes just days after the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, also engulfed in a debt crisis, agreed to resign in favor of a unity government. Papandreou and the main opposition leader are still locked in talks over just who will head the new government. An announcement could come as early as today.
Air Force investigators say there were serious misconduct in the handling of the remains of the nation's war dead at the Dover Air Force Base mortuary in Delaware. The findings come after a year-long probe into allegations of wrongdoing made by whistleblowers.
Cases that were confirmed included several instances in which some remains were lost or unaccounted for. The Air Force says it's improving procedures at Dover, but it says the mortuary staff failed to maintain accountability while processing remains for three service members.
Also this morning, hip-hop fans are remembering rap icon Heavy D. The self-proclaimed overweight lover died yesterday after collapsing at his Beverly Hills home. He shot to fame in the late '80s with his group Heavy D and the Boys.
In recent years, he focused more on TV and movie appearances. He makes a cameo in the new film "Tower Heist." Heavy D was just 44 years old. No word on what caused his death.
You probably heard it on your radio or TV. "This is a test. This is only a test." For the first time ever, a test of the emergency alert system will be made nationwide at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time today. Previously, the tests have been conducted by states and local communities.
The system has its roots of the cold war and allows the president to address the nation within 10 minutes from any location at any time. Federal officials say a national test is needed in order to fix possible glitches.
Let's head to Atlanta now and check in with Rob Marciano.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
A decent storm is rolling across the midsection of the country, going to cause some problems for people if Chicago and also bring snow. Here it is on the radar.
Let's go and take a look at it, stretching all the way from Canada, down to the Gulf of Mexico. This brought severe weather to the ArkLaTex region yesterday. Yesterday, 10 reports of tornadoes, no injuries, thankfully. But some structures down.
And now, it's kind of winding itself up. And the backside of it, at least across the northern part of it, some accumulating snow. Heavy wet snow from Waterloo, through parts of northwestern Wisconsin could see four to nine inches of snow in some spots there, and winds gusting 25 to 30 miles an hour.
So, in Chicago, with that rain and wind, you will see some delays, some morning fog. A mild day in New York and Philadelphia, another day of Indian summer. Some rain in Detroit may slow you down there as well as Cincinnati.
So, ahead of this system, it's going to be another warm day across the East Coast. Temperatures in the 60s, in some cases the 70s, as far north as the Northeast. So, enjoy that because behind the system, it's going to be on the chilly side. Temperature, 67 degrees expected in D.C., 66 in New York City.
All right. We don't usually show you satellite pictures out of Alaska. As a matter of fact, you get that data much north of Nome, but you get the idea there.
We've got a beast of a storm, one that they haven't seen in decades. And this one could go down in the history books as the worst on record. Nome, places like Tin City up there.
Carol, this has winds right now gusting to 85 miles an hour. So, it's kind of a combination of a hurricane and a blizzard in some spots. Worst-case scenario for our friends in Alaska and those who are staying up late with us and getting the signal, you know what I'm talking about.
We'll talk more about that. Plus, the asteroid, by the way, it missed us, as predicted. So we can all go about our daily lives again and wait for the next more than 20 years.
COSTELLO: We're all safe. 2018, right? Thank you so much, Rob.
MARCIANO: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: The Herman Cain sexual harassment scandal is a classic case of he said/she said. And late-night comedians -- they just can't get enough. Here's your punch line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: Cain's press conference was opened by his lawyer who made a lengthy introduction. Then, finally, Cain took the podium, admittedly without asking podium whether it wanted to be taken.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you considered hiring Gloria Allred as your attorney?
CAIN: You almost made me say something that my handlers say you should not say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, really?
CAIN: Let me put it to you this way. I can't think of anything that I would hire her to do, OK? I can't think of a thing.
(LAUGHTER)
COLBERT: And that looks as though he thinks of things for women to do.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
COSTELLO: Still ahead, Facebook takes down pages where people are joking about rape. But the offensive conversations could show up again on the network and stay there. We will explain that to you.
But first, our "Quote of the Day." Quote, "I can't bear Netanyahu. He's a liar." We'll tell you what world leader said that after a break.
It's nine minutes past.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 10 minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
Now back to our "Quote of the Day." Quote, "I can't bear Netanyahu. He's a liar," end quote.
Who said that? That was French President Nicolas Sarkozy, blasting the Israeli prime minister during a talk with President Obama. That's according to published reports.
To which President Obama responded, "You're tired of him, what about me? I have to deal with him every day."
Their private conversation was captured by open microphones before a news conference at the G-20 summit last week.
Facebook recently removed several pages from its network that involved jokes about rape. But some victims' advocates say that is not nearly enough.
So let's head to Hong Kong and Kristie Lu Stout to find out more about this.
So, Facebook removed these pages, but not really?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. They removed the pages, but with an additional condition on top. And advocacy groups, they want Facebook to give more information about why it removed the pages.
The company says this, that there was no place on Facebook for content that is hateful, threatening or incites violence. That's why it removed several rape joke pages from its social network. But these pages may remain if there is a tag saying that they are works of humor or satire.
Advocacy groups, they were first relieved with these pages were taken down, but now they're saying it's not enough. They say the public needs to know that Facebook has revised its position.
And, Carol, I had no idea that these rape joke pages were out there on Facebook. Some of these pages attracted more than 190,000 likes from Facebook users. Very disturbing indeed.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: Well, they have the problem with First Amendments rights, too. You can say anything you want in this country, right? So, Facebook has caught --
STOUT: That's right. Yes.
COSTELLO: Go ahead.
STOUT: Yes. And it's an issue that other IT companies have been facing as well. Google with its relationship in China, but that's something analysts are saying. But for the time being, the Facebook policy is that they have removed these pages, but if the pages are labeled clearly as works of satire, they can remain.
COSTELLO: Wacky.
OK. Let's talk about the asteroid because it flew by last night. And it didn't really knit anything, at least that we know of. What's NASA saying this morning?
STOUT: No. Well, they are absolutely thrilled. Now, NASA researcher Marina Brozovic was on CNN. She said that a lot was learned from this rare event. And scientists plan to reconstruct the shape of the asteroid with data that was collected from the Goldstone radar antennas in the Mohave Desert in California. Now, the asteroid with the catchy name, 2005, YU55, it flew by last night, 6:28 p.m. Eastern Time, the size of an aircraft carrier. It passed within the moon's orbit. It was the closest approach by an object that big in more than 30 years.
And it flew by with, as Rob mentioned just now, no threat of a collision. But if it had crashed into earth, it could have caused a 4,000 megaton blast and a magnitude seven quake. And if it fell into the ocean, it could have caused a 70-foot-high tsunami. The next similar encounter will take place in the year 2028. But let's not fret for now, Carol. NASA researchers, they will still have their eyes in the skies.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: I'm sure they will. Kristie Lu Stout, many thanks to you, live from Hong Kong this morning.
Another accuser steps forward, but Herman Cain is holding strong to his word that he didn't sexually harass anyone. So, just how will it all play out when he faces his Republican rivals tonight? That's right. There's a debate.
We'll break it down after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Sixteen minutes past the hour. Welcome back.
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 XM RADIO HOST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: We're talking about Herman Cain again, only because another one of Herman Cain's accusers has come out publicly, while the GOP presidential hopeful is telling the media once again he did absolutely nothing wrong.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: I have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I mean, it's just a complete denial. And now this latest woman to come forward and make her name public, she now works in the Treasury Department. She's a communications person there. She wants to get all of Herman Cain's accusers together, and maybe all of those women will hold a press conference.
If that happens -- I mean, what will happen with the Herman Cain's candidacy?
FARLEY: You made the most important point of all, these faces and names attached. We've got Sharon Bialek and Karen Kraushaar. And they have said or Karen Kraushaar will join that group of people saying things.
And when Herman Cain says that I've never done anything inappropriately ever, that really raises him to a pretty high standard, almost saintly in some ways because I think even manager would say, well, I might have done something inappropriate somewhere in my many, many years as a manager.
That said, he's also raised the specter of specifics. That is, there are hotel bills. There are restaurant bills. There are the kinds of things that could be checked on.
So, it's no longer whether or not you believe him or believe them. And when it comes to believing people, if it is just a he said/she said, if it's he said versus she and she and even another she or she, then it becomes much more difficult for him. I really see very, very little hope for him to disentangle himself from this and get on to message which is something he said they were going to be doing after the weekend. And look where we are here on Wednesday.
COSTELLO: No, it just keeps going on and on. It makes you wonder who will benefit because a lot of people are saying that Newt Gingrich -- keep your eye on Newt Gingrich because he's poised to jump way ahead in the polls.
FARLEY: Yes. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays at the debate tonight. Mitt Romney yesterday said that these are troubling, these allegations, they're serious. And maybe that he's not going to attack Herman Cain outright, but he probably doesn't mind seeing him getting battered a bit.
I'm kind of interested to see in the debate tonight when the Republican candidates meet, if Jon Huntsman goes after Mitt Romney because he's been after him a lot lately, sort of saying what the Democrats have been saying, that he's a flip-flopper. I don't think you'll see any of the Republicans attacking Herman Cain, but you know that questions are going to come up tonight. We'll see how he answers it.
COSTELLO: Yes, but I really don't see a need for Cain's fellow Republicans to attack him. They should just, like, sit back and watch.
FARLEY: Yes. They're right. And that's exactly why I think they're not going to be doing much. Although what Michele Bachmann has been saying on the campaign trail, and she may do it sort of in a subtle way by saying that we don't need any surprises in our candidates. That's the way she's been putting it.
So we may see more of that tonight. But I agree, Carol, there's no reason to go after him specifically on that because for some people, it's a cheap shot. And for others, it's like, well, let other people do the dirty work for me. I don't have to go out there and do that during the debate.
COSTELLO: Yes, it's always good to take the high road, even in politics sometimes.
Tim Farley --
FARLEY: A road less traveled.
COSTELLO: Exactly. Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius POTUS Radio --thanks so much.
He survived a sex scandal and allegations of corruption, but ultimately, it's Italy's debt crisis that's about to push its prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, out of office. We'll have more details on that for you ahead.
But, first, it's only 5:19 Eastern in the morning. But there are things already shaping up to be a bit hectic for you. So, today is designed for you. It is November 9th, National Day of Chaos Never Dies Day. It's a day to celebrate the chaos in your life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 22 minutes past the hour.
It is the end of an era as the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he'll step down after parliament passes critical budget reforms.
So, let's head round the world and head to Rome with Matthew Chance.
Good morning, Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning to you.
That's right. Silvio Berlusconi, the end of an era for this country. After a parliamentary vote yesterday that didn't go his way, he went to see the president of the country, came out of that meeting late last night as saying that he would resign, but only after one condition was met, that the budget law for next year which contains very deep austerity measures would be passed.
Let me read you the statement he made earlier on today. He said, "I will resign as soon as the budget law is passed, and since I believe there is no majority possible, I see elections being held at the beginning of February, and I will not be a candidate."
So, that's his preferred option. He wants elections as soon as possible, the beginning of next year. He says he won't be a candidate. So, it truly is the end of an era for him.
But I think it's important to remember, he doesn't get to decide whether there's an election or not. That responsibility lies with the Italian president. Those discussions are still very much under way.
Certainly, Carol, there's been a huge reaction on the financial markets today for this news, that they're not liking it at all. This scenario with elections sets the scene for the possibility of Berlusconi staying as prime minister as a caretaker up until possibly March or April next year.
And the prices on the markets, the bond deals, Italy has to pay for its enormous $2.6 trillion debt has gone up to over 7 percent, which is a sort of crisis-type interest rate for the country. And so, the international financial markets are not welcoming that news at all.
COSTELLO: Matthew Chance, reporting live from Rome today. Thanks so much.
Here at home, some in Congress want to ratchet up sanctions against Iran. One member raising concerns Israel could attack Iranian nuclear sites if further steps are not taken. This comes after a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency which found credible information Iran may be developing nuclear weapons.
Security expert David Albright says the report is troubling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID ALBRIGHT, INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE & INTL. SECURITY: It's not by any means a smoking gun, but it's another piece of evidence that the IAEA has that points to ongoing efforts to build nuclear weapons by Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, not for weapons. Its president calls the report a fabrication and says the head of the IAEA was a U.S. puppet.
Students rally behind Penn State coach Joe Paterno. While others say it's time for him to go amid the sex scandal that is rocking the school.
And the man tapped to produce Hollywood's biggest night is out of a job. What got him in trouble, you ask? We'll tell you.
It's 25 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning. It is Wednesday, November 9th. This is your "A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Carol Costello live from New York. It is 30 minutes past the hour.
Penn State says it will set up a special committee to investigate the sex scandal that's rocking the school. Former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is accused of abusing eight boys linked to a charity he helped establish. Two former Penn State officials are accused of trying to cover it up.
In light of the scandal, the school canceled head coach Joe Paterno's weekly news conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE PATERNO, PENN STATE HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: You know, you guys have a lot of questions. And I was hoping I was going to be able to answer them today. But we'll try to do it soon -- as soon as we can. I can't do it today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Last night, supporters of Joe Paterno rallied outside of his home. Still, there are calls for the head coach to resign.
Sandusky has a preliminary hearing scheduled for December 7th.
Democrats this morning are, no doubt, enjoying some impressive victories in yesterday's elections. CNN projects that voters in Ohio overwhelmingly struck down a law restricting collective bargaining rights of public workers.
In Mississippi, voters rejected another conservative measure, the so-called Personhood Amendment, that would have outlawed all abortions and many forms of contraception.
And in Arizona, republican state senator, Russell Pearce, who wrote a controversial immigration law was defeated in a recall election widely viewed as a vote against tough measures on illegal immigrants.
The grilling of Attorney General Eric Holder over "Operation Fast and Furious" is not over yet. He answered questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee about that controversial gun-tracking program on the U.S./Mexico border.
And Senator John Cornyn hammered him over the death of a border agent. His name was Brian Terry. Guns linked to the "Fast and Furious" program were found at Terry's murder scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOHN CORNYN, (R) TEXAS: Have you apologized to the family of Brian Terry?
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I have not apologized to them, but I certainly regret what happened.
CORNYN: Have you even talked to them?
HOLDER: I have not.
CORNYN: Would you like to apologize today for this program that went so wrong that took the life of a United States law enforcement agent?
HOLDER: I certainly regret what happened to Agent Brian Terry. I can only imagine the pain that his family has had to deal with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Holder will also face a House panel investigating the operation that will happen next month.
Autistic kids have more brain cells than normal. That's the finding of a small study in "The Journal of the American Medical Association." Scientists studied brain tissue from 13 dead boys. According to "USA Today," the autistic kids had some 67 percent more neurons than non-autistic children. Scientists stressed it's early, and more research needs to be done.
To basketball now, NBA players have until this afternoon to accept a contract offer from team owners. The offer gives players between 49 and 51 percent of revenues. Owners say if the players don't take it, the next deal offered will be worse. The NBA has canceled games through November 30th, so far.
Movie director, Brett Ratner, will not be producing next year's Oscars telecast after all. He stepped down yesterday in the wake of an uproar over an anti-gay remark he made over the weekend. In a statement, Ratner says he apologizes to everyone he hurt, quote, "publicly and unreservedly." Ratner directed the new Eddie Murphy/Ben Stiller action comedy "Tower Heist."
This morning, we're learning just how many people really made the switch this past weekend by giving up their big banks. We'll have the story in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: This morning we're getting real results of how many people actually took part in bank transfer day this past weekend. People were urged to send a strong message to big banks to close their accounts and open new accounts with credit unions or smaller banks. So, let's check in with Christine Romans. So, how many people switched banks?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Believe it or not, you did. You really did, folks. About 20,000 per day since B of A first announced that controversial $5 debit card plan. And then, 820,000 have switched, so far. That's just over the past couple of months. And on Saturday alone for bank transfer day, 40,000 people on Saturday alone signed up for credit unions.
$4.5 billion in new savings accounts. This is from a trade association, a trade group, for the credit union industry, Carol. But, clearly, what you've been seeing and hearing from people, you know, I know this weekend, there were some credit unions that are normally closed on the weekend that opened for a few hours on Saturday just so that they could process the transactions. So, there you go.
Until this movement, I think about eight percent of insured deposits in America were covered or were held in credit unions. I cannot wait until those statistics come out again for the quarter coming up so that we can see just how much more money now are in credit unions. Remember, credit unions are not for profit.
So, at the end of the year, if they make money, they give the money back to you. You can get a little dividend payment if you bank at a credit union. And a lot of credit unions also do something like (INAUDIBLE) charge, they'll give you the money back for the ATM charge, or, you know, they show you exactly how to use the network so that you get the lowest number of ATM charges and the like.
So, there you go. Small community banks also saw people moving into those as well. What I think is interesting, Carol, is I cannot wait for the next earnings report for Bank of America to see if they miss these customers. They've always said, for them to make money on these customers, they have these fees. We'll see how badly they miss these customers.
COSTELLO: So fascinating, isn't it?
ROMANS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about American Express, because it's planning to move beyond plastic cards?
ROMANS: It really is. You know, taking a plastic card and swiping it for a purchase is so 20th century. Everything now is about the, you know, the digital wallet, about walking in somewhere and the store knows who you are and being able to use a mobile device or something and pay. And so, now, American Express, which has really dominated, quite frankly, the plastic and how to pay for things.
The plastic industry is getting into this mobile payments business. And that's a really interesting place to be. They're going to be investing more money in buying up companies that are doing this mobile payments technology in three words that are real hot right now for Google, for Visa, for MasterCard, and now, for American Express as well.
I mean, there are those, Carol, who say the day of us carrying a piece of plastic will soon be gone. It will be on our phone or it will be somewhere else. It's really fascinating, the things that are happening in that arena.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. It is. We'll catch you more --
ROMANS: Sure.
COSTELLO: I'll talk with you again in about 20 minutes. Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: You got it.
COSTELLO: A hot mic reportedly catches President Obama in an embarrassing conversation with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy. On their mind, another world leader. Hmm, that's just ahead.
But first, it's 37 minutes past the hour. Today's "Get Smart" question. As you start planning to make that homemade pecan pie for the holidays, what is the price per pound that pecans are expected to cost this year? Is it $8? Is it $11? Or C. is it $9.75? We'll tell you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 39 minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
Now, back to today's "Get Smart" question. As you start planning to make that homemade pecan pie for the holidays, what is the price per pound of pecans? What's it going to be? Is it -- will it be $8? Will it be $11? Will it be $9.75? The answer is B, $11 per pound for pecans. Prices for pecans have soared 22 percent compared to last year and 57 percent compared to 2009 prices.
I was enjoying that song. Anyway, a big part of the pecan price increase is because of demand in China along with drought problems in Texas.
Be careful what you say around an open microphone. Many have learned that lesson the hard way. This time around, it's President Obama who has some explaining to do. CNN White House correspondent, Brianna Keilar, reports on his embarrassing exchange with the French president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In an open mic during last week's G-20 summit caught President Obama and French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, complaining about Israel's prime minister according to a report by Reuters. "I cannot bear Netanyahu. He's a liar," said Sarkozy.
Obama, according to a French interpreter who is translating his remarks, replied, "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you." The president didn't exactly come to the defense of Netanyahu whom he most recently saw at the U.N. in September. It's not surprising says Martin Indyk who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Clinton and Bush administrations. MARTIN INDYK, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: It reveals the inner feelings of the president towards Prime Minister Netanyahu. I don't think it's any secret that these two leaders have not gotten on basically from their first meeting on.
KEILAR: And in oval office encounter this past May, further revealed the frosty relationship between the leaders.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER: While Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace, it cannot go back to the 1967 alliance.
KEILAR: Netanyahu essentially lecturing a stern-faced President Obama. Today, White House press secretary, Jay Carney, in an off- camera briefing would not comment on the open-mic gaffe. He, instead, stressed the president's support of Israel, most recently in opposing a vote to give the Palestinian authority membership in the U.N.'s cultural agency, UNESCO. A move France supported.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America's commitment to Israel security is unshakable.
KEILAR: It's an embarrassing incident as both the U.S. and Israel keep a close eye on regime changes in the Middle East and on the growing threat of a nuclear Iran. But says Indyk, it may have no real effect on U.S./Israel relations.
INDYK: It's unlikely that these personality differences that have been highlighted by this mic that wasn't turned off are going to infect the coordination on Iran. If you like, the subject is too serious to be affected by personalities. They agree on the nature of the threat, and they also agree on the way to deal with it. That is by ratcheting up sanctions.
KEILAR (on-camera): Of course, this does give ammunition to President Obama's critics, namely Republicans who have said he hasn't backed Israel enough. We've heard from the pro-Israel advocacy group, the Anti-Defamation League, expressing disappointment and saying this was an unpresidential exchange.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: What Herman Cain is now saying about sexual harassment allegations against him, and another one of his accusers goes public. Those details just ahead. It's 43 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It is Wednesday, November 9th. 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.
Today in London, thousands of students will hit the streets to protest skyrocketing tuition costs. Let's head round the world with Atika Shubert. She's live in London. Good morning, Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. I'm actually just outside of St. Paul's Cathedral, and this has become the heart of the occupy movement here, and they're hoping to be joined by about 10,000 student demonstrators today. As you point out, they're protesting against government cuts and tuition hikes, but it's really also an expression of solidarity with the Occupy Movement.
Now, police are saying that the protest is going to go just north of this area won't be joining here. They're hoping to join in the protest as well. As you can imagine, police are very nervous today because you might remember that about a year ago, before occupy even got started, there was a massive student protest here in London that did end up with quite a bit of vandalism and violence.
Police took a lot of flak last time for not stopping it properly. This time, they say, they have about 4,000 cops on the street.
COSTELLO: Atika Shubert reporting live in London for us this morning, thank you.
Here at home, Herman Cain and his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination lock horns tonight in a debate in Michigan. One thing Cain can probably count on, more questions about the sexual harassment allegations that have engulfed his campaign since the story first broke more than a week ago.
Cain held a nationally televised news conference yesterday, once again, denying all accusations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The charges and the accusations I absolutely reject. They simply didn't happen. They simply did not happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Despite Cain's strong denials, another one of his accusers went public yesterday. Karen Kraushaar is one of the women who made accusations against Cain in the 1990s while Cain head at a National Restaurant Association.
Speaking to CNN, Kraushaar called Cain a serial denier and says she would like to hold a joint news conference with some of his other accusers. She says that she received a $46,000 sexual harassment settlement with the National Restaurant Association. Not a severance agreement as Cain has described it.
Democrats this morning are no doubt enjoying some impressive victories in yesterday's elections. CNN projects that voters in Ohio overwhelmingly struck down a law restricting collective bargaining rights of public workers.
In Mississippi, voters rejected another conservative measure, the so-called Personhood Amendment that would have outlawed all abortions and many forms of contraception.
And in Arizona, Republican state senator, Russell Pearce, who wrote a controversial immigration law was defeated in a recall election widely viewed as a vote on tough measures against illegal immigrants.
Air force investigators say there was serious misconduct in the handling of remains of the nation's war dead at the Dover Air Force Base mortuary in Delaware. The findings come after a year-long probe into allegations of wrongdoing made by whistleblowers. The air force says it's improving procedures at Dover but admits the mortuary staff failed to maintain accountability while processing remains for three service members.
You probably have heard it on your radio or your television, this is a test. This is only a test. Well, for the first time ever, a test of the emergency alert system will be made nationwide. It will happen at 2:00 p.m. eastern time today. Previously, the tests had been conducted by states and local communities.
The system has its roots in the cold war. It allows the president to address the nation within ten minutes from any location at any time.
Now, let's head to Atlanta, check in with Rob Marciano. Any flight delays today expected?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think Chicago's going to be a problem, Carol. I don't know if you can hear that. I just put some new paper in the printer. It's going bananas. We'll talk more about why because we've got a couple of storms to speak about. This radar is showing the rain that's moving into Chicago.
That will slow you down. And also, the snow on the back side of this, we're getting reports of several inches of snow in places like Iowa and heading up in towards Wisconsin. You'll see the rain change over to snow. So, this is all associated with a system that brought severe weather not only the day before yesterday with that tip in tornado but ten reports of tornadoes yesterday across parts of the Arklatex region.
As far as how much snow we expect to see in this area, anywhere from three to six in Iowa. Maybe a little bit more than that north of Green Bay. Winter storm warnings are posted for this area. There are your flight delays. Chicago, some rain and some wind. No rain or wind expected in New York and Philly, but maybe some morning fog, lowering the visibilities because it's so mild there.
Out ahead of this front, definitely warm. Temperatures will be in the 60s and even 70s in some spots. So, Indian summer for parts of the northeast. All right. Let's talk about what's happening over there in the Atlantic where tropical storm Sean has winds of 15 miles an hour. This thing will continue to head up towards Bermuda, but it's a full-on tropical storm now.
All right. We take you to California. Davis, California, where they like their bicycles. As a matter of fact, I think there's more bicycles than people there. I mean, a young man who runs a coffee business out there actually roasts the coffee every Tuesday with some friends using a bicycle to power that coffee roaster.
And then, they do about 160 jars per week. And, of course, they deliver that to homes, Carol, via bicycle. I've never --
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: I don't watch much coffee-roasting video, but to see one with a bicycle-powered dude doing it, certainly fascinating. There you go.
COSTELLO: Dude, whatever floats your boat. Whatever.
MARCIANO: There's your odd video of the day. It's good living out there in California.
COSTELLO: Weird living, but you're right, mostly good. Thanks, Rob. We appreciate it.
MARCIANO: You bet.
COSTELLO: OK. On to basketball now, NBA players have until this afternoon to accept a contract offer from team owners. The offer gives players between 49 and 51 percent of revenues. Owners say if the players don't take this offer, the next deal offered will be worse. The NBA has canceled games through November 30th, so far.
Talk about a boss who loves his employees. Find out why one entrepreneur is making a $50,000 offer many employees will not be able to refuse.
But first, let's take a look at the "Word of the Day." It's PANVAC. Find out what it means and why you need to know after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is four minutes until the top of the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
Back to today's "Word of the Day." It's PANVAC. What is PANVAC, you ask? It's a new vaccine that coaxes the body to attack tumor cells. It was tested on a small group of breast and ovarian cancer patients. And doctors say PANVAC improved overall survival time, and in some cases, stop the disease. Experts say this study is an exciting step forward in the treatment of those cancers.
The Herman Cain sexual harassment scandal is a classic case of he said/she said, and late-night comedians just can't seem to get enough. Here's your punch line.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, THE COLBERT REPORT: Cain's press conference was opened by his lawyer who made a lengthy introduction, then finally, Cain took the podium, admittedly without asking the podium whether it wanted to be taken.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you considered hiring Gloria Allred as your attorney?
(LAUGHTER)
CAIN: You almost made me say something that my handlers say you should not say. Let me put it to you this way. I can't think of anything that I would hire her to do, OK?
(LAUGHTER)
CAIN: I can't think of a thing.
(LAUGHTER)
COLBERT: And that look says he knows how to think of things for women to do.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Just looking at Stephen Colbert makes me laugh.
Oh, let's head to the NASDAQ MarketSite and check in with Carter Evans. Tell me something that will make me smile.
CARTER EVANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Something that will make you smile. Oh, I've got a story that will make you smile.
COSTELLO: OK.
EVANS: First, let's get through the reports that are coming up today. We're getting a reading on the mortgage index. That could make you smile today. Mortgage prices are, as you know, very, very low, close to all-time lows. Wholesale inventories, we're going to get a reading on that as well.
We're going to get earnings today from General Motors, Macy's, Polo, Ralph Lauren, Wendy's, and green Mountain Coffee just to name a few. Check out our futures, though. With the concern about what's going on over in Italy and Greece, finally catching up to investors, our futures are a lot lower today.
Dow futures down almost 150 points. NASDAQ off 37.25. S&P 500 futures down about 19 points.
So, on to the good news, right? This one will make you smile. Have you ever heard of this before, Carol? A company offering a $50,000 bonus when you've been there for five years.
COSTELLO: Really?
EVANS: Yeah.
COSTELLO: I'm going to work there. Where is this?
EVANS: This is in South Carolina. Charleston, South Carolina. This is a company called SIB Development and Consulting. And what they do is they teach businesses how to cut costs. They scour through their cell phone bills and things like that. This guy right in the middle here, his name is Dan Schneider (ph), 30 years old. This is the third company he's developed.
He says, you know what, training all of his 30 employees is very, very expensive. And it's worth it to keep him happy, to keep them happy and to give them that incentive. So, if you stay with this company for 25 years, you'll get a quarter million dollar bonus. So, that's every five years. $50,000.
COSTELLO: So, every five years you stay with the company, you get this $50,000 bonus.
EVANS: Not bad, huh?
COSTELLO: No. That's not bad. Good for him. Values his employees.
EVANS: He does.
COSTELLO: And it's a sound business decision because -- go ahead.
EVANS: Well, I was going to say, none of the employees. Of course, any employee being interviewed would say this, but none of the employees say they're looking for other work right now.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I bet not. That's awesome. Carter Evans, thanks so much.
EVANS: Sure.
COSTELLO: Carter Evans live from the NASDAQ MarketSite.
"AMERICAN MORNING" continues right now.
