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American Morning: Wake Up Call
Penn State Sex Scandal Fallout; Rescuers Search for Survivors; World Sticks Today is Making Gains; Outrage Over Fannie-Freddie Bonuses
Aired November 11, 2011 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Friday, November the 11th. Happy Veterans Day.
This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Ali Velshi, joining you live this morning from New York.
Several developments this morning in the child abuse sex scandal involving Penn State. The team decided that assistant coach Mike McQueary will not be at Saturday's football game against Nebraska. The school says he's been receiving death threats.
In 2002, McQueary, who is working as a graduate assistant, told coach Joe Paterno that he had seen former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulting a young boy in a campus shower. Sandusky stands accused of assaulting eight boys.
Meantime, we're seeing a different side of Penn State students this morning. Students are coming together, using Facebook to coordinate a candle light vigil tonight in honor of the abused victims.
And less than a day after he was fired as head coach, Pennsylvania's two senators say they are dropping their bid for Joe Paterno to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
A Major League Baseball player kidnapped in Venezuela is still missing this morning. Gunman's snatched Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos from his family's home on Wednesday night. The Venezuelan baseball president says investigators are on the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSE GRASSO, VENEZUELAN NATL. BASEBALL LEAGUE: We are waiting for a solution. We talked with the authorities and they assure us that they're working very hard to solve this situation. And we're waiting for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Police have found the abandoned car used to abduct Ramos. They believe his abduction may be part of a sharp rise in kidnappings for ransom in Venezuela.
All right. The mayor of Oakland, California, says it's time for the "Occupy" protesters to go. Someone was killed near an area where the protesters are gathered. Now, police do not believe it's connected to the protests but Oakland's mayor says the risks are just too great.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JEAN QUAN, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: It is time for the encampment to end. I'm calling on the campers to please leave voluntarily tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: A local TV cameraman was taping just after that shooting. Someone didn't like that. They punched him in the back of the head. You can sort of see it there. He could have a concussion.
And a Vermont man has died after apparently shooting himself in the head. It happened at an occupy protest in Burlington, Vermont. Police say the man was a 35-year-old military veteran.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says careful consideration would need to be given before a strike on Iran's nuclear sites. Earlier this week, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency said Iran may be developing nuclear weapons. Iran says it isn't.
One U.S. lawmaker raised concerns that Israel might attack Iranian nuclear facilities without further steps by the United States or its allies. Panetta says a strike could have unintended consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Those consequences could involve not really deterring Iran from what they want to do. But more importantly, it could have a serious impact in the region and it could have a serious impact on U.S. forces in the region. I think all of those things, you know, need to be carefully considered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Now, Panetta added that an attack on Iran's nuclear program would only set them back a few years at most.
President Obama will soon be losing another member of his staff. "The Washington Post" reports that his personal assistant, Reggie Love, is leaving his position at year's end. He's seen here, the 30- year-old started as a staff assistant in Mr. Obama's Senate office. The White House says Love plans to focus full time on school.
Today is Veterans Day. Yesterday, the Senate passed a bill to help jobless vets. Employers would get up to $5,600 in tax credits for hiring veterans out of work for at least six months. They get up $9,600 for hiring long unemployed disabled vets. Right now, about 240,000 veterans are out of work. So far, the bill is the only piece of President Obama's job plan to pass in the Senate.
All right. Let's go to meteorologist Reynolds Wolf this morning in Atlanta.
Reynolds, it is 11-11-11 today. I have no idea what that means to you from a weather perspective. But let's throw it out there and see.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's time to talk about your forecast. I'll tell you what we're going to be seeing, Ali, today is a pretty interesting situation far to the Northeast. Gusty, windy conditions can be expected.
I'm telling you, it's going to keep planes on the tarmac for quite a bit. So, you got to be patient today.
It's just not going to be in New York. It's also going to be in Philadelphia and San Francisco, some showers can be expected. Maybe delays just over an hour.
And in Boston, D.C. metros, guess what? Same situation, the gusty, breezy conditions. What we're going to be seeing, though, in parts of the Southeast, not so much in terms of the wind. That was yesterday. Today, it's going to be the freeze threat that we have, morning lows, 20s to 30s.
And you could anticipate as we make our way into the afternoon hours, things are going to warm up pretty nicely for you with highs going back up very slowly -- there you go -- into the 70s and 80s in a few spots. Still in the Northeast, snow can expected out to the west, especially in parts of the Wasatch Range and along the coastal range. There you go.
All right. That's a snapshot into your forecast. Of course, Ali, we got more coming up. Let's pitch it right back to you in New York.
VELSHI: Thank you, Reynolds. I'll check in with you a little later this morning. Reynolds Wolf in the extreme weather center.
WOLF: OK. You bet.
VELSHI: It was the "oops" heard round the world. And who better to make light of Rick Perry's debate flub than Rick Perry himself. Here are his top excuses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Actually, there were three reasons I messed up last night. One was the nerves and two is the headache and three -- oops.
(LAUGHTER)
PERRY: Hey, listen, you try concentrating with Mitt Romney smiling at you. That is one handsome dude.
I had a 5-Hour energy drink six hours before the debate. I wanted to help take the heat off my buddy Herman Cain.
DAVID LETTERMAN, COMEDIAN: OK.
(APPLAUSE)
LETTERMAN: Let's put this stuff in the caboose.
And the number one Rick Perry excuse --
PERRY: I just learned Justin Bieber is my father.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right. We're working several developing stories at this hour. It's been two days since an earthquake struck in Turkey. But rescuers are still digging through the rubble and finding survivors.
Plus, an update on that Russian rocket that was headed to Mars but somehow got stuck. We'll explain.
But, first, it's time for our "Quote of the Day." It goes like this, "There comes a time when you have to be through negotiating, and we are."
Who said it? You got 90 seconds. The answer right after the break.
It is six minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It is eight minutes after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL here on CNN. I'm Ali Velshi.
It's time for our "Quote of the Day." It goes like this, "There comes a time when you have to be through negotiating, and we are."
That's from NBA Commissioner David Stern.
Negotiations broke off late last night in the league's labor dispute with its players. The players say they want more time to review the latest proposal. It appears to be the last hope to save the season. Games have already been canceled through November the 30th.
Well, maybe Texas Governor Rick Perry's "oops" moment at Wednesday night's debate isn't all bad. Jimmy Kimmel has an idea on how to turn the flub around. Here's your punch line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
JIMMY KIMMEL, COMEDIAN: One thing I know about Rick Perry is that he doesn't go down without a fight, even if he should. In fact, he's turning last night's negative into a -- I wouldn't say a positive but a double negative.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure I screwed up but America doesn't need a smarty pants know it all like them other fellows, they need a guy who knows how to wear chaps and walk horses or stand next to awesome machinery. There I am cutting a ribbon for something cool. Look at those guys, they like me.
That's my family. That's Joe Bob and the little one.
Whoa, check out that robot.
I'm Rick Perry. What am I doing again?
ANNOUNCER: Paid for by beef.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
VELSHI: Time now for your Political Ticker with Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM live -- Sirius XM POTUS live from Washington. It's been a while, I forgot for a moment there what it was called.
TIM FARLEY, SIRIUS POTUS: Come on now. You spent an hour on the radio channel yesterday. When am I getting a free copy of your book, by the way?
VELSHI: Oh, I'll send it right to you after this, depending on your answers.
Tim, you know, yesterday morning, we were still making fun of Rick Perry and then he came out and did the morning shows. I have to say, he brought a lot of charm with him, that Texas charm that he's got. Then he took it to late night on Letterman.
What's your sense? Do you think he's emerging from this or what?
FARLEY: No, no. Come on. I mean, this is going to be forever. It's sort of like the Dan Quayle, you know, Jack Kennedy, it's going to define him politically not just running for president or anything else he takes a shot at. I think this is going to be the "oops" heard round the world, as you said earlier in the show, and it's going to stick with him for a long time.
He's fun, but that's not what people want in a president.
VELSHI: One of the things that seems -- the effect seems to have been, he made his joke on Letterman that he was trying to deflect attention from his buddy Herman Cain. Is Herman Cain's scandal which has been bumped out of the news for about a day still hurting him?
FARLEY: Interesting notes on polls, first of all, this Quinnipiac poll that shows that Herman Cain is actually leading in Florida. But you note that if you had a head-to-head between President Obama and either Mitt Romney or Herman Cain, Mitt Romney would do better.
Additionally, the Cain campaign is talking about their fund- raising, saying, oh, we've raised a whole lot of money. They're pace is not actually increased. But they're on pace to get a lot of money.
I still think, though, frankly, Ali, that -- and most of the people I talked to who are behind the scenes, think this is a campaign that is not going to be able to sustain itself. It just doesn't have the ground game and the organization. Although it's got some money now, I think you'll see after the first three or four weeks, it's over for Herman Cain.
VELSHI: Right. But it's still attracting the attention and support of conservatives.
FARLEY: Absolutely.
VELSHI: Stronger conservatives who think that Herman Cain carries their flag fairly well.
FARLEY: Absolutely. They just want somebody other than Mitt Romney right now.
VELSHI: Right. All right. Tim, good to see you, my friend. I'll send you a book.
FARLEY: You, too.
VELSHI: That poll putting Herman Cain right in the front there. Tim is the host of "Morning Briefing" on POTUS Sirius XM.
All right. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell who's been a Washington insider for decades opens up to CNN's Piers Morgan about the president and polarized politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIERS MORGAN, HOST, CNN'S PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT: If you were president and many wish you had run for the highest office, what needs to be done now? I mean, what advice -- (INAUDIBLE) Barack Obama, what advice would you give him to get America back on its feet right now in the modern world?
COLIN POWELL, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, you know, you can't put it all on one individual. I think our system needs to take a deep breath and start correcting itself.
One of the things that troubles me the most, and I've been in this town on and off for the last 30 odd years, what troubles me the most, I've never seen such polarization in our political process. I have never seen a situation where you have people on the far left, on the far right, who focus on their own extreme positions and hold these as theological positions that can't be moved away from and changed. And everybody is measured against these extremes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: General Powell crossed party lines and backed President Obama in the last election, but he says he hasn't decided who he'll vote for in 2012.
Still ahead, an update on that Russian rocket that was headed to Mars but somehow got stuck. We'll explain after the break.
It's 13 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: So, you know I'm a bit of a space geek. And NASA has been bragging about its planned trip to Mars. No date for that yet. But Russian engineers are hoping to salvage a Mars mission that was supposed to be happening this week.
Let's go to Kristie Lu Stout, live from Hong Kong.
Tell us about this, Kristie. Good morning, by the way.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hey there. Good morning. Good to see you.
The Russians are really struggling. They are facing an uphill battle to get this mission back on a path to Mars. A Russian flight controller says they have not been able to communicate with the probe. So, they can't reignite its propulsion system.
Well, that could mean that this $170 million probe may soon join the growing collection of space junk. Now, it was designed to bring back soil samples from a Martian moon. But in orbit, it just failed to fire its propulsion system to send it on to Mars.
The probe is loaded with fuel. That's been raising eyebrows. But researchers say that there's no reason for worry since there's little danger of it colliding with other spacecraft of satellites -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right. But at least now, we're talking about missions to Mars. So, let's just talk about NASA. Where do we stand on NASA's proposed trip to Mars?
STOUT: That's right. NASA is scheduled to send its own spacecraft to Mars later this month so a rover can roam the red planet. And they are ready for liftoff. The rover, it's called the Curiosity is far larger than previous ones. It's 6 feet tall, it weighs some 900 kilograms.
But because it is so large, it will be lowered unto the Martian surface by what NASA calls a sky crane attached to a propulsion system. Pretty complicated stuff.
Now, the Curiosity, it plans to analyze Martian rocks to see if the red planet once supported life.
But, Ali, let's hope they can get it on the path to Mars first. Now, the launch is set for November the 25th, two weeks from now. Back to you.
VELSHI: OK. I didn't realize that date, November 25th.
All right. Kristie, thanks so much. Good to talk to you again. Kristie Lu Stout, joining us from Hong Kong.
And, Kristie, I'm going to be showing up where you are in a couple weeks. So, we'll do this in person.
STOUT: That's right. I'm looking forward to seeing you on CNN International. Take care.
VELSHI: Absolutely. See you, Kristie.
All right. Mobile users are on track to download a staggering 25 billion apps for their Android and Apple phones. That's according to estimates from the mobile analytics firm Flurry. It's a 300 percent jump over last year. Experts say sales of Android and Apple devices have skyrocketed globally and prices for both have dropped.
All right. Digging in the rubble, looking for survivors? We'll go right to Turkey where rescuers are busy trying to find those trapped after a powerful earthquake. That's coming up next.
Today is Veterans Day around the country, in the United States. A number of parades and ceremonies are planned to honor all American veterans. Make sure to thank a veteran today.
Seventeen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty minutes after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE- UP CALL here on CNN. I'm Ali Velshi.
Here are three things to put on your radar today:
At 11:00 a.m., President Obama takes part in the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in honor of Veterans Day.
Also today, family and friends remember boxing legend Joe Frazier who passed away earlier this week. His body will lay in state at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia today and tomorrow.
And Las Vegas is betting that today, 11-11-11, will be a lucky day. It's predicted that about 4,000 couples will be using this once in a lifetime opportunity to tie the knot.
All right. Another news: the death toll in eastern Turkey after Wednesday's earthquake stands at 19 now. It's the second quake in the area in less than a month.
And as our Ivan Watson reports, rescuers are working desperately to free dozens of people from the rubble.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A dramatic escape, seconds before an entire building collapses. The earth just won't stop shaking in eastern Turkey.
Security camera footage shows Wednesday night's 5.6 magnitude earthquake knocking out electricity in the eastern city of Van, and sending three men racing into the street just seconds before the Bayram Hotel came suddenly tumbling down.
(on camera): This is all that's left of what was a five-story building, a pancaked pile of rubble -- the scene of a dramatic rescue operation that's working round the clock.
(voice-over): Fortunately, rescue workers and heavy equipment were close by to help. They've flooded the area after a much more powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake slammed the Van region barely three weeks ago, killing more than 500 people.
On Wednesday, some of these rescue workers became victims of the latest quake. Emergency workers pulled this Japanese volunteer from the rubble.
MIYUKI KONNAI, SURVIVOR (through translator): And I tried to open my eyes. But I could not because of lots of dust getting into my eyes. When I finally managed to open my left eye slowly, there was a ray of light, I could see, in what I thought was complete darkness. That light gave me relief and gave me hope to live, that was the light from the computer I was using.
WATSON: Miyuki Konnai escaped, one of her fellow Japanese volunteers died from his injuries.
Amid stories of tragedy and hope, there's also anger.
Residents confronted Turkish officials on Thursday, demanding resignations.
Riot police charged the crowd, just yards away from collapsed buildings.
In the days ahead, there will be more questions about government enforcement of building codes and pressure to resettle hundreds of thousands of people made homeless.
But for now, turkey's earthquake survivors are just looking for a warm place to sleep. Most of them clearly too scared to step into their own homes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Ivan Watson joins me now from Van, Turkey, in eastern Turkey.
Ivan, about 25 buildings collapsed on Wednesday. The good news here is that a lot of them were empty because of the last quake.
WATSON: That's right. I'm in front of one of the buildings that had residents inside. This was a hotel and sadly, there were volunteers, like that Japanese woman we saw, and also journalists. There are two Turkish cameramen who were missing, still inside -- I'm sorry to say rescue workers have just found three bodies that they're preparing to pull out. The ambulances are waiting right here.
The death toll from Wednesday night's earthquake has swelled to 19.
And it has had an absolutely traumatizing effect on the population here, Ali. This is a city of about 1 million people. We are in the heart of it. Most of the shops are closed. It was like a ghost town last night.
People are terrified of going back into their homes. They're sleeping in tents, in makeshift tarpaulin shelters, and a few of the single story cafes where people feel safe. We saw men last night, 3:00 in the morning, sleeping on table tops.
I don't know when people will safe to go back into their homes in this region again -- Ali.
VELSHI: Ivan, is Turkey getting enough of the aid it needs? Do they have enough resources themselves to deal with this rescue effort?
WATSON: They've been getting a lot of assistance. The tents have been flooding in. They've been providing tents.
And in the surrounding countryside when you drive at night, they're like lanterns in the countryside lit up. But it's freezing here. There were snow flurries a little while ago.
And the bigger question, how do you rebuild the city of about a million people when you have eight, 10-story apartment buildings and hotel buildings with massive cracks up and down the sides? The building behind me had been OK'd. It had gotten the green light from Turkish authorities after last month's devastating earthquake and as you can see, it came tumbling down with deadly results.
So, people are going to need a lot of support in the months ahead to ever feel safe to come back into their homes and buildings again.
VELSHI: Yes, that's the worst part. There's a tragedy and then there's this fear good what happens next that stops people from moving on.
Ivan, thanks very much for your great reporting from Van, in eastern Turkey.
All right. We've got a picture of a cop car that goes flying through an Oregon man's home. It's all captured on dash cam video. I'm going to tell you who's at fault here. The person who's at fault has done this several times before. He's about to do it again.
Hollywood's biggest night, hosting Hollywood's biggest night, we'll have that after the break as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Good morning. It is Friday, November 11th, just crossing the half hour now.
Happy Veterans Day. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Ali Velshi, joining you live from New York this morning.
There's lots of green across the board, in markets across the world right now.
Let's go to Nina dos Santos, live in London, who's covering it for us.
There are lots of green dots, Nina. There aren't major moves today. It's been a roller coaster week in the markets. But, really, Nina, the story is not stock markets this week, it's bond markets.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's certainly right, Ali. What we saw yesterday was the Italian treasury managing to auction about $7 billion worth of bonds at a lower than expected yield. This is -- obviously, the yield is the sort of interest that investors demand to hold that debt. And as it gets riskier from a financial perspective, people are asking for more and more money in return to invest in Italy.
But the Italian treasury, it seems get away with it likely offering a yield of just over 6 percent. That's way down from the record highs behavior seven and a half percent. We saw earlier on in the week. And that was what was making everybody worried about Italy as the world's fourth largest debt. It costs more and more money once they surpass that danger zone of seven percent which is when other countries like Portugal, Ireland, also Greece have suffer (INAUDIBLE), Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN HOST: And of course all of this having reflection in stock markets, which then just makes people all sorts of nervous, Nina. So, you know Christine and I, have written a book called how to speak money which is supposed to help people understand this, a little better. You are the one person who does not need to buy this book because there's nothing in here we're going to teach you.
I'm not sure about that. I can certainly spend money. That's one thing I'm good at. Not sure I can speak money in such a clear and arrogant fashion as you, Ali. But when you're talking about the stock market, you're absolutely right. As you know also played in town that just on Thursday's session alone, we saw the Hang Seng (ph) in Asia ended day down by five percent and about $1 trillion was wiped off of global stocks. We've come some way towards erasing some of those losses but we're not out of the woods yet by any means.
VELSHI: Yes. And things are just shallowly green at the moment in Europe. We're looking at a flat to slightly higher open in the U.S. but that's a few hours away. So, anything can change.
Nina. Great to see you, as always. And I will be seeing more of you very shortly.
Nina dos Santos, joining us from London.
Back in the United States, the Obama administration is delaying plans for a controversial oil pipeline until after next year's election. The decision not to continue with the Key Stone pipeline from Canada comes just days after environmental activists protested outside the White House. They say the pipeline puts the U.S. at risk for more oil spills and keeps the nation dependent on dirty form of oil. The supporters of that pipeline would run from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico are criticizing the delay.
House speaker John Boehner says, quote, "more than 20,000 new American jobs have just been sacrificed in the name of political expediency. By putting on this project, the president has made clear that campaign politics are driving U.S. policy decisions at the expense of American jobs."
An army staff sergeant has been on convicted of killing three Afghan civilians. Calvin Gibbs (ph) has been sentenced to life in prison at a base in Washington State. Photos of Gibbs posing with bodies were leaked to the media last year. Prosecutors say he and his rogue kill squad plotted to kill innocent Afghan civilians, then planted weapons on them so it would look like that he were Taliban attackers. The other soldiers in the case struck a plea deal and testified against Gibbs.
Take a look at this. Oh! That was a police officer's car crashing through the bedroom of an Oregon man's home. The man was home when it happened. The officer was on an emergency call but the car in front of him failed to yield.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCIS DOMINGUEZ, POLICE OFFICE: It sounded like a glass, you know, crashing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was amazing, my roommate he didn't die that day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: It's unbelievable. That was a man's roommate. After this tape, that police investigators say the officer is not at fault for the accident, the driver of the other car is.
And we'll have to wait a little bit longer to see if NBA players and owners can strike a deal. Both sides failed to reach an agreement after marathon negotiations yesterday. Owners did present the players' union with an updated offer. If players accept the deal, a 72-game season could start on December 15th. The bitter labor dispute has dragged on for more than four months.
Well, the second woman to publicly accuse GOP candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment has decided not to hold a news conference for now. Karen Kraushaar's attorney says his client won't proceed unless all the other alleged victims join her. Another accuser, Sharon Bialek says she's on board if that happens. Cain flatly denies all allegations that he sexually harassed anyone.
And Billy Crystal will host the Oscars this year. Crystal was announced as the new host after Eddie Murphy quit. It will now be his ninth time hosting the academy awards.
How does the federal government reward the CEOs overseeing the sinking housing market? -- with millions. And that has some in congress outraged. I'll have more on that just a head.
But first, the get smart question of the day, some people believe multi-tasking make you less productive. But that has to stop U.S. smart phone users. Can you get one percentage of users multitask while watching TV? Is it 95 percent, 80 percent or 65 percent? I'll have the answer next. Its 35 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Sorry. Your get smart question of the day, some people believe multi-tasking makes you less productive. Clearly I'm not one of them. But that hasn't stopped smartphone users from multi-tasking. What percentage of users' multi-task while watching TV, I supposed to anchoring a TV show, 95 percent, 80 percent or 65 percent? The answer is "b," 80 percent. That's according to Yahoo! mobile and Razor fish. Those companies polled 2,000 smartphone users.
One interesting other thing is that it found 94 percent of those reported multi-taskers are exchanging e-mail, sending IMs, texting or social networking all while watching TV. Pay attention, put that thing down. Eyes front.
All right, it's no secret the U.S. economy is in bad shape. The housing market is down. People are struggling to pay their mortgage. So, how does the federal government reward the CEOs in charge of overseeing this crisis? Our Brian Todd takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You may not know Michael Williams but you'd probably want to be paid like him, same for Ed Haldman. They are the respective CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government sponsored firms which back at least half the mortgages in America.
According to records from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Williams and Haldman, each made about $900,000 in salary last year and each is getting paid $2 million in bonuses. Earlier this year, the federal government approved nearly $13 million in bonuses for Williams, Haldman and eight other execs from the two firms, despite the fact that millions of Americans are still struggling to make it through the housing crisis and that Fannie and Freddie have been hemorrhaging cash this year. They lost $10 billion in the last quarter and just asked Congress for more money.
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: This is completely excessive and uncalled for.
TODD: Republican Senator John Thune is spearheading an effort by 60 Democratic and Republicans senators to cancel the bonuses. They've sent a letter to the government body that oversees Fannie and Freddie, the federal housing finance agency asking it to revise the compensation policy for those execs. The FHFA approved those bonuses.
THUNE: Why would you be rewarding this kind of behavior and or this performance at least at a time when we have all these national economic issues and people across the country are very frustrated?
TODD: Contacted by CNN, officials at Fannie and Freddie wouldn't comment on the bonuses. Their overseeing, the FHFA says it's reduced executive pay at Fannie and Freddie in recent years that those firms have to pay that kind of money to attract that kind of talent needed to manage $5 trillion in mortgages. And officials here tells CNN, the reason the execs got the bonuses was because they took the right steps to turn things around at Fannie and Freddie after the mortgage meltdown.
A meltdown which triggered a massive bailout from the feds.
TODD: How big was the bail out of Fannie and Freddie compared to the auto bail outs and some of the others?
CLIFF ROSSI, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Yes. It was about $170 billion so far for both entities, both Fannie and Freddie. And I think the estimated tally, from what I understand from the congressional budget office is somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 billion. So, from that standpoint it's large relative to these other bailouts.
TODD: Analyst Cliff Rossi who once worked at both Fannie and Freddie says the current execs of those firms were put in place since the bailout to clean up the mess from before. He says they've started to do that but also says they haven't done enough to modify more home owners' bad mortgages. So, he's on the fence about whether they deserve their bonuses.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: A member of the Penn State coaching squad will not be on hand on Saturday because he's been receiving death threats. I'll give you the details of that, just ahead.
But first, this day in history, November 11th, 1918, World War I ended. More than 116,000 Americans died in the war that ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, a day that became known as Armistice Day and later what we celebrate today as Veterans Day.
It is 42 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Good morning. Friday November 11th. Happy Veterans Day. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Ali Velshi joining you live from New York.
With Greece and Italy facing financial meltdown, both countries are looking to come back from the brink. In just a few hours, Greece's new interim prime minister will be sworn in. So, what's next for Italy?
Let's go round the world with Matthew Chance. He's live in Rome. Matthew, how's the situation there?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the situation is moving quickly, Ali. The lawmakers here in Italy have called a special session of parliament tomorrow to get the budget law passed. After that opens the door for Silvio Berlusconi, the man the markets had lost faith in, to carry Italy through these difficult economic times, the door opens for him to step aside. We could be seeing a new kind a technocrat government in place here in Rome before the weekend is out. As I say, things moving quickly indeed.
VELSHI: Here's the question. It's the same problem that was happening in Greece. The austerity measures, the cut backs that the government has to impose in Italy in order to solve this problem are really endanger the country into another recession. There are a lot of Italians who just like the Greece. They are not going to like this. They are going to say, why do I want cut backs that are going to hurt me so that great banks - so that German banks can be saved and French banks can be saved? How are these technocrat governments going to deal with the opposition from the people of Italy?
CHANCE: Well, I think it will be very difficult. It's a huge challenge for them. Because ultimately even though they can rule by decrease of next several weeks and next several months. They are going to have to go to the people of Greece, the people of Italy, for a democratic mandate.
And you're right. The cuts that need to be instituted are extremely deep indeed. They are going to be painful for Italy and Greece as well. But you know, this is much more than the political, the economic crisis in those two countries.
We're talking now about whether the collapse of the euro zone can be prevented. All eyes are on to some extent Greece but much larger in extents on Italy as well. And so, I think the message of this politician, the challenge to these politicians is trying to communicate to the people of the country that you know, we have to sort out the problems in Italy and in Greece, otherwise, the whole euro zone falls to pieces. Ali.
VELSHI: We're watching it closely around the world. Right now, European markets and Asian markets did OK overnight. But we are still, as Nina Dos Santos and I were talking, this is all about debt and bonds. The situation in Italy getting a little better but very little can change the situation.
So, Matthew thanks very much for that. Matthew Chance, joining us from Rome, with the latest on the Italian developments.
Back in the United States, several developments this morning in the child abuse sex scandal involving Penn State. The team that has decided - the team has decided that assistant coach Mike McQueary will not be at Saturday's football game versus Nebraska. The school says he's been receiving death threats.
In 2002, McQueary, who is working as graduate assistant told Coach Joe Paterno that he had seen former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulting a young boy in a campus shower. Sandusky was accused of assaulting eight boys.
Meantime, we're seeing a different side of Penn State students. Students are coming together, using facebook to coordinate a candle light vigil tonight in honor of abused victims. And less than a day after he was fired as head coach, Pennsylvania's two senators say they are dropping their bid for Joe Paterno to receive the presidential Medal of Freedom.
A major league baseball player has been kidnapped in Venezuela. He's still missing this morning. Gunman snatched Washington national's catcher Wilson Ramos from his family home on Wednesday night. Police found abandoned car that was used to abduct him. They believe his abduction may be part of a sharp rise in kidnappings for ransom in Venezuela.
The mayor of Oakland, California, says it's time for occupy protesters to go. Someone was killed yesterday near an area where the protesters are gathered. Police don't believe it's connected to the protests but Oakland's mayor says the risks are too great.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JEAN QUAN, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: It is time for the encampment to end. I'm calling on the campers to please leave voluntarily tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: A local TV cameraman was taping just after the shooting. Watch closely here. Someone didn't like that, and punched him in the back of the head. He could have a concussion.
And in Vermont, man has died after apparently shooting himself in the head. It happened at an occupy protest in Burlington, Vermont. Police say he's a 35-year-old military veteran. Defense secretary Leon Panetta says careful consideration would need to be given before a strike on Iran's nuclear sites. Earlier this week, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Iran may be developing nuclear weapons. Iran says it isn't. One U.S. lawmaker raised concerns that Israel might attack Iranian nuclear facilities without further steps by the United States or its allies. Panetta says a strike could have unintended consequences. Panetta adds an attack on Iran's nuclear program could set them back a few years at most.
And today is Veterans Day. Yesterday, the Senate passed a bill to help jobless vets. Employers would get up to $5,600 in tax credits for hiring veterans out of work for at least six months and it goes up to $9,600 for hiring disabled vets. Right now, about 240,000 veterans are out of work. So far, the bill is the only piece of President Obama's jobs plan to pass in the senate.
Alright, let's go to meteorologist Reynolds Wolf in Atlanta.
Good morning, Reynolds. What are we looking at in flight delays this morning?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We are going to see quite a few unfortunately, Ali, especially in parts of the northeast. We go right to the weather maps, you are going to see them, see them, breath and whip. When you go in New York, in Philadelphia, all the major airports, gusty winds. These will be strong enough to keep you on the tarmac for about an hour. In Boston and D.C. metro, same story, you've got the gusty winds. In San Francisco, scattered showers may give you some delays. Also, a little bit of a fog on parts of the California coast could cause problems. Aggression on sky above and of course on the rods too.
Same else, we are going to be dealing with will be again, the storm system moving into parts of the northeast, what we can anticipate will be, again, not only that but also cool temperatures in parts of the southeast with morning lows in the 20s and 30s.
There's the national perspective, not only the wind but also rain for parts of the northeast and snow in parts of the Pacific Northwest. But still, sunny, cool and dry for much of the central and south plains. High temperatures, 71 in Dallas, 58 in Atlanta, 49 New Yorker high, 73 in Miami, 70 in Los Angeles and 56 in Portland, Oregon.
Now, Ali, if you thought today was just November 11th, you're right but if you thought that was all, you're wrong. It's actually also Veterans Day. If you thought it was also Veterans Day, you're not only wrong, you're wronger. It's National Corduroy Day. A lot of people, who are fans of corduroy think that it should be Corduroy Days because on the lines you have in say in the clothing, are perfect reason to celebrate Corduroy Day. Something is also -- if you're a friend of spinal tap, its Nigel Tapnal Day, as in the speak is go up to 11.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eleven. That's right. WOLF: And also, get this, more than 24,000 brides in the United States have registered to get married today on the 11th because why not? It's one of those cool kinds of things, 11-11-11.
VELSHI: You'll never forget your anniversary. You know on "AMERICAN MORNING" in about ten minutes, I'm going to be anchoring with Alina Cho.
WOLF: Yes.
VELSHI: And in honor of 11-11-11. Alina is wearing pants for the first time in I think in a decade.
WOLF: Unbelievable.
VELSHI: Good times.
WOLF: I know. I'm spell bound. And I know you are too.
VELSHI: She told me.
WOLF: There you go, buddy.
VELSHI: I wore pants today, same as every day.
WOLF: Hold on because this could be a moment.
VELSHI: It's always 11-11 for me.
WOLF: Hold on. Give me a second.
VELSHI: Yes, pants. Pants!
WOLF: See. Don't tell anybody. Good times.
VELSHI: 11s, brother.
WOLF: Exactly. We're good to go.
VELSHI: Reynolds Wolf in the weather center.
WOLF: Corduroy.
VELSHI: Happy 11-11-11.
All right, let's take a look at the word of the day is, de- certification. Find out why you're going to hear this word a lot today.
It's 52 minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: It is 56 minutes after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Ali Velshi in New York. We get you up to speed on today's the word of the day, it's de- certification, the procedure under which employees workers can disassociate themselves from a specific union. And it is one option that NBA players have been considering during their bidder lock out with team owners. If they don't accept the NBA's final offer, they could choose to take their case to court. The move will definitely end in any chance of a 2011-2012 season.
Here are three things to put on your radar today. At 11:00 a.m. President Obama takes part at a wreath playing ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in honor of Veterans Day.
Also today, family and friends will remember boxing legend Joe Frazier who passed away earlier this week. His body will lie in state at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia today and tomorrow.
And Las Vegas is betting that today, 11-11-11, will be a lucky day. It's predicted that about 4,000 couples will be using this once in a lifetime number to tie the knot.
Well, even though Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry has received a lot of criticism over the past couple days, comedians haven't forgotten about his rivals. Here's your punch line.
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JON STEWART, HOST, THE DAILY SHOW: Chief Romney rival in the polls, Herman Cain. The guy's in the middle of a scandal involving his treatment of women. Watch him day down this third discussing the highest ranking female official this country has ever had.
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The legislation has already been written. We didn't hear about it in the previous Congress because Princess Nancy sent it to committee and it stayed there.
STEWART: There is an age above which most women do not wish to be referred to as princess. And I believe that age is five. There's only three times you should ever use that term within actual female member of the royal family. A new Maltese puppy you got, and -- oh, what's the third? Michele Bachmann? Nobody's seen her since she won the AMES, Iowa straw poll. And stated that the HPV vaccine can do a referable arm, turns out that she was right and her campaign has proof.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Now let's go to Carter Evans for a look at your money this morning. He joins us live from the NASDAQ market site here in New York.
Good morning, Carter. Let's take a look at markets -- kind of green but not in a committed fashion.
CARTER EVANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Not in a committed fashion and we don't have a whole lot coming up that will help investors with that commitment as far as earnings and economic reports. We are going to get a reading on consumer sentiment a little later on this morning.
But as far as earnings, not really that much. We did manage to end in the green yesterday, barely, barely turned things around. We did end up pretty nicely, nicely though, in the green for the Dow. The FTSE in London is higher right now. The DAX in Germany is higher. Our futures are higher as well. This is a CNN money premarket page, Dow futures up 50 points. NASDAQ futures up about 16, S&P 500 up about seven and a half. Ali?
VELSHI: Yesterday morning, you warned us about green mountain coffee. What a train wreck yesterday. I kind a sad about that. I use those k-cups, very c convenient. I'm too lazy to actually make coffee in any other fashion. That wrecked the NASDAQ yesterday. Today we're paying attention to Disney.
EVANS: Yes, green mountain coffee was an abomination yesterday. That was big, big loss. That was a darling stock. A lot of people made money off that a few months ago. A lot of people lost money yesterday.
Disney made a lot of money. Forget Disneyland, Disney corporate headquarters yesterday was the happiest place on earth. Net earnings, net profit up 30 percent for the quarter, $1.1 billion, a new record for Disney.
And the interesting thing, Ali, for Disney here is. It's attributing this big gain to its consumer products division and also its parks and resorts. And you know that says some good things about the economy right there.
VELSHI: Yes, yes. It's a good indicator. All right.
Carter, good to see you, my friend. Thank you so much. That brings it to an end for WAKE-UP CALL today. We will back on Monday morning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern. "AMERICAN MORNING" continues right now.
