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American Morning: Wake Up Call

Cain Campaign Nearing Collapse?; Police Dismantling Occupy L.A.; Second Bernie Fine Accuser Speaks; S&P Downgrades Big Banks; Cain "Reassessing" Campaign; Second Bernie Fine Accuser Speaks; Empire State Building Planning IPO

Aired November 30, 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: Breaking news to tell you about. These are live pictures.

Dismantling of Occupy L.A. is underway. Hundreds of riot police moving in. Many Occupy protesters are standing their ground.

Britain is bracing for the biggest strike of the generation. Two million workers angry over a plan to cut pensions. And unions in the United States showing their support for -- their support for workers overseas.

And I've got a building to sell you. How you may be able to own a piece of the Empire State Building.

This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL for Wednesday, November 30th. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.

Here are this morning's top stories:

Herman Cain now reassessing whether to keep his campaign going after a woman named Ginger White accused him of a 13-year affair. Cain denies that he cheated on his wife, but a top campaign staffer telling CNN that Cain admitted the ongoing sex scandal has taken its toll on his family.

Bernie Fine's second accuser speaking to CNN -- Mike Lang talking about the abuse he says he suffered at the hands of the former Syracuse coach. In the meantime, Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim says he isn't worried about losing his job over the scandal.

And it could be a wild ride on Wall Street today after Standard & Poor's downgraded the ratings of several major U.S. banks. The agency saying it's changing the way it looks at financial institutions.

Let's head to Atlanta to get a check of the weather. Rob Marciano is back.

Good morning, new dad.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: (AUDIO BREAK) a little different for me nowadays but good to be back with my CNN family. Good to see you, Carol.

And we have interesting weather to talk about, that's for sure. The past couple of days have been zany, haven't they? The cold air dipping down all the way to the Deep South.

Here's what it looks like on the radar scope. The Northeast, your heavy rain. And the cold air will be coming in behind this thing. But record highs yesterday again, and some heavier across Connecticut and parts of the Northeast. That will be coming to an end. The colder air will move in.

Look at the comma-shaped cloud. You see the cold air blasting down to the South. Just how chilly is today across parts of the South? Well, it's colder right now than it is in New York City and Atlanta.

Thirty-eight in Atlanta, 33 degrees after some snow yesterday in Memphis, and 48 degrees in New York City.

We will see temperatures, obviously, slowly rise. But it will be a much cooler day today across the Northeast than it has been the past few days.

We'll talk more about flight delays and action out in California for those SoCal folks staying up late with us -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right.

COSTELLO: Breaking news to tell you about. The eviction of Occupy L.A., the camp, is now underway. This is a live look. This is what it looks like around city hall. You can see hundreds of riot police are moving in.

By some counts, there are more police officers than protesters. This comes 48 hours after demonstrators were ordered to leave. Police also issued several 10-minute warnings throughout the night. And those warnings were essentially ignored. Sandra Endo is live in downtown Los Angeles for us this morning. Sandra, is it peaceful so far?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So far, Carol, it's remarkably calm right now. As police go through the camp, they're dismantling the tents have been in place for nearly two months now right in front of city hall.

And I can show -- they have established a perimeter around this area, blocking off streets. There's cops in riot gear. The fire department is here. We've seen the bomb squad.

And let me show you over here, Carol, police in hazmat suits are methodically going through the encampment because protesters have obviously set up tents and brought in their stuff so they are going through those things right now.

Now, as this all went down, as you mentioned, protesters did get a warning that this raid was going to happen. That eviction was going to be clear. A lot of the protesters, hundreds of them, swarmed into the streets. Well, that is when cops raided the park and went into the encampment and basically took it over.

We were in the thick of things when this all happened. And initially, things were tense. There was a little pushing and shoving, but so far, so good. Things seem to be peaceful. Then those protesters who denied the order, who wanted to be arrested because of their cause, they all went into the middle of the encampment, sat down, linked arms, and they wanted to get arrested.

We were right there watching this all happen. The police methodically had a strategy. They made sure sections of the park inside the encampment were blocked off. And they made sure the media moved out as well. There was a camera that was a pool camera showing these arrests.

And obviously, one by one, they pulled out these protesters who were arrested. And from every witness account we could see, it was very peaceful and calm.

We also saw those cops in hazmat suits shake down these tents and then collapse them. And that is a process they're going through right now. Obviously, it's going to take some time because there are hundreds of campers inside this occupy protest camp.

So, clearly, this will be a long process throughout the night. We see police helicopters going overhead right now. But, again, protesters were warned as of Sunday midnight that they would be violating a city law, that they could not be protesting overnight here in front of city hall -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, we'll check back with you. Sandra Endo live in Los Angeles for us this morning.

A few weeks ago, he was the GOP front-runner. Now, the Herman Cain campaign may be in its final hours. A top campaign source telling CNN that Cain is now reassessing whether to keep going after a woman said she had an affair with him for 13 years. A decision could come in a few days after the campaigning -- after the campaign finds out whether fundraising is drying up. Herman Cain was on top of the polls before the two women came out accusing him of sexual harassment.

The latest CNN/ORC poll taken before the affair allegations surfaced has him at 17 percent, falling behind Mitt Romney and front- runner Newt Gingrich. Many other polls also have him in the mid- teens. Cain is denying these latest allegations. He says the woman accusing him of an affair was a friend, a friend he tried to help out financially.

The second man accusing Bernie Fine of child molestation is speaking out to CNN. Mike Lang, a former ball buy, accuses the former coach of sexually abusing him decades ago.

Our Gary Tuchman spoke with Lang about the allegations and the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The second accuser in this case is Bobby Davis' stepbrother, Mike Lang. Mike Lang is 45 years old.

He says he was a ball boy for Syracuse University for about 15 years, beginning when he was in junior high school. He said he did not talk about these accusations because he felt helpless and embarrassed.

But he's speaking out now, and he talked to us earlier.

He'd invite you to his house. You'd go. You would hang out there.

MIKE LANG: Right. I'd go over there every day.

TUCHMAN: And most of the time you would just watch TV, or would you study?

LANG: Watch TV, rake his lawn, do whatever I wanted to do. It was like my house, you know?

TUCHMAN: So you considered him like a fatherly figure?

LANG: Yes, absolutely.

TUCHMAN: But when did you realize that there was something wrong with what he was doing. What did he do to you?

LANG: He touched me. He kept touching me.

TUCHMAN: Where would he touch you?

LANG: In my leg and my penis.

TUCHMAN: And did you say something to him?

LANG: Yes, I said, Bernie, please stop this because I'm not that kind and I won't tolerate it. If you don't want me to come over here no more, I wouldn't come over here. But if you keep doing it, I'm not going to come over here.

TUCHMAN: But you were a kid and you knew this was wrong. And here's this grown-up man doing this to you. And when you said to him, stop doing that, what did he say to you?

LANG: He didn't say nothing. He'd move his hand and he wouldn't do it for that night.

TUCHMAN: On Tuesday night, Syracuse University had its first basketball game since Bernie Fine was fired. Last week when Syracuse had a game before he was fired, there was an honorary seat left on the bench for Bernie Fine. But at this game, no honorary seat whatsoever. Head coach Jim Boeheim got lots more applause, but there was no mention whatsoever of Bernie Fine.

This is Gary Tuchman, CNN, in Syracuse, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The man identified as victim number one in the Jerry Sandusky indictment will testify at a hearing in two weeks. That's coming from the accuser's attorney. It will be the first time the alleged victim will publicly confront Sandusky. His mother says the boy, who is now a teenager, was recently forced to leave his high school because bullies blamed him for Joe Paterno's firing.

He got the max. An angry judge throwing the book at Dr. Conrad Murray, sentencing him to four years behind bars for Michael Jackson's death, saying the doctor is dangerous and has no sense of remorse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE MICHAEL PASTOR, L.A. COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT: Experimental medicine is not going to be tolerated. And Mr. Jackson was an experiment. He engaged in this money-for-medicine madness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: After that scolding, cameras caught Murray blowing a kiss to someone in the courtroom while his way outside. Whether Murray will serve all of that time is another question because of the prison overcrowding problem in California right now.

The man arrested in connection with the disappearance of a Maryland woman in Aruba is a free man this morning. Gary Giordano's attorney says Aruban authorities let him go last night. Giordano has never been charged in the case. And the judge ruled he can no longer be kept in custody.

The missing woman, Robyn Gardner, was last seen in August when she went snorkeling with Giordano.

With $1,000 tax hike looming for many working families, the fight on Capitol Hill over extending the payroll tax cut is now turning to how to pay for it. The GOP for the first time is saying they'll back a one-year extension of the payroll tax holiday, but they're against a surtax on millionaires to offset the cost.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says the GOP will offer its own proposal this week. If Congress doesn't act, 121 million families could see an average $1,000 tax increase.

Pilot, employees and passengers all wondering what now after American Airlines became the latest U.S. carrier to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The airline says it will continue normal operations, honoring tickets and reservations and making exchanges and refunds as usual.

Rewards programs also expected to remain intact. But it could be a harder landing for American workers, with big changes ahead to paychecks and, of course, to pensions.

All of the nation's biggest banks put on notice that the old way of doing business won't cut it anymore. Standard & Poor's cut by one notch the rating of six of the largest U.S. banks, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan was the only bank that maintained a positive outlook.

S&P says the changes reflected new rules for the world's largest financial institutions. We'll ask Christine Romans what exactly this means for your money in just a few minutes.

Still to come, a federal agency comes out swinging against AT&T. Investigators saying the telecom giant did nothing but lie about a proposed merger with T-Mobile. We'll have details for you ahead.

And an update from three hedge fund managers who want the powerball lottery. They're revealing what they're going to do with all of that money.

And we'll look ahead to what to expect today, just a day after protesters stormed the British embassy in Iran.

A.M. WAKE-UP CALL will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is 15 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.

Here's what we're following this morning:

GOP candidate Herman Cain reassessing whether to continue his presidential run. His campaign has been rocked by a new sex scandal. An Atlanta businesswoman claims she had a 13-year-long affair with Cain.

Cain denies any sexual relationship. He's expected to make a final decision on his campaign in a few days.

Three hedge fund managers who won the powerball lottery say they will give away $1 million to charity. The Connecticut trio won a whopping $254 million. They claim to set up a trust fund to benefit U.S. veterans.

In the meantime, the men deny reports they accepted the winnings on behalf of a client who wanted to remain anonymous.

In money news, the FCC coming down hard on AT&T, accusing the giant of lying about its planned merger with T-Mobile. The FCC says the merger would not create the new U.S. jobs AT&T claims it would, and it actually would lessen competition in consumer choice.

In sports, the Boston Red Sox have a brand-new manager. Bobby Valentine, an ESPN analyst and, of course, a longtime coach, has accepted the job. He'll replace Terry Francona who was let go after the team's late season collapse.

Let's head to Rob, New York Yankees fan.

So, what do you think of Boston's choice?

MARCIANO: It's an excellent choice. It's not going to help much, but, I mean, it's a -- if I had to choose a manager, Bobby V. would certainly be top of the list.

Good morning again, Carol.

Speaking of Boston, a little rain there this morning. And after some record-breaking heat the past couple days, sure felt like late summer than early winter for the Northeast, hasn't it? And, by the way, today is December 1st. Yes, we kind of think of today as the first day of meteorological winter, just so you know.

So, temperatures are going to be dropping behind this thing. Cold and windy across the Great Lakes.

Speaking of wind, you see delays because of that. Also Chicago, wind yesterday. Strong winds again today. San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas also winds developing this afternoon for the next two days, strong wind event there. We'll talk more about what's going on out West in about 15 minutes -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It's actually November 30th.

MARCIANO: Is it? I need more sleep!

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: I know you do. It's OK. That's what a new baby does to you.

MARCIANO: It's the last day of hurricane season.

COSTELLO: That's good. That's even better. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: See you, Carol.

COSTELLO: See you in a bit.

The U.K. foreign secretary says there will be serious consequences for an Iranian mob assault on the British embassy. Protesters in Tehran stormed two facilities. The British parliament will address the incident today.

Zain Verjee live in London with more.

Good morning, Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol.

The British prime minister says that that attack was outrageous and indefensible. The U.K. is also warning of further serious consequences to the attack. It's not clear exactly what they would be. But the one instant move that the British have already taken, Carol, is to pull some of its embassy staff already out of Tehran.

Britain has cut financial ties to Iran, the first time it's ever completely severed ties. Anything transactional with any bank, any kind of deal is nonexistent between U.K. and Iran. Iran lashed back on Sunday. Its parliament voted to expel the U.K. ambassador to Iran.

So, they're both upping the ante on either side. But the Iranians, Carol, are saying they regret what happened -- Carol.

COSTELLO: On another topic, let's talk about the U.K. hacking investigation. Are you going to tell me about the voice of the -- what was her nickname? She had the voice of an angel.

VERJEE: The voice of an angel. I think that's me. But I'm not quite sure. Who you mean?

COSTELLO: Besides you.

VERJEE: The important thing here is that testimony by an ex- "News of the World" reporter by the name of Paul McMullan accused senior leaders like Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks at "News of the World," that he essentially said that they knew that the phone hacking was going on of celebrities and other really important people, and that it was widespread.

Senior leaders of "News of the World" have said that they didn't know what was going on. And even the ones that indicated they may have an inkling, they seemed to say that they had no idea that it was that widespread. So, these are really important allegations. Important testimony.

What this guy, Paul McMullan, also said was he blamed the public. And he said that they have an appetite for this kind of a market. So the public should take responsibility because they're the ones that want to read the kind of stories that they put out -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And they certainly do.

No, what I was talking about, I know that Charlotte Church, you know, when she was a little girl, she was the opera singer. They said she had the voice of an angel.

VERJEE: Oh, right. Yes.

COSTELLO: She testified as well. I guess she sang at Rupert Murdoch's wedding and in exchange supposedly -- go ahead.

VERJEE: Right. Sorry. Yes. She did speak out, you're right.

And she was upset because she had a family situation at the time. I believe her parents were getting divorced. And her phone messages were hacked. So she did speak out and testify.

COSTELLO: Got you. OK. Well, it's a disturbing case, though. It just seems to get, I don't know, worse and worse. Zain Verjee, thanks so much.

It's 20 minutes past the hour.

Topping our money headlines: the link between your 401(k) and yesterday's big bank downgrade.

And do you hate being nice just because it's the holidays? A new study proves you are far from being the only one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Stocks will open the day a little higher. Investors optimistic about Europe's progress on the debt crisis. But the Dow and the S&P saw gains yesterday, the Dow rising 33 points, the S&P up three points. But the NASDAQ did drop 12 points.

The big story this morning, S&P downgrades the credit ratings of dozens of America's largest banks. Christine Romans is with me now to explain what this all means, especially for your 401(k).

Good morning, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINES CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Well, it means that S&P a little more pessimistic on the health and outlook for some of the biggest banks of the world, lots and lots of different banks. A couple reasons, they're closely monitoring what's happening in Europe and just how easy it is for banks to fund themselves, watching the credit markets, watching the overall economy.

And also, they're looking at the countries where these banks do business and reevaluating how they look. So, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo -- the top six U.S. banks all downgraded by S&P.

S&P quick to point out, however, that some of these banks still have among the highest credit ratings in the world, just not as high as they used to be. So that's really important to note here as well.

Also, looking at Europe, in particular, this morning we're seeing, you know, funding, overnight very short-term funding problems for some of these banks. I mean, you're looking back at October 2008 was the last time we saw dollar funding costs this high. So, you're seeing strain in the global banking system. That's one of the reasons at play here for this downgrade as well.

And I quickly want to show you Bank of America. It's a widely held stock. You might bank there. You probably have it in your 401(k) somewhere because it's in a lot of mutual funds.

This stock is now down, Carol, 61 percent just so far this year. This has been an investment that has just been losing money for people for some time. It's a bank that is under huge weight of mortgage problems and also lawsuits over mortgage exposure, its mortgage behavior, and the behavior of companies that it bought who gave mortgages, the stock.

I know we have a chart. If we don't chart -- well, it's down 61 percent so far this year. I'll tell you what this chart looks like. It looks like this -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, I had an image in my mind, too.

ROMANS: I have a joke for you, too, by the way, about banks that I wanted to tell you really quickly this morning. As someone just told me -- give a man a gun, he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, he can rob the world. I thought you'd like that.

COSTELLO: Oh. I like it but I don't think many bankers probably would.

ROMANS: No. But I knew you'd chuckle over it.

COSTELLO: Yes. You got that right.

OK. Time for another chuckle, or depending on how you look at this, holiday humbug story -- because it looks like many Americans would rather be naughty than nice. There's a new poll out from "Consumer Reports" that finds 35 million Americans dread having to be nice during the holidays. That's a lot of Grinches, Christine.

ROMANS: I know. This is what they hate. They hate -- for a reason, they hate having to be nice, Carol, because they don't like -- they don't like getting fat, going into debt and they don't like waiting in line. That makes them grumpy all around.

COSTELLO: True, but that has nothing to do with your loved ones. I hate those things all year round, not just as Christmastime. But there you have it.

We'll talk more about it and other happy things on AMERICAN MORNING.

See you later, Christine.

ROMANS: Bye, Carol.

COSTELLO: Here's what we're working on for 5:30. All eyes on the Herman Cain campaign. What will the presidential hopeful do next after he's accused of having a 13-year-long extramarital affair?

And the cameras are there as Governor Rick Perry, he got mixed up again. It's 26 minutes past the hour.

This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The gaffes just keep on coming. Rick Perry swings and misses on simple campaign facts like the voting age and the actual date of Election Day. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL for Wednesday, November 30th. I'm Carol Costello. Here are this morning's top stories.

Herman Cain may be in reassess mode after allegations that the 13-year extramarital affair which could tell about (ph) last night. Cain laid out his foreign policy and national security strategy in a speech in Michigan. He harkened back to Reagan calling for, quote, "peace through strength and clarity."

It's been a tense morning in Los Angeles. Hundreds and hundreds of police moving in to clear occupy protesters from their encampment at L.A. city hall. So far, it's been mostly peaceful. We have seen a number of arrests. At one point, protesters launched fireworks from the camp. That's a live picture.

Dozens of banks have had their credit ratings downgraded. S&P took the action yeste4rday applying new rating criteria. Among the banks downgraded, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase.

Let's head to Atlanta to get a check of today's forecast. Good morning, Rob Marciano.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol. Some impressive snow totals coming in. Check them out across the south. This is a crazy snow event, and now, it's heading up towards the northeast. Eight inches in Arkansas, come on! Six inches in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and all this is moving up towards the northeast.

It's been warm with heavy rain across parts of the northeast. And out west, we're looking at warm and windy conditions. Winds gusting to 80 miles an hour potentially with Santa Ana winds blowing the next two days and that will cause not only some flight delays, but potentially, some trees and power lines down. Forty-nine for the high in Atlanta and 52 in New York. Flip-floppy weather to use a political term.

COSTELLO: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

MARCIANO: Back to you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, it's true, but we like that kind of flip-flop, especially when you're at flip to enter the flop. You know what I mean. Thank you, Rob. MARCIANO: OK, Carol.

Few weeks ago, he was the GOP frontrunner. Now, the Herman Cain train may be in its final hours. A top campaign source telling CNN that Cain is now reassessing whether to keep going after a woman accused him of having a 13-year affair with her. And the decision on Cain's part could come in a few days after the campaign finds out whether fundraising is drying up.

Herman Cain was on top of the polls before two women came out, you remember that, accusing him of sexual harassment. The latest CNN/ORC poll taken before the affair allegations surfaced had Cain at 17 percent falling behind Mitt Romney and frontrunner, Newt Gingrich. Many other polls have him in the mid teens.

Cain denies the latest allegations. He says the woman accusing him of an extramarital affair is a friend who he tried to help out financially.

So, could Cain's campaign come to an end this week? Yahoo! News Washington bureau chief, David Chelian, joins me live from Washington to talk about this. Good morning, David.

DAVID CHALIAN, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, YAHOO! NEWS: good morning.

COSTELLO: A lot of people are saying they just don't see how Cain can go on in light of this latest allegation.

CHALIAN: Well, you only believe that, I guess, if you start from the premise, Carol, that Herman Cain is actually running to be president of the United States. I don't know that that is the ultimate goal here or has ever really been the ultimate goal for Herman Cain. But, you know, he has developed a brand now inside of this nomination race, selling books, taking his bus tour out.

That wasn't always tied to actually accumulating delegates and putting a traditional campaign together to attain the Republican nomination. So, I don't know that the incentive will be there for him to drop out. There's no doubt, I spoke with his campaign yesterday. He is in that reassessment phase. but they tell me he's been in this reassessment phase before.

As you mentioned, when those harassment allegations came out, he sort of went through a reassessment but decided to plow ahead. His campaign manager, Mark Block, you remember, famously smoking in that web video, he said last night there's no way he's dropping out.

COSTELLO: I hear you, but I think that some voters -- I mean, they really believed in Herman Cain. Some voters did. They're angry at Herman Cain now. And if he stays in the race, not to be president, but just to sell more books, that will just make voters more cynical.

CHALIAN: Well, there's no doubt that he had a level of support. We saw him atop the polls. He was appealing for some time to many in the conservative ranks who have not warmed to Mitt Romney in any way. So, you're right that he will disappoint some supporters. There's no doubt about that, but it is very hard in presidential politics when you get on the phone with all of your top supporters, donors and say, I'm reassessing.

It's very hard to then have new money pour in, new supporters climb on board. It sort of freezes your entire campaign when you move into that mode no matter what happens. And remember, he was already on the decline before this extramarital affair allegation surfaced.

COSTELLO: Right. Let's just talk a little bit about Newt Gingrich, because Newt Gingrich seems to be, you know, he's the guy that's benefiting from Cain's problems, but will that last?

CHALIAN: Well, he is certainly becoming the alternative to Mitt Romney at the right time. We're now five weeks away from the voting beginning in Iowa with the caucuses, and this is the time if you are going to surge to the head of the pack that you want to do it. Some polls show sort of the Cain support if Cain were to drop out of the race.

You're right that Gingrich would certainly benefit from that, but there is some Romney supporters there, too, who will end up going with Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich, though, right now has emerged as the viable alternative to Mitt Romney as this race heads into the voting season. And it's unclear if that, too, will be a flavor of the month or if he'll be able to sustain that.

I have a sense that what he's going to have to prove here first is that he can withstand withering attacks from the Romney campaign. The one thing that every other Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, the others that we saw rise to the top, they did not have to withstand paid advertising from the Romney campaign trying to tear them down.

Newt Gingrich now coming to the front at this time in the race will probably have to withstand that kind of attack, and we'll have to see if he can do that.

COSTELLO: We'll see. David Chalian from Yahoo! News live in Washington for us this morning. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.

Oops, he did it again. Rick Perry makes a flub in a campaign speech in New Hampshire. The Republican presidential candidate gets the country's voting age and election date wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Those of you that are -- will be 21 by November the 12th, I ask for your support and your vote. Those of you who won't be, just work hard, because you're going to inherit this. And you're counting on us getting this right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: For the record, Election Day is set for November 6th. Bernie Fine's second accuser says he thought of the former Syracuse basketball coach as a father figure. Mike Lang telling CNN Fine touched him inappropriately at least a dozen times as a boy. Lang is the stepbrother of the first man to accuse Fine of molestation. Lang says he's speaking out so no other children will be hurt.

He got the max. An angry judge throwing the book at Dr. Conrad Murray sentencing him to four years behind bars for Michael Jackson's death saying, he's dangerous and has no sense of remorse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF JUDGE MICHAEL PASTOR, L.A. COUNTRY SUPERIOR COURT: Experimental medicine is not going to be tolerated. And Mr. Jackson was an experiment. He engaged in this money-for-medicine madness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: After that scolding, cameras caught Murray blowing a kiss to someone in court on his way outside. Whether Murray will serve all of that time is another question because there's a prison overcrowding problem in California.

With $1,000 tax hike looming for many working families, the fight on Capitol Hill over extending the payroll tax cut is now turning to how to pay for it. The GOP, for the first time, is saying they will back a one-year extension of the payroll tax holiday, but they're against a surtax on millionaires to offset the cost.

Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, says the GOP will offer its own proposal this week. If congress does not act, 121 million families could see an average $1,000 tax increase.

Pilots, employees, and passengers, all wondering what now after American Airlines becomes the largest U.S. carrier to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy. The airline says it will continue normal operations honoring tickets and reservations and making exchanges and refunds as normal. Rewards programs also expected to remain intact but could be a harder landing for American workers with big changes ahead to paychecks and to pensions.

All of the nation's biggest banks put on notice that the old way of doing business won't cut it anymore. Standard & Poor's cut by one notch the rating of six of the largest U.S. banks including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase.

JPMorgan was the only bank that maintained a positive outlook. S&P said the changes reflect new rules for the world's largest financial institutions.

It's 39 minutes past the hour. Let's get a check of what's coming up at the top of the hour on "American Morning." Good morning, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Coming up in about 20 minutes on "AM", bank lending freezing, stock market crashing. What happens if the Euro fails? We'll ask a Harvard economics professor, Ken Rogoff, an expert on crises, if this could be worse than 2008.

Secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, on a historic mission to Myanmar. What could be the future for more than 2,000 political prisoners there? Paula Hancocks is with Secretary Clinton on her trip, and she'll join us live.

And John Hinckley Jr., the man who shot President Reagan in 1981, could he go free? A hearing begins today over whether he should be released from the mental hospital and whether he's fit.

But first, this is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. We're back after a quick break.

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COSTELLO: Forty-four minutes past the hour. Here's what's all new this morning.

GOP candidate, Herman Cain, reassessing whether to continue his presidential run. His campaign has been rocked by a new sex scandal. An Atlanta businesswoman claims she had a 13-year-long extramarital affair with Cain. Cain denies any sexual relationship. He's expected to make a final decision on his campaign in a few days.

The Empire State Building could be yours. Well, a piece of it, anyway. The building might go public as part of a real estate investment trust. "The New York Times" says the company that controls the property has filed with the Security and Exchange Commission.

In money news, the FCC coming down hard on AT&T, accusing the telecom giant of lying about its planned merger with T-Mobile. The FCC says the merger would not create new jobs and would lessen completion and consumer choice.

In sports, big changes for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The team's head coach, Jack Del Rio, stepping down after nine years. The defensive coordinator will take over for the rest of the season. Bigger news, the team is getting sold. The new owner is Illinois businessman, Shahid Khan.

Let's get a check of today's weather and head to Atlanta. Rob Marciano back in the seat. Good morning, Rob.

MARCIANO: Good morning, Carol. A big storm rolling across the northeast with big changes in the temperature department. That's for sure. I don't have to tell you the past couple days have been extremely warm. Look at Bangor, Maine, almost 60 degrees this morning. Meanwhile, it's into the 30s across Washington, D.C., into the 20s in Milwaukee, and even places farther down to the south.

If you are traveling today, delays in New York metros, Chicago, and San Francisco, and Los Angeles, all because of wind for different reasons, but on both sides of the U.S., we're going to see some windy conditions. Fifty-two degrees in New York and a Brisk 52, 49 degrees in Atlanta, and certainly on the chilly side there. So, a brief taste of late summer. Now, reality sets in as we wrap up November

(LAUGHTER)

MARCIANO: Carol.

COSTELLO: You always get hit in the face with the reality eventually. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: You bet.

COSTELLO: Britain bracing for a major strike. Two million public sector workers could walk causing major disruptions to schools and hospitals. Workers are angry over proposed pension reforms. CNNs Jim Boulden is at London's Heathrow Airport. So, will transportation be affected, too, Jim?

JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there was a worry that because immigration officials were on strike today, that there would be a backlog of passengers arriving at Heathrow, but, so far, we're told that's not the case. One reason is the number of airlines did cancel their flights into Heathrow overnight.

We know that Delta canceled some flights. American Airlines certainly canceled six flights. British Airways, however, did not cancel any of there flights from North America. But as the passengers have been arriving into Heathrow, we are told, it's been OK. It could get worse later in the day, but we've had a long time to plan for this strike, Carol.

So, transportation not affected. You know, people, especially tourists in America, certainly used to underground strikes, tube strikes, bus strikes. This is not one of those. This is much more fundamental. These are people who don't normally strike. Teachers, workers at hotels -- sorry -- at hospitals, people who work at the archives and libraries.

These are people who don't strike. The union tells us, in fact, that more women striking today than ever struck before in the history of the UK -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jim Boulden reporting live from London this morning, thank you.

It's a busy day in the news world. Coming up at the top of the hour, today is day one of hearings involving the man who shot President Reagan back in 1981. A judge will soon decide whether John Hinckley Jr. should be released from a mental hospital.

And right after the break, entertainment headlines. Actor, Daniel Craig, has a few choice words for the Kardashian family. It's 47 minutes past.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: So, what do the latest allegations against Herman Cain mean for him? Well, he gets to be the brunt of another round of late- night jokes. Here's your punch line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART: The latest revelations about Herman Cain. And our new segment, "Indecision 2012 After Dark." Oh, yes. Hmm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another woman has come forward claiming a 13- year affair.

STEWART: Crap! Well, we've got to change the sign again, everybody.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: Got to put it back to zero.

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": And there's no reason for you to leave. A 13-year affair just proves you can carry on a stable relationship.

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: Two counting your marriage.

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: What's next?

STEWART: I can tell you what's next. This was the scene at the local Atlanta Fox affiliate that broke the story.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He touched my (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He touched my breast! He touched my breast! I'm on the Cain train!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. They're calling it Black Walnut Friday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Oh. Time now to take a look at morning entertainment headlines. "Showbiz Tonight" executive producer, Dave Levine, joins me by phone. Dave, good morning.

DAVE LEVINE, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT (on the phone): Hey, good morning, Carol. You know, the old expression, the bigger they are, the harder they fall? So, you know how big the Kardashians -- I shouldn't say are or were, they still are. But now, even James Bond is angry at them. Yes, James Bond. Well, really Daniel Craig.

Daniel Craig who plays James Bond was out promoting his new movie coming up, "the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." So, he did an interview with Britain's "GQ" magazine, and he started talking about celebrities and privacy. And he was asked about the Kardashians, and you've got to take a look at what he said about the Kardashians.

This is Daniel Craig. Ready? Here we go. "Look at the Kardashians. They're worth millions. I don't think they were that badly off to begin with, but now, look at them." He said, "You see that and you think, what, you mean, all I have to do is behave like a bleep idiot on television, and then, you'll pay me millions? I'm not judging it. Well, I am, obviously."

Carol, what does it say when James Bond is going after the Kardashians?

COSTELLO: Well, I think that many Americans probably feel exactly the same way as Daniel Craig.

LEVINE: But, you know, he also said something else really interesting, Carol. He was asked about celebrities who plea for their privacy after they put everything else out there, and he says, you know, you can't buy it back. You can't buy your privacy back and say ooh, I want to be alone. You know what? We've been in your living room. Don't say you want to be alone.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

LEVINE: Sorry. I get riled up about that.

COSTELLO: It's OK. I am curious about the Kardashians' reality television show. Has there been any dip in the ratings in light of, you know, all the controversy that's come in the last few weeks?

LEVINE: I think the big question is whether there's a -- whether there's going to be a big enough backlash against them that could hurt their show, but we'll have to wait and see. Hey, Carol, we've got some big news to break this morning. You ready?

COSTELLO: I'm ready.

LEVINE: All right. Here we go. You know what turmoil the presidential race is in. Remember when Donald Trump was planning on running or talking about running at the end of last season of "The Apprentice" and then he pulled back?

COSTELLO: Who could forget?

LEVINE: Well, "Showbiz Tonight" was interviewing Ivanka Trump yesterday on our show, and we happened to casually ask about, you know, should your father run for president? And we were shocked by what she said, because she said yes, I want him to run. Watch what she told "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: Well, there's only one potential candidate out there that I could throw my vote behind, and that would be him. So, you know, I wish he would run. I understand that it takes a lot to do that, you know, psychologically, emotionally, work wise.

He's got a lot on his plate in other endeavors, but, you know, I do think he would be an amazing candidate and an amazing president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVINE: Well, she felt very strongly about that. Now, there is absolutely no indication that Donald Trump may jump into the race, but hey, you never know. And besides, maybe he'll do it just in time for the new season of "Celebrity Apprentice." That would be some good publicity, Carol, huh?

COSTELLO: That's true, because I swear, I read somewhere that he's hinting oh, maybe I'll run as an independent, although, I don't think that's going to happen. But, maybe, he'll time it right. Maybe you're right. He's a smart guy. David Levine, thanks so much. It's been fun, as usual.

Let's get a check of the weather for a final time on A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. Good morning, Rob Marciano.

MARCIANO: Hey, Carol, temperatures in the 60s, even 70 degrees in some spots across the northeast with this weather system. Now, the backside of what we're coming through in reality will set in. Winds will blow and the rain will move out, and in some cases, you'll see some snow. Saw some snow as far south as Tennessee and Arkansas the past couple days, significant snow in some cases.

That will begin to melt even though it is colder coming in behind this thing and windy out west as well. Santa Ana is going to be blowing out, will still some down some traffic in San Francisco and Los Angeles if you are flying. Chicago as well, some strong winds. And in New York metros, we'll see windy conditions as well.

So, we're ending the month of November with, well, November fashion. Windy conditions. Fifty-two degrees in New York City for the high temperature. It will be 42 in Chicago, 49 degrees in Atlanta, and yes, that's right, 57 in Boston, and 49 degrees in Atlanta. The flip-flop weather continues.

Everything will be back to relatively normal tomorrow with colder conditions up north and warmer conditions down south the way it should be -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I know. The world was, like, out of whack. But, sadly for me, it's going to become go -- back to normal. That's what I'm trying to say. I have this cold, Rob, that I cannot get rid of. I'm trying. So, maybe when the cold weather hits the northeast, my cold will finally go away.

MARCIANO: Absolutely. We'll see you in a few minutes, Carol. COSTELLO: All right. Thanks, Rob.

That's it for this edition of A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. "American Morning" continues right after a break. You have a great day.

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