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American Morning: Wake Up Call
Gingrich Feels Conservative Heat; "Shopping Spree" for U.S. Secret?; New Sandusky Accuser; "Take Back The Capitol" Protest; Alabama Immigration Crackdown
Aired December 07, 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: More disturbing allegations against Jerry Sandusky. Another man saying the ex-Penn State coach abused him and gave him alcohol as a boy.
Right revolt. Newt Gingrich, the man who once led a Republican revolution, is now being grilled by the likes of Glenn Beck.
And what cell phone game was so addicting that Alec Baldwin got kicked off a flight for it?
This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
(MUSIC)
COSTELLO: Hi. Good morning to you. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL for Wednesday, December 7th. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
Here are this morning's top stories:
A new accuser coming forward saying former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulted him when he was just 12 and gave him booze.
A new protest movement in D.C. These demonstrators attempting to take back the Capitol. They're staging sit-ins in front of congressional offices and camping out on the National Mall.
And it's decision day for seniors. It's the last time you can change your Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. The deadline was moved up this year from December 31st.
Let's get a check of today's weather. Meteorologist Rob Marciano with a seat in Atlanta.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol. We're looking at an active weather pattern, topsy-turvy once again, that seems to be the theme of the early season winter that's been crazy so far.
Here's the radar. Rain stretching now into the Northeast. It's going to get heavier. The heaviest stuff is across the Ohio River Valley.
But look at Memphis, Arkansas, Little Rock included, seeing some accumulating snow overnight, even as far south as Louisiana. That's what we're watching carefully. But, also potential for seeing rainfall across the Northeast. That could be flooding at least during the rush hour, street flooding, two to four inches of some snow, of some rain here during the night time, the night and in through tomorrow.
The backside of this, Carol, is going to be potentially bringing snow into the I-95 corridor, at least west of there. We'll talk about that and highlight who's going to get it and how much in about 15 minutes -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I guess we're due. I'm bracing myself, though.
MARCIANO: A little bit.
COSTELLO: Yes, thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
COSTELLO: New developments this morning in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. A 19-year-old man has now come forward with new allegations that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulted him when he was just 12. And this accuser claims that Sandusky gave him alcohol first.
"Patriot-News" reporter and CNN contributor Sara Ganim broke the story of the new accuser. She joined Erin Burnett last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARA GANIM, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What he was saying, though, is a little -- slightly different than what the other accusers have said. And this is why: he says that he was a Second Mile camper, staying at Second Mile facilities. In 2004, when he was 12 years old, he was in a swimming pool with Jerry Sandusky and other kids, was then separated from the other children, taken on a tour with Jerry Sandusky, taken to the football building and into an office in that football building where Jerry Sandusky gave him whiskey, started talking to him about his life and then molested him before taking him back to the camp.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Sandusky is charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse involving eight other young boys over a 15-year span. A preliminary hearing has been set for Tuesday. Sandusky's denied the charges and only has admitted to horsing around with the boys.
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will find out how long he's going away today. And he's expected to speak at day two of his sentencing hearing. Blago was convicted on political corruption charges, including trying to sell President Obama's former Senate seat. He still hasn't admitted to the shakedown scheme.
Prosecutors want Blagojevich to serve 15 to 20 years. His lawyers asked for mercy, saying that Blagojevich was a pawn of his advisers.
We're now inside a month until the Iowa caucuses. New CNN polls will be out in just a few hours showing where the Republican candidates stand and if they're like the others -- they will show that Newt Gingrich is dominating both nationally and in key primary states.
Despite his double digit leads, Gingrich has plenty of critics within his own party, including Glenn Beck -- as Jim Acosta shows us this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLENN BECK, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST, "THE GLENN BECK PROGRAM": The individual mandate --
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On his radio show, Glenn Beck turns up the Tea Party heat on Newt Gingrich, rubbing the former speaker's nose in his own past support for a health care individual mandate. The mandate that requires Americans to buy medical insurance is both a key component in the new health care law and poison for many conservatives.
BECK: Here is May 2011.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You either have health insurance or you post a bond or in some way you indicate you are going to be held accountable.
BECK: You seemed to be very interested in the government finding the solution.
GINGRICH: Well, let's go back to what I just said. Go back and listen to exactly what I was asked on that show, and what I said, I will stand by.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Support for an individual mandate? Folks, don't ask me to explain this.
ACOSTA: Conservative outrage our Gingrich's position on health care is now featured in a new TV ad from rival Ron Paul. It's a test for the new GOP front-runner who once posted a video on his YouTube page declaring his opposition to a mandate.
GINGRICH: I am completely opposed to the Obamacare mandate for individuals. I fought it for two-and-a-half years at the Center for Health Transformation.
ACOSTA: But on the Web site for Gingrich's Center for Health Transformation, the group advocates a requirement that anyone who earns more than $50,000 a year must purchase health insurance or post a bond.
Gingrich's past support for an individual mandate could be a bitter pill to swallow in the Tea Party. Right now, he has 82 percent of Tea Party support, far ahead of Romney, whose own health care mandate in Massachusetts is a major turnoff for voters in Iowa.
A new "Washington Post" poll finds 45 percent of Republican caucus goers in Iowa say it's a reason to oppose Romney.
IGOR VOLSKY, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: At the end of the day, they are going to find that he changes his positions much in the same way as Romney.
ACOSTA: Beck also pressed Gingrich on his now infamous ad with Nancy Pelosi on the need to combat climate change.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: We don't always see eye to eye, do we, Newt?
GINGRICH: No, but we do agree our country must take action to address climate change.
BECK: Do you still believe in the inconvenient truth as outlined by global climate change advocates?
GINGRICH: Well, I never believed in Al Gore's fantasy.
ACOSTA: The problem for Gingrich, he did the ad for Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection. Gingrich now calls the spot one of his dumbest mistakes.
(on camera): Gingrich is riding high in the polls with four weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses. The question, though, is whether some of his past positions on key conservative issues will catch up with him in time to slow him down.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: President Obama taking his push to extend a payroll tax cut on the road. It was in Kansas stressing how vital a deal is to your paycheck, emphasizing the widening inequality between the rich and middle class in America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a make or break moment for the middle class and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class, because what's at stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The White House has even placed a countdown clock on its Web site to pressure Congress. Republicans and Democrats cannot agree on how to pay for the tax break. The Democratic plan on the table right now calls for a 1.9 percent surtax on millionaires to get the cash. Republicans say many millionaires own business that create jobs and should not be taxed more.
Protesters are taking their demands right now to Congress. It's part of the new movement called Take Back the Capitol. Many of them camping out in halls outside lawmakers' offices hoping to impact key legislation that will come up before the end of the year. Several hundred more camped out on the National Mall and they're planning to march along K Street this morning.
In the meantime, some Occupy protesters are now occupying foreclosed homes. In cities across the country, protesters tried to occupy boarded up houses to give them to homeless people. March is also disrupted court auctions on homes seized by the banks.
It's been called the toughest illegal immigration crackdown in the nation -- much more harsh even than the one in Arizona. Now, the Alabama attorney general is suggesting changes to his state's law. He wants to repeal sections of the law that are being challenged by the Justice Department.
The law requires proof of citizenship for any interaction between a person and the state. Critics say that could keep people from getting some of the most basic human needs.
Sensitive military secrets in the hands of America's enemies. We are now learning new details about the top secret U.S. drone that went down in Iran last week and who might want to get their hands on it.
Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Aviation experts say commonly used drones like the Reaper and Predator can't even come close to what the RQ-170 can do.
PETER SINGER, SENIOR ANALYST, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: This is a plane that not only goes faster than those systems, that's not only stealthier than the previous generation, that it cannot only gather much better intelligence information about what's going on on the ground. There is also a system that's extensively smarter than the previous generation.
LAWRENCE: Analyst, Peter Singer, says, the Sentinel's radar is the same sophisticated stealth technology that allows America's newest fighter jets to outperform their Russian and Chinese equivalents.
SINGER: It's something really that takes radar to, you know, 21st century capabilities.
LAWRENCE: But how much of it, if any, is now in Iranian hands?
Reports from state-run TV claim Iran brought down the plane. They have not broadcast any pictures of the actual crash but claim the drone is relatively intact.
FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: I'm very skeptical of the Iranian claim of having shot it down. It is entirely possible that with the technology by which this drone is operating, that as the U.S. government has suggested, they just lost control of it, and so, it landed inside Iran's border.
LAWRENCE: A U.S. official says it was flying along Afghanistan's western border with Iran, and the flight crew control lost control of the aircraft just before it went down. Experts say they're not worried about Iran starting a production line of knock off drones, but Iran could provide parts to its allies who can then reverse-engineer the technology.
SINGER: The best way for the Iranians to ensure that it ends up in their hands -- counter ends up in their hands is not to try and build the counter on its own but provide it to Russia or China to build it and then sell it back to them.
LAWRENCE (on camera): Believe it or not, it's happened before. When an American spy plane was shut down by Serbia in the late '90s, the Russians and Chinese exploited that technology and are still using it in some of their weapons systems today.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Still to come, serious allegations against some DEA agents and they're coming from both sides of the border. It involves money laundering and Mexican drug cartels. Details ahead.
And a blogger finds a way to expose the private life of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
And it appears a blast of snow is headed for parts of the East Coast. What you can expect as soon as tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Fifteen minutes past the hour.
Here's what we're following this morning:
A new accuser has come forward in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. A 19-year-old man claims former football coach Jerry Sandusky gave him alcohol and then sexually assaulted him when he was just 12. Sandusky is charged with sexually abused eight other boys.
Mark Zuckerberg needs to check his privacy settings. A Facebook glitch allowed a blogger to access one of the young billionaire's private albums. That blogger then made the pictures public. Nothing scandalous, Just Zuckerberg cooking and giving out candy on Halloween.
Facebook has since fixed the security flaw.
In money news, major cuts to Citigroup's roster. The big bank will lay off 4,500 workers in the next few months. That's about 2 percent of its workforce. It's charging 400 million bucks this quarter to cover severance payments associated with layoffs.
In sports, leave the flip-flops at home. Major League Baseball unveils a new dress code for media members. That means no super short skirts, any team logos and sheer tops are a no-no. The MLB says the new guidelines are not in response to any single incident.
Baseball is the first pro league in North America to create a no-wear list.
Let's get a check of today's weather. I just can't imagine wearing a see-through shirt to cover a baseball game. But maybe some people do. I don't know, Rob.
MARCIANO: Well, I did that. The problem was it was coupled with a super-short skirt and that was frowned upon when I walked in the locker room. So, I'm sorry for all the other media out there.
COSTELLO: Now I'm going to have that image on my mind the entire day.
MARCIANO: I'm sorry to do that. It's kind of like a bad song, isn't it?
Good morning, Carol.
Hey, take a look at these numbers out of New Mexico. And it gives you an idea of what's to come in some spots in the U.S. Temperatures yesterday record-breaking in Estancia, New Mexico, minus 21. There is a Las Vegas in New Mexico, they got down to minus 9.
So, some of the temperatures are flip-flopping across the country. Thirty-three right now in Houston and 61 in New York. So, we are all over the place, rain moving up towards the New York area.
Snow moving into Memphis right now and some of the snow will be making its way up towards the Northeast as we go through time. But mostly west of the I-95 corridor. There are the highlighted amounts.
There will be problems. We'll highlight those airports of issue in 15 minutes -- Carol.
I'm not wearing a skirt right now even though I'm sitting down.
COSTELLO: I don't believe you.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: See you.
COSTELLO: Lawmakers are calling for a probe into the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. This following claims that the agency may have laundered money from Mexican drug cartels as part of an investigation.
Zain Verjee joins us with the details. She's live in London this morning.
Really?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, really. Now, senior Mexican officials are pretty mad about this, one saying this was really, really bad. And you can't fight crime by violating criminal laws of the country itself.
Now, what a lot of other officials in the U.S. are saying and former DEA officials are saying it's absolutely essential to be able to infiltrate a cartel and get -- and do all this money laundering stuff just to know how the inner workings actually function and only that way you can track the financial trail because that's what they say you need to hit in order to deal with these cartels.
"The New York Times," Carol, last week reported that these agents, the DEA agents, handled shipments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal cash across the border between the United States and Mexico. So, a lot of people on both sides are calling for an investigation about this -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Wow. Zain Verjee reporting live in London for us this morning.
Did you hear about this? Alec Baldwin kicked off an American Airlines flight at LAX. The actor says he was booted from plane for playing words with friends on his mobile device. Then came a storm of angry tweets. Alec Baldwin vowed never to fly American, complete with the hashtag, there's always United.
But another passenger onboard that flight claims Baldwin was being abusive to the crew. The airline says they are looking into the incident.
Still ahead on A.M. WAKE-UP CALL, change is on the way for taxpayers in New York. State lawmakers attempting to do what members of Congress have not done on Capitol Hill.
And imagine, every single one of your tweets available forever. It's about to happen. We'll explain.
It's 19 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: U.S. stock futures are trading higher this morning as investors are optimistic after news that E.U. leaders may create two rescue funds to fix the eurozone debt crisis. At the closing bell, the major indexes finished mixed. The Dow and S&P both closed up and the NASDAQ ended lower for the day.
The country's Rust belt, the auto belt, is getting a boost. According to a new forecast, a hiring boom is expected for the auto industry in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Two hundred thousand workers will likely be hired in those states, plus Indiana, by 2015.
A tax deal underway, but lawmakers say they plan to overhaul New York state's income tax, hiking taxes for the highest-earning residents and offering a tax break for the middle class. This only weeks before the millionaire surcharge expires. Under the package, the state will raise nearly $2 billion.
Happening this morning, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is in Paris to meet with the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other European leaders. Investors are closely watching these meetings, hoping something is going to be actually resolved in the euro debt crisis.
Christine Romans live here in New York to talk more about Geithner's role.
Good morning, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Well, you know, he's pushing for -- obviously for a solution to these problems and the U.S. is in it. Even though this is Europe's issue, Carol, as you know, the U.S. is in it, because this is our biggest customer, a destination for American goods. If Europe doesn't get its act together, American factories will close and people will lose their jobs. No question.
So, we're all in this global row boat together. We want to make sure -- Tim Geithner wants to make sure we're rowing in the same direction.
What they're talking about this morning, a lot of talk about a fire wall between countries. For example, if Italy starts having problems, there's a financial fire wall that they'll be able to enact. And also, the size of the stability found, this European rescue fund, talking about doubling the size of that. All of this is negotiations.
We're just -- as Ali and I like to say, this is all incremental. Every little piece of this story is so incremental. But Tim Geithner, the U.S. treasury secretary there.
And so far this morning, so far this week, there's been optimism that European leaders get it, they get that they're behind the curve and they're working hard to get ahead of the curve on this, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about something else, like credit scores. Yes, we must talk about credit scores, even though it's so early in the morning. But they're about to get a lot more detailed if one company gets its way. Tell us more about this.
ROMANS: It's a company called core logic. Please follow me on Twitter, @ChristineRomans, because I'm going to tweet you a link to this story.
"The New York Times" is reporting that the core logic is finding new ways to enhance your credit score, working with the big credit, with the traditional credit agencies to put new things in there like whether you're under water on your home, maybe even sort of -- some are speculating what kind of prescriptions that you're taking, what your property tax liens, if you're behind on your homeowner's association dues.
Now, I'm going to be very honest with you, the credit rating agencies know way more about you than you think they do. And one executive at a credit rating agency told me about a year ago, we know what you're going to do in your finances before you do. They run these algorithms on everything you've ever done, and how you behave, and how other people behave even in your own age group, in your own income group, in your own zip code.
They sell this information to the banks so they know what -- whether you're a good credit risk, the kind of person they want to sell a certain product to. So, your financial life is being analyzed in ways that we never would have even dreamed of 10 years ago or so.
So, this is just a new little twist on that, Carol. Think about this.
COSTELLO: Don't you wish -- yes, it's creepy. Don't you wish you could sunshine the mirror back on them, get all the dirt on them?
ROMANS: I don't know. I don't know if they're underwater on their loan, I don't know why it matters to me. But, you know, I will tell you --
COSTELLO: The bank -- I mean, they sell -- the credit agency sells the information to the banks. We know that banks aren't always on the up and up. Why don't they shine the light on the banks, too, instead of just on the poor consumer?
ROMANS: I would say we've been shining the lights on the banks over the past few years, if you ask me. But I will say something -- you need to pay your bills on time. That's the number one factor in a credit score is paying your bills on time.
So, all these other things I'm talking about are all little factors in an overall number, overall credit report, right? But if you pay your bills on time, your credit score will be golden -- bottom line.
COSTELLO: Christine Romans, we'll talk more about this, you're right, this is creepy. I'll see you in a bit, Christine.
ROMANS: Bye.
COSTELLO: Thank you.
Tweets are forever, at least the public ones. Federalnewsradio.com reports that the Library of Congress struck a deal with Twitter allowing the agency to receive an archive of every public tweet ever. They will be labeled as historical documents. If you're a Twitter user, you could be immortalized in history in 140 characters or less.
We'll be right back with the day's top stories.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (voice-over): A new protest movement in D.C. These demonstrators bringing their demands right to Congress like literally right outside their offices. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (on-camera): And good morning to you. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL for Wednesday, December 7th. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello. Here are this morning's top stories.
Another allegation against former Penn State coach, Jerry Sandusky. The attorney for a man who was 12 at the time says in 2004 Sandusky gave the boy whiskey and molested him in the Penn State football building. This boy was not among the eight boys included in the earlier grand jury report.
If you're eligible for Medicare, notice that big red circle on your calendar, because today is December 7th. That's the last day for Medicare open enrollment. In other years, the deadline was December 31st. This year, it is today. For details, go to medicare.gov.
And now, that Alec Baldwin, he was booted off an American Airlines flight yesterday in Los Angeles. He's addicted to that cell phone game Words with Friends. It's not clear if he refused to turn off his cell phone, or as TMZ reports, he slammed the rest room door so loudly the captain got involved. Either way, Alec Baldwin had to take a later flight to New York.
We're going to get down to the nitty-gritty of this story on AMERICAN MORNING, Rob Marciano, because I know you're wondering what happened on that plane with Alec Baldwin.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And what word was he so frustrated with that he had to go and slam the bathroom door? Isn't that Scrabble? Isn't that what that game is, Words with Friends?
COSTELLO: Basically, it's Scrabble. You're right. I feel his pain.
MARCIANO: He had some nice luggage on that video, by the way.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: If that's any consolation.
Let's look at what's going on across the south. Interesting weather today again. I mean, we've got snow across Memphis. We had accumulating snow in Little Rock, Arkansas last night. A couple inches there. One to two potentially around West Tennessee and even in through Northern parts of Mississippi and Alabama. Come on. Snow is accumulating and icy bridges being reported in Tipton County in West Tennessee. Now, you have to go west of I-95 to get accumulation with the storm as it heads towards the northeast, but two to six inches in spots potentially away from the larger cities. Right now, it's all rain. Temperatures in the metros near 60 from D.C. to New York City.
We'll keep it as rain throughout the day today, but they turn it to snow tonight and tomorrow. And there's your accumulation. If you are traveling today, we're looking at D.C., Philly, the usual spots will likely see over one-hour delays. Alec Baldwin, if you plan on getting on a plane today, that was for you.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I'm sure he appreciates that.
MARCIANO: I do love him in "30 Rock." It doesn't deter my fanship of him.
COSTELLO: He's a funny man, but he has a temper. Thank you, Rob.
New developments this morning in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. A 19-year-old man has now come forward with new allegations that former assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky, sexually assaulted him when he was just 12. And this accuser claims that Sandusky gave him alcohol first.
"Patriot News" reporter and CNN contributor, Sara Ganim broke the story of a new accuser. She joined Erin Burnett last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARA GANIM, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What he's saying, though, is a little slightly different than what the other accusers have said, and this is why. He said that he was a Second Mile camper staying at Second Mile facilities in 2004 when he was 12 years old.
He was in a swimming pool with Jerry Sandusky and other kids, was then separated from the other children, taken on a tour with Jerry Sandusky, taken to the football building and into an office in that football building where Jerry Sandusky gave him whiskey, started talking to him about his life, and then molested him before taking him back to the camp.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Sandusky is charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse involving eight other young boys over a 15-year span. A preliminary hearing has been set for Tuesday. Sandusky's denied charges and only admitted to horsing around with the boys.
Former Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, will find out how long he's going away today. He's expected to speak at day two of his sentencing hearing. Blago was convicted on political corruption charges, including trying to sell President Obama's former Senate seat. He still hasn't admitted to the shake down skim.
Prosecutors want Blagojevich to serve 15 to 20 years. His lawyers asked for mercy yesterday saying that Blagojevich was a pawn of his advisers.
With less than a month to go until the Iowa caucus, Newt Gingrich is the man to beat. He leads his Republican rivals in four different polls. Yahoo! News political reporter, Chris Moody, is there in Iowa this morning. So, Chris, Gingrich is surging in Iowa. Why? He doesn't even have really an organized campaign there.
CHRIS MOODY, POLITICAL REPORTER, YAHOO NEWS: You're right. He just opened his campaign office a couple of days ago here in Des Moines. He has very little ground game, very little organization. I was in the office just yesterday, and they were still putting up chairs and tables. And they didn't even have phones set up yet.
They just got their first telephone in Iowa just yesterday. So, now that he's surging nationally, that has translated to a pick up here in Iowa, but now, he's got to start organizing. He's done a great job building his supporter around the country, but now, he's got to get people to the caucuses by January 3rd.
COSTELLO: So, why the sudden love for Gingrich in Iowa?
MOODY: Well, I think it's still part of the anti-Romney sentiment. Over this entire campaign, Romney has polled steadily at about 20 percent, which means that there's 80 percent of the Republican electorate who do not like Mitt Romney, and they're looking for someone else, and now, they see here late in the game Newt Gingrich coming along.
They've known him for a long time as somebody as a Republican leader that they feel that they can trust, and they're giving him a very serious look, and I think it could last until January, and then, going forward into the other primaries.
COSTELLO: We'll see. You're also working on a story about Ron Paul, reaching out to religious conservatives in Iowa. Is it working?
MOODY: Well, he has made a major push to reach out to religious voters, to values voters here in the state. His ads have focused on his faith and his belief in pro-life principles, and he's made it very clear that he came to his political ideas through biblical faith. However, when a religious conservative looks at him, they ask him, OK, well, you believe in pro-life.
You believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. Are you going to pass federal legislation mandating that? And because of Ron Paul's libertarian leanings, he'll say no, I'm going to leave it to the states. So, a lot of the religious conservatives here tell me that, well, if he's not going to go to Washington and mandate it throughout the country, we're going to look somewhere else.
So, you know, they believe him, they just -- he's not their guy that's going to push through their ideas on a national level. COSTELLO: Chris Moody, Yahoo political reporter, thank you for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
MOODY: Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: President Obama taking his push to extend a payroll tax cut on the road. He was in Kansas stressing how vital a deal is to your paycheck, emphasizing the widening inequality between the rich and middle class in America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a make or break moment for the middle class and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class, because what's at stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The White House has even placed a countdown clock on its website to pressure Congress. Republicans and Democrats can't agree on how to pay for the tax break. The Democratic plan on the table right now calls for a 1.9 percent surtax on millionaires to get the cash. Republicans say many millionaires own businesses that create jobs and should not be taxed more.
Protesters are taking their demands right now to Congress as part of a new movement called "Take Back the Capitol." Many of them camping out in the halls outside lawmakers' offices hoping to impact key legislation that will come up before the end of the year. Several hundred more camped out on the national mall and are planning to march along (INAUDIBLE) this morning.
In the meantime, some occupy protesters are now occupying foreclosed homes. In cities across the country, protesters tried to occupy boarded up homes to give them to homeless people. March has also disrupted court auctions on homes seized by the banks.
Investigators now say a seven-year-old Georgia girl died of blunt force trauma to the head. The body of seven-year-old Jorleys Rivera was found in a trash bin outside of her apartment building about 40 miles north of Atlanta. She'd also been sexually assaulted and stabbed. Investigators say they found blood in one vacant apartment unit. They believe her killer probably lives in the complex or had access to it, but they have no suspects in custody yet.
It's been called the toughest illegal immigration crackdown in the nation, much more harsh even than the one in Arizona. And now, the Alabama attorney general is suggesting changes to his state's law. He wants to repeal sections of the law that are being challenged by the justice department. The law requires proof of citizenship for any interaction between a person and the state. Critics say that could keep people from getting some of the most basic human needs. And a big heads up now for more than 42 million Americans. The Medicare open enrollment period ends today for seniors. The deadline coming three weeks earlier than in previous years. Today is the last day seniors can enroll in a new prescription drug plan or renew their old one.
Many seniors don't realize they'll be locked into their health insurance for another year if they do not make changes by today.
Forty 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.
ROMANS: Good morning, Carol. Coming up in 20 minutes on "AM," another Jerry Sandusky accuser, this one saying he was abused as a little boy years ago and making a new accusation that we haven't heard before, that Sandusky gave him alcohol. We'll speak to the reporter who broke this story.
Where's the e-mail trail? New questions about missing records from Mitt Romney's days as Massachusetts governor and what may have been a huge tax-fare funded file dump.
A reversal of fortune. An Occupy Wall Street protester gets a job, and now, she's being called a sellout. Your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL right back after this break.
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COSTELLO: Forty-four minutes past the hour. Here's what we're following this morning.
A new accuser has come forward in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. A 19-year-old man claims former football coach, Jerry Sandusky, gave him alcohol and then sexually assaulted him when he was just 12. Sandusky is charged with sexually abusing eight other boys.
Instead of busting myths, they busted up a California house. Reality show, "Meet Busters," accidently launched a cannonball through the front door of a Dublin home smashing through the front door and wall. It was launched near (ph) by firing range. It's part of an experiment, but it's misfired. Incredibly, no one was hurt.
In money news, AT&T keeps its spot as the nation's worst carrier for the second year in a row. That's according to Consumer Reports. The ranking is based on customer satisfaction surveys. AT&T users biggest complaints, voice quality and customer support. Verizon was voted the best carrier.
In sports, leave the flip-flops at home. Major League Baseball unveils a dress code for media members. That means no super short skirt, nix any team logos and sheer tops are definite no-no. The MLB says the new guidelines are not in response to any single incident. Baseball is the first pro-league in North America to create a no-wear list. Got all that, Rob? MARCIANO: Got it. There's no professional baseball team in New Mexico, where they're probably not wearing short skirts and short tops right now. Check out some of the temperatures across that state. Yesterday, record-shattering numbers in Estancia, minus 21. There is a Las Vegas in New Mexico, minus 9 there, and some other numbers well below the freezing mark.
Check out 26 now in Dallas, 33 in Houston. It's below 30 in San Antonio and Austin. Meanwhile, it's 61 degrees in New York City. So, atmosphere kind of turned upside down right now, but we're going to fix that in just a little bit. Rain is moving in across the northeast. Some of this is going to be heavy at times. So, wet day.
Get the gear out, D.C., Philly, New York, all the big cities there, and then, west is where you're going to see more the heavier rain. And snow right now falling in Memphis, and it's accumulating on some of the surfaces, slick drive there. We got two inches in Little Rock last night
Most of the rain will turn to snow across the northeast, but most of the accumulation will be west of the I-95 corridor. So, it's not the time of year to be wearing any sort of, well, baseball attire.
COSTELLO: Yes. I was just going to say that segue was so convoluted yet charming at the same time.
MARCIANO: I'm glad you enjoyed that.
COSTELLO: I did.
MARCIANO: We'll submit it for some sort of reward.
COSTELLO: An Emmy, perhaps.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: See you in a little bit.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
COSTELLO: OK. An Australian man found guilty of blasphemy in Saudi Arabia sentenced to 500 lashes plus a year in jail. Now, Australia's government is urging Saudi Arabia to reconsider. Zain Verjee joins us live from London with that story. So, what did this man do?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's exactly unclear what he said. It's come under some kind of a blasphemy law which suggests he may have said something about the prophet, Mohammed. This man is 45 years old. He's a Shia Muslim. Saudi Arabia is majority Sunni country.
His name is Monsur Almari (ph), and he was on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Medina which is where the prophet is buried. Now, his family has said that he suffers from really serious health problems. He's diabetic.
He has a bad back, and the Australian government is saying, look, just show some leniency and let him go, but this is the situation with this man, and the government is trying to figure out what exactly is going on. But as it stands officially, he's going to get 500 lashes and a year in jail for whatever he said. We're still trying to figure that out.
COSTELLO: OK. Well, let's turn our attention to better news, happy news, fantastic news, I think. A royal pregnancy? I mean, everybody's wondering.
(LAUGHTER)
VERJEE: Yes. You know, is she with child? Is she not with child? We don't know. It's just a rumor, but rumors come from somewhere, and what happened was, last night, there was this event with Gary Barlow singing. It was some big charity concert. And Will and Kate were there, along with Prince Charles and Camilla.
And Kate was at the event, and she was holding a black clutch, but she was holding it in front of her stomach, you know, just like this. Just because she was like this and how she puts it, everybody thinks, well, maybe she's hiding something.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: You can't hide anything in that dress she was wearing, Zain. I don't care if you have a little handbag or not.
(LAUGHTER)
VERJEE: Well, that's the rumor. And we won't know till we know, and there's some kind of a confirmation from the palace. So, yes. So, don't know but always great to talk about it. And we'll keep a close eye on Kate, her dresses, and the clutches.
COSTELLO: I'm sorry. This is the actual dress she wore. I thought she was wearing that green dress, but no, it's this dress. So, I take it all back.
VERJEE: Yes.
COSTELLO: That dress could hide -- hmmm?
(LAUGHTER)
VERJEE: It could, right.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Yes, because print hides stuff.
VERJEE: Yes.
COSTELLO: I can't believe you know the brand of the dress. VERJEE: I do. I don't know why I know that either. I know it was like $100 from high street here which is like Main Street. That's what she was wearing.
COSTELLO: That's awesome. OK. We'll keep wondering. Thanks, Zain, we appreciate it.
VERJEE: Thanks, Carol.
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Japanese bombing on Pearl Harbor at the attack that launched the U.S. into World War II. 120 survivors are expected to arrive in Hawaii for the annual commemoration.
There will be rifle salutes and wreath presentations to honor and remember the nearly 2,400 people who died in that attack. In the meantime, the Pearl Harbor Survivor's Association will disband later this month.
Here's what we're working to bring you at the top of the hour. GOP presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney, facing some tough questions over allegations he spent thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to hide records of his term as Massachusetts governor.
And in just a few minutes, we're finding out more about what got actor, Alec Baldwin, thrown off an American Airlines flight. It's 50 minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
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COSTELLO: An eight-year-old boy showed up at a recent book signing with a very special message just for Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. And it left the GOP presidential candidate speechless. Here's your "Punch Line."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What's your name? Elijah, really good to meet you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have something to say?
BACHMANN: You can say about it. Go ahead. It's all right. You said it, but you know, I think my ears were too far away. Come a little closer.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: My mom, Ms. Bachmann, my mom is a gay, but she doesn't need any fixing.
JOY BEHAR, HOST, HLN'S JOY BEHAR SHOW: OK. That kid is lucky it was Bachmann. Newt Gingrich would have put him to work scrubbing toilets.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: Actor, Alec Baldwin, booted from an American Airlines flight, and he's vowing never to fly with them again. Let's talk about what happened with "Us Weekly" senior editor, Bradley Jacobs. Bradley, welcome.
BRADLEY JACOBS, "US WEEKLY" SENIOR EDITOR: Hey, Carol.
COSTELLO: What happened on this flight?
JACOBS: Well, it seems like Alec was playing on his iPhone, "Words with Friends," which all of us do all the time, and we all know what it's like to sit on an airplane and be told time and time again to put your handheld devices away, but we all know Alec is -- likes to push the limits on everything. And he seems to have been playing the game way to long and got into a tussle with the flight attendant.
And he also seems to have angered people by getting up and using the bathroom, even though their seat belt sign was on. So, some reports were saying that the captain ordered him off.
They actually pulled back to the gate and sent Alec on his merry way, but what's got everyone so interested in this is that Alec was tweeting the entire time, and he tweeted, his maybe now infamous hash tag, "No wonder American Air is bankrupt" -- "No wonder American Airlines is bankrupt," which was hysterical. And then, he also tweeted later that day, "There's always United."
COSTELLO: We actually have some sound, you know, interviews with passengers on the original flight, and of course, it was first class. So, one of those passengers is former boxing champ, Oscar De La Hoya. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSCAR DE LA HOYA, FORMER BOXING CHAMP: I actually felt Alec Baldwin, I mean, was turning off his devices, and I don't know, he just got a little angry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was on his phone. He didn't want to get off the phone, then he's talking to the bathroom and became a little bit irate and they had to remove him from the flight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, what's the airline saying about all of this?
JACOBS: The airline is saying that, first of all, they tweeted, "Alec, please get in contact with us. Please direct message us," which was very funny. They also said that they released a -- they tweeted themselves, "Our flight attendants were following federal safety procedures on electronic devices when aircraft door is closed."
And they also said they wouldn't comment on things that may or may not have happened on the flight. But, I think the reason everyone is so interested in this is everyone's been there. Everyone understands Twitter, and it's kind of funny that you feel like you were there following these tweets from Alec, and he does not pull punches.
COSTELLO: Well, I understand it from the perspective that I really don't believe if I leave my cell phone on or continue to play my game that the plane will crash. I just don believe that.
(LAUGHTER)
JACOBS: Exactly. Has there ever really been proof of that?
COSTELLO: I'm with you.
JACOBS: I think it's just that they want you to -- I always feel like they just want you to concentrate on what's happening, you know, a flight leaving the ground and land -- then later, landing. I don't know. That's for another segment.
COSTELLO: But we should obey the rules or we'll get kicked off the plane like Alec Baldwin. Thanks so much. We got to run.
That's it for this Wednesday edition of A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. "AMERICAN MORNING" continues right after a break. You make it a great day.
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