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Bachmann, Cain Duck Religion Question; GOP Candidates Prep for New Hampshire Debate; "Occupy Wall Street" Gains Momentum; Iowa's Race to Vote; At Least 25 Killed in Egypt Clashes; Pastor Calls Romney's Church a Cult; Paul McCartney Ties the Knot; Mammogram Confusion; Bullying: It Stops Here; Post Recession, Income Kept Falling; Occupy Wall Street Continues; A Salute to Miss Barbara as a Teacher

Aired October 10, 2011 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, ladies. Good to see you.

Well, the boundaries of presidential politics. This morning, the debate over where religion fits in if at all. A Texas pastor and supporter of Rick Perry has launched an ugly attack on Mitt Romney and his faith. He says Mormonism is a cult, and Romney is not a Christian.

Romney calls the comments poisonous and Rick Perry has distanced himself from him. But other GOP candidates are also navigating the political minefield, careful to not alienate either the mainstream voters or the evangelical Christians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's a Mormon. That much I know. I am not going to do an analysis of Mormonism versus Christianity for the sake of answering that. I'm not getting into that.

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think what the real focus is here again is on religious tolerance. That's really what this is about. And I think again to make this a big issue is just ridiculous right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We're covering all the angles for you. Paul Steinhauser is in Washington. Rachel Streitfeld is following the campaign to New Hampshire. And Shannon Travis is in Iowa.

Let's go ahead and start with you, Paul. Bachmann and Cain ducking the debate shows. Just how delicate the balancing act proves, I guess, how delicate that balancing act needs to be. So what do you think? Is this the end of the topic or are we going to hear a lot more?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I don't know if we're going to hear a lot more, but we are going to hear more, Kyra, no doubt about it. You're going to hear it today and tomorrow. Remember there's a debate tomorrow night. So it could come up there.

You heard that sound right there from "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley. Bachmann and Cain did not want to touch this issue. And a lot of the other presidential candidates as well don't want to touch it.

What about Romney and the controversy over his faith? He doesn't want to touch it that much either. It was kind of telling that Saturday at the Values Voters Summit he did not specifically mention Jeffress, the preacher from Texas, by name. And that's I think -- what you're going to hear from Romney this time around.

Remember, Mitt Romney had to deal with this four years ago. In fact, he had to give a speech in Texas about his Mormon faith. This time around, it's for him been there, done that. And I don't think he wants to deal with this again. He feels Republican voters know who he is. And that he feels that he doesn't have to deal with this again.

He wants to deal with the economy, Kyra. That is the overwhelming issue for all Americans, including social conservatives.

PHILLIPS: So what do Republican voters think about at this point and about this subject? Does it even matter to them at this point?

STEINHAUER: To some, it does. Take a look at this poll. This is interesting from ABC News and "The Washington Post." And you can see right there, one in five Republican -- likely Republican primary voters say they would be less likely to support a Mormon who's running for president.

But look at that, that's down from 36 percent four years ago when Mitt Romney was first running for the White House. So for some, it is an issue. And remember social conservative voters are very influential in picking the next GOP nominee, especially in states like Iowa, which leads the primary caucus calendar, and South Carolina, the first southern state to vote.

So overall, no, not that big an issue. But in some areas yes, it still does matter -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Paul, thanks.

And join us in about 10 minutes as we continue the discussion with Richard Mau, who leads an evangelical school in California and he wrote an opinion piece for our "Belief Blog."

All right. Let's follow the campaign, shall we? CNN has crews living in the key primary states now of New Hampshire and Iowa. Let's start with Rachel Streitfeld in New Hampshire.

Rachel, the next GOP debate is there tomorrow. So who has the most buzz going forward?

RACHEL STREITFELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, Kyra, let me give you what I'll call the New Hampshire disclaimer, which is that voters here take their job very seriously, and they want to hear from most, if not all of the presidential candidates here in New Hampshire before they make up their mind.

That being said, I can tell you that Mitt Romney has a significant lead in several of the polls that we've seen statewide in the last few weeks. Romney has a summer home in the state, and he was governor of Massachusetts, which is the next-door state. So the voters here are very familiar with him.

We've also seen Herman Cain surge here. We've seen him surge nationally, and he's doing the same in New Hampshire. But we haven't physically seen much of Cain here in the state. And then another candidate we've not seen much of is Michele Bachmann. She has not been here for more than three months, but she's here now, she's doing a three-day swing, hosting town halls across New Hampshire -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And what about Rick Perry? Where does he stand in New Hampshire?

STREITFELD: Rick Perry -- Rick Perry has been here several times since he jumped into the presidential contest. And he's -- there have been enthusiastic crowds who turn out for him, but he also gets some of the questions about illegal immigration that we've seen him get in other states.

And let me just tell you, the candidate I probably spend the most time with is Jon Huntsman. He is struggling nationally but is doing better here in New Hampshire. He's moved his campaign headquarters up here because he really sees this as the path to success for him -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And the primary date hasn't been set yet?

STREITFELD: That's true. We're not sure how long we're going to need to wear our snow shoes up here. So two states, Florida and Nevada, moved up the nominating contests, which means New Hampshire is in kind of a bind because the secretary of state is determined to protect that first in the nation primary status.

And that could push the primary into the first week of January or even into December. But that secretary of state, he's the only man who makes this decision. He has told us what his decision is yet and we're not sure when he will. So we're still waiting up here -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Rachel. Stay tuned.

All right, let's get to Iowa now as Republican leaders jockeyed to lock in a caucus state for the state's all-important election. Shannon Travis is there in Des Moines.

So, Shannon, Romney ahead in the polls but pretty much a no-show in Iowa.

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Yes. I mean let's talk about who's showing up and who's not. Like you just said, Romney is pretty much -- has been pretty much paying very scant attention to Iowa. Take the reverse of what Rachel just said. He's been spending a whole lot of time in New Hampshire, and the polls reflect it there. But the irony is, although he hasn't been to Iowa that much, Kyra, he still tops a lot of recent polls for Iowa, tops or at least is doing very well. So he hasn't been showing up here.

One really quick anecdote. As I have been going around to different candidates, events Bachmann, events Perry, that's here in Iowa, there's always a Romney guy here, Kyra, who stands at the front door and greets the other candidate's supporters and says, hey, I just want to let you know that even though Mitt Romney is not here, that his campaign is alive and well here.

Just really two other quick notes. Perry and Bachmann are obviously competing very heavily here. They've been stumping here a lot. They're trying to compete for pretty much the same voters, conservatives and evangelicals. And Rick Santorum, there are 99 counties in Iowa, Kyra. He's visited about 70 so far -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. And real quickly, the latest on the caucus date?

TRAVIS: Yes. The latest on the caucus date, we have a tentative date of January 3rd for Iowa. And my sources tell me that they are trying to move to have the Iowa caucus on the 3rd to kind of box New Hampshire in to having their primary in January as opposed to December, which is what Rachel just talked about.

PHILLIPS: Gotcha. Shannon Travis, thanks so much.

And we are expecting more demonstrations from "Occupy Wall Street" protesters. The movement is 24 days old now, and it seems to be gaining more momentum.

Let's bring in CNN's Christine Romans.

So, Christine, are politicians -- what do you think, starting to pay attention to their message?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They really are. I would say the movement is maturing and enduring, and that means people in Washington are trying to figure out what side of the "Occupy Wall Street" and "Occupy Washington" movement they want to be on.

First of all it looks as if Democrats are trying to endorse this and say, look, this shows you that people are unhappy, people are unhappy with the way things are going. And corporate greed, and follow our policies, and some Republicans are saying, hey, wait, they are trying to refocus and say, if you want to be mad, be mad at this White House and these economic policies. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: It's class warfare. Some of them are there because they don't have a job. Yes. But the fact of the matter is, why aren't there jobs? Go and picket the White House. Demonstrate in front of the White House. REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: When we said everyone should pay their fair share, the other side said that's class warfare. No, it's not. It's the most endearing American value, fairness. It's about everyone paying their fair share.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So, you know, after 23, 24 days now, clearly the very upper reaches of the political campaigns, and in Washington, people are taking notice. And I will point out that this weekend at least in New York, you saw big union officials starting to come by from the big teachers union, also from the AFL-CIO.

And you saw things change a little bit in Washington Square Park in New York. You saw people break out into working groups and have breakout sessions where they were discussing the kinds of things that they're looking for and how to get what they -- what they want done. And some of the things they want are pretty specific.

They want more money for the SEC, for example. Some of these groups wanted more money for the SEC so they could go after corporate criminals. They wanted lawyers at the SEC who are paid more and had more expertise so they could really dig in there.

Among the other things they want, the Buffett rule, the Buffett tax. They want more taxes for rich people. And they want to bring back something called the Glass-Steagall which was barriers and limitations for banks, for what banks can do. So getting more specific in their demands -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, and what's the buzz around this threat to the New York Stock Exchange's Web site?

ROMANS: Yes, this is something that anonymous, the hackers -- consortium announced last week that at 3:00 or 3:30 this afternoon they're going to try to take down the New York Stock Exchange Web site. The CEO of the New York Stock Exchange not commenting to me about that. No surprise there, I think, really.

But I will tell you that it is the Web site of the NYSC, which is not -- nothing is traded on the Web site. That's just the corporate Web site of the NYSC. But we'll be checking to see whether they're able to get through there and what sort of message that sending about just sort of the pillars of Wall Street and capitalism in America -- Kyra.?

PHILLIPS: All right. Christine, thanks.

Let's head overseas now. A pretty tense situation in Egypt again. At least 25 people were killed after violence erupted at a gathering to protest the burning of a Christian church.

CNN's Max Foster out of London for us today.

So, Max, let's talk about how these protests are so different from ones past. MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, you know, today the Egyptian prime minister, Kyra, talking about these protesters bringing us back to the tense violent period at the onset of the recent revolution. So actually saying, we're going back to that really dark time in Egypt, very worrying.

And conflicting reports about the numbers of injured and dead that the Health Ministry today is saying yesterday, late last night, that there were a total of 23 people dead and more than 180 injured.

This all happened yesterday. As you say it stems from the burning down of the Coptic Christian church a week ago. Coptic Christians feeling under attack in Egypt right now. This is what the world media is saying about it. The "Arab News" saying as Egypt undergoes a chaotic power transition and security vacuum in the wake of this year's uprising, Christians are particularly worried about this increase of show in power by the ultraconservative Muslims."

But "The Daily Telegraph" looks at it in a different way here in the UK. "Sectarianism will only get worse in Egypt." And they're saying, "The army has inherited all of the vices of Mubarak rule without any of the certainties of permanent and all-pervasive control. Until it either steps out of politics or comes up with its own plan to stabilizing the country, sectarianism and all its many other problems will only get worse."

So a suggestion there, Kyra, from "The Telegraph," but it could be worse than the Arab Spring, when there was so much hope after that, wasn't there, in Egypt.

PHILLIPS: Sure was. And we'll keep an eye on the clashes, Max. Thanks.

Well, a prominent Texas minister labeled Mormonism a cult. After the break, we'll talk to an evangelical leader who says he disagrees with that term.

And Sir Paul McCartney ties the knot for the third time. In about 10 minutes, we'll go to London for all the wedding details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking stories "Cross Country" now.

In the Florida Keys four people treaded water for 20 hours, including a 4-year-old girl, after their boat sank Saturday afternoon. The Coast Guard did manage to rescue three others.

In Chicago, the Firefighters Burn Foundation lost one of its heroes in a marathon yesterday. William Caviness was running to raise money for burn victims but collapsed just 500 yards from the finish line. He raised more than $2400 which far exceeded his goal.

California now has the toughest law in the land concerning teenagers and tanning. The new law makes tanning beds off limits to teens ages 14 to 18. Previously, they were allowed to tan with a parent or a legal guardian's permission

More now on the battle over religion and politics. It erupted over the weekend at that Values Voters Summit in Washington. A Texas pastor and Rick Perry supporter said Republicans shouldn't vote for Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon, and that the Mormon religion is a cult.

Well, I had a chance to interview Robert Jeffress, and I asked him when he made those comments if he was suggesting that religious beliefs should trump competence to be president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. ROBERT JEFFRESS, SR. PASTOR, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF DALLAS: The fact is, those of us who are evangelicals have every right to prefer and select a competent Christian over a competent non- Christian. And, again, Kyra, it's not the only issue, but it's certainly one issue that we evangelicals are going to consider.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Joining me now Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary and Evangelical School in Pasadena, California. He wrote an opinion piece for our belief blog. He says Jeffress went too far when he used the word "cult."

Richard, good to see you. Tell me why "cult" was the wrong word to use here.

RICHARD MOUW, PRESIDENT, FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: Well, Kyra, Mormonism has become really a major religion. I mean, it's in the millions around the world. It has a world class university. It has scholars. And, in fact, church leaders with doctorates from places like Harvard and Yale and other Ivy League schools.

It hardly fits the image of a cult, where a cult is a group of people who see themselves on the margins of the culture. True believers, they're the only ones who are recipients of the divine favor.

I have been in dialogue with Mormons for the last dozen years, a group of Mormon scholars, group of evangelicals, co-chaired by myself and a professor at Brigham Young University, Robert Millet, and we have had a lot of good discussions of the sort that you would never have, say with scientology or the Jehovah's Witnesses or Hare Krishna.

PHILLIPS: Interesting that you talk about the definition of a cult, and it's us versus them, and the fact that they don't engage in dialogue and smart conversation.

Do you think that Jeffress was behaving like a Christian here?

MOUW: Well, I don't want to judge his Christian commitment. But I do think there's a tendency among evangelicals who want to draw lines and are willing to use language like "cult" in order to put down another group, when really they ought to be spending some time asking the other group what they believe, and exploring the issues.

I think there's a real danger in -- you know, the Bible teaches us that we should not bear false witness against our neighbor. We need to tell the truth. If we're really in a struggle for the truth these days, then it's very important that we make sure that we're telling the truth about other people.

And I find that the word "cult" has come to have such a negative connotation that all you need do is say it, and you worry that somebody who's a member of that group has some kind of secret plot to take over and things like that that I think are very disturbing.

PHILLIPS: Final question, Richard, for you. Does it matter what your president's religion is?

MOUW: Well, it does matter. I care deeply about the values issues. On many of the issues that are discussed in those kinds of values arena kind of discussions, I do support various moral issue kinds of things. At the same time, I think they often set the agenda in much too narrow -- set of narrow terms.

But I do care. But for me, I think the important thing is to look at the ability to lead, the ability to pursue policies that promote the common good.

For me, as a Christian, I'm very concerned about the poor and the marginalized, and I care deeply about what a candidate says about those things. And so just saying I'm a Christian or I'm an evangelical isn't enough for me. I need to carry on that kind of conversation as well.

PHILLIPS: Richard Mouw, Mr. President, what a pleasure to talk to you this morning. Thank you.

MOUW: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

And if you'd like to read Richard's article go or join the conversation, just go to CNN.com/belief.

Paul McCartney takes another trip down the aisle. We'll have all the details from his celebrity wedding. It's coming up right after the break.

And all work and no play makes Harry a dull prince. Luckily, he squeezed in some bar hopping between chopper flights in California. We'll have all the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's get your showbiz headlines.

The former bassist for the band Weezer was found did in his hotel room over the weekend. Mikey Welsh had actually dreamt about dying there, according to tweets he posted last month. Welsh left Weezer in 2007 after a mental breakdown and suicide attempt.

Robot boxing beats political infighting at the box office. The huge action movie "Real Steel" debuted at number one over the weekend, easily topping George Clooney's "The Ides of March." "Real Steel" brought in more than 27 million bucks.

And a day after arriving in a California air base, Prince Harry takes a little training break. Captain Wales and some military buddies hit San Diego over the weekend, doing a little bar hopping, catching some rugby on TV. Folks who saw him say he was very low key.

Well, Paul McCartney is a newly wed. He's tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend. She is an American, Nancy Shevell. It's Sir Paul's third marriage, by the way.

CNN's Max Foster is in London with all the details.

Max, the wedding, of course, drew quite a crowd of spectators.

FOSTER: It certainly did. And he's been married twice now at the same town hall. This is where he also married Linda McCartney back in 1969. So, this was the big event.

It was very private, but there were lots and lots of photographers outside on Sunday to catch the moment. And Stella McCartney, Paul's daughter, famously didn't get on with his previous wife, Heather Mills McCartney. But he can assume she does like this choice, because she designed the outfits of both her father and of Nancy Shevell.

A few stars going there. Of course, Ringo Starr was invited, the only other surviving member of the Beatles. This would have been John Lennon's birthday as well, 71st birthday. So, he there was in spirit I guess.

Also interestingly, Barbara Walters was there. She is related to Shevell, and rumor has that Barbara Walters introduced this couple. So, lots of stars there. And Shevell, of course, has her own money. So you won't have the same sort of issues that they had with the previous wife -- let's say that.

She is a member of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and her father is pretty wealthy. How does it sound, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: She's quite an independent, hard-working woman. And you're right, Max. I mean, that was the talk when they first met. This is somebody that's got her own life going on, and probably this will last a lot longer than the last one.

FOSTER: Fingers crossed, yes.

Three marriages, and the last one was pretty disastrous. Ended up in that court case where the judge had a few choice words for Heather Mills, if you remember. But this seems different.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's hope so. Max, thanks.

Karina Huber at the New York Stock Exchange with a quick market check -- Karina.

Obviously, we'll get back to Karina after a quick break. She'll be ready in just a sec.

Also coming up, the big income slump. Why it just kept going after the recession officially ended.

One of our contributor says the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters are the idea of the Democratic Party. Another says, well, politicians need to tread carefully around the movement. We're talking more with LZ Granderson and Will Cain, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories.

Federal health officials say that 21 deaths are linked to the cantaloupes contaminated with listeria bacteria. More than 100 people have been sickened in two dozen states.

It looks like the upcoming NBA season keeps shrinking. Labor talks between the players and owners show no promise of reaching a compromise before today's deadline. That likely means at least the first two weeks will be cancelled.

And two American professors have won the Nobel Prize for economics. That's Thomas Sargent of New York University on the left. He and Christopher Sims from Princeton studied how changes in government policies impact a nation's company.

(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: And Stevie Wonder sings and President Obama says congratulations to a civil rights icon. The Reverend Joseph Lowery celebrated his 90th birthday this weekend with CNN's Soledad O'Brien hosting the event.

Our recession, rather, officially ended more than two years ago, but that didn't stop the slide in U.S. incomes. A new study calls our overall slump a significant reduction in the American standard of living.

Christine Romans joins us now.

Christine, household actually fell more after the recession than during.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The past few years have been really tough $49,909, that is average household income in the country and it's down. When you think back in 2007, Kyra, it was about $55,000. So, a new report from two former analysts in the U.S. census finding that this has been a very tough situation for households, even after the recession has been officially over. You can catch this whole story on this on the front of "The New York Times" today. But I will tell you a little bit something really interesting here. A couple of reasons. Your house value is likely down. Your job is likely either you've lost your job, or if you haven't lost your job, you are back into the work force and people are taking new jobs with significantly less pay. So their wages are not keeping up with the general increase in the cost of living for them.

Also keep in mind people who are out of work now are out of work more than 40 weeks. That's something that hurt. Remember all of those years we told you need three to six months of daily living expenses in the bank just you know to get you through a tough spot.

Well, that tough spot is now longer than anybody's rule of thumb ever was for how to get through a rainy day. So all of these things, sort of conspiring to show you that the recession officially over, but it doesn't feel like it.

I also think it's instructive for what we're seeing in occupy Wall Street. And what we're seeing in terms of politically how anxious people are in general about their feeling about how difficult it is to stay in the middle class. These numbers bear that out, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Christine Romans, thank you so much.

And you've got to think that the Wall Street protesters will point to that report and say, see, see? Let's talk more about Occupy Wall Street with CNN contributors, LZ Granderson and Will Cain.

OK Guys, let's go ahead and start with your quick thoughts so far on the protests to set the scene.

LZ GRANSERCON, CNN.COM CONTIRBUTOR: Well, you know what I think that it's fantastic that we finally have Americans who appear to be what we would consider left of center engaged more than just in the political process and blogging about it. It's good to see them out in the street and voicing their frustrations and being visible.

PHILLIPS: Will?

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Kyra, I want to be really careful here. I don't want to be dismissive. I really and sincerely want to be respectful of a group of people who are voicing an opinion. I have not been down to Occupy Wall Street. I have read and listened and talked to as many people as I could here and everywhere about this place.

But I think this Occupy Wall Street movement right now is just a Rorschach test, it's an ink blot test. People see in it what they want to see. It's a projection of what they already feel. Have I my opinions but that's what we are seeing right now. Basically everyone else projecting what they are already think on to this movement.

PHILLIPS: Alright. So we've heard Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich slam the protesters. Take a listen now to what Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I went by one of the protests in Washington, D.C., on Friday, and I saw a lot of signs from (inaudible) and other unions that were there. So I don't know how spontaneous these protests were. But it seems to me that their anger should be directed at the White House, because Barack Obama's policies have put us in one of the worst tailspins economically that we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Alright, guys. Republican congressman Paul Ryan threw in that Republicans, quote "want to lower the barriers against Americans who want to rise."

So LZ, do you think Republicans should turn the movement into an opportunity to fight Democrats in the White House?

GRANDERSON: You know what? I think that it is really smart to not try to hitch your wagon to a movement that doesn't seem to have a leader and is somewhat rudderless right now. I think it's wise that they do look at the things that are frustrating the protesters and try to direct those themes at the White House.

But honestly, I don't know why we are still listening to someone like a Michele Bachmann anyway, because every time she opens her mouth, she seems to be contradicting herself and making stuff up anyway. I wouldn't take too much of what she has to say into account in this conversation.

PHILLIPS: Will, let me get weigh on democratic Congressman John Lewis, who as we all know marched in the civil rights era. He said "these individuals all across America are saying in effect that the banks and other businesses are holding millions and billions of dollars. They need to invest in the American people and put people back to work."

Do you think may be protesters don't want enticement, or to excuse their bad decision? Lewis seems to think that they just want a fair shake. Will?

CAIN: OK. I think we've got two separate messages coming out here, Kyra. This is where my opinion comes into play, and that is if this movement, as so many characterize it, Paul Krugman in "The New York Times," John Lewis, is about a rigged system, if it's about banks that don't have to suffer the consequences of capitalism, they don't have to actually suffer failure, I stand with them.

But I also wonder why don't you just join the tea party? Because that's what the tea party was about. But I sense as LZ talked about themes, I sense some bigger themes. I sense themes of not wanting to deal with your own bad decisions, the consequences of your own bad decisions, debt you took on, a job you lost.

And project that and be angry at people that have succeeded. In a sense, I think this becomes the id of the Democratic Party, a sense of entitlement, a sense of envy, constantly limiting inequality. That I don't agree with, and Republicans you don't have a chance of attaching yourself to that nor should you.

PHILLIPS: Alright, bottom line, LZ, is this going to make a difference in 2012?

GRANDERSON: Yes. I think it will, because again, it is starting to engage people who may have been frustrated or who may have just been paying attention to just a cursory topics in terms of the general election. This is going to force people, hopefully prompt people, to look closer at the politics of people they are electing and make more informed and intelligent decisions. Yes, it will help.

PHILLIPS: Will?

CAIN: Yes. I think it will be somewhat a player in 2012. But that doesn't me it's going to be a benefit for Democrats? Let's be honest, this is evolving into democratic movement. It will be player which remains to be seen is, will be a benefit or determent.

PHILLIPS: Guys, thanks so much.

CAIN: Thank you.

GRANDERSON: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: And coming up, she taught hundreds and hundreds of kids through the years. Among them, CNN Contributor Bob Greene. He'll join us to talk about those special teachers that change our lives. And also he says goodbye to Miss Barbara.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: From kindergarten through high school, we spend over a decade in classrooms being taught and influenced by our teachers. And if we're lucky, we had that one special teacher who went the extra mile and made a bigger difference in our lives.

For me, it was Jessica Patton. I was in her journalism class at Helix High School in San Diego. And it definitely changed my life. Just the other week, in fact, Miss Patton was my special guest at a salute to teachers, event that I co-hosted in my hometown, which leads me to CNN.com Contributor Bob Greene. He just wrote his own salute to a teacher he'll never forget.

Bob, tell us about Miss Barbara.

BOB GREENE, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Kyra, Miss Barbara - her name was Barbara Drugan. But her whole adult life in Bexley Ohio, she asked to be called Miss Barbara. In 1947, straight out of Saint Mary's Springs Academy and Ohio State University, she started teaching kindergarten. And the remarkable thing about her, she passed away last week at the age of 85. The remarkable thing about her is she never forgot anyone, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years later. She would run into an adult who was a parent or a grandparent, and she knew their names, their parents' names, their brothers and sisters' names. And as you said, you were very lucky if you live in a town, in a community, where there is a person like Miss Barbara. And they don't get recognized much. And I think it's probably a good thing that we do.

PHILLIPS: You say that she remembered every student, every name. Bob, it's so important for us to never forget our roots as well. And the people that helped us become the adults that we are.

GREENE: Well, and she was so remarkable, that after she retired, there was a story in a community paper in town saying that they looked, they need volunteer crossing guards for the intersection. They already had patrol boys and girls at the other corner, but they needed adults to volunteer. And they announced a meeting. And Miss Barbara went to the meeting, and she was the only person to show up.

And for the next, for the next 27 years, as she grew old, she was on that corner every day in her crossing guard uniform, vest, helping those children come across. And I asked her once, because she was there in the rain. She was there in the snow. And as she got old, I said to her, wouldn't it be better on terrible weather days like this for you to stay home? And she said, no, it's on days like this that I'm needed the most, because the drivers may have bad visibility. There might be accidents. And these are the days that I have to be out there.

PHILLIPS: I tell you what teachers are absolutely remarkable people, when you find the right one. Bob thanks so much.

GREENE: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You can read bob's piece at about Miss Barbara at CNN.com/opinion. If you like, leave a comment about her and about your favorite teacher.

Coming up, new guidelines came out a couple of years ago and confused a lot of women so just who should get a mammogram? Elizabeth Cohen will clear that up.

And why don't kids that are bullied speak up, especially when anti-bullying programs are in place. We'll take a closer look at the root of bullying just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. It's been nearly two years since the government task force recommended against regular mammograms for women in their 40s. And since October is breast cancer awareness month, we asked Elizabeth Cohen to take a look at what that means over the last two years and what the current recommendations are.

So, tell us. What have we seen?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what, since that recommendation came out, and you remember sort of the hullabaloo that that caused. (CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Right. Get them, don't get them.

COHEN: Get them, don't get them, it really does seem that it's possible that women in their 40s are less likely to get mammograms. There was one hospital at the University of Colorado they decided to measure what was happening. In the nine months following that recommendation that women in their 40s didn't necessarily need mammograms, in the nine months after that recommendation, they saw 200 fewer women than they usually do.

So that's a lot, 200 fewer women at one hospital in nine months.

PHILLIPS: Well, a lot of women were worried too that insurance wouldn't pay for them.

COHEN: Right. And it turns out that that worry really might not have been -- might have been a needless worry, because it turns out that insurance is paying for them. At least from what we've heard and from what research we've done and from the health insurance folks themselves. They say insurance are still paying for mammograms for women in their 40s. They didn't stop after that recommendation. One reason may be they're not all that expensive. So they kept paying for them.

PHILLIPS: All right, so here we are, in our 40s.

COHEN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Do we get them or not? The bottom line.

COHEN: The bottom line is that most groups do recommend that women in their 40s get regular mammograms. And what's interesting is that even women with good insurance, Kyra, the rates of mammograms are going down. For some reason, even before this recommendation, we do not have great mammogram rates in this country.

So women in their 40s need to know that most groups do recommend that they get regular mammograms, and it's definitely worth discussing with your doctor.

PHILLIPS: (INAUDIBLE) It's saves lives.

COHEN: Right and very little harm.

PHILLIPS: Right.

COHEN: And a teeny tiny amount of radiation. And maybe an unnecessary biopsy at the worst, but that's it.

PHILLIPS: Thanks Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, students across the nation are speaking up about the constant bullying that they face every day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They physically abused me. They mentally abused me. They emotionally abused me. And I -- I'll admit it; I have thoughts of suicide in ninth grade.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Our Anderson Cooper takes a closer look at the roots of bullying, next.

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PHILLIPS: Well, while bullying is common in most schools across the nation, one has to wonder what more we could do to stop it and to stop kids from killing themselves because of it.

Our Anderson Cooper worked with a team of sociologists on a six- month pilot study into why bullying happens. This is what he found out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are calling me like gay, faggot, dumb ass.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will get comments like you're a slut. You're fat. You're a whore. You're disgusting.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360" (voice-over): Like a lot of schools in America, the Wheatley School has a bullying problems.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They physically abused me, they mentally abused me, emotionally abused me and I've -- I'll admit it, I had thought of suicide in ninth grade.

COOPER: More than 700 students at Wheatley were asked very specific questions about aggression in their school like did a student at your school pick on you or do something mean to you? Did you pick on or do something mean to another student at your school? The results were eye-opening. A key finding, bullies, what researchers called aggressors, are often also victims.

(on camera): Do you think somebody is an aggressor and somebody is a victim or do you think it crosses over?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone is a bully and everyone is a victim.

COOPER: Everyone is a bully?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every -- like you bullied, I bullied, whether you know it or not, you have bullied someone.

COOPER: The study also shows why kid's bully. Sociologist Robert Farris calls it social combat, using aggressive bullying behavior to climb the social ladder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty much a race to the top. By getting to the top, you view yourself as one of the important people of your school, and that is -- that's the reason why bullying occurs.

COOPER: And the study found the higher they get the more aggressive and victimized they become; 56 percent of Wheatley students surveyed said they were loved in either aggression, victimization, or both. More than 80 percent of incidents were never reported to adults, and this is in a school district that takes the issue seriously. They have anti-bullying programs from kindergarten through 12th grade and awareness assemblies throughout the year. Principal Sean Feeney --

SEAN FEENEY, PRINCIPAL, WHEATLEY SCHOOL: It breaks my heart when they keep that all inside and we're not aware of it. So, you know, our goal, of course, is to try to reach all of our students.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's time for us to take a stand. All this week 8:00 p.m. Anderson Cooper and CNN bring attention to America's bullying crisis. Then, Saturday night watch the "BULLYING, IT STOPS HERE" at town hall led by Anderson 8:00 Eastern Time.

All right, let's check some stories making news later today.

At 11:00 Eastern Republican, presidential candidate Jon Huntsman outlines his vision for foreign policy, and then later that hour also in New Hampshire, fellow GOP challenger Mitt Romney holds a town hall meeting in Milford.

Then at 12:45 Eastern President Obama visits with wounded service members at Walter Reed Military Medical Center.

We're following lots of developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's start first with our Paul Steinhauser. Hey Paul.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Kyra.

Well, I think it's fair to say politicians love an opportunity. Maybe that's why it seems Republicans and Democrats appear to be trying to cozy up to that Occupy Wall Street movement. Details at the top of the hour.

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Max Foster in London with the fallout from weekend clashes in Egypt which left 26 Christians dead. Details at the top of the hour.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Deb Feyerick in New York. Medicaid fraud cost taxpayers $18 billion a year. Hear one man's story -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys.

Also next hour, behind the scenes of Chanel, an all-access pass to Karl Lagerfeld and his fashion machine.

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PHILLIPS: All right, let's check those numbers real quickly. Dow industrials, Karina Huber, where are they?

KARINA HUBER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Oh we've got a little bounce today which is the DOW is up by 231 points that's a gain of about two percent, same thing for the NASDAQ and the S&P 500. So seeing a bit of a rally today this on good news coming out of Europe after France and Germany said that they are committed to containing the crisis and recapitalize the banks.

The problem is we don't have details on what that means and German Chancellor Merkel said we'll have those details at the end of the month. So that means three more weeks where the markets can mull over what happens happening in Europe.

But for the day like I said a nice day and we're seeing Netflix is up sharply that stock was up by seven percent about losing -- after losing about half of its value in September just after the company announced that it would not be having two separate sites for its DVD and its streaming video. They'll all will be on the same site and that is Netflix the brand remains intact -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right Karina thanks.

And checking other stories cross country, in Texas some areas got rain in one day the state saw all summer. Cities like Houston may even experience flash flooding.

And in Massachusetts the Boston Globe says Miss Iceland 1974 is the woman who turned in mob boss Whitey Bulger. She said she connected with them when his girlfriend would feed a stray cat every day. She called the FBI after seeing a news report while she was in Iceland.

And in Florida the float hog (ph) competition in Saturday -- Jeff Fischel thank you for explaining to me what that was. Competitors from around the world put on their home-made, human-made flying machines. Obviously, some of them didn't work very well and they flew off the pier, got their grade. Those who achieved the flight win a really big prize. I'm not quite sure what the prize was. Do you by chance know Jeff Fischel?

JEFF FISCHEL, ANCHOR, HLN SPORTS: The float is really the wrong name for them because it's kind of like anti-float.

PHILLIPS: They are home-made flying machines that sink.

FISCHELL: Yes, yes.

PHILLIPS: Ok. All right.

Well someone lobbed their lunch meat at Tiger Woods and the Raiders win one for Al Davis. Kind of a fun story and then sort of a very sweet story.

FISCHEL: It is. And I don't know if anyone was looking for Tiger Woods getting hit with a hotdog but you didn't get to see it. Someone threw a hotdog at Woods as he was putting in the final round of the price.com open in Colorado. The PGA isn't releasing the video Kyra, so you will have to use your imagination. Maybe it's a little more fun when you think about someone tossing a hotdog at Tiger. Anyway, he did take it in stride.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, PRO GOLFER: Some guy just came running on the green and he had a hotdog and evidently -- I don't know how he tried to throw it, but I was kind of focusing on my putt when he started yelling. Next thing I know he laid on the ground and looked like he wanted to be arrested really because he laid on the ground, put his hands behind his back and turned his head.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISCHEL: Ok. The hotdog thrower was charged with disturbing the peace.

Let's do baseball. Brewers have a high gravity inning to beat the Cardinals in the opening game of the NLCS. There is Ryan Braun smacking a two-run ground rule double. He also homered in the game for the Brewers.

Next up Prince Fielder, two-run shot. This is huge for Fielder. He's a free agent after the season which means, you know, these could be his last few days in the Brewers uniform. The Brewers win 9- after a sixth run (INAUDIBLE). They play game two tonight. So do the Rangers and Tigers.

NFL, Raiders at Houston. The Raiders wearing Al Davis stickers on their helmet. The first game since their owner died. He had been with the team for nearly 50 years. The Raiders' Darius Hayward Bay, the 34-yard touchdown for Oakland. And playing inspired for Al Davis.

The final play of the game, the Texan with a chance to win but Matt Shaw picked off in the end zone. The Raiders hold on to win 25- 20. An emotional win for Raiders coach Hugh Jackson in his first season. Look at him on the sideline after the win.

If this were a TV show, it would be called Vick's Picks. Eagles QB threw three picks in the first half against Buffalo, including one that was returned for a touchdown. Vick though did rally. Eagles with two touchdown passes and then he was driving them for what could have been the game-tying score but then he was picked off again. His fourth interception clinches it for Buffalo. The Bills win 31-24.

PHILLIPS: Thank you Jeff Fischel.

FISCHEL: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: All right. See you tomorrow. FISCHEL: Ok.