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Gov. Christie to Endorse Mitt Romney; Prescription Drug Dangers; Merchant of Death Trial Begins; President's Jobs Bill Faces Key Test; Protesters March To Billionaires' Homes; Furor Over Fast and Furious; Underwear Bomber Trial Begins; Doug Wells Is Today's Rock Star; New Fees Unleash Fury; Slapping You With Extra Fees

Aired October 11, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Suzanne, thank you very much.

Hello, everyone. For millions of Americans, the situation is dire. The nation's unemployment rate stuck at a lousy 9.1 percent and more than 14 million Americans out of work, they need jobs now. That reality has become a ticking political time bomb for president Barack Obama and his re-election campaign. Today, the president and his American Jobs Act face a critical vote -- an important vote in the Senate which is why Mr. Obama and his top aids are pushing hard today to rally support.

If you're wondering what the president's jobs bill could mean for you, well, here's a brief overview. In addition to other things, we're talking about extending the current payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. There also would be new tax credits for businesses that hire people who are unemployed. President Obama is in Pittsburgh today where he will speak about his jobs bill less than one hour from now. This is an important last minute push because the Senate is scheduled to hold a key procedural vote today on whether it will even consider that bill.

White House Correspondent Dan Lothian is traveling with the president, joins us live now from Pittsburgh. Hi, there, Dan. So let me ask you this --

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: -- is the president preparing for the possibility that his jobs bill may not pass today's test in the Senate?

LOTHIAN: Well, it does appear that he is. In fact, he's meeting with his jobs council, and just a short minute ago, he was asked about this and the president responded -- said that he doesn't know how Congress will respond to the overall jobs bill but the expectation is that if in fact they don't pass it, as one entire piece, that it would be broken into parts. They would certainly push for the infrastructure component of that and then pressure would be applied later to get all of those other pieces done.

But you know, what the White House really wants is for this whole package to be taken up in one piece, because they believe that that's the only way to really get the economy going to create the kinds of jobs that the president would like to see. KAYE: Yes. And when you look at this package, Dan, we're talking $447 billion, the package as a whole. One of sticking points is obviously taxing the rich. They do need 60 votes to pass this procedural hurdle. Does the president think he has the votes here?

LOTHIAN: Well look, I think the conventional wisdom is that the votes simply are not there to get this entire bill done as one piece. I was talking to Melody Barnes, one of the president's top advisers, and her feeling is they really want to worry about that tomorrow. They really hope that they can get this whole bill passed but, in fact, it doesn't appear that they do have the votes to do that.

One of interesting points, though, is, you know, what have they been doing behind the scenes to get Congress to actually pass this bill? We've seen the president hit the road much like he's doing today here in Pittsburgh. He's been across the country pushing Americans to put pressure on their representatives to pass this bill, but there's been no sort of behind the scenes negotiations with Republicans to get them to the table and work out some kind of deal.

The strategy from White House aids has been that the president applies the pressure in public and then gets the American people to put the pressure on members of Congress. But, again, it's unlikely the votes are there.

KAYE: Yes. Well, we'll see how this key vote goes. Dan Lothian, thank you very much. And for many of you who are unemployed and struggling to get hired, the jobs bill also includes a key measure that would essentially make it illegal for a company to reject or exclude an applicant because that person is unemployed. We'll take you live to Pittsburgh when the president begins to speak about his jobs bill, it's coming up in about 45 minutes.

Some protesters in New York are moving on up, they are heading uptown to the homes of some of the city's wealthiest residents. Demonstrators who have been working with the broader Occupy Wall Street movement are marching to the homes of hedge fund manager, John Paulson; News Corp CEO, Rupert Murdoch; JPMorgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon; and industrialist David Koch. The billionaires are being targeted for what organizers call a, quote, "willing to hoard wealth at the expense of the 99 percent."

Subpoenas may be issued to the Justice Department today in connection with the now discredited federal gun running operation. House Oversight and Government Reform committee chair, Dan Issa -- Darrell Issa, says Operation Fast and Furious went spectacularly wrong. He's pointing fingers at attorney general Eric Holder. The operation involved ATF agents allowing and tracking the illegal sales of guns that would likely end up in the hands of Mexican drug lords.

Controversy over Fast and Furious erupted when weapons found in American and Mexican murder scenes were traced back to that program.

In Detroit today, opening statements in the trial of the accused underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day 2009. Investigators say he tried to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear. Passengers and crew members subdued him. U.S. officials say Al Qaeda was behind the attempt. Abdulmutallab has chosen to represent himself in court.

Customers furious over debit card fees are blaming the banks, but the banks are pointing the finger at Congress. Are new regulations the answer? Joe johns explains next.

But first, big league scouts, remember this name? Doug Wells, this 15-year-old from Jersey pitched a no hitter for his little league team. You may be thinking, hey, my kid can do that, but wait, Doug is legally blind. He told "The Huffington Post" almost everything is blurry but he can see the catcher's mitt. So, for having no clue what the word, can't, means, Doug Wells, you are today's rock star.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Fees, they are lurking everywhere it seems on everything, all kinds of extra charges and increased fees have weaseled their way into our lives. You can't even use your debit card now without getting slapped with, yes, a fee. It's maddening which is why we're doing this all week. CNN is doing some specialty reporting all week called furious over fees. Banks blame Congress for the newest fees they're making you pay for using your debit cards. Joe Johns is digging into all of this and is in Washington.

Joe, why are the banks blaming Capitol Hill? I mean, it's not like lawmakers twisted their arms and said, you have to charge people $5.00 to use their ATM cards. So, what's this all about?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's very true, Randi. This all goes back to earlier this year when Congress got into a tiff with the banks over what are known as swipe fees. The idea is retailers have to pay a fee to the banks each and every transaction they make, some in Washington believe the swipe fees, up to 44 cents a transaction, were too high.

So, the fees got cut in half to no more than 21 cents or so, a big loss in profit there, right? Well, fast forward to today, Bank of America says they've got a right to make a profit from their business, and so we get this $5.00 fee on debit card transactions. Now, they basically say, hey, Congress, if you hadn't cut our swipe fees, we wouldn't have to institute this fee and here we are -- Randi.

KAYE: Yes. So, what's Congress's answer to all of this?

JOHNS: Well, there's a lot of secrecy surrounding that actually. Congressman Peter Welch of Vermont is apparently very interested in this subject. I'm hearing that he may have something to say on this, with some other members of Congress, as early as tomorrow. But otherwise, I spent the last several hours calling around the Congressional committees and offices trying to get somebody to say something about debit card fees.

The silence is deafening. I mean, you talk to the watch dogs, you talk to others, and basically, they give you self-help solutions. They say things like, well, use a credit card or get rid of the bank if they're charging a big fee, or, you know, use a credit union for example. But now, we're going to see if Congress can do anything or launch even an investigation, but they are keeping the wraps on what they plan to offer -- Randi.

KAYE: Yes. A lot of people are so frustrated with this. I mean, you can hear the anger. Our Alison Kosik spoke with some people on the street today, let's listen to what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFEDE FEMALE: The bank is making off of my money, so why am I being charged $5.00 to -- what, $5.00 a month? I don't think it's fair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It probably wouldn't make me change. What's going to happen is all the banks are going to end up doing it. One does it, they all do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: I mean, a lot of people, Joe, are thinking about closing their accounts. I mean, do you think Congress hears this?

JOHNS: Maybe, but I've got to tell you, I took a quick look at OpenSecrets.org, this is the online presence of the center for responsive politics, and they gave us some numbers on how much money is spent by the banking industry on lobbying. There you go, first six months of this year, $32 million $777 is spent by commercial banks in Washington. They have 416 lobbyists.

Remember, they are just 535 members of Congress that are elected. Bank of America, by itself, spent $1.5 million on lobbying the first half of this year. I mean, so if you talk too B of A, and they have still gotten a little bit of credit for being transparent about this fee. The bank of America CEO, Brian Moynahan, has defended the monthly fee on debit cards. He already said, hey, we have a right to make a profit and he says he has an inherent duty as a CEO of a publicly owned company to get a return for his shareholders. So, there you go, capitalism at work.

KAYE: Man, sure sounds like that. Joe Johns, thank you for giving us the perspective on that, appreciate it.

Well, did you know every 14 minutes one American is killed by prescription painkillers or anxiety medications? Why drugs meant to help may actually be killing thousands of people each year?

But first, here's a look at the stories that you're watching on CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Breaking news here at CNN. In fact, it's breaking political news. We have just learned that Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, who has announced that he isn't going to run for the GOP nomination, he has said now that he will endorse candidate Mitt Romney at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. That's an event today in New Hampshire where he will do that. And as you know, that is just hours before the GOP presidential debate tonight at Dartmouth College.

This is coming to us from two sources close to the New Jersey governor and also coming to us from our CNN chief national correspondent John King, who got that information for us.

So, once again, breaking political news. Chris Christie will endorse Mitt Romney just about -- less than two hours from now at an event in New Hampshire.

Well, prescription drugs kill thousands of Americans every year. It is a story that is under covered until now. One report says that in 2009 that number topped 37,000. Nearly all because doctors overprescribe drugs or fail to monitor patients or because people mix drugs together or mix them with alcohol.

The Centers for Disease Control disputes that number. It says in 2007, the latest year that we have the figures, the actual number of deaths from those who took tranquilizer, painkillers and such is actually 11,499. These are unintended, accidental deaths. Of course we know that it's still too many. My guest will help us look for some solutions here. She is Dr. Linda Degutis with the CDC.

Welcome, doctor, to the program. First let me ask you to explain the disparity in those numbers. We're talking about 37,000 compared to about 11,000.

DR. LINDA DEGUTIS, CDC: That's correct. The 37,000 is actually all drug related -- drug induced deaths. So that means those are deaths from over the counter drugs, intentional overdoses. It includes more than just the prescription painkillers that we're talking about in the 11,500 number.

KAYE: So one of the problems here seems to be doctors who are overprescribing these drugs. How do we get that under control?

DEGUTIS: There's a number of ways that we can do that. First of all, we can look at prescribing practices using things like prescription drug monitoring programs that will let us know what the physicians are doing in order to prescribe drugs. What are they prescribing and what are the amounts, who are they giving them to. And then there are other initiatives we can take to develop clinical guidelines for appropriate prescription of these drugs.

KAYE: Vicodin. Let's just talk about Vicodin here. I mean it is the single most prescribed drug really on the planet. I mean is there anyone specifically looking at how much Vicodin is prescribed and how doctors are handling that?

DEGUTIS: Well, we know that there's been an increase in all of the opioid prescription drugs, which includes Vicodin and it includes other medications similar to Vicodin. And we're not really singling out one drug because all of them seem to be a problem in this really epidemic of prescription drug overdose. So we can address all of them as a group and look at the prescribing practices.

KAYE: People who resell these drugs are known to make thousands. Is there any way to put a hold on that to control that?

DEGUTIS: Part of it is really limiting the number of pills or something that somebody would get in a prescription. Really restricting how some of these drugs are prescribed for people who don't really need them. And one of the challenges and one of the things we really want to ensure is that people who do need access to these drugs get them and get them prescribed in the way that they need to do so.

So we are working with some of the physician groups to -- especially the American College of Emergency Physicians -- to ensure that they are prescribing things and developing clinical guidelines that will help them to prescribe the correct amounts of the drugs to patients who really need them.

KAYE: Yes, clearly something needs to be done. Doctor, thank you very much.

More CNN after the break. But first, sex, politics and a hearing that riveted the nation 20 years ago today. Law Professor Anita Hill went before the Senate Judiciary Committee accusing Supreme Court Nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Thomas denied the allegations calling the proceedings, quote, "a high tech lynching." And that is this shame in history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Breaking news into the CNN NEWSROOM now. Breaking political news. We want to let you know that Chris Christie will endorse Mitt Romney. Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, will endorse Mitt Romney today at about 3:00 at an event in New Hampshire. As you know, Governor Christie had said that he will not seek the GOP nomination. Mitt Romney is seeing that nomination. So this is a pretty big deal for Mitt Romney to get this endorsement since so many people were looking to Chris Christie to enter that race.

This will happen just hours before tonight's GOP presidential debate, which is taking place in New Hampshire at Dartmouth College. We're getting this from our chief national correspondent John King, who has spoken with two sources close to the New Jersey governor. Once again, the news today, at this hour, Chris Christie will endorse Mitt Romney about an hour and a half from now at an event in New Hampshire.

It is a catch me if you can pursuit that spanned almost 20 years for a man known as the "merchant of death." Alleged international arms and drugs smuggler Viktor Bout goes on trial today. His life inspired the 2005 Nicholas Cage movie "Lord of War." Among the charges against Bout, conspiring to kill Americans. Richard Roth is following the trial from New York.

Richard, why is this case so significant?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Viktor Bout has been an alleged arms merchant fueling conflicts around the world for more than a decade. His name has been mentioned in U.N. Security Council sanctions reports. He's been accused and linked with wars in various African countries, Afghanistan. However, this case actually is going to focus mostly entirely on what went down in Bangkok, Thailand.

Randi.

KAYE: And what are the exact charges that he's facing?

ROTH: Well, it was a three continent, four continent undercover operation to get Viktor Bout, in effect, into that hotel room in Bangkok where he is accused of conspiring to sell a large amount of weapons to undercover DEA agents that would have been used for a terrorist organization, rebels in the nation of Colombia, designed to kill Americans, U.S. pilots, who would have been involved in armed operations against the FARC rebel group there. He could face life in prison if found guilty. One of his former colleagues is prepared to testify against him.

Randi.

KAYE: Have you gotten any word on what happened in court today?

ROTH: Well, Viktor Bout was there with his wife and teenage daughter and the jury pool, the jurors were asked questions by the judge. It was a large amount of people. Several have been dismissed already. Not -- no juror was even selected by the morning break.

The judge is very worried that the case will be prejudiced against Bout because of his notoriety. She was considering pre-trial a pledge by the eventual jurors that they wouldn't look up the case or Viktor Bout on the Internet. She's asked questions about their knowledge of Russia about the FARC group in Colombia and has dismissed people who have said they don't like FARC or they've lived in Russia before.

KAYE: All right, Richard Roth, sounds like a fascinating case. So fascinating they made a movie out of it. Thank you so much.

Clashes in this place have killed more than two dozen people. Now leaders are scrambling to get a handle on the country's worse violence since February. One of them just resigned. Can you guess where? We'll take you there in globe trekking.

But first, if you're out of work and looking for a job, "Money" magazine is out with its list of the best jobs in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want a job that pays big in more ways than one, go back to school as a teacher. Jobs in the classroom are booming, especially if you're bilingual or have a math, science or special education background. Teacher make an average of just under $50,000 a year, but many teachers will tell you they don't do it for the money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Egypt's deputy prime minister has resigned as the country's leaders scramble to respond to violent religious protests in Cairo. The government head an emergency meeting to establish a fact finding mission. They also began work on a law mandating equality when it comes to building places of worship. Clashes involving army troops and Coptic Christians left at least 25 people dead Sunday night. The health ministry official says many were crushed by speeding military vehicles.

Hurricane Jova is closing in on Mexico's west coast near the tourist meca of Puerto Vallarta. It's a strong Category 3 storm with 115-mile- an-hour winds. More than 300 Mexican soldiers have been deployed. And the Mexican navy is also on alert. At least 100 shelters are now open, but American tourists that we talked with say they are doing their best to make sure the storm does not ruin their vacations.

Tonight is a do-or-die debate for Rick Perry, and Herman Cain's recent skyrocket rise in the polls has many wondering, is Cain able? It's all "Fair Game" next.

Now, for you political junkies, with all eyes focused on the next GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire, we want to know, when was the very first presidential debate in a general election held? The answer for you right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Before the break, we wondered when the first presidential debate in a general election was held -- the answer,the 1960 Kennedy/Nixon debates. They were also the first televised political debates in U.S. history and they changed the face of politics forever.

Incidentally, after Kennedy/Nixon, there were no more TV debates until 1976. But, since then, we have had at least one in every election for president.

When Republican presidential candidates hold their latest debate tonight, many political insiders will be focusing on Rick Perry. His meteoric rise to the top of the polls fizzled after two bad debate performances. Remember this stumble as he tried to portray Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Against the Second Amendment before he was for the Second Amendment? Was it -- was before he was before the social programs, from the standpoint of he was for standing up for Roe vs. Wade before he was against vs. Roe vs. Wade?

(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: What? Nobody could follow that, least of all Perry.

Some, tonight, say it's do or die for him.

And that is "Fair Game' to talk about with my guests, Democratic political consultant Ed Espinoza. He's in Austin, Texas. And CNN contributor Will Cain, he joins us from New York.

Guys, I have got a lot of questions for you, but, first, Will, let me start with you, your reaction to this breaking news that we just reported here on CNN, that Governor Chris Christie from New Jersey is now going to endorse Mitt Romney. What do you think?

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It will certainly help Mitt Romney.

I think it's interesting because all of the assets that Chris Christie brought to this campaign, generally a sense of authenticity, that he said what meant regardless of his it affected his own campaign, are all of the things missing from Mitt Romney's campaign. He seemingly would like to tell you whatever it is you want to hear so you will vote for them.

Maybe some of that will rub off on Romney. Christie's authenticity rubbing off on Mitt Romney, I think that would be good.

KAYE: I think I heard Ed grumbling there in the background.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

ED ESPINOZA, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Oh, no, no, I was agreeing, not grumbling.

KAYE: Oh.

ESPINOZA: Well, my take is I wonder what Chris Christie is going to do to be in the news next week. He seems to be pretty good about keeping himself out there.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Look, he didn't hold a 45-minute press conference to say this, though, at least not yet.

ESPINOZA: Right, exactly. I wonder how long this one will be.

If I'm Mitt Romney, the Chris Christie news is helpful, but one of things I would be worried about is not New Hampshire. He seems to be doing fine in New Hampshire. But it's Iowa. Poll came out today shows he's at 23 percent. He was at 23 percent in June. That's good enough for first place in a nine-way race, but as soon as somebody drops out, all it takes is a little push for somebody else to support somebody else and before you know it you're not the front-runner anymore and you have lost some momentum to somebody else. Perry is going to be in this for a while. He has got $17 million in the bank. What happens with Bachmann, Huntsman, Gingrich, some of those other guys? Really interesting to see where we go there.

KAYE: Let's talk a little bit more about Rick Perry, Will, because Mitt Romney will come in probably feeling pretty confident, pretty good tonight. What does Rick Perry have to do tonight on that stage to appear that he's in command?

CAIN: Yes, I want to agree with something Ed said there. I don't think this debate is do or die for Perry. I think we're overstating that.

The guy has had one of biggest fund-raising periods of any candidate. He's got $15 million in the bank. Besides -- and I don't mean this disparagingly -- the thing is on Bloomberg. It's not like the American public is watching. And I mean that in the American public doesn't overly tune into these any one of these debates.

Yes, Rick Perry has two bad debate performances. Now, if he strings this to three or four, what happens, Randi, is it becomes part of a larger narrative that paints him as incompetent. He does need to get the train back on the tracks. I don't think it's do or die but he has to begin to change that narrative.

KAYE: Well, Ed, you want to talk about train on the tracks, Cain's train is just steaming down those tracks. What do you make of him and his skyrocketing in the polls? And I know they are placing him center stage tonight. What does he have to do not to turn off the voters?

ESPINOZA: I think it's great. Every time a new poll comes out, it kind of rearranges seating. It's almost like a pole position at a NASCAR race. Whoever is kind of in the lead gets the front spot.

With Cain, he kind of follows this pattern where we have had a different flavor of the month. And I know we have talked about this before but with Michele Bachmann in August and Rick Perry in September and now Herman Cain in October, it will be really interesting to see if he can sustain this.

But what will be really interesting is next week the third-quarter financial reports will come out, and we will see if his support is actually -- if he can fund that support over the long haul. Will made a really good point -- $17 million in the bank for Rick Perry will go a long way, especially in an Iowa media market where Davenport TV is $2,000 a week.

KAYE: Well, everything is "Fair Game."

Thank you, Will Cain and Ed Espinoza, for your time today.

ESPINOZA: You bet.

KAYE: And now we have some other breaking news coming into CNN.

Brian Todd is joining us from Washington. Brian, what can you tell us about this -- the Fast and Furious gunrunning operation? We know that there are some new subpoenas that could be issued. Eric Holder, the attorney general, has been the target of one. What is happening for those in his office? What are you hearing?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, we're hearing there is more pressure being applied by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to Attorney General Holder and his staff regarding what they knew about the Fast and Furious program and when they knew it.

A source close to that House committee tells CNN that a subpoena going out likely today will seek communications between Holder and two of his top staff members, his chief of staff, Gary Grindler, and Lanny Breuer, who is the head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.

This subpoena will seek communications between those three that had to do with the Fast and Furious program. We are told in addition the subpoena is going to demand information about the investigation into the death last December of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. His body was found near some weapons that were connected to the Fast and Furious program when he was murdered in December.

Justice officials are conducting an internal investigation into all of this and House the Oversight and Government Reform Committee wants documents on that investigation and they want documents having to do with whatever correspondence the Justice Department had with the White House over this matter.

This is according to a source close to that committee. That subpoena should be going out today and that is what we're told it will ask for.

KAYE: And I know that obviously this goes back to this program where some of the guns, many of the guns in fact that were part of the U.S. program the Fast and Furious program ended up in criminals' hands. Brian, do you think that they are just looking to find out what these people knew and when they knew it, maybe how far back? Is this all about timing?

TODD: A lot of it is about timing and a lot of it is trying to trace just who at the very top levels of the Justice Department knew about this program when it was in effect and when these guns were essentially being allowed to walk into Mexico.

Attorney General Holder has acknowledged that this was a flawed program, but he said that he did not know anything about it until really earlier this year. Back in May, he testified he didn't really know much if anything about it before a few weeks before that.

So you're talking about some time in the spring. There are documents that have been leaked out to the press showing that there were memos with Mr. Holder's name on it last year about the program, though they didn't go into a lot of detail. So members of the House, this committee, the Republicans on this committee are trying to kind of buttonhole just when the attorney general knew about this and what detail he knew to see just kind of where it goes and where this investigation is going.

KAYE: Yes. It certainly seems to be growing, that's for sure. We will see where it goes. Brian Todd, thank you very much.

A new study shows the lone stereotypical schoolyard bully picking on the defenseless is a thing of the past. Now 56 percent of students are bullies, victims, or both. Coming up, I will talk with Anderson Cooper about these new findings.

But, first, you may remember this man from the 2008 presidential election. He challenged then candidate Barack Obama's plan for small businesses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE WURZELBACHER, RESIDENT OF OHIO: My name is Joe Wurzelbacher.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good to see you, Joe.

WURZELBACHER: I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes about $250,000, $270,000, $280,000 a year. Your new tax plan is going to tax me more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Well, he picked up the nickname Joe the plumber. You probably remember. Now Joe Wurzelbacher is using his status, if you want to call it that, to run for Congress. Why? Apparently, because he consulted God before making his decision, he says. Well, here's what I say. Your spotlight has faded. Your 15 minutes are up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: All this week, CNN is taking an in-depth look at bullying. What more can we be doing to stop it? And what can we do to stop kids from killing themselves because of it?

Anderson Cooper worked with a team of sociologists on a six-month pilot study looking at why bullying happens. And some of their findings were, well, pretty shocking. They discovered that 56 percent of students are bullies, victims or both.

Earlier, I spoke with Anderson about that alarming number.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I think it's pretty eye-opening. It just gives you a sense of how widespread the problem is and how kind of complex it is. Traditionally, we think of, OK, there's bullies and there's victims and you're one or you're the other.

But it's much more complex than that. What we learned in this study and what you will see tonight on "A.C. 360" is that bullying is really much more about social combat, as one of the sociologists who did our study for us calls it, social combat, that think of a school as a battlefield and kids are trying to survive. And they are trying to raise and improve their position in the social hierarchy within different social cliques.

And so bullying is about or aggressive behavior is about belittling somebody, pushing someone who is lower than you in the social order in order to improve your own standing, or attacking someone who is maybe slightly above you in the social order to kind of bring them down and raise yourself up.

KAYE: You know, I have heard some kids say and I'm sure that you have heard it more than I have, where they say to those who are being bullied, just toughen up. But it's really not that easy, is it?

COOPER: It's not. This is not just standing up to a bully in a playground. This is -- or during recess or in the school hallways -- this is bullying which is happening around the clock, which is out on social media sites, which is out on Formspring and other Web sites that kids are part of.

And it's not just something you can say toughen up. Toughen up often means, well, suck it up and don't talk about it. And what we know from studies is that social isolation, when kids feel socially isolated and when they feel they have no one to talk to and they do bottle things up, that is often what leads to kids taking more drastic action, cutting themselves and even suicidal behavior.

KAYE: And when you think about the effect on a lot of these kids, do they talk about how it hurts them and how they feel inside, maybe even wanting to go ahead with suicide, which we have seen so many times?

COOPER: Yes. It's really -- I mean, it's just -- it's so sad talking to so many of these kids because they start to think that this is the norm and that school -- learning is kind of the least of their concerns about when they go to school. And they dread going to school every day.

I talked to one ninth-grader named Kyle who at one point said there were 40 different people who were picking on him on a routine basis. He was in the Anoka-Hennepin school district in Minnesota and that's where he still goes to school. And he did not feel, he didn't feel safe in his schools. And you talk to so many kids who feel that way.

And even if it's not as drastic as not feeling safe, it's not knowing where the next attack is going to come from.

KAYE: Yes. Did you meet any kids who have witnessed bullying and maybe stepped in or are they afraid to try and even stop it?

COOPER: Well, that's one of the more hopeful things in the study, is that there's bullies and there's victims and then there's what the sociologists call interveners, kids who do actually step in and intervene.

And really that's probably the most important group to focus on because the greatest number of people are people who are not necessarily going to be victimized or bullies, but are just bystanders who are watching this stuff happen. And if you can get to a point where in schools the norm is to intervene, where it's not socially acceptable to bully, to victimize somebody else, that's when probably the greatest change can happen, even more than school administrators getting involved or school counselors, parents or teachers.

It's the kids themselves standing up and saying, we don't do that here. That's not acceptable and that's not going to work. Studies actually show and there's another hopeful finding is that long term the aggressive behavior, the bullying of others actually doesn't help you maintain a social -- get to a high social position in a school.

The kids who we asked to -- we asked kids in the study to name who they most respected and most admired and thought were the most popular and those were the kids who actually ranked least on the aggression scale. They weren't kids who are currently bullying and that's a hopeful thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: It really is time for all of us to take a stand. All this week at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Eastern, "ANDERSON COOPER 360" will bring attention to America's bullying crisis. You do not want to miss that.

And just a reminder: In about 10 minutes, we're waiting for the president to speak live there in Pittsburgh. There's a live picture. He should be taking that podium. No doubt he will be speaking about jobs. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back, everyone.

We want to tell you about this breaking terror news just into CNN. We are learning from our CNN senior State Department producer, Elise Labott, that a senior U.S. official -- I'm just getting word here a senior U.S. official tells CNN that the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency have disrupted a plot to commit terrorism inside the United States involving Iran, involving Iran.

In terms of who was targeted here, let's turn now to Jill Dougherty. She's been following this news along with us

Jill, you're at the State Department there. Tell us what you can about who was the target and how they managed to find out about this plot.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, right.

What we know at this point is coming from two senior U.S. officials who are telling CNN that the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency, DEA, disrupted a plot to commit terror in the United States. And that plot was to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, whose -- name is Mansour Al-Basar (ph).

And we are told by those two U.S. senior officials that this was directed by elements of the Iranian government. Now, also, how this was supposed to work, we're told that a man was contacting or trying to solicit members of the Mexican drug cartels to assassinate the Saudi ambassador.

Again, that's about what we know. Obviously, a lot of major implications for this story.

KAYE: Jill, do we have any idea when this was supposed to take place? How close were they to something actually happened before they foiled this?

DOUGHERTY: At this point we don't have a lot of details beyond that, but certainly we are trying to gather those as quickly as we can.

KAYE: Do you expect that the Iranian government will respond to this, will have anything to say about this?

DOUGHERTY: Well, they usually do respond to certain things. But how quickly it would happen and also what they would say is unknown at this point.

But presumably, we could get something. And obviously the Saudis would be interested perhaps in saying something as well.

And in terms of relationships between countries, how this all works, why the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.?

DOUGHERTY: Well, the Saudis and the Iranians really are you would have to say at odds in many areas of the world. So that could be one of the reasons. But I think you would have to really dig deeply into exactly what was going on here and why they would want to do it in the United States.

KAYE: And we know certainly that the Mexican drug cartels are certainly well-armed. Any hint as to how this was supposed to go down?

DOUGHERTY: No. But as you noted, definitely there are elements of drug cartels in Mexico that are every bit as powerful as conventional armies. They have a lot of weapons and a lot of money.

So how they were going to do this, obviously, it would seem that they would not come in with an army, but there would be some way. Assassination -- we would have to define what assassination means. But it's very serious.

KAYE: Yes. And certainly the U.S. has its hands full, the administration has its hands full in trying to track down would-be terrorists. Should we now add Iran to the list, do you think?

DOUGHERTY: Iran always has been on that list for supporting terrorists and for carrying out terrorist acts, mainly for supporting.

So, again, how this worked, what was the impetus, who this man was, was it coming directly, as we say, directed by elements of the Iranian government? So it looks as what these U.S. officials are saying it started in Iran and then they in some fashion got this person. And as far as I can see, so far, we do not have his nationality, but he was supposed to solicit these Mexican drug cartels.

KAYE: And did they name anyone specifically from the Iranian government?

DOUGHERTY: I did not see that. I believe it's just the Iranian government, but I would want to check that again.

KAYE: Yes. And for our viewers just joining us, Jill, why don't you bring us up to date and bring them up to date?

DOUGHERTY: OK.

Again, this information coming to CNN from two senior U.S. officials saying that the FBI and DEA, the Drug Enforcement Agency, have disrupted a plot. And that plot was to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States.

And the plot, these senior U.S. officials are saying, was directed by elements of the Iranian government. And the way that plot was supposed to work, a person, as yet appears unnamed, was supposed to be working on trying to get to members of the Mexican drug cartels to solicit their help in carrying out this assassination of the Saudi ambassador.

KAYE: And, Jill, hang with me for just a moment.

DOUGHERTY: Sure.

KAYE: I want to show you a live picture that have outside the Department of Justice. We know the attorney general, Eric Holder, will be speaking shortly and he may very well address this, of course. And we are also of course waiting for the president to speak, which we should mention. He's in Pittsburgh today. He may or may not address this as he also talks about jobs there as well.

But, Jill, what is the relationship, if any, if you know this, between the Iranian government, when you talk about them using or turning to the Mexican drug cartels? Have you ever heard of anything like this? Is there any relationship there at all?

DOUGHERTY: I have not.

But if this were to be carried out in the United States, you would have to say that that would be one way to do it, because, after all, drug cartels, as I said, have a lot of money and a lot of weapons. And there might be some way to do that.

And, also, it could give some type of deniability. That's -- now, this would be my opinion. I'm not saying that this is coming at all from the U.S. senior officials. But by using members the let's say members or some type of help from Mexican drug cartels, it throws it pretty far away from Iran, or at least would appear to, and then you might have some deniability.

KAYE: And you know how things work very well there at the State Department. So what would be the next step here? Once the president gets word of this, folks at the State Department are dealing with it, Hillary Clinton probably, how will the U.S. now proceed from here?

DOUGHERTY: Well, number one, if this were to happen on U.S. soil, that is very serious, because it's not just Iran vs. the Saudis. It is Iran doing something allegedly on the soil of the United States.

And that makes it very, very complicated. Relations already have been quite strained, as we know, over the nuclear program, over many different aspects of the -- of actions by Iran, not to mention the things that they are carrying out, certain funding, according to the United States, terrorist groups around the world.

So it exacerbates relations between the United States and Iran. You would have to immediately say, what would the United States do in the relationship with Iran to show how serious this -- the U.S. would take this to carry out something on U.S. soil? And then, of course, not to mention the Mexicans being implicated in this -- I shouldn't say implicated. I should say involved, allegedly, by this man who supposedly was talking to drug cartels.

KAYE: Yes.

This is certainly nothing that we have heard of or seen before, Jill Dougherty, as you said, some great reporting there, just to let our viewers know that the FBI and DEA have disrupted a plot to commit terrorism in the United States by the Iranian government and possibly, as Jill Dougherty was just telling us, turning to Mexican drug cartels to help carry out the assassination -- assassination of the Saudi ambassador to the United States.

Jill is going to stay in place. We will continue to gather some new information on this. She's been doing some great reporting for us.

That will do it for me, though.