Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

White House Regroups On Jobs; Iranian Terror Plot Foiled; Blackberry Outage Spreads To U.S.; Underwear Bomber Pleads Guilty; 90- Year-Old Bungee Jumper; Occupy Wall Street; Senate Currency Bill Passed; Huge Identity Theft Bust In NY; Republican Debate Analysis

Aired October 12, 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.

Hello, everyone. Your job, paycheck and taxes, your future that is what is on the line. We don't have to tell you, but perhaps, Washington needs a reminder, because the president and lawmakers are still bickering, haggling and playing political games over how to fix the economy and create jobs. Unfortunately, we are no closer to a solution or a resolution, for that matter, today, than a day ago or even months ago.

Think about it. These are were just a few of the solutions on the table in President Barack Obama's Jobs Bill. You see them there, the payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits, tax credits for businesses, protection against bias for unemployed job applicants. Despite the president's hard line push to pass this bill and his tireless national campaign, Obama's jobs plan essentially died at the hands of Senate Republicans Tuesday on a key procedural vote, 60 votes were needed. Clearly, the votes just weren't there.

The president knew it was coming. He now has to rethink and regroup. The Republicans don't exactly have a concrete alternative jobs bill to fix the problem. So the big question is what happens now? Are we back to square one or do we call it Plan B? Whatever you want to call it, let's talk about it with someone who knows a whole lot about this with our Chief National Correspondent and Anchor John King, joining us live now from Washington.

Hi there, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi to you.

KAYE: So, the president, he says that he's prepared to break his jobs bill now into pieces in the hopes of getting parts of it through. Is that the answer here, do you think?

KING: It's the only answer because the House Republicans have made clear they wouldn't consider the big presidential package. The big presidential package failed last night in the United States Senate, the Democrats there tried to change how they paid for it, a little different from the White House proposal, but it has failed in the Senate, it's a nonstarter in the House, the only way, Randi, to get anything done is to break it into pieces and try to strike a compromise, and the biggest place to watch, of course, the House Republicans.

KAYE: So, when you talk about breaking into pieces, John, what pieces do you think will survive here?

KING: Well, the president's right when he says much of his proposal, sometime he says all of his proposal and that's not fair, but much of his proposal is based on ideas Republicans have supported open in the past. So, Republicans say, for example, they're open to tax cuts to help create jobs, whether it's a payroll tax cut, an extension of something that's been in place. You know, lowering payroll taxes for employees, perhaps lowering payroll taxes for employers as well.

Other tax and incentives were if companies hire people and keep them on the payroll for a certain period of months they can get a tax break there. Those are things the president has proposed that Republicans tend to like. The president wants to extend unemployment insurance, unemployment benefits, especially the long-term unemployed, some Republicans don't like that, but enough Republicans say they will do that if you find the money to pay for it somewhere else.

So, those things will get done, the big question marks are the things the Republicans call stimulus, too. The aid to states, to keep firefighters and teachers on the payroll, Republicans say, no, Washington shouldn't be involved in that business. An infrastructure bank to build roads and bridges, Republicans are divided on that. The leadership says, probably not. The question there is can they come one some interesting new way to pay for it.

KAYE: So, here's a question, I mean a lot of people are probably asking, is if the president knew, he acknowledged even before the Senate vote that this wasn't going to go through, it wasn't going to get the votes that he needed, why go ahead with this vote?

KING: It's probably a better question for Leader Reid and the Senate than it is for the Obama White House, but because we are in a political season, Randi, you see the presidential candidates -- the Republican side running around the country. You see the president himself running around the country. Remember, every House seat and a lot of the Senate seats are on the ballot next year, too, so there's a lot of politics in play here.

Twenty-five million Americans unemployed or underemployed are watching Washington and saying what about me? Why are you playing your political games? The Democrats wanted that vote last night because they wanted Republicans to vote against a bill that they will say well, you would choose to hurt the unemployed, you would choose to fire a teacher than to raise taxes on the rich. The Democrats in the Senate wanted that political statement, even though they knew their bill had zero chance of passing.

KAYE: All right, John King, appreciate your time. Thank you, nice to see you as well.

KING: Good to see you, too. KAYE: New details on the alleged terror plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S. This man, an Iranian-American is in custody, accused of plotting to kill the ambassador on U.S. soil. A manhunt is under way for an accomplice and member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

U.S. diplomats are calling on allies around the world to enact sanctions on Iran. Congressman Peter King calls the plot an act of war and says the U.S. should not dismiss the idea of military action. Vice President Biden says nothing has been taken off the table.

Blackberry users may have to dust off those laptops today. A worldwide service outage has spread to the U.S., preventing users from checking their e-mails or surfing the Web. The service outage started on Monday with customers in the Middle East, Europe and Africa, it spread to South America yesterday before hitting North America pretty hard this morning. The company says it is working to fix the problem.

Just hours ago, the Nigerian man known as the Underwear Bomber surprised officials and spectators by pleading guilty in a Detroit courtroom. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was serving as his own attorney on charges that he tried to detonate an explosive device aboard a Christmas Day flight to Detroit nearly two years ago. He said, quote, "I am guilty of this by U.S. law but not the Koran." Sentencing will take place on January 12th.

Many critics say the Occupy Wall Street movement lacks focus but our next guest says these protes1ters have the right idea. "Rolling Stone's" Matt Taibbi right after break.

But first, a 91-year-old California grandmother celebrated her birthday by bungee jumping for the seventh time. It is a tradition that Frances Gabe started at the young age of 82 after beating colon cancer. Gabe says she plans to bungee jump again for her 92nd birthday. For that and the previous seven jumps, Frances Gabe, you are today's rock star.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: If you want to see evidence of how people are feeling about the economy, Congress and Wall Street, well, just look at protesters in New York City and the Occupy Wall Street movement. Nothing shows that as poignantly and powerfully as this. These are the scenes, just a few of the iReports we're getting from all over. Their numbers multiplying, their voices growing louder. According to Occupy, together, the unofficial online center, protests have spread to nearly 1,400 cities across the U.S. and several countries around the world. It has become an international movement.

"Rolling Stone" editor Matt Taibbi wrote a fascinating article for the magazine about how to make this movement more powerful. He joins us live now from New York. Hi there, Matt. It really is a fascinating article, a great read, I recommend it to anyone watching right now. But you have been down to Wall Street -- to the Occupy Wall Street area several times. We can't see really on television -- is the move -- can you help us capture that? I mean, how energized and how angry are the protesters there?

MATT TAIBBI, EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE": Yes, I think it's one thing with the images on television you can't really convey is this sense of excitement that there is at these protests, that they're part of something new that might be a game changer in terms of a new political movement. They really feel like they're going to create something, a new kind of society, and that's what's drawing all these people, you know, and growing their numbers on a day-to-day basis, a sense of newness and breaking new ground.

KAYE: And you look at what the critics are saying, I mean they're saying that the movement lacks focus and that they picked the wrong target. But you're actually saying that they picked the right target and they're -- that they're using the right tactic. What did you find?

TAIBBI: Well, I was originally one of those critics when they first started these protests. And you know, I have been writing about Wall Street corruption for three or four years, this is my life. So, this was a very personal thing for me. And when I went down there and I found that they didn't have, you know, a specific message or specific set of demands, at first, I didn't understand it, but now, I kind of see the logic to it a little bit.

I think what they're really focusing on right now is just growing the movement. They're appealing to a sort of widespread sense of anger and disappointment about the clogged up political process, the sense that they can't change anything, no matter how hard they try. And that there's an incredible amount of corruption built into Wall Street, and so this is growing the movement now. I think eventually, they will get around to having concrete demands, but right now, all of this activity is causing people to ask, what do these people want? And nobody was asking that question a few months ago, so they have already achieved something, in that sense.

KAYE: As you wrote there in your article and as you have said, this issue of how to combat Wall Street corruption has consumed my life for years now and it's hard for me not to see where Occupy Wall Street could be better and more dangerous. I mean, Matt, how much of what we are seeing in terms of our economy is because of corruption that you've been covering on Wall Street?

TAIBBI: I think it's not all of it, but an enormous part of it. I think if you look at just the 2008 crash, I think you could put 80 or 90 percent of that at the feet of corruption on Wall Street. There was a massive fraud scheme in the mortgage markets that essentially caused most of those enormous losses that resulted in gigantic taxpayer bailouts that everybody should be upset about. When we have three or four million people in foreclosure --

KAYE: Yes.

TAIBBI: -- a lot of that is directly tied to bad practices on Wall Street. So, they have a lot to be angry about.

KAYE: I want to get to your solutions quickly here. I mean this is -- this is your way, you say, of possibly making Wall Street -- Occupy Wall Street better and more dangerous. Here's a couple of them there on the screen. The one that really stood out to me is, pay for your own bailouts and no public money for private lobbying, that's another good one. Do you think that these are solutions that can actually be put into place here?

TAIBBI: Yes, I think some of these are very, very achievable and I think some of the protesters don't know how close they are to changing the economy fundamentally. This proposal to break up the two big to fail banks, there was a proposal in the Senate for that last year that got 33 votes, so they're 17 votes away from changing the entire economy. And if there wasn't an overwhelming show of popular support and a force that would -- that might be a game-changing thing.

The problem they have right now is at some point, they are going to have to reach out and reach those three or four million people in foreclosure, all those people who have lost their jobs or lost their pensions and all of that and right now, they haven't done that yet and they have to make that argument by coming up with coherent, specific demands.

KAYE: Yes. They have -- they're reaching Wall Street but they have to reach the rest of the country. Matt Taibbi, fascinating article, as I said, in "Rolling Stone." Definitely check it out if you have time and thank you for your time.

TAIBBI: Thank you.

KAYE: A U.S. power play puts heat on China. Was it a risky move for your wallet or the smart thing to do?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: In a rare showing of bipartisanship, the Senate passed a controversial bill targeting China's undervalued currency, which keeps Chinese exports to the U.S. less expensive to China's advantage. As a result, they angered Chinese officials who have warned of a trade war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIU WEIMIN, SPOKESMAN, CHINA'S MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (through translator): This bill seriously violates World Trade Organization rules, harms bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and does not solve the economic and employment problems in the United States. It also counters the joint effort by China and the United States to promote global economic revival. It hurts others while not benefiting one's self. It causes nothing but damage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Peter Morici, the former economic director at the U.S. International Trade Commission, join us now for today's "Under Covered" story.

Peter, if you would, explain why both Democrats and Republicans want to pass this bill. PETER MORICI, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Simply, every day China prints its currency yuan to buy dollars to keep the value of its currency very cheap to U.S. importers. That makes those products on the shelf at Wal-Mart much less expensive than they should be if they were produced under normal circumstances. And it essentially cost Americans millions of jobs.

KAYE: So, take it one step further then for me, if you will. Just expand on that. I mean what could this potentially mean for Americans?

MORICI: Well, it would mean slightly higher prices for Chinese goods. But it would also mean that a lot of jobs that have gone to China would come back. So instead of having unemployment at 9 percent, we might have it at 7 percent. That would to have a profound effect because it would put all kinds of people to work and raise everybody's wages in the process.

KAYE: So if you look at where people stand on this, the president hasn't backed it yet. Hasn't said he will back it yet. House Speaker John Boehner is calling it dangerous. Why is that then if this would be such a good thing?

MORICI: Well, it's not dangerous. They say we're going to get into a trade war. The fact is, we are already in a trade war. China undervalues its currencies, it restricts imports of our competitive products. For example, the most popular car over there, Buicks. But we can't make them there. And it subsidizes domestic production in areas where we are competitive.

So we are in a trade war already. China is throwing rocks. We're throwing words. But a lot of American companies, big ones like General Electric and Caterpillar, have moved over there and now they benefit from Chinese protectionism and they don't want the game to end. So we've got a lot of American, large multinationals, the very people that "Occupy Wall Street" are complaining about, are making money off of this. Ditto the U.S. banks.

KAYE: So, Joe Lieberman is calling this a warning shot, but do you think that this bill is more than that? Is it really designed to do something here or is it a warning shot?

MORICI: It's more than a warning shot. It's designed to provide a remedy for U.S. industries that compete with Chinese products that are hurt by this subsidy. And it's a remedy for the workers that could have jobs in those industries.

KAYE: Why did it come to this? I mean has the U.S. tried to deal with China on this before and tried to get them to increase the value of their currency?

MORICI: We have been talking with China for the last 10 years about this and we simply have gotten no place. When we admitted China into the WTO, we never anticipated they would manipulate their currency to the amount that they are. They spend over $500 billion a year, you know, buying U.S. dollars. That's about 10 percent of their GDP, 40 percent of their exports. It's one of the most obscene things. What -- it's an enormous abuse of WTO rights, privileges and responsibilities.

KAYE: Peter Morici, thank you for your time. Nice to see you.

MORICI: Thank you.

KAYE: The largest identity theft ring in U.S. history has been busted wide open. What was stolen? How did they do it? The D.A. from Queens joins me live next.

But first, 11 years ago today, the USS Cole was refueling in a Yemeni port when a small ship carrying explosives detonated, leaving a 40 by 40-foot gash in the side of the Navy destroyer. The terrorist attack killed 17 crew members, injured 39 others. It's considered one of the deadliest attacks on a U.S. naval ship. And that is this shame in history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: New York police say they have cracked the biggest identity theft ring they've ever seen. Allegedly based in Queens, it reportedly stretched to Europe, the Middle East and China. Investigators describe an elaborate scheme involving what's called skimming, where workers at places like restaurants or banks take your credit card information once they swipe it and then they illegally sell it. Thousands of people are said to be affected with $13 million in fraudulent purchases. Queens D.A. Richard Brown joins us now with more on how they cracked this case.

Judge, nice to see you. This sounds like quite a case. How elaborate was this?

RICHARD A. BROWN, QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, in my 20 years as district attorney, I don't think I've seen anything quite like this. We have got 111 people who have been indicted in an extensive investigation that took well over a year. And it's rather remarkable because of the kind of work these people were doing.

What happens is they go and they steal your identity through restaurants and financial institutions and banks and the like, they manufacture their own credit cards and then they send out shoppers to buy high-end, big ticket items. And then, in turn, they sell them to other groups and put them on the Internet through eBay or another means. And next thing you know, they're collecting the money.

KAYE: Yes, and a lot of this, from what I understand, was spent on, you know, fancy hand bags and rented private jets and hotel rooms and all kinds of stuff. But you not only blame the alleged thief in this case, you actually also blame the credit card companies. Why is that?

BROWN: Well, it's not that I blame them because, frankly, I mean, they worked rather hard with us to get to the bottom of this scheme. But they -- my concern is the fact that they spent too much money on marketing and not enough money on security. In Europe, for example, they have smart cards that require an individual to put a pin number in before it's -- the card is used. And they're much more secure in Europe than they are here in the United States.

KAYE: So given what you've seen, what is your advice? Since we don't have the smart card and we don't have the personal ID number that those cards require, what's your advice to people who live on plastic?

BROWN: You've got to be very, very careful with -- and, first of all, giving any information to anyone over the Internet. I've told my wife not to buy anything on the Internet because of this kind of a problem. And the best thing to do is just watch what you're doing. Be mindful of the fact that identity theft is probably the fastest growing crime that any of us have ever seen.

KAYE: Yes. Well, we appreciate your time and your hard work on the case, judge. Thank you very much.

BROWN: Our pleasure, Randi.

KAYE: It is the most talked about thing that you probably didn't see. GOP presidential contenders in a roundtable debate. The sizzle and fizzle, next, in fair game.

And for you political junkies, the cost of the 2008 presidential elections set a record. It was, in fact, more expensive than seven of the last eight elections combined. So today's question, what did it cost? $5.3 billion, $2.4 billion, $997 million? The answer right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Before the break we asked how much you thought the last presidential election cost. More than $5 billion, less than a billion, somewhere in between perhaps. The answer, $2.4 billion. The costliest ever. Until, maybe, next year. That first number, $5.3 billion, was the total cost of the '08 election, House, Senate and president.

And we want to let you know that we're watching here the White House briefing room, waiting for Jay Carney, the spokesman there, to make some comments. If the discussion turns toward Iran and the alleged terror plot, we will bring that to you. We're monitoring that. We'll keep an eye on it and let you know.

Back to politics now. Three GOP candidates each had a mission in last night's Bloomberg/"Washington Post" debate. Mitt Romney, look like a front-runner. Rick Perry, try to regain that front-runner status. Herman Cain, prove his detractors wrong.

So, how did they do? It is all fair game. Let's talk about it with Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, and Doug Heye, a Republican strategist. They're both in our D.C. bureau today.

Welcome to you both. So give me your first impressions. Who looked and sounded like a nominee?

Maria, you first. MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Definitely Romney. And I think throughout it was the Romney and Cain show because most of the questions went to either one of them. The one who I think fell off the wayside was Governor Perry. He looked like, whenever he was answering a question, which didn't seem to be as often as I think he would have liked, or he should have, he always looked like he was a deer -- like a deer in the headlights or like a new kid in school who walked into the wrong classroom. I think it starts to seal the perception in voters' minds that this guy is just not ready for prime time.

KAYE: Doug, who do you like?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, I hate that this is such a rare bipartisan moment in Washington, but I agree completely with Maria. It was a chance last night for Governor Perry to demonstrate that he can drive a message that his campaign has been pushing on the Web, that he can be effective in debates where he hasn't been.

And, instead, he was at the plate and didn't connect. That's something you can't do in October. Just ask Alex Rodriguez.

(LAUGHTER)

KAYE: Good point.

Well, let's talk about this, because Romney clearly is the front- runner. He had a target on his back, a lot of people going after him, including Perry, who went at him on Romneycare, which is the health care system that plan he put in place in Massachusetts.

Let's listen to this exchange and I then want to ask you about it.

CARDONA: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Governor Romney, your chief economic adviser, Glenn Hubbard, who you know well, he said that Romneycare was Obamacare.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have less than 1 percent of our kids that are uninsured. You have a million kids uninsured in Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Maria, how do you think Romney did there holding his own?

CARDONA: Well, I think that he answered the question just right enough that he didn't get any comeback from Perry, which to me is just incredible -- or anybody else -- which to me is incredibly baffling.

If any of those candidates had done their opposition research the way that they should have, they could keyed up the quotes from Romney, as recently as '08, talking about how he would be happy if his -- if Romneycare, if the plan that he put in place in Massachusetts, were to be a model for something that the nation would take on.

So, they clearly were not ready to push back on Romney. And believe me, a lot to push back on, not just on Romneycare, but on every other issue which Romney has been clearly on both sides on. And he just did not have that pushback from his opposition.

KAYE: Doug, how do you think Romney did with all those folks going at him?

HEYE: What was impressive with me is exactly what you said, all those folks going at him. It's not that he dealt with one question. He faced a barrage of questions and faced them all down and did so in such an impression fashion that it makes sure that he is again cemented as the perceived front-runner going out of this debate and going into the next one in Las Vegas.

KAYE: Another hot topic last night was Herman Cain's 999 tax plan. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's a catchy phrase. In fact, I thought it was the price of a pizza when I first heard about it.

(LAUGHTER)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And one thing I would say is, when you take the 999 plan and you turn it upside down, I think the devil is in the details.

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It will replace the corporate income tax, the personal income tax, the capital gains tax, the death tax, and most importantly, the payroll tax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: He was like a salesman out there just trying to sell that plan of his.

But, Maria, do you think that the others did pretty well at poking holes in it, or no?

CARDONA: I don't think so the fact that we are talking about it now, Randi, and the fact that Michele Bachmann and Jon Huntsman and several others said the words 999 to me proves that Herman Cain did exactly what he was out to do, which is push his message about it, make sure people were talking about it, make sure it gets covered in the media.

Whether it is a real plan I think still remains to be seen because I haven't seen any analysis of any real economists saying that it would create jobs now, which is a big problem, but we are talking about it. From a messaging standpoint, I think it was a huge thing for him.

KAYE: Doug, did the message get across?

HEYE: Well, it got across, but he also needs to be careful that the simple message isn't then translated into what is seen as a simplistic message.

Your viewers in California remember in the primaries last year, Steve Poizner had a 10-10-10 plan that actually ended up going against him. But Herman Cain needs to demonstrate two things, in addition to the 999 plan. He needs to demonstrate a plan to win and a path to win, and if he can do then he will demonstrate that he is not just a flash in the pan.

KAYE: Many thanks, Maria Cardona and Doug Heye. That is "Fair Game." Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

HEYE: Thank you.

KAYE: And remember the Western Republican presidential debate next Tuesday, October 18, 8:00 Eastern, you will only find it right here on CNN.

Ever hear of the IRGC? It was founded to defend its country from threats. The State Department says the group supports terrorism. Can you guess where they are based? We will go there live in "Globe Trekking."

But, first, a lock at one of "Money" magazine's top jobs in America.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Downward facing dog is on the rise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Inhale, lifting up to your right heel.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Teaching yoga tops "Money"'s list of best wind-down jobs for those reaching the final stretch of their career. Job flexibility is a key factor. And the average salary for an experienced instructor is $62,000 a year, but as a bonus, you get a workout on the job. That's enough to make you say ohmm.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The anticipate to the question we posed before the plate is Iran. That's where the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is based. And that group is at the center of an alleged terror plot to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S. on American soil. This man, an Iranian-American, is now in custody. Manhunt is under way for an accomplice, the alleged member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. U.S. diplomats are calling on allies around the world to enact sanctions around Iran.

Reza Sayah is in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Reza, what is Iran saying about the alleged plot?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, over the past 24 house, we have seen a steady stream of mid- to senior-level Iranian officials come out and vehemently deny these allegations made against Iran by the U.S. Justice Department.

We talked to the spokesperson for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He called it a children's story designed to distract the American public from domestic problems at home, like unemployment.

Earlier today, the spokesperson for Iran's foreign minister had something to say about the allegations. Here he is, Mr. Ramin Mehmanparast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAMIN MEHMANPARAST, SPOKESMAN, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY (through translator): These stories show the political confusion and haplessness that exists in the United States of America.

We view this behavior as signs of the demise of the American empire that had ambitions to dominate the world. Of course we will respond firmly to them and lodge a protest against them based on our rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAYAH: Interestingly enough, no word from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, about the allegations.

But as you heard, a lot of Iranian officials coming out and denying that these allegations are true -- Randi.

KAYE: Is there anything, Reza, that you can tell us about this unit? Is there anything specific about this unit of the Revolutionary Guard that we should know?

SAYAH: Well, this is a notorious group. It's a special unit within Iran's Revolutionary Guard. It's probably the most elite military branch in Iran, established back in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq War.

It is believed that they lead covert military operations outside of Iran, but there's a couple of important things to note, that this is an unprecedented accusation against the Quds Force. Never have they been linked by Washington to an assassination plot on U.S. soil.

And if you look at their history, it's really not their M.O. If you look at the details of this alleged plot, it is somewhat bizarre, it is somewhat drastic, with the Mexican drug cartel, a hit man, and used car dealer. And the question is if Iranian leaders got together, if the Quds Force leaders got together and decided to do this, what would they gain from an attack like this?

And I think many can easily argue that they would have more to lose than to gain. First and foremost is retaliation by the U.S. government. And another thing to add, if they want to go after U.S. and Saudi targets, certainly plenty of targets within their neighborhood in their backyard, so a lot of unanswered questions with these allegations, Randi.

KAYE: Yes, so many questions still. Reza Sayah, thank you so much from Pakistan.

More than half of students are bullies, victims or both. Anderson Cooper sits down with some kids to get to the root of the problem.

And now this -- he was caught with his pants down, thanks in part to one of the former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner's sexting partners. Traci Nobles is her name and now she has written a tell-all book reportedly full of dirty details titled "I Friended You."

Seriously, Traci, didn't you get enough attention when you outed Weiner on national television? Your 15 minutes are up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: If you haven't been watching "A.C. 360" this week, well, you need to be. All this week, Anderson Cooper is taking an in-depth look at America's bullying crisis, what more can we be doing to stop it and what can we do to stop kids from literally killing themselves because of it.

Here is one part of Anderson's crucial investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): The Wheatley School, one of the top ranked schools in the nation, has a bullying problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're calling me, like, gay, faggot, dumbass. Just all those names. They can be hurtful.

BRIDGET: It starts to build up and bad things start to happen. Whether you start cutting yourself, you kill yourself, you develop, like, an eating disorder, it's obsessive. It becomes obsessive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They physically abused me, mentally abused me, emotionally abused me. And I will admit I had thoughts of suicide in ninth grade.

COOPER: 360 teamed up with sociologists Robert Faris and Diane Felmlee to investigate how severe the issue is at Wheatley. Why kids bully and how that knowledge could help end the problem. In this pilot study, more than 700 students took a scientifically designed survey four separate times over the semester. And what we discovered was shocking. Fifty-six percent of all students had engaged in aggressive behavior, been victimized by bullies or both. And out of all incidents, more than 80 percent were never reported to an adult.

Perhaps even more alarming to parents...

(on camera) In the survey 74 percent of students said they don't think that telling their parents about an incident would be helpful. Does that surprise you?

HUNTER, STUDENT, THE WHEATLEY SCHOOL: No.

COOPER: It doesn't surprise you?

HUNTER: No, no.

COOPER: Why?

HUNTER: Most people say that, you know, telling your parents -- parents will most likely say just ignore it. You can't ignore it. It will stick to you, and you will think about it at the end of the day.

BRIDGET: After you get bullied you start to internalize it. I just think about my day over and over again, and what everyone said to me and, like, you start to bully yourself.

COOPER (voice-over): This is in a school district that takes the issue seriously. They have anti-bullying programs from kindergarten through 12th grade. They have awareness assemblies throughout the year. Principal Sean Feeney.

SEAN FEENEY, PRINCIPAL: 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. We're not always successful, but we certainly will continue to try.

COOPER: Our studies showed that the main reason kids bully is to climb the social ladder. But in a key finding, the study found that most of the time bullying doesn't work. Kids who bully usually don't actually gain social status.

ROBERT FARIS, RESEARCHER: We find that, by and large, on average, the more aggressive you are, it doesn't have an -- it doesn't have an effect on how likely you are to climb the social ladder later on.

COOPER: And that could be a breakthrough. Educate kids not only that bullying is destructive but why they bully is misguided and let that message spread.

FARIS: There's also the possibility that positive behaviors can also spread through social networks, in that kids may be more likely to intervene in bullying situations if they see their friends stepping in to stop things.

COOPER: Getting kids to intervene is crucial, and these are the students on the front lines of that fight. They were ranked not as bullies or victims but the ones who actually step in and try to stop it.

(on camera) Do you all feel bullying is a big problem?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

COOPER (voice-over): For Andrew, it was his experience as a victim that makes him stand up to bullies.

(on camera) Do you think the fact that you've bullied when you were younger you know what it feels like and makes you more prone to intervene?

ANDREW; STUDENT, WHEATLEY SCHOOL: Yes, I mean, it definitely gets me angry when I see somebody getting picked on.

COOPER: What makes you angry about it?

ANDREW: Just he kid didn't do anything to deserve the bullying, so I just want to stop it. Because I don't want to see something escalate.

COOPER (voice-over): According to the research, students like these could be a key -- one of the keys to stop bullying.

FARIS: These bystanders, they are the heart of the school social life. They have the numbers. And they really hold the power to prevent this behavior. Because if it really is about jogging for status, then it won't work if those kids, those bystanders are actively disapproving of it or stepping in to prevent it.

COOPER: Anderson Cooper, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: It really is time for all of us to take a stand. You can watch "A.C. 360" all this week at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Eastern to learn more about America's bullying crisis.

And now we want to show you some pictures from Florida. Take a look at this. A small plane, apparently a private plane, it looks like, has landed what we think on the Florida Turnpike. We have some video coming into us. This picture that you're looking at is from our affiliate WSVN.

There is the plane crashed right there on the turnpike. And you can see what that white substance is. That's this foamy substance that is used to try and keep the plane from obviously bursting into flames. Traffic is backed up. Firefighters are on the scene. They are trying to help.

We are not sure if there's anybody still inside the plane or not but we will continue to watch that. Once again, this is this private plane on the Florida turnpike where it crashed,quite a scene there just outside Miami. Every day on this show, we call out someone who, quite frankly, deserves it. Today, it is the NBA players and owners. I mean, you guys are behaving like spoiled children. Have you really shut down the NBA season, at least temporarily, because you can't come to an agreement over how to fairly divide your millions?

Right now, with two weeks of the season lost, team owners say that they will lose hundreds of millions. The players will lose more than $350 million for every month they don't play. Both sides hope that those losses will teach the other side a lesson, but what you can't see is this.

The person who isn't sitting on a pot of gold is learning the toughest lesson here, like concession stand owners -- no season means no sales -- and the janitors who clean your locker rooms and the arenas that you play in. No season means no work. Ticket takers, parking attendants, restaurant wait staff, have you forgotten those people while you sit this out and count your millions?

It is called compromise. Figure it out. Until then, it is time for you, NBA owners and players, to face the music.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

KAYE: The first two weeks of the NBA season are over even before they began. Owners and players couldn't reach a new labor deal, and that leaves local businesses that depend on basketball hanging.

Casey Wian explains the ripple effect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "The Farm" of Beverly Hills near Staples Center relies on customers going to Lakers and Clippers games for about one-third of its business during basketball season. CEO Fran Berger is preparing for a long lull.

FRAN BERGER, CEO, "THE FARM" RESTAURANT: Staffing is going to get cut way back. Everything is going to get cut way back. We won't be buying as much. We won't be having as many people working those nights and those hours. It's going to hit a lot of people.

WIAN: Restaurant workers making minimum wage plus tips, arena employees making $11 an hour.

DEMEK EMMONS, USHER, STAPLES CENTER: I understand as far as the union talks. I know they have to negotiate everything, but there's other people out there that actually need the money.

ROBIN DEDEAUX, USHER, STAPLES CENTER: My wife and I, we can't go on vacation. That's just the thing we have to cut back on. I have to make sure, watch out for the bills that I have. I don't want to overspend myself now. WIAN: So the law is particularly hard for workers and businesses near Staples Center, home to two NBA teams and a potential for 82 nights plus playoffs in lost revenue.

In Atlanta, restaurants near Philips Arena already are reeling from the recent relocation of the Thrashers Professional Hockey team. Now the NBA's Hawks are gone until mid-November at least.

SCOTT HUMPHRIES, GENERAL MANAGER, DANTANNA'S: There's going to be a decrease in business on what would have been home games. We usually get a nice pop, two hours before the game and then depending how they do, some after-game business as well.

MIKE LEEBERG, EXECUTIVE V.P., MCCORMICK AND SCHMICK'S: When you got the Lakers in town or you knew you got LeBron in town then it becomes a whole day affair.

WIAN: Restaurants in some cities say conventions and concert business will help soften the blow, but not for 2,000 unionized workers at NBA arenas in California.

MIKE GARCIA, PRESIDENT, SEIU: We have billionaires disputing -- in a dispute with millionaire ballplayers. Typically as this is happening across America, it's the working people that suffer the most.

WIAN: The CEO of this restaurant doesn't expect to deal before January.

BERGER: If the NFL can figure it out, I don't know why the NBA can't figure it out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And Casey Wian joins us live now.

Casey, this really though it's not just about money for these workers, right? It's about so much more.

WIAN: Absolutely, Randi.

Behind me, you can see Staples Center. There's about 1,000 unionized employees at this particular facility. If you count all the NBA facilities in California, we're talking about 2,000 unionized employees. What they are very concerned about is they need to work 1,100 hours a year to qualify for health insurance.

If this labor dispute goes on, they are very worried they are not going to get enough hours to actually qualify for health insurance. So they are not only going to be losing income. They risk losing their health insurance.

Now, over here to my left, you can see some of the restaurants. There are 17 of them basically in the shadow of Staples Center. You can see that they are empty right now because it's only 11:00 in the morning. They're just getting ready to open for lunch. What these restaurants are worried about is, this is what it's going to look like on too many game nights during the NBA season if, in fact, that season is not somehow resuscitated by negotiations that right now are stalled, Randi.

KAYE: Yes, you can only hope that the season either gets going or they may have to look for some other work there.

Casey Wian in Los Angeles -- Casey, thank you.

So, New Jersey voters approve apparently of Governor Christie's decision to stay in New Jersey as governor and not go for the GOP nomination.

Paul Steinhauser is at the political desk in Washington with much more on that.

Paul, what do you know?

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

I guess that Christie's decision last week not to run for Republican presidential nomination is paying off politically, at least back home. You're right. Two brand-new polls out this morning of New Jersey voters, and both indicate that Christie has his highest approval rating ever there as governor.

And one of the polls indicated that eight out of 10 New Jersey voters say, yes, it was the right idea for him, the right decision not to run for the White House.

Talking about the White House, the current occupant, President Barack Obama -- and you were just talking about basketball with Casey a moment ago -- well, the president is using basketball analogy to talk about his reelection bid. And he made the comments at a fund- raiser last night in Florida. Some NBA all-stars were at the game -- or at the fund-raiser.

And here's what the president said. He said: "I was mentioning to some of the basketball players who were here that this is like the second quarter, maybe the third, and we have still got a lot of work to do. But I want everybody to know I'm a fourth-quarter player, so I don't miss my shots in the fourth quarter" -- some basketball sports talk there from the president, who right now is not doing so great in the polls, but he says don't count him out -- Randi.

KAYE: Yes.

Paul, before I let you go, let me just ask you very quickly, Chris Christie, a lot of talk swirling around him that maybe he might go on the ticket as a vice president. What do you think?

STEINHAUSER: Well, he looked pretty chummy yesterday, didn't he, next to Mitt Romney up there in New Hampshire, when he endorsed Romney?

KAYE: Yes. STEINHAUSER: But, as of now, he says no, that anybody who would want me, Christie, as running mate would have to be crazy.

But we will see. People say no, and then they say yes.

KAYE: Yes. Well, I guess he's made a promise to New Jersey. So we will see.

Paul Steinhauser, always a pleasure. Thank you.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

KAYE: Well, everyone, have a great afternoon.

Brooke Baldwin will pick up NEWSROOM from here.

Hi, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Randi, thank you.