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Nearly 2.5 Million Still Without Power After East Coast Snowstorm; Herman Cain Denies Sexual Harassment Clams; Fighting for FDA Approval; Fertilized Human Egg a "Person"?; Occupy: The Trademark
Aired October 31, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Martin Savidge, in for Brooke Baldwin.
And let's get you caught upon everything making news this hour, "Rapid Fire." Here we go.
More than two million people still without power right now in the Northeast. It's all because of that rare October snowstorm that dumped more than two feet of snow in some parts. At least eight people died in that storm. There are new fears now that roads and power lines could ice up again overnight. Trick-or-treat festivities also postponed in several cities.
We'll go live to Pennsylvania straight ahead.
A nightmare, of course, for JetBlue passengers stuck on the tarmac for about eight hours Saturday. They had little food or water. The pilot desperately tried to get help.
Listen to the frustration in his voice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My priority right now is a tug and a towbar. If you just give me a welding shop, I'll be willing to make one myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Saturday's snowstorm forced the JetBlue flight from Florida to New Jersey to land in Hartford, Connecticut. The airline is apologizing to passengers.
To the Big Board, where the Dow is down about 130 points. Investors apparently still on the fence about whether last week's deal to tackle Europe's debt crisis will work. Despite today's numbers, October is still on pace to be the market's best month in decades.
Tonight, just hours from now, NATO will end its mission in Libya, seven months after it began. The operation, aimed at protecting civilians as Moammar Gadhafi's regime attacked its own people. Gadhafi was killed after being captured near his hometown of Sirte nearly two weeks ago.
And a senior Navy officer pleaded guilty to raping two female sailors under his command. Commander Jay Wylie was court-martialed. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but after a plea deal he'll serve just 42 months. Wylie once commanded the naval destroyer USS Momsen.
Well, this is something you just don't see every day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put your hands out that window right now! Put your hands out the window! Turn around. Turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Turn around right now. Until I'm done, turn around. Do yourself a favor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: That's a Miami police officer being arrested at gunpoint by a state trooper, and it gets worse. The officer was arrested in uniform while driving his police cruiser.
He was charged with reckless driving after leading the trooper on a seven-minute chase. At one point he was reportedly driving 120 miles an hour. His excuse? He was on the way to his off-duty job at a school.
A Missouri teenager in the hospital today after she apparently was strangled inside a Halloween haunted house. The girl worked as an actress inside the attraction called Creepy World. Police say a co- worker making safety checks found her caught in a noose that was used as a prop. And they say the customers may have walked right past her without realizing that she was in trouble.
And then check out all the zeros on the screen. That number represents how many people are now living on Earth.
The United Nations chose several babies born today as the symbolic 7 billionth baby. One of them this sweet girl, Danica Camacho. She was born in the Philippines. Of course, it's really difficult to know where and which baby was the actual 7 billionth.
Well, it looks like Kim Kardashian is calling it quits on her husband number two. The media and marketing-savvy starlet was married to NBA player Kris Humphries for just over months. And she filed divorce papers today, citing irreconcilable differences.
We've got a lot more to cover in the next two hours. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Herman is going to stay Herman.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): A bombshell report targeting Herman Cain, allegations he sexually harassed two women in the '90s.
And --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They left the organization with a five-figure cash payout.
SAVIDGE: -- today, Republican and his presidential campaign on damage control.
The problem is growing. Hospitals running out of drugs as patients fight for their lives. Now President Obama is stepping in without Congress. What this means for your prescriptions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care. Take us anywhere.
SAVIDGE: That's a pilot begging for help as he and his passengers wait seven hours on the tarmac.
In seven days, voters in Mississippi will decide, when is a person a person? The fiery debate is coming down to the wire. I'll speak live with both sides.
And it's Monday, which means music. Brooke's up-close-and-personal look at the Indigo Girls.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: Nearly 2.5 million people in five states still without power today. It was a very tough storm that knocked them into the dark ages. It's long passed, but hit so suddenly and so brutally, that the round-the-clock utility crews are way, way, way behind.
These states have declared emergencies: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts. And the worst news for crowds of ghosts and ballerinas in New England is Halloween day, and many communities are putting off trick-or-treating until conditions are more cooperative.
We have CNN meteorologist Chad Myers, who's covering the snow. And we've seen him braced against that Pennsylvania wind.
And Chad, talk to me about the power outages in the area where you are and talk about the forecast that lies ahead.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Still 6,000 people here without power. That seems like a little number, except there's only about 50,000 in the same county. So that gives you an idea of the percentages.
Where I'm standing though is green grass. Marty -- and I'm not kidding you --- there were 10 inches of snow right here at this time 24 hours ago.
So you say, well, what happened to it? Well, the sun came out.
We knew that this was, especially Maryland and here, one of the first places to get the snow. But also the first place to get the sun. So the sun melted this all yesterday, and now we're doing very good. In fact, the traffic is moving great.
If you look behind me, you can see beautiful fall colors. That's the problem. There are still beautiful fall colors on the trees.
If the trees were bare, this entire event would have been a nonstarter. It would have been nothing. No event whatsoever, because the snow would have gone through the branches, down to the ground.
The snow landed on those leaves. Beautiful leaves, they were great yesterday, but those leaves were bringing down power lines. In fact, many of them.
We know at least 6,000 people here -- well, some of them -- will not get power tonight yet. There's a priority list and a triage.
If you can get a couple of hundred people on with one power line put up, you do that one first. If you're the only person that's going to get power by putting a line up, you're going to be last. And it's not only here. That goes all the way up even into Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. That's how far the power outages go.
So it's going to take a while for all of this to kind of clear out. It only took eight hours for the snow to come down, but it may take 96 hours to put all those power lines back up.
The snow is gone here, not gone in some spots. I think the people that are canceling the Halloween for tonight, not a bad idea. Things are still falling from the trees -- ice, snow, branches. You don't want kids out there for that, especially even with power lines still on the ground.
The candy is not going anywhere. You can give the kids some of your own candy, I guess, and they can go trick-or-treating tomorrow or the next day, whatever the local officials say. I think they're probably right on it -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Yes, Chad, I think you're right. I mean, we forget that there are eight people that were killed in this storm. It was a deadly event. And as you point out there, there are other dangers, I presume, that could still be lurking.
MYERS: You bet. You know, there's carbon monoxide poisoning.
When you think that you're great (ph), and you just turn on your oven, and your house is warming, even though there's no power, the problem is that there's still carbon monoxide coming from that natural gas. You don't notice it when it's your furnace burning, because that carbon monoxide goes up the chimney.
If you're just burning the fireplace, or you're just burning the oven or the stovetop, that carbon monoxide doesn't go anywhere. It stays in your home, and you can die from that.
It's silent. You can't smell it, you can't see it, you can't taste it. That's the killer. Plus, if you have a generator in your garage, some of that carbon monoxide can come in as well. Typically -- and I don't want to go with this one, because this may not be a typical storm -- more people die after the storm than during the storm, because they're trying to stay warm, because they're trying to heat their house, they're trying to do things that aren't safe. So it's time to just find a hotel and stay there the night if you have to, or deal with how cold it might be in your house tonight. The morning low is going to be around 25 in most of these locations -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: All right. Chad Myers, thanks very much for the update there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
SAVIDGE: Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is accused of inappropriate behavior with two female employees in the '90s. Now he's firing back today. Hear his explanation coming up in just two minutes.
Plus, treating cancer. It might soon get a bit easier. It has to do with the White House and drug approvals.
And when exactly does a person become a person, at birth or at conception? Well, new legislation proposed in Mississippi could now threaten birth control and abortions. Details coming up this hour on CNN.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (singing): -- my song of praise, for it was grace that brought me liberty. I'll never know --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: "He Looked Beyond My Faults." That's the song Herman Cain is singing there. That was Herman Cain just moments ago at the National Press Club in Washington.
The song, probably not by accident, especially with that title, considering what he's up against today. It is the kind of story that has sabotaged a lot of political campaigns.
Surging Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain strongly denying a report that he sexually harassed two women who once worked for him. Less than 24 hours after the first claims surfaced in Politico, Cain is calling the accusations baseless and false.
He spoke about an hour ago at the National Press Club.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: In all of my over 40 years of business experience, running businesses and corporations, I have never sexually harassed anyone.
Number two, while at the Restaurant Association, I was accused of sexual harassment. Falsely accused, I might add. I was falsely accused of sexual harassment, and when the charges were brought, as the leader of the organization I recused myself and allowed my general counsel and my human resource officer to deal with the situation. And it was concluded after a thorough investigation that it had no basis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Let's bring in our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, to talk about all of this.
And Gloria, he is, of course, denying everything, and he also said that he knows nothing about any financial settlements to his alleged accusers. So let's begin with the obvious. How damaging could these accusations be for his campaign?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think they could prove to be very damaging. I don't think this is the end of the story.
What was interesting to me about what you played is that we learned for the first time that Herman Cain recused himself from any kind of investigation. But then he said that he was told that there was no basis for it, that he had been cleared. But what he said he did not know was about any financial settlement that may have been given to these women.
And I think you have to ask the question about whether that strains credulity a little bit, because if you know the results of the investigation, how do you not know, A, if they were paid or, B, that they left the organization? So those are two questions that I think are going to continue -- journalists are going to continue to ask him.
He says it's up to the Restaurant Association to talk about that. Maybe they will if he allows them to. So this story is not ending here.
SAVIDGE: No, certainly not. And it's also not so much how you get into trouble, it's how you get out of it. And I'm wondering, how well do you think he's handled it so far?
BORGER: Well, I think better today than yesterday. Yesterday, his spokesman spoke with somebody on Fox News and didn't really directly answer the allegations, called it a media story.
Today, in fact, Mr. Cain himself called it a witch hunt, although he didn't say by whom, whether it was the media. He was asked whether it was potentially another campaign that had planted this story. He said, you know, I have a big target on my back.
So I think today he did a little better than yesterday. But, again, these stories -- and you know this, Martin -- these stories have a way of unraveling and unraveling and unraveling, and so you can't leave unanswered questions out there, because we're going to continue asking them and investigating them. And so I think that's a real problem in damage control for the campaign.
SAVIDGE: Can he overcome this?
BORGER: Sure. Bill Clinton overcame Monica Lewinsky, an entirely different story, entirely different circumstance. Herman Cain is a very likeable candidate. Our polls show that people like him.
You just saw him singing before. He's very appealing. And, in a way, if this becomes known as a media witch hunt, conservatives could rally to Herman Cain.
On the other hand, this is also something, if you're Rick Perry, you're thinking about, gee, maybe there's a chink in the armor here, maybe this is a way for me to get some of those Herman Cain supporters.
I think it's very early in this process. We'll have to see how the candidate and the campaign respond to further questions.
SAVIDGE: And we will. We will indeed.
Gloria Borger, thanks very much.
BORGER: Sure.
SAVIDGE: Well, when you're diagnosed with cancer, the last thing you want to think about is the fight to get experimental drugs approved. You just want to get them approved as quickly as possible. Right?
Well, now the White House is fighting to get the process moving along even faster. But would that jeopardize safety? That story is just about two minutes away.
And then trending today, Occupy Wall Street. We'll have the details about a man who's trying to trademark the phrase "Occupy Wall Street." We'll go live to New York later this hour on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: You or maybe a loved one just might be dependent on lifesaving drugs. And if so, you also depend on the supply chain that is prone to bottlenecks, breakdowns, even backups.
Just a short time ago at the White House, the president signed an executive order meant to smooth things out and potentially save lives.
We've got Brianna Keilar, who is standing by for us at the White House. She's on the lawn there.
But first, we want to turn to our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.
And Elizabeth, let me ask the obvious. Just how bad is the problem?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, most of us are not going to notice this, Martin, because it's only 200 drugs. But if you need one of those 200 drugs, you are really going to notice, because it's chemotherapy drugs, emergency room drugs. I mean, there are people who really need these drugs, and there have been deaths.
SAVIDGE: So how does it happen?
COHEN: You know, it's probably a whole bunch of different ways for this to happen. Sometimes there's a shortage of the raw materials. You know, it's not exactly clear.
One of the reasons, though, some people suspect, is that some of the drugs that are in short supply are very inexpensive. And drug companies have chosen not to make them anymore.
SAVIDGE: So it's money.
COHEN: Part of it is money. And so when you look at these numbers, you'll see that it's really gotten worse over time.
So, in 2005, 61 drugs were in shortage. In 2010, 178 drugs were in shortage. And then in the first half alone of 2011, you have 180 drugs that are in shortage.
And what happens is that you then get this gray market for drugs. It's not extract strictly speaking illegal, but people start overcharging. So, you have a blood pressure drug that used to cost $25 that now, or at one point, was up to $1,200 because they can get it.
SAVIDGE: Right. Well, and not only is it troubling to see, but -- I mean, those numbers are staggering, but it's also the fact it's getting worse.
So let's turn to Brianna Keilar. She's at the White House, as I said.
What exactly is the president doing about this, and what are the politics behind it?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, you could argue that there are some politics behind it. It's certainly part of a message the president is pushing. You've heard him say a lot lately, "We can't wait," as he puts out executive orders like this one he did today, compelling the FDA to deal with this drug shortage.
He signed three executive orders last week in addition to this one today. One was on jobs last week. But they've been on different things -- student loans, housing. We saw one several weeks ago on No Child Left Behind.
And the argument that you see the president and the White House putting out is that Congress either isn't acting, or it isn't acting fast enough, and so he is taking unilateral action.
I have to tell you, on this particular one with the FDA, this is something that Democrats and Republicans on the Hill had been working on for the last several months, and it certainly did rankle or surprise at least some Republicans on the Hill. They say -- I heard from one source that they had assurances from the Health and Human Services Department that they would continue to be working on these issues of the FDA as recently as last week. So they were surprised to learn about this executive order.
I asked a White House official about that, Martin, and they said, "Well, this is no substitution for Congress acting, but they aren't acting as fast as we want them to. We support some of the efforts they're doing, and they should continue along with those" -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Yes. Well, it's obviously important to many, many people.
Thanks very much.
That's Brianna Keilar.
And Elizabeth Cohen, thank you as well.
Well, have you heard this term, "personhood"? It is part of the abortion debate that's going on right now. New legislation proposed in Mississippi would give legal rights to all fertilized eggs, even if they aren't implanted into a woman.
So what about all those frozen fertilized eggs? What happens to the morning-after pill?
We will break down the proposed legislation on both sides of this debate right after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We're on the verge of what could be a major blow for supporters of abortion rights. A movement that is called "personhood."
In eight days, the voters in Mississippi will decide on Amendment 26, which would change their constitution to say the following, quote, "The term person or persons shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof," unquote.
In essence, a fertilized egg would legally be considered a person. So, abortion and apparently some form of birth control could be construed as murder, at least that's what opponents say.
If Amendment 26 passes, what other procedures, situations, medications could be impacted?
Let's ask Personhood USA President Keith Mason very briefly. He joins us now.
Mr. Mason, let me ask you, what was your direct involvement for the sake of total clarity here? Did you help write this amendment?
KEITH MASON, PRESIDENT, PERSONHOOD USA: No, we didn't help write the amendment down there, but it was written by the Liberty Council and some other attorneys that were there. The basic hope that we could once again restore and reconnect all human beings with the term and rights that come with "personhood".
SAVIDGE: OK. "The New York Times" reports that one policy analyst predicts that it will pass and if it does pass, what is the aim of the amendment?
MASON: Well, I think the aim is very clear. We're saying that, if you're human, you should be considered a person, and that no human being in the state of Mississippi should be considered property, which is currently the case. There's discrimination based on age, and with the emerging technologies, we believe it's a must to start acting now to say that humanity and individuality is important enough to protect.
SAVIDGE: Well, I think one of the points that really is controversial is trying to specifically identify that moment of when a person becomes a person. So, let's get into the specifics.
If Amendment 26 passes, would it be considered illegal, say, for the morning-after pill, or contraceptives or medical procedures that could save a woman but not necessarily the fetus?
MASON: Well, we hear all kinds of things, scare tactics that talk about what this thing -- what this law -- what recognizing the personhood of all humans might do. But what we do know is if we don't recognize the personhood of all human beings, we'll continue to see the destruction of so many every year through abortion, through various ways through the biotechnology field.
So, there's all these "what ifs," but I like to pull it back to what we know what will happen if we don't recognize that all humans are persons.
SAVIDGE: But a constitutional amendment is not a "what if". I mean, this is an absolute. So, at some point, can you tell me, would a morning-after pill or would any kind of action like that be considered akin to murder, under this kind of law?
MASON: Well, I think it's important to make a -- distinguish between certain types of chemicals or drugs that we're looking at. There's certain drugs or things that are called birth control that abortifacient. They cause the death of a unique human individual. That's been upheld by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
(CROSSTALK)
SAVIDGE: But that's not the point of debate here. What is the point is whether they would be considered illegal under this particular law?
MASON: Well, sure. If we're saying all humans have rights, if they're human you have rights and there's a chemical or device that destroys a human being, then, yes, I believe that would be prohibited. But it would be prohibited through enacting legislation and there would be legislative finding that is brought about that says, yes, this in fact does kill a unique human individual, or no, it doesn't. So I believe there is that "what if" question.
And what we're simply doing, again, it's simply putting in the constitution that all human beings are persons. So nowhere in the Constitution do we bring up the term "egg" in this amendment. Nowhere do we say "fertilized egg," for that matter. And fertilized egg is not a development stage of human being. So --
(CROSSTALK)
SAVIDGE: But if all -- I think we all agree that human beings are persons. I mean, this is not that's more of a theological question. It's more of philosophical. What we're talking about are specific parameters dealing with the medical, the humankind. And that is when you become a person. I mean, just to say that all humans are persons, I mean, that seems to so wishy-washy, that who isn't going to vote for that?
MASON: Well, yes, I think it's the opposite of wishy-washy. It's very straightforward. It's very concise and simple. You know, if we do believe that all humans are persons, then to be human is enough and we know when new human comes about.
So, it's very simple. I believe and I am looking forward to a victory in Mississippi because it is just that simple. These what ifs I think are just that, what ifs.
(CROSSTALK)
SAVIDGE: What do you think the most immediate effect will be in Mississippi if it does pass?
MASON: Well, I think the most immediate impact that will make the biggest splash will be that abortion would become unconstitutional in the state and then we would start a states' rights argument before the Supreme Court. The question would become, does the state of Mississippi have the right to have greater police powers and protect a certain class of people?
MASON: All right. Keith Mason from Personhood USA, thank you very much for coming on to help us better understand.
Now, we want to go to the other side of this. Jordan Goldberg is the state advocacy council for the Center for Reproductive Rights.
And as I mentioned, some are reporting that personhood will pass in Mississippi. And if it does, we'd like for you to name to us the top three things like a medical procedure or a medication that would be affected and cause the most impact. JORDAN GOLDBERG, CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: Well, I think -- thank you for having me. I think this would have an enormous impact on a woman's ability to get basic reproductive health care. Obviously, we would start with -- this is intended to ban all forms of abortion. There are no exceptions in this language. So victims of rape, victims of incest, situations where the woman's life is at stake, where her health is at stake, all of those abortions would be banned.
But it would also reach much, much further into basic forms of contraception. Ninety-eight percent of women in this country use a form of contraception. And something like over a third are hormonal types of contraception that would probably be banned.
Furthermore, IVF treatment and basic --
SAVIDGE: Yes, that's what I wanted to get to that, and ask you about, you know, frozen embryos and things like that, what do you think the impact could be because there are many families rely on this?
GOLDBERG: Absolutely. Many people rely on infertility treatment to form their families. I think you can see from the fact that the medical community in Mississippi and around the country, particularly in infertility doctors have come out opposed to this because this would deter them from their daily practice.
SAVIDGE: So, what is your organization doing, say, to try to counter Amendment 26?
GOLDBERG: Well, the Center for Reproductive Rights is very hopeful that the voters of Mississippi will defeat this next week when it comes on a ballot. But fact is that, if it does pass, the center will immediately challenge it in court.
SAVIDGE: Yes, I think most people anticipate that if it does pass this is very quickly going to go to court -- and maybe, what, all the way to the Supreme Court?
GOLDBERG: It's possible, although I will say that the Supreme Court has been very clear on this issue. The Supreme Court has said that states and individuals cannot define for others when life begins and that the Constitution provides privacy rights to individuals, to women, to the ability to decide when and whether to have a child and does not consider fetuses or fertilized eggs to be people.
SAVIDGE: And I know we're talking about Mississippi, but are there other states that are considering this as well?
GOLDBERG: The only time this has ever been considered elsewhere was in the state of Colorado, it was on the ballot twice there. And I have to say, it was resoundingly defeated. It's not on the ballot anywhere else. There are some fringe movements in some states that would like to put it on the ballot, but at this moment, the only state that's considering it is the state of Mississippi.
SAVIDGE: But if Mississippi, say, does pass it, do you think that there could be other states that start getting in line?
GOLDBERG: I don't think so. I don't see this as a real trend. This is really an outlier. This is an extreme piece of legislation.
If you think about all the different types of care it would impact, contraception, abortion, IVF treatment. And actually, if you look at what the medical association in Mississippi has said, the common procedures that they perform every day in obstetrics and gynecology would be murder under this legislation. I don't think this is something that most people in this country want to see happen.
SAVIDGE: Well, we will continue to follow the story and especially to see how the vote turns out in Mississippi. Jordan Goldberg, Keith Mason, thanks to both of you.
GOLDBERG: Thanks.
SAVIDGE: Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry gave a -- let's say, an interesting speech this past weekend, rather, in New Hampshire. You've got to hear it because he appears to go completely off the cuff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm with her, write your checks. Gold is good. If you've got any in the backyard because, you know, if they print any more money over there in Washington, the gold's going to be good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: You know, it gets even better after that. It is coming up in about two minutes. So, stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: You may have missed this -- so, well, we'll bring it to you in just a bit. I guess it's time for America's Choice politics update. What we're talking about is, of course, Rick Perry unscripted.
This is Perry Friday at a little meet and greet in New Hampshire. After the dinner hour, he spoke at a fund-raiser and he got up there and appeared to just wing it. Here is Rick Perry on his flat tax plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: I called it -- everybody's got a little slogan, right? Mine's "Cut, Balance and Grow." Get that, yes. Cut the size of this government and balance that budget and grow the economy. And it's pretty simple, actually.
Or you can stay in the old system that's out there and, Senator, you know, the ones that want to stay in the old system, pay the lawyers, pay the accountants, all that money that's gone, are that! That little plan that I just shared with you doesn't force the Granite State to expand your tax footprint, if you know what I mean, like 9 percent expansion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: OK. We will have more on that speech coming up a little later. Wolf Blitzer joins us now live from D.C.
And, Wolf, we'll get to se Rick Perry at the next CNN debate in November, right?
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": November 22nd, a national security debate focused again on all of the international issues affecting the United States. Rick Perry has agreed to participate in that CNN debate, also the one November 30th that we've scheduled for Phoenix, the November 22nd debate will be right here in Washington. He's agreed in fact to do all of the scheduled Republican debates throughout the month of November.
So, we're going to see a lot of debates, a lot of these candidates showing off what they want to do as far as their policies are concerned. We'll learn more about the candidates. We'll know where they agree, where they disagree on all of the substantive issues of the day -- the domestic economic issues, the bread and butter issues, the economy as well as the national security issues.
There really hasn't been a whole lot focused in on national security, so we decided, together with the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, to co-sponsor a debate here in Washington, which will take a very close look at these national security issues and we'll bring all of the Republican candidates in.
So, Rick Perry, even though his communications director a week or so suggested he wouldn't be participating in all of the upcoming debates, he will be participating at least in this coming month in November. So, I think that's good for the candidates. I think it's good for the American voters out there, having a better chance to size up these respective candidates.
SAVIDGE: Let me ask you, Wolf, real quick about the Herman Cain women troubles coming forward over the weekend here. I mean, how significant is this for his campaign?
BLITZER: You know, it's a problem. I think the biggest problem they have right now is, you know, "Politico," the publication, the web site, they came to them, what, some 10 days ago and it's taken all this time -- I think that one of the early lessons of damage control in the world of politics, if you've got a case to make, you make it quickly, you make it before your adversaries have a chance to jump on it. They had 10 days to respond in a dramatic way, the way that Herman Cain at the National Press Club responded today.
I don't know why it's taken this campaign this long to respond to all of the allegations that were raised in this "Politico" article. So, it hasn't gone away by any means yet. I suspect more will be coming out. But we'll stay on top of it. Certainly we'll try to advance the story in "THE SITUATION ROOM" later today.
SAVIDGE: Nice to see you, Wolf. Thanks very much.
"Occupy Wall Street" is all about fighting against corporate America, right? Well, now we've gotten word someone is trying to trademark the phrase "Occupy Wall Street." We go live to New York for the details right after this quick break.
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SAVIDGE: What's "Trending," the spirit of "Occupy Wall Street" decidedly anti-corporate, of course. But it was only a matter of time before someone recognized the business side of the protest. Not everybody is happy about it.
Watch this from Poppy Harlow.
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POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: You know what those are? They're trademark applications for this movement, Occupy Wall Street. And this guy over here, you see him? He's one of the folks trying to trademark it.
ROBERT MARESCA, APPLIED FOR TRADEMARK ON "OCCUPY WALL STREET": I made these t-shirts, just a few on the first day, and then I made about 20 on the second day. And then I realized that it's not very healthy to smell the fumes so I decided that I should get in touch with a silk screener.
HARLOW: Why trademark it?
MARESCA: Well, because when with you start to go into a large order, you have to make the large investment, and there's the chance of being sued, the potential did not go through my head that it was something of a potential business thing.
HARLOW (voice-over): Amazon is full of merchandise with that slogan, and an eBay search for "Occupy Wall Street" brings up nearly 5,000 results.
And then there's Ray Agrazon (ph), a self-titled entre-protestor we found online. He's made a few hundred bucks so far selling t-shirts at the occupystore.com.
MARESCA: If it's trademarkable, someone is going to trademark it. Why not me?
HARLOW: But can anyone actually trademark "Occupy Wall Street"? It's not a brand name, at least not yet.
RICHARD ROTH, TRADEMARK ATTORNEY: One would argue on the one hand it's just common words, just descriptive in the common domain. But it does have a little ring to it that may very well pass muster with the trademark office.
HARLOW (on camera): If you get this trademark, are you going to keep it or are you going to give it to occupy Wall Street?
MARESCA: I will give it to whatever legal structure that they organize and they can do what they feel is best for it.
HARLOW (voice-over): Down at Zuccotti Park, there's pretty overwhelming sentiment against owning the trademark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's something that belongs to the people and it's necessary to trademark it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bit hypocritical, you know? And it kind of counteracts why we're here.
HARLOW (on camera): What attracted you to this movement?
MARESCA: Separate money from politics.
HARLOW (voice-over): But Robert Maresca insists he doesn't want to profit from it and promises to funnel the money back to the movement. Just how he plans to do that is another question.
(on camera): How do you think you could get the money that you might make off of this, if you get the trademark? How do you get it back to occupy Wall Street, if that's your goal? How does that work?
MARESCA: Well, I don't -- I'm not going to say that I had this big giant business plan in my head. All I knew was that I was getting sick off the smell of fumes.
HARLOW: You said that you would sell the trademark if you get it to "Occupy Wall Street" if that's possible for $1.
MARESCA: For $1, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cool. Sold!
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SAVIDGE: That's very interesting. Poppy Harlow joins us.
And he goes from a man who doesn't like smelling I guess the smell of a magic marker but -- and then moves on to try to trademark "Occupy Wall Street."
HARLOW: Right.
SAVIDGE: If he doesn't want the money, why is he doing this?
HARLOW: It's a great question. It's part of why we wanted to talk to him. I mean, who knows? If he gets this trademark, he won't know for a few months, then it's really going to be up to him what he does. He could legally profit from it. But he says -- and this is a guy who's a former union steel worker. So, Martin, he tells us he's very aligned with the "Occupy Wall Street" group, he believes in what they're doing. And he tells us, "I don't want to profit from it."
Part of his reasoning in going after the trademark is he was making these t-shirts, he didn't want to get sued for using the slogan. And as he said in the piece, he did have a business thought that this could be a business. But when he really thought it through and filed for the trademark, he said, "I want to funnel the money back to the movement, I want to support this group."
I think it's going to be difficult to figure out how to do that legally, how it would work, would he sell the trademark to the group? Can he do that? Is he even going to get this trademark? Would he have to donate all the profit from any business that he starts through the alliance for global justice, which is the nonprofit in D.C. that is really carrying a lot of this money. It's a 501c-3.
So, there's a lot of questions about all of what would go into doing that. But he says his mission is to support this movement with any money that he might make -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Yes. A really a fascinating conflict.
Poppy Harlow, thanks very much for bringing it to us.
Some of the best harmony in the music business comes from a band called the Indigo Girls. This month they're out with a new album, and our own Brooke Baldwin went behind the scenes at one of the girls' concerts to find out how they've been able to stay together for more than, yes, 25 years and who they'd like to collaborate with, how about a little Outkast and a little Mary J. Blige? And I'm not kidding.
"Music Monday" is coming up in about two minutes.
But, first, since it's Halloween, we're going to give you the top five celebrities voted as the creepiest in America. Each year right before the holiday, E-Poll Market Research puts out a list, and well, we have it for you.
Rounding out the top five in the same spot as the year before, Nadya "Octomom" Suleiman. Fourth place goes to Spencer Pratt. And number three actually wasn't listed in 2010 but is back once again, O.J. Simpson.
Think you know who America's top two creepiest celebrities are? You will find out soon enough.
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SAVIDGE: Before the break we gave you three of E-Poll's most creepy celebrities in America. Now, we got the top two. Number five, Nadia "Octomom" Suleiman. Fourth was Spencer Pratt. Three was O.J. Simpson. In second place, well, not much of a celebrity but pretty popular, depending on your point of view, Casey Anthony. And number one creepiest celebrity in American, missed last year but is back once again, Marilyn Manson.
The band the Indigo Girls have been making music now for the last 26 years. They have played to packed houses all over the world. And now, they sit down with our own Brooke Baldwin for this week's "Music Monday." Take a look.
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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For people who haven't been indoctrinated in the Indigo Girls live experience, how do you describe it?
EMILY SALIERS, INDIGO GIRLS: It's pretty joyful. It's raucous. A lot of people know the words, so there's a lot of singing along.
AMY RAY, INDIGO GIRLS: It's just -- there's the harmony thing, you know? We just have it.
SALIERS: From the very beginning, I mean, we're just a couple of friends in high school that had something in common.
RAY: We recorded our practices on a little cassette. I still have them, actually. But you can hear how gleeful we are, you know, like, oh, wow, we can sing together and do this and this. And we were very earnest about it and we had teachers that mentored us.
And, you know, we got lucky, honestly. We got really lucky.
BALDWIN: Is one of those songs on "1200 Curfews"? One of the cassettes? It ain't fair you know --
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(CROSSTALK)
RAY: One of the oldies. That's pretty deep.
BALDWIN: Nerdy!
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BALDWIN: But let's talk about this. It's fantastic. Describe it, the sound.
SALIERS: It's all about the people who played on the record, like the arrangements, the violin, the banjo, the stand-up base, the percussion. Each one of those players was uniquely gifted and brought his or her, you know, vision to the project. And it's stunning in terms of what they were able to bring to the table.
And then the songs work together and they're all fun to play.
(MUSIC)
BALDWIN: I wanted to ask you about this. Something I'm fascinated about, just interviewing different people. I mean, different bands come up with the set list like night of -- I don't know how soon before you go. How does that process work? How do you pick the songs?
RAY: We go just back and forth, you know? What do you want to start with it, and then whoever, Emily or Amy, and then we go and each person picks their own song. So it's Emily, Amy, Emily, Amy. You know, we just trade off.
(MUSIC)
BALDWIN: Who you have not yet collaborated with that would make a dream collaboration?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Who have you not yet collaborated with that would make a dream collaboration?
AMY RAY, INDIGO GIRLS: For me, I would love it if, like, Andre from Outkast would do like a remix or something.
EMILY SALIERS, INDIGO GIRLS: Mary J. Blige for me. I don't think I could sing with her, though. She's too intimidating. Mary J. Blige or Stevie Wonder, those are the two at the top of my list.
BALDWIN: What is it about the two of you specifically though that has kept you together for so many years?
RAY: What we do with together has a magic in it that is not going to be the same as what we do alone.
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SAVIDGE: Very nice. Brooke sits down with artists as they travel through Atlanta. And if you want to see some of her other music Monday interviews, check out CNN.com/Brooke.
