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G-20 Hashes Out Global Economy; Homegrown Terror Arrests; President Obama Makes Push for Roads and Bridges; Cain Lashes out at Reporters after Virginia Meeting; "Occupy Oakland" Leads City Strike; Making History in Mississippi; Russian Spies Caught on Tape

Aired November 02, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Live from Studio 7, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Suzanne Malveaux.

Let's get you up to speed for this Wednesday, November 2nd.

We begin with an eye on your money and investments. After two days of sharp losses, stocks are on the rebound. The Dow jumped 162 points in early trading. Right now it's up around 208 points. A good sign there.

The markets are getting a boost from a better-than-expected report on jobs. Payroll processor ADP says the private sector added 110,000 jobs in October.

And President Obama makes a new push for money to fix the nation's roads and bridges. In a speech this hour, he'll call on Congress to pass the transportation component of his jobs bill which includes money for infrastructure. The president will use a bridge in Washington's Georgetown area as a backdrop.

And we'll take you there live. The speech is set for 11:25 Eastern Time.

And we have new pictures today of a jetliner's dramatic emergency landing in Poland. Earlier video showed it from a side angle. Here, you can see the plane coming in with no landing gear at all.

Somehow the pilot manages to steer it onto the runway, on its belly. No one on the flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Warsaw was injured.

One of the presidential candidates, Herman Cain's, accusers may speak out about her allegations of sexual harassment. Her attorney says the key is getting the National Restaurant Association, where the complaint was filed, to waive a confidentiality agreement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL BENNETT, ATTORNEY FOR CAIN ACCUSER: I guess that that would be the right thing to do so that she can tell her side of the story, since Mr. Cain is telling his side of the story. And if they agree to that, then I will confer with my client again and see what she wants to do. Ultimately, it's up to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Cain insists he never sexually harassed anyone. He says it's a political attack against his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are factions that are trying to destroy me, personally, as well as this campaign. But there is a force greater, there's a force at work here that is much greater than those that would try to destroy me and destroy this campaign and this journey to the White House. And that force is called the voice of the people. That's why we're doing as well as we are in this campaign thus far.

You all were supposed to applaud.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Occupy Oakland activists are taking their protests to another level. They're calling for a general strike today to shut down the city. Instead of going to work, they're urging people to converge on downtown. After the strike, the demonstrators plan a protest at Oakland's port, one of the largest in the country.

And WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, he is a step closer to being extradited to Sweden for questioning on sexual assault accusations. An appeals court in London today rejected Assange's case against extradition. Another hearing later this month will determine whether he can appeal that decision. Assange denies that he sexually assaulted two women in Sweden.

What happened to $600 million of customers' money at the brokerage firm MF Global? Well, that's what the FBI and federal regulators are investigating.

MF Global is led by former New Jersey governor and Goldman Sachs CEO, Jon Corzine. The firm declared bankruptcy this week after losing a bundle through bad deals on European debt.

And former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is speaking out about a presidential poison scare. Rice says it happened a few weeks after the 9/11 attacks, when the country was on edge and the White House on alert.

In an ABC interview, Rice says she was on a trip to China with President Bush when she got a secure video conference call from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: The vice president came on the screen and said that the White House detectors had detected botulism toxin, and we were all -- those of us who were exposed were going to die.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": He said that?

RICE: Yes, he said that. And I remember everybody just sort of freezing and the president saying, "What was that? What was that, Dick?"

STEPHANOPOULOS: Including the president?

RICE: Including the president, because the exposure time would have meant that we were all exposed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Rice said they spent 24 hours in Shanghai waiting for test results from the CDC before they learned it was a false alarm. She writes about the incident in her new memoir.

All right. Here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. Today's question: Do weddings trump marriage?

Carol Costello joins us now from New York.

Oh, let me guess, what's the impetus of this topic?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I was just going to say, maybe it's not a big story, but it certainly is an interesting story.

WHITFIELD: It is.

COSTELLO: I can't even believe I'm talking about it, but for some reason I'm intrigued by this.

Kim Kardashian, reality show bride -- the flowers, the dress, the 20-karat ring, so beautiful and so over. Kim Kardashian's multimillion-dollar wedding drew huge ratings for the E! network, with Kim filing for divorce after only 72 days. Some speculate it was all a hoax.

Same-sex marriage advocates are having a field day. Have you seen this from the Facebook page of the National Organization for Marriage Equality? It says, "If you think gay marriage cheapens the institution, two words: Kim Kardashian."

That aside, let's face it, we're not just a celebrity-obsessed culture, we're a wedding-obsessed culture, at least when it comes to the theater of marriage. When it comes to the actual marriage, do we really walk the walk?

According to a Pew Research Center survey, only about one-fourth of 20-somethings are married. That's down from about two-thirds in 1960. And about half of all first marriages split up.

Why? Psychologists say the Kardashian wedding spectacle pretty much sums it up -- narcissism. The cultural fascination with weddings feeds into the "me," not the "we" culture. As psychologist Stephen Fabick says, "The wedding is, on the one hand, a healthy way of making a public commitment to each other. But it preps like a cancer where the focus is on the show and not the long term or reality of the relationship."

So, "Talk Back" today: Do weddings trump marriage?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your responses later this hour.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. And people thought they were done talking about that Kardashian wedding. Now it's going to start all over again.

COSTELLO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Carol, thanks so much.

All right. Here's a rundown of some the stories straight ahead.

President Barack Obama heads to France tonight, but not before one last pitch for his jobs bill. His comments, just minutes away.

Plus, four elderly men accused of plotting to blow up government buildings and use ricin to kill federal officials.

Then, all eyes are on the economy, the global economy. World leaders gather in France to stave off a disaster.

And one of the biggest pythons ever caught, with an appetite to match. Wait until you hear what it swallowed whole.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Thousands of protesters are in the south of France as leaders of the world's most powerful countries prepare to meet in Cannes. The so-called G-20 is coming together with the world economy on the brink of another downturn.

Alison Kosik joins us now from New York, and Ali Velshi is standing by in Cannes.

So, Ali, let's begin with you. I understand the G-20 summit is unofficially getting under way tonight, and Greece is of course the key topic.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and that was going to be the case, Fred.

President Obama arrives late tonight, but really the attention is going to be around 3:30 Eastern, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy walk in and they're followed by the Greek prime minister, George Papandreou. They're going to have a stern talking to with him, because this whole Greek bailout that was agreed to last week, this whole plan, hinged on the fact that it was strengthening Greece, it was bailing Greece out. Now, instead of the Greece parliament accepting this, the prime minister announced yesterday that he's putting it to a vote. He wants it to go to a national referendum.

Now, Fred, if you're the Greek people, who have asked to have government spending clawed back, they're going to get shorter vacations, they're going to work longer hours, they're going to retire later, they're going to be paying more income tax -- in fact, many Greeks don't pay income tax -- all of these things are going to happen. There's a good chance that when it's put to a vote, it's going to be rejected.

If that gets rejected, the whole euro bailout plan falls apart. Europe could be pushed into a recession, and of course that means that the rest of us around the world who have tenuous economies could be pushed over as well.

So, this went from being a fairly technical meeting about global growth and coming together on it, into something very different. A lot of pressure now on the Greeks to say they'll put this to a referendum.

If it goes to a referendum, it could be December or January, two more months of uncertainty. A lot of concerns about what this could do to the global economy.

WHITFIELD: Now, Merkel and Sarkozy were pretty confident that Greece would like this, but at what point did the prime minister say thumbs down to this? And the cabinet, his cabinet, is backing him up on that.

VELSHI: A very strange situation. A lot of people are asking, why did the Greeks turn this down?

This entire bailout is meant to help the Greeks. But if you're Greek, think about the impact of this. It sounds like it's meant to help you out, but it is austerity to the nth degree.

It is paring back. It is entitlements that you're used to that are going away, and there's some evidence that this is not necessarily helping the Greek economy. It may be good for all of Europe because it's allowing this bailout to happen. But if you're Greek, you're sitting here saying, this isn't good for me, it doesn't feel good, it may not even be good for my economy. Why should I let this happen? Why should I suffer so that the rest of Europe can survive and thrive?

So there's some sense that is politically expedient and popular for the Greek prime minister. Maybe it gets him more votes whether the referendum actually happens, or he gets to say that he was pushing for it and everybody else was pushing against it.

So, unclear as to why that's happened, but it was highly unexpected, it's a big surprise. And there's a lot of fear, as you saw in the stock markets yesterday, that if Greece rejects this, this can be very damaging for global economies. WHITFIELD: So, now, at what point will Europe and other leaders of other countries, the U.S. included, say you know what, just let Greece do its thing and let it fall?

VELSHI: Well, I think you're going to have these meetings tonight. You're going to have Sarkozy and Merkel talking to Papandreou. You're going to have Obama talking to Papandreou. You're going to have a lot of pressure.

On Friday morning there's a vote in the Greek parliament to see whether this thing goes through. If it's going through, if that referendum is going through, I think there's a real possibility that the world will say to Greece, you know what? You might be on your own.

Maybe they get kicked out of the eurozone. Who knows what happens? That could be very damaging to Greece, but I don't think the world is going to wait two more months to figure this out.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ali Velshi, thanks so much.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. President Obama pushes for money to repair the nation's roads and bridges. We'll go live to Washington as the president makes another appeal to Congress just minutes from now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Four elderly Georgia men will appear in federal court a few hours from now on charges of a homegrown terror case. Prosecutors say they're part of a fringe militia group. They're accused of plotting to attack government officials with explosives and a deadly toxin.

George Howell is live outside the courthouse in Gainesville, Georgia.

So, George, tell us more about these suspects and the attacks that they're accused of planning.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, good morning.

This group calls itself Covert Group. And investigators say while there is a lot of attention placed on international terrorism, they are just as focused on domestic, homegrown terrorism like this.

And I can tell you, some scary stuff. I've been reading through these affidavits that are part of a federal investigation, and I want to single out a quote from Frederick Thomas, who is described as the leader of this group. When talking about buying explosives, he says, "We'd have to blow the whole building like Timothy McVeigh."

Again, all of this information coming from confidential informants who told investigators that this group was planning to buy ammunition and explosives, and that they planned to produce a deadly toxin called ricin. Ricin can either be a pellet, it can be powder, it can be a spray, and if it gets on your skin or in your lungs, it's deadly, there's no cure.

Their plan was to put that ricin on highways and let it spread on those highways in Atlanta and several other cities across the United States. But investigators say they made their arrests before these men could become a threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALLY QUILLIAN YATES, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY: They had some of the ingredients that were necessary, but not all of the ingredients. And it's really important for the public to know and to be assured that the FBI was on top of this, and they were monitoring this every step of the way. And that these individuals were never at a point where they were actually able to carry this out without the FBI's knowledge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So, within the next few hours, we are waiting to see Frederick Thomas, Dan Roberts, Ray Adams and Sam Crump make their first appearances in federal court. Again, these men, in their 60s and 70s.

They planned to target government officials, corporate leaders, and even members of the media. And they were planning, allegedly, to target buildings in Atlanta, the ATF and IRS buildings -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, George, how was this plot uncovered?

HOWELL: All along, investigators had confidential informants who were giving them information. And basically, when it got to the point where these men were planning to execute these attacks, that's when the FBI moved in.

WHITFIELD: All right.

George Howell, thanks so much from Gainesville, Georgia.

So, the threat of small homegrown terrorist groups is always a huge concern for the government. Let's bring in our national security contributor, Fran Townsend, in New York. She's a member of both the CIA and Department of Homeland Security External Advisory Committees.

Good to see you, Fran.

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: So, as we get to details about this bust, and the militia members planning to attack government officials with bombs, biotoxins, et cetera, does this indicate to you a real payoff from a heightened effort to infiltrate suspected homegrown terrorists?

TOWNSEND: Fredricka, absolutely. I mean, I think what we're seeing now is the results of an investment in building the FBI.

The FBI's funding over the last 10 years has been increased. Their number of agents on the street has increased. Their capability and their membership in the intelligence community all pay off in this sort of an instance.

That, coupled with their relationship with state and local law enforcement, is the best of what the FBI can do. We've seen, increasingly, their use of these undercover informants to get into these plots, to identify all of the individuals involved, before they take it down and before these groups are able to actually act.

WHITFIELD: So these four that were arrested, do you believe this is the tip of the iceberg of that group?

TOWNSEND: You know what's interesting? Because they were undercover informants in there, and this plot unfolded over time, it's likely that the FBI worked the investigation to identify all of those that they believed were involved before they took it down.

So I think you can probably rest assured that most of the people who were a threat, if not all, were scooped up and arrested at the same time. You know, these sort of domestic groups are the most difficult to detect. And the FBI and local law enforcement put tremendous resources into actually making these investigations and bringing them to the arrest stage.

WHITFIELD: Is there a feeling that investigators are focusing kind of on small-town USA, that that's where the prevalence of this kind of planning may be taking place?

TOWNSEND: You know, it's hard to say that, Fredricka. I mean, we've seen -- I'm here, as you said, in New York, and we've seen these sorts of undercover operations, big operations here in New York, where the NYPD and (ph) local law enforcement. So it's not particular to any one area, rural or urban. It's a concern nationally.

WHITFIELD: All right. Fran Townsend, thanks so much, from New York this afternoon.

(NEWSBREAK)

WHITFIELD: And a new worry for Republican presidential front- runner Herman Cain. He's climbing in the polls, but now he's on the defensive over sexual harassment claims from years ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Want to go straight to Key Bridge at Washington, D.C. You see the president right there. He's pushing for money to repair the nation's roads and bridges.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Farmers, they can lose five cents a bushel when a rural bridge closes. So, all told, our aging transportation infrastructure costs American businesses and families about $130 billion a year.

That's a tax on our business, that's a tax on our consumers. It is coming out of your pocket. It's a drag on our overall economy. And if we don't act now, it could cost America hundreds of billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs by the end of the decade.

So you're paying already for these substandard bridges. You're paying for these substandard roads. You could be paying to make sure that workers were rebuilding these roads, and you would save money in the long term if you did it. And I'm speaking to all the American people right now.

(APPLAUSE)

Building a world-class transportation system is one of the reasons that America became an economic superpower in the first place. Today, as a share of our economy, Europe invests more than twice what we do in infrastructure. China, more than four times as much.

Think about that. Europe invests, as a percentage of its overall economy, twice as much in roads and bridges and airports and ports. China, four times as much.

How do we sit back and watch China and Europe build the best bridges and high-speed railroads and gleaming new airports, and we're doing nothing at a time when we've got more than a million unemployed construction workers who could build them right here in America right now?

(APPLAUSE)

We're better than that. We are smarter than that. We've just got to get folks in Congress to share the same sense of national urgency that mayors and governors and the American people do all across country.

Now, I've got to say, you know, we've got some members of Congress here who get it. Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, she gets it. She's seen a bridge fall apart in her state. Senator Whitehouse from Rhode Island, he gets it. Congressman Larson from Connecticut gets it. I know the mayor of Washington, D.C., gets it.

But we've got to have everybody on Capitol Hill get it.

Last month, Republicans in the Senate blocked a jobs bill that would've meant hundreds of thousands of private sector construction jobs repairing bridges like this one. It's the -- kind of the idea that in the past, at least, both parties have voted for, both parties have supported. It was supported by the overwhelming majority of the American people. It was paid for. And yet they said no.

The truth is, the only way we can attack our economic challenges on the scale that's needed is with bold action by Congress. They hold the purse strings.

It's the only way we're going to put hundreds of thousands of people back to work right now; not five years from now, not 10 years from now, but right now. It's the only way that we're going to rebuild an economy that's not based on financial bubbles, but on hard work, on building and making things right here in the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: That's the deal that every American's looking for: that we have an economy where everybody who works hard has the chance to get ahead, where the middle class regains some sense of security that has been slipping away for over a decade now.

So that's why I'm going to keep on pushing these senators and some members of the House of Representatives to vote on common-sense, paid-for jobs proposals.

In the meantime, while I'm waiting for them to act, we're going to go ahead and do what we can do to help the American people find jobs. We're not going to wait for them and do nothing.

I've said that I'll do everything in my power to act on behalf of the American people, with or without Congress. We can't wait for Congress to do its job. If they won't act, I will.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And that's why today I'm announcing that we are actually going to expedite loans and competitive grants for new projects all across the country that will create thousands of new jobs for workers like these.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: If there's money already in the pipeline, we want to get it out faster.

And this comes on the heels of our recent efforts to cut red tape and launch several existing projects faster and more efficiently.

See, construction workers, they want to do their jobs. We need Congress to do theirs.

But here's the good news: Congress has another chance. They already voted once against this thing. They've got another chance.

This week, they've got another chance to vote for a jobs bill that will help private sector companies put hundreds of thousands of construction workers back on the job rebuilding our roads, our airports, our bridges and our transit systems.

And this bill, by the way, is one that will begin to reform the way we do projects like this: no more earmarks, no more bridges to nowhere. We're going to stop the picking of projects based on political gain and start picking them based on two criteria: how badly they're needed out there and how much good they'll do for our economy.

And by the way, that's an idea...

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: ... that's an idea that came from the good work of a Texas Republican and a Massachusetts Democrat, because infrastructure shouldn't be a partisan issue.

My secretary of transportation, who is here, Ray LaHood, a great man from Peoria...

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: ... he's the pride of Peoria. He spent a long time in Congress. He's a Republican, a member of my Cabinet. He knows how badly we need to act on this issue.

WHITFIELD: That's President Barack Obama there at Key Bridge in Washington, D.C. calling on Congress to pass the transportation proponent of his jobs bill.

Meantime, go across a different bridge from Washington to Alexandria, Virginia, and in the spotlight and perhaps now getting a little testy over the past sexual harassment allegations, Republican candidate, Herman Cain was to talk about health care in Alexandria. But instead, was invited by some questions that he did not necessarily welcome.

Jim Acosta is in Alexandria. And you were covering that event. Describe what's going on. I guess it's getting a little hot in the kitchen?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka. That's an understatement.

This was a nasty scene here at this hotel just across the river from Washington and Alexandria, Virginia. Herman Cain was scheduled to speak to a group of conservative doctors. He gave that talk behind closed doors. The press was not allowed inside that chat with the doctors. And then after that conversation that he had with that group of doctors, he came out into sort of a lobby area of the hotel, a ballroom section of the hotel where he was obviously meted by a throng of reporters.

And I just want to show you what the videotape looks like. Because it really speaks for itself. We in the media try to ask Mr. Cain some questions about this ongoing situation with these women who were accusing Mr. Cain of sexual harassment. Mr. Cain was not in the mood to take those questions. And got very testy with reporters. There was also some pushing and shoving after that exchange. Let's show you that tape right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me say one thing, I'm here with these doctors and that's what I'm going to talk about. So don't even bother asking me all of these other questions that you all are curious about, OK? Don't even bother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a good question, though.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you concerned about the fact that these women do want to come forward.

CAIN: What did I say -- excuse me? Excuse me!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step aside, please.

CAIN: No, no, no, what part of no don't people understand?

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ACOSTA: So there you heard Mr. Cain say, what part of "no" do you people not understand. And shouted, excuse me to the press as he tried to make his way through. And I'm not sure if we're showing the video right now because I don't have a monitor in front of me. But after he made those comments, he started to make his way into what was billed as a press conference for this event.

At that event, Fredricka, he didn't take any questions. He just made a statement, an additional statement to the doctors. But en route to that separate press conference room, there was a lot of pushing and shoving that went on.

It appeared that some of Mr. Cain's security staff was pushing members of the working press. There were also some hotel employees that were also physically pushing and elbowing members of the working press en route to that press conference room.

So this was a pretty nasty scene. I don't think we've seen this candidate, who was usually in a very jovial, you know, sort of mood. He sings in a lot of his events. There was obviously no singing at this event. This was a very different Herman Cain that we saw this morning, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: And at the commencement of this event, he's on his way now to Capitol Hill, is that correct? Where he'll be meeting with Republican leaders and likely to encounter more reporters and more questions?

ACOSTA: That's right. And they may find it more difficult to push members of the working press up on Capitol Hill with capitol police officers obviously also there. They will -- the capitol police will keep the press for a good bit, away from Mr. Cain as he makes his way in there. If they choose the right entrance. It all depends on the entrance as you know, Fredricka, when you make your way into the capitol. So it will be interesting to see how all of that plays out.

I will say that I also had a few moments to chat very briefly with Mark Block, who is the chief of staff for the Cain campaign. He indicated that there might be some conversations going on between the Cain campaign and the National Restaurant Association as we speak, regarding those confidentiality agreements that apparently these two accusers of Herman Cain from the late 1990s signed.

He indicated to me this -- he held up to his phone at one point to me and said, this may be the call now. And then later told me, it should be an interesting 48 hours.

So obviously all of this is happening at a rapid pace with the Cain campaign. And I think we saw an indication just a little while ago, that it's getting difficult for the candidate to tolerate all of this. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Right, and still unclear, even from the National Restaurant Association, whether Herman Cain answering reporters' questions about it in any way, violated that agreement, or if this agreement is strictly between the restaurant association and the two women who have their accusations. And he may not be a party, too, of that agreement.

All right, Jim Acosta, thanks so much on that. Keep us posted on the rest of the day's events.

ACOSTA: You bet.

WHITFIELD: All right. Occupy Oakland protesters really plan to occupy the city today. Shut it down in fact. Their plan of action is straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Occupy Oakland is fired up today. The anti-Wall Street group is leading a citywide strike and labor unions are joining in. Plans include marches, pickets outside banks and an attempt to shut down the city's port.

Our reporter Dan Simon is in Oakland.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This group of protesters in Oakland became energized last week when they were evicted by the city which of course set up that violent confrontation with police.

Now they're back in full force. Tent city back here in front of city hall. They want to see if they can take things to the next level by calling for a general city strike. They want workers to skip work. They're also telling teachers and students to not go to school. We know that they're going to be several hundred people marching throughout the streets of Oakland. They say this will be a peaceful protest. But given what we saw last week, police are preparing for all eventualities.

Dan Simon, CNN, Oakland, California.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WHITFIELD: And you may remember an Iraq war veteran was seriously injured in that incident that Dan just mentioned.

Former Marine Scott Olsen suffered a skull fracture when he was hit by a projectile during last week's police crackdown in Oakland. That attack has galvanized other military veterans. They're now mobilizing today, to join forces with the Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York. You're looking at live pictures right now at that site.

Iraq veterans against the war, and veterans of the 99 percent are hoping for a strong, uniformed presence. They plan to march from Vietnam Veterans Plaza to Liberty Square.

And some say his chances are slim at best, but this Democratic mayor in Mississippi says he will be the state's next governor. Find out why the race is so heated and historic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, New Hampshire traditionally holds the first primary in a presidential race. And now it is firm, New Hampshire, with a primary date. Mark your calendar, January 10th.

All right, history is unfolding right now in Mississippi. For the first time since reconstruction, an African- American has captured a major party nomination in that state. That person is Johnny Dupree. The Democratic mayor of Hattiesburg who is now running for governor. But can he win in a southern state that still bears the confederate emblem in its flag?

Here's CNN's Don Lemon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you thought that Johnny Dupree for governor campaign would be celebrating, except for Johnny Dupree. JOHNNY DUPREE (D), MISSISSIPPI GUBERNATORIAL NOMINEE: I got all the nay sayers who can't do it because.

LEMON: He couldn't win the Mississippi primary because he's a black man in a state stigmatized by racism. Because he didn't have nearly as much money to spend as his white Republican opponent, Lieutenant Governor, Phil Bryant.

DUPREE: And you can fill in the blanks.

LEMON: But primary voters made history, by making Johnny Dupree, the first African-American ever to have a real chance of becoming the governor of Mississippi.

DUPREE: It's awesome, isn't it? Isn't it awesome? That we live in a place called America that allows things like that to happen that have never happened before. Isn't that awesome?

LEMON: But is it realistic in a race where not much distinguishes one candidate from the other. They disagree mostly over how to pay for universal health care. And whether voters should show I.D. at the polls. And those two ideas aren't enough to motivate voters according to retired political professor, Joseph Parker.

PROF. EMERITUS JOSEPH PARKER, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI: Most white voters in Mississippi vote for the white candidate and most black voters vote for the black candidate.

LEMON: Parker says to win as governor, Johnny Dupree would have to get all of the black votes and at least a third of the white. He did it in 2001, when he became the first black mayor of Hattiesburg. But can he do it state-wide?

PARKER: If he does, it will be like Moses rolling back the Red Sea.

DUPREE: I'm here to talk to you about color -- green.

LEMON: The only color Dupree wants to address is money. Something his state, the nation's poorest, desperately needs. Something his opponent has a lot of. Outspending Dupree 7-1. But Dupree is confident.

DUPREE: I have 100 percent chance of not winning, if I wasn't in the race. But I got a 50 percent chance of winning because I'm in the race.

LEMON: Dupree has proven the polls, the pundits and the naysayers wrong before. But with this much at stake, can he do it again?

Don Lemon, CNN, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Sunday, November 13th, Soledad O'Brien explores how some black entrepreneurs are risking everything to become the next big thing. Watch the "NEW PROMISED LAND: SILICON VALLEY," a "BLACK IN AMERICA" special, Sunday night, November 13th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, right here on CNN.

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WHITFIELD: All right. You have been sounding off on our "Talk Back" question. "Do weddings trump marriage?"

Carol Costello is here with your responses. Carol?

(CROSSTALK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Yes, that's the question. I know. Funny responses today.

The "Talk Back" question, "Do weddings trump marriage?"

This from Karen. "OK, so I first saw trump and wedding in the same sentence and thought holy cow, another one?"

This from Marcus. "The airwaves are filled with wedding- themed reality shows where the brides and grooms turn into monsters and dig themselves into financial ruin just to have the narcissistic "me" day at any cost. Meanwhile, the real meaning of marriage, love, companionship, support is diluted or eliminated. And to think that gays are not allowed to marry lest it affects the "sanctity of marriage."

This from Kim. "Every one of my friends who had huge weddings is now separated or divorced. My hubby and I went to the Justice of the Peace. We were not concerned with putting on a show. We have been married almost 14 years now."

And this from Erin. "The power rests in the strength and blessings which come as a result of a loving relationship, not the ceremony."

Keep the conversation flowing. Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll be back with you in about 20 minutes.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, it doesn't look like people have lost hope in the sanctity of marriage. It's just they are kind of drawing the parallels of going the distance with the big poofy wedding.

COSTELLO: They are still willing to give it a go with the hopes that yes, there is such a thing as a happy marriage.

WHITFIELD: Love prevails.

All right. Carol Costello, thanks so much.

COSTELLO: Sure.

WHITFIELD: We will check back with you. A Russian spy ring operating in broad daylight with no idea. FBI cameras were actually clicking away. We will show you the video that could be right out of a James Bond movie.

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WHITFIELD: A Russian spy ring thinking they were stealing and trading classified U.S. information. They had no clue they were the ones being watched.

Our Jill Dougherty has fascinating insight into a world of global espionage happening right under all of our noses.

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JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The FBI releases a treasure-trove of videos, photos and heavily edited documents from Operation: Ghost Stories. An undercover peek at how a Russian spy ring collected and passed on information, how the FBI trailed them and finally cracked the operation.

In one video from January 2010, Anna Chapman, the red headed bombshell who later went on to fame in Moscow as a TV host, sits in a New York coffee shop wearing designer sunglasses, unknowingly talking with an undercover FBI agent about problems with her laptop that she uses to communicate with Russian officials.

"You are ready for the next step, OK," he asks. "OK," she says. "This is not laptop to laptop. This is person to person," the agent says.

In another video, the classic spy technique, a brush pass, as another spy trades off a bag full of cash with a Russian official as they pass in a train station.

The FBI was forced to release the material recorded over the decade the FBI had the 10 Russians under surveillance as part of a Freedom of Information Act request and it looks just like a spy movie. Including one Russian digging up a package of money from what in spy lingo is called a dead drop.

This spy ring is over, but the FBI says it's not the end of the story.

FRANK FIGLUZZI, FBI: The U.S. remains the target of most of the world's spying. And again, as long as we have policy information, technology and research that the rest of the world wants and as long as foreign Intel services want to gain a strategic advantage against us, we'll continue to be the target of that kind of spying.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): Anna Chapman and the others were sent home in a spy swap last year, but their techniques live on.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, the State Department.

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