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G-20 To Boost IMF; Markets Sink In U.S. Europe; Conrad Murray Trial Goes To Jury; Cain Accuser Drafts Statement; Perry Says No Apology Needed; Today's Rock Star Kelly Slater; Herman Cain's Strange Week; TSA To Study X-Ray Body Scanners; Report: Government Glossed Over Cancer Risks; Dr. Conrad Murray Verdict Watch; Team Cain's Handling of Allegations; OWS Protests Force Cafe Layoffs; Texas AG Wants Federal Help for Tougher Border Security
Aired November 04, 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: Hello, everyone. Wall Street to Washington, Cannes to California -- a world of big stories changing by the hour and you'll see them all starting right now.
An economic summit aimed at staving off disaster is history. (INAUDIBLE) the remains. The G-20 leaders who have been meeting in the south of France are pledging to boost the international monetary fund and to keep a close eye on Italy. But it's Greece, not even a G- 20 member, that sucked up all the attention with a political drama that could reach a climax tonight.
CNN's Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi joins me, again, from Can. Ali, we heard today from President Obama, we heard from the president of France, do we have any more clarity than we had at this time yesterday.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the clarity we have now -- yesterday we were thinking there wasn't going to be a referendum, now the Greek finance minister has told the E.U. there will be no referendum. But as you alluded to, within about six hours or so, there is going to be the final step in a confidence vote on the Greek -- in the Greek parliament. And the prime minister, George Papandreou, who's really behind all of the drama this week, he only has a two-seat lead in parliament.
So, it remains to be seen what's going to happen in Greece. But Randi, you and I have talked about this, Greece is a tiny country in the grand scheme of things. It's the 32nd biggest country in the world in terms of its economy. Italy is a much bigger country, and Italy, right now, is in the focus, because right now lenders from around the world, whether they're banks or governments, are looking at Europe and saying, is this a stable organization? Are these 17 countries that use the Euro trustworthy that they'll pay their debts?
After what we saw with Greece, they are starting to look at Italy now and say, there might be more risk here than they first thought. So, people are a little more relaxed than they were this time, Randi, but they're still pretty much on edge.
KAYE: Yes. I would play for our viewers, Ali, some perspective from the president, a glass half-full perspective, if you will. Let's play that, and then I want to ask you about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Make no mistake, there is more hard work ahead and more difficult choices to make. But our European partners have laid a foundation on which to build, and it has all the elements needed for success. A credible fire wall to prevent the crisis from spreading, strengthening European banks, charting a sustainable path for Greece, and confronting the structural issues that are the heart of the current crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: So Ali, you listen to that, but really when I think about it, doesn't a whole lot still ride here on what the Greeks decide?
VELSHI: I would say president is overstating the case a little bit. What he's saying is what he hopes happens. The reality is there's no fire wall around Europe at the moment. They're talking about beefing up the international monetary fund. Greece is the biggest recipient of money from the international monetary fund right now. It's more hopeful talk.
One of the things is that even though we've seen this sort of debt debate in the United States, these kind of debates going on in Greece about government cutbacks versus, you know, less spending, they go on everywhere. But Europe is not a federation, they don't have somebody who makes those decisions.
So, the biggest thing that happened this week is on Wednesday, when Sarkozy and Merkel of France and Germany, called Papandreou, who's not a member of the G-20, to Can here and told him, if you guys vote this -- you do this referendum and it goes the wrong way, you might get kick out of the Euro. That's probably the biggest accomplishment this week. There's finally a rule that says if you do something that fundamentally affects the Euro and the other countries in it, you might actually get kicked out. That's probably the biggest take-away this week.
KAYE: Thank you, Ali Velshi, very much. Nice to see you as well.
Well, whether it's a G-20 jitters abroad or jobless worries at home, investors are in a funk. The Dow, NASDAQ, S&P all down more than one percent. Right now blue chips are down 145 points there. The big concern here is a small report from the labor front. We learned this morning that U.S. employers added 80,000 jobs last month which isn't terrible but far less than needed. The jobless rate actually fell one-tenth of a point to nine percent. But almost 14 million Americans who are looking for work still cannot find a job.
Deliberations now underway in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray. Over the course of 23 days, the jury heard from 49 witnesses, which included Murray's girlfriend and patients as well as investigators and medical experts for each side. The prosecution argues that the evidence is, quote, "overwhelming," while the defense maintains it was the acts of Jackson himself and not Murray that led to his death. Be sure to stay with CNN, word of a verdict could come at any time.
The Herman Cain campaign is said to be mulling a lawsuit against the online news site that first reported sexual harassment allegations from the 1990s. A campaign spokesman tells CNN that nothing's been decided but a suit is being discussed against Politico.com which, for the record, stands by its reporting.
We're also waiting to find out whether one of Cain's accusers will be allowed to put out a statement giving her side of events that led to her departure from the National Restaurant Association which Cain at the time headed. The group is going over that statement word for word to see whether it violates the confidentiality clause that came with the woman's severance.
The sexual harassment storm surrounding Cain continues. His camp blames Perry's camp, but Rick Perry says no campaign leaks here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No apology needed. We found out about this the same time that I suppose the rest of America found out about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: John King joins us live with more on this Republican blame game.
But first, I want you to meet today's "Rock Star," Kelly Slater. He may be the greatest athlete you've never heard of. The 39-year-old living legend of surfing just captured his 11th ASP world title in San Francisco giving him bragging rights to being the oldest, and 19 years ago the youngest, to ever hold this title. Pretty amazing work there on those waves. OK, and my producer, Kelly, thinks he's awfully cute -- smokin' hot I think were her exact words. Kelly Slater, total rock star.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Back now to the drama surrounding what's still a top tier Republican presidential campaign. That, a former restaurant executive and radio talk show host, Herman Cain. One would think Cain had a pretty dismal week giving inconsistent answers to sexual harassment questions that haven't exactly gone away. But poll numbers, fund-raising and grassroots recruiting would seem to show otherwise.
My colleague, John King is watching all of this from his post in Iowa. Hi there, John. Let me ask you first, I mean what do you make of this potential lawsuit against Politico? Can and should a presidential campaign try to sue over bad press?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anybody can sue anybody in the United States of America. I view it as a bit of a stretch and I think it is part of the reaction of the Cain campaign to push back to try to get people to rally around him to perceive him as somehow a victim here. You would have to prove -- Randi, you know the business we work in. They would have to prove some malice or intent, some libel. Politico says it looked through all the documents that these -- and Mr. Cain himself has conceded there were settlements.
So, based on everything I know today, I would say it is a legal stretch and a big legal stretch but it is part of the political debate I think more than it is any part of any legal debate.
KAYE: And as you know, John, Herman Cain isn't just sore at Politico, he's also pointing some fingers at Rick Perry's campaign. You had a chance to sit down with Rick Perry yesterday. What did he tell you?
KING: Rick Perry was here in Iowa. He's doubling out in this state. His campaign has been struggling as well. The last thing he needs right now, and he's trying to recover, is some character questions. And so, Herman Cain is saying it was Rick Perry who did this to me, the smear came from Rick Perry. So, when I sat down with the governor yesterday I asked him point-blank, has he asked around his campaign? And Governor Perry says it wasn't him. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now, the Cain campaign and the candidate himself say that you and your campaign owe him an apology. Do you?
PERRY: No apology needed. We found out this about the same time I suppose the rest of America found out about it, both on the Internet or the next day in news. So you know, I don't know how to tell him any other way except, knew nothing about it, sir.
KING: You think -- does Mr. Cain owe you apology for pointing the finger at your campaign?
PERRY: There going to be -- there's going to be more stuff floating around out there in campaigns, you know, again. So, I tell people, this isn't my first rodeo. They're going to say all kinds of things to -- about folks. I'm going to stay focused on how does America get back to work, and we've laid out a couple really good plans both on the energy side, and the tax side, and how to cut spending, and that's what Americans are interested in.
KING: It is what Americans are interested in. Unfortunately, as you know, because it is not your first rodeo, campaigns sometimes do get distracted by these things. And just lastly on this point, there have been some in your campaign when we call about this who say it's not us, but maybe you want to look over at Romney land. Is that fair?
PERRY: Look -- again, I'm focused on my campaign on the issues that are important to the people and I'm -- this is over, it's gone, it's done with, and I'm pressing on.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KING: One other thing, Randi, he did say of note. He said he was certain, and he said he was adamant about this -- that no one in his campaign did this. I asked him what if you found out down the road somebody was responsible? Before I could finish the question, he said, out the door. He said anybody who did that in his campaign, leading what he called hellacious material, would be fired. So, he's not happy to have the finger pointed at him. He says it isn't him, and as you noted right there -- as you could heard him right there, he very much wants to move on and talk about the economy and other issues.
KAYE: I'm sure he does, and Herman Cain would like to move on, too. But even with all that's going on, John, I mean it doesn't seem to be hurting his fund-raising. And if you look at recent polling -- new polling, he's still neck and neck with Mitt Romney, so what is the word from Cain's camp?
KING: That one of the reasons we're happy to be in Iowa at this time is we wanted to get a sense right here at the grass roots. Iowa votes 60 days from tonight. It is the first vote that counts in the Republican nominating contest. Herman Cain is tied for the lead here in this state right now. He has deep support among evangelical voters. You might think they might be concerned about these allegations, but listen to Steve Grubbs. He's the Iowa state chairman of the Cain campaign, he's a veteran activist. I've been in touch with him in many campaigns in the past. He knows how to organize this state. Is this hurting? Mr. Grubbs says no.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE GRUBBS, CHAIRMAN, HERMAN CAIN CAMPAIGN: We measure the impact by what the voters are telling us, and what I know is last week we were signing up 25 to 30 precinct captains a day. Right now, we're signing up 40 to 50. Fund-raising's up. The overnight Rasmussen poll says that Cain's still leading the pack. So you know, right now, the early indications are that Herman Cain is weathering this storm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Weathering the storm, early indications. Randi, I just want to show you this. This is "The Des Moines Register" op-ed page today, one of the paper's columnists saying Cain should fess up to what happened. So, there's media criticism or at least media questioning here as well. At the moment -- at the moment, we see no immediate impact. If you look at polling and you look deep in it, you do see some concerns especially among Republican women, so we'll have to watch this over the next several days.
But just one last footnote, I just had a conversation with one of Mr. Cain's rivals, the former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. He would very much like to pick up that evangelical support Mr. Cain has right now. Rick Santorum said he's had 20 town halls across this state in the last five days. Those last five days, you know what we've been talking about, these allegations against Mr. Cain. 25 town halls in five days. Rick Santorum says not one comment nor one question about Herman Cain. KAYE: Wow. And I'm sure he'd like to get a little bit of attention as well about those town halls. John King, thank you, appreciate that.
KING: Thank you, Randi.
KAYE: They line security checkpoints at airports across the country. The dreaded body scanners. First, there were privacy complaints, now cancer concerns. What you need to know about those body scanners.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: We've all been there, the security checkpoints at the airport and there it is -- the dreaded body scanner. We fussed, debated, complained and quite frankly, raised hell over the issue of privacy.
But what if I told you those x-ray body scanners might increase your risk of getting cancer, that the U.S. government may be knowingly exposing millions of passengers to radiation levels considered unacceptable by many medical experts justifying it with their efforts to stop terrorists.
That is just part what have was uncovered in a troubling PBS news hour in "ProPublica" investigation. One of the journalist digging into this is "ProPublica" investigative reporter, Michael Grabell.
He joins us, along with the executive vice president of Rapiscan, Peter Kant, whose company manufactures the x-ray body scanners that you see in the airports. Welcome to you both. A lot to cover here.
Michael, let me start with you. You say in your report there are two types of scanners being used at U.S. airports. There are currently 250 x-ray scanners and 264 millimeter scanners that use radio waves.
The secure 1,000 is the x-ray scanner, which emits low doses of radiation, but in your report, Michael, you go on to say that the government is rolling out the x-ray scanners despite having a safer alternative that the TSA says is also highly effective.
The safer alternative you say being this scanner that does not use x-rays, but uses low energy radio waves. So Michael, the question is, why not just use the safer alternative everywhere? Why is the government rolling out the riskier, as you call them, x-ray scanners?
MICHAEL GRABELL, REPORTER AT PROPUBLICA SINCE 2008: We asked the TSA this and they say, you know, it is important to note this is an extremely low level of radiation. So the TSA says that small increased risk you might get is outweighed by the security benefit that you'll get from these machines.
The second thing that they say though is that they want to increase competition to try and build a better mousetrap. So by having multiple technologies in play, they allow, you know, the companies to try to improve the detection capabilities of the machines.
KAYE: Mr. Khan, we're happy to have you on the program as well so we could hear your side of this. I'd like your response to "ProPublica's" report that shows they say your x-ray body scanners may actually increase the risk of cancer? What do you say?
PETER KANT, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR GLOBAL GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS FOR RAPISCAN SYSTEMS: I say unfortunately, "ProPublica's" report is based on no real science. The technology we've made has been tested over a decade by independent third party experts who know about radiation safety and x-rays.
Every single one of those tests on the actual system have reinforced that it is safe. The "ProPublica" piece is based on six scientists who haven't done any of that analysis, never seen a system, never even asked to see a system and did it on paper with math. It is just not true.
KAYE: I want to share with you a statement that we just got in a moment ago from the FDA on this. They're saying that since general use x-ray systems emit ionizing radiation. The societal benefit of reliably detecting threats must be sufficient to outweigh the potential radiation risk if any to the individual screen.
The dose from one screening with a general use x-ray security screening system is so low that it presents an extremely small risk to any individual. Michael, I want to get back to you because the day after your report was published.
The head of the TSA testified that the agency actually plans to perform a new independent study on the safety of these x-ray body scanners. But you also say in your report that there was a big swing from the x-ray machines being considered taboo to all of a sudden being considered safe enough to scan millions of passengers. How did we get there?
GRABELL: Sure. You know, back in 1998, an FDA advisory panel looked at these scanners, which at the time were only being used in prisons. And the outside medical experts said, we have a lot of concerns about this seeing widespread use especially being used to the traveling public.
And at time and this is a long-held thing in the medical community -- you don't x-ray someone unless there is a medical benefit to doing so. We've certainly seen growing concerns and increases in attempted attacks and successful attacks in Russia people kind of carry explosives on to airplanes.
So that's how we got here, but at the same time, there has been -- you know, these machines are classified as electronic products. Not the same as the medical x-ray you might find at your doctor's office or hospital. Another thing we say in the report, there is no cause and effect to re-assure you.
But coincidentally at the same time, Rapiscan did increase its lobbying efforts from 2006 to 2008 to get its message across, tripling its expenditures, opening plants in the districts of key lawmakers or expanding plants and also hiring key legislative aides to the decision makers.
KAYE: Mr. Kant, I'd like you to respond to that, to these allegations of lobbying to win the big contracts.
KANT: Well, we have spent - Rapiscan has grown its business since 2001 and since we've been in business for over three decades. Of course, there is more spending and more government spending on explosive detection equipment.
In fact, most of our government contracts come from the U.S. military for protecting troops and soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. So Rapiscan certainly needs to spend time talking to lawmakers and policymakers primarily to overcome the misrepresentations and miscommunications and misleading statements such as the one in the "ProPublica" article that these systems were unsafe.
KAYE: I want to also ask you, Mr. Kant, I mean, why not -- why not make -- why doesn't your company try and make what many consider to be the safer technology?
KANT: We at one time did provide millimeter wave technology. It actually uses microwaves. How it is considered safer, I don't know. It's never been tested for its health effects. These are microwaves.
Some are what's used in cell phones and microwave technology. There was a report from the World Health Organization questioning the safety of this type of technology and the use of them. Of course, it's never been tested.
Ours has been tested and the reason why we use the scanner technology is it provides the highest level of detection with the lowest false alarm rate. So unlike recent tests of the millimeter wave technology in Europe, which were canceled because of lots of false alarms.
And lots of people were still getting patted down after going through the system. Our system doesn't create those problems. It is faster for passengers and it is easier, which is why we've seen in Europe and in the United States over 95 percent of the people polled at airports, not polled by us, but polled by governments and polling agencies prefer this process to a pat-down.
KAYE: Just very quickly, you know, I said we reached out to the FDA and the TSA. I want to make sure that we share the comment from TSA. They said, back scanner technology is safe for all passengers and TSA employees. A back scanner scan is equivalent to an amount of naturally occurring radiation received during three minutes of flying at altitude.
So Michael, in your reporting what do you make of this when you see a statement like that? GRABELL: Yes, I want to point out as Peter said earlier. This isn't six rogue scientists. This is ionizing radiation, which we know damages DNA and increases the risk of cancer. The National Academy of Sciences has looked at this -- has looked at the issue of low levels of ionizing radiation.
And said there's no low level at which the risk -- at which the risk of cancer is zero. So while it is a very small amount relative to the amount of people who get cancer on an annual basis, there is a slight increased risk looking at two reports that were done.
These are -- I don't know there have been many more than that that have been done. One estimated six among the 100 million passengers to travel every year and one estimated as high as 100. If you were to consider that we're coming close to a billion people traveling through our airports every year.
KAYE: Mr. Kant, I'll give you the final word on this.
KANT: That's just an embarrassing use of poor science. The situation is there's -- you got five times more radiation from drinking a sports drink when you work out or more -- almost 50 times sleeping next to your spouse at night. Talking about low level radiations as major cancer risks is ridiculous.
KAYE: All right. Thank you both for coming on. I think this is a really important story and certainly doesn't get enough attention. I think the public is certainly very curious about what these machines are all about. So thank you to Michael Grabell and Peter Kant. Appreciate your time.
It all comes down to seven men and five women. Dr. Conrad Murray's fate is now in the jury's hands. The Michael Jackson death trial coming next.
But first, on this day in 1979, Islamist students and militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, starting the Iranian hostage crisis. Fifty two Americans were held captive for 444 days after multiple failed negotiation attempts. The group took over the U.S. embassy in support of the Iranian revolution and that is this shame in history.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Pictures of the Los Angeles Courthouse where a jury is now deciding the fate of Dr. Conrad Murray and powerful closing arguments yesterday. The prosecution and defense had one last chance to make their case. Here's lead prosecutor David Walgren.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID WALGREN, DEPUTY LOS ANGELES DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Propofol is not utilized in a bedroom. No one had ever heard of propofol being used in a bedroom ever until Conrad Murray did it to Michael Jackson. It's an egregious, extreme deviation from the standard of care. It is gross negligence, and it is a direct cause of Michael Jackson's death. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Strong words from the prosecutor there. And here's how defense attorney Ed Chernoff followed that up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED CHERNOFF, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR DR. CONRAD MURRAY: What they're really asking you to do -- just say it! What they're really asking you to do is to convict Dr. Murray for the actions of Michael Jackson. And I'm going to -- you know, we've been dancing around this for six weeks, maybe two years. Somebody's got to say it. Somebody's got to tell the truth. Somebody's got to just say it. If it were anybody else but Michael Jackson -- anybody else -- would this doctor be here today?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Joining me now from sister network truTV, "In Session" host Ryan Smith. Ryan, nice to see you again. You watched the closing arguments. What struck you?
RYAN SMITH, HOST, TRUTV'S "IN SESSION": Oh, so much in this. You know, on the prosecution side, what really struck me was how David Walgren tried to make this human. He focused on the victim, and he talked about the loss of Michael Jackson not just for the world but for his family. Michael Jackson was a dedicated family man. He was a father of three children. And he focused on these three children not having their father around anymore and what that means.
He made it real for the jury. Even when he was talking about the evidence, he put them in Michael Jackson's shoes. Would you want this kind of care from your doctor? He was criminally negligent. That's why you have to find him guilty.
On the defense side, I think the statement you played was one of the biggest ones, which was the idea of, Would we be here if it wasn't for Michael Jackson? But I think they also harped a lot on the way Michael Jackson died. They very much tried to say that Dr. Murray was a villain here and that the state tried to put together a case, had to find somebody responsible.
So I think this jury is going to go back in that jury room and they have a lot to think about. This is not an easy case and it's tough to call at this point which way it might go.
KAYE: Do you think the prosecution proved its case? I mean, they certainly spent a lot more time on the floor there in the courtroom, but boy, they had a lot to go through.
SMITH: Oh, I think they absolutely did, I think in so many ways, because this is a standard of care case. Essentially, what they have to prove is that Dr. Murray did something that was lawful but he did it in a criminally negligent way. That's the propofol set-up. Or they have to agree unanimously that he failed to do something. So for example, abandoning his patient, not calling 911 on time. All of those things happened. And if he failed to do those things and that was criminal negligence, then he could be guilty that way.
But they have to be unanimous on either one of these theories. So even though they proved their case, I think that if the jury starts thinking about what caused Michael Jackson's death, and they start thinking, Well, maybe the defense is right, maybe Michael Jackson injected himself with that propofol, you could see a jury that says, yes, maybe that stuff applies, but we can't convict him on that.
Sometimes they call that jury nullification. But either way, you could see a jury saying, If I don't see the cause of death clearly, then I can't necessarily convict.
KAYE: Well, we'll see if we get a verdict today or if this drags into the weekend. Ryan Smith, thank you very much.
Word of a verdict from the jurors could come at any time, of course, so stay tuned to CNN for live updates on the fate of Dr. Conrad Murray.
Crisis management -- that's what Cain seems to be lacking. How his staff couldn't prepare for a storm they probably knew was coming. That is "Fair Game" next.
But first, let's talk about a man who almost didn't live long enough to become president. Do you know which president was given last rites three times in his life, including once after spinal surgery before he was elected president? If you know who this president was, send me a tweet @randikayecnn. I'll give you a shout- out if you are the person with the right answer when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. Before the break, I asked you which president was given last rites three times in his life before he was elected president. The answer, John Kennedy, who once received the last rites of the Catholic church after an infection following spinal surgery, in fact.
And we got so many responses. A lot of you had it right. But we have to give a shout-out to Alain Mathieu. He was the first to tweet the correct answer to me during that break. So congratulations to you, Alain.
When the story about sexual harassment allegations made against Herman Cain broke -- in the '90s -- was leaked to the press, one of Cain's first inclinations was to point the finger at Curt Anderson of the Rick Perry campaign. Cain said that he mentioned the charges to Anderson when Anderson worked on Cain's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign in Georgia. But if Cain knew about this potential storm on the horizon, why did he seem so unprepared when the story broke?
That's "Fair Game" for my guests today. With us, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona and CNN contributor Will Cain. Great to see you both.
Maria, 10 days -- MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Right.
KAYE: -- before the story was published by Politico, Herman Cain was approached by that organization. I mean, are you surprised by how Cain has handled the story that apparently he had to know was coming?
CARDONA: Yes. It's absolutely baffling to me, Randi, that anybody who was seriously looking to run for president would not have gotten together with his advisers, his campaign, his family and made a list of any of the issues that could come back and haunt him this way, and then made a plan for if and when those issues came up.
To me, that goes back to a theory I've had about Herman Cain from the very beginning, which is that he was never really in this to win this, and his surge in the polls has surprised even him because the fact that he did not have that planned and he has broken two huge rules when it comes to crisis communications -- the first is not having a plan, and the second is actually lying.
We have seen already that he has lied probably several times, and we still don't know what the truth is. And we're now waiting for a statement possibly from one of the accusers. So this is going to go on for days.
KAYE: Right. Will, let me ask you because, I mean, it certainly seems his poll numbers are holding up. He's still neck and neck with Romney. I mean, they've dropped just a little bit. So I mean, should he have done anything differently?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, yes, that's a good question. Let me tell you one reason that the poll numbers haven't dipped yet is because the one thing we're missing in this conversation -- really, Randi, one of the reasons I've been reluctant to participate in this conversation is that we are missing the details of any allegations. And in a sexual harassment accusation, the details are so crucial.
This is not murder. It's not clear someone died here. We all need to hear the details and judge them on our own. That's the thing about sexual harassment. And the problem with ignoring the details is that the acquisition is enough to ruin a career, to ruin a reputation.
Should he have been more prepared to handle this, knowing that it was out there? Yes. But being unprepared seems to be somewhat of a hallmark for Herman Cain's campaign, whether it means being asked a question about abortion or prisoner swaps or border fences, he seems somewhat unprepared to answer.
KAYE: First, though, he did say that he had told Curt Anderson back years ago about this. And then on Sean Hannity's radio show, he came out saying, well, maybe he didn't tell him, he wasn't sure. Maria, is it possible that Herman Cain didn't even tell his team about these allegations?
CARDONA: I guess it is possible that he didn't tell his team. But again, that goes back to my theory, which is -- if that is the case, then you certainly don't see somebody in Herman Cain who is prepared to run a campaign that was full-on ready to reach the nomination and then reach the presidency because that's not how you operate a campaign.
And clearly, he has said from the beginning that he's unconventional, but he's been unconventional to the point of being absolutely, positively detrimental.
Now, I do agree with Will that we don't know what the accusations are. But you know what? Crisis communications, again, 101. You put the story out there. He knows what they are. He went through it. If there's really nothing to it, then get in front of the story, put everything out there for everybody to judge and move on.
CAIN: Let me -- let me play contrarian for just a --
KAYE: Will?
CAIN: Yes, let me play contrarian for just a minute. What does it mean to be prepared for a sex scandal? Who has done that well? Did Bill Clinton have a meeting prior to the Monica Lewinsky scandal and say, Hey, look, I have an idea, let's challenge the definition of the word "is"? Can we point to someone who's had a sex scandal crop up and go, Wow, that was an exemplary use of crisis communications? I'm not sure there is a way to be prepared for this.
CARDONA: Well, that's definitely true, but let's use Bill Clinton as an example. In the '92 campaign, with Gennifer Flowers, the first thing that they did was go on "60 Minutes" and talk about it all. And you know what? He got over it and he got elected. So I think that is an example.
KAYE: And we will see where this goes and who gets elected in the end after all of this.
CARDONA: Exactly.
KAYE: Will Cain, Maria Cardona, thank you both very much. That is "Fair Game" --
CAIN: Getting away with it is meaning (ph) being prepared.
(LAUGHTER)
KAYE: We're going to have to continue this conversation at another time. As we said, that is "Fair Game" today.
This country has seen its share of protests since the Arab spring, but today the government is going back on one of its promises to the people. We go there next in "Globe Trekking."
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KAYE: Welcome back, everyone. Let's go "Globe Trekking." We start in Syria where the violence continues and a promise is broken. It's been two days since the government said it would pull troops out of the streets, but again this morning, Syrian security forces fired shots to disperse crowds. Opposition groups say government forces trapped worshipers inside mosques to prevent protesting, and at least 15 civilians are reported dead in these latest clashes.
Now to Cuba, where for the first time in 50 years, Cubans will be able to buy real estate. Starting November 10th, Cuban officials say citizens and permanent residents will be able to buy and sell private homes, set their own prices and move whenever and wherever they want. It is the latest and possibly most significant reform yet by the government of Raul Castro aimed at reshaping Cuba's ailing economy.
They want to change the economy by putting people back to work, but Occupy Wall Street is putting some people out of work. How businesses are being affected by this mass movement.
But first, Jon Corzine, you had a good run as the former New Jersey governor and Goldman Sachs CEO, but according to government regulators, about $600 million is missing from your bankrupt brokerage, MF Global. That's roughly 11 percent of accounts of the firm.
Some say you'll probably never work in finance again and may even need to worry about a little thing called jail. Sorry, Jonny, your 15 minutes are up.
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KAYE: It's been almost two months since the Occupy Wall Street protests began in New York. The movement spread to cities across the country, with many having different issues and challenges, but one general goal held by protesters, help the 99 percent. Get Americans back to work.
But what if I told you the Occupy Wall Street protests just cost 21 people their jobs? Here to explain for today's "In Depth," Marc Epstein, owner of the Milk Street Cafe near Zuccotti Park.
Marc, thank you so much for joining us. So tell me your story just briefly here. I mean, why did you need to lay off 21 people to save your plummeting new business?
MARC EPSTEIN, OWNER, MILK STREET CAFE: Thanks for the opportunity, Randi. We opened up in June to great success. And over July, August and September, sales kept on growing as costs were coming in line and things were looking great until all of a sudden, I came up one Monday morning from the subway and found police barricades up and down Wall Street. And they were there for seven weeks.
It devastated our business. We had to cut back our hours and cut back a whole shift of people, which was 21 people that we laid off a week ago.
KAYE: How much exactly has your business dropped?
EPSTEIN: Our business dropped by more than 30 percent. But in the last 48 hours, I've got some good news. The police have taken down most of the barriers, and our business is coming back. What we need is for the barriers to all come down and for people to come back to the restaurant in the droves they were coming to enjoy the great in the food hall from some amazing chefs and pastry chefs that we have working there.
KAYE: Have you seen a significant return of customers?
EPSTEIN: It's started, Randi, but it's only been 48 hours and not all the barricades are down. The barricades, the police explained, can't all come down because they are concerned for security. And while my business is important, safety and security are more important.
And I'm right across the street from the New York Stock Exchange, and I can empathize with the police. They're trying to keep everybody safe and still allow people their 1st Amendment rights.
What I would hope is that the protesters understand this and are more sensitive and maybe even communicate with the police where they want to go, where they'd like to protest, because I don't think the barriers would be needed if they -- if the police were not -- didn't know where the protesters wanted to go. So they have to cover everywhere, which is unfortunate.
KAYE: Right. So who do you blame for your position here? And I'm sure many other businesses are in the same boat.
EPSTEIN: First of all, it's a lot of different things. Number one, that the protesters are right in our area is hurting. The police response up until 48 hours ago wasn't being sensitive. Now they're being sensitive.
I actually think the bigger issue is, is that we're two blocks from 9/11 and that people are so sensitive in Lower Manhattan to any insecurity that people just freeze up and stay in their offices. And what we need to do is take back the street. This is America. You know, let --
KAYE: Will you be able --
EPSTEIN: Let's get on the street. Let's enjoy.
KAYE: Will you be able to rehire some of the employees that you've had to let go?
EPSTEIN: Randi, as soon as the business comes back, nothing would make me happier. But we've got to get the business back. We've got great food. We have a whole catering business, a delivery business. If people order food, you bet, I want every one of those people back. I'd love to hire even more.
I mean, that's why I went into business is to create jobs. I thought that's what we need in America. And I've got, again -- the best chefs in the city are cooking at 40 Wall Street.
KAYE: Well, in the 10 seconds we have left, tell me something that if you go to the Milk Street Cafe, what do you need to get?
EPSTEIN: Oh, you have to have some of Monica Bellissimo's (ph) pastries. They are unbelievable. Or chef Steven (ph) and Hopeton (ph) make the most amazing soups you'll ever have.
KAYE: Oh, that sounds delicious! All right, Marc Epstein, we certainly wish you the best of luck with your business there. And keep us posted on how you're doing, if you will.
EPSTEIN: Thank you for having me, Randi.
KAYE: Thank you.
Well, our next guest is sick and tired of the violence along the U.S./Mexican border, and he wants the government to get more involved. The actions he's taking, next.
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KAYE: Well, let's take it down to "Street Level." The top lawman in Texas is admitting his state needs help holding back rising tide of violence from the drug cartels in Mexico. Just last weekend, a border county sheriff's deputy was shot three times in a run-in with cartel kidnappers who were trying to recover a load of stolen marijuana. The deputy survived, but the state's attorney general says the whole thing could have been prevented.
Greg Abbott sent a letter to President Obama saying, in part, "The safety and security of the Americans you have pledged to defend is at risk because of the cartels' battles spilling across our border. To protect American lives, your administration must immediately dedicate more manpower to border security, especially the 1,254-mile Texas border which remains unacceptably porous."
Texas attorney general Greg Abbott joining me now from Austin. Have you gotten a response, Mr. Abbott, from the president?
GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: Randi, we have not yet received a response. We hope to get one quickly because the problem is bad and getting worse by the day. The level of cartel activity across the state of Texas continues to increase. There's operations here in the state of Texas of gangs who are here illegally for the purpose of doing harm and working in collaboration with the Gulf cartel, with the Zetas.
The report you mentioned just seconds ago about where the sheriff's deputy was shot is one of countless similar reports where there's been an exchange of gunfire back and forth across the borders as the cartel members and their U.S.-based operatives are trying to smuggle drugs into this country.
If the federal government does not step up and help Texas by providing the resources we need, there will be more American blood lost.
KAYE: What resources do you need? I mean, what specifically are you asking the White House to do?
ABBOTT: Specifically, these things. First and foremost thing we found to be most effective is boots the ground. The more personnel we can provide to our 1,200-mile border, the better we will be.
Second, we need to have an intensified focus on breaking up the very dangerous cartel-related gangs here in the U.S. Third, we need aerial support that can track the gang and other operative movements across the border so that information directly leads to the officers on the ground that can respond more quickly.
KAYE: From what I understand, the administration has already sent more security to that border. They say that the violence is down. So what is your response to that?
ABBOTT: Well, we find that extremely frustrating because we do hear out of the White House, Well, gosh, the border is safer than it's ever been. But it failed to make mention these reports that we see every day. In addition what you mentioned earlier, where the sheriff's deputy was shot, just yesterday, border patrol shot and killed an immigrant smuggler who tried to run over that border patrol agent, and found in the car about five illegals had been smuggled in.
Earlier in the week, there was a person who was kidnapped, taped up and gagged in the trunk of a car that was trying to be transported from the U.S. to Mexico, and this was a U.S. citizen.
These are the kinds of reports that we're seeing on a daily basis, so any comment out of the administration saying that things are safer than they've ever been is proven false by the daily facts that we see of the dangers coming across the border.
KAYE: Is there anything that the -- that the border agents can do to protect themselves, more than they already are?
ABBOTT: Well, Randi this is a very important part, and that is that the border agents are doing a great job and we appreciate their help very much, but they're outmanned. There are more drug cartel members and related gangs here in Texas, in the U.S., than there are border patrol agents. And so even though they're working hard in cracking down on this problem, we simply do not have enough manpower.
The state of Texas has invested $400 million of its own, has coordinated a Ranger recon team to work in this area, focusing on disrupting these gang members. But the fact is, we're outmanned, and in some instances, outgunned. And that's why we need these federal resources to come to bear to protect our border and shut down this very dangerous problem.
KAYE: And just very quickly, your biggest fear, then, if nothing changes?
ABBOTT: The biggest fear is that more American blood will be lost needlessly because this is something that we know how to prevent, we know how to stop. And the federal government needs to assist Texas and the other border states in protecting our border, shutting down the cartel members coming from across the border, expanding operations within our states.
KAYE: Texas attorney general Greg Abbott, great conversation. We'll continue to watch this issue along with you. Thank you very much.
ABBOTT: Thank you, Randi.
KAYE: And thank you, everyone, for watching today. As always, I would love to hear what you think of what we said on the show today. You can continue the conversation with me on FaceBook or on Twitter @randikayecnn.
That will do it for me. Have a great weekend. Time now for me to hand it over to Brooke Baldwin. Hi, Brooke.
