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Cain Denies New Harassment Claims; Mississippi's "Personhood" Vote; Watching How Ohio Votes; Penn State Child Sex Abuse Case; Former Coach Accused of Abusing Eight Boys; Berlusconi: Not Stepping Down; Buffett Sinks $20B Into Stocks; Huge Asteroid to "Buzz" Earth; Quake, Twisters Hit Oklahoma; Seniors Join "Occupy Chicago"; Soldier Surprises His Kids At School; Congressman: NCAA Is Like Mafia; Adele Undergoes Throat Surgery; Celebs React to Murray Verdict; Obama, Sarkozy Caught on Mic; Teaching Tech Savvy to Kids; Remembering Joe Frazier
Aired November 08, 2011 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And it's the top of the hour. Thanks for joining us.
For Herman Cain, the claims of sexual harassment are now simply too scandalous to ignore. Now he plans an afternoon news conference to confront the latest accuser head on.
Yesterday, Sharon Bialek claimed that Cain groped her in 1997 when she met him for a possible job. Cain says it's time to, quote, "set the record straight."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will talk about any and all future firestorms because here is one thing people don't know about Herman Cain. I'm in it to win it. I'm not going to be discouraged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Mary Snow has the latest developments. Mary, what caused Cain to reverse course and hold this news conference this afternoon?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you know, there is mounting pressure on him to address these allegations and, you know, last week when allegations from three separate women came forward and were reported on, Herman Cain railed against the press for reporting on anonymous accusers.
But that changed yesterday when Sharon Bialek put a name and voice to these accusations and also gave a very detailed account of what she alleged had happened. Now, the Cain campaign is questioning her motives coming out with a statement saying that she has had a history of financial difficulty including a bankruptcy filing.
Earlier this morning on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, Sharon Bialek addressed those questions and she says, yes, she did file for bankruptcy saying that it was due in part to bills for her late mother's medical bills. But she insists that she does not stand to gain financially by coming forward. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARON BIALEK, ALLEGES CAIN SEXUALLY HARASSED HER: Like millions of other people out there, you know, I'm struggling. And I could have actually sold my story. But I didn't because I want -- my whole objective is to tell the truth and also help other people out there who may have been in similar situations.
Initially, I went in to this hoping every hope of hopes that Herman would just step forward. That was my -- actually primary goal -- just admit it. Step forward, admit it, and move forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Now, Bialek says she has braced herself for the scrutiny that she knows is coming her way. Another question that the Cain campaign is raising is why is she coming forward now after 14 years after this alleged incident in 1997 saying that there was no record of it, no formal complaint?
Bialek saying that she did not register a complaint with the National Restaurant Association because at the time, she no longer worked for the organization. She had been fired. She says about a month earlier than this alleged incident -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So Mary, is there anyone out there to corroborate her story right now?
SNOW: She says that she told two people, her then boyfriend and a mentor, and, you know, her attorney Gloria Allred is not naming those two men. But she said that they have given her written statements saying that Bialek did tell them about an incident back in 1997.
PHILLIPS: All right. Mary Snow out of New York. Mary, thanks.
According to a new poll Herman Cain is facing some public doubts even before the latest accuser came forward. According to a weekend survey from the Pew Research Center, plurality of Americans think that the claims had validity, 39 percent believe that the claims are true, 24 percent said false and 36 percent said they are simply not sure.
All right, it's Election Day for millions of Americans and they are casting ballots for everything from local races to state-wide initiatives. One such vote could ban all abortions in Mississippi.
Sweeping ban is inflaming passions and making for some pretty unlikely opponents. Our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, is in Washington.
So let's talk about this personhood amendment and what may be surprising some -- or what might be surprising about who is lining up against this.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, it's interesting. Because, you know, people in Mississippi today are also voting for the governor down there, but everybody nationally is talking about this referendum. It's amendment 26 and what it would do if passed.
It would define life as beginning at conception. That would make basically all abortions in the state of Mississippi illegal. No exemptions whatsoever. And Kyra, as you mentioned, yes. There are even some right-to-life groups and the Catholic Church in Mississippi that are actually opposing this referendum.
They say it goes too far. Now, if it passes, here's what it could do. It could spur other states to maybe put this on the ballot next year and I think if it passes it's a safe bet that it'll end up in federal court. No doubt about that -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Now Ohio, critical battleground state and presidential elections and tonight political folks like yourself are going to be looking for a number of clues to 2012, right?
STEINHAUSER: Yes. There are two big issues of referendums on the ballot in Ohio and as you said, such an important state for the president. Barack Obama won that state three years ago and would like to win Ohio again next year.
Issue number two is the first one and this is over collective bargaining. Remember, earlier this year, Wisconsin and Ohio, a lot of controversy, but the Republicans of both those states, they dominate the state legislatures and the governorships.
And they pass collective bargaining laws that would limit public employees' rights to collective bargaining. There is an issue called issue number two on the ballot that would overturn that law.
The other one is health care and basically it would say that Ohio residents don't have to be part of the mandates in the new health care law that was passed by the president and the Democratic Congress last year.
That's more of a symbolic law, referendum, because remember, this is a federal law. But still, depending on how both these referendums go could be a barometer of what happens next here in Ohio -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Paul, we'll be paying attention.
Well, more victims and more charges are possible in the child sexual abuse case against a former Penn State University assistant coach, football coach.
CNN's Jason Carroll is covering the case and joins us live from State College Pennsylvania. So, Jason, what is actually the next step in this legal process? JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, tomorrow there is another court proceeding for Jerry Sandusky. Of course, he is at the center of this whole sexual abuse scandal here at Penn State. He is expected to be at that court proceeding tomorrow although that proceeding we are told if it -- it might actually be postponed so we'll stand by for that.
But as you know, in the wake of this scandal two other school officials, Kyra, resigned. They are currently out on $75,000 bail each. They are charged with lying to grand jurors about one of the alleged incidents and in terms of trying to cover it up.
So a lot of legal fallout in terms of what's happening in this sexual abuse scandal here at Penn State. Also, Kyra, there have been many questions about Joe Paterno, the head coach, whether or not legally he would face any charges in this.
Yesterday, when the attorney general held a press conference as you know it was very -- it was made very clear that legally he did what was required of him. Morally, his critics say he should have done more -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, what do we think is going to happen to Joe Paterno and do we think more victims might come forward?
CARROLL: Well, let's take the first part of that. What will happen to Joe Paterno? As you know, there is going to be a press conference here about noon today. Penn State says that he will not be answering questions about the scandal.
But I just don't see how he's not going to be able to do that when that press conference gets under way. There have been a lot of calls here for his resignation, saying that perhaps legally in the eyes of the law he did what he was supposed to do by reporting the allegation of sexual abuse to one of his superiors. But morally, the question has been raised, why didn't he go to police and, in fact, why didn't any of the school officials here go to police?
And when you look at his reputation, the buck really stops with him in the eyes of many here. So it will be interesting to see what's happening with that simply because so many are calling for his resignation -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jason Carroll at Penn State. Jason, thanks.
Well, Congressman Bobby Rush thinks the Sandusky scandal is just part of a culture of exploitation in college sports. He's going to join me live in just about 10 minutes.
Coming up at 12:20 Eastern, Penn State head coach, Joe Paterno holds his weekly news conference. He speaks about the scandal. We'll bring it to you live.
Allegations of corruption, tax fraud, and saucy bunga-bunga parties. Italy's Silvio Berlusconi even admits to being, quote, "a bit of a rascal," but this morning he faces, perhaps, the biggest test of his political life.
Zain Verjee is joining us from Londo. So we've been talking about Berlusconi could lose his job.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He could. He really is in dangerous waters here. The vote is happening right now in the Italian parliament and we don't know what the outcome of this is going to be but the question is, can he survive?
The newspapers around the world today all over this story. The "International Herald Tribune" has this headline, Kyra. End appears to be getting closer for Berlusconi. It says, the European debt crisis threatened a second European government on Monday, but Mr. Berlusconi is unlikely to go down without a fight.
Scotland's national newspaper "The Scotsman" knives come out for Berlusconi as Italy creeps closer to abyss. It says, increasingly, Mr. Berlusconi is himself being seen as the problem but he has remained defiant, insisting he still commands enough support in parliament.
Finally, Kyra, "The Wall Street Journal" in Europe, how Berlusconi survived this long. This is a guest editorial and they're not pulling any punches here. It says, forget his taste for young lovers. Mr. Berlusconi's true sin is his lack of resolve. A supposed macho in bed, he is a coward at governing.
Mr. Berlusconi is always readily abandoned the field whenever the prospects of major reforms required him to spend political capital. We'll watch the critical outcome of this vote, but the fate of the euro and market stability really depends on how Italy handles this crisis.
Many are questioning whether Berlusconi has the ability to stay or the credibility to carry out critical austerity measures. Most of Europe is answering with a resounding no. Chao.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let us know. Keep us posted.
Warren Buffet has gone on a stock buying spree. Coming up, we'll tell you how much he spent and why.
Plus a close encounter of the huge kind. An asteroid more than a thousand feet across is about to do a fly by. I'll have details coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Investor Warren Buffet is bullish on America. Last quarter was one of the worst since the financial crisis began, but that's when Buffet actually spent $20 buying stocks.
Poppy Harlow joining us live from New York with the details -- Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Krya, this is classic Buffet, right? You've got the U.S. downgraded by Standard & Poors. You have a huge crisis in Europe concerning their debt. What does Warren Buffet do?
He decides this is a good time to spend $20 billion. That is exactly what the Oracle of Omaha did in the last quarter over that three-month period. This is what a value investor does. They invest when the market is fearful, when other people pull out.
Take a look at what he spent the company's money on that $5 billion investment in Bank of America, huge injection of confidence there into one of the country's troubled banks, an $8.7 billion investment in Lubrizol that's a huge chemical company in this country, and $6.9 billion in other stocks from banks to insurance companies to consumer products companies.
We don't know exactly what the companies are yet, but we will when that list comes out in about a week. What is interesting, too, is the acceleration of investments. Let's take a look at what Warren Buffet has done, Kyra, over the year so far.
If you take a look at the first quarter this year, he invested less than a billion. It was $3.6 billion in the second quarter and about four times that in the last quarter, $20 billion. So this is a classic Warren Buffet move.
You know, we sat down last month for a long interview and he told me I forget about the market. I look at where companies are going to be five years out and when things get cheap enough, I like to buy. Obviously, Warren Buffet thought things were cheap enough.
He views stocks at these levels like major sales as we would clothes in a retail store on sale. He views companies at these prices as a major sale. I will tell you that he has been adamant about saying that the United States, he does not believe, is falling into another recession and, clearly, he is putting his money where his mouth is on that one.
So $20 billion, kind of a drop in the bucket for Warren Buffet, but this is a big confidence injection I think for people looking at these, these crazy markets and then the global economy right now that Warren Buffet still says this is the time to get in.
PHILLIPS: Well, we need confidence that's for sure. Thanks, Poppy.>
It's bigger than an aircraft carrier and it's barrelling toward us. Rob Marciano has more on this massive asteroid, OK.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's 30,000 miles an hour.
PHILLIPS: You already said we don't need to worry that we shouldn't instil any sort of Armageddon fear into anyone right now.
MARCIANO: For once we haven't really done that to our credit. But it sure is interesting. It only happens every 20 or 30 years. Here it is. It doesn't really look that exciting. Actually this was taken when it was about -- yesterday when it was about 800,000 miles away so difficult to see. It's difficult to see.
It's about the size of an aircraft carrier as we've been saying and the way we get those pictures is with telescopes like these, radio telescopes, basically they receive, they look for radio waves and anything that transmits that type of radiation.
It's the goldstone antenna out there in the Mohave Desert about 72 meters in diameter and this one is in Puerto Rico. It's over 300 meters in diameter. If it looks familiar and you're James Bond fan, golden eyes, when they, you saw this action going on there.
All right, here is the orbit or the pass this thing is going to make. It's called YU55, which sounds like a drug of some sort. This is heading toward us but will be about 200,000 miles away. Notice it goes kind of within the orbit of the moon, but the moon kind of chasing away.
And it's going to be in a different plane as well so that makes a huge different because, you know, we live in a three-dimensional world and certainly, a very large three-dimensional universe.
So here is the plane of the earth and the moon's orbit and this is going to be above that. So it'll happen about 6:30, 6:28 p.m. Eastern Time that's when it will be able to make its closest approach.
If you have a telescope, at least six inches in diameter, with a lens, you're going to be able to see this somewhat after it passes by when you'll have the best light to see this thing and it'll be visible for the most part for about 10 hours. But it's not going to make a direct --
PHILLIPS: That is a good window of opportunity.
MARCIANO: Yes, if you have that type of telescope.
PHILLIPS: Do you?
MARCIANO: I do not. And, you know, I have to get my sleep so I can be fresh for this show tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we'll have some sort of image. I can't promise you that tomorrow.
PHILLIPS: Somebody will capture it for us.
MARCIANO: I think someone threw out a figure that the odds of an asteroid hitting earth are it happens once every 100,000 years.
PHILLIPS: OK, this could be our year.
MARCIANO: I don't think so at this point. But nonetheless, it's kind of cool.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Rob. It is.
Well, still rattling from Saturday's record-setting earthquake, found itself in the eye of another storm last night. We'll have the details straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's check the news cross country. In Oklahoma, at least one tornado touched down in the south western part of the state. Several others were also reported. Then another earthquake hit the state, 4.7 magnitude near Shawnee. That was the third since Saturday.
This was Chicago. Senior citizens joining the "Occupy" protest at Federal Plaza. Hundreds of them marched the streets and lined the sidewalks for the rally, even blocking traffic, their message to government? Leave Social Security alone.
In Columbus, Ohio, a big surprise for two little girls, Captain Darren Pullman had been away from his family for about a year. Well, his daughters had no idea their father would be the guest reader at their school Monday morning.
Joe Paterno's weekly news conference today will be like nothing before in this 45-year head coaching career. The Penn State legend could be asked about the child sexual abuse scandal surrounding his former assistant coach and this alleged cover up.
Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush, he wants to hear something. He actually sees a connection between it and he actually complained that he has seen issues with the NCAA for a long time.
So I guess first of all, Congressman, does this case even surprise you? You have talked about college sports, how it's a culture of exploitation. Was the sex scandal of all of these allegations a cover up as a result of a protected good ole boy network?
REP. BOBBY RUSH (D), ILLINOIS: Well, Kyra, let me first say this was a horrendous -- these allegations are horrendous. But they are really but an example of a continual process of exploitation conducted by the NCAA and the colleges who are part of -- most of the colleges who are part of the NCAA.
I am not surprised because this system is set up to exploit young men and young women even from the earliest of ages. If you would just look at how the exploitation begins at 9, 10, sometimes even as early as 8 years old.
Where the NCAA sends its agents and individuals associated with it, send them out to scour the neighborhoods of poor communities, low income communities, inner city communities just looking for young boys who show some athletic prowess.
They will begin to engage these individuals, give them athletic shoes and other apparel and bringing them into the team and they start the exploitation at a very early age. When this exploitation continues, they begin to see these youngsters as nothing but objects.
So when you begin to see people as objects, then it's easily moved from athletic exploitation to sexual exploitation. And that's what occurred here. The culture of exploitation within the NCAA is totally un-American.
It's one of the worst situations with child labor exploitation that ever exists. It reminds us of some third world countries and how they exploit child labor.
And I think the American people should be outraged not just at this incidence of sexual exploitation, but the whole system of exploitation of our young people.
PHILLIPS: I think people -- Congressman, I think people are right there along with you and are outraged that this was able to happen. And you've even compared the NCAA to the Mafia, very strong words.
So let me ask you, Congressman. What needs to be done here? I want to talk specifically about what happened at Penn State. Do you think Joe Paterno needs to go? Do you think the president of Penn State needs to go?
RUSH: Well, I think that -- Joe turned his eyes off of this. When he turned his back to this kind of allegation, he dealt with this allegation with a wink and a nod, if he did, he should certainly resign.
Joe Pa is becoming bad pa if these allegations are proven that he knew anything about it. Certainly the line of responsibility goes from the top all the way down. I think that the NCAA should investigate this. They should look at this.
They should -- and this culture has to be cleaned up. And maybe the -- this silver lining in this cloud -- maybe the American people and the Congress, U.S. Congress, will demand some accountability from the NCAA on how it treats its athletes.
How it conducts its -- those associated with this program including the auxiliary organization that these coaches and these other individuals setup because they are just exploiting these youngsters.
Look, we need to have a system whereby every person who enters into a contract with a college to play basketball or football or any other kind of sport, there has to be oversight.
PHILLIPS: Absolutely.
RUSH: It has to be clear and you have to have negotiation by third party.
PHILLIPS: Every time it comes to this subject matter, I know you could go on and on, Congressman. You speak with such heart when it comes to this issue and it's astounding what we have seen happen and hopefully this will lead to some changes and for some folks to take some serious actions.
RUSH: Kyra, it's a shame.
PHILLIPS: It is a shame.
RUSH: It's an American shame.
PHILLIPS: Yes, it is. I know that you're going to stay on this story as long as we are. Congressman Bobby Rush, always nice to talk to you. Thank you so much.
And another reminder, too, Joe Paterno has his weekly news conference 12:20 Eastern today. He is not expected to address this sexual abuse scandal surrounding his former assistant coach and these allegations of a cover up, but we are going to monitor his comments for any news of the day.
Well, Herman Cain is going to address the latest sexual harassment allegations against him. We'll talk to our "Political Buzz" panel and hear what they think he needs to say right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Checking top stories now.
The U.N. says that more than 3,500 Syrians have been killed in a month-long government crackdown. Dozens of those deaths coming after the government agreed to a peace plan last week.
There was a big test for Italy's Prime Minister and it just -- and he, rather, just passed. Silvio Berlusconi cobbled together enough support to get crucial budget reforms through Parliament. Some of his allies had defected and if he lost the vote he could have lost his job.
And Attorney General Eric Holder testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Operation: Fast and Furious. Its goal? Track the flow of American guns to Mexican drug cartels and stop it. Instead, the ATF lost or rather, instead the ATF lost track of most of those weapons. Some were later used in a gun fight that killed a border patrol agent.
All right. "Political Buzz", rapid fire. A look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. And playing today: Democratic National Committee member Robert Zimmerman; Georgetown University professor Chris Metzler; and Patricia Murphy, founder and editor of "Citizen Jane Politics".
Ok guys first question, Herman Cain will address the latest sexual harassment allegations at a news conference 5:00 p.m. We are told this afternoon. Now, last night this is what he told Jimmy Fallon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY KIMMEL, TALK SHOW HOST: So there you go. So how was your day? HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, all things considered, I'm still alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Actually, that was Jimmy Kimmel.
All right guys, is this anything to laugh about, Robert?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: You know, it's so easy to respond as a partisan, as a Democrat but this issue really is above partisan politics. And that's because I believe so profoundly in our democratic process and so strongly in the importance of a strong Republican Party to match the Democratic Party.
And I know the media is going to focus on the tabloid stories but where we have to focus on is Herman Cain's standards. And what we're looking for in national leadership. He really demeans himself by treating this as a late night comic stunt or for that matter lying when he's been confronted by the press. We have a right to demand better from right now he is a leading candidate.
PHILLIPS: Patricia?
PATRICIA MURPHY, FOUNDER, EDITOR, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: Of course, it's not anything to laugh about. There are two pieces of this that should have Herman Cain doing anything but laughing. The first are the allegations against him. One woman, two women, three, four, five. How many women are going to be coming out about this and we don't know if these allegations are true but it's starting to have a pattern that is starting to affect his polling numbers.
We see that Republican women are twice as likely to believe that these are true instead of Republican men. He already had a deficit among women. He can't win this nomination without support of women.
Second of all, these types of allegations, very serious. It's really nothing to laugh about. As a woman in the workplace, jokes are not the appropriate response.
PHILLIPS: Chris?
CHRIS METZLER, PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Yes this is absolutely nothing to laugh about. And there is a distinction here. The distinction here is if you listen closely to the allegations in this case, as a former prosecutor, I am telling you that she has alleged -- she has alleged a sexual assault.
This is very much different from sexual harassment and so for him to think that this is something to laugh about, really makes him a laughing stock because as Robert said earlier, we do need to have a strong Republican candidate and at this point in the process, this is not funny.
PHILLIPS: Second question, the White House chief of staff, Bill Daley, as you know, changing his job description. So what do you think? Is it time for him to just stop working for the White House, Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: Actually, Bill Daley's skill set, his leadership is more critical now than ever in the White House. He brings really great managerial skills, great business acumen, and has really streamlined and made the White House more efficient.
And I understand that he may be changing -- according to media reports he may be changing or revolving his position but that's his call. And it shouldn't be over-interpreted. I'm glad that he's there. It's probably one of President Obama's best appointments.
PHILLIPS: Patricia?
MURPHY: He definitely does not need to leave his job if for any other reason than the White House just wants to stay on a positive message. They don't need any more headlines like the ones they've had in the past couple of months that it's a White House in disarray, that this is a White House that can't control itself. That there is a management problem. That Obama is a weak leader.
If Bill Daley leaves now those are the headlines that will come. He should just stay -- I don't care if he stays there and just sharpens his pencils all day. He should stay and get his job done whatever it is. But personally have coming in Pete Rouse is very popular on the Hill. Obama needs to improve his relationships on the Hill and this is how he's going to do it.
PHILLIPS: Chris?
METZLER: Well, I mean, of course I don't think that the White House is going to be taking any advice from me on personnel changes.
But, in fact, I do think probably for purposes of stability he probably needs to stay in the White House, although I would prefer some of those headlines that the White House is in disarray, that there are some leadership issues here. I think those will be some very juicy headlines for us to talk about, so from the standpoint of a conservative, yes. I think it's time for him to go. At least we'll have something to talk about other than 9-9-9.
PHILLIPS: I want to know who's sharpening pencils. Back to Chris's comment's -- isn't that old school.
MURPHY: You kind of erase that. Is that on paper, nobody uses paper anywhere.
PHILLIPS: All right, your "Buzzer Beater" now; 20 each on this one. Our own Anderson Cooper playing a game of brain storm with Jimmy Fallon last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC 360": Mission Impossible.
JIMMY FALLON, TALK SHOW HOST: What is Rick Perry's new campaign slogan? (END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right, let's do our own quick brain storm shall we. Patricia, give us your brain storm on Herman Cain.
MURPY: Oh who will solve your problems with his own two hands?
PHILLIPS: Chris, Barack Obama.
METZLER: I'm in charge here no matter what anyone says.
PHILLIPS: Robert, Mitt Romney?
ZIMMERMAN: Who was Mike Huckabee referring to when he said the man has more positions than a Kama Sutra?
PHILLIPS: Oh man.
ZIMMERMAN: I'll give you time on that one.
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you, you know what; Robert always crosses that line exactly, always. That's what we count on him for. There you go.
ZIMMERMAN: Mike Huckabee said it.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
ZIMMERMAN: Mike Huckabee said it, how -- how cool is that.
PHILLIPS: Thanks guys.
Well, I love brainstorming with all three of you.
MURPHY: Thanks Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, straight ahead singer Adele undergoes throat surgery. We're going to have details on her operation and find out when she'll be able to hit the stage again, just ahead in showbiz.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, after weeks of suffering from damaged vocal cords that eventually led to the cancellation of several tour dates, British singer Adele may finally be on the mend.
"SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" host, A.J. Hammer is here with us. So A.J. what do we know about her throat surgery.
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Well, the good news Kyra is that Adele is expected to make a full recovery. Now, she just underwent vocal cord microsurgery. It happened at Massachusetts General Hospital. And the hospital is telling "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" that she needed this operation to stop some vocal cord bleeding which apparently was caused by a benign polyp.
They say this condition is usually the result of unstable blood vessels in the vocal cord that can rupture. Now, the good news here, the doctor who performed the surgery has used this procedure on other singers who have all been able to continue with their singing careers including Steven Tyler. So hopefully Kyra, Adele will be back onstage before too long using that great voice of hers.
PHILLIPS: I know. And a great voice indeed.
All right. And stars are also speaking out about the Conrad Murray conviction.
HAMMER: Yes. The celebrity Twitter-verse has really been a-buzz with reaction over the guilty verdict. And personally I'm happy to see a lot of stars more taking time to remember M.J. and avoiding jubilation. I just don't feel like it's so appropriate here. And when "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" was at last night's "Glamour" magazine "Women of the Year" awards, the verdict, of course, was the hot topic on the red carpet. Here is some of what we heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY WASHINGTON, ACTRESS: We were watching CNN and we all thought, wow, how amazing that we're kind of sharing this moment. It's definitely a moment in pop culture history that we'll never forget.
GAYLE KING, HOST, "THE GAYLE KING SHOW": Do I think that Conrad Murray intended to kill Michael Jackson? No I do not. But I do think that he was certainly based on following the trial and listening to the trial, his actions to me do appear to be negligent.
WENDY WILLIAMS, HOST, "THE WENDY WILLIAMS SHOW": Somebody has to take the fall. I mean, you know, poor doctor. You know, I guess he had a hand along with about 150,000 other hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: So while a lot of people like Wendy Williams felt that there was plenty of blame to go around here, Kyra, the consensus generally seems to be that people are pleased with the trial's outcome.
PHILLIPS: All right. Nancy Grace, luckily you and I have never been a target in her eyes. However, her dancing partner on "Dancing with the Stars" got a little Nancy Grace live, didn't he?
HAMMER: Yes, it's getting hot in the Nancy Grace rehearsal hall, Kyra. Nancy, pulling no punches with her pro partner, Tristan MacManus, and last night on "Dancing with the Stars" well we got a little sneak peek behind the scenes at just how hot it's getting. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Are you actually acting tired? Because you don't have twins that get up at 5:00 and you don't have a full- time job, and I do.
TRISTAN MACMANUS, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": I'm tired of you. That's how tired I am.
GRACE: I'm tired of you, too. So there.
(INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: We're both tired of each other. We should just get married. That's the way that works.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Perfect. You know, even when it seems like they're fighting I think it's all with a wink and a nod. Unfortunately, though, Nancy and Tristan did not wow the judges with their dances last night. In fact, this was a little upsetting.
Len Goodman actually told Nancy she may be the Cinderella at the ball but he thinks it's midnight and time for her to leave.
PHILLIPS: Oh.
HAMMER: They did get last night's lowest scores from the judges. They really will need America's help with the votes if they're going to make it through to next week, Kyra.
It was as pretty harsh. I mean Len just laid it all out there and there was no enthusiasm. Carol Anne they went to her and she couldn't even save the sinking ship. She was like, well, you know, so oh I hope they make it through but if there was a week that wasn't going to happen this might be it. But we're pulling for you. We are Nancy.
PHILLIPS: Yes, we are. Yes we are. Definitely. We're two of her biggest backers. Thanks, A.J.
If you want information on anything breaking in the entertainment world A.J.'s got it every night "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" on HLN 11:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Coming up in the NEWSROOM a private conversation going public. France's president tell Barack Obama that another head of state is a liar? We'll have the details on that just ahead.
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PHILLIPS: So apparently a private conversation between President Obama and his French counterpart at the G-20 summit last week has gone public. According to Reuters, Nicolas Sarkozy was overheard calling Israel's prime minister a liar and President Obama didn't exactly rush to the defense of the Israeli leader.
Brianna Keilar is at the White House to explain, hopefully -- Brianna. BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra this is what Reuters is reporting, that there was a private meeting late last week between the French president and President Obama and a small group of reporters overheard because a mic was accidently left on. According to Reuters Sarkozy said I cannot bear Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and he said he is a liar. And Obama according to a French interpreter said, you're fed up with him but I have to deal with him even more often than you.
Again, this is according to Reuters. We're trying to independently confirm that and the President's comments were translated by a French interpreter. But this is significant because it's embarrassing and it's embarrassing at a pivotal time.
White House press secretary Jay Carney was asked about this aboard Air Force One a short time ago as the President heads to Philadelphia to press his jobs message. He said he wouldn't comment on the specific conversation but what he did do is highlight the President's support of Israel and then point out that the U.S. and France were not on the same page during a recent vote to allow the Palestinians membership in a U.N. agency.
But this is a pivotal time as I mentioned. The peace process stymied but also you have the issue of Iran as the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watch dog releasing a report today saying they made significant progress towards a nuclear program, a weapons grade nuclear program. And you have all of these countries that need to work together on that and this is embarrassing. And now there are questions about how this might impact that process moving forward.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll follow it. Brianna Keilar at the White House. Brianna, thanks.
And teens are some of the largest users of high tech gadgets but do they have the savvy to actually create the technology so near and dear to their hearts. Programs are springing up all across America and that gives minority kids the skills they need to get ahead.
Soledad O'Brien has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEKAI FARAI, FOUNDER, HACK/CHANGE: So, I want to introduce my non-profit to you, it's called Hack/Change and we train young people to be computer programmers.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Sekai Farai believes learning to create technology is the key to a brighter future. So she walks the streets of Harlem to recruit students for a free 12-week computer programming workshop.
FARAI: When you give access to people who are marginalize they do remarkable things with them and it really shows their trajectory, it changes their lives in a very real sense. Not just because they make money and not just because they're rich, but because they can re- imagine their communities. O'BRIEN: But you're just stopping people on the street.
FARAI: I am.
O'BRIEN: And asking them if they're interested.
FARAI: Sure, I'm asking them, first and foremost, if they know what programming is.
O'BRIEN: Students learn to build what they use. Bruce Lincoln is an educational technologist at Columbia University.
BRUCE LINCOLN, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: African-American and Latino students are the fastest growing market when it comes to the adoption of smart phones. So, they're already all over these devices. So you know, we need to be teaching them how to create apps.
O'BRIEN: Which is why these types of classes are catching on.
LINCOLN: So you've got programs now rising up all over the country that are looking at how to create entrepreneurs, how to get more students involved.
O'BRIEN: In Atlanta, Glitch pays high school students to test video games as a way to learn computer programming and design.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can write the app, it's actually very simple to do.
O'REILLY: And at Chicago's 21st Century Youth Project --
AUSTIN PALANCE, 11TH GRADE STUDENT: Right now we're learning to code Android apps for Android phones and they're also teaching me how to sell things. Just in general like not just sell apps, but how to get a client's attention.
BRYISHA FOSTER, 12TH GRADE STUDENT: We're also learning how to make little robots and stuff. That's really cool.
O'BRIEN: In programs that teach technology as a path to opportunity.
Reporting for "In America" Soledad O'Brien, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: You need to see more of Soledad's special Sunday night 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
This son of a share cropper became heavyweight champion. Joe Frazier has died. We're going to look back at his boxing career forever tied to Muhammad Ali. That's next.
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PHILLIPS: Muhammad Ali may have floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee but Joe Frazier had a left hook that hit like a sledge hammer. Frazier used that punch to knock down Ali at Madison Square Garden in 1971. Frazier won that fight. Ali won their next two matches including the "Thrilla in Manila", maybe the most brutal bout in boxing history.
Joe Frazier died yesterday from cancer. He was 67 years old. Don Riddell has been talking about his life. When you think about Smokin Joe Frazer what comes to mind for you, the sports guru that you are?
DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the thriller in Manila without question. I mean that really was an absolutely epic fight. It was brutal. I wish I was old enough to remember it, Kyra, but I've seen it many times since and it is just an incredible sporting contest considered to be one of the greatest if not the greatest fights of the 20th century and one of the greatest sporting events ever.
You know, we all know Muhammad Ali. He is a household name. Everybody knows Ali, Kyra. But to be a great fighter and a great champion you need great men to fight and Joe Frazier was that man. There are three fights in the early '70s that were absolutely epic and this last one in Manila in 1975 was incredible.
And Joe Frazier very, very nearly won that fight. His corner man, Eddie Fudge (ph), threw in the towel but if he had held on a couple seconds more Ali was about to have his gloves cut off because he couldn't go any further in that fight.
And I think it was something that Frazier kind of resented in years afterward because he felt he had done enough. And if they'd waited just a couple more seconds he'd have won an incredible fight.
PHILLIPS: The legend lives on and as you can see the film will always be there. Don, thanks so much.
Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno holds his weekly news conference at 12:20 Eastern and after we hear from him we're going to talk to a former NHL player who says when he was a teenager his coach repeatedly sexually assaulted him.
We're going to get his thoughts on former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky. That's coming up next hour.
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PHILLIPS: All right. We're talking about a battle at the ballot box over voters' rights in Mississippi and Maine. One state is looking at whether voters can register on the same day as an election. The other deals with requiring photo Ids at polling stations.
Senior political editor Mark Preston is live. So Mark, this all boils down to voters' rights versus voter fraud. Right?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: It is. And it's a very difficult issue to really grasp your hands around because the question is what's the right answer? Up in Maine right now we will have voters today voting on whether or not they can have same-day registration.
This is something that had been given the rights to Maine voters since the early '70s. It was overturned. The Republican-led legislature put a law into effect that would require two business days, a person to do two business days before they could vote on election day. Voters today now will have an opportunity to overturn it.
But down in Mississippi, now, a very controversial initiative is on the ballot. That would require voters to show a government issued ID in order to vote. This is something that for many years right now has pitted folks who say that there's too much fraud in the elections against folks who say, look. Bottom line is we need to make it easier for people to vote. So down in Mississippi that will be on the ballot -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And both issues could affect next year's elections.
PRESTON: Well, they could. In the presidential election, by and large if you're handy capping right now again just on the presidential election President Obama is likely to win Maine and the Republican nominee will likely win Mississippi. But really what this does is that it opens a whole can of worms about which way we're going to go and requiring whether people can vote on the same day and whether we will require them to show IDs to actually vote, Kyra. So a very explosive issue.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll follow them all. Mark, thanks.
That does it for us. We're back here 9:00 Eastern. Suzanne Malveaux in the hot seat for the next couple of hours.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": In the hot seat. Good to see you Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Good to see you.
