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Penn State Coach "Could Be Out in Days" Amid Sex Abuse Scandal; Herman Cain to Address Latest Allegation; Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to Resign; Arizona Senate Recall Election; Why "Fast and Furious" Failed; Teens Recruited to Program Computers; "Fast and Furious" Under Fire; Tornado Crosses Road; Strip Mall Up in Flames; Deer Charges Through Restaurant; Cain "To Set Record Straight"; Good Guys to the Rescue

Aired November 08, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's go. Let's get you caught up on everything making news at this hour, "Rapid Fire," as always.

Let's begin. Breaking news out of Italy. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will resign. His parliament just approved several budget reforms on a contingent vote.

We're going to take you live to Rome, to Matthew Chance, for more on the breaking story in just a moment.

Also today, Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno avoided facing reporters early this afternoon, but "The New York Times" is also now reporting he could be gone soon over the handling of a child sex handle rocking the school's football program currently. That is according to not just one, but two people briefed on conversations among top Penn State officials.

Paterno's former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, accused of sexually abusing eight boys. Paterno, himself, not a target in that investigation.

Presidential hopeful Herman Cain is sticking to his story, and he's ready to talk. The Republican says he has never harassed anyone, ever. That is after this woman here, Sharon Bialek, stepped forward and became the fourth person to accuse him of sexual harassment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was listening very closely, and then, when it was all over with, I said, "Well, I know what we've got to do, because there's not an ounce of truth in all of these accusations." And my team is putting this stuff together. That's why I'm willing to do a press conference tomorrow to set the record straight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That press conference, a couple hours from now. Talking today, 5:00 Eastern. You're going to watch that live here, right here on CNN.

And none of us was meant to hear this, but the U.S. and French presidents had little good to say about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week. Reuters news agency is reporting that both President Obama and French leader Nicolas Sarkozy were chatting near a live microphone at the G-20 summit in France last week, and a journalist who overheard them says Sarkozy called Netanyahu a liar, and President Obama reportedly replied, "You're fed up with him but I have to deal with him even more often than you."

Boxing loses a legend. "Smokin' Joe" Frazier, the former heavyweight champ, died last night at the age of 67 after being diagnosed with liver cancer. And later on this show we're going to talk about Frazier's legacy with another heavyweight champ with a pretty devastating left hook as well, none other than Mike Tyson, live on the show next hour.

Also, a follow-up for you right now to last month's exotic animal killing in eastern Ohio. I know you remember this story. This was when police were forced to kill 48 wild animals after they were freed from this man's property, this private zoo.

Well, five people were charged yesterday with trying to steal one of the dead animals. They were trying to steal a lion.

Police found them with this carcass of a male lion in their jeep. They have been charged with misdemeanor theft. No word as to what they intended to do with a dead lion.

And about 10 miles east of Miami, this container barge, this thing right here, in big, big trouble. The Coast Guard, on the scene. No word on how many people were on board the barge or the disabled tugboat when they drifted into shallow water. The Coast Guard and recovery divers are working now to just keep that barge from sinking.

And watch your head, because here it is. A big asteroid will blast past our planet tonight a scant 200,000 miles away. And I know that sounds like far away. Yes. Guess what? It's not.

This asteroid is the size of an aircraft carrier and is the biggest heavenly body to get this close to Earth in more than three decades. The fly-by is tonight, so look up, 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

And a federal appeals court says President Obama's health care reform law is constitutional, but that's not the final word on this controversial issue. A half-dozen other appeals are pending at the Supreme Court. The justices will meet Thursday to decide which legal challenges they will hear.

Tiger Woods says he's ready to move on after his former caddie made a racially-tinged remark about him. Woods and Steve Williams have had -- shall we call it a frosty relationship since Woods fired him over the summer? So, over this past weekend, in Australia, Williams directed a racial insult at Woods, and here is Tiger's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: He did apologize. I mean, it was hurtful, certainly, but, you know, life goes forward.

Steve is certainly not a racist. There's no doubt about that. I think it was a comment that shouldn't have been made, and, you know, it was certainly one that he wished he didn't make.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Williams carried Woods' bag for a dozen years on the PGA tour.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Penn State's legendary Joe Paterno did not face reporters as per usual in his weekly press conference today. It didn't happen. And now "The New York Times" is reporting the end of his 46-year-long tenure as head coach is likely near. The Times citing two people briefed on conversations among top university officials.

So, the university canceled Paterno's news conference just minutes before it was scheduled to begin at the noon hour Eastern Time today. And the school freely admits that the reason is because of the child rape scandal marring Paterno's program.

Here's a statement from Penn State. Let me read you part of it.

"Due to the ongoing legal circumstances centered around the recent allegations and charges, we have determined that today's press conference cannot be held and will not be rescheduled."

Calls for Paterno's resignation are really starting to pile up as the public is learning more and more about the case against his former defensive coordinator. That being Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky is accused of sexually abusing eight boys over the course of this 15-year period.

Investigators say that Paterno is not the target of this investigation. In fact, when a graduate assistant reported seeing Sandusky attacking a boy in a locker room shower back in 2002, Paterno reportedly ran the information up the administrative chain like he was supposed to do. But a lot of people are questioning whether he had a moral obligation to do more.

Paterno's boss, athletic director there at Penn State, Tim Curley, and a university senior vice president, Gary Schultz, are both charged with covering up the scandal. Both have resigned. They are now out on bail.

And if you read The Times report that came out midday today, "The New York Times," they cite two sources familiar with what's going on in the offices of Penn State's top official, saying Paterno -- using their phraseology -- could be out in days, possibly weeks.

I want to go now to the phone, to Michael Rosenberg, contributor for "Sports Illustrated."

And Michael, you know these numbers. Paterno has been there for 46 years. Quite the legacy he has created.

I read your article. You heard what we just reported with regard to "The New York Times" saying he's out in days, maybe weeks.

What do you think about that? And how much longer can Paterno really hold on?

MICHAEL ROSENBERG, CONTRIBUTOR, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Well, there's no doubt that this is going to have to be it for him by the end of the season. I mean, the thing about scandals is you've got to hit bottom before you can kind of quell the firestorm a little bit and start to move on. And the media and the fans and, frankly, a lot of Penn State alumni are not going to calm down about this in any way until they get resignations or firings. And that's going to have include Joe Paterno. I don't know if it will include the school president, but I think they need to look at it.

The fact is that Penn State just acted deplorable in this situation. There are a lot of people responsible for it, and as a result, according to the attorney general, young boys were molested, and that could have been stopped.

So there really is no defense and there's no minimizing it. And obviously, Penn State today has been stuck with the PR aspect of this, where they canceled the Paterno press conference, and he didn't appeared in a teleconference and all that. Well, the fact is, their actions were indefensible. There's nothing from a PR standpoint they can really do except say, OK, these people are out of a job.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you about that press conference, Michael, because you cover sports, you know. I mean, in recent memory, Paterno is the kind of guy -- he holds these news conferences every single week, from what I understand, religiously.

When was the last time that one of these was canceled?

ROSENBERG: Well, I can't remember one being canceled. But if you're Penn State, I mean, Paterno -- I guarantee you, if Paterno had that press conference, he would have said three or four things that people were just incredulously about, that caused all sorts of other problems for Penn State.

By canceling it, what they have done is they've got 100 reporters on campus who are now turning around and looking for other stories and other people to talk to, and that's going to create a whole different wave of bad stories for Penn State. They rally need to step back and realize, they're in this too deep. The only way that they can sort of heal their community in any way is by saying certain people will not be back, and one of those is going to have to be Joe Paterno.

BALDWIN: You posed this question multiple times in your article, the whole, what would you do? And I think a lot of us though, well, what would we do if we were in this sort of situation? And you think about Paterno specifically, and either -- look, either he's lying about what he knows, that he wasn't told about the extent of the sodomy in the shower, specifically told to him by the graduate assistant, when perhaps he really was, or Paterno is telling the truth about being told about this misappropriate conduct, but he didn't push it, didn't ask questions, didn't punish Sandusky. So, while he met legal obligations, as we heard per that news conference yesterday, really the question is, did Paterno meet moral obligations?

ROSENBERG: Yes, that's absolutely the question, and I don't see how you can argue that he did.

And the thing that's telling for me, sometimes the punishment that they administer tells you that it's insufficient. Penn State said Jerry Sandusky is not allowed to bring children onto our campus anymore. Well, if it's not safe for him to bring children on your campus anymore, you have to have a reason for that, and yet you're staying silent when he's still running his charity and housing children in his home and doing all this stuff off campus, and you're not calling police about this incident.

It's just like they wanted to distance themselves from the situation, but frankly, this situation demanded a lot more courage and a lot more backbone than Penn State showed.

BALDWIN: Michael, you wrote on SI.com today, "Penn State looks precisely like the Catholic Church looked for so many years." Explain.

ROSENBERG: Well, it's the same kind of thing where they were, I think, worried about protecting the institution and forgot about the values that the institution is supposed to represent. And that's what I meant by that.

Obviously, we all know about some of the scandals that have overtaken the Catholic Church, very similar scandals. And one other similarity with that, the people who should be most outraged by this are the people who devoted themselves, their beliefs, their time, their money to the institution. It should be Penn State alumni, Penn State students, Penn State faculty that should be most outraged, and they're the ones that should be demanding change at the top.

BALDWIN: Michael Rosenberg, it was great writing. I encourage people -- and I'll tweet this out -- your article on SI.com about this issue.

Contributor for "Sports Illustrated."

Michael, my thanks to you this afternoon.

ROSENBERG: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Politics dominating the news this afternoon as well. Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain holding a news conference in less than three hours from now, 5:00 Eastern Time. And he is addressing precisely this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARON BIALEK, ACCUSES HERMAN CAIN OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT: Instead of going into the offices, he suddenly reached over, and he put his hand on my leg, under my skirt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: More on that story in two minutes.

Plus, you know that controversial immigration law in Arizona. We've talked a lot about it. The author of the legislation faces a recall election today.

And we've got to talk about in vitro fertilization in jeopardy in the state of Mississippi. It all has to do with the new beginning of a life law up for a vote today.

Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK. Let's talk about Herman Cain.

He is taking the offensive against his accusers. He has scheduled a news conference for 5:00 Eastern Time today, and he is now facing sexual harassment accusations from four people. The latest being Sharon Bialek, who stepped forward just before this show yesterday there in New York.

She told CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" today why she decided to make her claims public.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIALEK: And initially, I went into this hoping every hope of hopes that Herman Cain would just step forward. That was actually my primary goal, just admit it. Step forward, admit it, and move forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Cain has an online interview scheduled for this hour. You can see his 5:00 Eastern news conference right here on CNN.

And adding now to the pressure Cain is certainly facing today, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, tells CNN that she is concerned about the allegations against Cain. And if these claims are in fact true, that he should quit the race for the White House.

Want to bring in Gloria Borger, chief political analyst.

Gloria, we were talking about this yesterday. Given what we saw with Sharon Bialek, you said he has to come forward. You called it. He is.

Tell me what is riding on this news conference today. GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Everything. Everything -- his candidacy, his political future. And I think he's got to be aware of that. It's going to be important to see how he addresses these allegations.

We had a press release early this morning from supporters of Herman Cain who talk about Ms. Bialek's "troubled history," about having her -- the fact that she filed for bankruptcy, et cetera, et cetera. So, he has so far chosen to talk about and dismiss the claims, and say that the people who are making the claims, this document raises the question about who is financing her legal team, have the media agreed to pay for her story, et cetera, et cetera.

So we know that he's denied these claims in the past, that they are attacking Ms. Bialek. What we have to watch for, however, is whether Herman Cain decides at any moment to say, look, I may have done some things that were untoward in the past, they were not sexual harassment, this happened 12 years ago, and admit that anything at all occurred, and try and get past it that way.

You know, he can do it one of two ways. We've seen him deny. Let's see what happens this afternoon.

BALDWIN: As we watch to see what it is he says in a couple of hours from now, I know that in a very short period of time -- we saw that news conference out of New York, 1:00 Eastern hour. So, the Cain camp, in a matter of hours, from what I understand, have been digging up a lot of information about this woman's past.

BORGER: Right.

BALDWIN: What does this say to you, Gloria?

BORGER: Well, it says to me that they are on the attack at this point. And as in many of these cases, when a comes out with a claim -- she never filed a formal charge about it, this was a long time ago. And one of the ways to respond to this -- and that's one of the reasons, of course, women very often don't come out with these charges -- is that you start attacking the accuser.

So, what the campaign has done -- and, of course, we have to say here that Mr. Cain has adamantly denied all of these charges. OK? Adamantly all of these charges.

So what they're doing is they are attacking her voracity and they're saying if she didn't raise this issue then, why do you think she's raising it now? Is she raising it for money?

BALDWIN: She says she's not.

BORGER: Has she been offered employment? She says she is not. So, again, you have a he said/she said situation.

With the other accusers, by the way, who did raise the issue with the National Restaurant Association, he cannot level that charge.

BALDWIN: Speaking of other accusers, I know there's new information about one of the earlier accusers. What can you share there?

BORGER: Well, there's new information actually about two of them.

Today, we can say that accuser A, let's call her, the first accuser, is currently a civil servant who is a director of communications at an agency at the Department of Treasury. So we can tell you that right now.

And we can tell you something about accuser B. These are the two women who did go to their bosses at the time back in the late '90s.

Accuser B, this morning I spoke with a longtime friend of hers who knew her very well at the time that these incidents allegedly took place. And what this young woman told me is that Cain apparently dangled a job in front of this woman at the same time he made her very uncomfortable, I was told, with "sexual innuendo and overtures."

So that's a little bit more of the story from the second accuser, who did go to her boss.

BALDWIN: Right. So we hear a little bit more from that. We get to hear from Herman Cain.

We'll all be watching. We'll take it live on CNN, 5:00 Eastern.

Gloria Borger, thank you.

BORGER: We will.

BALDWIN: Want to get you back to the breaking news out of Italy. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, word now he is stepping down.

Matthew Chance, he is Rome. He is in front of the camera right now. We're going to go to him, live, when we come back.

Take about a wild week in Europe. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Breaking news we mentioned at the top of the hour. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will resign. His parliament just approved several budget reforms in a contentious vote.

I want to take you straight to Rome, to Matthew Chance.

And Matthew, we have been hearing that he might resign. They were shooting that down. Now we know in fact he is leaving.

Tell me what you're learning.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been a dramatic few hours, actually, here in the Italian capital.

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, under so much pressure, of course, because of the country's economic problems. The financial markets really hitting Italy's situation. Meeting with the Italian president. After discussions there, agreeing to resign, finally, after so much pressure, but only after the country's 2011 is approved by the parliament. That means that he won't be stepping aside until least next week, at least Tuesday next week, is what we are hearing, because the way the scheduling works.

But nevertheless, it's likely to be welcomed by the international financial markets, not least because Silvio Berlusconi, his very weak coalition inside Italy has been seen to be not credible, not able to push through the kind of economic reforms that Italy so badly needs to get its economy back on track. And so, in general, it's a positive, I think, in terms of the financial markets, but for Silvio Berlusconi, obviously the end -- now coming to the end of an era of his period in office -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Matthew Chance for us in the Italian capital.

Matthew, thank you so much.

Back here at home, check your calendars. It's Election Day.

So, all of these people that we have in some video here, take a look at this. They must be queued up to cast ballots, right? Not so fast.

These people were actually customers waiting at the crack of dawn for video stores to open so they could buy the latest of "Call of Duty," "Modern Warfare 3." OK.

So, voting maybe won't make your heart pump like stimulation of combat. Maybe I don't exactly get it, maybe you do. But there are some key races we think you should know about today.

First, I want to start in -- here you go, Mississippi. It's a long shot, but Johnny Dupree could be the state's first black governor if he beats Republican Phil Bryant.

Another issue we want to point out for you in Mississippi, voters are expected to say yes to Amendment 26 supporting personhood. That would mean that a fertilized human egg will be a person under the law, making abortion equivalent to murder.

I'm going to take you West to California. San Francisco may see its first elected Chinese-American mayor. Interim Mayor Ed Lee is seen as the favorite in that city.

Next, we want to take you to Kentucky. The Democratic incumbent governor, Steve Beshear is expected to keep his seat despite the Tea Party stronghold in the state of Kentucky.

And finally, let's go to Ohio because politicos are watching. The Issue 2 ballot measure, this passage would uphold the law, we covered this extensively in the spring restricting collective bargaining rights for public workers.

Many believe how voters decide on Issue 2 in Ohio would be the pre- cursor for the presidential election. Both parties have spent a lot of money campaigning here in Ohio.

Finally, in our election roundup, I want to take you to Arizona. We've talked a lot about SB 1070. The state law cracking down on illegal immigrants ignited demonstrations, boycotts, arrests plus really this nationwide divide about how to deal with the problem.

So now for some paybacks, protesters are relishing this recall election today for the state senator who supported SB 1070, but get this. His challenger is another fiscal conservative. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one of the most contentious state legislative races in Arizona history. Republican versus Republican, a recall election in the most conservative district in the state just outside of Phoenix.

The incumbent, president of the Arizona State Senate, Russell Pearce. The self-proclaimed father of the anti-illegal immigration movement who has pushed some of the toughest immigration laws that Arizonans and the nation has seen.

The challenger, Jerry Lewis, a long time businessman and educator in Mesa, Arizona and it gets more interesting. Both candidates say their fiscal conservatives and are members of the Mormon Church but there is a major difference, immigration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politicians who continue to talk tough, but never do anything. Arizona, we're going to do something.

RUSSELL PEARCE (R), ARIZONA STATE SENATE: I'm all for securing the borders. I'm all for the rule of law. We need to do it in a humane way.

GUTIERREZ: Lewis, a leader in the LDS Church says he doesn't believe in mass deportations or separating families. He says Pearce's tough anti-illegal immigrant policies do not line up with the teachings of their faith.

PEARCE: I had no political ambitions that I was asked by some good Republican friends of mine to do this, but I felt for a long time that we need better representation of our city and our state and our party.

GUTIERREZ: But Republicans in the district are split between the candidates. Polls show they are in a dead heat.

DANIEL ORTEGA, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA ROZA: Latinos are being asked to support another Republican in order to recall Senator Russell Pearce. I think what is going to tip the scale is going to be the Latino vote.

GUTIERREZ: Latino voters and Democrats who could turn out for a Republican, not a common practice in these parts, but that's how close it is. Senator Pearce says with Sheriff Joe Arpaio campaigning by his side, he's on the right side of the law. The Lewis camp says they're candidate just wants to move toward the center.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Thelma Gutierrez live for us now in Phoenix. We saw the man in your piece. He says Latino vote will tip this overall. Let me just ask how likely are Latinos to vote for a Republican in the district?

GUTIERREZ: Well, Brooke, that's a good question. Short answer is very likely to do so. This is the most conservative district in the state and Latinos typically vote democrat.

But, you know, given the choice between Russell Pearce who has been a very tough against illegal immigration and Jerry Lewis who is more a moderate and polls are showing that Latinos are likely to go with Lewis. And not just Latinos, Brooke, but also Democrats in this district as well.

BALDWIN: Thelma Gutierrez in Phoenix. Thelma, thank you so much.

And crime fighters tracing guns from the U.S. all the way to the hands of Mexican drug cartels. What could be wrong with that? A lot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This should never have happened and it must never happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Today, Attorney General Eric Holder answers the tough questions about "Fast and Furious" even in face of those who want him to resign over the poorly executed program. You're going to hear what happened there, some pretty intense testimony on the Hill today.

Plus, we're going to show you that incredible video again of a tornado that swept through Oklahoma just last night. Stay tuned for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Teens getting paid to test videogames and getting stopped on the street to get free classes on computers? Get this. This is not a gimmick. CNN's Soledad O'Brien has today's "Black in America" segment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me introduce my non-profit to you. It's called "Hack/Change." We train young people to be computer programmers.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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.

SEKAI FARAI, HACK/CHANGE FOUNDER: When you give access to people who are marginalized, they do remarkable things with them. It really shows their trajectory. It changes their lives in a very real sense. Not just because they make money. Not just because they're rich, but because they can re-imagine their communities.

O'BRIEN (on camera): But you're stopping people on the street asking them if they're interested.

FARAI: Sure I'm asking them first and foremost if they know what programming is.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Students learn to build what they use. Bruce Lincoln is an educational technologist at Columbia University.

BRUCE LINCOLN, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: African-American and Latinos students are the fastest growing market when it comes to adaption of smart phones. So they're already all over these devices. So, you know, we need to teach them how to create apps.

O'BRIEN: Which is why these types of classes are catching on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you've got programs now rising up all over the country that are looking how to create entrepreneurs, how to get more students involved.

O'BRIEN: In Atlanta, Glitch pays high school students to test videogames as a way to learn computer programming and design.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can write the app. It's actually very simple to do.

O'BRIEN: And at Chicago's 21st Century youth project.

AUSTIN PALANCE, 11TH GRADE STUDENT: Right now we're learning the code android apps for Android phones. They are also teaching me how to sell things just in generals, like not just sell apps, but how to get client's attention.

BRYISHA FOSTER, 12TH GRADE STUDENT: We are also learning how to like 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)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: "Operation Fast and Furious," should never have happened. That is what Attorney General Eric Holder said today testifying about the ATF's gun tracking scheme on the U.S./Mexico border.

Part of the operation involved, the tactic, it's known as gun walking. That's allowing suspected straw buyers purchase guns in Arizona so agents could then track them as they walk, if you will, back to Mexico, back in the hands of these drug cartels.

But the thing is, agents lost track of a lot of these guns. Nearly 200 were recovered from crime scenes in Mexico. In fact, two were found at the scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's murder back in December.

And just a couple of hours ago, Attorney General Eric Holder faced some pretty tough questions about this "Operation Fast and Furious." He told the Senate Judiciary Committee, he did not know the details of the scheme until early this year. But he was adamant that guns should not have been allowed to cross the border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I want to be very clear. Any instance of so-called gun walking is simply unacceptable. Regrettably, this tactic was used as part of "Fast and Furious," which was launched to combat gun trafficking and violence on our southwest border.

This operation was flawed in its concept and flawed in its execution. Unfortunately, we will feel the effects for years to come as guns that were lost during this operation continue to show up at crime scenes both here and in Mexico. This should never have happened and it must never happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So as part of his testimony today on the Hill, the attorney general also talked specifically about the death of that border agent I mentioned a moment ago, Brian Terry.

Terry was killed near Tucson, Arizona last December and testimony got a little intense when Holder was asked about this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: Have you apologized to the family of Brian Terry?

HOLDER: I have not apologized to them, but I certainly regret what happened.

CORNYN: Have you even talked to them?

HOLDERN: I have not.

CORNYN: Would you like to apologize today for this program that went so wrong that took the life of a United States law enforcement agent?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before you answer, that will have to be your last question.

HOLDER: I certainly regret what happened to Agent Brian Terry. I can only imagine the pain that his family has had to deal with. In particular, his mother and father. I am the father of three children myself. We are not programmed to bury our kids. It pains me, whatever there is the death of a law enforcement official especially under the circumstance that this occurred.

It is not fair, however, to assume that the mistakes that happened in "Fast and Furious" directly led to the death of Agent Terry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Holder will face similar questions and what could turn out to be an even tougher audience when he testifies before the House panel and that happens next month.

Coming up, some of the best storm chasing tornado video we have actually seen in quite a while. It might take your breath away. We're getting ready it for you now. Seriously you're going to want to stick around for this one. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, so we have some pretty incredible weather video to show you. This tornado in Oklahoma crosses the road. Imagine being in this car driving down the road. This is what you see. Look at this.

Later, the tornado moves on. You can see how big and massive and tall that funnel cloud is. The storm caused only minimal damage there. No one was hurt.

Also, a strip club mall up in flames. This huge fire tore through this hair salon on Tuesday morning with materials inside. The building materials only made the fire worse. A nearby (inaudible) has a firewall, which stopped the fire from spreading. It took 80 fire fighters to fight this thing. No injuries were reported there.

And watch closely with me here. People about to sit down to dinner, boom, a deer comes flying through and it continues through as people are eating their lunch or dinner, perhaps this is dinnertime, through the glass of the restaurant.

The employee eventually lured this deer back outside. Let's watch this again as it comes straight through the glass and continues on through. This was in Georgia. Imagine sitting enjoying your lemonade, sweet tea, and then a deer.

Now as we mentioned a little while ago, we are just two hours away from that news conference involving Herman Cain finally now taking on reporters' questions about the sexual harassment allegations against him.

Let's go to Wolf Blitzer. Wolf, also new, just in the last a couple of minutes and I'm sure you all know, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska now coming out and saying, I'm quoting her, "she is concerned about this most recent charge and if in fact it's true, if, she would say to him, he should walk away from this race." WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Yes, I suspect he's not going to walk away from the race. As he said last night, he insists he's in it to win it. That's he's going to try to fight back all of these allegations, including not only the women who remain anonymous, but now this one woman from Chicago who has gone public.

He's going to insist that this news conference at 5:00 p.m. Eastern from Phoenix, that he didn't do anything along these lines. He's going to suggest that he doesn't even remember this woman. So it's -- it's going to continue. He's going to continue this race for the Republican nomination.

As you know, there's a Republican presidential debate tomorrow. He's participating. So he's not going to walk away from this. He's going to try to fight it. The question is, will any of the other women, and now there are four -- three of them remain anonymous, but there are four women who have made serious allegations.

Two of those women have received payments from the National Restaurant Association, settlements in order to maintain their silence and confidentiality, but they are going to go public and I wonder if there are any others out there.

So this is going to continue to be a major burden on him and I suspect that other Republicans will probably come out and question whether he's doing the right thing. It depends on what his response is going to be and we'll hear that at 5 p.m. Eastern.

BALDWIN: Right. It's all in what he says and how he says it. You'll take it live on "THE SITUATION ROOM" in your second hour. Wolf, thank you. We'll talk next hour.

Meantime, a pair of mixed martial arts fighters. You know MMA, they take down this one man armed with a gun robbing a hotel. The whole thing was caught on the surveillance camera. We're going to show the video. We're going to talk live to one of these heroes. These MMA fighters are in town for some sort of competition. That's in 2 minutes.

Also, Mike Tyson, he is going to join me live here in CNN next hour to talk about the death of smoking Joe Frazier. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Listen to this story. So this would-be robber goes up against this hotel clerk. The clerk gets some serious backup vis-a- vis some of these Mixed Martial Arts, MMA fighters.

Brent Alvarez and Billy Denny, the two of them are actually just so happened to be in L.A. for this competition last week. They saved the day. This is surveillance video.

When a guy with a gun tried to rob the clerk, here they are on the ground with this guy clearly pinned. They wrestled the guy from the clerk and managed to get the gun away from him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLY DENNY, MMA FIGHTER: I heard he got a gun and he just robbed us.

BRENT ALVAREZ, MMA FIGHTER: I went around him and grabbed him and locked him up from behind his hands and positioned him down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Police arrested the attempted robbery suspect. They say they found loaded handgun and money from the register inside of his backpack.

And I want to bring in one of the guys you just saw. We'll call him the hero MMA fighter, Brent Alvarez, on the phone. Brent, take me back. We're going to pull the video backup.

So you're walking into the hotel at this specific time with a student. I guess, you're minding your own business. You hear the clerk yelling. What did you see and what did you do next?

ALVAREZ (via telephone): Yes. We had just checked in and our key didn't work so we had to return back down to the desk. The clerk made eye contact with me and he said, he's got a gun, he just robbed me.

My mind just kind of focused. I just heard he's got a gun mostly and at that point, I was pretty much in front of him as he was stashing the 9 millimeter back into the bag.

And I controlled the gun basically with both hands and said, man, I don't want to get shot. I don't want anybody to get hurt. And tried to persuade him to give up the gun and end the whole thing peacefully and it all worked out.

BALDWIN: By the looks of the video, you sort of make this look easy. Was he resisting you? How tough was he to take down and did you hesitate at all when he had a gun, a loaded gun?

ALVAREZ: No. I didn't hesitate at all. As soon as I heard he had a gun, I just -- my training kicked in and went right to work. The first thing to do was to neutralize the weapon and get that out of the picture. He was resisting.

He wasn't -- I don't know if because the three of us were on him. He was a big dude. But at the same time, we weren't trying to hurt him and he wasn't trying to hit us back. I don't know if it's because he was restrained or what so I just thought at that point we could end things peacefully without any violence. It worked that way.

BALDWIN: What was he saying? I read something that he was, you know, pleading with you all not to call police, something about his daughter.

ALVAREZ: Yes, he said that he needed the money for his daughter and I was talking to him and I said, OK. This isn't the way about to do it. He said, take the money, I screwed up. I just want to see my daughter again, take the money. Just let me go. And then after we were able to get the gun from him, he said, OK, you've got the gun. You've got my prints, let me go now so I can give my daughter one last kiss before I go to jail. And I said, I can't do that, man. You have to own up to what you did. So --

BALDWIN: So he was arrested from what I understand, you know. L.A. police said thanks to you all. I'm sure the clerk was thanking his lucky stars that the room key wasn't working. You came back down the precise moment you did. Have you talked to the clerk since? Did he give you a deal on the room at least?

ALVAREZ: He gave us $30 back in parking fees, but -- so that was nice of him. Yes, we talked with him and he was just glad that we were there.

BALDWIN: Brent Alvarez, what a story. Thanks so much for calling in. Appreciate it.

ALVAREZ: You're welcome. Have a great day.

BALDWIN: So here's a question. Who are the most overpaid actors in Hollywood? Think about this. We have the top five. "Forbes" actually came up with this list based upon how much the studio is paid for every dollar the celebrity makes. That's the issue.

So coming in at number five, Denzel Washington, number four, Reece Witherspoon, number three, funny man, Will Ferrel. So who were the top two celebrities bringing in a little too much dough. Think about it. We'll share it after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So before the break we showed you the three "Forbes" listed the most overpaid actors in Hollywood. Here you go, you see five, Denzel Washington, four Reece Witherspoon, three Will Ferrell, number two, Eddie Murphy, and at number one spot making an average of $50 million in movie, Drew Barrymore.

All right, let's switch gears. I want to bring you back to one of huge stories we've been following. Herman Cain, we mentioned there's a news conference coming up in just a couple of hours from now, 5:00 Eastern.

We're going to take it live for you on CNN, but I first want to get this and we have just quickly turned around some sound for you from Mr. Cain himself. These are his first comments since that accuser who has come forward on those -- fourth accuser has come forward on these sexual harassment charges. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would be delighted. First of all, sexual harassment is a very serious charge. Throughout my career, I have had nothing, but the upmost respect for any and all women as well as those that have worked under my leadership and all of the different companies that I have worked. I can categorically say that I have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We're going to get more on some of that sound and the story involving Herman Cain and these accusers, the fourth, again, coming forward just yesterday afternoon, with Jim Acosta coming up in a matter of minutes.

But here we go. Watch this.