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Interview With Mike Tyson; Italy's Prime Minister to Step Down; Disabled Veterans Participate in Rowing Program; Child Goes Missing in Washington; Herman Cain Says Woman Accusing him of Sexual Harassment Lying; Michael Jackson's Doctor Convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter; Bill Clinton Publishes Book on U.S. Economy

Aired November 08, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's roll on, shall we? Hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Here are the stories we're watching.

Penn State keeps head coach Joe Paterno away from reporters today.

Also, mishandling of our American war dead.

Plus, Silvio Berlusconi is out as Italy's prime minister.

And an asteroid headed for Earth or at least pretty close.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette" here.

And I want to start with Jason Carroll in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Jason, we know today's weekly news conference with the legendary Joe Paterno canceled. "The New York Times" is reporting according to two of their sources that he has days, maybe weeks numbered. What are you hearing?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for one thing, first of all, let me just tell this. Just -- literally just two minutes ago, I'm being handed a BlackBerry here. We have a comment from Joe Paterno. We will try to get some of that sound turned around as quickly as we can for you, caught up with him outside of his house.

It says -- quote -- and I'm just reading this for the first time -- "I know you all have a lot of good questions. I want to answer them." We're going to have more of his comments coming up. I can also tell you with regard to that report that he would be stepping aside or retiring, his son, Scott Paterno, tweeted something just about a few hours ago basically saying those reports were -- quote -- "premature," according to his tweet. "We live in the world of Twitter now. No discussions about his retirement."

That is what we're being told now at this point in terms of whether or not Joe Paterno for his role in all this, whether he will step down. As you know, he was scheduled to give a press conference a little earlier today, this afternoon, right, Brooke? And basically what happened was we were all set to go to this press conference and then all of a sudden it was called off.

Joe Paterno said that he actually wanted to speak, that he wanted to speak out, but that he was overruled by highers-up here at Penn State -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let's work on getting that -- whatever you just read off your BlackBerry you were just handed. Thank you for that, Jason Carroll. Work on turning that around and getting the sound.

CARROLL: Yes, I'm going to hand it right back to my producer here.

BALDWIN: We will let you do that. We will that sound hopefully in a matter of minutes here on CNN. Jason Carroll, my thanks to you on that one.

Next in "Reporter Roulette" let's go to Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent.

And, Barbara, we are hearing accusations about the handling of military remains at the Dover Air Force Base Mortuary? What are you learning today?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Brooke, this is not one of the kind of stories you really want to report, but it's important for people to know the Air Force now coming out in public and saying a year-long investigation has been concluded into 14 allegations into misconduct, wrong behavior at Dover Air Force Base mortuary where the remains of our nation's war dead have been returned for so many years.

There have been a number of cases that they have detailed in very lengthy reports. Investigators calling it gross mismanagement. Some of it involved remains of the war dead being misplaced. We are talking about body parts like ankles, DNA material, bones, that kind of thing. An example they cite where a Marine who had been killed in action, badly damaged remains -- I am just quoting from the report here -- they sawed off one of his arms which was unable to be positioned for viewing by his family.

They said his family should have been told about it. These are very delicate issues that involve mortuary affairs, that involve funeral directors that most of us really don't want to think about. But for the military, this is something that is now very serious. Three people have been disciplined. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says he's disturbed about the whole thing and there will now be yet again another independent assessment to see if these matters at Dover have been taken care of, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Our war dead. Barbara Starr, it's horrendous. Thank you. We will follow that investigation. Quick reminder, check out more of Barbara's reporting. Just go to the CNN blog Security Clearance.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

BALDWIN: And that's your "Reporter Roulette" for us for this Tuesday.

Pardon me. We're going to continue on, Becky Anderson in Rome -- Rome, Italy, right now, big news there.

Becky, we know Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday said, rather defiantly, no, no resignation. Today, quite a different tune today. What is happening?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He said today that he would look into the eyes of those who betray him if indeed they were to betray him and his detractors both in his party and in the opposition parties when there was a vote on the austerity bill earlier on today in Parliament.

That vote went through, but he lost his majority. He says tonight that he's stepping down, but not yet. He says that he will stick with the government, he will stick as the leader until he gets these measures passed through the Senate, which will be at the beginning of December, we're told.

It's a very fluid situation here tonight. We have only heard just in the last few minutes from the president's office that indeed Silvio Berlusconi has agreed to resign. He's one of the most colorful characters in European politics, isn't he? But the markets have really bet against his government of late.

They have got a public debt here ballooning to some $2.5 trillion. That's the size of Spain, Portugal, and Greece combined. And borrowing costs on that public debate going through the roof to what many people think is an unsustainable level of 7 percent.

What the markets wanted at least was to see the end of Silvio Berlusconi. Well, they have got that tonight. But as I say he is not going tonight. He will go in about a month's time.

The betting here in Rome tonight is that then there will be an election in Italy at the beginning of January and not particularly good news for the markets. They will see the back there of Silvio Berlusconi. That is what they wanted. But the financial markets were looking for a coalition government of some sort here. That's probably not what they're going to get. So there may be some uncertainty in these markets once again when they open tomorrow, Wednesday -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Becky Anderson, thank you so much. We're watching movements with regard to Berlusconi out of Rome.

I have got two more breaking news stories I have just learned about, so let me pass this one on to you as we look at these live pictures, looking at live pictures, clearly dozens of firefighters. This image coming to us from WABC.

Here's what we know. These are aerial images of a collapsed building. This is Brooklyn, New York. This is the Brighton Beach section. If you're familiar, firefighters, many of them, trying to work quickly to reach three people who are trapped under this debris. I'm counting, gosh just quickly, looking, it looks almost like two dozen or so firefighters. We're going to keep one eye on this as we work.

Hopefully they are able to rescue those three people. No word yet as to how this building collapsed or even what kind of building it is, four-story tall residential building. Just getting that information in my ear. We're going to watch this story out of Brooklyn, New York.

Also, though, as we have been talking a lot about Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno just recently the most winningest coach in college football here, we have got new video of Joe Paterno leaving today's practice at Penn State. The university canceled his regular weekly news conference, canceled it within the hour. It was supposed to happen at noontime eastern. Here he is leaving practice. Let's watch and listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE PATERNO, PENN STATE HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: I know you guys got a lot of good questions, and I would like to answer them, but I can't do it now.

(CROSSTALK)

PATERNO: ... the press conference (OFF-MIKE) have another one soon. OK?

QUESTION: You will have another one soon?

PATERNO: I'm hoping.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Joe, Joe, Joe.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Are you going to be coaching Saturday?

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... step down, Joe?

PATERNO: We're going to have a press conference. (OFF-MIKE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Been at Penn State 46 years, won two national championships. Guy is known for a clean -- no scandals at Penn State. High graduation rates. Joe Paterno facing a scrum of reporters as they were hoping to ask him questions at the news conference today. That clearly didn't happen.

Also, as Jason Carroll was reporting from Pennsylvania as he was on the story, Joe Paterno's son, Scott Paterno, also recently tweeting saying the reports were premature. So we will work on that. We will take a look at those tweets as well.

And again we're keeping a close eye as I'm looking at the live feed in the studio of the collapsed building as these firefighters are working to find those three people within the scene in Brooklyn in Brighton Beach, New York. So we're on that.

We are also two hours away from Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, his news conference in Phoenix, Arizona. He is addressing precisely this issue.

(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: Those details coming up in two minutes.

Also, President Obama reportedly caught on an open mike talking about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Find out what was said on that live microphone.

Also, five people have been arrested and charged with trying to steal the body of a dead lion, all of that pertaining to that exotic wild animal story out of Zanesville, Ohio, a couple weeks ago.

Also, Tiger Woods responding to allegations that his ex-caddy is a racist -- those stories and much more here. Stay with us. We are back in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

BALDWIN: Legendary boxer Smokin' Joe Frazier passed away yesterday from liver cancer. And today millions are remembering the life and times of the athlete.

We have heard from Muhammad Ali. We have heard from Don King and now we're going about to hear from Mike Tyson joining me live here on CNN from Vegas, baby, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A huge loss for the world of sports and particularly for boxing fans. Joe Frazier, the former heavyweight boxing champion of the world, has died at the age of 67.

The news came shortly after Frazier was diagnosed with liver cancer. Known as Smokin' Joe Frazier boxed in the golden days with the heavyweight division, he sealed his legacy back in the 1970s with a trilogy of fights against Muhammad Ali.

And I want to go straight to another boxing legend himself, a man actually oftentimes compared to Mr. Frazier, Mr. Mike Tyson there is in Las Vegas.

Mike, I'm looking down at your Twitter feed tweeting your condolences today to the Frazier family. Have you at all had a chance to pick up the phone and talk to them?

MIKE TYSON, FORMER BOXER: No. No. I don't have Frazier's number or anything.

I'm just tweeting how I feel about this man. He's just a going to inspiration to me. And I'm a great fan of his as far as an admirer is concerned. And I just -- that's how I felt this particular day. Yes.

BALDWIN: You know, your boxing styles were oftentimes compared. Both of you had pretty devastating left hooks. What did you learn from watching Joe Frazier?

TYSON: Well, watching him basically just -- basically be a competitive fighter, because like I was stating earlier when I was discussing with my wife, these guys were basically the quintessential apex in fighting when it was at its zenith.

And those guys, they were the yardstick. When you say Joe Frazier, you have to include Muhammad Ali, because these guys were basically the yardstick which everybody that came behind them had to judge up to, because those guys were phenomenal. You can't explain what they brought to boxing as far as the competitive spirit of boxing.

(CROSSTALK)

TYSON: I don't mean to interrupt you, Brooke, but it's just really how I felt about the two fighters you asked me.

To see him on a statistics scale, you can't see basically -- they may see how tall a fighter is or how much he weighed, but these guys were just -- they had statistics and they had special gifts you couldn't see on the statistics scale. They were just really great fighters.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: So, with their special gifts, Mike Tyson, with their special gifts, though, I'm just curious, do you think Frazier was forever underrated as a fighter because of his tough two -- those were two tough losses to Muhammad Ali despite that initial win.

TYSON: Absolutely not. No way.

No one ever knows particularly the art of boxing could ever look at Joe Frazier and ever say he was underrated or overrated. Joe Louis -- Joe Frazier -- forgive me -- is particularly regarded in the sport of boxing.

BALDWIN: Do you think Frazier's home town of Philadelphia could have been more respectful of him? Plenty of the fans bring up the fact that the city has a huge statue of Rocky Balboa. No statue of Joe Frazier.

TYSON: Well, listen, I don't basically have anything -- or know anything about that situation.

But Joe Frazier's legacy supersedes a statue in downtown Philadelphia. That's very insignificant compared to his legacy.

BALDWIN: So you don't think it's a big deal that there's no Joe Frazier statue?

TYSON: Well, listen, it's a democratic country here. If they feel, they should vote, if that's what they want to do. They should go to Congress and ask for that.

Would I like a statue? That would be great. I will do anything to immortalize the memory of Joe Frazier. But there's people deeper than me that have to handle those situations.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: So, Mike Tyson, I know you have been in the ring with one of Joe Frazier's sons, Marvis.

And some people, they don't really think of you boxers really as family men. You are both fathers. You are a father of eight. He leaves behind 11 children. What do you -- just on a personal level, Mike, what do you take away from Joe as a father? Because looking at you now and knowing your story of the Mike Tyson of the '80s and '90s, you also are a different guy and different father.

TYSON: Well, listen -- he had 11 children, you said?

BALDWIN: He had 11.

BALDWIN: Eleven. Wow.

Well, listen, this is what I can say. The comment I can give him for that, it was real hard, because I have my children, and it's very hard. He was a hell of a man in different perspectives as well.

BALDWIN: Did he change you at all as a man? I know you have said he says that he wanted you to be the best, but did he change you on a human, a father level, in addition to being the best boxer?

TYSON: Well, everybody has their own path to follow in life and then follow in that path. You form your own shape and personality and what you want to do in life. And it just happens, something that's evolving in life.

BALDWIN: And if you had a moment to speak with Joe Frazier's family right now, what would you tell them?

TYSON: Well, from a human perspective, I'm sure he's truly missed. We're just fans who live him and miss him from an entertainment perspective. And I'm sure that loss must be triple (INAUDIBLE) totally horrific. And I'm just -- my condolences to his family and my family as well, because...

BALDWIN: Mike Tyson, thank you so much, former heavyweight champion. Nice to meet you. Nice to have you on the show. Thank you so much, sir.

TYSON: Thank you, Brooke.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

BALDWIN: I want to return to the live image here, WABC, this collapsed building. This is Brighton Beach. This is Brooklyn. Here's the news.

As we have been telling you, firefighters have been trying to reach three people who are trapped. Just into us now, we can tell you that two of the three people have been rescued, again, no word on their conditions, but as soon as we get more information for you out of Brooklyn, New York, we will pass that right along to you.

Also, have you heard about this story? This is out of Washington State. This is about this mother who left her 2-year-old alone in her car while she says she went for gas a mile away. Yes, this really happened -- now the child, 2 years old, missing. But get this. It wasn't the first time something like this has happened involving this child and these parents.

We are going to talk to one of the investigators on this story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In honor of the upcoming Veterans Day, CNN is going in focus on the men and women who have served our country. And this next story is about this program giving disabled veterans strength just by rowing on the river of Washington, D.C.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIUS FLEISCHMAN, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: Make you guys proud.

ANDRE WELLS, ARMY VETERAN: Being a veteran means a lot to me because of the veterans that put their life on the line before me.

JULIUS FLEISCHMAN, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: They call us World War II veterans, the greatest generation. And I feel as the greatest generation we did something for our country that will never be forgotten.

WELLS: This is me in the water and I plan to concur conquer it this morning.

MEREDITH MILLER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/COACH, CAPITAL ADAPTIVE ROWING PROGRAM: They started the Capitol Rowing program to bring the sport of rowing to athletes with disability. I do think the veterans come here with a unique perspective that makes them ready-made competitors in the rowing world.

WELLS: Just like anybody else, I can do what anybody else does, but I do it different. There's no limits placed upon me. I was medically retired from the army, and I had surgery done on my spinal cord. I had surgery which did not go very well. It made me a complete paraplegic.

FLEISCHMAN: I'm Julius Fleischman, I'm a World War II veterans, and I'm legally blind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you?

FLEISCHMAN: I'm 89.

I love the challenge of being able to get out here and participate because not being able to see anything and all you're doing is rowing, you're concentrating on your rowing. And I find it very peaceful.

WELLS: Rowing takes discipline. It takes a lot of discipline. And in the military you do things over and over until you get it right. While that's a lot of rowing, the more you do it, the better you are at it. There are times when the waves are kind of rough out there, but you use the experience that you've gained of discipline until things are smoothed out. And that's a lot like life. You go through a rough period, and then things level out and you keep going in a positive direction.

FLEISCHMAN: I don't have a disability. All I have is an inconvenience. And I feel like I can do whatever the sighted world can do. It just takes me longer and I have to be a little careful.

WELLS: I tell anyone that is in the military and has a disability to not give up. Don't feel sorry for yourself. I look forward to just getting out there on the water because I'm in it to win it. I love the sport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A missing child's case in Bellevue, Washington, has parents and police shaking their heads. Here's the story. Two year old Sky Metalwala vanished three days ago. His mother, Julie Biryukova, pictured with him, told Bellevue, Washington police she ran out of gas on Sunday while driving with her two kids in the car.

So she took her four-year-old daughter with her to get the gas and leaving Sky and not locking all of the doors. I know what you're thinking. How could she leave a toddler by himself? But this is the second time on record that she has left her son alone.

To get the full story we're going to go to Major Mike Johnson from the Bellevue Washington police department. Major, it's possible Sky wandered off, but I want you to please listen to concerns of Sky's father Solomon Metalwala. Here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON METALWALA, FATHER OF MISSING CHILD: My serious thought is that gave Sky to somebody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Do you, sir, suspect foul play? And if yes, are the parents suspect? MAJOR MIKE JOHNSON, BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON POLICE: At this point, foul play has not been ruled out. We have not named either parent as a suspect. But the father has cooperated with a polygraph interview and we're hoping to do a follow-up polygraph with him as well today to rule him out as a suspect and then move on to other family members to try and do the same thing.

BALDWIN: At minimum, do you plan on charging Sky's mother for up and abandoning him in this car?

JOHNSON: Our primary concern is to locate Sky. Once our investigation is concluded and we finish what we need to do as investigators, we'll certainly look at what charges might be appropriate for leaving the child in the car.

BALDWIN: OK. So Sky's mother said she left this two-year-old in the car to get gas. One question for you is, why would she leave a two- year-old in the car? Has she said at all to you? And, two, when police found the car, from what I've read, there was no indication of any kind of car trouble. Is that correct?

JOHNSON: Early indications are that the car had a little bit of gas in it and that it would run. However, we have not done sort of a forensic examination of that vehicle to confirm that. So we're doing that in the next day or so. In regard to what she told us, she told us that her son was asleep and that's why she chose to leave him in the car because she couldn't carry both kids to walk to the gas station.

BALDWIN: Where have investigators been looking for Sky?

JOHNSON: Well, preliminarily that day we started out searching a wooded area near her car with search and rescue dogs, multiple teams, grid searches and followed up by an aerial search with infrared technology to try and locate the child, and that proved uneventful and unsuccessful. In fact the search and rescue folks who are experts at this sort of thing told us that they didn't pick up on any scent at all leading away from the car. So in their opinion that's not what happened. In their opinion, again, he didn't get out of the car and wander away. So we're trying to look at other options.

BALDWIN: In reading the "Seattle Times" today, I read that this has happened before. Can you elaborate?

JOHNSON: It has. Unfortunately, I don't know the precise details of her history. I believe it occurred in other jurisdictions outside of Bellevue. There's a custody dispute here between the parents. There's an estrangement and a strained relationship and relationship between the two of them. So that's certainly something that we have to factor in and consider.

BALDWIN: Court documents indicated that Sky was left at three months of age. Major Mike Johnson, we're going to watch that investigation with you. We hope you find him. Thank you.

JOHNSON: You're welcome. BALDWIN: We have brand-new sound from Herman Cain. These were his first comments since that fourth accuser came forward on sexual harassment charges. We're going to share that with you right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: To Washington we go to Jim Acosta with the America's Choice 2012 politics update. Jim, looking at the clock here, we are just about 80 minutes away from the scheduled news conference with Herman Cain. Obviously we are carrying that live. You have been watching this interview online that he gave last hour with ABC News and Yahoo!. What did Mr. Cain say?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, he again says that he is innocent of all of these accusations of sexual harassment. He says in fact that he's never sexually harassed anyone. He says "I've never acted inappropriately with anyone, period." And he said this in an interview with Jonathan Karl over at ABC news. And this is coming out, as you know, Brooke, one day after Sharon Bialek held that news conference with Gloria Allred talking about her accusation, that Herman Cain, she says, sexually harassed her back in the late 1990s. Here's what Cain had to say to ABC just a while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's be clear. You're saying that she is lying about this?

HERMAN CAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes. I am saying that. In as nice of a way that I can, I don't know any other way to say it, because I would first have to recognize who she is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't remember having drinks with her back in 1997 or giving her a ride in your car?

CAIN: Absolutely not. No. I reject all accusations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So there you go, Brooke. Not a lot of wheel room there. If evidence comes forward, obviously if there's video or audio of any of that kind of evidence, that's going to be a problem form Herman Cain. But at this point the conservative businessman says this is wrong. It doesn't matter what any of these accusers say. He says that he is innocent of these accusations and I assume we'll be hearing more of this from him, as you said, in about 80 minutes at this press conference in Arizona. So we'll be watching.

BALDWIN: Not just that he's innocent but that she's lying, lying. Jim Acosta, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

ACOSTA: Sure.

BALDWIN: Bill Clinton said the White House is lost on message and now he's stepping in. Not only as a former president selling a book, which is out today, he's decided to sell a narrative. Jodi Kantor from the "New York Times" has read the new book. She's going to join me live and we're going to talk right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Do you remember the exchange between President Obama and former president Bill Clinton? You remember this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a slow news day so I had to bring the other guy in.

I just had a terrific meeting with the former president, President Bill Clinton, and we just happened to have this as a topic of conversation. And I thought given the fact that he presided over as good of an economy as we've seen in our lifetimes that it might be useful for him to share his thoughts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was just last December when Clinton joined president Obama in the White House daily brief to talk about the tax compromise. So now Clinton has some advice for president Obama in the form of this new book on the economy. It's called "Back to Work." So in this book he talks about how to increase lending, supporting businesses, jumpstart the manufacturing sector, and double exports.

And "New York Times" reporter Jodi Kantor joins me live from New York. You wrote about this book this past weekend and you're also the author of a book coming out in January called "The Obamas." And in your article, in fact in pretty much the lead graph, you quote Bill Clinton at his 65th birthday. He says "I'm really trying to help him," him being President Obama, "but he seems to have lost his narrative." This is former president Clinton speaking. Is that why, Jodi, Clinton felt the need to write this book? Is he just really frustrated with the way that the current president has handled things?

JODI KANTOR, REPORTER, "NEW YORK TIMES": Yes, he is so frustrated that he's literally decided to write his own narrative about the Obama presidency. And he's pretty open about it that I didn't want to write this book, but when I campaigned in the 2010 midterm elections it drove him nuts that voters, to him, didn't seem to understand what President Obama had accomplished. So now President Clinton is taking matters into his own hands.

BALDWIN: So be specific. How frustrated is he? What kind of suggestions is he giving in this book?

KANTOR: Well, there are the public comments and private comments, but they all go to the same thing, which is that president Clinton feels that the administration has done a better job than it has conveyed. That the severity of the financial crisis was that they had to do certain things, but that they really did prevented things from being much, much worse. The thing that President Clinton really takes exception to is the Tea Party. He says there is just something in the American psyche where as a country we tend to rebel against government every once in a while, and the Tea Party is one of those rebellions. But he wants to restore faith in government, as does President Obama, which is what is kind of funny about this whole interaction because the truth is that President Clinton and President Obama really do agree on most of the big issues.

BALDWIN: On the flipside, isn't it easy to Monday morning quarterback? What is the current administration saying? How are they reacting to this book?

KANTOR: Well, again, I'd say there's the public reaction and a private reaction. In private, I think it's a little bit frustrating for them to have President Clinton critiquing President Obama. I mean, President Clinton said the other day in "USA Today" that if they had communicated better, the Democrats wouldn't have lost the house in the midterm election. So that's a pretty big charge to make.

On the other hand, the Obama people, they just have to live with it. Why? Because President Clinton is powerful campaigner. He's popular with the voting groups that President Obama is not. So he's in a real position to help in 2012.

BALDWIN: Final question, the book's called "Back to Work." What's his solution?

KANTOR: Well, it's a classic Clinton exercise because he has so many solutions. It really does have a feeling of this famous sort of 4:00 a.m. Clinton brainstorming sessions. And some of his ideas are about energy efficiency and some of them are about investment and some of them are about infrastructure. What people in the White House say is that some of them are more practical than others, but there is this quality of this former president just bursting forth. He can't contain himself he wants to help so badly.

BALDWIN: Jodi Kantor of the "New York Times," Jodi, thank you so much. Again, the book, "Back to Work" out today from former president Bill Clinton.

And we are a couple minutes away from "THE SITUATION ROOM," just about 60 minutes away from ta Herman Cain news conference. Wolf Blitzer, we know you'll be watching it.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": We're going set the stage for the news conference. He's going to open with a statement that answers reporter's questions in Phoenix. We'll have live coverage here in THE SITUATION ROOM and complete analysis from our reporters and our analysts. They're all standing by as well.

I'll also speak live with Joel Bennett. He's the attorney representing one of the women who's made these serious allegations of sexual harassment against Herman Cain. Joel Bennett is here in "THE SITUATION ROOM." But as you know, Brooke, there's a lot of other news going on including a new IAEA report on Iran's nuclear program. We're covering that and a lot of other stories of the day as well. So two hours of serious news coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

BALDWIN: How about it, Italy, Berlusconi stepping down as well, certainly other news items you'll get to. Wolf Blitzer, good to see you. Thank you.

Still to come here, though, Conrad Murray, guilty in the death, that one charge, involuntary manslaughter, with regard to the death of Michael Jackson. We have new information about a potential appeal in that case.

Also, convicted murderer Hank Skinner was scheduled to be executed in Texas tomorrow. Why that execution was suddenly halted. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Conrad Murray now known as the man responsible for Michael Jackson's death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENSON: We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Conrad Robert Murray, guilty of the crime of involuntary manslaughter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That little squeal you heard was Jackson's sister, LaToya, reacting to the verdict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LATOYA JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S SISTER: Michael loves everybody out here. We all love him. And guess what, he was in that courtroom, and that's why victory was severed.

JERMAINE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: Justice was served, yes. It wasn't enough time, though.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What would you say for Michael?

JERMAINE JACKSON: Michael's with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Time is likely what's on the mind of Conrad Murray, who is now in jail awaiting his sentencing hearing at the end of the month. Let's go to Sunny Hostin. Sunny Hostin, as always, "On the Case" with us. We now know, as you were reporting with us yesterday, he could get up to four years. Many predict that won't be the case. Why is that?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: I think that's right because the new law has been passed to sort of realign the California system, The prison system. Because of overcrowding, many nonviolent offenders, and even though he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, it's not deemed top violent. He's a first time offender, so he may not serve prison time. He could be transferred to L.A. county jail. They are also overcrowded. Remember Lindsay Lohan got sentenced to 30 days and served 4.5 hours in county jail. So it's likely that while this judge may give him up to four years, it is likely he won't serve that amount of time, although for the next three weeks he certainly is being held in county jail.

BALDWIN: I imagine the plan is to appeal. Sunny, what are the chances of it working? Of them being successful in that appeal?

HOSTIN: You know, people are saying that certainly they will appeal. The defense team has indicated that. There are always issues on appeal, Brooke. But the interesting thing is again, by the time the appeal winds its way through the system, he'll already be out of jail.

So the bottom line is he probably wants his licenses back, right? So I think that is probably a driver for this appeal. Whether or not it will be successful, they rarely are in a case like this, but who knows?

BALDWIN: Case number two. Hank Skinner, convicted murder for the second time now. He just missed being executed again. He was supposed to die tomorrow. Texas high court just ordered a stay of execution, saying they needed more time to review the state's revised laws and DNA testing. For years he has been asking for DNA analysis of crime scene evidence that he believes will exonerate him. What happens moving forward here?

HOSTIN: Well, it's quite possible. Texas state law has changed in that regard in large part because of this case. So the courts are reviewing whether or not the DNA will be tested. What's interesting is at trial his defense team passed on the opportunity to test several pieces of evidence, including the ax handle that was part of this crime and additional knives. Many people are arguing he shouldn't get this sort of back door way of testing because he chose not to do it the first time around. Well, the Texas law now says no we want to make sure these things are tested. So my sense is that it's possible that he will get his day in court, so to speak, with this DNA testing.

BALDWIN: OK, Sunny Hostin, thank you so much, "On the Case" for us.

And we want to end by letting you know, we're following the breaking news story, the collapsed four story building in Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. We can now tell you all three workers have now been pulled out of this collapsed building in Brooklyn, New York.

And that is it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin here in Atlanta at the CNN World Headquarters. Now time to pass it along to my colleague Wolf Blitzer. "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts right now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Thanks very much, Brooke.