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Penn State Coach to Retire; Herman Cain Says He Will Not Quit; Stocks Take a Big Tumble Over Fears Italy May Have to Seek Bailout; Paterno to Retire; New Book on "How to Speak Money." Obama Signs Executive Order to Cut Spending; Parents Send Chicken Pox Lollipops Through Mail; Obama Gives Speech on Spending Cuts

Aired November 09, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

I want to get you up to speed for this Wednesday, November 9th.

We start with breaking news. Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, he's going to retire at the end of this season. He's going to leave after 46 years. His legacy, blemished by child molestation charges against his former assistant, Jerry Sandusky.

Dozens of Penn State students rallied outside Coach Paterno's home. That was late last night, hoping to save his job. Well, on Friday, the Penn State board of trustees is going to set up a special committee to investigate Sandusky. Prosecutors say he molested eight boys.

Paterno is not accused of anything illegal, but he went to university officials, not to the police, in 2002, when a witness told him he saw Sandusky sodomize a child in the athletes' showers.

We are watching your money. Your stocks are down sharply today. The Dow, plunging 290 points. That in early trading. Right now, it is down 251 points.

New worries that Italy may next be in line for a bailout are driving the stocks down. Now, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, he is expected to resign. It is also raising some concerns about the country's future.

Also weighing on the markets, the Greek debt. Now Greece's prime minister says he's going to resign shortly as well.

Now, that suggests that George Papandreou has reached a deal with the opposition on the makeup of a new government, one led by a new prime minister. Well, Papandreou has been locked in negotiations for days to ensure that Greece's new leaders back Europe's bailout requirements.

Voters in Mississippi have said no to a measure that would have outlawed abortion and many forms of birth control. The Personhood Amendment to the State's constitution would have defined life as starting at conception. Well, opponents said that was too vague. In London now, angry students are protesting education cuts and higher fees. In some cases, those fees, three times higher than what they've been. Now, organizers, they expect 10,000 protesters. Four thousand police officers are already there, and police say they are ready to fire rubber bullets if things get out of hand.

So, for the first time, a juror in the Michael Jackson death trial is now speaking out. She describes the stress in the jury room as they discussed whether or not to convict Dr. Conrad Murray of involuntary manslaughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE FRANKLIN, JUROR 5, CONRAD MURRAY TRIAL: Towards the end of the day, we finally took a vote. It was not unanimous. And we talked a little more about it, let's think about it over the weekend.

It was stressful. We did yelling. Then we had to keep saying, "Nobody talk while this person is talking. Raise your hand if you have something to say."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: NBA owners are telling players, take it or leave it. They are demanding that the players accept roughly a 50-50 revenue split, or they say the next offer is going to be worse.

Now, the deadline to accept the deal, it is just hours from now. And the players union says no way. So, if the issue is not settled, the NBA lockout could drag on, more games could also be canceled.

A movie director who was supposed to produce this year's Academy Award show has resigned after making a gay slur. Brett Ratner used the offensive term during a question-and-answer session about his new action comedy "Tower Heist." He released a statement saying it pains him that he may have hurt his colleagues who are gay.

Oh, say it ain't so. Nancy, HLN's only shot at winning "Dancing With the Stars," well, it kind of fizzled out. Nancy Grace, she was voted off the show last night. But the former prosecutor survived seven weeks with that good-looking Irish partner of hers.

Take a watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, DANCING WITH THE STARS: We have worked together seven days a week for a long time now. And contrary to the way we were depicted, I actually love Tristan very much. So I'm taking away a new best friend. Also, I'm going to have a big fat check to give to the National Center for Missing Children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And we are proud of her as well. Legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno is going to retire now at the end of the season. His record-breaking career ends as a former defensive coach, Jerry Sandusky, faces charges of molesting eight boys.

Our Jason Carroll, he is joining us from the Penn State campus.

So, Jason, tell us how this came about. Everybody's been wondering and watching whether or not Paterno would survive this scandal. How did it go down?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a lot of back-and-forth going on, Suzanne. You remember yesterday, there was a press conference. That was canceled at the last minute. Then, last night, there was a rally in front of Joe Paterno's home from -- many of those people who showed up were students asking him to stay, shouting his name.

But there were increasing calls for this man to step down, saying that, legally, he did probably what he was supposed to do in terms of reporting that allegation of sexual abuse, which allegedly occurred right here on campus. But, morally, he just didn't do enough.

And just about an hour ago, Paterno released a statement saying that he grieved for the families. I want you to read part of the statement.

He said, "This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

So, obviously, some regret there. But I also want you to listen to what Paterno said to all of those supporters who had shown up at his house last night.

JOE PATERNO, PENN STATE COACH: My wife and I, we have 17 grandkids from 16 to 3. And we pray for them every night. And we're going to start praying for those kids that got involved with some of the problems that we talked about.

They don't deserve it. We owe it to them to say a prayer for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: This is a man who was a legend in the world of collegiate football, 46 years as head coach here at Penn State, winningest coach in collegiate football history. He now becomes the third school official to have to step down in the wake of this scandal -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Jason, we know that the Penn State board of trustees, they say they're outraged, they're planning on investigating. Do we know if they're going to investigate not only Sandusky, but also Paterno and perhaps other officials? Is he involved in that investigation? Are they going to be looking at him as well? CARROLL: Absolutely, without question. The board of trustees, on Friday, will be putting together a special committee to basically investigate the way the university as a whole responded to these allegations of sexual abuse.

So they'll be looking at everyone who played a role. And I've got to say, when it comes to that, there have been just as many critics who have been pointing their finger at Penn State's president, Graham Spanier. They basically say while a lot of the attention was focused on Paterno for obvious reasons, the buck, critics say, really stops with him -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Jason, I really don't want this to get lost in this story. We keep talking about Penn State and the fall of these legends. But what about these alleged victims here, these young boys who allegedly were sexually abused and who are now grown men?

Is there any sense of where they are, who they are, and how they're doing?

CARROLL: Well, when it comes to that investigation, obviously the focus of that investigation is former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky, as you know, is out on $100,000 bail.

He right now stands accused of molesting eight boys, all of them grown at this point. But I have to say, the attorney general on Monday said that given the fact that Sandusky had access to young children for such a long period of time, there would be the possibility, in her eyes, that more victims would come forward.

And a source close to the investigation spoke to me and said that their police tip line has been inundated with calls from people coming in. They say that more than a dozen calls have come in from people alleging to also have been victimized by Sandusky. So that investigation is still well underway -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Jason. Thanks once again. Do we expects any formal statements from the university or officials today? Do we know?

CARROLL: Well, it's anyone's guess. This story just seems to change. One minute you say something, then the next minute it changes.

We are hearing that perhaps Sandusky might say something a little later on today. Again, he has released this statement.

So, anyone who knows Paterno knows that Paterno is a man who is outspoken. And, you know, sometimes people tell him to keep quiet and he goes out and says something else. So perhaps we'll hear something from Paterno later today.

MALVEAUX: All right, Jason. Thank you so much.

Well, yesterday, I talked to a former Penn State student who demanded that Paterno step down. So how does she feel now that he's going to be leaving at the end of the season? We're going to ask her.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

MALVEAUX: Want to bring you a rundown of some of the stories that we are covering.

First, voters in Arizona kick out the chief architect of their tough immigration law. We're going to tell you about some other conservative losses around the country.

And a group of men found stranded on a deserted island finally getting some help.

Then, this is a test. It's only a test, right? That's what we expect to hear. The first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, that's happening later this afternoon.

Also, Penn State fans rallying behind Coach Joe Paterno while his former assistant faces charges of sexually assaulting little boys.

Right now, after the break, Herman Cain says he's never acted inappropriately and responds to his latest accuser.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't even know who this woman is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Presidential candidate Herman Cain is supposed to talk about the economy in a Republican debate tonight, but Cain, I don't think, seems to be able to get away from the subject of sexual harassment. Another one of his accusers has gone public.

But in a news conference, Cain adamantly denied all the allegations against him. And, as he says, he's not dropping out of the race. He says certainly don't bet on it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: We are not going to allow Washington or politics to deny me the opportunity to represent this great nation. And as far as these accusations causing me to back off and maybe withdraw from this presidential primary race, ain't going to happen, because I'm doing this for the American people, and for the children and the grandchildren, and I will not be deterred by false, anonymous, incorrect accusations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Joe Johns following all the latest developments from Washington.

So, Joe, I don't think he's going to be able to put this issue to rest just quite yet. There are a lot of other questions. I assume that this debate that's happening this evening, he's going to get some of those tough questions.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, you would think. You know how it works on debate prep, Suzanne. You and I have done one together.

It's the kind of thing you have to at least think about a question and how he's going to respond. But, you know, this thing is in Michigan, and it's a place where people really want to talk about jobs and the economy. Republicans say they want to, you know, unseat President Obama.

So I would expect a mix of questions. And, certainly, he wouldn't be the only focus, not by any means.

You get the feeling, you know, meanwhile, on the Cain matter, that someone here is operating in a parallel universe almost. The question is whether it's Herman Cain or if it's his accusers.

Cain has issued this blanket denial, says -- categorically says he never acted inappropriately with anyone, period. Up to him to defend that statement going forward. Clear he's not going to drop out of the race, blaming Democrats for what he called a troubled woman making false allegations against him.

He's also said, interestingly enough, you know, that he'll take a lie detector test.

MALVEAUX: Right.

JOHNS: Yes, but, you know, the question there is, under what circumstances would he take a lie detector test, especially since you've got people now saying they'd like to get all the women who are making accusations against him in the same room to give some type of a joint statement or what have you? It probably would be a pretty good time to take a lie detector test.

MALVEAUX: Yes. And let's talk a little bit about that, because people have been talking about another of Cain's accusers coming forward and saying she wants to meet with these other women, and that they're making some sort of plan to do so.

Does that sound like it's a realistic thing, that we might actually see all four of the accusers in one room, faces, names, accusations, going before the cameras?

JOHNS: Well, you know, it would be pretty remarkable. And the latest guidance we've gotten today is that if it might happen, it's not going to happen today. So, interesting idea.

The person who has floated this idea is Karen Kraushaar, who has said she'd like to get all the accusers together. She works in the government, worked at the National Restaurant Association back in the day.

She says she got $46,000 in a sexual harassment settlement after she complained about Cain's behavior -- MALVEAUX: Right.

JOHNS: -- just now going public. But, you know, the other thing we do have to talk about in this reporting is that we've also found out she filed another workplace complaint with a different employer, the Immigration and Naturalization Service. She says she was just trying to get some workplace accommodations because she had been in a debilitating car accident, and that this complaint didn't have anything to do with the harassment.

MALVEAUX: Right.

JOHNS: But this is the kind of stuff that comes up when you start talking about allegations that go way, way, way back -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Well, we'll be watching the debate tonight.

Thank you, Joe.

Conservatives take it on the chin at the ballot box. Some big issues they supported went down in defeat across the country yesterday.

The most-watched elections were in four states: Mississippi, Ohio, Arizona, and Georgia. So what happened in Mississippi?

Voters rejected a measure that would have defined life as starting at conception. It would have made abortion and many forms of birth control illegal. Critics said it was just too vague.

Now, this is what happened in Ohio. Voters repealed a law that limited the collective bargaining rights of public workers.

In Arizona, the state's tough immigration law that stirred up so much anger, well, that was not on the ballot. But the senator who wrote it was, and he lost his job.

And Georgia voters -- most cities and towns in the Atlanta area gave the go-ahead for Sunday alcohol sales.

We are watching Wall Street and your money. Stocks are in the red. We're going to tell you why when we come back.

It is tough also for most college grads to find work these days, but did you know if you're an astronomy or astrophysics major -- I can't even say "astrophysics" -- you're almost guaranteed a job after school? Going to show you some of the other majors with almost no unemployment in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Despite the jobless rate, there are some college grads who are getting into fields with virtually no unemployment. So that includes astronomy and astrophysics. Here are some of the others. I'm going to try to pronounce this, actuarial sciences. OK. Those are the people who run the numbers for thing like your insurance rates. Also, geological engineering, educational administration, and pharmacology.

Stocks are in the red across the board today. To find out what's driving the markets down, want to check in with Alison Kosik. She's at the New York Stock Exchange.

So, Alison, we are hearing a lot of this sell-off coming from news that bond yields in Italy hit a record high. So tell us what that means.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. What that means, Suzanne, is that things are getting worse.

You look at that 10-year Italian bond yield, it hit 7 percent. That's a record high. Here's a comparison for you.

In the U.S. and Germany, bond yields are 2 percent. And these higher yields essentially mean that fewer people are willing to go out there and lend Italy money.

There's essentially no confidence. You know, who wants to invest in a country that may not be able to pay its bills?

These higher yields also mean Italy would wind up paying more in interest, making it more expensive for them to borrow money. So you see how hard it is for them to even get out there and borrow money to pay off their debt.

So it's this cyclical thing. It's all of these questions about how Italy is going to get a handle on its debt situation -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Alison, thank you very much.

Alison Kosik, at the New York Stock Exchange.

I want you to check out these stories from across the country.

Officials say a lightning strike apparently caused this fire near Fort Worth, Texas. It damaged and destroyed several tanks at a saltwater injection plant. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

So, you're looking at rock 'n' roll legends David Crosby, Graham Nash. They brought a little bit of Woodstock to the Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York. The duo performed a couple of their iconic protest songs and led a chant of "No more war!"

So, first came the food drop, right? Then came a rescue boat. Seven people now safe after being found on a deserted island in the Pacific.

This U.S. Coast Guard video, it shows a Hercules airplane crew dropping supplies to the men two days after they went missing. Now, an Australian Navy vessel later took them all home. Penn State coach Joe Paterno is retiring, despite a rallying cry from some of his supporters. The latest on the sex abuse scandal that is rocking the Penn State campus. I'm going to get reaction to the scene from a guest of mine, a Penn State alum.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are working on.

Next, a sex abuse scandal rocks Penn State's football program. Now coach Joe Paterno says he will retire, but he's still got plenty of supporters.

And then "How to Speak Money." It's a new book by CNN's own money experts, Christine Romans and Ali Velshi. And we'll talk to them.

And, later, forget Facebook. How many true friends do you have? We're going to fill you in on what a new study says about real friendship.

Well, after 46 years at the helm of Penn State football, Joe Paterno announced that he's going to retire at the end of the season. The move comes as his former defensive assistant, Jerry Sandusky, faces child molestation charges.

Now, Paterno is not accused of a crime. But he went to university officials, not police, when a witness told him he saw Sandusky sodomize a child in the athlete showers.

In a statement, Paterno says, "This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

So if you don't follow college football, you have to understand that the folks on campus say that Joe Paterno is a God-like figure at Penn State. He's a head football coach with a squeaky clean reputation. He has led the program since 1966. He's the longest- serving coach in college football. Paterno holds the record for the most wins in NCAA Division I football. This is 4-0-9, 409. The Nittany Lions have won two national championships under Paterno, in 1982 and again, 1986.

Again, we'll talk to our Penn State alum about the developments in this sex case, Roxanne Jones. She is the CEO of Push Marketing Group and a founding editor of ESPN, the magazine.

So, Roxanne, you and I, we spoke yesterday. You were calling for the resignation of Paterno. You said that you were sickened by the fact that those who looked the other way while children allegedly were abused to protect this football program. What's your reaction now that Paterno has decided he's going to step down?

ROXANNE JONES, PENN STATE ALUM, CEO, PUSH MARKETING & FOUNDING EDITOR, ESPN MAGAZINE: Well, first, the whole story is very sad. But I am glad that coach has stepped down. I'm glad that Coach has stepped down. I'm glad that he made this decision. He also said his release that the board of trustees and everybody else has a lot more important things to spend their time on than whether he stays or goes. So I think this is the right move.

MALVEAUX: Do you think it's appropriate? He's retiring. He's not really completely out of Penn State, right? I imagine that he would have some sort of package. He would be able to use the facilities. That there's a difference between retirement and being fired.

JONES: That's exactly right. You bring up a very good point. The debate wasn't really, for me and law enforcement and probably the family of these boys, whether he is allowed to walk out gracefully on his own terms. It was what did he know? When did he know it? Why didn't he do something? And should he be fired? I think what we're seeing, if this comes to be in the resignation, is out of respect for his very long tenure, 60 years at the university. But this is a serious case and serious wrong doing. And so I think this is a graceful exit. It's a gift for him to be able to retire. Because there's still serious questions.

MALVEAUX: And there are serious questions. Questions we still don't know the answers to, quite frankly. There's an investigation going on. But do we suspect that there are any legal issues involved? Perhaps even the university facing some sort of lawsuits by the family members of these alleged victims?

JONES: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I have spoken this morning to law enforcement officials. And I'm by no means a lawyer, but I think some of the serious questions that will be asked is what really happened? Were these boys, who were alleging they were molested, taken across state lines to go to away games? Were they abused inside of Penn State hotels? Were they on Penn State planes and busses? Those are very, very serious, criminal accusations. And, certainly, I would expect lawsuits to follow. But I don't think that we really have enough details.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

JONES: I do know that there are many, many, many, many more questions that need to be asked of Coach Paterno and everybody else involved on the Penn State side.

MALVEAUX: Sure. For those of us who don't know this coach, and don't have a sense of the culture at Penn State, Roxanne, can you explain to us why there were so many students that were outside his home, rallying in his defense during this time?

JONES: Well, he is a good man. He's a good man. And the culture of Penn State is that he is bigger than a man. He is an idol. He's god. He's done so many things. And, you know, when I was in school, I protested for many, many things and I felt very passionately about them. And once you grow up and you learn, I think that the passion and the concern needs to stay focused on the families and the boys involved in this case.

It's very nice to stand by Coach Paterno. He's a decent man. But there are serious allegations. Sometimes very decent people do bad things. They make a wrong decision. And I think that's exactly what Coach Paterno was saying, I wish I had done more. Because he knows that -- forget about the law. He should have done more. There's no reason to rally behind that. That is, he didn't step up and be the man that he's expecting all of his other young men to be. And he's admitted that today.

MALVEAUX: It sounds like he disappointed himself in some ways.

JONES: Right.

MALVEAUX: Roxanne Jones, thank you very much for putting it all in perspective. Obviously, as a campus alum and somebody who has been covering this.

Appreciate it.

JONES: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Well, money, we all need it. We all want it. So how do you speak money? Ali Velshi, Christine Romans, they're going to help us learn the language of money.

Also, just because you've got a whole lot of them on Facebook doesn't mean they're real. In fact, you're not going to believe how many real friends the average person has. That's in a new study.

(SINGING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SINGING)

MALVEAUX: All right, money, moolah, dollars, dineros, whatever you call it, there's a new book helping you learn "How to Speak Money." The book is by our very own money experts, Christine Romans, Ali Velshi. They're joining us live.

Hey, guys. This is just an excuse to play that song.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: It's one of my favorite songs.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT & AUTHOR: I love that song.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: I want to start off with a quote from the book. You guys say, quote here, "Being fluent, money affects every area of your life. It's about the way you spend it, save it, invest it, use it, need it and want it."

So it's called "How to Speak Money." What does that mean, "How to Speak Money"?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't have to convince you, Suzanne, as somebody who's got a really rich background in politics, that everything we're discussing in politics today tends to be about money and economics. But here is the -- the issue is that when people think about money, they tend to not be, as we call it, fluent in how to speak it.

So they tend to shy away from it. And they shy away from decisions in their personal lives having to do with money. So we've written this book to try and make people who read it just so comfortable with using the words and the language of money that they're not intimidated by it.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: I think that's exactly right, because people who are really smart who say, you know, I don't get this, what does that mean in English? No, no, no. Money is English. And here's how --

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: -- on jobs, on education, on your mortgage, on investing, it doesn't have to be hard and scary. We're trying to break it down a little bit easier.

MALVEAUX: All right, so we're -- it's not going to be hard and scary. It's a great book. Let's talk about some specifics here. One of these chapters starting with speaking money at work. You guys talk about the unemployment crisis. You also point out there are some places where the economy is growing. Talk a little bit about those.

ROMANS: I would start with STEM, you know, science, technology, engineering, math. They are parts of the knowledge-based economy that are doing very, very well where unemployment rates are very, very low. And we even have CEOs and the government even tell us there's this mismatch. There are two million job openings in some of these categories where we don't have the right skills quite yet.

So, if you're investing in your kid or you're investing in retraining, we think you should look at STEM and how to steer what you're good at into these areas of the economy.

VELSHI: And we've got unemployment at 9 percent. It's stubbornly high. It doesn't really matter who you vote for because that can really only affect things on the margin. If you're in a career that's dying --

MALVEAUX: Yes.

VELSHI: -- take the steps to retrain into one that is growing. ROMANS: We also like dirty jobs. These are those latter jobs that might be -- where you can actually make an awful lot of money. Dirty jobs we really like. And we also like some different areas in green technology. So all of that is in the book, the different areas there.

MALVEAUX: Let's talk about speaking money in the market. A lot of people intimidated by the idea of the stock market and investing. But you guys say that standard investing falls into two categories. Can you explain?

ROMANS: You take the investing.

VELSHI: Well, there's two categories and we're dealing with both of them today. First of all, stocks, which is where you own a piece of a company, right? That's how most people think of investing. But the thing that's going on right now is the bond market. We're talking about Italian bond yields going up. That's the interest rate. Bonds are lending. So if you own a bond, you have lent a company or a government money. If you own a stock, you own a piece of that company, and with its ups and downs. They both need to be a part of your investment strategy.

And the way we've set this out in the book, Suzanne, is as if you're a Martian --

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: -- and you've never had anything to do with stocks or money. We've really made it very basic for people because, if you don't deal with either bonds or stocks, you're stuck with cash. Have you been to a bank lately? You find out how much they give you if you put money in the bank?

ROMANS: Yes.

VELSHI: You'll be lucky if you get two-tenths of a percent.

ROMANS: And the Martian stock market is really risky.

VELSHI: You bet.

ROMANS: So we prefer U.S. stocks and global stocks here.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Don't invest in the Martian stock market.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Let's talk about money on the home front. You guys -- it's kind of cool. You have this argument box here throughout the box where the two of you disagree, kind of like a TV couple, I suppose.

ROMANS: Yes.

VELSHI: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Ali, you said that this is a great time to buy a house.

And, Christine, you're kind of a little more cautious about that.

So who's right and who's wrong?

ROMANS: I know.

You -- we're both right, depending on who you are. And we're usually both right unless I'm right. So if you read the book --

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: But you lay out -- lay out the case, Ali, for buying a house.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: So here's the case why it's a great time to buy a house. Interest rates are remarkably low. Sure, they'll probably stay low for a little while. But a 30-year fixed mortgage, if you have a down payment and good credit, is about 4 percent right now.

Number two, home prices continue to be low across the country. They're not going to speed up any time soon. But they are low. The combination of low prices and low interest rate means this is the probably going to be the best time ever to buy a house. But there are some ifs.

ROMANS: And that's where I come in because I think there are a lot of people, especially young people, who are going to need some mobility. And you're seeing this in our census data. They're going to get a job offer in Baltimore or in Washington, D.C., or in Toronto, they're going to need to have to leave. And they don't want to be locked into a house. If you think you're going move for your job, you shouldn't buy a house. Also, a lot of people don't have a 720 credit score.

MALVEAUX: OK.

ROMANS: Six months of the mortgage payments in the bank. Those folks should repair their personal finances first.

VELSHI: Good point.

ROMANS: Don't buy that old conventional wisdom that throwing your money out the window if you're renting. For some people, you're repairing your finances and that's most important. MALVEAUX: OK, great. It's a great read. Thank you so much, guys.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEUAX: I understand you guys became pretty close working on the book, pretty good friends. That's great.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEUAX: I consider you my friends as well.

I want to tell you guys about a new study, however, that says, despite all the Facebook friends that we have, Americans actually have fewer close friends than we did 25 years ago.

So I'm going to ask you guys, too, if you can guess how many really good friends Americans have. Do you know?

ROMANS: Wow, really good friends?

MALVEAUX: Yes.

ROMANS: I would say -- I don't know. I mean, how many Facebook friends do people have? There's hundreds of them.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: I'd say five really close friends.

MALVEAUX: How many good friends. Five, Ali? How many do you say?

VELSHI: I'd say, for the average person, five. I'll say five.

MALVEAUX: OK, Christine, what do you say?

ROMANS: You only have five friends?

VELSHI: I'm averaging.

ROMANS: Oh.

I would say a dozen.

MALVEAUX: OK. Christine is a little bit more popular.

VELSHI: She's nicer than I am.

MALVEAUX: She is a little nicer, Ali. I will have to admit that.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: But the answer is only two. (LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Two friends.

ROMANS: What?

VELSHI: Wow.

MALVEAUX: Apparently, and we lost one along the way, because back in 1985, we had three close friends. And they researchers say they surveyed a couple thousand folks, asking them to name people they discussed important matters with in the passed six months. So apparently it's stuff you only talk about with the best of your friends. So 48 percent.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: That third friend --

MALVEAUX: Yes?

ROMANS: That third friend must have tried to borrow money from the other two --

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: -- and didn't read the book about "How to Speak Money" about how to --

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: It's part of tough economic times. They didn't know "How to Speak Money," yes.

VELSHI: Right.

MALVEAUX: So, yes, tough times.

But you guys are one of my friends, my close friends. So I get an extra kiss (ph).

VELSHI: And you are ours.

Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, thanks again, you guys. Really appreciate it.

ROMANS: Thanks, Suzanne.

VELSHI: OK.

MALVEAUX: All right, tough times calling for tough measures. But will the president's new plan to cut federal office supplies and some swag make a dent in the budget? Well, we're going to talk about that in our CNN "Political Ticker."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: So these days, every little bit counts. So, today, the president is signing an executive order that could squeeze a few more bucks out of the budget by cutting office supplies and unnecessary travel for federal workers.

Dan Lothian is with us at the White House with some of the details.

Dan, how much do we think the president is hoping to save on this?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, an administration official told me that they expect to save billions of dollars a year. And I should point out that the president, as we speak, is signing that executive order. This, by the way, just builds on the overall effort by the White House to cut spending to streamline government. The White House pointing out that, already, they've been able to save more than $8 billion in cuts that they've identified, such as NASA cutting back on its travel budget. We see the Department of Commerce also cutting back on wireless installations. And, so, this is just part of that overall effort to streamline government, identify areas where they can get rid of wasteful spending.

MALVEAUX: Tell us a little bit about the swag, some of the fun stuff.

(LAUGHTER)

LOTHIAN: That's right. As you know, when you go to conference, conventions, or even inside the corporate world, there are always these items, this swag that people like to take that have the logos that identify that particular company. The government is no different. They have various things that they hand out internally for employees to boost morale but also to hand out to the public. So as part of this executive order, the agencies across the government will be asked to cut back on things such as T-shirts and mugs and other gadgets. So that's something that a lot of people will no doubt miss, but they don't believe that's the way the taxpayer dollars should be spent.

MALVEAUX: Dan, I have to get real about this with you because -- does this mean you and I, when we're on Air Force One, can't get the peanuts, the little M&M's they have in the packets with the president's signature?

LOTHIAN: Wow.

MALVEAUX: And the lovely napkins with Air Force One? Are we out of luck here?

LOTHIAN: You know, that is a very good question. I don't know if those little peanut boxes or napkins with the logo will be impacted. Maybe I should load up next time I go, in case they do away with.

(LAUGHTER)

But it's much bigger than just swag. In addition to that, there are areas such as car service. The White House point out that officials use $9 million a year worth of car service. That's something they're going to be cutting back on as well. Other issues beyond just the swag.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Dan. Stock up for me or I'm going to have to go down there myself.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

Thanks.

MALVEAUX: So why are kids sick with chickenpox licking lollipops for their parents to put in the mail? It's some parents' bizarre answer to vaccinating their own kids. and guess what, it is not a good idea. We're going t tell you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A group of parents may be breaking the law to keep their kids from getting the chickenpox vaccine. A CNN affiliate in Phoenix found a Facebook site where parents were sending lollipops through the mail that were licked by kids who were sick from the chickenpox. The point, so other kids could get the disease and develop a natural immunity.

Well, our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is joining us.

I don't get this. It seems odd, bizarre, gross.

(CROSSTALK)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Dangerous. All sorts of things, right. Let me give you an example of one of the postings on one of these Facebook sites. It says it all. It says, "Fresh batch of pox in Nashville, Tennessee. Shipping of suckers, spit and Q-tips, available tomorrow. $50 via PayPal." They were not just shipping lollipops, Suzanne, but were also having kids spit into a container, and I guess technically, theoretically, you were supposed to get your child to swallow that other kid's spit. All because these parents wanted their kids to avoid getting the vaccine and have immunity naturally.

MALVEAUX: Is it safer to get the disease than the vaccine? Are these parents right?

COHEN: No. No, they're not right. It's not safer to get the disease than the vaccine. The disease can kill your child. It's unusual, but the disease does kill children. Before the vaccine, kids would die every year of chickenpox.

The vaccine is really very, very safe. The vaccine doesn't kill children. So I don't know why you would want your kid to get a disease that could kill them instead of a vaccine, not to mention how incredibly uncomfortable it is to have chickenpox.

MALVEAUX: What these parents did, did they break the law? What this legal?

COHEN: They did. The U.S. attorney in Tennessee made a statement saying, you know, if this was going on, if this really is going on, this is illegal. You can't mail a virus through the U.S. mail. There's other reasons it's illegal, too. That's just one of them.

MALVEAUX: Would this have even worked if a kid -- could a kid get chickenpox by licking the lollipop?

COHEN: We asked an infectious disease expert this and he said, probably not, because the way you get chickenpox is inhaling it. If I had chickenpox and I sneezed, and you might inhale my droplets. You don't get by ingested it most of the time. So it turns out it probably doesn't even really work.

MALVEAUX: All right, Elizabeth, thank you very much.

COHEN: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: We're going to go directly to the White House. The president is speaking. We'll take a listen.

(BEGIN LIVE COVERAGE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's Roger. He found a way to save the department $2 million a year on its cell phone bills. And I'm sure there's probably some consumers out there that would like to talk to him and find out --

(LAUGHTER)

-- what they can save on their cell phone bills.

Celeste Steele is here.

Celeste, raise your hand.

Celeste works at the Department of Homeland Security, and she is helping to save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars by changing the way the department buys goods and services.

So we've received nearly 20,000 suggestions from federal employees.

I just completed a video conference with the four finalists of our annual Save Award. 20,000 submissions of ideas from federal employees of how we can reduce waste, eliminate redundancy, paperwork. These four finalists have some terrific ideas, putting books that have been ordered every year online instead of incurring the shipping costs, to having a tool library over at NASA so that instead of buying very specialized tools over and over again for different projects, we actually keep an inventory of those tools.

In addition to soliciting ideas, I tasked Vice President Biden to work with the secretaries of all our agencies to identify some systemic areas of potential improvement -- travel, transportation, I.T. services -- all of which we know can save us potentially billions of dollars. And in September, Joe convened the cabinet and has really pushed them hard in finding savings across all our agencies.

So today, I'm signing an executive order that builds on their good work. It directs agencies to slash spending in each of these areas -- travel, printing, I.T. because we believe we can get better results for less using technology. And overall, spending in the area is covered by this executive order, will shrink by 20 percent.

Members of my cabinet will keep reporting on their progress to Joe Biden and ultimately to me. And we're going to hold them accountable for meeting this 20 percent reduction goal.

These are important steps that can save taxpayers billions of dollars over the next several years. It doesn't replace the importance of the work that Congress needs to do in coming up with a balanced, bold plan to reduce our deficit, but it indicates once again that there are things that we can do right now that will actually deliver better government, more efficiently, more consumer friendly, for less money. And we're going to keep on fighting every possible way that we can do that, even if Congress is not acting.

So with that, I'm going to sign the bill, but I want to thank all the officials who are behind me here today for taking this project so seriously. All right?

There you go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President -- (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: Thank you, everybody.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: You're watching President Obama trying to cut a little of the spending out of the budget there by making some requirements there. The federal agencies cutting back on certain supplies.