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Penn State Board Fires Paterno; Rick Perry's Debate Gaffe; Cain Fends Off Harassment Claims; Jobless Claims Hit Seven-month Low; News Corp Phone Hacking Scandal; Penn State Students: Remember Victims; Rick Perry's Memory Meltdown; "How to Speak Money"; Fight for Veterans Rights; Tom Bradley Takes Over for Paterno; NBA Takes Resume Today; Nationals' Catcher Kidnapped

Aired November 10, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It is the top of the hour, 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Thanks so much for joining us, everyone.

Well, you know what, it's the end of an era at Penn State. The Nittany Lions have lost their coach of five decades, a university president has been fired, and a sex scandal has rocked the campus and this country.

Last night you saw the students protesting on campus, in town and right in front of Joe Paterno's home.

JOE PATERNO, FORMER PENN STATE FOOTBALL COACH: Hey, look, get a good night's sleep. All right. Study, all right. We still got things to do. All right. I'm out it maybe now.

(CROSSTALK)

PATERNO: One thing. Thanks. And pray a little bit for those victims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coach.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are a legend, Joe.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are Penn State.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Pray a little bit for those victims.

Jason Carroll in State College, Pennsylvania.

So, let's talk about how the board acted so swiftly and why do you think it did so?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think if you were to listen to the vice chairman of the board who said that Wednesday was the first time, Kyra, that the board really had a chance to sit down and deliberate the entire issue, the board basically saying that they thought that in order to have Coach Paterno out there coaching that game this weekend against Nebraska would have furthered damaged the university.

This, again, according to the Board of Trustees. They wanted to move the university in the right direction. And so that's why the decision was made. I know from a lot of people on the outside it probably feels as though it was maybe made at the last minute or at the last hour, but actually, according to the board, they said they needed an opportunity to have everyone sit down and really go over this issue.

PHILLIPS: And, Jason, do we at any time expect to hear from Joe Paterno? I mean, we've seen -- we saw the student video there, actually. One of the young reporters at the newspaper get that sound from him. He's at his doorstep with his wife. But will we hear anything formal from him?

CARROLL: Well, you know, Kyra, I know you've been following along with us all week. At one point there was supposed to be a press conference earlier in the week. That press conference was suddenly canceled, then Paterno spoke from his own home.

In order to get to know this man, you have to know that Paterno is the type of character that speaks when he wants to. He doesn't really listen to what a lot of other people have to say. If the man wants to speak he's going to do it.

Last night he did come out in front of his home and telling the number of people who gathered there that he was very disappointed about the decision, but he had to live with it. What else was he going to do?

So basically it's anyone's guess if Joe Paterno decides to come out and speak again. Perhaps after seeing what took place last night, the rioting, the protests out here in the streets, the turning over of a news van.

This is exactly the opposite of what Joe Paterno had asked for. He had asked everyone who cared about what was going on to remain calm, to respect the university. So perhaps today he will come out and say something. But the only person who knows that right now is Joe Paterno.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jason Carroll then -- for us there at Penn State.

I was just seeing there's another side to this story that we've been wanting to talk about and that's the victims. Those young boys. University students have not forgotten them amidst all these protests.

We're actually going to talk to the student body president in just about 10 minutes and he's going to talk specifically about how he feels the media isn't portraying the entire story and that there are dozens and dozens of students that are more upset about the victims in this case than the football program.

All right, let's turn now to the Republican presidential debate and what may be the Internet's single most watched video of the day. For nearly a minute, one-time frontrunner Rick Perry stammered and squirmed as he tried to remember his own plan to shrink government. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The third agency of government I would -- I would do away with the education, the -- I -- commerce. And let's see -- I can't. The third one I can't. Sorry. Oops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Wow. Ouch. Jim Acosta is in Rochester, Michigan.

Jim, how does Perry's campaign even recover from this?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going to be tough, Kyra. I mean, whether you call this the Michigan meltdown or the Texas train wreck, this moment that Rick Perry had last night is going to go down in U.S. presidential history -- at least recent U.S. presidential history -- as something that's right up there with Admiral Stockdale's "Who am I? Why am I here?" You know, Lloyd Benson's "You're no Jack Kennedy," one of those classic debate moments.

And earlier this morning, Governor Perry was trying to contain the damage. Doing the morning talk shows. Directing his supporters to his Web site, asking them to pick the department of the federal government they would like to forget most.

And earlier today on "AMERICAN MORNING," he was asked, you know, is there any way you could continue his campaign and the governor said, yes, he's going to carry on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: I may not be the best debater, the slickest politician on that stage, but what they do know about me is that for 10 years I've been the chief executive officer of the state that created more jobs than any other state in the nation while America lost 2.5 million.

What they're looking for is substance, not necessarily the slickest debaters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And Governor Perry has an event scheduled in South Carolina this weekend. And so that's where he says he will be next. But if there's a winner from last night's debate, Kyra, it may be Herman Cain. You know he's been facing these accusations of sexual harassment for more than a week now and he was asked about this briefly during the debate last night and he gave an answer that really won over this audience.

It's an indication that perhaps Republican voters are going to cut Herman Cain a break, at least for a little while now, unless more evidence comes out that might complicate his efforts to move beyond that -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, Jim Acosta, we'll be talking a lot more about the debate throughout the morning.

And going into the debate, the bulls-eye appeared to be on Herman Cain and those sexual accusations that have been dogging his entire campaign.

Senior political editor Mark Preston is in Washington.

So, Mark, what do you think? How did Cain actually handled the topic last night?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, you know, Kyra, he did pretty well. The fact of the matter is we knew the question was going to be asked. When the question was asked of Mr. Cain about character, the issue of character and what American voters are looking for, this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I value my character and my integrity more than anything else and for every one person that comes forward with the false accusation, there are probably -- there are thousands who would say none of that sort of activity every came from Herman Cain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: And there you have Herman Cain really taking that question head on. Now, probably the most important part of the whole question about his character was the reaction from the audience, Kyra. There were boos. The fact of the matter is when the CNBC moderator asked that question, people in the audience booed.

So, as Jim has just said, he seems to be getting a break. Rick Perry flubbing last night really has provided Herman Cain a little bit of distance right now, but the fact of the matter is, Herman Cain is still very much in trouble as we have several women who have said that he has sexually harassed them -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Mark, thanks.

And we're going to dig deeper into the debate in just about 20 minutes with CNBC moderator John Harwood. He was right there in the middle of two of the night's most memorable moments. He's going to talk with me live coming up in about 20 minutes.

OK, with the bottom of the hour, as you know, the Opening Bell will ring on Wall Street and all eyes are going to be on the potential rebound from yesterday's big selloff. The Dow lost nearly 400 points, but today the focus is on new jobless figures that are better than expected.

Alison Kosik has more for us.

How are things looking?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, things are looking a whole lot brighter than they did yesterday around this time. Dow futures up 100 points, expect those bargain hunters to be out. They're going to pick up those beaten down stocks from yesterday.

Also some new things are helping to move the market forward. We're hearing some talk of an emergency European Central Bank meeting on how to deal with the European crisis. But those worries about Italy, they will continue to persist today. We also got some nice U.S. job market numbers.

A nice surprise here. New jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week. It means we're seeing fewer people being laid off. Those numbers came in at 390,000 last week. That's the lowest in seven months. And typically, if you see that number drop below 400,000 it shows, hey, there is some hiring going on.

So it looks like, Kyra, that the jobs market could be getting some traction -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. That is some good news. Thanks so much, Alison.

Well, in London News Corp's James Murdoch is back in the hot seat this morning making a second appearance before the British parliament investigating his role in the phone hacking scandal at the now defunct "News of the World" tabloid.

CNN's Max Foster is following all the testimony for us from London.

Good morning, Max.

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, hi, Kyra.

What James Murdoch is saying that he accepts that news hacking took place at one of his titles, the "News of the World." But what crucially he is saying is that he wasn't aware of it. He actually disputed previous evidence from his former lawyers before the same committee in parliament saying that he did know.

So that's the big development today. But it's very, very uncomfortable viewing him places, Kyra. I have to say, he's being really grilled. Get a sense of it from this sound byte I'm going to play to you. You're going to hear a question here from Tom Watson, one of the lawmakers on the committee asking a question of James Murdoch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM WATSON, LABOUR PARTY DEPUTY CHAIRMAN: You must be the first mafia boss in history who didn't know he was running a criminal enterprise.

JAMES MURDOCH, NEWS CORP: Mr. Watson, please, I think that's inappropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Really tough stuff, Kyra. Just so you know, Tom Watson was spied on by the "News of the World" so there's history there, but it's an interesting hearing.

PHILLIPS: Yes, indeed. And Tom Watson is definitely one to watch. He always seems to be the one that creates the headlines for sure. We'll pay close attention to the testimony with you, Max. Thanks so much.

All right. There is more to the Penn State scandal than the firing of Joe Paterno. Students are outraged over the media coverage, but you may be surprised why. I'm going to talk to the student body president coming up next.

And a storm as powerful as a Category 3 hurricane is pounding Alaska. We're going to get the latest as we check news "Cross Country."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's take a look at the news "Cross Country" now.

One of the strongest storms in nearly 40 years is slamming western Alaska. Some areas are actually experiencing whiteout conditions and 10-foot waves. And hurricane force winds are topping 80 miles an hour now.

In California, police in riot gear ordered a group protesting tuition hikes to take down tents on the Berkeley campus last night. The students formed a human chain by linking arms and police using their batons shoved forward to reach the campus. There were several arrests.

And the National Archives will release new Richard Nixon files soon. Including transcripts of the former president's grand jury testimony in 1975 given less than a year after he resigned because of the Watergate scandal.

I'll tell you what, the media is talking a lot about the end of the Joe Paterno era at Penn State and students say there's so much more to the story. Some of them say that they not only want to know more, they want to do more about the alleged victims of the sex abuse scandal.

T.J. Bard is the undergraduate student body president at Penn State.

T.J., I had a chance to talk to you this morning and I said to you, look, all this support for the football program, for Joe Paterno and what about the victims?

And you said, well, actually, there's been a really big shift on this campus. Tell me about it.

T.J. BARD, PENN STATE STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT: Yes, I think a lot of students are realizing that due to the national media coverage, there's been a huge oversight of the victims and their families in all of this, and I think students are starting to get very, very frustrated that this is more than about a football program or a coach. This is about the victims and finding justice for them at the end of the day.

And the students have started to plan programs. I know this Friday, we're doing a candlelight vigil to honor and remember the victims and just widespread sexual abuse. And I know Saturday was supposed to be a whiteout. It's a huge thing for the Penn State student body to participate in the whiteout of a football game. And the students actually rallied to get it to a blue out to raise awareness for child and sexual abuse.

PHILLIPS: Wow. So, what is the perception there on campus? What we're seeing are these protests and rallies out in front of Joe Paterno's house and people, you know, high-fiving him and trying to hug him and yelling out, "We're for you, Coach." So, that's what most of America is seeing, T.J.

So, if you were to look at -- we're looking actually at the video from Paterno's house with everybody cheering and their hands up in the air. Are you telling me there are students in there that are extremely upset with Joe Paterno and see a different side to this?

BARD: Absolutely do. I think the emotions kind of run the gamut in terms of Joe Paterno. I think the university officials in general, I think a lot of students, obviously, are in support of Joe Paterno. But I think a lot of students are realizing that there may be more to this story than we realize.

And, at the end of the day, fundamentally what matters most is that justice if found for the victims and their family and they can truly find some closure after all of this.

And they think, to that point, a lot of frustration is -- where is Jerry Sandusky in all of this? The students, why is there so much focus on Joe Paterno? Why are people not pursuing Jerry Sandusky? He's really created these heinous crimes at the end of the day.

PHILLIPS: So, Saturday's game -- what does that mean to you? What does that mean to this student body? You talked about even the vigil that's going to happen for the victims in this sex abuse scandal. Tell me, could this be a chance for everybody to unite in a different fashion?

BARD: Exactly. I'm asking the student body here at Penn State to truly remember the values and the core honor that is surrounding this university fundamentally. And I ask that we go out on Saturday and we not just support our university, but we support those students that are out there on the field -- truly, truly fighting for this university at this point and it's not about a football program. It's not about a coach. It's really about those guys that are going to be on that field and I'm about moving forward as a university and as a student body.

I really feel like this Saturday is a crucial point for this student body to be able to move forward, unite together and really remember the pride that really is involved in Penn State.

PHILLIPS: T.J. Bard, undergraduate student body president there at Penn State, I'm so glad we tracked you down this morning because you give a different perspective to this and we really appreciate it, T.J. Thanks.

BARD: Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

Tallying up the financial fallout from the Penn State scandal, it could cost the university millions of dollars. We're going to go to the New York Stock Exchange for details.

Plus, if Britain's Prince Charles ever became king, his wife Camilla become queen. There are reports that she doesn't want that title. We'll explain, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Camilla says she does not want to be queen. It's all in a British report and our Max Foster is all over it.

What's the deal, Max?

FOSTER: She's been speaking -- well, her aides have been speaking to the newspaper, Kyra. This is the deal. At the moment, it's all about formality and titles, really.

At the moment, she is married to the prince of Wales, so she is officially the princess of Wales. But due to sensitivities of Princess Diana held that title, she doesn't use it. She uses the duchess of Cornwall as a title.

But when Charles eventually becomes king, she will automatically become queen and there's some concern that that is going to create all sorts of sensitivities around Diana, as well. So, she's suggesting a title of princess consult. The problem is this is all wording. And actually, she will automatically become queen.

So, the British parliament will have to change the law to allow her not to be queen. So, whether or not it happens, we don't know. But she's -- you know, this shadow of Diana still hangs over Camilla.

PHILLIPS: Wow, it's interesting. Seems like a lot of changes going on within old royal rules. This is the second one we've been talking about in just a couple of weeks.

All right. We're also expecting some news on William this afternoon, right?

FOSTER: Yes, Prince William. He's an RAF search and rescue pilot and we're expecting it to be announced that he's going to be sent to the Falkland Islands for six weeks next year. He's going to get a posting there that will be made formally his announcement later on.

But it's quite interesting. A particular island where the base is, it's particularly bleak, let's say. There's not much there apart from a very small military base. So, it's going to be a completely different lifestyle from living in palaces. He's going to be living in a small room, a single bed of water. That's pretty much it from what we can understand.

More details, though, Kyra, this afternoon. I am sure you're desperate to hear them. I will be living out there.

PHILLIPS: Hey, look, we were up on Will and Kate's new apartment. OK, we got to stay up on all the various digs from home to military life. You know, people want to know. People want the royals.

FOSTER: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, Max.

All right, well, OK.

You know, the child abuse scandal is rocking Penn State University and it could cost the college some pretty big bucks.

Alison Kosik has been following that angle to the story.

So, let's talk about how it could affect the university's bottom line, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK, Kyra. This is no doubt going to take a financial toll on the universities. Some companies and big donors may not want it be associated with Penn State at this point. You know, think of big universities like Penn State as big corporations where image, where reputation is everything.

One analyst says Penn State's brand has been forever tarnished. What does that mean? It means it could hit their fund-raising.

Penn State used Paterno for fund-raising. He was a big draw to bring in a lot of money to the university.

Sponsorship deals. They could take a hit, as well. Companies may not want to be associated with Penn.

It could also affect their ability to recruit top players. And this is really important because Penn State is one of the most lucrative teams in the country. This team brings in $50 million a year, second in the country behind the University of Texas.

But, of course, Kyra, I got to say this. Nothing compares to the damage to the alleged victims -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, indeed.

Wall Street is expecting a bit of a rebound from yesterday, right?

KOSIK: Yes. And you know what? A rebound is pretty typical after a huge selloff that we saw yesterday. But it doesn't mean it's going to stick.

However, we are hearing that there's talk of an emergency meeting that the European central bank could be holding, but so far it's just a rumor. You know what? Europe is still a mess, although you're going to see a lot of bargain hunters out once the bell rings in about five minutes for U.S. stocks -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Alison, thanks.

All right, coming up --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Commerce, Education and the -- what's the third one there? Let's see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: It's been called the most devastating moment of any modern primary debate. That's a quote. We're going to dig into Rick Perry's brain freeze and other big moments with CNBC moderator John Harwood.

And U.S. troops killed in combat. Their homecoming somber and respectful. But what happened afterwards is stirring new shock and outrage. That story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now:

Penn State trustees have fired head football coach Joe Paterno and the university's president amid the child rape scandal. The board says the decision is in the best interest of the university.

And rescuers are scrambling to reach more than 100 people buried under earthquake rubble in eastern Turkey. At least seven people have died in the 5.7 magnitude quake that struck last night.

Research in Motion says it's investigating reports that BlackBerry e-mail is slow, but the company says there is no system- wide outage. Last month, tens of millions of BlackBerry users lost e- mail for days.

All right. At last night's Republican presidential debate, in front of a friendly crowd, the candidates had a chance to score big points against some of their rivals. But nobody went there except CNBC's moderators.

John Harwood put a unique spin on the Herman Cain harassment scandal by putting it to Mitt Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HARWOOD, CNBC/MODERATOR: Would you keep a CEO? Are you persuaded by what Mr. Cain has said? Would you keep him on if you had bought his company?

(BOOS)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm -- look. Look, Herman Cain is the person to respond to these questions. He just did. The people in this room and across the country can make their own assessment. I'm not going to --

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, that was just one of the night's two biggest moments. John Harwood was actually involved with both. He joins me now live.

So, John, Herman Cain and the allegations of sexual harassment, that's been the headline for weeks. Now, you've created the morning headline with this interesting approach. So, let me ask you, why Romney and why this question?

HARWOOD: Well, look, Mitt Romney is at the center of the Republican race. Other candidates have come up and down at various points, but he's the one who has been generally regarded as the frontrunner for good reason. He's leading in New Hampshire and he's at least tied with Herman Cain nationally and he also has raised the most money.

So, most questions in the Republican campaign that are important need to be addressed by Mitt Romney because there's a very good chance he'll end up as the opponent to Barack Obama.

Herman Cain has been dominating the news with the story and we're a network that looks at business and the economy and that was a way for us, in a way that our audience was familiar with to essentially try to get him to an express a view about the credibility of what Herman Cain has said.

Clearly, he didn't want to and clearly that debate crowd didn't want the question raised. They like me a lot better when I was talking about the Detroit Lions or the Oakland University Grizzlies. But, you know, that's part of it.

PHILLIPS: Well, were you surprised by all the boos and how did you take that?

HARWOOD: Kyra, I wasn't surprised because in the morning, Maria Bartiromo, my co-moderator, and I had addressed at breakfast at the hotel we were staying at near the debate site, and when we were asked whether the Cain subject would come up, we didn't rule it out. And said, you know, you can't ignore the big news in the race, and people were booing us in that room. And it was a more intimate setting than the debate.

So, we fully expected it, but we felt that that was an issue that given the fact that Herman Cain is leading nationally with Mitt Romney or tied with him for the lead in our recent NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll, we needed to ask him a question about something that was very much in the news.

PHILLIPS: Well, and you did it. All right. Well, the other headline, your other moment out of this debate was Rick Perry and your question to him. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: And I will tell you, it's three agencies of government, when I get there, that are gone: Commerce, Education and the -- what's the third one there -- let's see.

(LAUGHTER)

REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You need five.

PERRY: Oh, five. OK.

PAUL: Make it five.

PERRY: OK. So Commerce, Education and -- the --

ROMNEY: EPA?

PERRY: EPA. There you go. No.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

MARIA BARTIROMO, MODERATOR: Let's go --

HARWOOD: Seriously?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Wow. That was a bit awkward. What was your reaction there and what do you think, John? Is he finished?

HARWOOD: I think he's going to have a very tough time recovering from this. He does have $15 million in the bank and you can't ignore a candidate who has been the governor of a major state for quite a long time and has that kind of resources. We'll see when he puts his money up on television, which he's beginning to do with some positive ads when he goes after Mitt Romney whether or not he can lift his standing.

I got to say, Kyra, I imagine you feel the same way. You have sympathy with somebody who on a big moment with klieg lights and a camera on them has a brain freeze. It certainly happened to me mid- answer when somebody asked me to analyze something in politics and you make a couple points and you forget what your last one was.

But when you're running for president of the United States and you come into a debate with people looking for you to raise your game, having performed in a subpar way in some of the previous debates, it was very unfortunate and very damaging for him.

PHILLIPS: Yes, point well made. And yes, John, we have all been there. You did a great job last night. Great debate.

And I'm so glad you were able to join us.

HARWOOD: Thanks, Kyra. Appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: I know you made this happen for us. Thanks, John.

The next story is shocking and it's sickening. The body parts of fallen U.S. soldiers, marines and sailors treated like garbage. Their ashes routinely dumped in a landfill.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has all the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the Air Force mortuary at Dover Air Force Base Delaware now acknowledging until June 2008, some remains of the fallen were cremated and then incinerated and buried in landfills as though they were medical waste.

We're talking about bone fragments, tissues, any kind of DNA material that is recovered off the battlefield, not bodies. But in June 2008, Dover then decided this was a practice not befitting the fallen. One Air Force official telling CNN we could have done things better.

And, again, the families didn't know about any of this.

So, since then, the practice has been to place incinerated remains in urns and have the Navy dispose of them in at sea ceremonies.

But this comes after a number of problems at Dover, after a just concluded year-long investigation, three officials have been disciplined for faulty procedures that allowed body parts to go missing.

In 2008, Dover was also found to be using the crematorium facility that handled animal remains.

And there's also been that lengthy scandal at Arlington National Cemetery where graves were mismarked.

Now, in all these cases, the officials say the problems have been fixed, but Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is certain to face more questions, questions aids say he will want answers to about how the military deals with its fallen -- Kyra.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Barbara, thanks.

And just after the top of the hour, a veterans advocate responds to this report and the military's handling of the shocking story. Paul Rieckhoff joining me live 10 minutes after the hour.

The shakeup at the Oscars continues. Eddie Murphy is out as the host. So, who's going to replace him? We'll talk about it in "Showbiz," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Time for "Showbiz" headlines now.

The Oscars -- well, they have a job opening. Eddie Murphy has quit as host.

A.J. Hammer, you know TV, you'd be great for the job.

A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" HOST: Only if you'll be my co- host, Kyra. Think about it.

PHILLIPS: You're on.

HAMMER: But you are right. In the wake of Brett Ratner's resignation as the producer of the Oscars, Eddie Murphy is out of the job of host. Ratner stepped down after the backlash over his use of a gay slur. He's apologized for that since. But Ratner had handpicked Eddie Murphy for the host job. They worked together on the new film "Tower Heist."

Now, Murphy is publicly saying he completely understands why Ratner is walking away. He wishes the Academy well, but he doesn't want to continue with his creative partner.

Now, there are some reports out there that Murphy is privately furious and he feels like the academy hung Ratner out to dry.

His replacement is now chosen by filmmaker Brian Grazer. Brian was just named as the new producer of the Oscars.

And according to reports, you have Billy Crystal, Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Ellen DeGeneres, Steve Martin, and Neil Patrick Harris all currently under consideration. Good list of names right there. Most of whom have hosted the Oscars in the past, not Hanks, he's won a few scars. I think he would be terrific at the job, he'd be a first timer -- so would Neil Patrick Harris who, Kyra, has obviously done a great job hosting the Tony and Emmy Awards.

And I'm looking around here, you and I are not mentioned at all, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We didn't make the cut? What the heck?

HAMMER: Hold on. Let me throw our names right in the ring there. That will go far.

PHILLIPS: Don't go too far. A.J. is going to be back with us next hour with more "Showbiz" headlines, including Mariah Carey who is dissing Kim Kardashian's failed marriage. Ah, just getting saucy. That's just ahead.

Financial lingo and concepts seem like a foreign language to a lot of us, good thing we've got Christine Romans and Ali Velshi around to translate. They're going to fill us in on their new book, "How to Speak Money," coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: After yesterday's beating, some optimism this morning about the markets. A drop in weekly jobless claims is fueling some of that. Trading got under way just about 15 minutes ago. There is the numbers right there. Dow Industrials up about 123 points.

You know, now as much as ever, it is important to know how to speak money. And guess what, that's the title of a new book by CNN's own Ali Velshi and Christine Romans.

Gee, what perfect timing, guys, with what's happening in Europe and the markets. I mean, people really do need to know this language of money.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDETN: And the thing is, what people do when they see this volatility in the markets, they tend to go away from it. They don't address it, or they get out of their investments. And this book is to teach you, if you just follow some basic strategies, you can look after your retirement and your financial future without worrying about what that Dow board says.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's discipline. It's all about discipline.

Ali and I are different kinds of investors. I'm worried about -- Kyra, I'm worried about saving three sets of braces, 529s and just getting through the next 18 years.

PHILLIPS: I'm with you.

VELSHI: And I got my eye on the new motorcycle.

PHILLIPS: I'm the minivan. He's the motorcycle. So our investment styles are different so we -- we really have to like follow the rules, the discipline as investors, you know, speak money in the markets so that we're not led astray by our near-term goals.

VELSHI: No, let me give you what some of the rules are. Basically you need to invest your money. You can't go to the bank and give you two-tenths of a percent. But there is a type of investment for everyone. Usually it's mutual funds or exchange traded funds. Look for ones that have very low expenses. You can get this by the way on Money.com.

You can look for -- if you want -- you've got to have some large cap funds and some small cap funds or some international stuff and make sure that they have consistency of style. Match them to your risk.

ROMANS: And we have a risk profile. You can take this quiz in the book and we have a link to CNNMoney.com where you can find our risk profile quiz to find out what kind of investor you should be for your age and what you need in your life now.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Right and it's fit on a pie chart. You do it online at Money.com.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: It's so easy.

VELSHI: Or you do it on the book. It's fit on a pie chart.

PHILLIPS: Did you guys --

VELSHI: All you is to your 401(k).

PHILLIPS: Did you guys disagree on anything? You know, in this --

VELSHI: Yes.

PHILLIPS: OK, give me an example.

ROMANS: Well, I think that right now is not maybe the best time for some people to buy a house. Ali thinks it's the time of a lifetime to buy a house.

VELSHI: You'll never find interest rate this low combined with home price at this low. But we do agree that if you don't have good credit, you don't have down payment, you don't have a job or you may have to move for your job very soon then renting makes more -- more sense.

So the point of the book is you can start off in different positions. I'm inherently a buyer and a spender.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Right.

VELSHI: She's inherently a saver and thinks you should be more cautious. But once you work through it, you come to the same place. That's the idea of speaking money. We know how to speak to each other about it.

ROMANS: And we learned something else. We learned that men and women feel differently about money. They invest differently and they are different in the workplace. We have a chapter called gendernomics. Which as we were writing the chapter, I was learning more about my co-worker. I was like seeing us in the pages of this -- of this chapter about how men and women are different about -- about money.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: I negotiate for everything. I negotiated with your producers about how much I'm getting paid to do this interview.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Ali negotiates for things I didn't even know you can negotiate for.

VELSHI: And I said it unless it's Kyra I'm not doing it.

PHILLIPS: This is -- oh my God and the funny thing is I love you both so much and we're all so close. I'm trying to figure out how do I give you guys equal time here.

All right --

ROMANS: Oh --

VELSHI: No I negotiated. We're not getting equal time. 70-30.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

VELSHI: She did 70 percent of the -- she did 70 percent of the writing in the book and I do 70 percent of the talking while were promoting.

ROMANS: And you know that's for everybody.

PHILLIPS: Ok and just speaking of promotion, by the way, I want all our viewers to know that when Ali came out with his first book he like showed up here in Atlanta and he was passing out books to everybody. You saw him all over the place and Christine was so humble about it. We had to ask her for the book.

So there's a big difference, too. But it's great that we have you both on together because we've got --

ROMANS: It's in gendernomics.

PHILLIPS: We've got the ego, and we've got the humble heart and it's all about speaking money. And it is a great read. You guys, I didn't even have to -- look at that -- I didn't have to ask questions or anything. You just, you told me how to speak. What's that?

VELSHI: We -- we told yes -- no, you don't have to ask questions. We will just keep talking. Come back to us after the break.

PHILLIPS: Yes, stay tuned. We'll have you for the next three hours. Ali and Christine will take your money questions live this afternoon actually on Pete Dominick's radio show. Just go to Sirius channel 124, 3:00 Eastern Time. And you can try to get your question in there, but my guess is they'll answer what you need to know. They know what you need to know.

In honor of Veterans Day, CNN photo journalists are turning their lenses to the men and women in the military. And this morning, Jake Carpenter introduces us to Danny Ingram forced out of the military by "don't ask, don't tell". Listen as Ingram reflects on his fight for veterans rights.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY INGRAM, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN VETERAN FOR EQUAL RIGHTS: I enlisted in the military in the Army in 1988. I was serving in a combat support unit. The policy at the time was just homosexuality is incompatible with military service.

We had all taken an oath to defend the Constitution and -- and a policy that makes the very guardians of the Constitution disobey what it says was just wrong to everything we believed.

I was 33 when I left the military. So I just did what everybody does and, you know, looked for a position. It was difficult. But I went on and -- and immediately got involved in the struggle to change the policy.

I am a veteran of the U.S. Army. I am the National President of American Veterans for Equal Rights, which is a veteran service organization. And we are working to make sure that every member of the military is treated fairly and equally and gets full access to all the benefits that they've -- they've earned.

When I became national president, the ban was still in place. And that was our main goal, was to make sure that "don't ask, don't tell" was repealed.

I thought all through these years what it was going to be like when I finally got to stand up and say, "We've done it." And that night when we celebrated the end, it really was -- was even more than -- than I ever thought possible. The feeling that justice won; that the military was now able to prove to itself to be not only the guardians of liberty but representatives of freedom. And that was a great feeling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And here are some of the stories on our radar:

Later this morning, a restored World War I memorial is unveiled on the National Mall in Washington.

At 11:30 Eastern, First Lady Michelle Obama, speaking to business leaders, veterans and their spouses.

At 1:00 Eastern NASA holds a media briefing on this month's launch of the Mars Science Laboratory.

We're following lots of developments for you in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with our Jason Carroll -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Penn State's president is out, so is legendary coach Joe Paterno. Rioters take to the streets. What's next for the university? I'll have an update coming up next.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Rick Perry is doing damage control today after an unforgettable debate performance. We are live just outside of the campus where last night's GOP debate was held. We'll have more on Rick Perry in just a few moments.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange where we are just in the first few minutes of the trading day. Stocks are rebounding after yesterday's global sell-off. I have some encouraging news as well on the state of the job market, Kyra. I will have details coming up in the next hour.

PHILLIPS: All right guys. Thanks so much.

Also ahead, a final indignity for U.S. troops killed in combat. All too often their ashes tossed in a landfill like household garbage. Just ahead, a veterans advocate shares his outrage on this shocking story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Of course, we're talking a lot about the firing of Joe Paterno this morning.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: Yes, absolutely, you know. And how do you follow a legend, right? That's the question now for the next man. It is not easy when in the best of circumstances and we're not anywhere close to that.

The man in charge of salvaging the Penn State season is Tom Bradley. He played for Paterno and worked closely with Jerry Sandusky as a defensive assistant for years before taking over for Sandusky as offensive coordinator when he retired. Now Bradley taking over for Paterno, his mentor.

So he's now -- he's trying to keep the team focused while, of course, he's going through his own set of confused emotions. Penn State has a tough game coming up Saturday.

Some players understandably upset. Wide receiver, Justin Brown says this is like a bad dream. His teammate Derek Moy (ph) tweeted "It is messed up they are doing this to a man who's a big reason Penn State is what it is today."

Of course, we will have the latest firing of Paterno and Sandusky investigation coming up. A glimmer of hope in the negotiations between NBA players and owners. The two sides will meet again today. Commissioner David Stern had been saying the players had to accept the offer that the owners gave by yesterday or else any future offer would be even worse. All games for this month have been canceled. December's games could soon be history, too.

Gunmen have abducted Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos from his home in Venezuela. There has been no contact yet between the kidnappers and Ramos' family. Perhaps looking for some kind of ransom. Ramos just finished his rookie season with the Nats. Three other major leaguers have had family members kidnapped in Venezuela in recent years. So as much as players like returning home, at least in Venezuela, it can be dangerous.

PHILLIPS: Wow. All right. Jeff, thanks.

FISCHEL: Ok.