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Troops' Ashes Dumped Like Waste; N.C. Attempts To Correct The Past; Accountability, Responsibility and Liability; Students Protest Paterno Firing; Replacing Paterno; Ashes Of War Dead Dumped At Landfill; Decision Soon In Sport Killings Case; Batali Responds To Firestorm; Troops' Ashes Dumped Like Waste; Fallout at Penn State Reaches Top, Rocks Core; Rick Perry Has Brain Freeze in Debate; Crowd Boos Moderator Over Cain Sexual Harassment Question; Washington Nationals' Wilson Ramos Kidnapped; Ali Velshi, Christine Romans Discuss New Book on Money; Emergency Alert System Fails Test
Aired November 10, 2011 - 12:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So it is hard to move forward when hearts are broken, faith shaken, our heroes fallen. But that's exactly what they're trying to do at Penn State. Just hours after students unleashed their anger and hurt over the firing of Joe Paterno, the man who's replacing the legendary football coach, at least for a while, faced reporters.
Interim head coach Tom Bradley says he takes his emotions, but his feeling toward Paterno are pure and undiminished.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM BRADLEY, INTERIM FOOTBALL COACH, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY: Joe Paterno will go down in history as one of the greatest men -- maybe most you have know him as a great football coach. I've had the privilege and the honor to work for him, spend time with him, and he's had such a dynamic impact on so many, so many -- I'll say it again -- so many people and players' lives. And so, it's with great respect that I speak of him and proud to say that I worked for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And it's been a seismic cascade of events since last weekend's arrest of a former Penn State defensive coordinator on charges of raping and molesting a number of young boys. Two of the University officials are charged with failure to report those crimes.
Paterno is charged with nothing, but says he wishes that he had done more than simply tell his superiors what an assistant reported to him back in 2002.
I want to go now to Penn State campus and CNN's Jason Carroll. So Jason, we know it was a pretty rough night last night. What has been the atmosphere on campus today? JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Things much, much calmer out here today. A vast difference from what was experienced out here last night by many. Some of those students trying to get a handle on things today. Just about half an hour ago some students gathered just behind us here trying to speak out, trying to speak in terms of the victims. But just as another student walks by, they shout more obscenities at the press.
So, some of that anger is definitely still there, that lingering anger from yesterday. And a lot of the passion obviously surrounding by that man, that coach, Joe Paterno. You heard the way Tom Bradley spoke about him. Those are the feelings that a lot of people at Penn State have towards Paterno.
Want you to listen to a little bit more about what Bradley had to say about his new position, having to take over for the -- for a man who he respected and has honored for many, many years. Bradley saying he has no reservations but there's still some challenges he has ahead of him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRADLEY: Well, we're obviously in a very unprecedented situation that we find ourselves in and you know, I just -- I'm going to find a way to restore the confidence and to start a healing process with everybody and I'm going to try to go about it. As I said earlier, it is with very mixed emotion and a heavy heart that this has occurred that I'm going through this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Well, Bradley getting the call, Fredricka, last night at about 9:45 from the new interim president here, Rodney Ericsson. Bradley also saying he had the opportunity to call Paterno at about 11:00 last night. When asked about what that conversation was like, he said that conversation was private -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So Jason, now, there's the last home game this weekend. Has there been much discussion about their concerns about security, and what the tone of that game might be?
CARROLL: Well, I think from the -- from the aspect of how people feel about how they're going to act at this particular game this particular weekend, it is really anyone's guess, Fredricka. I mean, I can't put my mind in the heads of what students will do. I can just simply tell you there are a number of students here who feel as though the board of trustees made the right decision, but you obviously have seen from what happened here last night, there are a number of passionate students on the other side of the issue as well.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jason Carroll, thanks so much.
All right, moments after hearing the board's decision, students looked to Joe Paterno. Here's what he told them after learning that he had been fired.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE PATERNO, FORMER FOOTBALL COACH, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY: Get a good night's sleep. All right? Study. All right? We still got things to do. All right? I'm out of it maybe now. A tough call put me out of it. But good luck for me, OK? And good luck, everybody. And thanks for coming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you, Joe!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for everything!
PATERNO: Thanks! And pray a little bit for those victims.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are!
PATERNO: We love Penn State!
CROWD: We love Penn State!
PATERNO: Thank you.
CROWD: You're welcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Until recently, no one could have seen this ending for Paterno, including Yahoo! Sports writer Pat Forde who joins me right now. So Pat, what is your take on all of this? At first the coach said, I'm going to retire, I'll be there until the end of the season, and then suddenly this decision from the board last night.
PAT FORDE, NATIONAL COLLEGE SPORTS COLUMNIST, YAHOO! SPORTS: Well, Fredricka, I think that was obviously something of a bargaining position from Joe Paterno yesterday, it was his announcement. It wasn't the school's. And that he was hoping they would go along with that. Clearly, the board saw it the other way and felt like this was something that had to be done. I did speak briefly with one trustee member this morning who said, any decision we made was going to be unpopular with a large segment of people. This has just been just such a hot-button issue, very strong feelings on both sides of it. And around campus here, people conflicted about what is the right thing to do?
WHITFIELD: And I wonder, the way the coach handled it earlier in the day, did that really speak to the amount of power that he would have on campus that perhaps he thought he was calling the shots on how it would end for him?
FORDE: Well, sure, Joe Paterno has called hits own shots for decades around here and has somewhat wired the place with his people, his confidants, his supporters. The athletic director, Tim Curley, was a former player under him, he's got his son on his staff, he has his own basically P.R. person as opposed to someone who works more closely with the media relations' office in general. You know, this has been a Joe Paterno operation, and I think he's always wanted to do things his own way but especially wanted to call his last shot. And to not get to do that was the shocking thing and the unsettling thing. Not just for the Paterno family but for all the people who support Joe Paterno and wanted him to have a decent good- bye here.
WHITFIELD: OK. And let's talk about Mike McQueary. And you know, he allegedly was one of the first to see an assault taking place, yet he still has a job. Do you believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg in which others may be losing their jobs, be fired, face charges, after the handling of Paterno now?
FORDE: Oh, yes, I think there's still -- you know, as the attorney general said on Monday, it is onion going investigation. When she was asked specifically about president Graham Spanier, she refused to say that he was not going to be a target of the investigation. Mike McQueary's role, there's still a lot -- we don't know a lot of very important questions that need to be answered.
I think people are -- look at this and are puzzled by the fact that he will be coaching this game on Saturday giving his very material role in what transpired and what was brought up the food chain and what wasn't brought up the food chain. And you know, I think that that didn't -- that there's been some inference that he might be in the coaching box as opposed to on the sidelines, maybe purely from a security standpoint because he is -- his presence at the game will be pretty controversial.
WHITFIELD: All right. Pat Forde, thanks so much.
Other stories unfolding. Right now, a shocking report about the handling of the remains of some of the nation's war dead. The U.S. Air Force says partial remains of American service members were cremated, then dumped at a Virginia landfill. And the families of those fallen troops were never informed. An Air Force spokesman says the practice by the Dover Air Force base mortuary in Delaware ended in 2008. Cremated remains are now buried at sea.
In a statement today, the Air Force admits, quote, "we could have done better." In just a few minutes, I'll speak live with the head of the nation's largest organization for combat veterans.
Meantime, a military court in Washington State is deciding the fate today of a U.S. soldier accused of murdering Afghan civilians. Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs is the highest ranking of five soldiers charged in the case. They are accused of killing Afghan villagers, planting weapons on them and severing their body parts to keep as grizzly war trophies. Seven other soldiers also face lesser charges. Gibbs has pled not guilty.
He's known for his famous recipes, his dishes, and his restaurants, but chef Mario Batali getting some heat now for a comment involving bankers and Hitler, and he's now responding to critics. It happened at a "Time" magazine event. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MARIO BATALI, CHEF: But I would have to say that who's had the largest effect on the whole planet without us really paying attention, across the board and everyone is the entire biking industry and their disregard for the people they're supposed to be working for. Now Europe has to realize they haven't been paying the bills for a long time and they're going to get hosed. And the people that are going to get hosed are the education and the health people first, just kind of like in our system accept they've been relying on it for a long time. So, the way bankers have toppled the way money is distributed and taken most of it into their own hands is as good as Stalin or Hitler and the evil guys that you guys have --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right and sometimes turns evil --
BATALI: They're not here, right, they're just people who really have had a huge effect on the way the world's operating.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Mario Batali started getting a whole lot of criticism from followers on Twitter after that. And today, he's responding. Take a look at this tweet saying this, quote, "to remove any ambiguity about my appearance at yesterday's "Time Person of the Year" panel, I want to apologize for my remarks. It was never my intention to equate our banking industry with Hitler and Stalin, two of the most evil, brutal dictators in modern history." End quote.
All right. They died serving our country and instead of resting in peace with honor, their remains rest in a landfill. How the military handled remains of America's warriors.
And up next, I'll ask the commander of the nation's largest group for veterans who should be held responsible? Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In 2007, Americans were shocked by substandard care for wounded vets at Walter Reed. In 2010, outrage over grave mismanagement at Arlington National Cemetery. And now comes what one veterans advocate calls a national embarrassment. Word that from 2003 to 2008 the mortuary at Dover Air Force Base routinely cremated portions of the remains of fallen troops and dumped them in a nearby landfill unannounced to their families.
The Air Force says the practice now for body that can't be identified or recovered with other remains in cremation followed by burial at sea. But it also acknowledges losses, mix-ups and desecration of troop remains as outlined in multiple federal investigations. "The Washington Post" says three Dover Mortuary supervisors have been disciplined but none so far fired.
I want to bring in the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Richard Denoyer. Good to see you. You say that the Dover revelations, quote, "exceed on many levels the scandals that I just mentioned a moment ago, Walter Reed and even Arlington." In what way?
RICHARD DENOYER, NATIONAL COMMANDER, VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS: Well, Fredricka, it seems to me that -- I hope we're not having a pattern here of services that are provided to the fallen or wounded not being policed properly and supervised and basically handled in a dignified manner. I hope that this is not the case.
WHITFIELD: You're hoping that this is an anomaly and this is not -- this was not common practice, even though, as I mentioned, it apparently was reported to that have happened between 2003 and 2008 but it is no longer taking place.
ENOVER: As we understand, it's no longer being -- that's what we are told, yes. Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: So, the Air Force chief of staff was forced to answer to all of this on Capitol Hill just this morning. Let's hear what he said and then I'll ask for your reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. NORTON SCHWARTZ, CHIEF OF STAFF, U.S. AIR FORCE: Secretary of the Air Force, Mike Donnelly, and I take personal responsibility for this. Our obligation is to treat our fallen with reverence and dignity and respect and to provide the best possible support an care for their families. That is our mission. The people who did not fulfill our expectations were disciplined. And there's no doubt what our expectations are today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So, Mr. Denoyer, what are your thoughts on that response?
RICHARD DENOYER, NATL. CMDR., VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS: Well, my thoughts are, I agree with what the general said. This should not have happened and that he agrees that the level of care should be, bar none. But he mentions that people have been disciplined. Well, as I understand it, the discipline doesn't necessarily meet the crime, shall we say.
One individual lied. He falsified records. He tried to fire a couple of the whistle blowers. We're very concerned that that person is still working for the federal government. We don't think that he should be.
WHITFIELD: So what assurances do you need, do you want, to make sure that this practice does not carry on?
DENOYER: Well, we want people in place to supervise properly the processing of the remains from the battlefront to Dover. We want to be assured that this will never, ever happen again because policy and procedures will be in place to prevent that from ever happening again.
I might add that I was in Afghanistan last week and I watched a transfer of remains leaving Afghanistan. And the dignity and the humbleness that transpired during that ceremony, we would like to think on the other end that the same type of dignity and care would be executed as well.
WHITFIELD: Commander Richard Denoyer, thanks so much for your time.
DENOYER: Thank you. We appreciate it.
WHITFIELD: It was called progressive family planning. Young girls, poor people and the mentally disabled, sterilized against their will by the government and now there's a major search for the victims as one state tries to make up for the past. You don't want to miss this interview.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: They were targeted because they were poor, undereducated, institutionalized, sick or even disabled. Some had low IQs or simply weren't photogenic enough. Well, all of them were ultimately labeled to be unfit as parents. As a result, more than 7,000 people were sterilized under a state program in North Carolina. This went on from 1929 through 1974.
This is an under covered story we told you about several weeks ago. Now North Carolina officials are trying to track down the survivors. Some 1,500 people thought to still be alive. But so far they've only matched four dozen people.
Charmaine Fuller Cooper is the executive director of the foundation in charge of finding these sterilized victims. She's joining us right now over the phone.
So, Miss Cooper, why is it so difficult trying to locate these people?
CHARMAINE FULLER COOPER, EXEC. DIRECTOR OF FINDING STERILIZED VICTIMS IN N.C. (via telephone): One of the biggest difficulties in North Carolina is that eugenics existed for so long in this state, like over 30 other states. And not only does the state have a state mandated eugenics and sterilization program, but there were also a lot of different programs that existed throughout the state. So we've had hundreds of callers contacting the foundation each month, but unfortunately only 48 of those callers have been matched to the state eugenics program.
WHITFIELD: OK. So you're the executive director of this foundation in charge of finding these sterilized victims. Is it your discovery that there's still so much mistrust as a result of this program that perhaps many victims simply don't want to be found or their families don't want to be located?
COOPER: One thing that we're finding out is that some people just don't know what happened to their family members. A lot of families have hidden secrets. For other people who do know, there's a lot of shame and embarrassment that came with them being labeled as unfit or feeble minded. And a lot of people were targeted because they were poor or they were undereducated or they didn't dress appropriately or speak properly or they may have been epileptic or a person with a disability. So a lot of people are hesitant to come forward.
WHITFIELD: OK. And so you kind of spelled out the criteria. This program sought out people based on that criteria. And then what would happen in this program? Take us back a little bit. Once they identified people that they thought fit the category and those characteristics that you just mentioned, then what?
COOPER: There was a five member panel in North Carolina under the name of the North Carolina Eugenics Board. That five member panel would review petitions of individuals who have been brought up for sterilization and decide based on one paragraph as to whether or not that person should be sterilized. Once an order was given by that five member panel, it was pretty much a done deal. And people were sterilized and had little voice or little advocacy or little access to elected officials to stop that sterilization.
WHITFIELD: OK.
COOPER: We had victims as young as 10 years of age in North Carolina.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. So, in all, there were about 7,500 at the start of that program or in the midst of that program. And it's believed that about 1,500 may be alive to this point. So at -- to what extent will you or this program try to reach out and find these 1,500, since you've only been able to locate about 41?
COOPER: Well, the next step in North Carolina is that the governor has established a tax force that is to give her their final recommendations by February 1st as to what type of justice to give to victims. So that will be very important because a lot of victims will be hesitant to come forward until they know what the end product will be, whether that's some sort of compensation or some sort of package.
WHITFIELD: And what would that compensation be?
COOPER: Right now the task force is looking at an amount of anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 per victim who was sterilized.
WHITFIELD: All right. Maybe that will be some incentive for many of them to step forward now.
All right, thanks so much, Charmaine Fuller Cooper.
COOPER: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: A former football coach accused of raping children and the school is blamed for not doing enough to stop him. My next guest says there's something fishy about who was let go and who remains on the sidelines. Plus, questions about the safety of the students at this weekend's game.
Then, a painful performance at last night's debate. Perry has a brain freeze while Cain complains of character assassination against him. The winners and the losers coming up in "Fair Game."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The fallout at Penn State from the firings to a widening federal investigation has already reached the university's very top and rocket its very core. Just hours after legendary head coach Joe Paterno said he was resigning at the end of the season, the board of trustees made it more immediate. He was fired. Penn State's revered and adored university president, Graham Spanier, also removed. At the center of the allegation, this man, once considered Paterno's number two, his potential successor, former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky is charged with 40 counts for alleged child rape, sodomy and molestation of eight alleged victims.
So this all raises so many legal questions about the school and several key people about accountability and responsibility, and now about liability. We're going to dig a little deeper into those questions with CNN legal contributor Paul Callan, who joins us live from New York.
Good to see you, Paul.
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Nice being with you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, so first let's talk about the extent of this federal investigation. At the center here is whether Penn State failed to comply with the Cleary Act, which requires colleges and universities to disclose the number of criminal offenses reported on campus. What happened here?
CALLAN: Well, the Cleary Act investigation probably is not the most important of the investigations going on. The Cleary Act basically says that if a school doesn't properly report crimes, they can lose federal funding and they can be fined $27,000 for each violation.
WHITFIELD: Do you think all of that is at stake for Penn State? That's pretty serious.
CALLAN: Oh it's most -- oh, it's very serious in terms of the financial liability. But obviously nobody's going to be going to jail as a result of that. And I think people are going to be going to jail as a result of what happened in this horrible, horrible incident.
WHITFIELD: OK. You think this is the tip of the iceberg, those who may be facing charges? Yes, we know that a couple of administrators were dismissed and then a couple others were actually facing charges. But do you see that many others may be facing charges, including perhaps the former head coach, Paterno?
CALLAN: Well, this is such a stunning and just the most unfortunate kind of case you could ever imagine at an educational institution. And, of course, we know that everybody's presumed innocent. I want to start that by saying everybody who's charged, they have the right to a trial. But pedophiles tend to be repeat offenders. I've read the indictment in this case and there are at least eight named victims and there's one other out there who's sort of obscurely is referred to. I'm betting, knowing how pedophiles operate, that there are many more victims out there.
And then you have a situation where Sandusky had been -- had admitted showering with little kids to investigators as far back as 1998. The athletic department had to know about it and they did nothing. He wasn't charged and he went on to do this horrible rape which occurred in the early 2000s that's the subject of Paterno's firing.
WHITFIELD: And that's how the probe would widen. The probe would widen because it is hard to believe that just a handful of people knew about this alleged behavior. That an awful lot of people might be complicit in knowing but failing to report it properly.
CALLAN: Absolutely. And I mean, just to give you an example of how wide the circle is, you can start with someone who's been described as an assistant coach -- well, he is assistant coach now, but he was graduate student at the time --
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: We're talking about Mike McQueary.
CALLAN: Yes, Mike McQueary. Now, he is a guy in his 20s. He's a tough football player. He walks into the locker room and he sees a man in his 50s raping a little boy. And he does nothing about it. He doesn't pick up a chair or a bat and throw it at him and break up the rape. He goes home and tells his father about it. And then the next day, they tell Paterno about it. Who apparently conveys something on to higher-ups at the administration.
(CROSSTALK)
CALLAN: This is a rape!
WHITFIELD: Why wouldn't he be facing charges of failing to properly report?
CALLAN: Well, that shows you how crazy, Fredricka, these laws are. First of all, there's a general presumption in the law that you don't have an obligation to report a crime when you see it. In recent years, because of what went on in the Catholic Church and with other things going on with child abuse, a lot of the states adopted requirements that you must report abuse of a child.
WHITFIELD: Yes, except two people are already being charged with that as a result of this investigation.
CALLAN: Well he did -- You know, McQueary is not charged with it because he did report it. He reported it to Paterno. But what kind of a moral failure are we looking at? What kind of a man was he, not to try to save this child?
(CROSSTALK) CALLAN: And yet, he's going to go out on that football field as a representative of Penn State? I think it is disgusting and it is utterly shocking that he didn't intervene to help that child. And that's where this case -- that's where the wrong starts in this case, and it goes all the way to the top of this university, which is essentially a company town for the football team.
WHITFIELD: Potentially, do you see former coach Paterno facing perjury charges or any other kind of criminal charges as a result of this?
CALLAN: Well, I don't know. The D.A. has so far -- law enforcement authorities have said they aren't bringing charges against him. But, if more victims turn up, if more evidence is out there indicating that he should have known and he should have acted, we don't know what's going to be out there in the future.
(CROSSTALK)
CALLAN: OK. Not a pleasant future though for all concerned.
WHITFIELD: No. It is very uncomfortable for a whole lot of people. Something tells me it is going to get -- I guess, it is going to broaden as this investigation probes on.
Paul Callan, thanks so much.
CALLAN: OK, thank you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Oh, big oops. He did it again. Perry has a brain freeze, forgetting details about his own fiscal plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK PERRY, (R), GOVERNOR OF TEXAS & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: But will that be enough? What Perry calls his human moment next, in "Fair Game."
But first, "Political Junkies." Let's test your knowledge, who was the first sitting president to appear on "Saturday Night Live"? The answer after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Before the break we asked you to name the first sitting president to appear on "Saturday Night Live." Answer -- Gerald Ford. Ford was often mocked by Chevy Chase on the program. He showed good sport by showing up and delivering the tag line "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night."
Political watchers are calling Governor Rick Perry's debate gaffe last night one that will go down in modern political history.
The debate and Perry's self-described brain freeze are "Fair Game" for my guests today, Democratic political consultant, Ed Espinoza.
Good to see you.
And associate dean, Christopher Metzler of Georgetown University.
Good to see you as well.
First, let's play -- I know people have seen it. It will make you squirm a little bit. But let's just take another peek at that moment everyone's talking about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: 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)
Commerce, education and the --
UNIDENTIFIED DEBATE MODERATOR: You can't name the third one?
PERRY: The third agency of government I would do away with, the education, the --
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED DEBATE MODERATOR: Commerce.
PERRY: Commerce, and let's see. I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry.
(LAUGHTER)
Oops.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Oh, big oops.
OK, Chris, you first.
How do you recover from this? The day after, all morning long, on all the morning programs, he was laughing about it, he was very self-deprecating. Is that all he really can do?
CHRISTOPHER METZLER, ASSOCIATE DEAN, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Yes. I mean, that's all he can do. I mean there are two things. It reminded me of a couple of things. If you remember Admiral Stockdale, who --
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Yes, who am I and why am I here?
(LAUGHTER)
METZLER: Yes. It reminds me of that. And I also, for a moment, thought that I was actually watching an episode of "Saturday Night Live."
(LAUGHTER)
It's like, Houston, we have a problem.
(LAUGHTER)
There was absolutely nothing he could do. And the problem is not just this gaffe. The problem is he has been gaffing so poorly throughout the entire thing that his best strategy is probably going to be to skip a couple of debates and fade away.
WHITFIELD: So, Ed, do you agree with that? There really is nothing he can do to recover from that? Just kind of maybe poke fun at yourself, as he continues to do? He's going to be on Letterman tonight and I'm sure that's going to come up.
(LAUGHTER)
ED ESPINOZA, DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Look, in Rick Perry's defense, three things is a lot to remember.
(LAUGHTER)
ESPINOZA: But you can't really sink a ship that's already been sunk. Rick Perry hasn't been a player in this series for a couple of months.
I think the bigger story here is that Rick Perry actually gave a bailout to the other candidates, who had some gaffes on the stage, too. Romney said that his economic plan doesn't have a housing plan. Well, that doesn't equate to a good answer.
And I think that this issue with Perry is taking away from those things right now, particularly when you look at swing states like Nevada, Florida, Michigan, all with major housing crises right now. And today, we're talking about -- oops.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Big oops. I think, leading into this debate, though, I think many people anticipated lots of questions were going to go Herman Cain's way about the sexual harassment scandal and a question did come his way.
Let me play for many of you who may have missed it just what happened in the room.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED DEBATE MODERATOR: In recent days, we have learned that four different women have accused of you inappropriate behavior. Here we're focusing on character and on judgment. You've been a CEO --
(BOOING)
HERMAN CAIN, (R), FORMER GODFATHER'S PIZZA CEO & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people deserve better than someone being tried in the court of public opinion based on unfounded accusations. That's what that's about.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So Chris, the support from the room really silenced the question.
METZLER: Well, the support from the room silenced the question, but here's the problem. The problem from Herman Cain's standpoint are multiple problems. Problem number one is he then also went on to call the leader of the opposition, Congresswoman Pelosi --
WHITFIELD: Princess.
METZLER: -- "Princess Nancy."
WHITFIELD: Yes.
METZLER: If I'm being accused of sexual harassment, I'm not exactly going to call a woman "princess."
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: You agree? He kind of shot himself in the foot there in a big way?
ESPINOZA: Yes. Well, that's a problem. With this audience -- there's two things that really I will advise candidates to do, as a consultant. One is play to the audience. That's exactly what he did. That was red meat for the audience. The problem is, for everyone else, is it is a red flag in light of these allegations.
The other thing we advise campaigns to do when they're in the middle of controversies is to stick to your message. Stay on your message and repeat, ad nauseam. That's what he did with his plan. I think for the night, he might have successfully got around it by talking about 9-9- -- something.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: All right, Chris, you get the last word because I almost cut you off on part of your response there.
METZLER: Yes, but in terms of the 9-9-9 thing, it is becoming a fall-back position and it's becoming a bit of a joke, a bit of a crutch at this point. At the end of the day, the race is going to be down to two people. It is going to be Newt and it is going to be Romney. That's where we are.
WHITFIELD: All right, it is going to be a fascinating year, nonetheless.
Chris Metzler, Ed Espinoza, it already is, right? We're just getting warmed up.
All right, that's "Fair Game."
ESPINOZA: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Happening right now, rescues under way for survivors of a deadly earthquake. They are trapped beneath the rubble and we're just getting in new video right now.
Plus, another search. This one for a Major League Baseball player. A catcher for the Washington Nationals kidnapped? Taken from his own home. Now, new clues. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In eastern Turkey, rescuers are digging through mounds of debris in search of dozens of people still trapped after an earthquake struck last night. At least 25 people have been pulled from the rubble. At least seven others were killed. The 5.7 magnitude quake collapsed two dozen buildings, including a pair of hotels. The tremor occurred less than a month after a 7.2 quake devastated parts of the same area. At least 500 people died in that October 23rd quake.
A new assignment for Britain's Prince William. He will be deployed to the Falkland Islands next year. It is part of his role as a search and rescue pilot for the Royal Air Force. The prince will spend six weeks at the Falklands base living in military quarters. The islands off Argentina's south Atlantic coast have been under British rule since 1833.
A Major League Baseball player has been kidnapped in Venezuela. Washington Nationals catcher, Wilson Ramos, was abducted last night from his home in Santa Ynez about 100 miles from the capital of Caracas. Ramos was back in his home country playing for a Venezuelan winter league team.
CNN's Luis Carlos Velez joins us now from New York with more on this story.
How could this have happened? LUIS CARLOS VELEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Yes, this case has shocked Venezuela and is being investigated closely by the Venezuelan authorities.
According to preliminary reports, two heavily armed men stormed the home of Wilson Ramos' parents' in Valencia, Venezuela, where Ramos was staying. Neighbors tell local media that the gunmen staked out the home several times before breaking in. We have been trying to talk to the family directly but friends have told us that family prefers not to talk.
Ramos finished his rookie season with the Washington Nationals this year. He was back in his home country playing for the Valencia (ph) Tigers in Venezuela's winter league.
Witnesses interrogated by local media say that the gunmen threatened to kill the player if he refused to go with them.
Venezuelan authorities said this morning that they believe they've found the car used in the kidnapping and that that will help them to advance in the investigation. Also they have assembled sketches of the two alleged kidnappers.
Now kidnapping is becoming a common practice in Venezuela, mostly performed by small criminal organizations that demand money in order to relieve their hostages -- Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: So sad. Let's hope he gets a very safe release as a result of that.
Luis Carlos Velez, thanks so much.
WHITFIELD: Let's take a look at the big board now. The Dow up more than 100 points, 148 points one day after the chaos in Europe sent markets plunging.
So how should you be reacting? What should you be doing with your cash? Ali Velshi and Christine Romans are standing by. Their advice, because you know they've teamed up for a book and everything. They've got predictions, too. We'll check in with them.
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Since the end of 2007, we've all learned a lot of words and phrases we never really wanted to know -- toxic asset, credit default swap, hair cut. But knowing "How to Speak Money" at home, at work and in school is everyone's -- in everyone's best interests.
Nobody speaks tht language better than my CNN colleagues, Ali Velshi and Christine Romans. Their new book is "How to Speak Money, the Language and the Knowledge that You Need to Know."
Good to see you, guys. (CROSSTALK)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Fred, I just want to say something. Many people don't remember this but, in fact, my legacy of speaking money on CNN started with you.
WHITFIELD: I know!
VELSHI: Years ago, you and I used to do a show on the weekends --
WHITFIELD: Isn't that amazing? That is true.
VELSHI: -- talking about money.
WHITFIELD: That is true. We're going to talk more money. We're going to talk about your book in a minute. Let's talk about the markets. While the Dow was up 145 points, that is good. The markets really tanked yesterday. The European situation, Italy, Greece, in large part why? A lot of people 401Ks took hits, on average like $4,000 losses, just as a result of yesterday.
So, Ali and Christine, what are people to do? What are investors to do? How do you move on and try to secure your investments?
VELSHI: In the commercial break, you know what I said to Christine?
WHITFIELD: What?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: He said, I want to punch the Dow in the face.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: He really did say that.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: It is confusing everybody. It's so hard, because really, your blood pressure goes up and down with that chart. And in fact, it's not that should you ignore it. It is very relevant. As you just said, it has to do with your 401K and your retirement. But you make decisions -- you don't follow everything else in your life that closely, and you make decisions in a poor way because it is all in front of you. These are real issues that you just discussed, Europe and growth and the rest of the world. But they need to play a part in your overall financial --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: There's an old phrase on Wall Street, that when markets are like this, the real professional, who speak money for a living, they say, don't just do something, stand there.
(LAUGHTER)
Because people are moved by emotion, especially if you don't speak money, you're not fluent in investing or markets or moving money in markets. You can make lot of mistakes. Our advice, is to stay the course, have a plan, follow the plan. Make sure you're invested in your company 401K. You're getting a match. You have the right balance for your age and what you want to do with yourself.
VELSHI: If you're holding credit and you're paying 10 percent or 12 percent or higher, you can't get that return in the market. Your best return on anything is paying down your credit and then investing.
ROMANS: Absolutely.
VELSHI: So your plan is more important than the world's plan at the moment.
WHITFIELD: You know what? Let's talk about bailouts. For a minute, bailouts seemed like a great idea. And then, the next minute, people were criticizing it and it became a dirty word. And now the word bailout is being used again. And now we're talking about the seventh-largest economy in the world, Italy. We're talking about Greece. Are bailouts one of the answers, maybe for Greece, but could it be for an economy the size of an Italy?
ROMANS: Italy is too big to bail out. There's the agreement here, when you're looking at the size of that economy, it is the third-largest bond market in the world. What they need there, is they need a comprehensive plan from their government to get themselves out of trouble and learn to pay back their debt. And austerity measures there that will not growth but help. So what they need is a plan and a strategy.
The European central bank, there are thing the central banks can do that -- call they will bailouts or not, but they can buy back Italian bonds to try to push down those interest rates so the borrowing costs for Italy aren't so --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: When people look at it and say, why can't they get their act together, why can't Greece get their act together, and is Spain going to be next. It is kind of the same way people look at America, Fred, and say, why can't they get their act together with that budget? Why can't that super committee get their act together? How come they had to wait until the last minute to trays debt ceiling? How come they face a downgrade? Every country has its own political squabbles inside. And they don't really get that the entire world is focused on them, and they should just do the right thing. Because everybody in the Italian parliament thinks they're doing the right thing and the Greek parliament. So you get why this happens all over the world.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Someone this morning told us, look what's happening in Italy and you're looking at your future.
VELSHI: Right.
WHITFIELD: In all that, I learned so much, and that's the whole bottom line for your book. It's called "How to Speak Money, the Language and Knowledge You Need to Know."
We're out of time, so we can't talk about the book. But the bottom line is --
(LAUGHTER)
-- this really was inspired by a lot of people who were still kind of perplexed about all the --
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: Right.
WHITFIELD: -- I don't know, the equations of money talk. And this will break it down for them -- Ali Velshi --
VELSHI: That's all we need to say about it.
WHITFIELD: -- Christine Romans, thank you so much.
ROMANS: Thank you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Get the book, people. You'll have a better understanding about money.
(LAUGHTER)
Thanks so much, guys. Appreciate that.
From papers, please, to no water for you, illegal immigrants now being refused water and electricity. It is sparking a firestorm.
Plus, it was supposed to be history in the making, an alert system test across television and radio everywhere. The only thing is it didn't exactly go off without a hitch. Will it work if there is a real emergency?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Now let's go to "Street Level" with stories across the country.
A controversy brewing in Alabama. According to the "Decatur Daily," Decatur Utilities is prohibiting undocumented immigrants from obtaining gas, water, electric and sewer services. They say they're following Section 30 of a new immigration law that makes it illegal to do business with immigrants. The Department Justice is challenging that law. And Alabama's biggest county is broke, plagued by a $4.2 billion debt. Jefferson County, which includes the state's largest city of Birmingham, has filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. It is the largest municipal bankruptcy in its U.S. history. In a statement yesterday, Governor Robert Bentley, said, quote, "I am disappointed by the commission's decision as bankruptcy will negatively impact not only the Birmingham region but also the entire state," end quote. If you were watching CNN or our sister network, HLN, around this time yesterday, this is what you saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Under a minute. Millions of Americans will witness history for the first time ever. The government will launch a nation-wide test of the Emergency Broadcast System.
We want to let that you know, at 2:00, there will be a brief test of the Emergency Action Notification System. It is just a test, so don't be concerned when that comes up at 2:00.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, we weren't hoping it was going to be an oops. If officials wanted to find flaws in the Emergency Alert System yesterday, consider the test a success.
Senior political editor, Mark Preston, joins me from Washington.
Mark, what happened?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: I was one of the millions of people who were watching you, waiting to see this test come on.
(LAUGHTER)
PRESTON: And I kept seeing Don Lemon.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
PRESTON: All I saw was Don Lemon.
This was the first ever nation-wide test of the Emergency Alert System, and it did not work properly. But FEMA and the FCC said it was not a failure. After all, this was a test to try to find weak points and flaws.
And there were problems. Some TV and radio stations never played the 30-second alert while others kept it up for longer than 30 seconds.
The Emergency Alert System is often used on a local and regional basis, and it is used to notify people of events such as tornadoes. But to emphasize that this was not a failure, the head of FEMA, Craig Fugate, said in an interview with CNN, if we don't test it, we don't know what we need to fix. Clearly, they know they need to fix something. That's correct.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: That's the glass half full perspective. Sometime you simply learn from mistakes, right?
PRESTON: No doubt.
WHITFIELD: Mark Preston, I appreciate that so much, in Washington.
PRESTON: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: That will do it for me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Brooke Baldwin is in Washington, D.C., as well today -- Brooke?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Fred, I'm in your home turf. Nice to be here in Washington.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: I love that city.
I will do so.
WHITFIELD: You know it's the best.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: I love this place.
Thank you, Fred, so much.
WHITFIELD: OK.
