Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

On the Brink of Failure; UC-Davis Chancellor Refuses to Resign; Awaiting Terror-Related News Conference from New York City Mayor; Syracuse Basketball Coach Accused of Molestation; Full Story Not Told in Penn State Child Abuse Case; Minnesota Hit with 1st Major Snowstorm; Union Strike Could Leave School Kids Without Buses; Surveillance Video Catches Casino Card Cheats

Aired November 20, 2011 - 18:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you so much for joining us.

We're going to begin with this:

It was born out of necessity, created during the debt ceiling crisis back in the summer. But the so-called super committee in Washington made up of six Republicans and six Democrats from both the houses of Congress may have been doomed from the very start. They are down to the final hours of their self-imposed deadline to come up with more than $1 trillion in cuts to the deficit. Live pictures of the Capitol in Washington right now.

And at this hour, things really don't look good.

Our congressional correspondent Kate Bolduan is standing by. She's in that Capitol building for us now.

Kate, Congress, Washington, missing deadlines becoming all too familiar. Where do we stand now?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think we can say, Don, that at best, the super committee is on the brink of failure, as talks have all but fallen apart, especially in the last, I would say maybe 24 hours really. I mean, the question, the conversation is now kind of how and when the committee is likely to make its formal announcement that they have failed versus they are near some kind of agreement and they could be making an announcement of agreement anytime soon.

Of course, there can be always some Hail Mary pass at the 11th hour as sometimes happens with these congressional negotiations. But with such little time left, it seems highly unlikely that the committee is going to be able to reach any sort of agreement and much more likely that the committee has failed.

Evidence of that, Don, just listen to the dramatic shift in tone among committee members themselves. They really fanned out on the Sunday morning talk shows and their tone and what they are really talking about and focusing on, shifting from not pushing for agreement and pushing for a deal, and we're hopeful, to who should be to blame if when the committee fails.

Let's listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: Nothing new came out of this. From the Democratic side, it was the same thing -- raise taxes, pass the president's jobs bill, no entitlement reform. On the Republican side, you had the one true breakthrough, that was this new concept of tax reform which can generate revenue from the upper brackets for deficit reduction.

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D), WASHINGTON: The truth is at this point today, Democrats have made some really tough decisions and come to some pretty tough choices that we're willing to put on a line, on entitlements, on spending cuts, but only if the Republicans are willing to cross the line on the Bush tax cuts and be willing to say revenues have to be part of the solution.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BOLDUAN: Both sides clearly blaming the other for being inflexible and blaming the other for not being able to reach agreement around the minimum required amount of deficit savings of $1.2 trillion over 10 years.

The talks, Don, largely breaking down over the same issue that has held up these negotiations throughout this entire process, which is the issue of taxes. Tax Democrats insist that revenue tax increases need to be part of any deal as it needs to be part of a, quote- unquote, "balanced approach" -- as they like to call it -- toward deficit savings. Republicans on the flip side, no surprise to you, they are very much opposed to tax increases unless they are part of an overall broader tax reform process. And that's really where the talks broke down early on. And no matter how they worked, it seems that's what held up in the process.

LEMON: You say the talks broke down early on. So, committee members, were they ever anywhere close to an agreement or was this committee just as divided as Congress itself, Kate?

BOLDUAN: I'll tell you, in talking throughout the months that they have been together and working, I followed it very closely. Close aides have told me that they have been working hard. And even members themselves have told me quietly that there were glimmers of hope, there were moments where they were close. They thought they had the elements of what could be a deal and they just had to give a little bit here or there, and they thought negotiations would come together.

But in the end, it comes down to they are taking on the very tough stuff. That's why this committee was set up to begin with. The issues of entitlement reform and taxes and sending cuts, that is an issue that held up the Congress and Congresses before it. That's why this is so hard and it seems that this committee was not able in the end, really, to overcome the hurdle of these very tough issues that are principal differences between Democrats and Republicans on how to reduce the deficit and, really, how to run Congress.

LEMON: This is one story we are going to be paying close attention to, our Kate Bolduan is on it. Kate, stand by. We're going to be getting back to you.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

LEMON: Thank you very much.

When the first group of religious leaders gathered in Washington to support government spending on the poor.

Prayer rally was held in Lafayette Park, right across from the White House. Participants called on super committee members to come up with a plan that preserves programs for children and others who rely on government assistance.

So, what happens if the super committee comes up short and fails to reach a deal? More than $1 trillion in automatic cuts will kick in but they won't happen right away.

CNN's Lisa Desjardins explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Take a look at where super committee failure could fall.

John Langford, 400-person aviation business in Manassas, Virginia.

JOHN LANGFORD, DEFENSE CONTRACTOR: On the outside, it looks like a normal plane. And on the inside this is equivalent of 42-D2.

DESJARDINS: So, it's a drone made for U.S. defense. And across the board cuts hitting the Pentagon in 2013 could hit this aircraft and this business, too.

LANGFORD: The employees are incredibly nervous. I think everybody is. In a small business, it is a very hand-to-mouth kind of thing.

DESJARDINS: Let's stop here. Specifics: super committee failure triggers 8 percent to 9 percent in automatic cuts for the Defense Department. But cuts would also hit here, social programs that help the poor and other places like border patrols and hurricane readiness, because the nondefense side of government also gets an 8 percent to 9 percent cut also. Some call that catastrophic.

Dan Mitchell from the Cato Institute, he says something else.

DAN MITCHELL, CATO INSTITUTE: If there is no deal, taxpayers actually win, because we got a sequester, and that means in Washington budget talk, there are automatic reductions in the projected growth of government spending.

DESJARDINS: How much red ink would automatic cut stop? STAN COLLENDER, FEDERAL FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICY ANALYST, QORVIS: Well, the maximum amount it could be under the law is $1.2 trillion over nine years. And, obviously, $1.2 trillion is a lot of money.

DESJARDINS: All right. Hold it there. That Stan Collender, federal budget expert, he said $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts. Sounds like a lot?

COLLENDER: But over a nine-year period, it's not that great.

DESJARDINS: The bottom line, well, back at Aurora Flight Services, John Langford worries super committee failure looks like across-the- board cuts that will knife defense but barely scratch the debt problem.

LANGFORD: Even as we're talking about bringing overall spending down, you have to do it wisely.

DESJARDINS (on camera): And there's another possibility. Those across-the-board cuts coming because of super committee failure, they don't happen until 2013. So, Congress would have a year to water them down. And if Congress did, that could have repercussions on Wall Street and extend this messy debate in to a messy campaign year.

Lisa Desjardins, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Lisa, thank you very much.

The final word on the super committee belongs to Will Cain and L.Z. Granderson, and they're going to join me in about 10 minutes to talk about this and some other big issues making headlines today.

I want to check you other headlines around the world now. Egypt's revolution isn't over. Hundreds of soldiers and police stormed Cairo's Tahrir Square today.

Demonstrators fled in the face of tear gas and what sounded like gun fire. Ten people have been killed in the square so far. That's according to the Egypt's health ministry. Hundreds have been injured. The military insists it will transfer power back to civilians and parliamentary elections will be held later this month.

The protesters are upset about the slow pace of reform and the possibility the military will try to operate outside government control.

Libyans captured another prize today. National Transitional Council officials said their forces captured the country's former intelligence chief. Abdullah al-Senussi was Moammar Gadhafi's brother in law and a notorious figure in the former regime.

Meanwhile, Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam, will remain in the town of Zentan because of security concerns. He is the highest profile detainee and was captured Saturday in the desert. Libyans insist it will bring him to justice even as officials with the International Criminal Court insist he should be sent to The Hague.

Did you see this video? Campus police at the University of California-Davis pepper-spraying occupy protesters. We have new information on this story and fallout from this incident in just the last couple of hours.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: If you're watching last night, we were the first to report of the chancellor's response to this incident.

University of California-Davis is putting two campus police officers on administrative leave as they actually pepper-sprayed Occupy protesters in their faces at point blank range on Friday night. The controversial incident was caught on tape, sparking outrage. The university says that officers were trying to clear out the Occupy encampment and felt trapped by protesters.

Eleven people required treatment. Two were hospitalized. Protesters and faculty members are calling on the school's chancellor, Linda Katehi, to resign.

Last night, as Katehi left the campus, dozens of students gathered nearby, their arms-linked in silent protests. Earlier in the evening, they were much more vocal with their demands for the chancellor's resignation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROTESTERS: Take responsibility! Take responsibility! Take responsibility!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Katehi is refusing to resign. That's what she told us. And while she calls the police action chilling and unacceptable, she told me last night the students encampment was raising security concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA P.B. KATEHI, CHANCELLOR, UC-DAVIS (via telephone): We have an event that I hope we will not really see again in our campus. We have been in the last 2 1/2 weeks dealing with student unrest. Our students are very upset. And they are very frustrated. And they are trying to find ways to express this frustration.

On Thursday, they tried to -- they created a camp, they set up a camp in our quad, which is against university policies for a number of reasons. Safety, primarily, is one concern and health.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the university has set up a task force made up of students, faculty and staff to investigate the incident. A report is expected within the next 30 days.

We have some news that is just in to CNN, literally just in, reading it straight from the wires here.

We are learning from -- CNN has confirmed that Mayor Bloomberg of New York City is going to hold a press conference at 7:30 p.m. and he will be joined -- 7:30 tonight, in just over an hour. He's going to be joined by Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Manhattan D.A., Anthony Vance. And what we're being told is that this is terrorism-related.

Again, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg holding a press conference with the police commissioner and the Manhattan D.A. and we're told that's going to be concerning terrorism. Of course, this is very concerning and of important because of the holiday season coming up. New York has three -- the New York area -- three big airports, LaGuardia, Newark and also Kennedy. But also, again we don't know exactly what it is, except that it is terrorism-related. So, we'll carry for you right here on CNN. Make sure you stay tuned.

In the meantime, the super committee charged with cutting the deficit apparently hours away from announcing that it has failed. Is this further proof that Washington is broken and can't be fixed? Which party is to blame? Both, none? We're discussing it in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Just trying to get more information for you on this press conference that's going to be held at 7:30 p.m. Eastern in New York City by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, also, the police commissioner and district attorney, Vance.

What CNN is confirming that it is terrorism-related and we're going to carry that for you at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, just as soon as the mayor, the police commissioner and district attorney get to the podium and start this press conference. Don't know exactly what it is about. But we do know it's terrorism-related and, of course, that's a concern because the holiday weekend starting.

Travel is already started next week, starting Monday, going to be a big travel week. So, we want to know. A lot of people will be traveling in and out of those airports as well, and in and out of New York City. I will be one of them.

We will update you as soon as we get more information on this.

(MUSIC)

LEMON: All right. To politics now -- the super committee turns out to be not so super, apparently stalled with hours to go before its deadline to reach a deal on cutting the deficit. Plus, Republicans pounce on the president for using the word "lazy" in a discussion about the American economy and American workers.

Who better to talk about this than our regulars? There they go. We keep them separated even on the screen because they tend to go at it a lot. Will Cain and L.Z. Granderson. Will Cain is contributor to CNN.com, L.Z., contributor to CNN.com and he's a senior writer at ESPN. So, Will, and, L.Z., are either of you surprised that the super committee won't be presenting us with a grand compromise to cut the deficit. L.Z. first and then Will.

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: No, I don't think anyone is surprised by it. In fact, when it was announced back in the late summer, we all thought it was a big joke, that we didn't that -- if they weren't able to get a debt ceiling agreement done before our credit rating dropped, we definitely weren't expecting them months later kind of have some sort of bipartisan discussion about what should be raised and what should be cut. So, no, I'm not surprised. I don't think anyone is.

LEMON: Are you in agreement, Will?

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I'm not surprised. I don't know how you could be.

The hang up in any kind of deficit reduction deal has always been Democrats' willingness to engage on entitlements and Republicans' willingness to engage on taxes. That has not changed. That seems to be the hang up and it always has been. So, we are where we started from.

LEMON: So, you know, Will, you bring up a good point because L.Z., Democrats are already using their Republicans are defending tax cuts for the rich line. But Democrats weren't exactly coughing up ideas for spending cuts now, were they?

GRANDERSON: No. And if you really look at what the automatic cuts are going to be, the $1.2 trillion, if you got to say which side favors it more, you would think Democrats do. So, I think there's a level of disingenuine activity happening here because, you know, if the cuts do kick in, most of the money is being cut out of the military and that's kind of a liberal sort of, you know, feel-good moment.

So, I think the Democrats definitely have a lot of blame to shoulder here.

LEMON: Go, Will.

CAIN: I want to say, he's pointing out something very interesting here. There will be a lot of talk about Republican intransigent on taxes. And some of that will be true. But, you know, "Politico" reported today that a Democratic aide has said that the national conversation has turned toward equality -- inequality, not toward cutting. And two reps -- two Democratic reps, Jim Clyburn and Xavier Becerra, showed up pretty much disengaged from this whole process because they felt the automatic cuts were better than any of the ideas anyone would come up with.

LEMON: I know. We're getting all on the weeds here. But you know what the average person at home, I think is, they're just wondering, hey, why can't they come up with -- why can't they agree? They are tired of one side blaming the other. And you guys do know this, they just want people to agree and get something done.

But let's move on. I digress. Let's talk about laziness. The president used the word "lazy" at a recent APEC summit on a national stage. And he is taking heat from Republican presidential hopefuls.

Here's the president during the discussion about trade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades. We've kind of taken for granted -- well, people will want to come here and we aren't out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new businesses in to America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. So, that's the remark. Now, Perry is running an ad saying the president is wrong for calling Americans lazy, but is that what the president did?

Here's two views. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EUGENE ROBINSON, WASHINGTON POST: I actually agree he should have chosen a different word. It is a distortion of what he said but it left him open to this attack.

MIKE MURPHY, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: My view is that the tape in the ad was out of context and therefore, that's particular ad is pretty hard to defend. But the tone of the president's remarks on many things has skated close to Jimmy Carter "malaise" speak. So, I think the argument about that tone and remarks is legitimate. It's hard for me to defend the use of that tape in that ad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Will, is it fair game to say that the president's calling people lazy?

CAIN: I think we're focusing on the wrong word, Don. I think the operative word on this entire phrase from the president is we. Who is he talking about when he said we have gotten lazy? If he is talking about the government, well, Don, I think the president has a misguided role of the government's role. It's not really innovator or energizer of the economy in chief, is set the rules and step out of the way. If he does mean we as in Americans or American businesses, well, then, I do think he's treading on dangerous ground because that is the one trait that made America exceptional throughout our history.

LEMON: You know, listen, it may be tough. Sometimes, things are true in general, but there are some remarks that you just can't say out loud, Will. Do you think it's fair that the president said that and was he really talking about the American people, per se?

CAIN: That's what I just said. I don't know.

LEMON: L.Z., I'm talking to L.Z.

CAIN: I don't know if he's talking about government or the American people.

LEMON: Did I say Will, I meant L.Z. Sorry.

CAIN: You did.

GRANDERSON: Well, as far as I'm concerned, you know, it's a shame the president's words were taken out of context and now being used in an ad. You know, it's just ridiculous, because, clearly, that is not what he meant in that one snippet, calling American workers lazy.

But, I mean, there is something to be said over the fact that we have gotten so used to seeming we are number one in everything that we don't stop and take a look at our efforts in everything. I think that's really important for us to do. I'll give an example.

You know, I recently wrote a story on ESPN and I looked at the college graduation rates. And I was kind of shocked to see that the U.S. per capita was 13th now in the world in terms of college degrees in the population --13th. So, I mean, we slipped in a lot of places and we need to really talk about that. If you need to hear things like we are lazy or we're not as educated to shake things up, then I think that's a good thing.

LEMON: OK. Listen, thank you very much.

I was just going to say, the next thing, this is just for you, I enjoyed seeing Jon Huntsman last night -- this is for you, L.Z. -- on "SNL" because he actually showed some personality and people probably liked him because he was really funny. L.Z. has been talking about Jon Huntsman for months. He's on the Jon Huntsman bandwagon. And he is -- Jon Huntsman is a conservative and L.Z. is a liberal. Thank you, guys.

CAIN: Are you going to leave it at that. You're doing Jon Huntsman a lot of favors there.

LEMON: I got to go. You know, there's time in television. You can't get everything in there.

GRANDERSON: He's got to go. He's got to go. Jon Huntsman is going to get his turn to be number one. Watch.

LEMON: All right. We'll see, L.Z. All right. Will, thank you. Hey, happy turkey to both of you.

The hour's top stories is straight ahead, right after the break.

And the Penn State sex abuse scandal. One of the questions that keeps lingering, how much did legendary coach, Joe Paterno, know about the alleged crime? "Sports Illustrated" senior investigative reporter Jon Wertheim is going to join us live.

But, first, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has launched a new program called "THE NEXT LIST." Each week, it will profile innovators from all walks of life and fields of endeavor. This week, he talks to Christopher Brosius, a cab driver-turned-award-winning perfumer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER BROSIUS, AWARD-WINNING PERFUMER: I can remember scent very, very accurately, which I'm told from even like really excellent researcher at the Monell Center in Philadelphia hat people can't do this. I can't imagine how they can't. But I'm told they can't. I catalog smells on my head, I remember them, I can pull them and start arranging them in my head without even doing anything physically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Make sure you tune in on Sundays to watch "THE NEXT LIST" or set your DVR for 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. News just this to CNN: a press conference at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, 7:30 p.m. Eastern in New York City. It will be held by the Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the police commissioner and the Manhattan district attorney. This is a live picture now of Manhattan right now that you are looking at. But again, CNN is confirming that the mayor is going to hold a press conference.

The only thing, the only information that we have gotten about this press conference is that it is terror-related. It is terrorism- related. So, we will carry it for you live in an hour here on CNN when the mayor, the police commissioner and the Manhattan D.A. step up top the mic and give a press conference in New York City on terrorism.

In the meantime, I want to check your headlines.

The congressional super committee given the job of coming up with a plan to cut the deficit by more than $1 trillion dollars over the next decade looks headed for failure. There's been no final decision but sources tell CNN that an end to the talks could be announced tomorrow. Without a deal, automatic cuts across the board in spending will go into effect in 2013.

Overseas in Cairo, 10 people were killed today in clashes between police and protesters. Running battles began when soldiers and police charge in Tahrir Square, pushing out protesters upset over the slow pace of reform. Pro-democracy activists worry the military will try to keep its grip on power. The military vows to transfer authority to the new president of parliament after elections.

Syria is ignoring an Arab League deadline to end its crackdown on pro- democracy protesters. Activists say 12 people were killed today. The Arab League threatens sanctions if the crackdown wasn't over by today. It wants to send some 500 observers to Damascus. But Syria balked at that plan and offered to accept 40 instead. President Bashar Al-Assad says his country is battling militants not demonstrators.

In Philadelphia, two runners died today in the city's annual marathon. That's according to race officials. The causes of death have not been released. Unlike other marathons, a road race through downtown Philadelphia is open to anyone. No pre-qualifications are required.

A man whose sexual abuse claims are threatening to rock Syracuse University's basketball team hits back after head coach, Jim Boeheim, called him a liar. Bobby Davis, a former ball boy, is accusing Syracuse's basketball coach, Bernie Fine, of molesting him hundreds of times over a 16-year period. Davis' step-brother, Mike Lang, says Fine molested him 15 to 20 times when he was younger. Fine is on administrative leave as police investigate the actions.

Coach Boeheim came out in strong support of Fine, calling Davis a liar and accusing him of coming forward to get money. But Davis tells ESPN that Boeheim can't possibly know what he is talking about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBY DAVIS, ACCUSES SYRACUSE COACH BERNIE FINE OF MOLESTATION: Boeheim wasn't there with me and Bernie. I don't know how he could say that. He wasn't there. I mean, like how does he know what happened in Bernie's house at night? Maybe the thinks he knows Bernie like a lot of other people do, but they don't. How can they tell people he didn't do that to me? I don't know how you can say that when you don't -- you weren't there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Davis first accused Fine in 2003, but police say they wouldn't pursue the case because the statute of limitations had expired. An internal investigation by the university cleared Fine in 2005. He has released a statement calling Davis' claims patently false in every aspect.

The Syracuse allegations only add to this painful time in college athletics. The news out of Penn State if seems just gets worse and worse and worse. The child sex abuse scandal, the alleged cover-up, the firings of top administrators accused of looking the other way, and now the recently fired campus legend, Joe Paterno, has been diagnosed with cancer.

I want to bring in Jon Wertheim. He's senior investigator for "Sports Illustrated." He's a regular on the show.

Jon's colleagues, David Epstein have the cover of this week's issue and I've read it and it is very interesting. You see the headline, "The failure and shame of Penn State."

Jon, good to see you again.

This has become a horror story. Let's start with Joe Paterno. You have been talking to a lot of people in State College, Pennsylvania in recent days. Have you talked to anyone, anyone at all who's close to the program and believes that Joe Paterno could not have known that former coach, Jerry Sandusky, was a threat to children?

JON WERTHEIM, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Yes, Paterno still has a lot of backers. One thing I've have heard a couple of times is, look, he was 75 years old at the time. He is a socially conservative man. He doesn't curse and he doesn't have e- mail. This report came to him and he just didn't really process it. Man, boy, just somebody deal with it. And it didn't really crystallize. I've heard that from a couple of people. But you step back and look at the totality here. In 1998, there was a report, a 100-page police report that went to the local prosecutor alleging Jerry Sandusky of this. The notion that Joe Paterno never found out about this defies, sort of resists everything we know about coaching and common sense. Ideally, eventually, we will get a straight answer. I have a hard time believing that before 2002 he didn't know.

LEMON: Yes and you can not -- that's like saying, I didn't know about the law. You can't claim ignorance of the law. That's not how it works, even though he is 75 and didn't have e-mail, the buck stops with you.

As you know, Jon, back in 2002 with, a coach allegedly saw Sandusky assaulting a child in the football showers. And you write in this week's issue, quote, "The lone result of the 2002 incident, a decision approved by President Graham Spanier, is that Sandusky was prohibited from bringing children on campus. Don't do it here among all the graphic and horrifying details in the grand jury testimony, this point perhaps is most damning."

So there were people aware of the allegations, including what you meant by -- including -- at any point, why didn't anyone call police?

WERTHEIM: That's the question we all want answered. Obviously, we would have saved some potential victims allegedly. We wouldn't be at the situation where we are right now.

But again, that was my big takeaway from the whole report. It wasn't until Jerry Sandusky left the confines of Penn State football that the investigation got rolling. He went to the small town and volunteered and had an incident and that kick-started this. If he restricted the Penn State football facilities there is nothing to suggest he would have ever gotten caught.

LEMON: Here's the interesting thing. I wrote about it on CNN.com today, Jon. If this assistant football coach, this graduate student, saw it happening and said he intervened, that will come out in a report. But why would he leave a 10-year-old with a grown man naked in the shower? That's the whole thing for a lot of people, as well.

WERTHEIM: Again, he has his story and he sort of hinted that we are not getting the full story. There are four different investigations afoot. Hopefully, we'll get straight answers. But, no, I think you are right. That is something that sticks out. How could this have possibly happened? LEMON: Yes. A school trustee, Jon, is leading an investigation and he says he will let the chips fall where they may. The NCAA also investigating. You and I talked about that last week. In fact, it got a little heated between us. What is the worst that could happen to the university, no bowl game, football program suspended? Something more serious? What?

WERTHEIM: There is this death penalty. Again, you and I disagree about jurisdictional issues, but let me put it this way. What if Penn State came out and said, you know what, this is so horrible and unprecedented it goes to the core, and it is still evolving. We don't know who, what and when. It is such a distraction. You know what? We're going to finish out this season. We'll play our bowl game, but 2012, we will step back. The players, if they want to transfer them, we will release them, but no football for 2012. It's sacrilege to say this. You wouldn't want to say it at State College. But if I'm Penn State, I'm thinking of seriously about self sanctioning. Just saying, you know what, we need to reassess. We need to get some perspective. We need to keep the football program, change the power dynamic with the rest of the university. Instead of having this distraction for a season, we give it a rest for a year and we'll see what happens.

LEMON: Jon, do you feel differently then. It seems like last week -- last week, you didn't think so. You said the other people in the team had nothing to do with it. As you are finding out more and as time is going on, are you feeling differently about this?

WERTHEIM: No, I was talking last week about jurisdictionally.

LEMON: Right.

WERTHEIM: Does the NCAA have power to do this? But it is true that every day brings a new story. I can't get over how much is still left unknown. All sorts -- this plot twists by the day. So what if you just said, you know what, before -- until we know more, it is time to take a break from football.

LEMON: Yes.

Jon Wertheim, senior investigative reporter from "Sports Illustrated."

Thank you, sir. Happy holiday to you. Happy Thanksgiving

WERTHEIM: Thank you, Dom.

LEMON: Whether you are traveling for Thanksgiving, the holiday, or friends and family are traveling to you, don't want to run to this. Major snowstorm causing travel troubles this evening. Our Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has the weather conditions that you need to know about, next. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. Just in to CNN, this is our developing news. New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and the police commissioner and Manhattan district attorney will hold a press conference at 7:30 p.m. eastern, to be carried live here on CNN. What we do know is it is terrorism related. Ray Kelly, police commissioner; Cyrus Vance, Manhattan D.A., will join New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in this press conference. You don't want to go anywhere because we want to know what is going on leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday.

In the meantime, let's talk about the weather. Look at this video. It is from Minnesota. The state's first major snowstorm of the season left up to a foot of snow in some places. A state trooper had to guide a snowplow through the traffic jam on Interstate 94. A wreck shut down the highway for about two hours. Now the snow is moving out and rains are moving in.

Unbelievable, Jacqui. It is the first snowstorm. You don't expect the first snowstorm to be that big.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know but --

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: You think of a little snowstorm. But this, leading up to the thanksgiving holiday, may provide some travel woes for a lot of folks.

JERAS: Yes, absolutely. And it will take a little bit to melt the 12 inches. So a little freeze going on, on I-94 and I35 up there. And Minnesota will be a problem.

The system that caused the snow is stalling out. It is producing severe weather on the southern end of it. We have a severe thunderstorm watch in effect which includes Dallas-Ft. Worth. Large hail, damaging winds is the primary concern here. Unfortunately, as the thing doesn't move, we will see the same weather over the next couple of days. Today is day one of about three days of seeing severe weather across the mid south. As storms continue track over the same areas, we are talking about very heavy rain. As much as three to five inches can be expected between now and Wednesday. So there's the threat of flooding to go with that. Flash flood watches have been issued from eastern Oklahoma to Arkansas and into western parts of Tennessee.

Now, let's take you through the next couple of days. This is what we are expecting on Monday. Look at that. San Angelo up towards Dallas near Little Rock, expecting to see strong to severe thunderstorms possible. As we head in to Tuesday, this is more the middle Mississippi and Tennessee River Valley, possibly as far north as Cincinnati. As we head into Wednesday, this is the big travel day, the number-one travel day of the year, I do believe, and we have a front up all the way up and down the east coast of the U.S. We could see a few thunderstorms becoming severe, I think, in this area. We will have to watch for that, the Delmarva down towards the Carolinas. And, of course, if you are traveling by the airways that will be a mess. A mess in San Francisco right now, delays over an hour and we got a lot of rain in Los Angeles today, too, Don.

LEMON: All right. In Los Angeles. Sacrilege.

JERAS: I know. It has been raining all day.

LEMON: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

Thank you, Jacqui.

We want to tell you, the thing you see at the bottom of the screen there, the live picture of New York City is because Mayor Michael Bloomberg will hold a press conference. We just got the notice a short time ago here at CNN. The only thing they're telling us about it, is it related to terrorism. 7:30 p.m. eastern, we will carry it for you live. Make sure you stay tuned.

In the meantime, it could be an interesting ride to school tomorrow morning for more than 150,000 school kids. Their buses may not be rolling. A live report after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Update you on the developing news we have. CNN has confirmed that New York City Mayor Bloomberg is to hold a news conference at 7:30 p.m. eastern, 7:30 p.m. eastern. We will carry it live. We are learning that it is terrorism related. And apparently, it must be at least of some seriousness because he will be joined by the police commissioner and the Manhattan district attorney. As soon as the mayor holds his press conference at 7:30 p.m. eastern, we will have it for you live here on CNN.

More than 150,000 kids may not make it to school in New York City tomorrow. School bus drivers could go on strike if the city doesn't promise to protect their jobs.

Our Ines Ferre, following this story for us and she joins us now live.

Ines Ferre, what are you hearing? What are the odds of this happening?

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I spoke to the local union today and they said they don't have immediate plans for a strike, but they are leaving their option open. On Friday, they had some criticism for the mayor's office, saying the mayor's actions were making a strike likely.

I spoke to the mayor's office today and they told me that, last week, they were informed that a strike was imminent, but that they were not told when it would occur. Mayor Bloomberg saying that if they do strike that this would be illegal and it would create a lot of chaos here -- Don?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: We know this is a very difficult situation for all of us. And we understand that it may be upsetting to our students and our families. Every parent or guardian must evaluate the needs of his or own child in terms of making the best arrangement to transport the child to school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So can -- Ines, can you explain what the conflict here is, exactly?

FERRE: Yes, it's really about jobs. What happened is that the city issued a bid for bus services for pre-K students with special needs without some employee provisions, which would have basically guaranteed that the local union workers would have guaranteed those jobs. Now, the city is saying they couldn't include those provisions in the bid. The union said their workers are very experienced and they should be getting those jobs. And they put out a statement saying that when it comes to school children the mayor should be more concerned about safety, not just cutting costs -- Don?

LEMON: Does the city have a contingency plan? What is the plan again if the strike happens?

FERRE: Yes. They sent out letters to all the parents on Friday and what this contingency includes are basically about 300,000 metro cards that would be available to students so they could get to school. And those metro cards are used for the subways in New York City and also the public buses. And also parents, some of the parents that drive their kids to school would be reimbursed for their drives and also if they wanted to take their kids via taxi -- Don?

LEMON: Ines Ferre, thank you very much. We will be watching that one. It is one of the biggest casino-cheating scams in U.S. history and it was caught on surveillance camera. We will look at how a blackjack ring used a phony card shuffle to rake in millions. That's next right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This just into CNN. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to hold a news conference, 7:30 p.m. eastern. We know that it is terrorism related. It is just over 30 minutes away and we're going to carry it for you live. You want to pay attention with the holiday season coming up, a lot of folks traveling in and out of New York City and through major airports there. We want to hear what the mayor, the police chief and also the Manhattan district attorney have to say about this terrorism-related press conference that they're going to hold at 7:30 p.m. eastern.

In other news now, as card cheats go, these guys were pros. They hit casino after casino. Surveillance video showed how the team used high-tech equipment, hand signals and slight of hand shuffling to rake in millions. But their luck ran out at the blackjack table in San Diego.

I spoke with George Joseph, the founder of Worldwide Casino Consulting. He's an expert on casino security. Here's his demonstration of the techniques these cheats used.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE JOSEPH, WORLDWIDE CASINO CONSULTING: I'm going to show you a deck of cards that are in order. And with the demonstration, you'll think that the cards are being shuffled. And this is called the riffle shuffle. And it looks as though the cards are mixed. And in fact, the cards are still in the same order.

LEMON: So nothing is mixed?

JOSEPH: Nothing is mixed. If you knew the order of playing cards coming out in any round of play, you would have a big edge on the casino. You'd know how to bet on which side on a baccarat game and you'd know the outcome of a blackjack hand and so on.

LEMON: OK.

JOSEPH: So that is was kind of what the genius of the scam (ph) was.

LEMON: So the false shuffle is just one component. What did the others do?

JOSEPH: The others were betters and/or trackers and in some cases just locked up the table so that the -- so some innocent player wouldn't sit down and mess up the order of the cards.

LEMON: So they reportedly hit 29 casinos and stole about $7 million. Why did it take so long to catch them?

JOSEPH: That's a very good question, you know, given that virtually every one of their instances were on videotape. Sometimes it's a lack of communication between the floor and the eyes. Sometimes the false shuffle was so good that they didn't recognize it as a false shuffle. And until they got intelligence from other casinos around and then pieced it together, so it took a while to piece it -- to put the thing together.

LEMON: Yes. So it's almost like an "Oceans 11" thing, George. A lot of people try to scam casinos. And this one, you said it was so successful, because sometimes the false shuffle was so good. Was it the number of people who were in on it? And does was it -- does it have anything to do with technology? Does technology help? You see the people speaking into their cigarettes there, or is it just you have to be in on it at the casino, with the dealer and the people working there?

JOSEPH: Well, it's really kind of a combination of both. In the early days, you would memorize a group of cards in order and keep that order. Then they moved to, as I said, tape recorders and microphones and hidden cameras and now cell phones. But what really made the scam for blackjack so profitable for the bad guys was the use of a computer program that allows you to put cards randomly into the -- excuse me -- into the computer program, and then on the next round of play, it would tell you how many hands of play, how many cards to draw in order to break the dealer, and then adjust the number of hands to play. So that technology wasn't available 30-some years ago when it first started.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: George Joseph, thank you, sir.

Listen, we have some developing news here on CNN. In just about 30 minutes, the mayor of New York City is going to come out and announce something that has to do with terrorism in his city. It is of some seriousness, we know, because he has the Manhattan district attorney and also the police commissioner there. They will be standing by his side. I don't know if they'll be speaking at this particular press conference. But, again, you're looking at live pictures of New York City. That is Columbus Circle. A lot of people visit Columbus Circle, Central Park, that whole entire area. Now, a live shot of Manhattan.

A lot of people go to New York City. And you see green and red, the empire state building there for the holidays as well, all dressed up. A lot of people will be going to New York City for the holidays, traveling through three major airports there, and in their subway system and on their mass transit as well.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg holding a press conference, 7:30 p.m. eastern to renounce -- to announce something -- excuse me -- that has to do with terrorism. We will carry it live for you on CNN. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)