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Debt Panel to Admit $1.2 Trillion Failure; Romney, Gingrich Lead Latest GOP Poll; Terror Suspect Stopped in New York; Activists Clash in Egyptian Protests; The Gospel According to Herman Cain; Hugh Grant Testifying Against Tabloid; Stocks Set to Sell Off; Occupy Alaska Fights for Warmth; Moonshine Cologne on Sale Now; Running for President in the Digital Age

Aired November 21, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks to you both.

Let's start with the trillion-dollar failure brewing in Washington. The Congressional Super Committee is expected to announce that it cannot make a deal on deficit reduction. The goal was to find about $1.2 trillion in budget cuts. Failure to get this done could affect every American.

CNN congressional correspondent Kate Bolduan is in Washington.

If they fail -- and that's expected -- what happens?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems, Hala, that despite the very -- we can call it -- we call it Super Committee and they really had super powers, because this committee written in law had the power to bypass many of the procedural hurdles that slow down and hold up legislation up here on Capitol Hill.

Despite having that power this committee, these 12 members, appears were not able to bridge the divide, to bridge the gap on a philosophical difference on what they believe. A big issue that's held up negotiations to this point, the issue of taxes.

Democrats insist that tax -- that tax revenue increased taxes need to be part of any final deficit deal -- any deal to reduce the deficit as part of a, quote-unquote, balanced approach, as they like to say.

But it's no surprise, though, Republicans on the flip side are very much opposed to tax increases unless it is part of a broader effort to reform the tax code that would bring down tax rates.

And that's really what it seems this has come down to. They were not able to bridge the divide on that very sticky issue.

If they do not reach agreement we're expecting an announcement at some point today, later today likely that they were not able to bridge that divide, were not able to reach a deal. Then these trigger cuts, these automatic across-the-board cuts would set in order to achieve the $1.2 minimum required, $1.2 trillion minimum of deficit savings over the next -- well, it would be nine years.

And this hits kind of across-the-board in domestic programs, but particularly hitting defense. Defense is going to be hit very hard, suffering almost half of the cuts that would come with this automatic trigger. Also Medicare, although those reductions would be capped at 2 percent.

Education, transportation, also just to name a few. Other programs are exempt from this triggering including Medicaid, Social Security, veterans benefits, a lot of programs that also there to assist low-income Americans.

But this is not how it was supposed to turn out. These are very painful cuts. And they were put in place, Hala, for just that reason. To be the motivating factor to make this committee work really.

And it seems in the end, despite months of work they were not able to bridge that divide. They'll be able to fight over these cuts, though, for another year since they do not set, though, until 2013.

GORANI: All right. We'll talk about stock market reaction and reaction from ordinary Americans later. But let's talk about how this might affect ordinary Americans or viewers out there. And in terms of, for instance, the payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits due to end in December, how is this going to have a practical impact, for instance, on the tax rate that ordinary Americans pay if a deal is not agreed upon today?

BOLDUAN: Practically speaking this committee was set up to find ways to reduce the deficit. In these negotiations they have included talks of fixing things and kind of extending measures that are set to expire at the end of this year. Things like extending unemployment assistance, payroll tax cut that's set to expire as well as the alternative minimum tax.

That needs to be fixed so it doesn't -- it doesn't hit middle income Americans as well as we call it the doc fix up here. It's a Medicare reimbursement to doctors. They'd have to fix that every once in a while in order to make sure that the rates they're reimbursed at are appropriate.

So effectively that needs to be worked out. It's very unclear at this moment how Congress is going to be able to work out those immediate needs while again they're going to continue to battle about this trigger and ways forward in reducing the deficit from here on -- Hala.

GORANI: OK. And we'll keep on following the story, of course, with Kate Bolduan, and our political team there in Washington. Thanks very much, Kate. See you in a bit.

Now there's a new poll out this morning that shows just how tight the GOP White House race is. Our senior political editor Mark Preston has a look.

Tell us about the latest numbers, Mark, this morning. MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, Hala, you know, we are one day away from arguably the most important Republican presidential debate of the year. It's going to focus on national security and the economy and the Gallup Corporation has a new poll out, just came out a few hours ago. Let's take a quick look at these numbers right here, Hala.

Shows that Mitt Romney right there remains on top at 20 percent. But shows as well that Newt Gingrich who has come on as of late in the last couple of weeks comes in at 19 percent followed by Herman Cain at 16 percent. Of course Ron Paul at 10 percent and Rick Perry at 8 percent.

What this is showing us right now is that Newt Gingrich has become the alternative to Mitt Romney. Conservatives who are not that enthralled with Mitt Romney, Hala, are looking for another candidate. And right now that appears to be Newt Gingrich.

It also shows that we're seeing Herman Cain slip a little bit in the polls after skyrocketing in the past month or so.

GORANI: All right.

PRESTON: You know, Hala.

GORANI: Yes. I was going to say that's an interesting -- that's an interesting comeback there for Newt Gingrich. And Herman Cain is third there at least in that latest poll. And remind us when the CNN/ORC poll is out. I believe it's in a few hours. It will be interesting to see what that one reveals.

PRESTON: Absolutely, Hala. In just a few hours. We're still crunching the numbers right now. CNN and Opinion Research Corporation is -- will our own poll. It will debut at 12:00. Will be interesting to see if those numbers track what we're seeing right now in the Gallup poll -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. See you then. Thanks, Mark Preston.

CNN will bring you live coverage of the next Republican presidential debate. Our Wolf Blitzer asks the questions, the tough questions about national security, the theme of the debate tomorrow. Watch it live right here on CNN, 8:00 Eastern tomorrow night.

Authorities in New York say they believe they stopped an alleged terrorist before -- perhaps hours before he could execute his plans. Plans that included, according to them, using home made bombs to blow up New York police cars, post offices and troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Twenty-seven-year-old Jose Pimentel is in jail without bail now.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick is following the story.

Tell us more about this man and this video we're showing our viewers. Where is that from? DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely. The video actually was put together by the NYPD. Because this man was under investigation, under surveillance for more than two and a half years, they did have time to recreate the bomb that he himself was trying to make and then detonate it obviously in a very confined area.

This is the kind of tape we usually see at trial, not when it's announced somebody has been arrested. But to fill you in, Jose Pimentel is a U.S. citizen, born in the Dominican Republic. He is a recent convert to Islam who quickly became radicalized by the writings of U.S. born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. And as you remember he was killed in a U.S. drone strike just two months ago.

Now apparently Pimentel's views on jihad were so extreme that police say even his like-minded friends really grew nervous especially when he considered changing his name to Osama Hussein after terror mastermind Osama bin Laden and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

But police say the unemployed Manhattan man had all the bomb components and was about an hour away from completing one of the pipe bombs. Court papers show he spent hours scraping match heads to collect the flammable powder. He also put together ignition devices by combining batteries, wires and electronic circuits from Christmas lights, some of which he actually bought at Home Depot.

Now the court documents show that Pimentel told an NYPD detective in a video recorded interview -- of course we're going to see that at trial -- that Islamic law obligates true Muslims to wage war against the United States in retaliation for U.S. occupation of Muslim lands. That's according to the suspect.

The targets were U.S. troops returning from Iraq, also the targets government buildings. NYPD had him on radar for about two and a half years. Investigators use a confidential informant who got so close to the defendant that the two of them actually went out and purchased some of the materials together.

And Pimentel was actually building the device in the informant's apartment in Upper Manhattan. He has pleaded not guilty to the five terrorism charges against him -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Deb Feyerick in New York. Let's turn our attention now internationally. For a third day Egyptian forces are unleashing gunfire, teargas and batons on prodemocracy activists in Cairo.

Take a look at the images.

Reuters is reporting at least 33 people killed with another 1700 injured in the clashes. This is all happening in and around Tahrir Square. The hub of the protests that pushed Hosni Mubarak from power. Revolutionaries saying today this is not the Egypt we fought and died for.

We're working to get in touch with our Ben Wedeman live. But Monita Rajpal is in London. There has been much international reaction to the developments. A weekend of bloodshed and death with protesters saying they're frustrated with the pace of reform. And they don't trust the military anymore.

MONITA RAJPAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, that's the thing. And that's why they're all protesting outside in Tahrir Square because of the revolution that they thought was over after Hosni Mubarak had been toppled, they were wrong simply because of the fact now that they think the military has too many powers and too much wide -- wide ranging powers. And that's what they are trying to fight against.

So there has been international reaction. I want to give you an idea of what the newspapers are saying -- newspapers around the world are saying about this.

"The Daily Telegraph" here in the UK has the headline, "Egypt's revolution is beginning to turn sour." The piece goes on to say, "The toppling of tyrants across the Middle East this year has been an extraordinary sight that has offered hope to millions of a better, freer future. But we should be under no illusion that such a future is the inevitable outcome of the Arab Spring."

Then we've got the "National Newspaper" from the UAE, and it says the headline, "Egypt's dangerous run-up to election is a necessary risk." The article goes on to say, "Egypt's elections, as flawed and risky as they will be have become a necessary evil to hasten the transition to civilian rule. Elections are the least bad alternative to open-ended military rule."

And then "The Wall Street Journal" has the headline, "Egypt military hardens crackdown on protesters." The article says, "The military now faces a critical decision. It could postpone elections and risk the wrath of politicians or hold polls under conditions that have become almost prohibitively unstable" -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. Monita Rajpal there with international reaction.

As we see there on the right-hand side of your screen some of the video coming to us from Cairo. And Monita, you were mentioning elections. They're scheduled for eight days from today. And in the current situation it's hard to imagine that they will unfold peacefully. But we'll keep our eye on that.

Thanks, Monita.

Coming up, video that has two police officers in trouble. They are now on leave after blasting peaceful "Occupy" protesters with pepper spray at UC-Davis at point blank range. We'll tell you what students are saying about the incident now.

And the gospel according to Herman Cain. The Republican candidate is devout firm in his Baptist faith but he doesn't bring it up much. Could that hurt him in the primary process? We'll talk about it next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back. Quickly checking news across the country.

A Michigan congressman accused of sexually abusing a young cousin decades ago calls the allegation false and shameful. Representative Dale Kildee said his relatives are trying to blackmail him. He has held the district seat since 1976.

In California, two officers are on administrative leave after video of them surfaced pepper-spraying nonviolent "Occupy" protesters last Friday. Students are now calling for the school chancellor to resign. The chancellor has set up a task force to look into the incident.

And it actually does rain in southern California. Heavy downpours pounded the Los Angeles area for hours yesterday, Sunday, triggering minor street flooding and a few mudslides. The wet conditions were blamed for several traffic accidents in the area.

Several of the Republican presidential candidates have said they were called by God to run. Herman Cain is one of them. But otherwise he's been pretty quiet, relatively speaking, about his faith, especially compared to some of his rivals.

Eric Marrapodi is the coeditor of our Belief Blog. He's just written a piece "The Gospel According to Herman Cain."

So, one of the things we've said about Herman Cain is, look, he doesn't wear his faith on his sleeve. He's not as vocal about his faith as other candidates have been.

Does that hurt him in the primary process?

ERIC MARRAPODI, CO-EDITOR, CNN BELIEF BLOG: Yes, Hala. It's a good question. I mean, we know that in Iowa and South Carolina, those areas are packed with conservative Christians who head to the polls and generally vote for the GOP. In other areas, like North Carolina, not necessarily the case.

So, Herman Cain doesn't always speak to that. And remember, he came to prominence in part through the Tea Party with his economics. And so, that's -- his faith is not something that's always on the tip of his tongue, let's say.

GORANI: Now let's talk about God telling him he should run for president. He's not the only candidate saying that. It seems as though God if -- might want a good race there going on. He's asking several candidates in the primary process to take a stab at the White House.

MARRAPODI: Yes, that's right, Hala. On the Belief Blog, we've spelled out how Rick Perry also said that he was called by God and Michele Bachmann has used similarly flavored language as well. Herman Cain said early this month in a speech in Atlanta that he prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and said he was like Moses.

Now that comparison to Moses -- Moses, of course, in the story of Exodus, was called by God. And he didn't want to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Cain said he similarly did not want to run for president and said in a few times in his speech in Atlanta, he turned around and he said is there someone behind me, is there someone else, and finally, he sort of concedes and decides he will, in fact, run for president.

GORANI: All right. Certainly perhaps trying to appeal exactly to the type of primary voters that might help him in this race.

Let's talk about whether or not Herman Cain will have to come out and be more vocal, to appeal to the evangelicals for instance about his Baptist faith. Is that going to happen? Is that something he's going to have to do?

MARRAPODI: I think it's something he may choose to do. Herman Cain has some interesting credentials as far as that's concerned. He's an associate minister in his church. He's delivered lots of sermons, including from very famous pulpits in the United States. One in particular, the Crystal Cathedral and, of course, the Hour of Power television program coming out of that southern California church.

So, Herman Cain is no stranger to the language of faith. He's a lifelong member of his church. And so, I wouldn't be surprised if in the next few weeks, we started to hear him kind of get back to that a little more.

And intertwined into his personal story is a very strong faith narrative. He talks about it at length when he talks about dealing with his cancer that he survived stage 4 colon cancer. He talks about it as well in one of the reasons he decided to get into the political process. One verse in particular he says when he was called to run for the U.S. Senate, he talks about what shall it gain -- can a man gain the world and lose his soul?

So, he talks in particular in very strong biblical language when he talks about why he gets in and his motivations. And leading forward, I would not be surprised if we heard a lot more of that from Herman Cain.

GORANI: All right. With the sexual harassment allegations that may have hurt him in the polls, we'll see if he comes out on another -- with the religion angle there to try to help himself in the polling. It will be interesting to see.

You can read Eric's piece at CNN.com/belief. And you can join the conversation and leave a comment for Eric as well.

Thanks very much, Eric Marrapodi.

Global markets are selling off. Blame the failure on the part of Washington to reach a debt-cutting deal. We're minutes away from the opening bell in Wall Street. We'll go live to New York for a look at how U.S. investors are expected to react.

Also, actor Hugh Grant is testifying right now in a new round of hearings in the phone hacking scandal in Britain. We'll take you live to London after the break.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Well, Hugh Grant is testifying right now in London on the phone hacking scandal that has created a scandal in Britain and beyond. Lawmakers are hearing testimony from several of the victims. And we're talking about the "News of the World" that hacked into voicemails and phones of celebrities, but also of a murder victim Milly Dowler and her parents are scheduled to testify as well.

Monita Rajpal is live in London with more.

So, Hugh Grant has made this his cause celebre. I mean, he's been talking about this. And he was a victim as well, he says.

RAJPAL: Yes, absolutely, Hala. The actor made famous for roles in, you know, "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill" is, as we see right now at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, testifying and giving evidence to what he says was the fact journalists of some newspapers, particularly "News of the World," the tabloid newspaper, the now defunct tabloid newspaper here in the U.K. had hacked into his phone to get information and stories that were then published.

And, of course, he made this his cause right now to I guess -- as this inquiry looks into the practices of journalists in this country in terms of whether hacking actually took place. And, of course, he's one of 5,800 people police are now investigating, including celebrities, members of the royal family, crime victims and even politicians who are said that their phones had been hacked into.

You mentioned the family of the murder victim, the family of Milly Dowler, she was a teenager who went missing a few years ago here in Britain. Her family, her parents testified earlier today here in London. Also saying that, you know, they were -- originally, they had thought their daughter was missing and they were given hope when they were able to leave messages on her voice mail because earlier on, they were not able to do so because her voice messages were full. And then when they were able to do that, they thought she was still alive because they eventually found was that her phone had been hacked into and that the journalists had been deleting messages.

So, this has become a huge thing here in the U.K. And, of course, what the inquiry is now to do is to actually find out the media practices of the journalists. And we'll see what they come up with at the end.

GORANI: Yes. And you mentioned Milly Dowler, and that's probably one of the cruelest twists in all of this, when her parents thought she was checking her voicemail when, in fact, it was allegedly a "News of the World" tabloid reporter hacking into her phone. I mean, you can imagine just the despair that her parents felt when this was going on the whole time.

Thanks so much, Monita Rajpal in London.

(MUSIC)

GORANI: Wall Street has been keeping its eye on the super committee in Washington. And today, we are expecting to hear that the group cannot reach an agreement on cutting this nation's massive debt load.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.

So, we're -- what, four minutes away now from the open on the Wall Street. What is the expectation as to how this will affect stocks today, Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hala, get ready for stocks to really drop at the open because of what's happening or not happening with the super committee. This is following what world markets are doing.

Take a look at this -- all of the European markets are down 2 percent each.

Now, keep in mind, though, the U.S. markets -- they had low expectations anyway that the super committee was really going to accomplish anything. But, clearly, investors -- they were holding out some hope. Also, Moody's is warning today that France's credit outlook is weakening.

And then you want to pile it on even more as far as the worries still on Wall Street. A Chinese official came out and said economies around the world are in for an extended global recession.

So, what we've got here, Hala, are just too many negative headlines -- Hala.

GORANI: Right. And I remember talking to you, Alison, back in August when Congress was fighting over the debt ceiling and then the credit downgrade for the United States followed all of that chaos and the mess.

I mean, is the expectation that this time around, we're going to see the same thing happen again?

KOSIK: You know what? Don't be surprised if you see that kneejerk reaction today vis-a-vis a sell-off. And we could see yet another sell-off if there is definitely an announcement that there is no agreement.

Now, you have to think back to August, speaking of the downgrade when Standard & Poor's, the credit agency, warned it could downgrade the U.S. credit rating again if the super committee doesn't reach a deal. And, of course, a similar tone came from Moody's and Fitch. Those are other credit rating agencies.

But you have to realize that things are a little bit different now, the agreement of the super committee which called for $1.2 trillion in cuts. There are also automatic cuts that would kick in if an agreement is not made if the panel failed to agree on its own plan.

Also, the economic data here in the U.S., it shows, believe it or not, that the U.S. is improving. And as bad as things are here, Hala, it's even worse in Europe. So, it is questionable whether you'll see that strong reaction that we saw in August really hold this time around -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. And you mentioned Europe there and this is very much on the minds of people who trade on the U.S. stock market with all the banks exposed to debt. So, we'll see what the reaction is on Wall Street in a couple of minutes and we'll get back to you throughout the day. Alison, thanks very much.

KOSIK: OK.

GORANI: A Penn State panel looking at how the university handled the Jerry Sandusky case is speaking this morning. We'll have a preview after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Checking your top stories now at the half hour.

A New York City man is jailed on terrorism charges today. Police say Jose Pimentel planned to set off pipe bombs at police stations and to target service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also among the headlines, Hugh Grant joins others testifying today before British lawmakers on the phone hacking scandal. Grant says his phone was hacked by the "News of the World," the tabloid in the U.K., which shut down during the scandal.

And the University of Miami is barring its football team from playing in bowl games. The NCAA is investigating the program over allegations a booster provided cash, jewelry and prostitutes for players.

(MUSIC)

GORANI: The clock is ticking for members of the congressional super committee but talks have all but fallen apart today, the committee on the brink of failure. Members have until Wednesday to find $1.2 trillion in savings, but it looks like the blame game at least has already begun.

(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 one true breakthrough, and that was the new concept of tax reform which could generate revenue from the upper brackets for deficit reduction.

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D), WASHINGTON: The truth is at this point today Democrats have made tough decisions and come to some pretty tough choices that we are willing to put on the line on entitlements, on spending cuts.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

GORANI: L.Z. Granderson and Will Cain are joining us now.

All right. Let's talk about -- OK, the blame game is going from left to right, right to left, left to right. But in the end, who will voters blame?

Will, let's start with you.

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Voters will probably blame everyone. But, you know, Hala, when you say who is to blame and both sides are pointing fingers, the truth is, what we should be looking at is ourselves.

You know, who's to blame is the American people, because in poll after poll, we suggest, yes, you know what? We want to cut the deficit, but please don't touch our Medicare, please touch our Social Security, and don't raise our taxes. Hey, you can raise it on the rich guy, but don't raise on us. And we elect people who act out these wishes.

In the end, this is the debate we have to have, this is the decision we have to make -- do we want entitlements to remain as is, or do we accept some cuts , or do we want taxes to go up or to want to remain how they are? It's taxes versus entitlements. These are the things we have to make a decision on.

GORANI: Well, it's taxes on the richer Americans.

L.Z., let me ask you about this -- what do you think in the end is going to happen as far as voters blaming either the left, the right, or everyone?

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, I agree with my partner here, Will. Ultimately, we're going to have to do some soul-searching and decide what kind of country we want to live in. Either we want a country that is more -- you know, let's face it -- more socialist and that's what those programs are, those entitlement programs are, socialist type programs.

GORANI: Socialist? You haven't been to Europe, L.Z.!

GRANDERSON: Yes.

GORANI: This wouldn't be considered socialist in Europe.

GRANDERSON: It's called Social Security for a reason. It's not a made up name.

GORANI: OK.

GRANDERSON: It is what it is. You know, let's just call it, you know, let's call it what it is. We got to decide what kind of country do we want to live in.

And nothing really is going to change now. No one wants to make a movement now because everyone is waiting for two things -- deciding who's president of the United States and the legality of health care reform. Those things right now have us handcuffed.

GORANI: All right. Let's talk about how it will play out, Will Cain, in the presidential race. How much of an issue will this become, do you think?

CAIN: I think it will be an issue. And I hope it's an issue. Like I said, I think this is the decision Americans have to make. This is the debate we have to have.

One party holds themselves out as the one that doesn't want higher taxes, almost regardless of the circumstances. And the other party holds themselves out as the protector of entitlements.

This is the debate. This is the decision. And, by the way, you know, when it comes to this debate, it's a really debate for people 50 and younger.

The AARP and older people almost should stay out of this debate because no one -- and I mean no one -- is suggesting that we should cut entitlements for older people. Forget that part of the debate.

It's for people like me, my age, who want to decide, do I want to pay higher taxes or do I want to try to hang on to the entitlements that I have that are promised to me for the future?

GORANI: Right. So, it's a philosophical debate at this stage. L.Z. Granderson, what's going -- how is it going to play out then? I mean, what decision -- what choice do you think Americans will make as far as making that decision between those two possibilities?

GRANDERSON: Well, it's going to depend upon what the people who end up being in the general election talk about. If they rely upon the same old rhetoric, then the voters are going to feel obligated to choose one side versus the other. But if we can get both candidate, President Obama and whoever the GOP ends up with, if they can both have honest conversations about where they are economically and talk about honest solutions to solving our problems, then voters would be obligated to have deeper soul searching.

But if you got one person saying, I will always protect Social Security, well, you know what? We're human. And we're going to go towards the things we want to hear, not necessarily things we need to hear. And that's where we're at right now.

GORANI: L.Z. Granderson, Will Cain, thanks very much. We'll talk with you both a little bit later with the day's political developments. Thank you.

Now, the women win big at this year's AMAs, the American Music Awards. We'll have highlights from last night's star-studded event and an always surprised Taylor Swift. Always -- she's always bewildered when she wins something.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Well, it was a big night for women at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles last night.

A.J. Hammer is here with the details.

Hi there. All right.

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Hey, Hala. Yes. So --

GORANI: Who were the big winners, I should say, A.J., yesterday?

HAMMER: Well, you know, the AMAs always get a great collection of stars every year, Hala. Today, everybody is talking about these women who won.

So, yes, the biggest winner of the night: Taylor Swift, hands down. She was named artist of the year. That's the biggest award of the night. She won for favorite country album. She won favorite country female artist for the fourth straight year as well.

But she told "Showbiz Tonight," we're hanging out with her backstage, even though she now has 10 AMA trophies at home, she was honestly in shock.

Watch what she told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER: It never gets old. I'm so excited. This is just crazy, like -- this is my second time winning artist of the year, and I just can't believe it happened again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: The other women winners included rapper Nicki Manaj. Nicki took home two trophies last night. You have Beyonce, Adele, Katy Perry all winning. Katy Perry, by the way, was given a special award of achievement because she's the first woman in the history of pop music to have five number one singles.

So, Hala, we wish congratulations to all the winners at this year's AMAs. It certainly --

GORANI: Yes. And, A.J., I was talking about how -- you know, Taylor Swift always seems bewildered when she wins something. Doesn't she have like 50 awards on her -- at home, even though she's, I don't know, 20-something? It's just amazing.

HAMMER: This is --

GORANI: Yes.

HAMMER: It's why you have an enormous house.

GORANI: Oh, my goodness! I won! I can't believe it!

Let's talk about Mila Kunis. She was asked by a Marine to attend a ball. We saw a similar thing with Justin Timberlake. He showed up.

Now, Mila showed up as well. What a nice date night for this --

HAMMER: Yes. This is pretty great. You don't want to stand up the Marines. Mila Kunis went to the Marine Corps ball in Greenville, North Carolina.

She was the date of a guy named Sergeant Scott Moore. Moore also famously asked Kunis to be his date on YouTube. After that video went viral, she did accept it.

And, yes, this is a story. We were talking about last week, but with Justin Timberlake, who went to another Marine Corps ball after another YouTube invitation.

But I do need to point, Mila was the trendsetter here. She accepted her invitation first.

Now, according to reports from the night that the Marines were appreciative that she followed through with the date. And they were impressed by how respectful she was of the Marine Corps traditions and their history. And, of course, Hala, all of us should be impressed by that tradition and history. But a really cool thing that she did.

GORANI: It really was.

Let's talk about OWN, Oprah Winfrey's network. Reports it's not doing too well. Her best friend Gayle is off to CBS News. What's going on there?

HAMMER: Yes, Gayle didn't quit -- to be clear. She got that good job over on CBS.

But, you're right, there have been a lot of reports floating around really since the beginning of OWN, that it's been having troubles. It still needs some time to get going. The ratings haven't been strong. There have been some management changes.

But Oprah's big return to television could change everything. The network's newest primetime series is "Oprah's Next Chapter," and it follows Oprah around the country. It shows encounters with celebrities and other interesting people.

It's a two-hour premier that is making its debut of "Oprah's Next Chapter' in January, on the 1st. It's going to feature Aerosmith lead singer and "American Idol" judge Steven Tyler from his New Hampshire home.

So, I know everybody is looking forward to Oprah's big return. And yes, it will probably give OWN the boost that it needs, Hala.

GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, A.J. Hammer.

A.J. will be back with us next hour with more "Showbiz Headlines."

Coming up as well, Prince Harry takes a break from military training and takes a trip to Sin City. But when you're a member of the royal family, obviously, that's not going to stay in Vegas. The details at 10:00.

Occupy Alaska joins the movement against big government. But their right to protest is not being interrupted by police. We'll tell you what is getting in their way and -- you can probably guess by looking at the image. We'll tell you about that, next.

Stay with us.

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GORANI: Once again checking news across the country, Occupy protesters in Alaska they are battling big government but they're also battling Mother Nature with temperatures dipping below zero. City leaders have asked them to remove the heated tents that are keeping them warm.

Three University of Georgia graduates have created a unique fragrance. It's called Moonshine Gentleman's cologne. But what does it smell like? One of its creators says, there are hints of black pepper, gin, tobacco and leather. The cologne is in stores in select cities.

And Michigan is home to the only man in the country to be awarded the ultimate prize from Mary Kay, the Pink Cadillac. He began his career as a Mary Kay consultant in 2001 and he worked his way up to sales director. Congratulations.

CNN will bring you live coverage of the next Republican presidential debate tomorrow tonight. If television existed in 1860 would Lincoln have won? Could Dewey have defeat Truman if he sent out tweets? We'll never know but it's fun to think what could have happened had voters had the same information that modern voters have or if they could have accessed it in the same way.

Bob Greene is a CNN contributor and all the GOP presidential debates inspired him to write about our untelevised presidents for CNN.com.

Let's talk then, about some of these historical examples of candidates who ran against each other decades ago in the United States. How would TV have changed anything do you think? BOB GREENE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, 70 percent of all the presidents we've ever had were never televised. More than 60 percent never appeared on radio and almost a quarter, 25 percent of all the presidents never had their photograph taken while in office.

So it's almost like for earlier generations of Americans, they literally could pass a presidential candidate who they may vote for on the street and not recognize him.

GORANI: Right.

GREENE: It was as -- it was as if the campaign was a -- was a distant and indistinct rumor and yet as always they were asked to take that leap of faith and roll the dice.

GORANI: But how much does television really have an impact? I mean on the ground campaigning in the end and studies have shown this -- is almost just as important, isn't it? It's not just a question of being on television. It's a question of using it well. Which candidates are using it well?

GREENE: Right.

Well, the ones who use it well are the ones who project better, who look best, the things we always know about. But it was pointed out to me. I spoke with a man named John Gehr, who is the head of the Political Science Department at Vanderbilt University. He said that, of course, now today candidates want to look great on television, come across authoritatively.

In the radio days you wanted to have the warm, comforting voice. But it was always the technology of the era that posed the challenge. For example, he said there weren't always microphones. So in the early days of this country if a candidate had a big booming voice at least the people in the crowd could hear him. Before microphones a candidate with great ideas and thoughtfulness who had a soft voice, he wasn't even heard.

GORANI: Well I mean, also the interesting is if you look at someone like Eisenhower, bald (ph); if you look at someone like FDR who had a physical, a visible, physical disability.

GREENE: Yes, yes.

GORANI: I mean these things, had they been televised, would they have -- obviously, Eisenhower is right over us but I mean, these are the kinds of things that perhaps candidates now think about more, but is it a good thing? I mean, is it a good thing?

GREENE: It's never -- it's never a good thing to have to get past the technology to reach the people. It was suggested to me that if every person in this country could somehow magically have five minutes alone with a candidate, just the voter and the candidate, five minutes one on one, that would change everything.

But it's not going to be that way, and you wonder if 100 years from now if people look back to now and say, how did they make their choice? We only had television.

GORANI: Bob Greene, thanks very much.

You can read Bob's comment at CNN.com/opinion.

CNN wants to know what you are thankful for this year. Send us your iReports all this week and we'll share them on air to get a sense of what is most important to you. Visit the new iReport at cnniReport.com/thankful to submit yours today.

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GORANI: In health news, a new study says having a broken heart could be more than just a figure of speech. It says an romantic loss or other emotional turmoil can trigger real health conditions, and it appears to be far more prevalent in women than in men. The study was done by researchers at the University of Kansas.

Checking stories now making news later today.

A special committee of the Penn State board of trustees holds a news conference this morning at 10:00 Eastern. In about five minutes time that when it's scheduled for. They'll talk about the latest developments in the child sex abuse scandal and the University's response to it.

At 12:30 Eastern, the Postmaster General holds a lunch meeting to talk about ways to return the U.S. Postal Services financial solvency.

At 2:00 p.m. Eastern, Oklahoma State University will hold a memorial service for the women's basketball coach and assistant coach. They both died last week in a plane crash.

We're following many other developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Kate Bolduan.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey there Hala, the super committee is facing potentially super failure as the clock is quickly ticking down. We could get an announcement later today. I'll have more on where and how the talks broke down in the next hour.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: And Hala, coming up in the next hour, we're taking a look at the complete shut-down of online poker sites across the United States and what that meant for people who relied on the game for their complete source of income. We've got the latest news coming up on that in the next hour.

GORANI: OK. Thank you to you both.

Also coming up next hour, did -- U.C. Davis -- did the cops on campus go too far when they did this, pepper-spray youthful protesters at point blank range? We'll talk about it with law enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks just ahead.

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GORANI: A thrilling conclusion to Nascar's Sprint Cup series. Jeff Fischel is here with sports.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: That's right Hala. You know, you see 43 cars on the track. But there are only two that mattered Sunday. The chase for the cup down to two guys, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart battling.

There is a little nudge from Stewart getting Edwards out of the way, Lap 165 that's what Stewart did. You know, he said he had to make some moves. He passed guys. He said he joked that he passed about half of the state of Florida, and he came back to win.

Tony Stewart gets it done. He wins the final race of the season, wins the Sprint Cup championship. It's his third Nascar title. Edwards comes in second. A great finish for Stewart who won five of the last ten races of the year.

NFL, Tampa Bays with Garrett Blount, had one of the great runs of the season -- look at him breaking tackle to give the Packers; won't go down and he goes all the way. A 54-yard touchdown. Can Tampa Bay pull off the upset. The first loss of the year for the Packers? No, because of course, the Pack has Aaron Rodgers. He hits Jordy Nelson for the touchdown. The Packers win again. They are now 10-0, 35-26 the final.

The toughest tackle of the year. Baltimore Ravens rookie wideout Torrey Smith brought down by his hair. Adam Jones grabs the dreadlocks -- ouch -- no penalty, it's part of the body. You can do that.

GORANI: Really?

FISCHEL: Of course, Torrey had the last laugh.

GORANI: Why doesn't he tuck them in to the helmet?

FISCHEL: It's a look, man. You have to go for it.

GORANI: I'm just saying.

(CROSSTALK)

FISCHEL: You've got to show those off when you have those.

GORANI: OK.

FISCHEL: He had the last laugh. He had the game-winning touchdown. Baltimore won 31-24.

Some great celebrations Sunday. Jacksonville Jags runningback Maurice-Jones Drew (ph) scores against the Browns. This is in Cleveland and he taunts the Cleveland fans by doing the Lebron James powder toss. That got them upset; lots of boos. The Browns did get the last laugh; they won. And how about the Lions Tony Scheffler (ph) into the end zone. He does the flash mob dance from an AT&T commercial. I don't know. I don't know. He just did. Detroit beat Carolina 49 --

GORANI: Oh, that's one of my favorite commercials --

FISCHEL: There he goes.