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Egyptians Hold "Million Man Sit-In"; Newt Gingrich Leads GOP Field; Sen. Jeff Sessions Comments on Public Anger Over Super Committee Failure; Dangerous Storm Expected Today, After Holiday; Romney Line Gets White House Re-election Campaign Riled Up; Video Goes Viral of 2 Toddlers With Flour

Aired November 22, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: It should be a spirited today, looking forward to it. I have to get back as fast as possible after I'm done with work to see that. So, it will be fun to watch. But good to see you, Hala.

GORANI: And we'll be watching you tonight as well.

ACOSTA: Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Live from Studio 7, I'm Jim Acosta.

Let's get you up to speed for this Tuesday, November 22nd.

A "million man sit-in" is underway in Egypt's Tahrir Square, while violence erupts around it.

Security forces are using tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters armed with rocks and Molotov cocktails. You're looking at live pictures right now of Tahrir Square. At least 29 people have been killed, and almost 1,800 injured.

Protesters who overthrew President Hosni Mubarak nine months ago had a new demand, this time aimed at Egypt's military leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have a crowd here angry, young, furious at the loss of life here over the course of the past three days, demanding that the supreme council of the armed forces, Marshal Tantawi, step down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Mr. Ivan Watson.

National security takes center stage at the CNN Republican presidential debate tonight. The stage is set at Constitution Hall just a few blocks from the White House. CNN's Wolf Blitzer will moderate.

And if it's the front runner who gets the most attention, then Newt Gingrich will be in the spotlight. A new CNN/ORC poll shows the former House speaker leading the Republican pack for the first time with 24 percent. Mitt Romney follows with Herman Cain in third place.

The CNN national security debate with the Republican presidential candidates, that is tonight at 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

Republicans blame Democrats, Democrats blame Republicans, gridlock as usual. A day after the super committee folded its tent, a statement from the panel's co-chairs says, it reads as follows, "It will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee's deadline."

The panel was supposed to come up with $1.2 trillion in debt reduction. No deal means automatic spending cuts are triggered and take effect January 1st, 2013.

President Obama warned Republicans not to tinker with the deal they agreed to back in the summer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts, domestic and defense spending. There will be no easy off ramps on this one. We need to keep the pressure up to compromise, not turn off the pressure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And many Republicans say President Obama is to blame for the super committee's failure because he did not get engaged enough, they say, in the process.

Jerry Sandusky's lawyer predicts prosecutors will file more charges as others come forward and claim they were molested by the longtime Penn State assistant coach. On ABC's "Good Morning America," Joe Amendola says Sandusky could not have committed the repeated sexual assaults because he was always surrounded by people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE AMENDOLA, SANDUSKY'S ATTORNEY: His house was like a hotel, particularly on football weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But, Joe, a lot of people have sex in hotels.

AMENDOLA: You're right to have sex in hotels, but this was a house. And the house was full of people. And Jerry, by way, had six adopted kids and three foster kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Sandusky is charged with molesting eight boys over a 15-year time frame, some of them at Penn State's athletic facilities.

Shocked and appalled. That's how the head of University of California's board of regents said she felt after seeing U.C.-Davis pepper spraying Occupy protesters. Take a look.

The chancellor of U.C.-Davis has apologized in person to students.

Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA P.B. KATEHI, CHANCELLOR, UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS: I feel horrible for what happened on Friday. If you think you don't want to be students of a university like we had on Friday, I'm just telling you I don't want to be the chancellor of a university we had on Friday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The campus police chief and two other officers are on paid leave while a task force investigates.

Let's get you back to Egypt's Tahrir square now, with protesters raging there for a fourth day.

Organizers today called for a million-man sit-in to show a united front against Egypt's military rulers.

Our Ivan Watson is in Tahrir Square right now.

Ivan, tell us what's happening. It doesn't look good.

WATSON: Well, Jim, they call it a million man march. I don't know if it's a million people. I'm going to get out of the way so you can perhaps zoom in and see. Maybe not a million people, I can't tell from here, but certainly we haven't seen numbers like this in Cairo's very symbolic Tahrir Square since probably those days in January and February, those 18 days when protests helped bring down the long- ruling president, Hosni Mubarak.

I do have to say, though, that this is probably marred by the fact this is the most violent days that Egypt has seen since that initial uprising last winter, with at least 29 people killed in -- mostly in Cairo, but also in at least two other Egyptian cities.

We were in amid the street fighting earlier today. Take a look at this brief report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: These are the front lines of the running battles over here. The police have set up a barricade in this direction.

They have been throwing rocks at them, but tear gas is coming constantly. You can see the corrosive effects of it. Many are showing these shells that they pick up and many of them claiming that they're made in the USA. In fact, this is made in Jamestown, Pennsylvania, riot smoke.

This has caused a lot of anger against the U.S. right now.

The crowd here angry, young, furious at the loss of life here over the course of the past three days, demanding that the supreme council of the armed forces, Marshal Tantawi, step down.

The soldiers around the corner here, around the corner right here, the army has set up barricades along one road, but it's riot police that they're facing off against. If we turn in this direction, it's riot police down here.

This is one pocket of turmoil in the center of the Egyptian capital, but it is throwing the entire country into a political crisis just days before elections are scheduled to be held, and that's called into question whether those elections can be held at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Jim, the prime minister of Egypt went to the airwaves. He made an appeal on state television urging protesters to go home saying, look, we've resigned. Now could you please put the country first?

That resignation of his government, which hasn't yet been approved by the military council here, doesn't seem to be satisfying the tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of people here. They want the scalp of the army generals, the scalps of the army generals who have been ruling this country since Mubarak stepped down. Nobody knows what impact this will have on the first round of parliamentary elections which is supposed to begin six days from now -- Jim.

ACOSTA: And it's going to surprise a lot of people around the world to see things unravel so quickly there in Tahrir Square after so much progress when thought to have been made.

Ivan Watson in Tahrir Square -- thank you so much, Ivan. Appreciate it.

Let's take a step back and look how Egypt returned to this point.

The pro-democracy demonstrators are risking their lives because many say the military council has gone back on key promises. The military has not lifted emergency law. Protesters say military leaders still deny freedom of the press. Plus, Egyptians accuse the military of torturing civilians.

In addition, the supreme military council has yet to set a date for president elections and the protesters are concerned about a plan to shield the military's budget from scrutiny by civilian leaders.

Here's the rundown to some of the stories ahead:

First, he calls himself the new Newt Gingrich, but has all that much really changed? We'll take a look back at the former House speaker now leading in the polls.

Then, will the super committee fail to reach a deal to compromise national security? We'll ask arms services committee member, Senator Jeff Sessions.

Also, bracing for Cyber Monday also known as national shop while you workday. We hope that hasn't gone on too much.

Plus, a new chapter in Libya. Books banned by Moammar Gadhafi are now available to the public.

And a simple back of flower in the hands of two little toddlers, what could possibly go wrong? We'll show you the mess that has gone viral.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: If the front runner wears the bull's eye, then Newt Gingrich will be the target at tonight's CNN Republican presidential debate. A new CNN/ORC poll shows Gingrich leading the Republican field for the first time with 24 percent. Mitt Romney follows at 20 percent. Herman Cain in third place.

Over the years, Gingrich has gotten himself in trouble with just about every segment of voters and CNN's Joe Johns has the latest example.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There he goes again. Newt Gingrich has long fancied himself one of the Republican Party's biggest new idea guys. His latest big idea: putting poor kids to work as janitors in their own schools.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They'd be dramatically less expensive than unionized janitors and you begin to re-establish the dignity of work. And in very poor neighborhoods, you have to literally re-establish the dignity of work.

JOHNS: Revising labor laws is a complicated debate, especially when children around the world are forced to work for pennies. This Gingrich idea may have sounded new, but it also sounded very 1990s to some. It is the same sort of things that left Gingrich claiming he was misunderstood almost two decades ago when a cartoon compared him to the Dr. Seuss holiday kill joy known as the Grinch.

In 1994, Gingrich suggested that the government ship welfare children to orphanages, and then even said First Lady Hillary Clinton ought to rent the classic old movie "Boys Town" with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney to see how an orphanage is run.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four thousand boys have passed through this city of little men.

JOHNS: Like the "Boys Town" controversy, the "kids as janitors" idea probably strikes a chord with some in Gingrich's party.

STU ROTHENBERG, ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT: Look, Republicans would like hearing that Newt talks about kids working hard and learning the ethic and pulling themselves up by their boot straps. But a lot of people will guard this as Newt again, one or two or three steps just too far.

JOHNS: No matter what you think of the merits, economist, Peter Morici says it wouldn't exactly reverse the cycle of poverty in the ghetto.

PETER MORICI, ECONOMIST: That's a good idea. But the notion that one master janitor is going to take care of the school for 5,000 children with an army of Mickey Rooneys from "Boys Town" is silly.

JOHNS: As a top tier candidate, the former speaker's tendency to talk too much could be his biggest weakness.

ROTHENBERG: He tends to try to make such a global point, such a big historical conclusion that even if there is a nugget of truth there and some wisdom in there -- and there's often a bit of wisdom -- it gets lost in the grandiose plan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And Joe Johns joins me from Washington.

Joe, you covered Speaker Gingrich in Congress and it's tough to talk about Newt Gingrich because it's sort of like, where do you begin?

Joe, what do you make of the fact that the former speaker is doing so well right now despite having so much baggage?

JOHNS: Well, I have to tell you, Jim, you talk to conservative voters obviously, as you know, who are the ones who count most during the primary season, which is now, they like what Newt Gingrich says. They always have liked what Newt Gingrich says. He has a way of crystallizing ideas, making sharp differences between him and the Democrats, particularly the Democrats and the White House.

Newt Gingrich's problem has always been with the Democrats, the liberals, and sometimes the people in the middle, the independents, the swing voters, people who aren't so sure about that sharp language and those sharp definitions that always go to the right. So, people who are looking at Newt Gingrich right now have always liked him. There have been a lot of conservatives who have said to me that they're just very concerned about whether a guy like Newt Gingrich is the most electable conservative. And, obviously, that remains to be seen, Jim.

ACOSTA: It sure does, Joe. Thanks so much, Joe. Good to see you.

And for more on the new Newt Gingrich, let's turn to Tony Blankley. He served as Gingrich's press secretary for seven years, including some time when Mr. Speaker was the I should say that Newt Gingrich was speaker of the House. Tony Blankley now the executive vice president of Edelman Public Relations.

And, Tony, you've seen Newt Gingrich rise and fall and rise and fall and rise again. What's behind the surge now, Tony?

TONY BLANKLEY, FORMER NEWT GINGRICH'S PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I think the fundamental intelligence and passion of Newt is being seen again. I was listening to the set-up piece. Washington establishment, both the Republicans and the Democrats, have sneered at Newt for 25 years and some of the pundits you were quoting will continue that.

Let me give you one quickly example of I remember, he came back in the early '90s to get laptops to inner city kids, because middle class kids in the suburbs, their parents were getting them computers and he was afraid it would be a gap that would break up. People made fun of him then. A few years later, all the different computer companies recognized the digital divide, and they're flooding the inner city with computers.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BLANKLEY: So things that have made fun of because Newt is a little ahead of the curve turned out very often to be very useful.

ACOSTA: He's also been an innovator. That's absolutely true. But, you know, Tony, he's made some controversial statements in the last few days saying poor kids should work as janitors in their schools.

You know him well. Is he serious when he makes these statements?

BLANKLEY: I think -- I mean, look, you say it's controversial.

ACOSTA: That's controversial, isn't it, to put kids working as janitors in schools, I would say, right?

BLANKLEY: Work study is something that millions of kids in college have done. You work part-time on the campus and you earn money to pay for part of your tuition. To bring that down to the high school level makes a lot of sense for the kids and for the budget of the school. I don't think there's anything controversial. It's innovative, but whether you need one or two master janitors to oversee x number of kids, if that's the only criticism they have, work that out in the operational detail.

But to simply reject an idea that makes so much sense both for the school and for the kids is typical Washington cynicism.

ACOSTA: And critics of the former speaker say, you know, he has a tendency to self-destruct. You know this well, Tony, from the way he's conducted his personal life, to the shutdown of the federal government, which a lot of voters have not forgiven him for. More recently, the story over the summer about the Tiffany's credit account, you know, the list goes on and on.

Does he learn from these mistakes, do you think? Do you that think we're seeing now is just a politician who's reinvented himself cleverly?

BLANKLEY: No, I don't think Newt has reinvented himself. I think it's the same fundamental Newt that I knew when I started working for him in 1990.

But it's 20 years later. He's got more experience both on policy and in his personal life. I think he's a better experienced Newt than he was 20 years ago.

ACOSTA: Is he ready to be president, do you think?

BLANKLEY: Oh, I think with the first eight months of a Gingrich presidency with the Republican Congress would sort of be like the first eight months of Roosevelt in 1933, except it would be the other direction, back to free markets.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Let me ask you this last thing, Tony, because one of the -- I covered him last week on the campaign trail, and the thought occurred to me that he is almost sort of like the new Nixon in many ways, a politician who was left for dead, who is trying to climb back into the highest office of the land, and I'm just curious, you know, is this doable for Newt Gingrich, do you think, realistically speaking? Do you really think he could be elected president?

BLANKLEY: Well, we'll see. He is now, as your poll shows for the time being, ahead of the pack on the Republican side. I think if you look at the polls that will come out late December, the notion of head to heads, Newt and Obama, Romney and Obama, if newt is competitive, well, then, you know, seven points, plus or minus of margin of error, then yes, I think it's a very doable thing. We'll see.

But he's certainly qualified, more qualified than I think most people otherwise being considered.

ACOSTA: Tony Blankley, good to see you this morning. Thanks for that perspective on the former speaker. We really appreciate it. Good talking touch you.

BLANKLEY: Thank you.

ACOSTA: A reminder that the CNN national security debate is tonight. The stage is set for the Republican presidential candidates at Constitution Hall in Washington. Wolf Blitzer moderates tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

"Consumer Reports" is out with its naughty and nice holiday list. It's a breakdown of companies with good and not so good shopping policies.

Here are some of the nice ones.

Amazon.com made the list for taking a stand against hard-to-open product packaging. I appreciate that one.

Costco for automatically extending the product's warranties on TVs and computers.

And get this, REI for accepting returns or exchanges at any time for any reason.

Now, can you guess the companies that made "Consumer Reports'" naughty list. They might get a lump of coal in their stocking. They're coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: I want to have a pleasant shopping experience for the holidays? Consumer reports say shop at these places. Part of their list of nice companies. There they are.

Now for the naughty ones. Check this out.

AirTran made the list for charging extra for selecting a seat online. Yes, that's right.

Verizon Wireless is called naughty for not notifying customers they've gone over their minutes after the fact, instead of giving them a heads up. That is not cool.

And Radio Shack, "Consumer Reports" says the company sometimes charges different prices for the same item.

Now, here's a rundown of stories coming up. Up next here on CNN, a CNN in-depth. Even a super committee couldn't get the job done in Washington. I'll ask Senator Jeff Sessions what went wrong and where we go from here.

Then, six months after a massive tornado flattens most of Joplin, Missouri, the city continues to rebuild.

And later, turning a new page in Libya. Books banned by Moammar Gadhafi's administration now open to the public.

So, now that the super committee has failed to reach a deal, here's where we stand right now. Automatic budget cuts are set to begin in January 2013. They revealed reductions in defense, and domestic spending programs, including Medicare. But Social Security, Medicaid, food stamps and veterans benefits will be spared.

The president is pledging to go veto any attempt to prevent the cuts from going into effect. But he says it's not too late to work out a deal. He's calling on Congress to come up with a plan to trim deficits by the required $1.2 trillion before the trigger cuts take effect.

And like so many debates in Washington, the conversation has turned into one big blame game. Everybody from Congress to the White House is pointing fingers, but New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says both sides have some explaining to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: I just think that the failure of the super committee to come to an agreement is just a damning indictment of Washington's inability to govern this country. I don't know how you'd reach an agreement if you don't sit down at the table and talk to each other, and I think it's a failure -- you know, people say, who do you blame? The blame is both sides of the aisle and both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The Democrats were saying not so fast. Senator John Kerry, who is a part of the super committee, says they were willing to make some major concessions to Republicans but got the cold shoulder. He got a call in to CNN's Erin Burnett last night to vent his frustration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS (via telephone): We put serious things on the table that were very, very -- you know, it was very difficult for us. I had thousands of people demonstrate against me for the things we put on there.

But we also put $1.2 trillion of additional revenue. They said, no, that's too much. Then it turned out that $1 trillion was too much, $900 billion was too much, $600 billion was too much, $250 billion was too much.

I mean, we wound up not being able to get this because they wanted to know that the tax cut for the wealthiest people in the country was going to be made permanent, protected. And we just couldn't do that in good conscience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: A very angry John Kerry there. We'll have Senator Jeff Sessions from the Republican side of the aisle respond to that later in the show. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: If you want to avoid the crowds at the mall altogether, you shop online, right? Cyber Monday, the Monday after Black Friday, is usually the biggest online shopping day of the year.

Well, Alison Kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange with details.

And, Alison, even though the economic is weak, we hear that the forecast for Cyber Monday are going to be huge. Is that right?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. If the forecasts are true, it looks like the retailers are really going to rake it in on Cyber Monday. It is estimated that retailers will make about $1.2 billion in sales just on that one day. It is estimated that 75 million people are expected to shop online. That's equivalent to the populations of California and Texas and Pennsylvania all combined.

What you see is retailers really try to take advantage of this. They're rolling out their best deals. Some even beginning Cyber Monday early. They're talking about Cyber Sunday, like Target and Staples. Wal-Mart is just going doing Cyber Monday. No, no, no. They're going to have Cyber Week. So you can stretch Cyber Monday out for five, six or seven days -- Jim?

ACOSTA: OK, break out your laptops on Monday. Alison, we'll be watching. Thanks so much.

KOSIK: You've got it.

ACOSTA: Appreciate it.

It's just one more example of the total gridlock in Washington and the public is getting down right angry about the debt super committee's super failure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a shame that we have a Congress that's not respondent to what the people want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I'll ask Senator Jeff Sessions what all that popular anger means for Washington. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: So now that the debt super committee has failed to reach a deal, here's where we stand. Automatic budget cuts are triggered to begin on January 2013. They include reductions in defense and domestic programs, including Medicare. But Social Security, Medicaid, food stamps and other benefits will be spared.

The president is pledging to veto any attempt to prevent the cuts from going into effect, but he says it's not too late to work out a deal. He's calling on Congress to come up with a plan trim deficits by $1.2 trillion before the trigger take into effect.

No matter who is right and who is wrong, all of Washington could feel the political fallout.

I'm joins by Republican Senator Jeff Sessions.

We've heard some Democrats lay the blame squarely with the GOP. I'm just curious, sir, we've also heard a lot of outrage from a lot of Americans today. Are you hearing that outrage? Are you feeling that outrage, or is it just another day in Washington?

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, (R), ALABAMA: No, I think this is another day of failure, but I believe the outrage has been building for a long time. Good Americans, working hard, taking care of their families woke up and found that the government in Washington is borrowing 40 cents of every dollar that we spend in this nation. Europe and other places are suffering from debt. And the experts tell us we are, too. And so they have a right to be angry at the mismanagement.

And I do believe that had the president really pushed for an agreement, had he been willing to tell the American people the depth of the crisis we face and present a real solution, we could have done something more than just the minimum. We could have done something historic for the country.

ACOSTA: But the president will say he put a proposal forward. Let me just ask you, Senator, could Republicans have done anything differently on your side? Was this just doomed from the beginning?

SESSIONS: Well, I tell you, I believe -- I totally am confident that the Republican members of that committee wanted an agreement, and they wanted to do something more than just token. And they were prepared to even raise taxes to get it, increased tax revenue, and they proposed that. But they wanted a real change in the systemic direction that our nation is taking, a direction to decline the economic decline. We've got to get off that path. and it's just amazing to me that the president would not be a leader and a player in that. I can't imagine a mayor or governor facing anything like this kind of debt threat, not being engaged in the reform. So we've got a problem here. And I don't think the American people want to send more money to Washington. We haven't had a budget in 937 days. They want to see us show some fiscal responsibility before we demand more money from them.

ACOSTA: And what about these triggered cuts that are set to go into effect starting in 2013? Senator, one of the big eye-opening cuts that a lot of people are talking about -- your colleague, Senator McCain has talked about this, defense leader, Panetta, have talked about this -- and that is the step budget cuts that are coming to the Defense Department as a part of these triggered cuts. Are you comfortable with these cuts over at the Pentagon? And do you believe, as others believe in Washington, that this will compromise our national security?

SESSIONS: I believe it will go too far in cutting the Defense Department. The Defense Department makes up about one-sixth of the size of the spending of our economy, our government spending, and this would take half the cuts out of this. It's just too much. So I am not -- I think I agree with your statement about the president's position. We need to relook at this sequester, make sure the cuts are across the board far more, and not so heavily directed toward the Defense Department.

ACOSTA: Yes -- (CROSSTALK)

SESSIONS: I know there are a lot of people that dislike the Defense Department, want to bring those numbers down. But remember, this is not war. The war costs are entirely separate. The cuts we're talking about are -- and they're coming down dramatically. But

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: -- he's already put forward. He's already put many of them on the table. These would just go farther.

But let me just ask you, Senator, a political question. The president seems satisfied, would you not agree, yesterday, with the $1.2 trillion in budget cuts that are going to become as part of this trigger in 2013. But polls have shown that Republicans are really going to get the blame for this super failure, as many people are calling it. Politically, is that a win-win for the president?

SESSIONS: The president -- I don't see how the president can win when he's not a player in the great debate of our time. There is no greater threat to America than this debt crisis. And he has refused to look the American people in the eye and to tell them how serious it is and to explain why we're going to have to change our business as usual.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: But you acknowledge that Republicans are taking much of the blame for this, perhaps more of the blame, than the Democrats.

(CROSSTALK)

SESSIONS: I just don't know, but that could happen. The president has the bully pulpit in the short term, but in the long term, people are going to examine his leadership and they're going to ask, has he helped make this situation better? Has he proposed tightening our belts in a significant way, something other than defense? And is he prepared to lead and tell the truth about the challenges we face? I don't think a mayor, or as I said, a governor, would imagine not being engaged in such an important issue.

ACOSTA: Well, we hope to see all of you engaged after the holidays.

SESSIONS: We all need to.

ACOSTA: Yes. And see if we can work this out.

Senator Sessions, we appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much for joining us and happy Thanksgiving.

SESSIONS: Thank you.

ACOSTA: The deficit super committee is sure to be a topic at tonight's candidate debate. But moderator, Wolf Blitzer, plans to put the focus on national security. He and the GOP candidates live from Constitution Hall in Washington tonight at 8:00 eastern right hereon CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: If you are heading anywhere for Thanksgiving, pay attention to Chad Myers first.

The potential for dangerous storms today, Chad, and you were telling me a few moments ago, maybe some trouble after Thanksgiving.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Trying to get home on Sunday could be a trick. There could a huge storm in the southeast that could spread tornado weather from Mississippi and Louisiana, all the way up even to Kentucky or Ohio. Trying to drive or fly through that and it will not be a pretty sight.

In fact, we are having it right now. We have the potential for severe weather today across parts of Mississippi and Alabama. Talking a couple of tornadoes, not really an outbreak of tornadoes. You have to understand, we have a severe weather season in the spring. You have a severe weather season with fall. It's when the weather clashes. Warm and cold clash. They clash in the spring, those temperatures, hot and cold. Clash in the fall as well.

There right there is the storm system we're worried about today. Zooming in a little closer to you, it will eventually be in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Jackson, and into Hattiesburg (Ph) with the potential for some of those storms to be spinner. Back out in the northwest, this is a big time snow event. We have avalanche warnings going on here across parts of the cascades. Very heavy snow event in the Olympics as well. A big-time snow event there. If you're driving through the mountains, you need to be prepared. All of those things you know for mid-winter storm. That's what it looks like right now.

The severe weather today is here. The rain is in the northeast. Airports are slowing down in the northeast. Tomorrow, though, the biggest getaway day is where the heavy rain will be in New England and New York, all the way into Florida. Still that heavy rain all the way down, even into San Francisco.

The delays, Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, New York and New York LaGuardia right now. The worst is Philadelphia at two hours, but I think that will be clearing up rather quickly -- Jim?

ACOSTA: Chad, thanks. We hope for the best.

MYERS: All right.

ACOSTA: We appreciate it.

Think back six months ago to Joplin, Missouri, one of the nation's deadliest, costliest tornadoes tore through the city. 1,000 people died, thousands of homes and businesses, even a hospital destroyed. Now the city is slowly rebuilding. Insured losses there nearing $3 billion. The community plans a memorial service later today and we will keep them in our prayers and thank them for the progress there.

It is Mitt Romney's first ad of the season and people are already crying foul.

And this five-pound bag of flour -- let's see if I can pick it up -- it looks harmless enough. That is, until you put it in the hands of two unsupervised toddlers. Believe me, I know something about this subject. It is a mess you have got to see to believe. That is coming up.

(SINGING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Mitt Romney is out with his first campaign ad of the season. It takes a hard swing at the president's economic policies. One line in particular is getting the White House and its reelection campaign all riled up.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am confident that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis. Who's going to be in charge if we need a rescue plan for the idle class? We need to provide people with homes. It's going to take a generation (ph). If we keep talking about the economy we're going to lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: That last line, in particular there, is key. Our Joe Johns is in Washington at the sight of tonight's CNN Republican debate.

Joe, that is not the way we remember the president delivering that line back in 2008. Tell us what's going on here.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, that line is a real source of controversy right now, Jim. The point of it is the Obama people out of Chicago are saying he was not making that statement as a personal belief. Rather, he was attributing that statement to someone else, specifically the campaign of John McCain, who went on to be the nominee.

So let's listen now to the full statement by then-Senator Barack Obama that wasn't all included in the spot by Mitt Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Senator McCain's campaign actually said, and I quote, "If we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose."

(END VIDEO CLIP) JOHNS: The McCain campaign actually said it. This, according to Senator Barack Obama.

So a real dust-up right now. And the people over on the Obama side are pretty upset about it. It's interesting that they've actually finally now been drawn into the fire between the candidates on the Republican side, and they are actually responding, Jim. I have a statement that they put out and here's part of it: "Just last week, fact checkers scalded Mitt Romney for distorting a comment the president made about creating American jobs. And now Romney launches a deceitful and dishonest attack rather than outline his own record or plans for the future."

So pretty harsh words. And now the Obama people are engaged and talking to the Romney campaign -- Jim?

ACOSTA: How about team Romney, are they apologizing or withdrawing the ad? I'm guessing not?

JOHNS: No, you're absolutely right.

(LAUGHTER)

They are standing by the ad. I talked to them today. It's kind of hard to have a conversation when people are putting their talking points out there or whatever, but what they say is they are not misleading. "Three years ago, Candidate Barack Obama mocked his opponent's campaign by saying so on, if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. Now they say they are turning the tables on the Obama campaign."

nonetheless, I mean, when you listen to that little quote, it does seem like the Romney people are misleading, at least about the context of what then-Senator Barack Obama had to say.

ACOSTA: And Joe, probably not bad strategy on the part of the Romney campaign to get this out there on the eve of the Republican debate tonight and create this kerfuffle between both sides.

JOHNS: That's really important now.

ACOSTA: All right, well, Joe Johns --

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNS: That's important to say.

ACOSTA: That's right.

JOHNS: Oh, I was just -- that's important to say because Romney has always has some sense of inevitability about his campaign, if you will. Now he's engaged in a debate directly with the president of the United States. To that extent, it helps Romney. Whether it was honest or dishonest, that's up to the voters.

ACOSTA: That's probably exactly where he wants to be, having that debate with the president.

Joe Johns, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

ACOSTA: The Republican contenders go head to head tonight on CNN. Wolf Blitzer puts the main focus of the debate on national security but you know the economy will come up. He and the GOP candidates will be live from Constitution hall in Washington tonight at 8:00 eastern on CNN.

This story is going viral and not in a good way. This is a story a lot of parents can relate to. Two toddlers got their hands on a five-pound bag of flour and, for them, it was time to show off creativity.

Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mommy is not feeling well so she stays longer a little longer than usual in the bathroom. When she comes out --

MARY NAPOLI, MOTHER: what are you doing?

MOOS: -- stay-at-home mom, Mary Napoli, stayed eerily calm.

NAPOLI: Oh, boy.

MOOS: The boys are 1.5 and 3.5.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Uh, oh.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: What's the matter, Mommy?

MOOS: What could possibly be the mater with having flour all over your house?

NAPOLI: As soon as I stopped recording, I sat in the middle in the floor in the living room and started crying.

MOOS (on camera): Talk about floor power, the entire mess was caused by one five-pound bag.

NAPOLI: Oh, my gosh. What am I going to do? I think I'm going to throw up.

MOOS: Instead of throwing up, Mary kept regurgitating one phrase.

NAPOLI: Oh, my gosh.

MOOS: From the chair seat to the window ledge on the door.

NAPOLI: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.

MOOS: We counted at least 27 "Oh, my goshes." NAPOLI: Oh, my gosh. Not fair.

MOOS: Mary had just gotten home from the grocery store and says she forgot to lock the cup board.

NAPOLI: My god, it's like a snowman has puked all over my living room.

MOOS: It reminds us of the dogs-get-in-the-trash video, where the culprit is identified by an incriminating clue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wonder if Tank (ph) had anything to do with it.

Can you tell me what happened?

MOOS: The flour kids weren't talking either.

NAPOLI: What happened, Zack?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: What.

MOOS: Mary called her mother-in-law for help.

By the way, those who say the video is fake or Fakey McFakeovitch, you don't know how flour flies.

(on camera): Mary and her mother-in-law used a Shop-Vac to remove most of the flour, but there were two items that were beyond salvaging.

(voice-over): She had to throw away this rug and light bulb emitting a burning flour smell.

Hardest to clean? The couches.

NAPOLI: We haven't even paid off those couches yet.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: During cleanup, Zack (ph) slipped and cut his lip so Mary left the kitchen sink and came running.

(on camera): Unfortunately, the faucet was overrunning and the sink overflowed and flooded the kitchen.

(voice-over): Next time you think you had a bad day, remember Mary --

NAPOLI: I told my mother-in-law that I feel I've inhaled so much flour, I'm going to start to rise.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: At least Andrew was dressed for bad behavior, like a prison inmate. Jeanne Moos, CNN --

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: See? See?

NAPOLI: Yes, I see.

MOOS: -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: That came from one five-pound bag of flour.

Which by the way, I did not fill out this label here. That is not my handwriting. I want to make sure that credit goes where it's due -- I'm kidding -- to our executive producer, Jen. Anybody have a pair of scissors. Just anybody? Just thought I would have fun with this during the break? No, guess not.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: The newly liberated people of Libya are being allowed more freedom including access to books once banned by Moammar Gadhafi.

Our Jomana Karadsheh reports from Tripoli.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was part of their revolution, burning the dictator's ideology, his green book. Taking its place, books they never had a chance to see. With the end of Moammar Gadhafi's regime, they can enjoy things once banned, like books previously black listed, now on display at this exhibition in Tripoli.

(CROSSTALK)

KARADSHEH: Abdulmoneim Abusalem is one of the organizers. He says Libyans are emerging from a dark era.

"It is time for people to see and learn different opinions and develop critical thinking to broaden their horizons," he says, "The upcoming period is an important one and we need educated people."

KARADSHEH: Some of the banned books include subjects like homosexuality or, like this one, on human rights in the Arab world. But the regime's ban was mostly on books of a religious nature, like these on Wayaviism (ph) and others on the Selifi (ph) movement.

(on camera): Even publications like this Tripoli guide containing detailed maps of the capitol were banned. According to organizers, the ban stemmed from the dictator's paranoia.

(voice-over): Once unthinkable, political satire ridiculing the dictator is now available. After 42 years of a cult personality dictatorship, people here say Libyans are thirty for a Gadhafi-free education and culture.

17-year old Ziad Eldebri is interested in history books, especially his own country's.