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New Allegations Versus Sandusky; Candidates Clash Over Wars; Controversial Judge Suspended; Americans Face More Questioning; Lawyers Suing Law Schools; War Hero Wins Trophy; New Cases Emerge Against Sandusky; Gingrich Calls for Amnesty While Republicans Want End to Illegal Immigration; Egyptian Leader Urges Police to Put Guns Down; Congress Wants to Ax NASA's New Telescope Project; Family Sues School District Over Bullying; Romney Lands Big Iowa Endorsement

Aired November 23, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Fred. We begin this hour with scathing claims from a former top official at Penn State. The former V.P. for student affairs, the woman in charge, had been forcing school rules and had been imposing discipline. Says Joe Paterno's football players got preferential treatment because Joe Paterno demanded it. Vicky Triponey held the student affair's post from 2003 to 2007.

In a statement to CNN, she says in part, over several years, there were numerous meetings and discussions about specific and pending student discipline cases that involved football players. As a result, my staff and I felt compelled to alter how we handled cases involving Penn State football players. The consequence of these accommodations put us in the position of treating football players more favorably than other students accused of violating community standards. Paterno's lawyer says Triponey's claims, quote, "are misleading and filled with inaccuracies." CNN has obtained a statement from Vicki Triponey for air. We'll report that in just a moment.

All of this comes as Pennsylvania's Department of Child and Youth Services is said to be investigating two new allegations of child sex abuse on the part of Jerry Sandusky. These are the first known cases involving alleged victims who are still underage. Sandusky is formally charged with molesting eight victims, all of whom now are adults. A live report later this hour.

War and peace, national security and personal liberty. The eight main Republican candidates for president have had their say on all of that. And one day after their 11th debate, the battle lines are more clear than ever. Take a listen to Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney clashing over troops in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We haven't done a very good job defining and articulating what the end point is in Afghanistan. The American people are getting very tired about where we find ourselves today.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Let me let Governor Romney respond. MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you suggesting, Governor, that we just take all our troops out next week? What's your proposal?

HUNTSMAN: Did you hear what I just said? I said we should draw down from 100,000. We don't need 100,000 troops -- we don't need 100,000 troops in Afghanistan.

ROMNEY: (INAUDIBLE.)

HUNTSMAN: Many of them can't even cross the wire. We need a presence on the ground that is more akin to 10,000 or 15,000. That will serve our interest in terms of intelligence gathering and special forces response capability.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Much more on the fallout today in our "Facetime" segment moments from now.

Well, that Texas judge who found himself in the court of public opinion after a YouTube video surfaced has been suspended. Judge William Adams was seen in the 2004 video beating his then teenage daughter. His daughter recently posted the video saying the beating came after she downloaded some music and games off the Internet. The Texas Supreme Court did not give a reason for his suspension. Adams handles family-related and juvenile matters for the court system.

Three American college students accused of launching molotov cocktails during unrest in Egypt face new questioning today. Police detain Derreck Sweeney, Gregory Porter and Luke Gates on Monday. They were spending a semester in Cairo, it was part of the Study Abroad program. The mother of Derek Sweeney talked with CNN's "American Morning."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOY SWEENEY: I do know that the general of the U.S. Embassy in Egypt did speak to my husband this morning. My husband called him, and he has had the privilege of speaking to Derek. He spoke to Derek and -- actually, all three boys. He said that they were being treated well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: An American diplomat who visited with the three students after they were interrogated says they are in good health.

Dramatic video of a helicopter crash today in New Zealand. Look at that. T.V. New Zealand cameras were rolling when the chopper's main rotor clipped a cable while the pilot was trying to land. The helicopter was on the mission to install a waterfront Christmas tree. The helicopter broke apart, but, here's the good part, the pilot was not seriously hurt.

We now know what killed a 19-year-old University of Arkansas football player, heart disease. According to preliminary coroner's report, Garrett Ackman suffered from cardiomyopathy. The disease weakens and enlarges the heart. The softmore tight end was found unconscious and unresponsive in his dorm room on Sunday.

Well, we all know a dog is truly man's best friend. The proof is playing out in a village in China's Shandong Province. This loyal dog stood vigil at its owner's grave for more than a week. When the dog refused to leave, villagers brought in food and water. The neighbors say they'll put up a kennel near the grave so the yellow dog can continue its watch.

I want to take a moment to mark a very painful loss for all of us at CNN for all of broadcasting. Our friend and colleague, Stan Case, was killed last night in a car accident in Alabama. Stan was a mainstay of CNN radio, the backbone of the network as one of our managers put it. He joined us back in 1985 after an award-winning career at station KEDC in Oklahoma City. Stan anchored and reported the big stories and life-changing moments of our time.

But today, we remember his class and his kindness and we're thankful for his friendship over so many years. Stan's wife, Angie Stiepel, is also a member of the CNN family. She's a long-time writer for this network, and if you're a long-time viewer, you know her work. Angie was badly hurt in yesterday's crash and we send her our fondest hopes for peace and a full recovery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Politics stops at the water's edge. That used to be an article of faith, nowadays it is debatable. And here is the debate. The GOP presidential nominating season was all about international policy and national security. From Pakistan to the Patriot Act, and if voters learned anything, it's that these candidates are just as divided on these issues as they are on everything else. I want to bring in CNN's senior political analyst David Gergen. Hello there, David.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITCAL ANALYST: Hello, Natalie.

ALLEN: We call the segment "Facetime," who made the best use of his or her "Facetime" last night?

GERGEN: I think Newt Gingrich used that to the best advantage, although it's going to be controversial what he said. What most political pun dents were focused on is the fact that he took, quote, "soft lance dance," on immigration, something more to the middle. Said he would be willing to grant legal status, not citizenship but legal status to families that have been here for 25 years or so. That's a softer position than others have taken and he's going to pay -- potentially pay a price within a conservative base say upstate like Iowa. But if within the foreign policy community, actually there's a little more focus on something he said. And he took a hard-line stand on Iran. Not only would he reserve the option to bomb as a last resort, something others have said, but he also said that if he bombed, it would be accompanied by regime change. And to many in the military, that sounds like, perhaps, American boots on the ground. If you go into regime change, that's a big deal in big a country like Iran. ALLEN: Well, (INAUDIBLE) foreign policy ranks pretty low right now on the minds of most people and one can understand with the economy the way it is. So, did anyone have anything really to lose or gain notwithstanding some of the comments Mr. Gingrich made?

GERGEN: Well, I think that Newt Gingrich had a lot to gain in the sense that people are now, for the first time since, he could be the nominee of the Republican party. It was really important for Mitt Romney to hold his own. He did that last night. He did not shine the way he has in the past, he's often dominated these debates. But he was -- he -- his answers were crisp, and he shows he has a command of foreign policy facts and figures and would be a capable -- I think in minds of most people, be a capable steward of American foreign affairs. I think a person who had the most to gain was Jon Huntsman. And he used his time wisely to tie the foreign policy issues continually back to the state of the American economy. That the most important foreign policy objective should be to get America's house in order.

ALLEN: Well, arguably, President Obama has more foreign policy cred (ph) the domestic. Do you expect Bin Laden and Libya and troop draw downs to play a big role when we get to the general campaign?

GERGEN: I must tell you that I think President Obama, in the last few months, has made enormous gains in the minds of the public, and indeed in the eyes of the world, and finding his footing on foreign policy. Getting Bin Laden, getting Gadhafi, you know, we didn't do all -- do Gadhafi all alone of course, but he generally has, I think, been seen more short footed. And he has a highly competent team. It's going to be hard -- it would be very, very hard to beat this president on foreign policy. He's got a lot of bragging rights. He's much more vulnerable on the economic side. I mean, the interesting thing is a man elected to be essentially a domestic president has actually turned out to be better at leading on the international side than on the domestic side.

ALLEN: Very good point. We appreciate you joining us as always.

GERGEN: OK, Natalie, it's good to talk to you.

ALLEN: You too, David, thanks.

Well, it is tough to get a job but not for lawyers. At least that's what some law schools are suggesting, but is it all bogus just to lure students? Why some law grads are suing their schools.

But first, U.S. infantry man, J.R. Martinez, was badly burned by a land mine while deployed in Iraq. Eight years later, the war hero and his partner are champions on "Dancing with the Stars."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.R. MARTINEZ, DANCER, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": You have to be willing to step up to the challenge. You have to maintain a positive attitude, be patient, and just fight, and understand and believe that if you do those things, good things will come to you. And one day, you, too, will be able to hold your own personal trophy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: They beat stars like Chaz Longo, Ricki Lake, and Nancy Grace. In the end, he took down a Kardashian, too. This isn't the last we have heard of this guy. J.R., you are today's "Rock Star."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Your "Under Covered" today. Lawyers suing law schools. They say their schools lied about the chances a student would land a job after graduation. How bad might it be? Well, two senators want the Education Department to investigate law schools. In their letter, they refer to lawsuits claiming students were given inaccurate job placement information. The feature this quote from the online publication "Inside Higher Ed." "The suits charge the law schools mixed together different kinds of employment, including jobs that don't require a law education, to inflate employment rates." Well Ashby Jones writes for "The Wall Street Journal's" law blog.

Ashby, you looked into these cases. Is it as bad as these lawsuits say it is?

ASHBY JONES, LEGAL REPORTER, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, I think there's -- where there's -- there's some smoke here and there's also some fire here. I think that the allegation, as you correctly pointed out, is that law schools for a long time have been putting out data basically to the public and to perspective students, saying that their employment rates are x. And usually that x is somewhere northwards of 90 percent. In other words that people who graduate from law school have well-paying jobs within nine months or a year of graduation.

Now, I think that other people since then have, in recent years, have come out and said, these statistics are way off base. We know that in the -- since 2008, since the financial meltdown, that you've seen a lot of layoffs at law firms, you've seen hiring rates plummet, yet the law schools continue to put out statistics that show that their placement rates at law firms and other companies is well above 90 percent. So there's some sort of disconnect. And I think the senators want to get to the bottom of this.

ALLEN: At the same time, some would argue, if you want job placement, go to Manpower (ph). It's a school. Get your education. Find your own job. Do these lawsuits have a chance?

JONES: Well, I think -- I think they might. I think it is a close call. A lot of people say that what the plaintiffs in the lawsuits are going to have to show is that they actually relied on these statistics in making their decisions to go to law school in the first place.

On the other hand, people say, you know what, this has been a long time coming. Law schools have been putting out this inflated data for too long. And that kids, you know, kids who go to law school, they come out with sometimes northwards of $100,000 in debt. And if they can't find jobs, you know, that certainly can be a difficult position to be in. So I think at this point it's anybody's guess as to whether or not these lawsuits are going to take the day.

ALLEN: So could it mean that other graduates could actually sue their schools as well? Because we've heard a lot of recent college graduates in this economy complaining what their $100,000 degree is getting them these days.

JONES: Certainly anybody, you know, anybody can go out and file a lawsuit. I think that the difficulty that people graduating from four- year colleges or universities, undergraduate degrees are going to have is, they are going to say, well, you know, we were promised jobs when we got out of college. But unless the college or university made a specific promise, or held themselves out as being able to land a certain percentage of their graduates in good jobs after graduation, they're not going to have much of a chance.

That's what the law schools have been doing. And I'm sure this has probably gone on in other industries as well. But it's really the professional schools that this is an issue. People go to law school and other -- you know, of course, to find jobs. And if they don't have jobs on the back end, they're not going to be happy about it. With undergrad, I think it's a slightly different situation.

ALLEN: But one would assume a recent grad from law school wouldn't want their first thing that they do out of law school is to file a lawsuit. So we'll continue to follow this one and see how it winds up. We appreciate you a lot, Ashby Jones, joining us, "Wall Street Journal" blogger. Thanks.

Well, it could be jail for Sandusky. Two more cases of alleged child sex abuse being made against the former Penn State assistant coach, plus delays in his hearing. We'll have a live report on this ongoing scandal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky now faces two new allegations of child sex abuse. According to "The Patriot-News," those two cases are being investigated by children and youth services. That is key because these could become the first known cases since Sandusky's arrest in which the alleged victims are still children. The former defensive coordinator already faces 40 counts for allegedly molesting, even raping, eight young boys over a 15-year period. But as we're learning about these new investigations, perhaps what's even more telling is what Sandusky's lawyer told ABC News on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE AMENDOLA, JERRY SANDUSKY'S ATTORNEY: My concern is if they bring new charges based upon new people coming forward, that bail is going to be set and he's going to wind up in jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Sara Ganim from "The Patriot-News" broke the news about these two new cases and has been on top of this story since the very beginning. She's on the road today but is on the phone for us right now.

Sara, we appreciate your time. And what more can you tell us about these new cases opened by the children and youth services. They were reported less than 60 days ago?

SARA GANIM, "THE PATRIOT-NEWS" (via telephone): Right, they were. And we are not sure -- one of the cases, when it was actually reported. But Joe Amendola, the attorney for Jerry Sandusky, told me this morning that at least one of those children is actually a family member of Jerry Sandusky. But Joe Amendola says that it is the -- the allegation is the product of a nasty divorce. That someone is basically using the other charges against Jerry Sandusky to get an edge in a divorce proceeding and has made these allegation. Apparently the allegation is that the child was abused before Jerry Sandusky was charged, but it wasn't brought to the attention of authorities until after he was charged earlier this month. But that's what Joe Amendola, Jerry Sandusky's attorney, is saying today about those two new cases.

Now, we don't know anything else about the other one. We just know (INAUDIBLE) because children and youth services is involved.

ALLEN: Another remarkable twist in this ongoing investigation that continues to get more complicated. Could this lead to more charges and put Sandusky in jail, as his lawyer feared?

GANIM: Well, you know, I think that a change in bail is always a possibility. It's something that we see in many criminal cases in Pennsylvania. When you get that first hearing date, which is right now set for December 13th, there's always the possibility that prosecutors can come back and say, we would like the bail to be changed. And if bail is set at a point where Jerry Sandusky can't produce the money, there's always a possibility that he could go to jail. So, you know, that's always a possibility in every criminal case. Not just this one.

But, you know, I think that -- I think it would be -- because it took three years for charges to come against these eight -- in these eight cases, I would be pretty surprised if more charges were to come this soon because, like I said, they did wait three years and do a very thorough investigation just to get to this point.

ALLEN: Sara Ganim, we thank you, from "The Patriot-News." Thanks, Sara.

This only continues to raise questions about whether there was a culture of secrecy and special treatment for Penn State's football program. Well, Penn State's former top disciplinarian says its football players did receive special treatment, in part demanded by its former legendary head coach, Joe Paterno. But Paterno's lawyers say those claims are misleading and inaccurate.

Immigration, a hot issue at the Republican debate. Newt Gingrich drew a line in the sand. Will it hurt his campaign? That's "Fair Game," next.

But first, our political junky question of the day. You might like this one. President Obama pardoned the turkey's Liberty and Peace this morning. Those were their names. Do you know which U.S. president was the first to officially pardon a turkey? Was it Truman, Kennedy, Carter, or Bush? The answer when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Just before the break, we asked you to name the first U.S. president to officially pardon a Thanksgiving turkey. The answer, George H.W. Bush.

(LAUGHTER)

Other turkeys were spared under various presidents but Bush was the first to make an official pardon back in 1989. So on behalf of all turkeys, we'd like to shout out to President Bush for that.

Last night at the GOP debate, Newt Gingrich called for a limited amnesty for long-time illegal immigrants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you have been here 25 years and you've got three kids and grandkids and you've been paying taxes and obeying the law, you belong to a local church, I don't think we're going to separate you from your family, uproot you forcefully and kick you out.

I'm prepared to take the heat for saying let's be humane in enforcing the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The Republicans are pretty united against anything resembling amnesty. 71 percent of Republicans say the main focus with immigration should be deporting illegal immigrants and stopping more from coming.

Amnesty for immigrants and all other things GOP debates are "Fair Game" today, political consultant Ed Espinosa; Republican strategist, Ron Bonjean.

Thank you for being with us.

RON BONJEAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.

ED ESPINOZA, POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Thanks.

ALLEN: Ron, according to our polling, Gingrich doesn't even gain them on Independents with his amnesty stance, so who was that answer for?

BONJEAN: I don't think it was really a smart thing to say. I think the answer was coming out of Professor Gingrich and not Republican Candidate Gingrich. That may be something he truly believes in, but if you want to play in places like Iowa and key primary states, New Hampshire, South Carolina, you're going to have to focus on what Republican primary voters want. And last night's national security debate was on that, national security. Sure immigration is important, but he really needed to focus on getting through the debate and showing he could be a front runner and knock it out of the park on national security credentials, which I think he did, beyond immigration.

ALLEN: And, Ed, you say if Newt were to stumble due to this, we could get a brokered convention. What do you mean by that?

ESPINOZA: First of all, to Ron's point, you're exactly right. This is a good policy statement to make, but not good politics for a primary. It took a debate on national security for us to get an honest discussion on immigration reform, which is what we really need in the country right now.

But if Newt Gingrich stumbles in the polls because of this comment, we're left with a Republican field where every candidate has been in the lead at one point or another. And you could see a situation where we don't have a consensus candidate for the Republicans by January or February, even by March.

Now, there's a couple of important points to make here. Four polls came out last week, all showing Gingrich in front. The Gallup organization made a statement, saying, in years of polling, they have never seen a Republican field this divided this late in the season. That's the first point.

The second point, Republican nomination rules have changed since 2008. They no longer have winner-take-all primaries. They have allocation primaries. This seems like a fair thing. We're fine with it. On the Republican side, it creates more fracturing. And you have a very real possibility of a brokered Republican convention in August. There's an article on Salon.com about it today. I tweeted about it this morning. It goes into depth more about it.

ALLEN: Should be interesting as they continue to rotate in their front-runner status.

Ron, did Perry or Cain help themselves last night?

BONJEAN: No. I don't think either of them did. Cain barely spoke. He had three or four questions, which is indicative of where he stands now in the race. I don't think Perry helped himself much either because people are looking for him to have a solid debate performance. I don't think it was a bad performance, but he needs to knock every debate out of the park right now. And I thought his answers were simplistic versus answers by Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman. So those two still have a lot of work to do to increase their chances of getting the nomination.

ALLEN: Ed, what about you on the others, say Huntsman and Bachmann, last night on security issues?

(CROSSTALK)

ESPINOZA: They showed a little bit of gravitas on those issues, but I don't think they made enough traction. I think Herman Cain calling Wolf Blitzer "Blitz" -- (LAUGHTER)

-- made more of a lasting impression than Huntsman or Bachmann did last night.

(LAUGHTER)

ALLEN: OK, we'll leave it at that.

Yes. That might have been the zinger of the evening --

(LAUGHTER)

-- at our Wolf Blitzer.

Thanks so much, Ed Espinoza and Ron Bonjean.

That's "Fair Game."

ESPINOZA: Thank you.

ALLEN: It is the most populous country in the Arab world. It covers more than 380,000 square miles. It's a country rich in archaeology, literature and culture. Where are we? We'll take you there next in "Globe Trekking."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Egypt's highest religious leader is urging police to put down their arms. The audio message aired on state TV as police poured into the Cairo's Tahrir Square. At least 35 people have been killed in clashes between police and protesters in Cairo and four other cities. Demonstrators are calling for the country's military rulers to step down.

Our Ben Wedeman is joining us in Cairo. He is there.

Ben, what are you seeing on the ground there? Is there any sign the violence is abating?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Right now, there are lots of people, thousands, tens of thousands of people pouring into the square. Earlier today, there was a truce. We were right in the middle between the protesters and security forces. We were with the army, who had deployed four personnel carriers and about 200 of their military police to keep the two sides apart. For about two and a half to three hours, they managed to calm the situation down. There was no tear gas being fired by the interior ministry forces. And the protesters were not throwing rocks in the other direction. But as often is the case in these crowd situations, all it takes is one rock, and within seconds it was utter pandemonium. The truce became a thing of the past.

I can hear behind me ambulances bringing people from those clashes to the makeshift hospitals in the square. It appears that despite the efforts of religious leaders and the army that the truce is broken down and the violence has recommenced -- Natalie?

ALLEN: So Egypt's general prosecutor's office said a truce had been reached between protesters and security forces. With what you're seeing there, does this have to do with exactly what the prosecutor's office is saying or not?

WEDEMAN: It's exactly what I'm talking about. Often times, there's a disconnect from what official sources are saying in public on Egyptian TV and the reality on the ground. We were streaming live pictures as the truce fell apart with rocks coming in and tear gas being fired. The truce has collapsed. There's simply no other way around it. Obviously, the government is trying to put the best possible spin on it, but I'm afraid nobody is going to believe what they are saying.

ALLEN: Ben Wedeman for us live from Cairo. Ben, thank you very much.

It's likely not a role he was hoping to get. Actor George Clooney could be called as a witness in the trial of the former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with an underage prostitute, known as Ruby the Heart Stealer. A lawyer says Clooney will be called because he attended parties at Berlusconi's home.

We may not be alone in the universe. Scientists say new research could change life as we know it. We'll delve into that.

First, should the second city be the 51st state? A pair of Illinois lawmakers say Chicago is not their kind of town and the land of Lincoln would be well rid of it. They are proposing legislation that would sever Cook County from the rest of Illinois. And before you say impossible, they point out Maine seceded from Massachusetts in 1819. Well, down-staters, you may have your issues with the politics, society, and economics of Chicago, but for diss'ing the home of the Cubs, the Bears, Oprah and deep-dish pizza, we say your 15 minutes are up.

(SINGING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: NASA is working on a project that could literally change the way we see the universe. The new telescope could unlock the biggest mysteries like how old is the universe and do aliens really exist. But the problem is, Congress wanted to ax the project.

CNN's John Zarrella reports for today's "In Depth."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the future outside the Maryland Science Center. It's a full-scale model of NASA's James Webb space telescope. Scientists believe the real thing will redefine our understanding of our place in the universe. It will be so unique it will look further back in time than the Hubble telescope, almost to the dawn of creation. JOHN MATHER, SENIOR PROJECT SCIENTIST: The James Webb telescope is to help us find our entire history, from the first things after the Big Bang to how the first galaxies are born.

ZARRELLA: And astronomers say if they look in the right place and get lucky --

ADAM RIESS, ASTRONOMER: This may give us clues about the existence of life in another solar system.

MATHER: If we could see a planet like earth, with an ocean, I think it would be really cool.

ZARRELLA: Webb will orbit one million miles from earth. Its instruments are designed to image primarily in the infrared range, light we can't see. Webb's capabilities will allow it to literally look where Hubble could not, into gas and dust clouds, at the birth stars and planets.

Sounds incredible, right? Webb might get us another step closer to solving the puzzle, are we alone?

RIESS: I don't know how you would put a price on being able to answer questions like how old is the universe? How did this start? Where is it going? What is it made of? Are there other people out there like us? These questions are just so intrinsic.

ZARRELLA: But there is a price tag. When Webb is launched in 2018, it will be years behind schedule and cost about $8.8 billion, $6.5 billion more than the original estimate. At one point, Congress came close to killing it. So what happened? How did it end up astronomy had an astronomical cost?

RICK HOWARD, WEBB PROGRAM DIRECTOR: When you're doing inventions for the first time, you don't know what you're going to run into. We found several things we had to work around.

ZARRELLA: And it better work from the get-go. When Hubble ran into problems, space shuttle astronauts came to the rescue. But Hubble was only 300 miles up. At one million miles away, even if the shuttle was still flying, it couldn't get there to fix Webb.

John Zarrella, CNN, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Take a look at this. Not your average stream.

(LAUGHTER)

We'll have that story next.

(SINGING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Let's head across the country to check stories making headlines from "Street Level."

First, to Bergholz, Ohio. According to a federal affidavit, seven members of an Ohio Amish community have been arrested on federal hate crime charges. They allegedly shaved the beard of a man who refused to support their community. Break-away group leader, Samuel Mullet Sr (ph) and three of his sons are among the defendants.

Next up, Mason County, Washington, where something very fishy was going on. Take a look at this video from affiliate, KRO. Several fish were swimming across the road after storms flooded the area. The National Weather Service said the last two day had been the wettest in western Washington since 2006. It looks easier for the fish to navigate the roads than the cars. We hope the fish get back to where they really wanted to go.

And now to one of the most fun cities to pronounce, Sheboygan, Wisconsin. It appears Mayor Bob Ryan is calling himself arrogant and an alcoholic online, but it's not his real Twitter account. A potential election opponent, 17-year-old Asher Heimerman, created it. He calls it a parody to poke fun of the mayor's attitude towards the city and he links it back to his own campaign site. The mayor's attorney is threatening to take legal action. But the boy has no plans to take down the account.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER HEIMERMAN, MAKES PARODY OF MAYOR: For me it's something I did and if people don't like it, that's their decision. I don't think I did anything legally wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: So that's what they're going in Sheboygan.

Next to a hero in Trenton, Ohio. 19-year-old James Little rescued a family after seeing their car fly into a river.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES LITTLE, RESCUED FAMILY: As soon as I saw the baby cry, I knew what was up. I jumped in the water waist high that was ice cold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The baby was the first one pulled from the water, followed by the baby's mother and sister. The family's grandmother said, quote, "It's going to be a glorious Thanksgiving because none of them have a scratch on them".

A massive lawsuit filed in Minneapolis, Indiana. 48 victims blame more than a dozen businesses for this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The horrifying state fair stage collapse back in August. You may remember, seven people were killed and dozens were injured after winds toppled the stage before a Sugarland concert. Businesses listed in the claim include Live Nation and Sugarland Music, Inc. The state of Indiana is not named in the suit and does have plans to pay out $5 million to the victims.

We head now to Broward County, Florida, where the school district is being slapped with a lawsuit. In this case, a mom is suing over bullying. Randy Vanderheyden says her daughter, Brianne, attempted suicide after being bullied relentlessly at school. Brianne, a middle school student and, for months, was called names and racial slurs and even physically abused by another student. But the family's lawsuit claims, despite their complaint, school officials did little to help. The lawsuit also alleges that the Broward County School District was negligent and allowed her to fall victim to hate crimes, among other things.

Brianne's mom, Randi Vanderheyden, along with family attorney, Reginald Clyne, joins us live from Plantation, Florida.

We appreciate you being with us to talk more about the story.

First, to you, Randi. Why do you feel a lawsuit was necessary?

RANDI VANDERHEYDEN, MOTHER OF BRIANNE: To make them realize that they need to do something and enforce their policies.

ALLEN: And you say you found yourself, Randi, at one point catching your daughter trying to commit suicide. She was trying to choke herself. I'm sure at that moment; you realized how horribly this had gone. If you can, tell us what that moment was like for you.

VANDERHEYDEN: It was very hard to see my daughter stressed out that much to where she wanted to take her own life. And it seemed like I had tried to do everything and they didn't do anything to stop it.

ALLEN: How many school officials did you reach out to, Randi, when this first started happening?

VANDERHEYDEN: The assistant principal, the principal, and the school resource officer.

ALLEN: So two or three of the officials.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, Reginald. Why is that?

REGINALD CLYNE, FAMILY ATTORNEY: Really, what we wanted to do -- right now, Brianne is not in school. We'd like to get her back in school, in a safe school. And because of the bureaucracy, they wouldn't provide bus service to her to go to another school other than where she was being bullied.

The other reason we brought this lawsuit was because -- and we're finding out more and more that other victims had been bullied at that school. I just got an e-mail today from a parent who said that her son is now out of high school but when he went to Ramblewood, he was bullied incessantly there.

ALLEN: We reached out to the Broward County School District for a response. They're not commenting, saying it doesn't comment on open investigations or lawsuits. But to be fair, one of the accused students was suspended for three days. You admit the school district even allowed you, as you say, to pick a school after you request Brianne be moved. Brianne's principal disagrees with you and we want to read you the statement from the principle. She wrote this in an e- mail to the "South Florida Times," saying, "This was dealt with thoroughly. Many hours were spent dealing with the student and parent."

Randi, is that not true?

VANDERHEYDEN: I disagree. Because when we first reported it, none of the teachers were made aware that it was going on. She actually was set by one of the bullies right after it was reported. We continuously asked them to remove those kids from that school. They said, no, that maybe your daughter needed to move.

ALLEN: Will getting any money from this make things better for your daughter?

CLYNE: Yes, everybody keeps focusing on the money, and the only reason I would request money is so that she can get more psychological counseling. What we want to do is have Broward follow their own rules and stop bullying in the school. It's nice for them to put up on bulletin boards that it's anti-bullying month, but they are not following their own policies, they're not following state law and they are allowing the bullying to take place. And in this particular district, you've had several children that have been hurt in relation to school incidents. One child was shot, another one was stomped horribly. The Broward County Public Schools needs to do a better job of making sure they provide safe schools. They can't take school money and then not follow the policies that go with that.

ALLEN: We appreciate you both bringing us this story.

Randi Vanderheyden and Reginald Clyne, thank you.

VANDERHEYDEN: Thank you.

CLYNE: Thank you.

ALLEN: Well, Mitt Romney lands a big Iowa endorsement.

Paul Steinhauser is joining us from the political desk.

Hi there, Paul.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Natalie. Less than six weeks away now from those votes in Iowa. And you're absolutely right. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor in the Hawkeye State today and getting a big endorsement. Does it really matter? Well, it this one does because it's a guy called John Thune, a senator from neighboring South Dakota, who endorsed him. They were together on the campaign trail today in Des Moines, Iowa. And this is a big deal. It helps Romney for two reasons. Thune is well-known in northwest part of Iowa, a heavily Republican part of the state, also a lot of social conservatives voters there who may have a problem with Romney and his Mormon religion. So I think this endorsement is a big deal for Romney.

Take a look at this. This is the latest poll in Iowa. Who is on top? A guy named Newt Gingrich. Brand new poll from American Research Group. Gingrich at 27 percent, Romney at 20, Paul at 17 percent.

And, Natalie, all this happening as we're learning from our Shannon Travis, our reporter out there in Iowa, that there was a secret meeting on Monday night by social conservatives in the state. They're looking to find a consensus candidate to try to endorse just one of these other Republicans to be the anti-Romney candidate. A lot of stuff going on. Again, just six weeks away from the votes in the Iowa caucuses -- Natalie?

ALLEN: Very interesting. And Wolf Blitzer got a new nickname last night, of course.

(LAUGHTER)

STEINHAUSER: The "Blitz." I love it.

ALLEN: He'll always be our "Blitz" from here on out.

(LAUGHTER)

Paul Steinhauser.

Thank you, Paul.

STEINHAUSER: Thanks.

ALLEN: That does it for me. I'm Natalie Allen. Good to be with you. Now more CNN NEWSROOM with Brooke Baldwin -- Brooke?