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Cain Denies Longtime Affair; Fine Faces Second Sex Abuse Investigation; Feds to Lead Syracuse Investigation; Sandusky Hires Private Investigator; British Embassy in Iran Stormed; Utah Professor Pleads "Not Guilty"; Concussion Risks in Soccer; Facebook Targets $10B IPO; Jackson Doctor about to be sentenced; Romney Gets Key Latino Backing

Aired November 29, 2011 - 10:00   ET

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

TED ROWLANDS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour with Herman Cain's presidential campaign and the latest crisis that threatens to derail it.

A woman says she and Cain were involved in an extramarital affair for more than 13 years. The Atlanta businesswoman says she came forward because there was -- her secret was about to go public.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGER WHITE, ALLEGES AFFAIR WITH HERMAN CAIN: There were leaks. There were people. There were threats of people coming out with their version and not that any version is really pretty, but I thought that it was important to at least come out with my story -- my side of the story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: David Mattingly is here in Atlanta. David, Cain is issuing a flat out denial, but you also spoke to his attorney. What is he saying?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's how he's describing her. He says that Ginger White is a former businesswoman, a single mother of two and says that she had a 13-year-long sexual affair with presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Well, Cain flatly denies he has had any kind of relationship like that with White. In fact, after the story broke, the Cain campaign released a statement implying that Ginger White is another detractor alleging events that didn't happen.

White says it's true that it went on until shortly before Cain announced his candidacy and she's going public now because she was already being pursued by reporters, and she felt she needed to be the one telling her story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITE: It was pretty simple. It wasn't complicated. I was aware that he was married, and I was also aware that I was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship. I'm not proud. I didn't want to come out with this. I did not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: So now it comes down to credibility. I spoke with White's attorney. He confirms that she has legal problems with a former business partner, that she's been unemployed in the past, and she's recently had problems paying her rent, but he tells me that had nothing to do with her coming forward.

ROWLANDS: What does Ginger White hope to get out of this?

MATTINGLY: Well, her attorney tells me she's not asking for anything, and the only reason was here that she felt it was inevitable, that the story would come out, so she wanted to present her side herself.

ROWLANDS: All right, David Mattingly, thanks. Even before Ginger White's accusations were made public, Herman Cain actually broke the story himself on CNN.

He sat down for an exclusive interview with our Wolf Blitzer and adamantly denied the claims he knew were coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Did you have a 13-year affair with this woman?

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No. I did not.

BLITZER: Did you know her for 13 years?

CAIN: Yes, but I did not have an affair, OK? And until I see and hear exactly what's going to be, what the accusations are going to be made, let's move on.

But I acknowledge that I knew the woman. I acknowledge that I've known her for that period of time, but the accusations that I had a 13-year affair with her, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Stay with us. Wolf Blitzer will join us to discuss his exclusive interview with Herman Cain. That is about 10 minutes from now at 10:14 Eastern Time.

Well, this latest scandal comes just two weeks after two women accused Cain of sexual harassment. And his once soaring campaign is already seeing some supporters jump off the so-called Cain train.

Joe Johns is in Washington. Joe, Cain rushed to contain the damage here. Can his campaign survive this latest blow though?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's certainly trying to. He's got a new fundraising e-mail out this morning touting his 9-9-9 plan to reform the tax code, talking about slaying the tax monster, trying to get back on message and certainly staying in the race for sure.

But he has been trending downward for a while now. The latest news certainly can't be good for him, Ted. Many Republicans I've talked to over recent months never really thought he was going to win the nomination when his polling numbers were at their peak.

And now they're not at their peak anymore. He's running third in the last CNN/ORC poll. The question is how he makes this case to social conservatives who expect politicians to answer to a higher power?

How he makes this case to woman voters who showed early signs of being skeptical about him earlier this month. His problems are not only about the allegations of sexual harassment that came before.

But he also came across as a candidate that wasn't up to speed on certain issues and not plugged in to the message of the campaign he was trying to put out. So it's all real challenge for Herman Cain right now -- Ted.

ROWLANDS: All right, and we shall see how he handles that challenge and what happens in the days and weeks to come. Joe Johns, thanks for us in Washington this morning.

Pittsburgh police say they will launch a sex abuse investigation of fired Syracuse assistant coach, Bernie Fine. Fine already faces molestation allegations in Syracuse.

One of his two accusers there taped a conversation with Fine's wife where she suggested that she knew about the alleged abuse. CNN'S Gary Tuchman tried to talk to Laurie Fine last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Gary Tuchman, CNN. I'm sorry to bother you.

LAURIE FINE, WIFE OF BERNIE FINE: You're not bothering me.

TUCHMAN: I was hoping to ask you - your nephew was saying that you might have a statement?

FINE: We have no statement.

TUCHMAN: You're not going to make a statement today?

FINE: Not today.

TUCHMAN: Is that tape misinterpreted, though?

FINE: I have no comment.

TUCHMAN: How come you can't comment?

FINE: I cannot comment.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROWLANDS: CNN's Deborah Feyerick joins us now from Syracuse. Deb, where do things stand with this investigation? Do we expect Mrs. Fine to say something today?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we were told by her nephew that she would be. But right now, she has closed the door on pretty much everyone. What we can tell you is that Bobby Davis, the alleged victim has been trying to get people to listen to him for the last nine years.

Now whether he got discouraged when police told him the statute of limitations has run out, what he fails to realize was that by making that tape, he had very powerful evidence. But instead of taking it to police, he took it to the press.

And now everyone is really playing catch-up just to make sure more victims don't step forward, hoping their actions didn't lead to the creation of potentially more victims. We've got police.

They are working with federal authorities who have brought in the Secret Service, who are analyzing computers and other digital information to see whether there is any evidence suggesting that Bernie Fine is guilty of doing what he's accused of doing.

You've also got the district attorney. He's been shut out of the actual investigation, so he's looking to the police to see whether, in fact, they made a mistake by turning Bobby Davis away.

The university, they acknowledge that yes, the reason they launched their investigation back six years ago is because of Bobby Davis' allegations against this associate coach.

Then, of course, you've got the press, including ESPN, saying it wasn't their job to bring the tape to police, it was their job to corroborate the information on the tape.

So you really have this sort of circle where everybody is just trying to do the right thing. Now for Bobby Davis, it's been years and years of trying to get people to listen to him -- Ted.

ROWLANDS: And tonight, Syracuse has a home basketball game. Any chance that scandal will affect Coach Jim Boeheim?

FEYERICK: You know, that's an interesting question. Jim Boeheim is a very tough guy. He initially came out with strong support of his friend and of his colleague.

But just last weekend, backtracked, apologizing frankly to Bobby Davis and the other alleged victim saying if he made any insensitive remarks, it wasn't his intention to, and he encouraged people to come to the game.

It's the first home game since Fine was fired. Boeheim is pretty secure in his job. ESPN reporting that, in fact, he has no intention of stepping down.

There is a very strong hierarchy here at the basketball program, so they already do have a coach who would step in, but it doesn't look like that's going to be a need -- Ted.

ROWLANDS: All right, Deb Feyerick like for us in Syracuse.

Jerry Sandusky's lawyer says the former Penn State football coach has hired a private investigator. Sandusky is hoping to prove his innocence of charges that he sexually abused eight boys over a 14-year period.

The move comes as one of Sandusky's alleged victims reveals that he has hired two attorneys. Those attorneys say when the time is right. They will file civil suits against Sandusky and others.

Hard line students in Iran stormed the British embassy in Tehran today. They took down the British flag and replaced it with an Iranian flag.

Zain Verjee joins us from London. Zain, this is a fluent situation and potentially extremely dangerous.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, you know, Ted, it's the first significant assault on a foreign embassy area in Iran for years. The scene was a violent one. It was a crowd of about 1,000 that gathered outside the embassy and it became violent.

Protesters stormed in. They broke windows. They smash windows. They threw documents outside of windows. They even set some of it on fire. They were chanting death of England.

There was a picture of the queen they were waving around and condemning the United Kingdom. What many people are saying is this is really a response to what the British has done with Iran, which is a pretty big deal.

They cut off every single kind of financial tie, the first time they've ever done this to Iran, all transactions, any relationship with any bank in Iran. So what happened was, Ted, on Sunday the Iranian parliament voted to kick out, expel, the British ambassador to Iran. And they want to downgrade relationships also with the United Kingdom.

The west really thinks that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program. A report from the United Nations, the nuclear watchdog came out and said they were really concerned for the British reaction to cut off financial ties was really a response to that.

And what we're seeing now in Tehran, these really disturbing pictures of the situation getting more dangerous and a real target of anger and frustration at the British embassy there.

ROWLANDS: Any reaction from the British government?

VERJEE: Yes, actually, I was just looking at the statement right now from the foreign office. This is what they had to say. They said, we are outraged by this. It's utterly unacceptable and we condemn it under international law.

The Iranian government has a clear duty to protect diplomats and embassies in their country. We expect them to act urgently to bring the situation under control and ensure the safety of our staff and security of our property.

Ted, it's not clear if any of the embassies was in there when the storming happened? They're checking on everyone to make sure they're OK -- Ted.

ROWLANDS: Hopefully, they will be. All right, Zain Verjee is live for us in London. Stay with us. Wolf Blitzer joins us next to discuss his exclusive interview with Herman Cain. Stay with us

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWLANDS: This morning there are new questions dogging Herman Cain and his slumping presidential campaign just weeks after two women accused him of sexual harassment.

He now faces claims that he cheated on his wife for more than a decade. An Atlanta businesswoman has came forward to say their 13-year affair was consensual and sexual. But even before her claims went public, Cain broke the story himself here on CNN.

We sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAIN: I did not have an affair.

BLITZER: Do you think she has e-mails, letters, gifts? Anything that she will bring to try to confirm this.

CAIN: No. Wolf, when you've done nothing wrong -- no. I mean, just like the second woman a few weeks ago came in with the statement and the so-called documents, which couldn't stand up to scrutiny, I have no idea what it is she's going to have to show proof.

BLITZER: Are you worried this could further hurt you in this Republican race for the White House?

CAIN: I'm more worried this is going to hurt my wife and my family, because it's going to be proved that it was probably something else that was baseless. And the court of public opinion does not consider that when they run past that judgment.

BLITZER: Have you spoken to your wife and family?

CAIN: Yes.

BLITZER: How did she react?

CAIN: My wife's reaction was very similar to mine. Here we go again.

BLITZER: But you're staying in this race, you're not dropping out? CAIN: I'm not dropping out of this race, no. As long as my wife is behind me, and as long as my wife believes I should stay in this race, I'm staying in this race.

Because I am sick and tired of the hurt and harm that somebody out there is doing to my family, also to me, with these baseless charges. The important thing is that somebody is awfully afraid that I'm doing too well in this republican nomination to continue to dig up these stories to try to put a cloud and damper on my campaign.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: Wolf Blitzer joins us now from Washington to discuss that bombshell interview. Wolf, what was your reaction when you realized Cain was going to launch into this pre-emptive strike?

BLITZER: I was pretty shocked because I had no idea. We had booked the interview the day before, and he would be able to come into my situation room, and I thought we would get to current events of the day and talk national politics.

All of a sudden he let us know about this story that WAGA Fox 5 in Atlanta were about to break in Atlanta. He wanted to pre-empt them and to give his side of the story first, and we obviously let him answer the questions and let him do that.

We didn't know about it. We didn't know that they had tweeted that they had a national story. I assumed they had something either on Herman Cain or Newt Gingrich in Georgia, but I had no idea what they had, I had no idea if it was Herman Cain or Newt Gingrich or somebody else.

We eventually got the specific details from Herman Cain and then later they revealed the story and broke the story of this woman Ginger White, and had a statement from her and a statement from the lawyer representing Herman Cain. So it was just sort of breaking as we were on the air.

ROWLANDS: I understand why someone would want to jump out at a story, but do you think possibly here this may bite him, because if it turns out there was a sexual relationship, which, quite frankly, his attorney's statement later sort of alludes to.

And that we shouldn't even think about it because it's private business. The bottom line here is that he may have told a bald-faced lie to you, and that could be difficult to get out of.

BLITZER: That would be very difficult to get out of. Not nil impossible in the world of politics, but very difficult, especially as he's seeking the Republican presidential nomination, a lot of conservative family values.

Oriented voters are out there, whether in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Florida. It's doable, but it would be very, very difficult if, in fact, it turns out to be a flat-out lie on his part.

Because he did look me and our viewers right in the eye and denied all of these allegations. And you point out accurately there was a discrepancy between his flat-out denial and the non-denial, if you will, from Lin Wood, his well-known attorney in Atlanta who said consensual sex should be nobody's business.

And it should be out of the realms of the news media in covering the political world. So there was an important distinction between what the lawyer said and what Herman Cain said on CNN.

ROWLANDS: This is an affair being alleged here. Do voters distinguish between the two? Have we gotten to the post Lewinsky-Clinton scandal? Can he survive this?

BLITZER: Well, he may be able to, although I think it will be very, very difficult. You now have two women publicly on camera accusing him of sexual harassment, two other women refusing to reveal their identities making similar accusations.

And now a woman saying she had a 13-year affair with him. None of these women as far as I can tell, you know, are being coordinated by one individual who's orchestrating this kind of smear campaign against Herman Cain. They come from different parts of the country, different background.

I suspect they don't even know each other, and now there are five incidents now of women making this very awful accusations against him. He survived so far. He's going down in the polls.

But as much as the sexual allegation -- I suspect several different women making accusations against him. He's gone down in the polls, but as much as the sexual harassment allegations have hurt him, I suppose the gaffes he acknowledges in the Sentinel for about 40 or 50 seconds.

He seemed to be confused on a simple question involving U.S. policy towards Libya. I think stuff like that hurt him if not as much, perhaps more.

ROWLANDS: All right, Wolf Blitzer with that explosive interview last night. We'll see how the Cain train reacts to all this. Thanks, Wolf. Appreciate it.

BLITZER: Thank you.

ROWLANDS: After the break, the hidden dangers of soccer? A new study raises troubling questions about a sport long embraced by parents. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will explain. Stay with us.

Many people across the southeast woke up this morning to a rare November snowfall. We'll have details on that as well after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWLANDS: Checking news cross-country now, parts of the south getting hit by a rare November snowstorm. Accumulations of two to four inches are possible for Mississippi and Alabama into Tennessee and North Carolina.

In New York, two more students have surrendered to police on Long Island. They're accused in a college entrance exam cheating scandal. A total of 20 current or former high school students now face criminal charges in connection with the pay for testing scandal.

A Utah professor is pleading not guilty to charges of watching child porn on a plane. The University of Utah has placed Professor Grant Smith on administrative leave and will fire him if the allegations turn out to be true.

Well, if you're concerned about your kids getting concussions from sports, football may not be the only game to keep your eye on. As we hear from chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

A new study saying repeated head butts from soccer balls may also cause some of the same problems that football does with concussions.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ted, you're absolutely right. Soccer is a very popular sport around the world, but when it comes to head injuries, a lot of focus has been on football.

Keep in mind when talking about soccer or football, the real concern is sort of movement of the brain within the skull. Not so much the hits, and I think that might make sense when you think of why soccer overall can cause these types of problems.

In this study, it's a small study. They looked at 39 players. These were players in their 30s and they were asked to assess how many times they used their head or head butted the soccer ball in any given year.

What they found was that the heavy hitters, people who are heavier under the spectrum started to have brain changes different from people who are at the lower hitting range. Take a look at those pictures there.

A little bit hard to make out. Look at the changes in the brain for attention and memory and problem solving and they again saw these changes. Exactly how to piece it all together, that's going to be harder to do, but they did see these changes.

Again, keep in mind, when you look at this football animation, it's the brain movement back and forth within the skull that seems to make the difference.

But, Ted, obviously these studies need to be duplicated. You need to look at kids specifically, these are looking at adults, but a lot of people paying attention to this given the popularity of soccer -- Ted?

ROWLANDS: Yes, absolutely. OK, thanks, Sanjay. You can see much more of Sanjay's reporting on head injuries in youth sports in "Big Hits Broken Dreams" January 29 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. >

ROWLANDS: Coming up, Michael Jackson's doctor is about to be sentenced in the singer's death. We'll go live to Los Angeles for the latest. Plus, Newt Gingrich says he's not a perfect candidate but a lot better than Mitt Romney. Tough talk, will it pay off? Our "Political Buzz" panel weighs in next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWLANDS: Checking top stories. Nearly four months after an American tourist disappeared, Aruba authorities are releasing their main suspect.

A judge ruled there is not enough evidence to keep holding her friend, Jerry Giordano. He plans to return to the United States as soon as possible.

After more than a dozen interviews, doctors in Norway have ruled that Anders Brevick is insane. But he will still be tried in July's bombing and shooting rampage that killed 77 people. If convicted he'll be held in a mental hospital for life.

Herman Cain insists he was just friends with the Georgia accusing him of a long term affair. The Republican presidential hopeful says he tried to help Ginger White professionally and financially, but that is as far as it went.

Well, time for the "Political Buzz" it is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Playing today Democratic National Committee member Robert Zimmerman; founder and editor of Citizen Jane Politics, Patricia Murphy; and Georgetown professor Chris Metzler.

All right, guys. First question, Herman Cain is denying allegations of a 13-year affair with an Atlanta businesswoman. Here's what he told Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: I acknowledge that I knew the woman. I acknowledge that I've known her for about that period of time, but the accusation that I had a 13-year affair with her, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Is Cain still a contender Robert?

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I can report to you with great sense of confidence that this most recent allegation in no way impacts Herman Cain's chances for the Republican nomination. Because at the end of the day, he was never a credible, serious or legitimate candidate for the Republican nomination.

But I think -- I think even the bigger disgrace is that ultimately he's become a bore, and nothing is worse than a boring sex scandal. So ultimately, Herman Cain has really lost all legitimacy and all credibility in this process.

ROWLANDS: All right, Patricia? PATRICIA MURPHY, FOUNDER/EDITOR, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: Yes, I think if Herman Cain had any chance before, and I actually think he did. I talked to voters who saw him, loved him and also really liked his policies, but I think with allegation after allegation after allegation, you can feel within the Republican Party just a fatigue, a fatigue of all of these scandals for Herman Cain. They want somebody who can win. They don't want somebody who is always explaining his sexual past.

He needs to be doing everything right this is the last thing he needed. I think it's the end of his campaign.

ROWLANDS: All right, Chris?

CHRIS METZLER, GOERGETOWN PROFESSOR: Well, as a pro-conservative, I've got to tell you I actually kind of agree with Robert. There are a couple problems here. Number one, I am not sure that Herman Cain was ever a contender. I think this makes him even less of a contender.

Here is the problem, the problem for Cain is, in order to believe him, we would have to suspend any logic that we have. So that's one. Two, he seems to have a very uncomfortable relationship with the -- with the truth, and then thirdly, you know, he's essentially poisoned the food and blamed the plate here. And as a result of that, I think we're done. We need to move on.

ROWLANDS: All right, question number two. Newt Gingrich's new strategy, attack Romney. Here's what he told a South Carolina radio station. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't plan to be the perfect candidate, I just plan to be a lot more conservative than Mitt Romney and a lot more electable than anybody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Will this backfire on Newt? Patricia?

MURPHY: Well, listen somebody has to start attacking Mitt Romney. It may as well be Newt Gingrich. The reason this does puts Newt Gingrich in a little bit of a -- in the crosshairs, though, is because when he saying he's more conservative than Mitt Romney, that invites a very, very close examination of his own record, and there is a big question whether or not he is really more conservative than Mitt Romney.

Newt Gingrich supported TARP; Newt Gingrich supported the individual mandate and health care; Newt Gingrich lobbied for Freddie Mac whether he lobbied or not, he says we know he got paid a million dollars by them. So is he as conservative as Mitt Romney? Who knows we're going to go through his record now line by line by line.

ROWLANDS: All right, he also sat on a coach -- on a couch with Nancy Pelosi. Chris?

MURPHY: Yes.

METZLER: Well I mean, I think at this point, Newt is doing what he should do, which is the DNC has come out with this attack ad questioning Mitt Romney. And as a result of that, I think what Newt is doing is starting to pile on. And I think actually that that is a smart strategy.

Now, to the question as to whether or not he is more conservative than Mitt Romney, I think the answer to that is probably yes. However, the caveat is it depends on which Mitt Romney we're talking about, which is why a lot of conservatives, myself included, actually don't like Romney. We don't know who is going to show up.

ROWLANDS: All right, Robert?

METZLER: The real contest here is not who is more conservative between Romney and Gingrich, it's really, who has flipped on more issues, who is taking both sides of more issues? Gingrich's record, as Patricia articulated, has been on both sides, but most of the (INAUDIBLE) of the day Romney is being two-faced on many issues as well, documented as well.

It's also curious to note you can see Democrats attacking Romney with that great video they put out, Mitt Romney, two men in one body, versus attacking Newt Gingrich. It tells you a lot about strategy. So at the end of the day, if they both compete with each other over who split more, then both of them will win that contest.

ROWLANDS: All right, a "Buzzer Beater" time 20 seconds each. The never shy Democrat Barney Frank retiring from congress after 16 terms. What should be his last words to his colleagues? What should the last words be? Chris?

METZLER: Well, I think his last words are so long, farewell, I won't miss you, you do-good, no-good Congress. I also think part of his last words are, I am leaving you as morally bankrupt as Fannie and Freddie Mae are actually financially bankrupt. And finally, you won't have Barney to kick around anymore.

ROWLANDS: Robert?

MURPHY: A lot of last word.

ZIMMERMAN: You know is probably, that is probably the toughest question I've gotten on this panel in all the time I've done with you. Because I would never presume to put words in Barney Frank's mouth. I think what the public loses sight of is how well he worked with Republican colleagues, the relationship we built with Hank Paulson, the secretary of the treasury, or with Dana Rorabacher who praised him as a Republican for his work on the other sides of the -- both sides of the aisle.

So ultimately I think the best, I would hope Barney Frank will articulate the need for people who want compromises and send that message to Washington because all we hear from are the people on the polar -- on polar opposites. ROWLANDS: All right, Patricia. Last word.

MURPHY: I think his last word should be something he said before, if you can't work with people you truly despise, you don't belong in Congress. And whether or not we want to believe it, he's a pretty good example. As Robert said he worked very well with the Republicans, got a lot done. I think people in Congress could learn from that example.

ROWLANDS: All right and he will be missed for a number of reasons on Capitol Hill. All right thanks, guys I appreciate it.

MURPHY: Thanks.

ROWLANDS: In about an hour, Michael Jackson's doctor will learn his fate. Conrad Murray faces up to four years behind bars for his involuntary manslaughter conviction in the connection with the singer's death. Murray's defense, though, has asked for probation.

Sandra Endo, joins us live from Los Angeles for more. What are we expecting, Sandy?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it could be a range of things when the judge takes the stand and obviously announces his sentencing, Ted. The probation obviously could mean a very light sentence for Conrad Murray. That's, of course, what the defense is hoping for. Murray's lawyers arguing that this is a conviction he'll have to live with for life, actually, and possibly the revocation of his medical license.

So clearly, they're saying he's going to be punished enough. Now, on the other hand, the prosecution wants the max, four years in jail, and also hefty fines. Restitution could amount to more than $100 million. But according to state law, because of the overcrowding situation in state prisons here, even if the judge sentences him them to the maximum four years, that will automatically be deducted or reduced to half of that, so two years in jail.

Listen to both sides as they made their comments when the verdict came down November 7th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I'm confident, and I believe based on Dr. Murray's lack of a prior criminal record, I'm hopeful that the court will take that into account and give Dr. Murray probation with maybe a little bit of county time.

JERMAINE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: If they gave him all the time in the world, it's not going to bring my brother back. It's not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENDO: Now, Jackson's family members are expected to be in court today. His parents, Joe and Katherine Jackson, as well as some of his siblings. His three kids are not expected to attend. They are supposed to be in school, according to family members, so it's clear that the family members, though, will be a presence here in the courtroom, Ted.

And interesting to note, both mothers petitioned the judge making their case. Obviously Jackson's mother saying that Conrad Murray should get the max, and Murray's mother in a letter pleaded for leniency, pleaded for mercy, and also mentioned there in the letter that she felt sorry for Katherine Jackson for the loss of her son -- Ted.

ROWLANDS: All right. We talk to Michael Flannigan last hour. He says he does expect some of the Jackson family members to address the court.

Thank you Sandra Endo live for us at Los Angeles.

Well coming up, Tyler Perry writes to a young man caught up in the Penn State scandal. Find out why in your "Showbiz" headlines coming up next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWLANDS: Miley Cyrus is giving a big shout-out to protesters occupying cities around the world. A.J. Hammer is here with all the details -- A.J.

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Hey Ted. Well, the former Disney star is showing off her political activist side. She has re- dedicated one of her songs to the Occupy Movement doing a video remix of her song "Liberty Walk". It was posted on Miley's official YouTube channel with the caption that says, "This is dedicated to the thousands of people who are standing up for what they believe in."

Now, the new video includes footage from Occupy protests that are going on around the world. You see footage of angry marchers, all the police confrontations and the last image is a sign that says, "We can change this world, imagine."

Now, the video has been viewed by about 325,000 people so far on YouTube. I just checked it before we went to air. The original music video for this song has only been seen by around 15,000 people, so it is getting some notice. And in the comments section you have your haters and you have your supporters, but the majority seems to like the song and they say it's actually changed their opinion of Miley.

Of course, Ted, there's cynics out there is saying that's exactly why she did it, but for now I'm going to give her credit for speaking out and using her voice.

ROWLANDS: Tyler Perry just reached out to one of the accusers in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. Tell us about the letter he's written, A.J.

HAMMER: Yes, this was a very powerful letter, Ted. It was published by "Newsweek" magazine. Perry talks directly to the 11-year-old alleged victim of the Penn State sex abuse scandal. Perry was himself abused as a young boy. And he offers his support and some advice to the victim. Here are just a few o the excerpts of what Perry writes. He said, "I don't know your name, but I know your face. I don't know your journey, but I know where you are. I am your brother."

Perry calls this victim his hero for coming forward and says that no one deserves to be chosen by a monster to suffer abuse. He sums it all up by writing this. "You may have to go through with that trial and you may feel all alone when you're on that witness stand, but just know that there are millions of young boys and grown men who are standing with you, including me. If every man who has ever been molested would speak up, you would see that we're all around you."

Ted, some powerful words spoken from experience from Tyler Perry.

ROWLANDS: Yes, absolutely. Ok. Thanks, A.J. Appreciate it. Want more information on breaking news in the entertainment world? Well, A.J.'s got it this evening on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT". 11:00 Eastern on HLN.

Drew Brees is great at throwing the football, not so good at dunking it. Highlights of the Saints-Giants game after the break. Stay with us.

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ROWLANDS: Checking news cross country, people across the southeast woke up this morning to a rare November snowstorm; accumulations of two to four inches are possible in several states. Five inches of snow has fallen in the western Tennessee town of Denmark.

Occupy protesters in Oklahoma City are defying an order to leave a downtown park. The city told them to be out by 11:00 local time last night. The city is also refusing to renew the daily permit protesters have been using to stay in the park.

The nation's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is marking 50 years of service. 1,000 former crew members of the U.S. enterprise took part in two days of celebrations in Norfolk, Virginia.

On Monday night football, the Saints were dominant against the Giants. The key, of course, in the NFL is the quarterback. And the Saints have one of the best in Drew Brees. There is Brees to Jimmy Graham making it 14-3. Later in the second quarter, it will be Brees again. This time he's going to hit Lance Moore.

Brees had four touchdown passes and threw for more than 350 yards. He also ran for a score. After he runs it in, watch him as he approaches the Cross R. He's going to get up and he's going to try to dunk the ball like Michael Jordan. Not even close. New Orleans wins the game 49-24.

And the Jacksonville Jaguars have fired coach Jack Del Rio. He took over as the second coach in the team's history in 2005. The jags are 3-8 this year. They haven't had a winning season in four years. Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker takes over as interim coach.

Well, how much is Facebook worth? It could be $100 billion in the next few months. The company is reportedly working on plans to go public, and soon.

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ROWLANDS: Facebook's long a waited IPO is coming and it could be coming soon, and it could be one of the biggest initial public offerings ever.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange; Alison, how big are we talking here?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How big, Ted? Huge. These reports say Facebook is looking at raising $10 billion in its IPO; that represents 10 percent of the company's stocks. If you do the math, it would value Facebook at a whopping $100 billion. That's as big as the current value of Hewlett-Packard and 3M if you put them together.

If this actually happens, if and when Facebook makes its public debut, founder Mark Zuckerberg, no doubt, is going to be a very rich man. goes out. His stake would be worth $24 billion if that IPO is as strong as expected. Now, the timing is a little more in question.

You know Facebook has definitely been dragging its feet on this one. Bloomberg is reporting that it could happen this year, but Ted, we've also been hearing next year in the spring as well -- Ted.

ROWLANDS: Facebook is seven years old now. Why go public now? What's the emphasis or motivation to go public?

KOSIK: And that's a good question, because what's happening now is that Facebook is going to be getting to a 500 shareholder limit at the end of this year. The way SEC rules go, companies like that are forced to open their book to open up their financial information to the public.

At this point Facebook has basically been doing whatever it wants. It's been operating outside the limelight because private companies don't have to report earnings, they don't have to show how much money they have. But next year what is going to happen is that Facebook will have to start reporting earnings even if it doesn't go public.

So Ted, what you see here is the possible thinking of Facebook may be if they're going to have to open their books, anyway, they may as well reap the rewards, go public and make some money in the process.

ROWLANDS: Start playing by the rules, they might as well cash in. Alison Kosik thanks -- at the New York --

KOSIK: Exactly.

ROWLANDS: Thanks Alison. Appreciate it.

Checking stories making news later today, Dr. Conrad Murray will be sentenced at 11:30 Eastern for his involuntary manslaughter conviction in the death of pop star Michael Jackson.

Also at 11:30 Eastern, the man accused of killing eight people in a southern Los Angeles salon is expected to arraigned in an orange county courtroom.

And at 8:00 Eastern, Gary Giordano, The Maryland man in jail in Aruba since August in connection with the disappearance of his traveling companion is due to be released from custody.

An 8-year-old child is taken away from his mom for being overweight. The boy weighed over 200 pounds and authorities said it was parental neglect.

Suzanne Malveaux will talk to our medical correspondent about the risks.

Plus --

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE; I don't want to be a burden to my son, and frankly speaking, hope that I'll be killed in a car accident. That's the best that I can hope for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Financial worries for baby boomers as they work into retirement.

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ROWLANDS: Two Republican White House hopefuls are getting endorsements this morning. Our senior political editor, Mark Preston is following the candidates -- Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, how are you Ted. Yes, you could call this endorsement day in many ways. Down in Florida today, Mitt Romney received the endorsement of three very prominent Latino lawmakers: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mario Diaz-Balart as well as his brother Lincoln Diaz-Balart. These are three folks who are very influential in the Cuban-American community down in Miami.

Now, why this is important is because the Florida primary, which will occur on January 31st, is seen as make or break for many candidates in the Republican presidential primary. And of course, when we're looking at Florida, one of the subsets of voters we look at is to see where the Cuban voters are going to go. The Cuban voters tend to be a little bit more conservative. So big get for Mr. Romney down in Florida.

Not to be out done, Rick Perry who had that (INAUDIBLE) Ted regarding illegal immigration especially when he said -- was supportive anyway of giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. Well, today perhaps one of the most outspoken voters on illegal immigration, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona has endorsed Rick Perry.

In fact Arpaio traveled all the way to New Hampshire to offer his endorsement. Some of our viewers remember that Arpaio is kind of that outspoken, flamboyant sheriff from Arizona who makes prisoners wear pink underwear. So he says, that in fact, Rick Perry is a person that will help secure the border. So in fact, two very big endorsements that just came out in the last couple of hours -- Ted.

ROWLANDS: Yes. Thanks Mark. Everybody wanted Old Sheriff Jim on their side when talking immigration on the Republican side. Mark Preston, thanks.

We'll have our next political update in one hour and a reminder for all the latest political news, you can go to our Web site, cnn.com/politics.

Well, coming up next, the best part of the day for most folks, Suzanne Malveaux is here to take over the reins --- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see you in person Ted.

ROWLANDS: Good to see you.