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Herman Cain Under Fire, Reassessing Bid; Conrad Murray Sentenced to Four Years; Egypt Elections Continue; Sexual Misconduct Suit for Lawrence Taylor

Aired November 29, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we are, top of the hour. Watch this.

Rolling on, top of the hour number two. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We are looking at a number of stories. Claims of an affair taking a toll on Herman Cain's campaign today. He's reassessing his run for the White House. Also, Dr. Conrad Murray gets a lecture and a sentence in the death of pop star Michael Jackson.

And it's day two of Egypt's historic elections. And the South gets an early taste of winter.

Time to pay "Reporter Roulette."

David Mattingly, we will begin with you here.

Herman Cain says he's reassessing. The word reassessing, what exactly does that mean and how long do they reassess?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's had to pause and reassess during his campaign before during setbacks. But this time it's a huge setback.

This woman in Georgia coming forward and saying that she and Herman Cain have had a sexual relationship, an affair for the last 13, almost 14 years. Now, that is something to definitely give his campaign pause. So they are stepping back. He's maintaining his appearances for the moment. He might be reconsidering what interviews he grants in the near future.

But at the same time, a top-ranked official with that campaign tells CNN that they are looking at what's going to happen to the contributions, of course, without money, the campaign can't go anywhere.

BALDWIN: Of course. And I remember after the initial allegation of sex assault some weeks ago, he has said that his campaign funds actually went up. But when you look over the course of time since then, his poll numbers have dropped and his momentum has dropped.

Do we know what would it take for him to call it quits?

MATTINGLY: Well, it would take the money to dry up. That's a no- brainer. But if we see more coming out with this case from this woman here in Georgia, a single mother of two, a former businesswoman who says she's had this long-term affair with him, if more details come out about that, right now it's he said/she said. He says they were friends. She says it was an affair. If more details come out to make her look more credible, that could be a big problem.

BALDWIN: I have to ask, because this woman coming forward is obviously quite different than the previous two women. That was the allegation of sexual harassment. This is the allegation that she had an affair as you mentioned for 13-plus years with Mr. Cain. The question is, why is she coming forward and why now?

MATTINGLY: Well, she says that she was already being approached by reporters. She felt the story was going to get out there and it was going to be inevitable. She felt like it was in her best interests and everyone involved for her to come out and for her to tell her own story. And that's what she did yesterday breaking the story to a local affiliate here in Atlanta, of course now having national implications in this political race.

BALDWIN: David Mattingly, thank you for that.

Next on "Reporter Roulette" here, Dr. Conrad Murray sentenced for his part in Michael Jackson's death. The judge threw the book at him today.

Casey Wian is in Los Angeles.

And we're talking maximum sentence today, Casey.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he threw as much of the book at him as he could. Because of severe overcrowding here in California, the four-year sentence that Dr. Conrad Murray received today, he will probably only end up serving about two of that, perhaps even less. He will serve that in L.A. County jail, not in state penitentiary.

The defense had asked for Dr. Conrad Murray to be sentenced to probation based on his life's history of helping poor patients out and what they called an otherwise exemplary life. And the judge basically said, no way, and delivered a blistering verbal attack on Conrad Murray's actions both before, during, and after Michael Jackson's death.

He talked about a pattern of deceit, cover-up, lies. He talked about giving him this drug propofol and then abandoning his patient. And he said that most of all that Dr. Murray, since he was convicted of this crime, in TV interviews has shown absolutely no remorse and has actually felt like the victim himself and blamed the victim. So clearly the judge very upset with Dr. Conrad Murray's actions both before and after this trial -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Given all that the judge said to him today, Casey, this blistering verbal attack that you describe, what was the reaction in the courtroom to that?

WIAN: While the verbal attack -- while the judge was delivering his reasons for sentencing him to maximum, there wasn't much of a reaction. But right after the judge said there was a maximum sentence, I turned around behind me and looked at the Jackson family. LaToya Jackson was smiling broadly. Jermaine Jackson had his head bowed and was nodding silently to himself.

I do want to point out though that as Dr. Conrad Murray entered the courtroom before he was sentenced, his former girlfriend, Nicole Alvarez, blew him a loud kiss. And then after the sentencing, when Dr. Murray was led off back to jail, he blew a kiss back to all of his supporters, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Casey Wian for us in Los Angeles, last case Casey is getting I guess for a little while here.

Next here on "Reporter Roulette," let's go to CNN's Jim Clancy just above the banks of the Nile in Cairo, Egypt, where voting is officially over.

Jim Clancy, I understand that over the course of the past hour or so, you have witnessed this spasm of violence there in Cairo. If you can, just tell me a little bit about that in the context of what has appeared to be at least thus far to be reasonably peaceful election process.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

Context, Brooke, exactly that. These elections have gone so peacefully and made everyone here in Egypt proud. We saw the reverse of that happening down in Tahrir Square where there is a sense that in one way or another the credibility of the protesters has been undercut by the success of the elections.

Now, they say they are happy but, boy, you take a look at the streets, some video that was shot earlier, somebody among the protesters decided to get rid of all the street vendors. They were bad for the image and they took away from the seriousness, the revolutionary atmosphere. But instead of asking them to leave, they said they didn't want to argue, so they just upended all of their carts.

Well, the rocks and the bottles flew in Tahrir Square tonight. I didn't see any evidence of the police or the military being in there at all. Instead, what we really had here was protesters against street vendors, not really well thought through at all on the protesters' part.

Now, elsewhere, we got to say the second day of voting went just as smoothly, maybe a little bit more smoothly than the first here in Cairo and across Egypt. We are told -- I was at one voting station tonight, along with one of the representative of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. General Ismail Etman, he praised the election workers, said everything was fine.

I talked to the election workers and they told me that they saw a turnout of about 50 percent, a little bit better than 50 percent. So things went very well again in Egypt today, a lot of people happy.

BALDWIN: Clancy, I want to ask you about women, the long lines of women we have seen seeming eager to vote. My question is, are Egyptian women fearful that Muslim fundamentalists could win power at the ballot box?

CLANCY: Well, I was there at the polls tonight as they closed, 7:00 here in Cairo. I can tell you there were five, seven, 10 women for every man that was voting. Why?

They want to ensure that religious leaders don't smother their human rights. They say they have been oppressed for decades. What they want to see is a parliament that reflects all of the country and one in which the Islamists don't have a majority that could impose lifestyle questions, lifestyle issues on the entirety of the women in Egypt. Coptic Christians concerned about that, Muslim women that are liberal concerned about that and I think they are voting together -- back to you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jim Clancy for us in Cairo, Jim, thank you.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

BALDWIN: And that's your "Reporter Roulette" of course for this Tuesday.

Now to this. Vice President Joe Biden travels to Baghdad. Surprise. Find out why coming up.

Plus, in addition to wasting away your life on Facebook, you could soon own stock in Facebook.

Also, the coach of a pro football team gets fired, nothing scandalous, just fired for leading a losing team here, folks. We're talking about the Jacksonville Jaguars. More on that coming up.

Also, a victim of serial killer John Wayne Gacy is identified some 35 years later. Find out how this 18-year-old victim was identified -- those stories and more coming up in two minutes. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

BALDWIN: And American Airlines, one of the largest airlines in the world, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But what exactly does that mean for those of us who fly on the airline? Richard Quest digging into this story. He's going to join us live from London on that in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, American Airlines says it's business as usual as it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. The carrier reports making quarterly profit just once in the past four years and the company's new CEO says there's a lot of work ahead to get American's expenses in line with the rest of the airline industry.

Let's go to London to Richard Quest. Richard, I know you talked to the CEO of American Airlines today. What happened?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Basically, everybody else did the hard work of cutting costs through bankruptcy protection. United and Delta, Northwest, and a whole lot of airlines all merged. Continental and United got together, U.S. Airways, America West, Delta, of course, with Northwest.

And the net effect of that was all their competitors, the prices of their costs went down except fuel. And poor old American Airlines was left on its own. Now, American has been beavering away for many years, trying to nip and tuck at the costs, trying to get agreements with pilots and flight attendants, getting leasing deals, getting costs down.

Finally, it just couldn't do it fast enough or deep enough without the big bang solution. So that's why Tom Horton, the new chief executive, told me today it was a decision they took reluctantly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS HORTON, CEO, AMERICAN AIRLINES: The folks at American have worked very hard and honorably to avoid that path over the last decade. But it became clear to us that that gap was too just wide now. It had become untenable, and it was time for us to address it, to turn the page, and begin to put our company on the path to a much more successful future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Richard Quest, here's my question, because I can imagine people out there who have a ticket for American for next week, next month, what have you. Will my ticket still be good?

QUEST: All right. Just to be absolutely clear about this, so there's no doubt, I'm going to ring the bell I always have on the desk here just to draw attention. There is no question that your ticket is good. Go to AA.com and look at the bit for frequently asked questions about the restructuring.

The ticket is good. The frequent flyer miles are good. The planes are good. I don't want to sound like I'm doing a commercial for American, but I think American travelers and flyers are well used to this. They continued flying United in bankruptcy. They continued flying Delta in bankruptcy.

Some will remember the days of Eastern and the first Continental and all those. So flyers do not need to worry. I think employees of American have longer-term worries to look out for in terms of wages and benefits. But this was necessary. American for every seat mile that they flew, it was costing them more than a penny-and-a-half, a tuppence more than the competitors. You can't run an airline like that.

BALDWIN: Well, then what kind of worries should employees have, A., and, B., obviously American Airlines has to get competitive quickly. How do they do that?

QUEST: They do it through a bankruptcy reorganization.

Every contract, every deal, every lease, every wage negotiation, every labor agreement is reopened and negotiated or imposed through the auspices of the bankruptcy supervisory court. That's how it's done. It's done based on the idea that nothing is sacrosanct. So tonight union leaders for American's employees, both union leaders and non- representative, will be looking at what they expect.

Will the pension plan survive in its current guise? What givebacks will there be required by pilots and flight attendants? Now, this is some -- this is months down the road. This ain't happening tomorrow. Horton was quite clear, as of today, everything stays as is.

But American's labors costs are about $800 million more than the rest of the industry. It's over 32 percent of the costs of the airline. Getting those down will be essential if this plan is to succeed. And, unfortunately, that will mean that employees at American will feel the brunt. But, between you and me, Brooke, they know this is coming.

BALDWIN: They knew it was coming. You rattled off a bunch of airlines. They have been through this. They filed for bankruptcy and they have since emerged. Is there any reason to think American -- that the same won't happen to them?

QUEST: Absolutely none.

I can't say it faster, often or frequently enough. If I'm proven wrong on this one, then I will hang up my suspenders, though the fact is, Continental went through bankruptcy years ago. U.S. Airways went through it twice. United went through it for the best part of 3.5, four years. Delta went through it before Northwest and Northwest was in bankruptcy while merging with Delta.

So flyers are used to the idea that bankrupt airlines do reorganize into the protection of the courts. American perhaps should have done it sooner. It should have done it more aggressively. They shouldn't be penalized for the fact they waited until now.

BALDWIN: Well, obviously, best to American and hopefully we won't have to see your suspenders any time soon.

Richard Quest, thank you so much live from London for us.

Coming up, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is -- quote, unquote -- "reassessing" his campaign, this after the allegations of sexual harassment and adultery now against his wife. More on that.

Plus, GOP candidate Mitt Romney gets a major endorsement from Cuban Americans in South Florida -- what this means for the race for the White House coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Herman Cain's White House hopes are in jeopardy this hour. The Republican presidential candidate is -- quote, unquote -- "reassessing" his campaign. This decision today follows reports that he allegedly had this 13-year extramarital affair.

Now, Cain denies the claims by this Atlanta woman. Her name is Ginger White. Cain talked with Wolf Blitzer just yesterday before her story broke. Cain says the woman was a friend, but absolutely nothing more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It was someone who was supposed to be a friend, but, obviously, they didn't see it as a friendship.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Now, when you say friend, was it an a -- I mean, I'm asking. These are awkward questions, but I will ask you the questions you're going to be asked.

Was this an affair?

CAIN: No, it was not.

BLITZER: There was no sex?

CAIN: No.

BLITZER: None?

CAIN: No.

BLITZER: And if this woman says there is, she's lying; is that what you're...

CAIN: Well, Wolf, let's see what the story is going to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Just a couple weeks ago, two women publicly accused Cain of sexual harassment. He has strongly denied those allegations. One top campaign source tells CNN he expects Cain to make a decision after assessing, reassessing over the course of the next couple of days.

Let's go to Jim Acosta now from Tampa with our America's Choice 2012 politics update.

And, Jim, let's talk about some of the other Republicans obviously in the race, Mitt Romney picking up some key endorsements in Florida. This is huge for the much-coveted Hispanic vote.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Brooke.

While the Cain train may be jumping off the tracks, Mitt Romney has been flying at a comfortable cruising altitude, you might say, over the last couple of weeks. You can take your pick. Whether it's Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, some of the other candidates in the race have had their share of troubles. But Mitt Romney has basically kept to a strategy of just focusing on the president and picking up endorsements along the way. This morning, as you mentioned, he was down in South Florida picking up the endorsements of some key American-Cuban leaders in Miami. And he was playing to the crowd there, you could say.

In a factory that is used to process fruit, which is a big industry down in Florida, Romney promised to fight for what he considers to be the cause of freedom in Latin America. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Right now, there are huge changes going on in Latin America, right here so close to our homes.

And the changes could lead in either direction, either positive or negative. This is not a time for us to retreat from our principles. This is a time for us to stand for liberty, to stand for freedom, to oppose those who oppose those things, to remain committed to the principles that make America the hope of the Earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, Romney was peppered with a few questions after the event. It wasn't an official news conference or anything of that nature, but he was asked about this DNC ad that has come out this week, Brooke. As you know, it's accused the former Massachusetts governor as being a flip-flopper and has even taken his comments out of context.

It is a charge that the Romney campaign was very familiar with. Last week, as you know, they came out with an ad accusing the president of all sorts of things and using some of his words out of context. Mitt Romney was asked about the DNC act today and he said he basically took it as a sign that he's doing well on this campaign. He said the president of the Democratic Party, bring it on. Brooke?

BALDWIN: Quickly, Jim, we know Romney is in Florida. His rivals are concentrating on both Iowa and New Hampshire. So what's the strategy for being there?

ACOSTA: You know, Florida is still kind of an early voting state, Brooke. They vote at the end of January. So after you go through Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida is right there coming up next on the calendar. So the strategy might go inside the Romney campaign OK, let's say he doesn't win Iowa but will win New Hampshire. There's a new poll showing Newt Gingrich well ahead in that state. And so Florida would be a crucial pickup for governor Romney to say in this race and to stay in that front-runner role. And so Florida is very key to their hopes at this point, Brooke, if they want to win this nomination.

BALDWIN: Jim Acosta in Florida, appreciate it. Thank you.

She was 16 years of age when she was forced to be a prostitute. Now she's a young woman and she wants the rest of us to know what football legend Lawrence Taylor actually did to her. Plus, there's been a major announcement in the case of a young mom who went missing after her appearance on "The People's Court." We're on the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Football hall of famer Lawrence Taylor faces a new round of legal trouble. Taylor pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a teenager, and now that teenager is suing him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRISTINA FIERRO, LAWRENCE TAYLOR'S ACCUSER: I will never forget what happened with Mr. Taylor in that room that night. I believe Mr. Taylor could see my black, swollen eye. I did not want to have sex with him. I was crying, and instead of comforting me and changing his mind about what he had plans to do with me, he instead acted in a selfish manner and took full advantage of me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to bring in Sunny Hostin, as always, on the case. And Sunny, this lawsuit, it is about so much more than sex with an underage girl. Tell me about it.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: That's right. I think what's interesting is that they're suing under federal law. This is a federal lawsuit, and it's a law typically used for trafficking and a law typically targeting pimps and not Johns.

And unfortunately, Brooke, when it comes to these kinds of cases oftentimes the Johns get off. So I think in that sense it's unique. rarely, rarely used in this way. And perhaps it will send a message to others that this is not OK. Even though people think it's the oldest profession in the book, it's illegal and we know that it's not OK and we know that children are often victimized.

And so in that sense, I think this is a very different type of lawsuit and it's a very interesting one.

BALDWIN: What is Lawrence Taylor saying, if anything?

HOSTIN: You know, it is interesting, his lawyer did come out with a statement, and I think we do have a copy of it. And he blames Gloria Allred. He says this is all about the media. And he says it's a shame that once Gloria Allred's intoxication with media coverage for her cases has blurred her vision to uphold the highest level of ethical and moral standards to which attorneys are supposed to adhere.

I think what's interesting about this position taken by his attorney is that he has pled guilty to these offenses. He's a registered sex offender. And so there's no question that he did, in my view, commit this crime. And we know that she was 16 at the time. So very interesting position taken by Lawrence Taylor's attorney.

BALDWIN: So Lawrence Taylor is being sued. But then you also have the man who brought this girl to Taylor's hotel room. He was convicted of sex trafficking. He's in prison. Is he part of the lawsuit as well?

HOSTIN: He isn't at this time. He is in prison and serving seven years as a result of child trafficking and taking this young girl across state lines. But Gloria Allred has indicated he could be sued at a later date although some are claiming that the reason Lawrence Taylor was sued on his own is because he was the multimillionaire with the deep pockets.

BALDWIN: You say this time and time again. You've prosecuted sex crimes against children. How widespread, Sunny, sex trafficking common in the U.S.?

HOSTIN: It's more common than people think. That's what I speak out at conferences, Brooke. It is something that happens every day in the United States. And what I do think is respectable about this lawsuit is that it shines an important light on this very important issue. It's an issue that we don't talk enough about, and I would say it's something that we need to talk more about, and perhaps this lawsuit will do that, open up the discussion some more.

BALDWIN: Raise the awareness.

Case number two, this lone suspect now, this prime suspect emerging in the case of the Florida mother who up and vanished after appearing on "The People's Court."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF PAUL ROONEY, ORLANDO, FLORIDA POLICE: After numerous tips and investigative leads, we are officially naming Dale Smith, the ex- fiancee, as the primary suspect in the disappearance of Michelle Parker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Sunny, with this man being named as the prime suspect, this is significant.

HOSTIN: It's extremely significant. Oftentimes investigators don't name a suspect, a target of the investigation until they really believe that this person is responsible, because there is wrongfully naming someone a suspect, especially in a public way like this. My understanding is that investigators are concerned that he refused to take a lie-detector test. They also raided his parent's home. We don't know what they discovered there, but certainly a huge shift in this investigation that that so many people thought this was a random carjacking, that anything could have happened. Now we know that the investigators have their suspect. Whether or not they can prove the case against them is another matter.

BALDWIN: Well, once you have investigators come forward and say that they have a primary suspect, does that necessary mean that an arrest is imminent or not necessarily?

HOSTIN: Not necessarily, although I would suspect that they have done it in such a public way leading them to possible exposure that an arrest is likely imminent in this case.

BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin "On the Case," thank you.

The vice president popped up in a rather unexpected place, in Iraq today just as American troops are saying good-bye to their battle posts there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN BEN CARPENTER, U.S. ARMY: I've been here for a long time. There's a lot of soldiers that aren't here today to see the end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We are going to hear much more from U.S. soldiers headed home the same way many of them came through -- Kuwait.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Vice President Joe Biden is in Iraq today. This was a previously unannounced trip. The vice president is there meeting with U.S. troops and Iraq leaders, American diplomats. This is visit number eight for the vice president to Iraq, and this is one is just a couple weeks before the almost complete pullout of U.S. forces. Only about 150 troops are expected to remain in the country at the end of the year. Most American units who are departing Iraq are doing so through Kuwait, and that is where we find CNN's Martin Savidge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At Camp Virginia in Kuwait, the war ends several times a day. For Captain Ben Carpenter in Texas, it ended around 10:00 on a Friday morning when he and his company arrived after driving most of the night from the base inside Iraq.

(on camera) How did it go, first of all?

CARPENTER: It went very well, a very uneventful convoy.

SAVIDGE: Which is the way you would like it to be.

(Voice-over): It doesn't take long to realize there was more to his journey than just a drive.

(on camera) What is that feeling as you make that crossing from Iraq into Kuwait?

CARPENTER: A sense of relief in some respects, a sense of accomplishment. I know my gunner tapped me on the soldier as we crossed through the fence, through the wire there, and he's like, wow, I didn't think that was going to be as big of a deal as it was. But that was something special.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Carpenter first came to Iraq during the dark days of 2006. Three deployments later he feels good about what's been accomplished. (On camera) The war is over for you.

SAVIDGE: It is, hopefully.

SAVIDGE: I mean, it's a simple thing to say, but that's actually kind of a big thing.

CARPENTER: It is. We've been here for a long time, so there are a lot of soldiers that are not here to see the end. This company and there's many other companies that are still here do get to see the end, and that's something special.

SAVIDGE: So what lies ahead for you?

CARPENTER: Well, we finish unloading our equipment and get on a plane and fly home. For me personally, I'll go back and transition back to my family and I'm going to get out of the army shortly and go home.

SAVIDGE: After eight-and-a-half years, America's war in Iraq is coming to an end, one convoy, one soldier at a time.

Martin Savidge, CNN, Camp Virginia, Kuwait.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Martin, thank you for that.

Coming up here, presidential candidates actually getting into the black Friday, cyber Monday spirit, selling campaign gear at clearance prices.

Also, if you can recreate the 12 days of Christmas, just how much do you actually think that would cost? We've actually got the numbers. We're going to show you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the Help Desk where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour is Jack Otter, the executive editor of CBSMoneywatch.com, and Donna Rosato is senior editor of "Money" magazine. Thank you both for being here.

Donna, your question comes from Nan in Colorado. Her and her husband are in their 40s and have about $50,000 in car loans and credit card debt. They want to know should they take money out of their 401(k) to pay off their debt and then reinvest into a new 401(k)?

DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: It sounds tempting but it's never a good idea to take money out of your 401(k) to pay off debt, and there's a good reason. The amount of money you can withdraw from your 401(k) is limited, but if they actually cash all of the money out, then they will pay a 10 percent penalty and, say, they are in the 25 percent tax bracket, that's 35 percent tax that they are going to pay. They surely are not paying that much on their car and credit cards. One thing that they can do is stop their contributions towards their 401(k) right and take those saving and apply it to paying down their debt, and that's a smarter option.

HARLOW: Yes, absolutely.

Your question, Jack, comes from Chris in Minneapolis. Chris says, "I have so much credit card debt that I cannot get new credit cards or loans." His son is starting college and he's doesn't his debt to hurt their ability to take out loans for school. He's asking if he should consider offering the credit card companies a settlement.

JACK OTTER, CBSMONEY.COM: First of all, you will hurt your credit rating with a settlement. So that's a problem. What's not a problem is, if you have a government subsidized college loan, say a Stafford loan for students, then they don't look at your credit rating so he would be OK here.

If he's so maxed out on debt that he can't get a credit card, I want him to be careful about borrowing more money for school. Stick with the government subsidized loan. The interest rates are lower. We did some math, and if they borrowed $24,000 for college, that would be about $276 a month on the Stafford loan. Do they have the cash flow to pay for that? If so think about strategies like going to a community college for the first two and then transfer to a state university.

HARLOW: And then cut where you can because education is so key.

OTTER: Exactly.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Thank you, guys, very much. Folks, if you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail to CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: "THE SITUATION ROOM" just a couple of minutes away here. Let's go to Wolf Blitzer with a little preview. Wolf, yesterday, you had Herman Cain. Today, another Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": She's going to be live in the next hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM." We've got lots to discuss with her. Among other things I want to get her reaction to what's going on with Herman Cain. As you've been reporting now for hours he's reassessing his run for the Republican presidential nomination. I'm anxious to hear what Congresswoman Bachmann has to say about that. I suspect she believes that some of the other Republican candidates that if Herman Cain were to drop out, some of those supporters might flock toward her campaign. That's what she would want. Let's see what she has to say on that.

We've got other substantive issues I want to go through with her, so a lot of talk about with her. We're going to have all the other important news of the day as well, including what's going on in Iran right now. Big story, Iranians storming the British agency in Tehran, reminding us of what happened in 1979 when Iranian stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding American diplomats hostage for 444 days. Big story involving Iran as well. Lots of news as usual, Brooke. BALDWIN: As usual. I do just want to go back and have a bit more time with you today. You talked to Herman Cain yesterday. He's now talking about reassessing his campaign. We heard that same word after his lackluster performance in the Iowa straw poll. How seriously is his campaign really taking what's happened the last 24 hours?

BLITZER: Very seriously. I've spoken with several sours close to the Herman Cain campaign and they're obviously very, very concerned and no one is more concerned than Herman Cain himself. He indicated to me yesterday when he was here in "THE SITUATION ROOM" there would be one moment where he would have to seriously consider dropping out if the toll would be too tough, too hard on his wife and family. He said that. We're going to play the clip at the top of the hour. We want our viewers to hear precisely what he said yesterday, what he's saying today in his conference call with his staffers. So there's a lot of news on that front I want to go through.

I don't know if you read my blog on our "THE SITUATION ROOM" Web site, but go to the CNN.com/Situationroom, read what I have to say. If Herman Cain drops out, who wins among Republicans, who loses. I've got my own analysis. I'm anxious to hear what you and our viewers have to say.

BALDWIN: And if people missed your interview, the whole transcript of your interview with Herman Cain, that's on your blog as well. Wolf Blitzer, thank you. We'll see you in six-and-a-half minutes here.

Meantime, you know black Friday, cyber Monday shopping aren't just for us regular folks, right? Coming up, presidential candidates go on retail as well. Joe Johns has the skinny on their sale items. That's today's Political Pop. Be right back.

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BALDWIN: Twelve days of Christmas. You know the whole Partridge in a pear tree song? Well, we have just exactly how much it would cost to have those five golden rings, two turtle doves. Financial Group PNC puts out this list every year. Cue the song. Take a look at how much this stuff costs.

Number one, partridge in a pear tree, 185 bucks. Switch, number two, turtle doves, you have two turtle doves, $125 each. Three French hens, $150 each, Four calling birds, not cheap, $520 bucks for a calling bird. Rings, gold did pretty well this year, 645 bucks per ring. Six geese a laying, $162 per goose. This is what I can't get over. Oh, wait. It wasn't the swans. It was the next thing. Seven swans a swimming. I thought it was $6,300. No? It says $162. Whatever. Move on. Maids a milking, just $58 a maid if we use minimum wage. Nine ladies dancing -- that's not cheap, $6,000. Ten lords a leaping, just under $4,800 a lord. And 11 pipers piping, so, a piper is nearly $2,500 and finally, a drummer, 12 drummers drumming, about $2m600 each, so total it all, see the grand total for your 12 days of Christmas, it is $101,119. Viola. There you go.

Black Friday, cyber Monday. Two big shopping events you'd think are free from politics. Think again. Joe Johns is here with a little Political Pop. Joe, what do you have?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: You know, this is not going to be really -- it's not going to be able to beat that. You may have thought this spending craze between black Friday and cyber Monday was all about holiday gift giving, right? Also, it is about political donations we're told.

Two of the biggest names in politics got into the act, including Mitt Romney. They held a cyber Monday sale, Brooke. The Romney hoodie normally goes for $50 -- 40 percent discount on Romney gear if you're so politically persuaded.

The "New York Post" pointed the story out and also that in order to get the discount on Romney's site, you have to give the campaign a bunch of personal information and then they give you a coupon to use. If you think about it, though, unlike President Obama, Romney's got a bunch of hotly contested primaries ahead of him. If he doesn't win the primaries, the gear might not be relevant all the way up to general election. Anyway, sort of a risk.

So, the reelection campaign for President Obama kicked of this whole thing on black Friday, offering 10 percent of on all purchases of Obama 2012 gear. And you know, we told you before the kinds of stuff they have out there, just a little bit of everything, you know, from hoodies to baby clothes, what have you. Only thing is your political persuasion would probably determine whether you wanted to buy the stuff in the first place, I would think.

BALDWIN: OK, 10 percent off for the Obama gear, 40 percent off, a little bit better deal for the Romney stuff. It is.

Joe Johns, thank you. We're out of time. I want to talk to you longer but I can't because I have to go to Wolf Blitzer. "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf starts now.