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Cain Reassessing Campaign; Wall Street Set for Big Open; Boeheim Defends Supporting Fine; Two Million British Workers May Go on Strike; Cain "Reassessing" Campaign; Wall Street Set for Big Open; "The Low Paid Foot the Bill"; Global Stock Markets Surge

Aired November 30, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, good morning.

No fires here but this is definitely, guys, a hot story. We're going to talk about presidential candidate Herman Cain. This hour he kicks off a bus tour in the battleground state of Ohio. But the real question is how much fight he has left in him.

Cain says he's reassessing his run for the White House after an Atlanta woman surfaced with claims of a 13-year affair with him.

Let's go now to senior political editor Mark Preston who joins us now from Washington.

Good morning to you, Mark.

Mark, Cain ducked the topic during a speech last night. Do we expect him to say anything today?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: We do. And in fact this is something that's going to dog him along the campaign trail, Don. It's something he's been battling now for several weeks. We've had several women come out and allege that he sexually harassed them during his tenure at the National Restaurant Association. Now we have this new woman, Ginger White, coming out saying that she had an inappropriate relationship with Mr. Cain for 13 years.

She spoke out about it on a local Atlanta television station, as we all know, a couple of days ago. But she addressed it again this morning on "Good Morning America." In fact let's take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: And finally, do you believe that Mr. Cain is fit to be president or should he end his campaign?

GINGER WHITE, CLAIMS AFFAIR WITH HERMAN CAIN: In my opinion, no, I do not. I honestly do not think that he is -- in my opinion, would make a good president as far as I'm concerned. My views are different than his views, but at the end of the day, this is not political.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PRESTON: And there you have Ginger White just a few hours ago on "Good Morning America" speaking out again, alleging she had this inappropriate relationship with Mr. Cain.

Now, Mr. Cain, Don, has acknowledged that he has had a friendship with her. He vehemently denies, though, that there was an inappropriate relationship. When the local television station WAGA broke the story, Cain tried to preempt it by appearing on the "SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer. He came out and said another false allegation was going to come out and -- and try to preempt that story.

And then just last night, Don, this fundraising e-mail came out. Let's take a quick look at it. Went out to supporters where he again rebuts these allegations. He asked for people's prayers but basically he asked for their financial support.

And why this is key, Don, the fact is, we are just heading into the final stretch before the first voters in Iowa take place and Cain is going to need as much money as possible. Last night on "JOHN KING USA" one of Cain's top aides in Iowa said that if the money dries up, then Mr. Cain will have to make a decision about whether he should run or whether he should abandon his campaign -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. And his campaign is saying, reassess, it means bowing out, he's still in it. I think he wants to see how people react to the situation before making a decision. We'll learn more today, though.

Thank you, Mark Preston. We appreciate it.

I want to tell our viewers, still ahead, a closer look at Herman Cain's latest crisis and its impact on the presidential race. We're going to talk with Patricia Murphy. She's the founder and editor of Citizenjanepolitics. It will be an interesting conversation.

Right now, as Christine Romans mentioned on Wall Street, your nest egg could get a healthy boost when the Opening Bell rings at the bottom of the hour. Two new bits of information turned markets around this morning and optimism, optimism driving the numbers up.

Back now to New York and CNN's Christine Romans.

Christine, you were talking about this just moments ago.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

LEMON: What's sending the markets soaring now?

ROMANS: What's sending the markets soaring is five central banks, the world's central banks, getting together and saying, look, we see some signs of strain in the lending markets, the way that the global banks are lending to each other overnight on a very short-term basis. We see that there are some credit problems developing and we're going to extend a line of credit, if you will, to make sure that the money keeps flowing between banks, even as Europe deals with its banking crisis.

So you've got Dow futures up 250 points on this -- on this move from the global central banks. Also a little bit earlier you'd heard China loosen up some of its banking requirements. Again, another move to make sure the money keeps flowing and the world financial system and that these strains that are developing, emanating from Europe don't get worse.

So European markets are rallying. You've got the German stock market up more than 4 percent. That is a very big move for one morning and U.S. futures are up really strongly here, too, as well.

Again, it's all about making it cheaper for banks around the world to trade in U.S. dollars. And we've been seeing, Don, since May, there have been some cracks and some concerns about what's been happening between the banks and the cost of them to do that borrowing.

Again, this is the -- this is the oxygen and the blood of the global economy, right?

LEMON: Right.

ROMANS: And so these are the central banks trying to make sure that we keep it healthy.

LEMON: All right, we'll be watching it along with Christine Romans. The markets open at the bottom of the hour.

Thank you, Christine.

On now to this story the Syracuse University basketball team playing on its home court last night for the first time since long assistant -- long-time assistant Bernie Fine was fired over sexual abuse allegations.

And before the game, the head coach, Jim Boeheim walked on to the carrier dome floor to applause. You see the video there. He met with the referees then Boeheim had a warm embrace with eastern Michigan coach Bob Murphy who was an assistant to Boeheim for seven years.

As you can see there during the introductions, Boeheim received a thunderous ovation.

To CNN's Ed Lavandera now who was at the game last night.

Ed, good morning to you. An easy win for the basketball team. Maybe a tougher time for their coach in the post-game news conference last night.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there wasn't a lot of talk about the X's and O's there on the basketball court or any of the offensive plays or defensive plays or anything like that. It was mostly focuses -- focused on this investigation and who knew what and when they knew it.

That's really where a lot of this is kind of boiling down to. You know we've talked a lot about there's a -- the 2002 calls to the police that Bobby Davis had made. He is the accuser in this story and that really went no where. There is also a 2005 university investigation. The university says they didn't turn over any of its findings to the police department.

So there are a lot of questions swirling around how all of this has been handled over the last eight to nine years. But Jim Boeheim says that under his watch that we will see what has happened and he is adamant and it feels confident that he is secure in his job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BOEHEIM, SYRACUSE MEN'S BASKETBALL COACH: I supported a friend. That's what I thought I did. I'm proud that I did. I think if you've known somebody and worked for somebody for -- worked with them for 36 years and known them for 48 years, you went to school with them, I think you owe a debt of allegiance and gratitude for what he did for the program.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And, Don, Jim Boeheim there talking about why he was so strong in his support in the -- in the early days of when this story broke and why he was so adamant about his support for Bernie Fine.

You know, early on he had called these accusers liars and that they were chasing money. That tone has changed dramatically. So that's what he was explaining there.

Interestingly enough, Don, he was also asked about whether or not he had listened to the phone recordings between Bernie Fine's wife and Bobby Davis, that accuser. He says he has not listened to those audiotapes -- Don.

LEMON: Very interesting from American College Football now. Ed Lavandera, thank you very much.

We go overseas where up to two million workers plan to walk off the job today across the UK disrupting schools, hospitals, police stations and more, all because of a mass strike over retirement benefits.

CNN's Zain Verjee following all for us from London.

Good morning to you, Zain. What's the big complaint the workers have?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The big complain is, is that they don't want that pensions lowered and the government is saying they have to do that because of cutbacks. They've been trying to work out a deal, but it's gone no where and the trade unions here, Don, are saying this is the biggest walkout in a generation.

Let me show you what some of the newspaper headlines are saying, OK? "The Independent" has this headline. "No time for a winter of discontent." It says, "This strike is badly timed. Britain's stuttering economy is on the brink of recession and the crisis and the euro zone threatens constantly to spread to the UK."

"The Guardian," "Cuts as far as the eye can see." It says, "Yesterday was the day the government formally admitted its austerity plans had been derailed that series of numbers and policies could not disguise the humiliation, but many more such days will come.

Finally "The Daily Telegraph," "It just got even worse." It says, "This is going to be a much longer and harder slog than anyone imagined. Quite as bad, in many respects, as the austerity programs faced in some of the troubled periphery nations of the Eurozone that could be more strike zones."

And the prime minister said yesterday that there could be as many as 710,000 job cuts -- Don.

LEMON: We're keeping a close watch. Thank you, Verjee, in London.

Now back to our top story this morning. Just a few weeks ago, Herman Cain was a GOP frontrunner. Now he may be setting the stage for his exit. What could it mean for the rest of the Republican pact? That's right after this.

Also ahead, a lot of men sported hairy lips for the month of November. Today the razors are coming out. We're going to explain it all for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check your news now "Cross Country."

Four men from a splinter Amish group will be arraigned on hate crime charges in Ohio today. They're accused of shaving the beards and cutting the hair of men in a different Amish sect. It allegedly grew out a religious feud between one family and the larger church.

Three Connecticut money managers who hit the Powerball jackpot said they don't have a secret partner, smacking down reports that they're covering for an anonymous winner. The trio won a whopping $254 million.

Hate (ph) them.

And they say they're giving away $1 million to charity. Good for them.

And the Ringling Brothers Circus is paying a record $270,000 fine after the feds accused the circus of mistreating elephants. The Ringling brothers admits no wrongdoing, but, but the company has agreed to new training protocol for animal handlers.

All right, now to the story that is on everyone's mind. Herman Cain in Ohio this morning. Let's take a look now at a picture of a rally outside of Dayton -- out side of Dayton where he is about to take the stage. This is a live picture right there.

In the meantime, Herman Cain's self-confessed mistress faced questions live for the first time this morning. And when asked if he should quit the race, here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Should he end his campaign?

WHITE: That's something that he has to look himself in the mirror and ask himself. You know last night I slept very well telling the truth. I'm not sure what's going on in his head right now, but it's unfortunate that any of this is going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, let's talk about this now. Patricia Murphy is the founder and editor of Citizens Jane Politics, and a contributor to the "Daily Beast."

Thank you, and good morning. Good to see you.

PATRICIA MURPHY, FOUNDER AND EDITOR, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: Good morning. Thank you.

LEMON: He was -- he was surging in the polls just last month. There are more women voters in this country than men. What does this do to his credibility, especially among women voters?

MURPHY: I think there are two sets of problems for Herman Cain. First, all there are these allegations. Both sexual harassment and the allegations of a 13-year affair.

LEMON: Yes.

MURPHY: Very different from he said-she said. Maybe they misunderstood, maybe they took my messages wrong. Thirteen-year affair. There's one set of problems for Herman Cain. I think the other set of problems for him is the way he and his campaign have responded to these allegations.

LEMON: Yes.

MURPHY: Attacking the women, asking questions about their credibility, their finances. Tweeting out last night that this most recent woman is a libeler and a deceiver.

LEMON: I'm glad -- I'm glad you're bringing that up because I want you to listen to the next thing that she said and I want to ask you about that. Because it appears when you're saying all of this is about women deny, deny, deny and the way they're handling it. Basically I think he and the campaign are calling a lot of women liars. And I'm wondering how that's playing.

She also said this, and then we'll talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGER WHITE, CLAIMS AFFAIR WITH HERMAN CAIN: It was a very casual affair. Am I proud to admit to that? No, I'm not. I can't make this stuff up and, frankly speaking, I wouldn't want to make this up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, back to what we were talking about. This is different than the sexual harassment. This was two consenting adults, a consensual relationship. She also has proof. She has text messages as of -- as recently as this month.

PATRICIA MURPHY, CONTRIBUTOR, DAILY BEAST: Yes.

LEMON: So, she has proof. Does this make damage control harder?

MURPHY: It makes it much, much harder. And it is no longer a case of he said/she said, even though he's still denying those to his last breath.

LEMON: That it wasn't sexual, he says.

MURPHY: That it wasn't sexual, but he does admit that he paid her money, that he was helping her out financially for a friend. And she has the phone records of him texting her at all hours of the day and night, including at 4:00 in the morning, even if there is no sexual relationship, that is bizarre by anyone's standards. And again, I think, for female voters, as you said, are the majority of voters in this country, even on a Republican primary, this is a level of damage that is almost impossible to recover from.

LEMON: All right. Let's be honest here and have real talk. If you are in a relationship with someone and they're texting someone at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 in the morning -- I mean, that is between you and whoever your partner is, so, if you, if your husband or boyfriend or whomever, I assume you're married, correct?

MURPHY: Yes.

LEMON: If your husband was texting someone, wouldn't you be like, hey, honey, what's up with that?

MURPHY: If my husband was texting another woman, I mean, I can't even respond. I actually never even thought about it. But why are you texting her? Why is there money going back and forth?

LEMON: Right.

MURPHY: Why is this woman coming out 13 years going on? I mean, as a woman, you just have to think, if there's smoke, there's at least a match.

LEMON: I have half a second here left, Patricia. Who gains in this among the contenders?

MURPHY: Well, I think among the contenders, you have to think that Newt Gingrich is going to benefit from this. We've talked to a lot of voters who said, I'm off the Herman Cain train. Newt Gingrich is their most likely next conservative choice.

LEMON: Thank you very much.

MURPHY: Yes.

LEMON: Good seeing you. Good analysis.

MURPHY: Great to see you.

LEMON: All right. Great to see you.

The nation's best selling drug is about to get a lot cheaper starting today. How you can cash in on Lipitor losing its patent protection. We'll go to New York Stock Exchange for details and an update on the markets which are set to surge this morning. That's going to -- they're going to open at the bottom of the hour. We're going to keep watching that.

Plus, grow a mustache, raise some dough. Now, it's time to shave. From the handle bars to the mustache, the hairy top lips go away today. We'll tell you why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone.

I don't know if you noticed it, but over the past month, men all over the world have been growing mustaches to raise money for men's health problems. It's called "Movember." And as of the month of November ends when it ends, razors come out.

CNN's Zain Verjee has the scoop for us.

Do you like my little attachment here? It's like monocle stash.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Oh, I love your little mustache, little Don Lemon. Where is your real stash?

LEMON: When making this, I prefer the classic Tom Selleck and Magnum P.I. stash. I can't even grow a mustache.

VERJEE: I was going to say, would you even get too much hair on your face anyway. We like your baby face, still. I know you care about this and it is Movember and today is the last day.

It's really a month when men grow any kind of facial hair in order to raise awareness for prostate cancer, generally men's health awareness. In Australia, which is where it all started, they're actually on track to make something like $27 million in charity because of this month.

But what they're saying, too, Don, is there's a lot of charity fatigue because different months are told, OK, this can be dedicated to a different kind of a charity. So, they're facing a little bit of competition with that and also some disaster relief fatigue like the tsunami and the earthquake that happened in New Zealand. Things like that.

But, let me show you a picture of Qantas Airlines. They have dedicated one of their planes. A-737.

Now, look at this picture, Don. What do you see in the nose of the plane? There is a mustache -- a happy mustache face there on the front of the plane and they actually want to raise awareness and collect a little bit of money there as well.

LEMON: Awareness and money, Zain Verjee -- you asked me if I ever had a mustache, never a mustache, but a beard a long time ago. Thank you, Zain.

VERJEE: Really? We want to see it next time.

LEMON: OK.

Let's talk money. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange where stocks are set to surge this morning. This as global central banks work together to help the economy.

Alison, you like the mustache, I'm sure, right? And we're talking about raising money.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I do. Very becoming on you, Don.

LEMON: How big of a jump --

KOSIK: I think you should wear it all day.

LEMON: All right, I'll try it.

How big of a jump are you expecting and what exactly are policymakers doing?

KOSIK: All right, Don. So, in about eight minutes, you're going to see the Dow surge into the triple digits expecting about 200 points, at least on the Dow, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500, right now futures showing up 2 percent, as well.

You look at how European markets are doing in Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, London -- these markets are surging as much as 4 percent.

So, what's happening here to cause all this is that the central banks in the U.S. and the Eurozone and England and Japan and Switzerland and Canada, they're all working together to make it cheaper for banks, the trade and borrow U.S. dollars. Now, China also came out and announced similar program, as well.

Now, the goal with this whole coordinated effort is to get more money moving, to get more money circulating through the economy. Everybody is hoping this is going to help the financial markets and help consumers and help businesses get their hands on credit because the more credit that people have, Don, the more they tend to spend and that could be the real medicine that these ailing economies need. I'm talking about the economies in the U.S. and Europe need to really get going, again.

If this sounds familiar, it should. Central banks took similar coordinated action following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. This is all to avoid a global liquidity crunch -- Don.

LEMON: Clearly the big story today, but also another big story, news for millions of Americans who take Lipitor, Alison. Pfizer is losing its patent protection for the blockbuster drug, which means a generic equivalent is available. That's going to start today.

What does that mean for Lipitor patients?

KOSIK: This means that Lipitor is about to be discounted big time. I'm talking about 80 percent off in some cases, even though the full savings may not be available until some time next year. Now, Lipitor which fights cholesterol is the best selling drug in the world. Almost 9 million Americans take it and it's one on a long list of blockbuster drugs that are going off patent this year and next, treatments for asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes and others are also on this list as well.

Chief medical officer of Medco tells us what his means. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GLEN STETTIN, MEDCO CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: The average person with diabetes takes eight to 10 different medications every day. If you think about lowering their out-of-pocket costs even $10 or $20 across all their medicines, savings really add up for the consumer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Now, if you don't want to take the generic of Lipitor. In the case of Lipitor, you may be able to stay with the brand name and save money, as well, because what's happening, Don, Pfizer is negotiating with benefit managers like Medco to lower the co-pays on the brand name because Pfizer is trying to hold on to as many customers as possible.

But you really want to check with your plan to see which is the cheaper option for you -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Alison Kosik, thank you very much. Don't go far, we're going to be needing you today.

And we want to remind our viewers. Opening bell just a few minutes away. CNN's team of money experts watching around the world and they're going to join us right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. As we wait for the markets to open, we want to check on our top stories quickly.

Herman Cain still pushing ahead after telling his staff he is reassessing his campaign in light of allegations of a 13-year-long affair. He has three campaign stops across Ohio today, including one this hour.

About 200 occupy Los Angeles protesters were arrested as riot police moved in to kick them out of their tent city near city hall. The move comes 48 hours after a deadline to get out expired.

And a man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan is seeking his freedom from a mental hospital. Federal hearings begin today. John Hinckley shot President Reagan back in 1981, trying to impress Jodie Foster.

(MUSIC)

LEMON: OK. We're watching your money right now.

This morning, a new sense of optimism is surging through Wall Street and it looks like stocks will take off when the opening bell rings in just a few moments. Less than 30 seconds from now. Markets here and across the world are lifted from a couple new developments this morning.

CNN's Richard Quest is in London for us, Christine Romans in New York, Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange.

We're going to start with you, Richard. What -- since this is where we are getting the forecast from -- what is sending the stocks soaring?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the opening bell is now ringing at the New York Stock Exchange and you are expecting to see that sharp rise.

European markets are up. The FTSE in London up 3 percent, the DAX up 4 percent, Paris is up a similar amount. And the reason, of course, the central banks, the Fed in Washington, the ECB in Frankfurt, the Swiss in Switzerland, and the Japanese central bank all agreeing to add liquidity to the market.

What they're actually doing is highly technical and, frankly, you and I don't need to talk about the details. Think of it as a motor, an engine. And what they are doing this morning is adding grease and oil to ensure that in the complex motor and engine of the global financial system, nothing gums up. Nothing comes to a stop. And that's what they've done with these increase swap lines, cheaper money and basically they're going to pump money around the system.

LEMON: All right. At the start now, it looks up 164 and now 170. As you said, looks like it is going into positive territory.

I know you don't have a crystal ball here, but judging from what's happened in Europe already -- how much more, again, can we expect this to surge? By the time it closes at 4:00 today, it could be a different story.

QUEST: Don, Don, Don, I got the shirt on my back and I kept it that way specifically by never answering that question. I'm not about to do it. Anything could happen between now and 4:00 that would take the nervous optimism. Do not for one moment believe that this is anything other than an inch thick and a mile wide.

What rally you're seeing at this moment has no depth to it. Whether it has longevity, we will find out over the hours ahead.

LEMON: Well put. Richard Quest in London -- thank you, sir.

I see Christine Romans in New York shaking her head in agreement -- Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, because, look, this is a positive. We keep talking about this optimism. This is a positive reaction from the markets and the central banks to a very dangerous condition that had been developing in the global capital market.

Since May, you had seen this cost to borrow dollars by banks around the world and be getting more expensive. And people would be getting more concerned about the health of some of these banks and some of the strains that they're facing because of the European debt that they hold. So, you had seen this creaking kind of wrenching problem in borrowing, in very, very short-term borrowing for banks.

And so, the response -- this response is pumping the money to Greece into the engine. This is a response to something that is at its core is dangerous.

So, Richard is very right. How deep is this optimism is the big question because you still have a lot of concerns. Ten days for Europe to get its financial house in order to figure out how this dysfunctional family of 17 countries to as Ken Rogoff told me this morning, all sharing the same bank account.

Imagine you have the same bank account, 17 relatives, and you all have different outlooks about how much you're bringing in and what you're doing with it -- that's essentially what's happening in Europe now. They still have to resolve those problems. This is the world's central bankers saying, we're going to make sure that there's money flowing around the world and the oxygen is moving in the financial system in the meantime.

LEMON: Since we've been on it, they opened at 161 when I first looked at it. Now, it's 288, 289. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange, take us there. Give us a sense of what's going on, what you're seeing.

KOSIK: Yes. And we're seeing the Dow accelerate here up 293 points.

You know, I want to continue with the analogies here. I'm going to will use the life preserver analogy here because what this is essentially is that they're throwing a big life preserver out to the world, to world banks. Just in case they get into trouble, the central banks are going to be there to catch them, to keep them from going belly up. And Wall Street, obviously, reacting favorably to this.

Wall Street really seems to be keying in, especially on the European banks involvement in this because it's going to give banks in Europe immediate access to dollars at a lower rate to get a free throw of liquidity going. And that's really been the huge worry that's been weighing on Wall Street, is that that credit crunch that's been growing in Europe as it tries to deal with this ever growing debt crisis there, Don.

LEMON: Alison Kosik will be watching it, Christine Romans, as well, and Richard Quest from London, we'll keep an eye on it. Thank you very much.

You know, we're going to keep an eye on the markets all morning as I said.

Plus, this just in, reading the news over an ear piercing fire alarm is difficult, but it's not impossible. You're going to hear it all, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEATHER KNIGHT, ROBOTICIST: My name is Heather Knight and I am a social roboticist. Social roboticist is someone that makes robots that can interact with people in a human way. When I tell people I make robots, they're usually like, oh, wow, that's really cool. And when I tell people I make social robots, usually they're a little bit confused at first. And I found that the best way to talk about what I actually do is by example.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. So, Europe was a precursor because their markets opened earlier showing in positive territory.

And after the Federal Reserve and five other central banks announced coordinated measures to ease financial markets strains and boost lending to businesses and to consumers, this is what happened this morning and is happening this morning in New York at the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow soaring 316 right now and we are watching it for you. Make sure you stay tuned. We'll watch it for you all day.

OK. As you know, if you watch a lot of live news, if you're a junkie, live TV is a crap shoot, OK? I know, I have been doing it for years.

I had the lights go out mid-show. I had video and audio boards crash just minutes before going on air and I have fallen on the ice live. I was nearly hit by a car on camera. I've been heckled and had guests yell at me. It happens to all of us.

But I've never dealt with the challenge that Brian Williams faced yesterday on NBC "Nightly News."

A.J. Hammer joins us now.

A.J., I was watching. I watch "Nightly News" all the time, but it made me want to watch more and Brian definitely handled it well.

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, HLN'S "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": That Brian Williams is unshakable, Don. I happened to be watching, as well, last night.

NBC "Nightly News" last night was repeatedly interrupted by a fire alarm. It was sounding right at the beginning of the show. Let's take a look at exactly what happened to Brian Williams.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN WILLIAMS, ANCHOR, NBC NIGHTLY NEWS: Good evening.

Perhaps it's because of its name, for all the bankruptcies we've covered in this grim U.S. economy, this one gets your attention.

You'll forgive us, we have a fire alarm announcement going on here in the studio. While staying in the air, well, perhaps not something special any more.

Again, we have an announcement going on here in the studio.

Tom Costello, we should advise our viewer, there is no danger to us. We'd love to make this stop. Why don't you take it from our Washington bureau?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: OK, now, Don, you were paying attention just like I was. And Brian Williams said there's no danger to us. I got to call him on this today and find out what exactly what was going on because if that alarm has just started sounding, he was making that up. He was saying there's no danger to us.

Meanwhile, in his head he's thinking, should I get up and run the heck out of the studio right now.

So, you know, but he is -- as I said, he's unflappable. He just kind of plowed right through it. Nice going.

LEMON: Yes. I think it was a fire drill. I remember, I think, a couple years aback a fire drill on FOX News during Shepherd's show and I think he handled it very well.

But you ever have the lights where they pop and they go out, and you don't flinch but everyone around you jumps and you go, hey, wait a minute, I'm the one on camera here. Everybody's had that happen before.

HAMMER: Oh, yes, I've had lights crash behind me. But, you know, we're trained professionals, Don.

LEMON: All right. Thank you. Hey, we're going to check back. We're not done with you yet, A.J., because next hour, more headlines, including an ugly twist in Usher's custody battle, claims the singer had the nerve -- can you believe he had the nerve -- to cancel his ex- wife's Saks Fifth Avenue card. Oh, the humanity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're going to take you through cross country right now.

First up, California police are looking for two guys who robbed a hotdog joint. But it's not your usual heist. They broke in through the drive-in and hauled an ATM away on a dolly.

Also, a Vermont artist is locked in a David and Goliath fight with Chick-fil-A. The restaurant chain has slapped him with a cease and desist order over his "Eat more Kale" t-shirt. Chick-fil-A says the expression is way too close to its "Eat More Chicken" slogan.

And an Indiana farm has been packing up Christmas trees to send them to our troops overseas. How nice. Hundreds of growers across the country take part in the Trees for Troops with FedEx donating shipping there. This year, they'll deliver more than 17,000 Christmas trees.

Well, let's check the markets now. Live to the Big Board. You can see the Dow up 375 points; 374 points as we speak. The Federal Reserve and five of the European Central Banks announce they're trying to ease borrowing and lending to businesses and that is helping the markets soar.

They also did the same thing in Europe as a precursor to what's happening here in the United States right now. We're going to keep a close eye on that.

And speaking of Europe, let's talk about this. Up to two million public workers have walked off the job today in Britain's biggest strike in decades. We're talking teachers, hospital staff, even police and border patrol. They're protesting austerity measures, spending cuts, being extended by the government.

Austerity measures are actually the focus of an opinion piece on CNN.com. Sally Kohn is the author of that piece and she joins us now. The title of your piece is "Austerity Policy: the Low-Paid Foot the Bill". So how are lower and middle class folks hurt more than others by these cuts Sally?

SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well I mean, first of all, look, when an economy is suffering, as the global economy is, excuse me, we have to be clear that people who haven't been doing as well to begin with, poor and working class folks who are barely getting by, they're automatically already bearing the brunt of a downturn economy. They don't have the savings to dip into, the stocks to sell, et cetera. So that's sort first and foremost.

But what's happened is that a small band of conservative big business, pro-big business elites have used this fiscal crisis, this global crisis as a fig leaf excuse to further go after and gouge public sector unions, unions in general, poverty alleviation programs, programs that help the middle class and the poor and give more and more help and power to big banks and the rich.

LEMON: Ok, and more to the point, you compare austerity measures, to -- I think you say spanking a child which you say is ineffective punishment, but is this belt tightening, Sally, is it really a punishment or is it a necessary evil?

KOHN: Yes, I mean, look, when you look at a situation like what's happening in the global economy or certainly specifically what's happening in places like Greece or Italy or even in the United States, you have to look at both sides of the coin. And now this quote, unquote, "Austerity Measures" which indeed have this putative tone to them just focus their pain and punishment on public sector workers and on the taxpayers of Greece, Italy, et cetera.

So, they exact -- extract these incredible demands, put huge burdens on middle class people who are already barely getting by and basically say to the banks that took these risky loans we're going to kind of let you off the hook or maybe we'll make you take a 50 percent hair cut.

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LEMON: Yes.

KOHN: But we're not going to make you pay for the bad risks that you initiated.

LEMON: Ok so then how should the country pay for it then?

KOHN: Well, you know, first of all, let's be clear. A lot of deficits. Greece is a particularly unique situation. So just looking at it broadly. A lot of deficits would be resolved simply by growing the economy. Putting people back to work. Growing the tax base. Of course, you have to stop unfunded wars and things like that, as well.

But to suggest that we have globally and certainly in the United States and in places like England a spending problem is a bit of a misnomer. We actually have largely a revenue problem because the economy is down thus tax receipts are down and we've been systematically cutting taxes for the very, very rich and for big business for the last 30 or 40 years.

So again, part of it is in this tough moment, where do we put additional pain? Are we going to take more cuts and put more pain on the middle class and on poor people or are we going to say to the rich and the big business that are actually doing pretty well, it's your time to pony up.

LEMON: You are everywhere. You are on television right now and you're also online. You can read Sally's piece at CNN.com/opinion. If you like, join the conversation and leave a comment for her. Our thanks to Sally.

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LEMON: Were going to fast forward some stories that are going to make news later today.

The funeral of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion will be held this morning at 11:00 Eastern in the Atlanta area. Authorities believe he died as a result of a hazing incident.

At 2:45 Eastern President Barack Obama will push for Congress to extend the payroll tax cuts. He'll speak at Scranton High School in Pennsylvania.

And a holiday tradition, the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree takes place 8:55 tonight.

We're also following lots of developments in the next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with CNN's Ed Lavandera.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Don. Well, the Syracuse basketball team took to the court last night. But the talk wasn't about the game. I'll have much more on the Syracuse sex abuse scandal coming up at the top of the hour.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Christine Romans in New York where the stock market is up big, up 380 points right now. It's because five central banks and China all moved in the last few hours to try to support the global banking system trying to shore up dollar borrowing in the market to make sure that you and I don't face trouble in our job prospects and in our own economies as well. I'll tell you more about that at the top of the hour.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. The blockbuster drug Lipitor goes off patent today. And already they're shipping generics out to pharmacies near you. I'll tell you what it means for you and your pocketbook.

LEMON: All right, thanks, guys.

Also coming up, the holidays is supposed to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, right? But you hate plastering on a fake smile to stand in line at the mall all day, you've got a whole lot of company. We're looking at what Americans hate about the holidays next hour.

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LEMON: Here's what you want to know, right? How's your money doing. How are your investments? Well, right now they're doing ok because the stocks are rallying because of the fed and other central banks are trying to boost the global economy by easing lending among businesses. It is up now 400 points in the plus territory, which is a great sign this early on. It's been open almost 30 minutes now. Almost 30 minutes. The stocks rallied in Europe because of this. It is expected to do the same throughout the day.

We are going to be watching it very closely with our team of money experts, including our very own Alison Kosik who is at the New York Stock Exchange.

Well, we have been talking a lot about this. We've been talking about the sex abuse scandal surrounding Syracuse basketball. Jeff Fischel, last night it was the team's first game since the assistant coach was fired. It was interesting, easy win. Easy win, but the coach got some questions.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: Yes, of course. You know Bernie Fine was fired after the three men said he molested them years. He had been Jim Boeheim's assistant at Syracuse for 35 years. They had been attached at the hip all those years at Syracuse.

Boeheim got a standing O when he walked onto the court. His team ranks third in the country taking on Eastern Michigan. Boeheim said he never saw anything suspicious. And the team looked -- did not look at all rattled last night. The Orangemen big man Fab Melo gets the pass inside from Scoop Jardine. Orangemen going on 18-3 run and more in the second half.

They pull away from Eastern Michigan. This team passes its first test since Fine was fired. They'll be under the microscope, you know they will be, Don, all season. 84-48 the final. Boeheim is going to get questions. So will the players. We'll see how they handle it.

LEMON: It seems a little -- I mean to be talking about this, when you have such a scandal going on. You know what I mean, to be talking about the win and all of that because what's happening behind the scenes has much more of an impact on the world.

FISCHEL: Oh, yes. Well, you know the school president says Boeheim's the coach. He's not going anywhere. This team has to play ball. That's what they're there for. They're actually favored this year to get to the final 4. So of course, we're going to be following this team all season long.

And possible, early season preview of a final four matchup, it was in Ohio State. Number two Buckeyes and their big man, Jared Sullinger at home against number four Duke. The Buckeyes start the game on a 9-0 run, nice passing. See that kid. It's good to share.

William Buford finished with 20 points. Coach K does have one of the best freshmen in the country, Austin Rivers, the son of Celtics coach, Doc. He led everyone with 22 points. Not nearly enough from his teammates. Deshaun Thomas for three for the Buckeyes. Ohio State wins easy in this one, 85-63. Don, I know you remember this from Thanksgiving Day. Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, the stomp on a Green Bay offensive line man. He's kicked out of the game. Now the league has decided to put its foot down suspending Suh for two games.

It's really a bad timing for the Lions. They're in the thick of the hunt for a wild card spot. Suh is appealing but to miss him for two games will definitely be a big deal for the Lions.

LEMON: I need a little battery over here for my earpiece.

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FISCHEL: Running out of juice right in the middle of the show.

LEMON: Thank you very much. Yes. I'm running out of juice here. It is going dead. Sorry about that.

So, listen, look at the stomp thing. They are going to speed up the process to figure out exactly the punishment process in all of this.

FISCHEL: Yes, you know, I think it's hard to see the league backing down on this one. Right after the game Ndamukong Suh, he didn't sound at all like he was sorry about it. He said hey, look, I had to get out of the way. It doesn't sound like a man who didn't mean to do what he did. He later apologized to the commissioner, but I don't think that's going to be enough to change things.

And two games, at this point in the season they're 7-4. They're right in the battle for the wild card. I don't know that this really helps them, right, to think of the race. The Lions, of course, are a great story. They haven't been -- perhaps they've been horrible for years. You want to root for them. And then Ndamukong Suh keeps finding ways to get into trouble.

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LEMON: You've done this a time or two. All right. Appreciate it.

We'll see you soon.