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Global Stock Markets Surge; Dow Up 400+ In Early Trading; Cain "Reassessing" Campaign; Accuser: "Couldn't Tell (Fine) No"; Boeheim: "I Supported A Friend"; Two Million British Workers May Strike; Amish Beard Cutting Suspects in Court; Syracuse Plays After Fine's Firing; LA Police Clear Out Occupy Camp

Aired November 30, 2011 - 10:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to start now, it's the top of the hour here. Getting close to the top of the hour right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

This is really what you care about. Everyone cares about their wallets, look at this. Stock markets all around the world are surging today. The Dow, right now -- take a look -- up some 390 points. At one point it was up 400 points, just a couple of seconds ago.

Meantime, markets in Europe are jumping as much as 4 percent. We have Alison Kosik, she is following it all from the New York Stock Exchange. Christine Romans is in New York for us.

We're going to start with Alison. Alison, take us behind the scenes at the New York Stock Exchange and tell us what's behind this rally.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK, why you are seeing the Dow jump 400 points right now is because central banks around the world have sort of gotten together and they've agreed to work together to hold up struggling economies.

The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, central banks in Canada, in Japan, and Switzerland, all of them are getting together. What they're going to do is they're going to make it cheaper for banks to trade and borrow in U.S. dollars.

So the hope is that those banks will lend that money out to businesses and lend that money out to consumers because the more credit that people have, the more they're going to tend to spend because the goal here is to just get more money circulating through the economy.

By the way, China is loosening credit too in separate programs. You're seeing all of this is happening all at once. It's definitely giving the market a huge boost today -- Don.

LEMON: Now let's go to Christine Romans now. Christine, we see it back up 406 points. Here's a question. How common though is this? Have we seen the central banks ever do something like this before?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we saw it in 2008 after Lehman Brothers was on the verge of collapsing and then they've collapsed. I mean, so this is a -- I want to be very clear here, this is the central banks playing defense, not playing offense.

You're seeing a lot of optimism in stocks right now about this, but this is a reaction to a fundamentally dangerous situation developing in the far more important credit markets, capital markets around the world.

So you've got a situation here where the banks, maybe a lot of people don't realize this, but banks around the world are constantly trading money back and forth. I mean, they are circulating the money throughout the financial system.

You are starting to see signs of strain where it was getting more expensive sand more difficult for some banks to be able to tap into that very vital lending program. The central banks around the world saying we're going to keep the oxygen mask on the patient.

We're going to keep the oxygen flowing in the financial system. But it is a reaction to a fundamentally weak situation and that is banks have been slammed by the European -- escalating European crises and by big concerns about a slowing economy worldwide.

LEMON: Do we still have Alison there with us? So, listen, as we look at these numbers, 409. When we started I think it was around 160 at the opening, at least that's what the board showed.

ROMANS: Well, I'll tell you why they do that because not all of the components are open yet. So it takes a few minutes for all of the numbers to get open and for there to be a good calculation quite frankly.

So you saw it open real strong, but you know, we knew that it was going to build up with futures before it opened up almost 300 points right off the bat. So you knew it was going to be a strong opening and it's followed through.

LEMON: Yes, and then this is now in the moment. If it does happen, it's one day here. We've got a long way to go. Alison Kosik is back at the New York Stock Exchange live for us.

Alison, take us behind the scenes. This is a moment in time. This is a snapshot right now at what's happening. But when something like this happens, what's the energy like, what's the vibe like there on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange?

Is it, as they say, pandelerium or is it people sort of cautiously optimistic about it?

KOSIK: I think you're right with the latter. I think you're seeing cautious optimism at this point. This isn't an all-out answer to the structural problems that are in your up. I'm talking about the debt issues or the structural problems here in this country in the U.S.

We have still our debt issues. What this essentially is kind of a -- consider it a sort of lifeline or a safety net and something that may be helping these banks lend and borrow to each other to get liquidity flowing again. You know, there is a little bit of skepticism though in talking with some analysts and some traders today about this. You know, as far as how bad does this get that this coordinated effort had to actually happen. There are some questions.

Was there a bank that was ready to go belly up? There are some questions as to why this huge effort has been made all of a sudden and how bad did it really get to get to this point?

But at this point, you see the markets reacting to the headlines in a very good way. The Dow is up 400 points -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Christine, go ahead. I think, Christine, you had something you want to add there. Go ahead.

ROMANS: Well, I can tell you, we know exactly how bad it got because the lending or the borrowing costs reached the highest since 2008 last night. That was very nerve racking for people in the global markets.

They were saying, wow, the last time we saw it so difficult to get this dollar funding, this very short-term dollar funding was 2008 when Lehman went down. We all know what that meant. There was a promiscuous prolonged credit crisis.

There was a global recession that followed, a financial system on its heels. So the real bad signs have been building since May and last night they reached this point where you had a lot of concern in the markets that, whoa, we're seeing conditions in the credit markets.

We haven't seen since the battle days of Lehman. We got to do something. China stepped in. Fed and five other central banks stepped in and that's why we have this morning.

LEMON: Keep your Blackberries and your iPhones and all that on you because we're going to be calling on you lots today, Christine Roman, Alison Kosik. Appreciate it from money now to politics.

Let's talk about the people who want to be in charge of the U.S. economy. Presidential candidate, Herman Cain on the road and at the crossroads. This morning he kicks off a bus tour in the battle ground state of Ohio.

But the real question is how much fight he has left. He says he is reassessing his run for the White House after an Atlanta woman surfaced with claims of a 13-year affair with him. Just this morning, she adds insult to injury.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe 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)

LEMON: Quite frankly, a riveting interview this morning. I wanted it to go on longer. Let's check in now and see how he thought about it.

Our Shannon Travis is shadowing the Cain campaign and is on his way to the next stop in Dayton. So he joins us now by phone. So Shannon, again, this was a riveting interview.

We heard the taped interview a couple nights ago on a local Atlanta station. The first time she is speaking out live. Is the Cain campaign revealing any plans yet?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, you're right, Don. It was a riveting interview. The Cain campaign is not responding directly to this latest interview from her this morning on "Good Morning America."

However, they are talking about trying to clarify a little bit more with this reassessment. Reassessing the campaign means a few things. Cain spoke with -- J.D. Gordon spoke with CNN this morning. He defined it a little bit more saying, you know what?

It's a major thing that's going on right now. He's reassessing how the campaign goes forward, what have you, but Mark Block who's chief of staff, Cain's chief of staff told ABC News last night that there's, one, no way that Cain is dropping out and that Cain would give details of what this reassessment strategy would be today at the stop that I'm going to in Dayton.

So we'll be all anxious to hear what Cain has to say on that. Also two other things from Mark Block in that ABC interview, he said the only two ways, the only two things that would cause Cain to drop out are, one, his wife, if his wife were to want him to drop out. Number two, that if no one starts to show up at any of Cain's events -- Don.

LEMON: Good point. You know he did speak out about this. When asked about it, it was a little scrum with reporters. All he had to say, Shannon, was 9-9-9.

TRAVIS: Absolutely.

LEMON: A familiar refrain. Thank you, Shannon Travis. We appreciate it.

On now to the scandal hitting college sports, one of the accusers of former Syracuse assistant basketball coach, Bernie Fine, is speaking out to CNN.

Three men have made sexual abuse allegations against Fine. He has not been charged. Mike Lang is one of the accusers. He alleges Fine inappropriately touched him dozens of times when Lang was a boy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE LANG, SECOND BERNIE FINE ACCUSER: Continued to happen, you know? I told him, please don't do that no more, but you couldn't tell him no. It was hard to say anything because you think you're with a God, you know? It's hard to come out and say anything to anybody about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the Syracuse basketball team played its first game last night since Fine was fired. CNN's Ed Lavandera was at that game.

So Ed, what kind of reaction did head coach, Jim Boeheim get? I know that it wasn't contentious. I didn't think it was a contentious post game questioning session.

I thought that some reporters got a little bit, you know, rowdy, but pretty much he should expect to get those questions.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was peppered consistently for a good deal of time. It took up the vast majority of the post-game press conference. I've been in much more heated and nastier press conferences, if you will.

But, you know, Boeheim stood up there behind the podium for what seemed like at least 20 minutes or so and took the questions. He had written out kind of a prepared script that he had written himself with a friend to kind of guide him through many of those questions.

So he didn't get into many of the specifics into this investigation and that sort of thing, but he was asked about his job security and if he felt that this scandal would cost him his job eventually because all of this might have happened on his watch.

You can listen to a little bit of how he responded to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BOEHEIM, SYRACUSE MEN'S BASKETBALL COACH: When the investigation is done, we will find out what happened on my watch. We don't know what's happened on my watch right now. There is no action being taken. When that is done, then we will see what has happened on my watch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Don, we're trying to figure a lot of that out now. Trying to figure out the time line of how all of this has played out. You know, you have the Syracuse police saying that they took a phone call from Bobby Davis, the first accuser, back in 2002.

It didn't really go anywhere. They say there was no investigation launched. In 2005, the university did its own investigation, but they didn't turn any of that information over to the PD. So a lot of this is trying to figure out who knew what when.

That's where a lot of the focus of the questioning has been so far. One interesting note though, however, at the end of the press conference Boeheim was asked on whether or not he had listened to the audio tapes between Bernie Fine's wife and Bobby Davis, the first accuser. He said he has not listened to it. Obviously interestingly because that is what really caused the university here to finally decide to fire Bernie Fine and not just leave him on administrative leave -- Don.

LEMON: Many ways similar script to Penn State. Thank you very much. We appreciate your reporting. Coming up, more reaction on the Syracuse game and the scandal. The sports editor of the "Daily Orange" is going to join us in less than 10 minutes.

In the meantime, overseas, up to two million workers plan to walk off the job today across the U.K. disrupting schools, hospitals and police stations and more all because of a mass strike over retirement benefits.

CNN's Zain Verjee is following it all for us in London. Zain, what's the big complaint the workers have?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the government says they need to cut back and pull down on pensions. The workers are saying, no way. Things are already bad enough. This is being called the biggest walkout in a generation.

Let me show you what some of the newspapers are saying. 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. The crisis in the Euro zone threatens constantly to spread to the U.K.

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

Finally, "The Daily Telegraph" says this. It just got even worse. This is going to be a much longer and harder slug than anyone mentioned.

Quite as bad and in many respects as the austerity programs faced in the periphery nations of the Euro zone. It could be more strikes, Don. The prime minister says yesterday actually he said that 710,000 jobs are likely to be cut here.

LEMON: My goodness. Thank you, Zain Verjee. We appreciate that.

Up next, we're going to go back to the Syracuse story where the head basketball coach, Jim Boeheim and his team take to the court for the first time since an assistant was fired over sex abuse allegations. The sports editor of the student newspaper was at the game. We're going to get his reaction.

And later, one of the most popular prescription drugs in the U.S. goes generic and it gets cheaper. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen will join me to discuss all the details on that.

Plus, an ugly twist in Usher's custody battle. The singer's ex says he had the nerve to cancel her Saks Fifth Avenue card. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Time now to take you cross-country. Four men from an 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. The attacks allegedly grew out of a religious feud between one family and the larger church.

Three Connecticut money managers who hit the Powerball jackpot say they don't have a secret partner smacking down reports that they're covering an anonymous winner. The trio won a whopping $254 million. They say they're giving away $1 million to charity, by the way.

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

You know, one of the accusers of former Syracuse assistant basketball coach, Bernie Fine is speaking out to CNN. Fine faces sexual abuse allegations from three men.

He has not been charged. Mike Lang alleges Fine inappropriately touched him dozens of times when Lang was a boy. We want to warn you that part of what you're about to hear is of a graphic nature.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANG: He kept touching me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did he touch you?

LANG: In my leg and my penis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you say something to him?

LANG: Yes. I said, Bernie, please stop this because I'm not that kind. I won't tolerate it. If you don't want me to come over here no more, I won't come over here. But if you keep doing it, I'm not going to come over here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Graphic, but that's a reality. Syracuse played its first name since the Fine firing last night. Michael Cohen was at the game and at Coach Boeheim's post game news conference.

Michael is the sports editor for "The Daily Orange," which is the student newspaper there. OK, before we go to the post game, take us behind the scenes on the campus.

You remember the whole Penn State thing where in the beginning students were sort of they didn't get it. Do people - do the students and the folks on the Syracuse campus get this particular issue?

MICHAEL COHEN, SPORTS EDITOR, "THE DAILY ORANGE": Well, I think what we found out on Sunday has certainly changed a lot of people's minds up here in Syracuse. When all of this started there was a lot of talk that this was fallout from Penn State.

A lot of people weren't sure whether or not they wanted to believe it, whether or not the stories of Bobby Davis and Mike Lang were, in fact, true.

With the audio file that came out on Sunday and the third accuser coming forward, I think people have started to change a little bit and kind of tilt towards the side of possibly believing this a little bit more than they were at first.

As more information comes out, I'm sure that will continue to go that way. At least it seems that way right now in terms of Bobby Davis's allegations.

LEMON: And even Jim Boeheim didn't believe it in the beginning. I have to tell you, Michael, that Davis broke in the airport lounge and someone turned to me and said, you're the news guy. I can't believe this. I played under Coach Fine. There is no way.

He is not that kind of person. I know that he's not that kind of person when I look at him. I think people are starting to realize that there's more to a person than what they present to the public and the students are finding out about that as well as the world.

COHEN: Yes, absolutely. When all this started we talked to a lot of former players of Coach Boeheim and Coach Fine and a lot of former managers and former assistant coach and all of them defended Bernie Fine to the tooth and said there was no way this was within his character.

He wasn't that type of man. He was a great family man, someone who cared about his players. That may be true. I'm sure it is true. He does care about the players. But like you said, there's the chance that there's more to someone.

I think as the details continue to come out, we're starting to see that. You know, there was another side to Bernie Fine potentially that was off the basketball court. It's not a side that we would have expected.

LEMON: And as you said, potentially. He hasn't been charged with anything. Listen, I have negative 10 seconds left. I just want to know what did you think about Jim Boeheim's performance last night and him taking questions at the post-game press conference?

COHEN: I was surprised that he was going to be up there for 20 minutes. I think a lot of other coaches would have stayed up there for much less time. But, you know, he stuck in there and answered the questions.

You know, it's obviously very different than what we've seen out of Jim Boeheim in the past, having to stick to that statement. But the fact that he answered all of those questions and stuck to it I think was something that he really wanted to do based on his personality. You know, it wasn't necessarily a feisty press conference. It was certainly telling the way the media had so many questions for him.

LEMON: Michael Cohen is the sports editor for the "Daily Orange" student newspaper of Syracuse. Thank you very much. We appreciate it, sir.

Still ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM, an army of police, an encampment of protesters, before the sun came up. The Gotlic came down. We'll show you the latest blow to the "Occupy" movement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: If you're just tuning in, we have good news for you even if you've been watching, still good news happening on Wall Street because the Dow is up at 387 points.

At one point it was up 407 points. This because of the moves the fed took and the central banks to help improve the economy around the world. At least in the short term today it appears to be working. We're going to keep watch.

Patience runs out for another "Occupy Wall Street" protest. This morning in Los Angeles, some 1,400 police officers waded into the tent city that had taken root on the grounds of city hall.

Protesters were allowed to leave or face arrest. So CNN's Casey Wian joins us now. Casey, the question is what a show of force? Were police able to keep the peace?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, excuse the tractor that's come between me and the camera. Yes, in answer to your question. The police did an incredible job last night by all accounts. As you mentioned, 1,400 Los Angeles Police Department officers moved in to break up the "Occupy L.A." encampment behind me.

They arrested, according to the police, more than 200 people overnight. Despite that, there were only three uses of force the entire evening. Two of them were very, very minor, people not complying with being arrested.

One they actually had to shoot a bean bag into one of these trees up here to get one of the protesters out who had camped into the tree. He received very minor abrasions. Overall, the mayor of Los Angeles said last night's operation was a big success.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES: I said that here in Los Angeles we chart a different path, and we did. In my life, I've never seen a more professional, restrained police force under very, very trying circumstances as I witnessed today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: Now what you're seeing going on behind me now is going to be going on for the rest of the day. The police want to make sure that the protesters don't come back into this park surrounding city hall. So they are moving barricades into the area surrounding it, fencing, and they're going to have officers stationed here throughout the day.

Protesters say they are considering some sort of a protest later in the day. Police are expecting that, but they are very confident they say. That they are not going to allow this park to be taken over again by these protesters -- Don.

LEMON: Casey Wian sharing his live shot there with a lot of folks and equipment. One thing you said in your live shot, it looked to be some sort of backhoe or dump truck.

The pictures are incredible if your photographer can pan around again. What are they doing with the tents, sleeping bags and stuff we're seeing? Are they taking dump trucks and throwing it away or giving it back to the people it belongs to?

WIAN: Well, they're doing all of that, Don. What's really incredible, I don't know if my photographer can show what's over here behind me. This is a pile of Hazmat suits that police officers had to put on as they were clearing this encampment overnight.

Behind me there is just an incredible amount of filth. There is medicine. There's dog food, cooking equipment, toilet paper. I mean, it's really frankly a disgusting scene. So the cleanup job is going to be very, very tedious.

It's probably going to take quite a while. Just to get the grass growing again in this park. Who knows how long that's going to take so they're going to be working on this for quite a while -- Don.

LEMON: Yes, amazing. As you said, it's all about perspective. To some people the junk, one man's junk is another person's treasure. I'm sure to these "Occupy" folks even if it's just toilet paper or whatever it is, it's their personal belongings.

But anyway, the pictures are incredible there to see exactly what's going on and happening now live. Our Casey Wian doing a great job of covering that for us. Casey, stand by. We'll be getting back to you here on CNN. Thanks again.

Coming up, the holidays are supposed to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, right? But if you hate plastering on a fake smile to stand in line at the mall, you have a lot of company. We're looking at what Americans hate about the holidays. That's a little bit later on.

What's a shakeout? If Herman Cain quits, our "Political Buzz" panel weighs in on where the supporters will land. That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know that means that sound it's time for "Top Stories".

The man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan back in 1981 is seeking his freedom from a mental hospital. The federal hearing begins today.

Hillary Clinton is in Myanmar this morning. She is the first Secretary of State to visit the southeast Asian nation in a half century. The story trip comes on the heels of big changes in our country, a new president, a new government.

Herman Cain, still pushing ahead after telling his staff he is, quote, "Reassessing his campaign" in light of allegations of a 13-year long affair. He has three campaign stops across Ohio today.

Well, it's time for the "Political Buzz". Did you guys hear that? Affair. That's so southern, southern again. All right, "Political Buzz" is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Playing today: CNN contributor Maria Cardona, let's get a big, let's get a fist thing you're ready; Sirius XM political talk show host and comedian Pete Dominick. There we go. I knew you were going to do it.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Of course you would.

LEMON: Yes of course. And Georgetown University professor, Chris Metzler. Be a gentleman, try to, Pete, today. First question ok, Steve Colbert jokes about Herman Cain's future in the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE COLBERT, COMEDIAN: The former Godfather's Pizza CEO is considering the unthinkable. Cain says he's going to spend a few days off reassessing his candidacy.

Herman, don't you leave this election lover's pizza half baked. I'm saying it's not just as a supporter but as a broadcaster. I need you in the race. Don't leave me with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Unlike Pete Dominick, P. Domini that's what I'm going to call you. I'm going to be a gentleman so I'm going to start with Maria. If Cain drops out Maria, who benefits?

CARDONA: Well, it's going to be interesting to see Don, because this race has been so bizarre. There's actually been two races in this race. One is the Mitt Romney versus Mitt Romney. And to quote a comedian, it's the Mitt Romney from four years ago. And this Mitt Romney who don't agree on anything. And then it's the "anybody but Romney" race.

And I think if Cain actually does drop out, and I agree with Colbert, I hope he does not, then I think it's going to be either Newt or Perry. Though Perry needs to prove he has a brain if he's going to pick up any supporters if Cain drops out.

LEMON: Ok, all right, a little bit of time I looked up. You had been talking and it was 30 seconds just popped up. So I'm cutting you off there, Maria.

CARDONA: No buzz today.

LEMON: All right, Chris next, who benefits?

CHRIS METZLER, PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, absolutely Newt benefits at this point if -- if Cain just win -- oh sorry, if Cain decides to -- sorry.

LEMON: Whoa, I'm sorry, so keep going. Keep going.

METZLER: So Newt benefits, particularly looking at Iowa coming up. A couple of points can in fact make a difference. And Newt has been very kind, he's been very gentlemanly towards Cain, in particular the Lincoln Douglas debate. Saying it's up to Herman to answer these questions et cetera. So Newt benefits I think as a calculating Newt, he knew this was coming.

LEMON: I cut you off for a second. So I let you go.

METZLER: Yes, I so he definitely I think his supporters are going to -- Cain is going to -- supporters are going to go to Newt.

LEMON: That's enough now. Ok P. Domini?

PETE DOMINICK, COMEDIAN: Don Lemon, first of all full disclosure. I work at Colbert Report every night. But I would like to criticize my boss. Steven Colbert he is acting spoiled, he is acting spoiled as a comedian. There is still plenty of meat on the bone to criticize and make fun of him. And poke fun at with the rest of the candidates.

But who benefits from the candidates? Rick Santorum. Everyday has had their frontrunner said, so I say Santorum should get his shot. But who really benefits seriously Don Lemon, the American people.

The more we focus on these accusations, the less we focus on the issues that are really important to us.

LEMON: You're not bragging or name dropping there, not at all.

DOMINICK: I'm coming -- you know what, forget it. The gauntlet is off. I'm coming for you on Twitter today. I'm coming for you on Twitter today.

LEMON: Ok, I'll take on your $10,000 any time.

DOMINICK: How dare you?

LEMON: I'll take my 120, thank you very much. Mitt Romney takes his first dig at Newt Gingrich.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He spent his last 30 or 40 years in Washington. I spent my career in the private sector. I think that's what the country needs right now. I think to get President Obama out of office you're going to have to bring something to the race that's different than what he brings. He's a lifelong politician. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, can Mitt Romney a former governor and son of a governor really play the role of an outsider sort of every man? Chris to you first kind sir?

METZLER: Absolutely not. I mean, you know, I'm a conservative who absolutely wishes that Mitt Romney would get out of this race. And so can he play the outsider? What? He's spending his entire life in the private sector? Does that include the time when he was governor of Massachusetts? Does that include all of the time that he's been running for president? Give me a break. The ultimate outsider, maybe his hair is the outsider, but that's about the only thing that's the outsider.

LEMON: There was a whole article on his hair in "The New York Times" a couple of days ago which I thought was -- I'm breaking protocol here. So producers don't freak out. I don't want to hear, why do you think he should get out? Because he is --

METZLER: Here is the problem, we don't know who he is. And from our perspective, if we're going to run someone who is different from President Obama, it cannot be Romney. Romney can't win. He's dead in the water.

LEMON: Ok got you. I get your -- I get the sentiment there. Ok, let's go to Maria now with the original question.

Can he play the role of an outsider really everyman here?

CARDONA: No, absolutely not. I completely agree with Chris here because you have somebody who was not only governor, but he has been running for president for the last ten years. He also ran for the senate in the '90s. So no, he can't play any role credibly here, Don. And that is his problem. Why? Because on every single issue of importance in this race and of importance to the American people he has done a complete 180 flip-flop on every single issue. He cannot do anything credibly in this race or in politics generally.

LEMON: Right on the buzzer there. I'm sorry Pete, we don't have time for your answer. I'm kidding. Go ahead.

DOMINICK: Well, here's the deal. Maria and Chris are absolutely right. This guy has spent his entire career trying to be an insider. He was a governor, he ran for senate, he ran for president twice, he -- all he wants to be as an insider. But the truth is he can run in this. Because the fact of the matter is, people will believe there are a certain percentage of Americans that don't pay a day-to-day attention. And they'll believe whatever these guys say. He could say I was an NFL quarterback and people might believe it. Him running like as an outsider I was like Rudy saying he didn't really want to play at Notre Dame.

LEMON: Rudy Ruettiger, oh my God.

DOMINICK: I standby the reference. That's all I got. LEMON: Ok so listen this is a -- we need to develop -- it has been how many days since Rick Perry had a cringe-worthy moment. So here is your "Buzzer Beater" right now. He made two mistakes in just one sentence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Those of you that are -- will be 21 by November the 12th, I ask for your support and your vote. Those of you who won't be, just work hard because you're going to inherit this. And you're counting on us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Ok. So here's the thing, it's 18 and it is November 6th. Is it time for him to make a return appearance and laugh it off with David Letterman? Maria?

CARDONA: I just think he needs to be quiet. I mean, what was he doing, was he actually asking students to go to the polls drunk because clearly he was thinking about 21 being the drinking age. So no and this is the reason why if and when Cain drops out, his supporters will not go to Perry. They will probably go to Newt. Perry just needs to be quiet.

LEMON: Mr. Metzler.

METZLER: Yes well, I think at this point he just needs to laugh himself all the way back to the border. He's an embarrassment from my perspective as it relates to Perry at this point, it is the height of hypocrisy to think he actually has a brain.

LEMON: Ow.

DOMINICK: Oh wow. Five seconds left.

Scarecrow reference. Listen, I mean, they're all kind of embarrassments to the Republican Party. Almost we've seen Cain and Perry. But let me defend Rick Perry he was simply -- I'll play devil's advocate, he was talking 21, and six days after the actual Election Day. Because that's when he's going to be drowning his misery in alcohol and he's looking for some people to do it with him.

The question I always wonder every time I see Rick Perry if we get to know him, I say, who are these Texans, who are these Texas that vote for this guy?

LEMON: All right. You're done. What was that reference you made again?

DOMINICK: That was my Twitter feed @petedominick.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: No, no, no.

DOMINICK: Rudy. Don. Don. Don.

LEMON: @DonLemonCNN. Send him some dirty tweets, will you followers.

Bye-bye. Oh, my gosh.

CARDONA: @MariaPCardona.

METZLER: @DrMetzler.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh.

Coming up -- the Kardashians. Too bad another one is on the way. And so are "Showbiz Headlines".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. The Kardashians. The Kardashians are big on family. Well, now theirs is getting even bigger. A.J. Hammer here with some of the baby news. Take it away, A.J.

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": All right. Well, Don, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" just confirmed this morning that Kourtney Kardashian and her boyfriend Scott Disick are expecting their second child. Now Kourtney and Scot have a son named Mason. He's nearly two. The pair have been together for five years and Kardashian fans well know that these guys have a, shall we say, tempestuous relationship.

The reports say the Kourtney's about nine weeks pregnant which is really a little early for most people to reveal this kind of news on this scale particularly. But she says she feels confident about telling the world at this point. Apparently there is no truth to the rumor, Don, that the pregnancy is being staged for reality television.

LEMON: Okey-dokey. Let's move now. Usher's divorce was pretty ugly and so was the custody battle over the singer's two kids. What's the latest on this, A.J.? There's something to do with Saks Fifth Avenue?

HAMMER: Yes. This is a really ugly battle between the singer and his ex-wife, Tameka Raymond. This morning, the tabloids are full of accusations between the pair. The stories say Tameka wants Usher to undergo drug testing. She claims his violating their custody agreement by not paying for things like the children's nanny and as you mentioned her Saks Fifth Avenue credit card.

Now Usher has been asking for full custody of their two sons since January. That was after Tameka didn't allow the two toddlers to join him on his world tour. Well, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" reached out to Tameka's attorney this morning and she's telling us that Usher is retaliating against her client by refusing to abide by the support provisions including the financial terms of their divorce.

"While Mr. Raymond has chosen to fight this battle in the public and through the courts, Ms. Raymond's lie in fighting only for the best interests of her children."

Now, we also reached out to get Usher's side of the story. They don't have any public comments about this for now. But Don, I mean these are 2 and 4-year-old boys. Hopefully they can just do what's best for these two little kids and put their differences aside. Saks Fifth Avenue credit card, really?

LEMON: Yes. You took the words out of my mouth. Thank you. And cute kids, by the way. Cute kids and they're always -- that's what it should be about.

A.J., appreciate it. And if you want more information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J. has it this evening on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" at 11:00 p.m. on HLN. Make sure you tune in.

Coming up, we'll see what Americans hate most about the holiday season.

Plus we'll check today's big stock market rally.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: There you see her. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange where the Dow is up some 400 points or more. Alison, big question, how high will it go?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now that is a really good question. I can't answer that one question, but I can tell you there's a lot of power behind this rally as the Dow is up 421 points. The reason this is happening is because six Central Banks including the Federal Reserve, they've all gotten together. They're announcing this plan to get money moving through the world economy.

What they're essentially going to do is make it cheaper for banks to borrow U.S. dollars if those countries need it. This is all happening as credit in Europe has been drying up as the debt crisis there gets even worse. It gets even more expensive for countries, for banks to go ahead and borrow money. So this is certainly music to Wall Street's ears today.

Did you know, Don, that as we get kind of knee-deep into the holiday season, there's a Consumer Report poll out that says, you know what, there are a lot of Scrooges out there that there are these things that people hate about the holiday season. Guess what people dread the most about the holiday -- Don.

LEMON: Shopping.

KOSIK: Take a guess.

LEMON: It's shopping.

KOSIK: Shopping is one of them. Here are the top three, though: crowds, long lines, going into debt. Let me give one more. Gaining weight. Gaining weight. Do you feel more pressure to eat more over the holidays? I see your tweets so I know you're eating.

LEMON: I just feel like I can eat more. That's why --

KOSK: Let me give you two more that people hate. People hate the seasonal music, and they also -- 24 percent say they hate seeing certain relatives. Bah humbug. LEMON: Yes. When the music comes on like right at Thanksgiving, I'm like already? Already they're jumping the gun. Thank you Alison.

KOSIK: Already.

LEMON: Appreciate your reporting.

Up next, cheaper versions of one of the most popular prescription drugs in the U.S. will soon be available.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Top-selling, cholesterol lowering drug, Lipitor loses its patent today and generic versions will soon be available. CNN medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen here.

Elizabeth, over 17 million people have been prescribed Lipitor. So what does this mean for those who use it.?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the world's best selling drug.

LEMON: Really.

COHEN: Can you believe it? You know what happens when you have the world's best selling drug and only one company has been allowed to make it. Guess what, they charge a lot of money for it because they have no competition. If you want to take it right now, it is approximately $160 a month. We will see that price go down. Generics are being shipped to pharmacies as we speak.

LEMON: Do we know how much it's going to go down? No?

COHEN: We don't know exactly how much. But let me take an example from the past. When Prozac became generic, here's what happened. It was about -- or right now if you look at it it's about $227 a month for brand-name Prozac. The generic is $22. You can see there's a huge cost savings when a drug goes generic.

LEMON: Generics just as good?

COHEN: They are just as good. It's the same active ingredient. It's the same thing.

LEMON: The same -- ok. Ok.

COHEN: That's what they say.

LEMON: So (INAUDIBLE) in this country, it's so confusing sometimes. What's the best way to get a drug you need at a low price?

COHEN: Ok. You and I are going to do a little role playing. We're going to pretend you're Dr. Don, ok. You're the doctor and hand me a prescription. Hand me one of those papers.

LEMON: Ok. Let's see. Here is -- this is my prescription. This is your prescription.

COHEN: I'm going to say, Doctor, is this a brand-name drug? Are you prescribing me a brand name drug.

LEMON: Yes, I am.

COHEN: But I'm going to say to you, can you please give me a generic instead? Is that possible?

LEMON: Well, the drug refs are here today, I don't know. Ok.

COHEN: I've got a lot of pens here. I will say to you, well, doctor, if there is no generic, is there a different drug that you can give me? Because what people forget is that there isn't just one drug for cholesterol, there's a mass of drugs for cholesterol. Same thing for depression, same thing for high blood pressure. Go to cnn.com/empowered patients. And you can learn more every one can save money on drugs, it's easy.

LEMON: I was just going to say that. Now you are an empowered patient. Thank you.

COHEN: Yes, now you all are.

LEMON: Thank you Elizabeth Cohen we appreciate it. You know he shot President Reagan 30 years ago. Now John Hinckley Jr. he could be a free man.

Next hour we'll talk to David Gergen who was huddled in the "Situation Room" trying to figure out what to do if the president died.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: White House candidate Rick Perry appealing for voters. He seemed to leave out some of the electorate. Our senior political editor Mark Preston has that story for us -- Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey Don. Rick Perry might have gotten into the campaign a lot later than some of the other candidates, but it's been grueling over the past couple of months. It's been very exhausting. He's had a couple of oops moments on the campaign trail. We all know what happened during that presidential debate a month ago. And look what happened last night in New Hampshire when he was talking to college students.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Those of you that will be 21 by November the 12th, I ask for your support and your vote. Those of you who won't be, just work hard because you're going to inherit this and you're counting on us getting this right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: Well there you have Rick Perry telling those college students when they turn 21 he hopes they vote for him. The voting age is 18, Don. Of course, he also got the date of the election wrong. He said it was the 12th. It's actually the 6th.

Let's give the guy a little bit of a break, Don. You and I have had our little flubs on air. He's had a few oops moments, hasn't he?

LEMON: We're watching the sound bite. T.J. is here. And he's like "Come on, Man" what did you say. Give me a break. It's tough out there.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Think back to your long journalistic career. How many times have you been on live TV and just blew it.

LEMON: It happens all the time but I mean I'm not running for president. Come on. Mark Preston, there's a different when you're running as leader of the free world.

PRESTON: Yes. Let's give him a break. I'm with T.J. on this one.

LEMON: Thank you guys a reminder for you if you want to know about this. Cnnpolitics.com for more. As we jokingly call this -- this is a joke here in the building. There's the other black guy. He is here.

HOLMES: This is the evidence, folks, that we are not the same guy. We're on at the same time. Great show my friend.

LEMON: Have a great day my friend.

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.

HOLMES: I hope you did too. And we'll catch up after this holiday, right?