Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Federal Reserve to Intervene in Europe; One of Bernie Fine's Accusers Speaks Out; Warm Reception at Dayton Cain Event; Texas Refinery on Fire; Reaching Out to Myanmar; Sex Abuse Lawsuit Filed Against Sandusky

Aired November 30, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's go. Let's get you caught up on everything making news this hour, as always, "Rapid Fire."

Let's begin with the markets. Check out the numbers with me, way up today.

Here's the Big Board for you. The Dow, up 391 points here. Folks are gobbling up stocks today because the Fed decided to work with central banks to support the global economy. In fact, a senior equity trader says, "It's the first time we have seen this type of global coordination since November of 2008."

We're going to have reaction coming up from "Forbes" magazine columnist Bob Lenzner in a matter of minutes.

Also today, Penn State has been hit with the first civil lawsuit in that whole sex abuse scandal. A lawsuit was filed today against former Penn State defensive coach Jerry Sandusky, the university, and Sandusky's charity. The alleged victim is now identified as "John Doe."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF ANDERSON, ATTORNEY FOR ALLEGED VICTIM: It is against Jerry Sandusky, who abused him and violated his trust as a child for over four years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The lawsuit claims Sandusky molested him more than 100 times, starting when he was 10 years old.

Embattled GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain back on the stump today. He is make a three-stop swing through Ohio. Cain again using the word "reassess." He's reassessing his campaign following allegations of a long-time affair with an Atlanta woman, but the candidate says he is not quitting and is not deterred as he tries to get back on message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But all of the mess going on over the past several weeks, where they have been trying to do a character assassination on me, some of them predicted that this room was going to be empty today. I don't think I see any empty seats in here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: More on the specific allegations against Herman Cain and his reaction to them just ahead here.

Also, the American suspected in the disappearance of his traveling companion in Aruba is a free man today. Gary Giordano was released from jail last night. He had been held for just about four months as investigators tried to figure out what happened to his friend, Robyn Gardner. Prosecutors are appealing a judge's decision to release Giordano for lack of evidence. They are still trying to build a case against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE BAEZ, GIORDANO'S ATTORNEY: We're hoping that, of course, this is the end of it. However, he's not running. So if they have a legal basis to require him to come back, he's going to come back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And it is an emotional day for friends and family of Robert Champion. The funeral for the Florida A&M University student is being held in Lithonia, Georgia. The 26-year-old drum major died after a hazing incident. Champion's family plans to sue the school. They say the band's hazing incident have been covered up for generations.

And call it the bada-bing immigration bust. Twenty people all charged in this alleged plot to bring women to the U.S. illegally from both Russia, Eastern Europe, to work as strippers at Mafia-owned nightclubs.

So, all 20 were arrested today. They face charges ranging from racketeering and extortion, to visa and marriage fraud and transporting illegal immigrants. Also, prosecutors say some of these defendants arranged sham marriages between the foreign strippers and U.S. citizens.

The British Embassy in Iran is now officially closed. The doors were slammed shut after protesters stormed the facility earlier this week. Britain's foreign secretary says the move does not amount to a severing diplomatic relations, but does reduce them to the lowest level possible. Britain also evacuated all embassy staff, and now France -- France recalling its ambassador from Iran as well.

A new search under way right now for a Florida mother who vanished after appearing on the "People's Court." Right now, searchers in Orlando are really just beating the bushes here for clues to Michelle Parker's disappearance. They are searching here around this lake near a spot where the last ping from Parker's cell phone was picked up. Police call Parker's former fiance the primary suspect in her disappearances. Children's services took the couple's 3-year-old twins from him away just yesterday, but a judge has just ordered the children returned to their father.

And the home of "The Greatest Show on Earth" is slapped with a hefty fine from the USDA for allegedly mistreating elephants. The parent company of Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus is paying a record $270,000. The company admits no wrongdoing, but different organizations have accused the circus of abusing and exploiting elephants by using those metal hooks to try to control them. The circus says its animal handlers will undergo new training.

An arraignment in federal court today for four Amish men charged with hate crimes in Ohio. They are accused of shaving the beards, cutting the hair of men and women in a different Amish sect. The attacks allegedly grew out of a religious feud between one family and the larger church.

And a federal judge's decision to block graphic images from cigarette packs has come under appeal by the Obama administration. The new law would have required tobacco companies to put pictures like this, diseased lungs, cancerous lesions, and large warnings on their products. Earlier this month, a U.S. district court judge said the law violates the First Amendment.

And we have a lot more to cover for you in the next two hours, including this --

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: The market's up, but Europe's economy is way down. Why does one so much impact the other? We're going to explain the seesaw.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): The case grows against Jerry Sandusky. Today, damming claims from another one of his alleged victims.

ANDERSON: And it is against Penn State.

BALDWIN: The first lawsuit in this scandal, and it names Penn State.

Then, the damage runs deep with the men claiming they were abused by a Syracuse basketball coach.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you keep doing it, I'm not going to come over here.

BALDWIN: Hear the emotional interview with one man who's been carrying the secret since he was a boy.

Plus, text messages, expensive trips, ringside tickets. If Herman Cain wasn't having an extramarital affair with this woman, why he she so adamant he gave her all those things?

GINGER WHITE, ALLEGES AFFAIR WITH HERMAN CAIN: I wanted to come out and give my side.

BALDWIN: And will her story make any impact on Cain's campaign for the White House?

And "The Greatest Show on Earth" pays the biggest price in history after being accused of mistreating its elephants.

The news is now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you look at the Dow, which you can see here over my shoulder, you think, wow, take a look at the upswing. What is it, 389 now points up? And we're still some two hours away from the end of the day.

So, happy days are here again. Right? Well, one small problem, the joy on Wall Street is a sigh of relief.

It's kind of like, we've decided, the way you might feel if your brakes went out on your car, so you were headed for a cliff, but instead, you hit an oncoming car instead. Worth celebrating -- sort of.

Here's what happened.

Right around 8:00 this morning, our Federal Reserve bank announced that it is throwing dollars at Europe, throwing dollars at Europe to try to avert a disaster. Europe is on the verge of a credit freeze that could plunge the whole world into a recession.

So the Fed just extended this massive line of credit to its European partners so they can lend to commercial banks, so they can lend to businesses, so they can get cash to produce their goods and pay their workers. As I said, it's reason to celebrate -- sort of.

Bob Lenzner, "Forbes" magazine in New York.

Bob, did you hear me? Do I have that right?

BOB LENZNER, COLUMNIST, "FORBES": Well, you had it right, except it wasn't just the Fed. It was actually the Fed and the central banks and other places like Europe and Japan. In other words, it's like a consortium of central banks that are going to offer money so as to make sure that no European nation either defaults and no European bank actually goes under during this period.

In fact, if you read our Fed's statement, it makes it very clear that they are not only going to offer dollars, but they are going to offer money and whatever currency is needed, because one of the things that happened here is that all of our money market funds sold all of the European bank paper that they had, which were hundreds of billions of dollars. And that really put the crimp into the European banks in terms of having liquidity to lend out themselves. And since the European banks have also lent money to the sovereign nations, it's really a very combined problem here. So, we're trying to hold off the contagion. We're trying to hold off a lot of things falling here until they can come up with a really longer-term plan.

BALDWIN: Yes, we talk a lot about the potential contagion. You know, you hear the phrase, "If Europe sneezes, could we get sick?"

And if I can -- just be brutally honest. I mean, in terms of Europe and the situation, how bad is it over there? And is the action by the Fed and the other entities you just rattled off, is it sufficient to avert a true disaster?

LENZNER: Well, I don't know the answer to that, but it's not a long- term solution, because all of those European nations have a tremendous amount of debt. I published some of it a few days ago from a BBC chart.

If you combine the bank debt in Europe with the sovereign debt, it's an extraordinarily large amount of money. And what they are trying to do here is to protect the world from going into a very bad recession.

And as a matter of fact, I should add that what people haven't really spoken very much about though that Richard Quest did a while ago is that China, which had been tightening up for months for the last three years to try to create a soft landing and not have a bubble burst, this morning, before we even made our announcement, they eased up on their interest rates as well.

BALDWIN: A surprise move, right?

LENZNER: Right. I think we have a very serious problem and we're trying to hold off.

I mean, there would be really chaos if some nation, if Italy defaulted, or if Portugal defaulted. It would lead to problems with Spain. And you have a lot of European banks that have an enormous amount of debt.

And you can look back at what happened here in 2008, where our Fed and the Treasury put trillions of dollars -- in fact, we just had an announcement made that -- how many trillions it really was, I think about $8 trillion, was put into not only our banks, but European banks as well to -- so that there would not be chaos, so that the world would not end. So we're facing what -- the way I like to phrase it is, we're facing in 2012, a 2008 there.

BALDWIN: Oh, gosh.

LENZNER: And that would seriously put the crimps into our economy and China's.

BALDWIN: Yes. I mean, I hope not. I hope not.

At the same time, as you read about the Fed today, and as you mentioned -- I read the story about China -- from the perspective though, Bob, from an American perspective -- and you're thinking, OK, this is happening over there.

LENZNER: Right.

BALDWIN: And if the Fed is loaning all this money to Europe, to these banks, et cetera, what about me in New York and San Francisco and Miami? Will this at all affect my ability to borrow money, my money market account, what have you, here in the U.S.?

LENZNER: I don't think so. But at the same time, you have to realize that your money market account's not paying you any interest. So you're not really getting any income from this.

And we have our own set of problems that we've got to solve, but right now we have to focus on Europe, because whatever happens to Europe is going to impinge upon us. And it already has, to some extent.

So, yes, this is an emergency in Europe like there was in the United States in 2008. And I think that's the way to look at it. And thank God we have a Fed that knows what the right thing to do here is.

BALDWIN: You mentioned Richard Quest. We'll be talking to Richard Quest from London in the next hour specifically on this.

Bob Lenzner, I thank you just helping us putting it into perspective. And here in the U.S., we have to pay attention to what is happening in Europe.

LENZNER: Well, the other thing, Brooke, is that the Dow went up to around 12,000. It's been back and forth over 12,000 for months.

It spikes up, it goes down. We have seven bad days, then we have a very good day. What it's showing is that nobody really can predict exactly what's going to happen.

Nobody can really predict what kind of an economy we're going to have here and next year. But there were some hopeful signs, like the employment figures this morning. Those are good, hopeful things for us. Europe now has -- faces a much more serious situation than we've got.

BALDWIN: Bob Lenzner, "Forbes" magazine.

I really appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Getting some breaking news here.

There is a refinery fire in Texas. I'm told it's near San Antonio.

We're working on it, making some phone calls. We'll get you the news right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. Here's what we know on our breaking news out of San Antonio, Texas. There has been some sort of explosion at a refinery near San Antonio. And according to the fire department Web site there, it is an explosion. Thirty-nine units from the San Antonio Fire Department are responding.

I'm now being told this is the NuStar Refinery. NuStar Refinery.

If you're in the area, if you see anything, send me a tweet @BrookeBCNN. We're going to stay on it. We're going to effort you some pictures here as well, live here on CNN.

Meantime, politics. If Herman Cain is about to drop out of the presidential race, there was absolutely no evidence of it today.

An enthusiastic welcome just a short time ago. This is at a rally in Dayton, Ohio.

Here in Dayton, this is one of three appearances Herman Cain has scheduled today in the battleground state. Cain again saying -- reiterating that he's reassessing his campaign following those allegations of a 13-year-plus affair with this Atlanta woman.

And whatever "reassessing" actually means, his campaign says he is not quitting. In fact, Cain today sounded very much so like he is going the distance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: They want you to believe that with enough character assassination on me, that I will drop out.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: No!

CAIN: They want you to believe that because President Obama is going to raise a billion dollars, that he's going to automatically buy a second term.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, make no mistake, the drip, drip, drip of allegations and denials are taking a toll. Once the GOP presidential front-runner here, Cain had slipped badly, behind in recent polls, behind Mitt Romney, behind Newt Gingrich, and this was even before this woman, Ginger White of Atlanta, Georgia, went public with what she says was a casual on-and-off affair with Cain that lasted some 13 years.

White says Cain gave her money, took her to Las Vegas, was in touch with her by phone as recently as last week.

Speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America," she also offered her own grim view of a Cain presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITE: I honestly do not think that he is -- in my opinion, would make a good president, as far as I'm concerned.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": 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. I'm 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)

BALDWIN: Cain acknowledges he knows White, even acknowledges, yes, he gave her money, but he denies that they are anything but friends, and now he says she is abusing that friendship.

Herman Cain tells CNN he will make a decision about his political future in the coming days. Right now, the candidate is scheduled to appear at Ohio State University at the top of the next hour.

Prosecutors are fighting against the release of the man who tried to kill President Ronald Reagan. John Hinckley, Jr. fired six shots at Ronald Reagan outside this Washington hotel back in 1981. He was then tackled by police, Secret Service, right there on the spot, but not before wounding Reagan, also wounding a police officer, a Secret Service agent, and Reagan's press secretary.

Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and confined to a mental hospital. His motive for the attack -- remember? He wanted to impress actress Jodie Foster.

Well, now, three decades later, a judge will determine if the now 56- year-old Hinckley should be allowed extended visits to his mother's home. Doctors treating Hinckley say his mental problems are in remission, that he no longer poses a threat to society, but prosecutors say Hinckley is being deceptive about what he did in recent visits to his mother's Virginia home. If the judge agrees, the hospital could eventually release Hinckley.

And the second alleged victim of former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine speaks out to CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. Back to the breaking news here, reports of a refinery fire in Texas.

This is near San Antonio. And according to the San Antonio Fire Department Web site, this is listed as an explosion.

Thirty-nine units from the fire department are responding. You're looking at aerial views, presumably in and around this area of San Antonio where this explosion has happened. And if you know the area, this is the NuStar Refinery.

The fire department responding. Again, we're making calls, trying to figure out how this happened and what needs to be done with regard to people who may be living or attending school in the area.

So stay with us for that. Also, the child sex abuse charges swirling around coaches at Penn State and now Syracuse University are downright mind-boggling. And yet, we continue to hear support from the people who worked with these men accused of the unthinkable.

Take Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine and the support the school's head basketball coach, Jim Boeheim, voiced after accusations surfaced that Fine molested these two boys.

I want you to listen to this coach, this legendary coach, Boeheim. This is how he explained his earlier support of Fine after last night's home game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BOEHEIM, SYRACUSE MEN'S BASKETBALL HEAD 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 or worked for somebody -- or 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. And that's what my reaction was, and so be it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Coach Boeheim there.

Now, one of the ways to consider the story is of course to hear from the accusers themselves. Two our step-brothers and former ball boys for the Syracuse basketball team.

Mike Lang is one of them, and I want you to listen to what he told CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When you saw the Penn State story break, how did it make you feel?

MIKE LANG, BERNIE FINE'S ACCUSER: Well, I was sitting here in my house all alone. And my stomach just turned. And all I can think of is what me, and my little brother went through, and it's happening all over again.

TUCHMAN: And initially what did you think of Bernie Fine?

LANG: I thought he was a great guy. And, you know, he would bring me to every practice. He'd bring me to all the games. He brought me to the Big East tournament. I thought he was a great guy.

TUCHMAN: You would go to Bernie Fine's house.

LANG: Every day.

TUCHMAN: And why would you go there? Would he invite you, ask you to go there? LANG: It was like my home. I can go there any time I wanted to.

TUCHMAN: So you'd be at his house. Would his wife be home?

LANG: Sometimes. She'd be doing whatever she did and he'd be in there watching the games, making phone calls to recruits or -- it was like a home to me. It was like my home.

TUCHMAN: He'd invite you to his house and you would hang out there.

LANG: Right. I'd go over there every day.

TUCHMAN: And most of the time, you would just watch TV or would you just study?

LANG: Watch TV, rake his lawn, do whatever I wanted to do. It was like my house, you know?

TUCHMAN: So you considered him like a fatherly figure?

LANG: Yes, absolutely.

TUCHMAN: But when did you realize that there was something wrong with what he was doing, what did he do to you?

LANG: He touched -- he kept touching me.

TUCHMAN: So where, though? Where were you touching?

LANG: In my leg and my penis.

TUCHMAN: And did you say something to him?

LANG: Yes. I said, "Bernie, please stop this because I'm not that kind and 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."

TUCHMAN: But you were a kid and you knew this was wrong and there's this grown-up man doing this to you. And when you said that to him, what did he say to you?

LANG: He said nothing. He just moved his hand and didn't do it for that night.

TUCHMAN: Do you have any idea, Mike, how many times Bernie Fine touched you inappropriately?

LANG: At least 20, 30, 40. I mean, when do you stop counting?

TUCHMAN: Did you tell him to stop doing that on another occasion after he did it the first time?

LANG: Yes. It continued to happen and then 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.

TUCHMAN: So you regarded Bernie Fine as an exulted figure?

LANG: Yes, everybody did.

TUCHMAN: But later you introduced your brother to being a ball boy and he started making the same allegations?

LANG: When I got back from college, yes, that's what I heard.

TUCHMAN: When your brother, Bobby told you this, you must have told yourself -- did you tell him that it happened to you also?

LANG: Not really. Not at first, I don't believe I did.

TUCHMAN: Were you embarrassed?

LANG: Yes, I was. I kind of blamed it on myself because I was the one that brought him along after me. And now I've got all of this guilt feeling to live with, you know.

TUCHMAN: What do you hope happens?

LANG: Well, I just hope that no other kids get abused. That's the main reason why I came out and said what I had to say and what happened to me, is because I don't want this to happen to anybody else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: We should note here that no charges have been brought against Bernie Fine. Fine denies the allegations, but Syracuse did fire him last week.

Now back to the breaking news here out of San Antonio, Texas, this refinery explosion, we're now getting pictures here. You can see the water being sprayed. This is an explosion according to fire department officials.

Apparently, some 39 units were deployed to fight this fire. In fact, I have Melissa Sparks on the line. She's a spokesperson for San Antonio Fire.

Melissa, let's just start at the beginning here. I understand this is jet fuel, diesel jet fuel that is leaking here. Can you tell me what you're doing to stop the leak?

MELISSA SPARKS, SAN ANTONIO FIRE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Yes. Right now, we believe that we have diesel jet fuel on fire. We're working with AGE Refinery plant employees to identify a fuel shutoff so that we can start the flow of fuel and we have to get that fuel flow stopped before we can put out the fire.

In the meantime, the water that you see spraying, we're keeping the tank and other lines running to and from the tanks cool so that the fire does not spread and cause more explosion.

BALDWIN: Was anyone inside when the explosion happened? Do we know what caused the explosion?

SPARKS: We do not know what caused the explosion right now. That will come at a later point. The plant was fully operational at the time of the operation.

Right now, we do not have any victims. That is very fortunate. We had evacuated the entire plant, but we have not started evacuations for the rest of the plant right now. It is not necessary for the moment.

BALDWIN: OK, so you have evacuated the plant, not evacuated folks who may be living in the area. How is the air quality and need for shelter in place?

SPARKS: They do not need shelter in place right now. This is just confined to one tank so we feel once we get the flow shut off and we can get the fire under control, we should be able to get everything taken care of.

If things change, though, we should be able to get information out to the residents and businesses in that area and police and fire fighters. So anybody who needs information will get it as soon as possible.

BALDWIN: Beyond the fact that we're talking about diesel jet fuel currently leaking, but you're trying to stop that. What are other challenges in place in trying to fight this? I understand that you're using some kind of foam?

SPARKS: Yes, that's right. Most of our fire trucks do carry foam. The plant did let us know that because of this type of fuel that is on fire, they requested Class B foam, which our hazmat teams do carry on their trucks. So they are taking the initiative with spraying foam as well as the regular water that we're using to cool the tanks.

BALDWIN: And just quickly you say no victims, does that mean no injuries?

SPARKS: Yes. Right now, we do not have any reports of injuries and obviously once we get everything under control, we will continue a search and make sure that all of the plant employees are accounted for.

BALDWIN: Melissa Sparks, San Antonio Fire Department, thank you. We'll be watching these pictures. Again, live pictures out of our affiliate at the San Antonio, KSAT. We're on this. Stay right here. CNN's back in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In Myanmar, it's been 50 years since they've witnessed anything like this. Take a look, Secretary State Hillary Clinton arriving today in the capital, the first secretary of state to visit the country since 1962.

And this visit is no coincidence because Myanmar is beginning to turn things around. They had a military hunta since the early '60s. It ruled with absolute power and repressed opposition through those who spoke out in prison.

That included this woman here, pro-democracy activist, Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize last November. She was freed. And then just last spring, Myanmar allowed elections.

It elected a president and began to free hundreds of political prisoners. The Obama administration says there is more to be done, but it is reviewing U.S. sanctions and clearly beginning a dialogue with the Birmish government.

CNN foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty is on the trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You could call it the "show me" trip. Secretary of State Clinton's historic visit to Myanmar, the first by a U.S. secretary of state in half century since the military junta took control of the country in 1962.

Clinton says she's here to test the seriousness of a new civilian government that's introducing new and surprising steps toward political and economic reform.

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: I am obviously looking to determine for myself and on behalf of our government what is the intention of the current government with respect to continuing reforms, both political and economic.

DOUGHERTY: Clinton according to a senior State Department official comes with a list of very specific steps that U.S. would like the Myanmar government to take including releasing more political prisoners and holding free and fair elections.

If reforms continue, U.S. officials say Washington can take further steps. One key concern what a senior State Department official calls surreptitious military contacts with North Korea in the past related to missile technology.

Clinton will be discussing that with Myanmar's president. a major sign of reform, Myanmar's government is meeting with Aung San, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy advocate who was held in detention for much of the past two decades.

Clinton and President Barack Obama have been spoken to her by phone. Clinton will be meeting with her face-to-face for the first time during this visit. American officials say Myanmar also known as Burma is one of the countries along with North Korea that they know the least about, given its years of military rule and isolation.

We're in listening mode, they say, still concerned about the country's human rights issues and other issues prepared for reversals and backtracking.

(on camera): But they also quote Aung San, who thinks a genuine effort is taking place in the country and that this could create an historic opportunity. Jill Dougherty, CNN, Myanmar.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Jill Dougherty, thank you.

Coming up, so we've heard from Republican presidential candidate, Herman Cain about reassessing his run for the White House. Well, now we have a time table. Wolf Blitzer has those details and we will have some pretty incredible video, how a huge airplane landing sideways on the runway got away for it. The video, 2 minutes away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So this next piece of video probably happens a lot more than we think or even want to think about. Take a look.

A Lufthansa Airliner coming into Calgary Airport with a stiff cross wind, you can see how the tail section is skewed far to the starboard. FYI, that's the right side of the plane.

The plane, as you can see, lands safely, but it can still be a white knuckle experience especially when you watch it from this angle. Yikes.

Let's go to Washington now, shall we, for our America's Choice 2012 update. Wolf Blitzer has some news. Wolf, let's talk about this new sound.

I know Jim Acosta was there with Herman Cain in Dayton, Ohio. The first of three appearances he has today and from what I can gather. I heard the words reassess or re-evaluate.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Right. Jim hadn't managed to get up close to Herman Cain in Dayton, Ohio. I'm not exactly sure why he's campaigning right now in Ohio if he's serious about getting the Republican presidential nomination.

Ohio is not one of the primary our caucus states, but still he's been in Ohio. He's got several events there. Jim managed to find him in a rope line. He was shaking some hands.

Let me play the video, the exchange, and then we'll discuss. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Mr. Cain, Jim Acosta with CNN. Are you vowing to stay in this race? Is that your message?

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are reassessing, re- evaluating.

ACOSTA: But are you staying in the race?

CAIN: We are re-evaluating and reassessing.

ACOSTA: How soon until we have a final answer on your future plans?

CAIN: We will be making a decision in the next several days.

ACOSTA: Thank you, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. You just heard him. He said the next several days I'll make a decision. Very much in contrast to what he said flatly on Monday, that he was in it. He was in it to win it. Unless -- one caveat, unless his wife told him that it was over, he shouldn't be running for president of the United States right now.

But now he's saying in the next several days, he will make a decision. They are re-evaluating, reassessing whether to go forward and we'll see. I guess, in one reason he's waiting to see what happens not only from his wife's reaction, but also from the public at large.

Is the money coming in? Is he raising money? Does he have support out there or is it in fact, over? So we're getting conflicting messages from some of his insiders. Some sources close to him some saying he's definitely going to stay on as long as it takes, certainly through Iowa and into New Hampshire.

Others are saying, maybe not. He's getting a lot of advice from other Republicans, including some friends of his, saying you know what, at some point maybe you should see what's going on and drop out. But we'll see what Herman Cain decides when all of the dust settles.

BALDWIN: OK, Mitt Romney, what's he up to today?

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting over the past few days we've seen him begin to do some things he hasn't really wanted to do earlier. Go after Newt Gingrich.

He's going after Newt Gingrich who now, together with Mitt Romney, they are the two front-runners for the presidential nomination. In fact, some are already suggesting that it's a two-man race.

Gingrich and Romney and Gingrich will get some of Herman Cain support if in fact Herman Cain drops out. And we're now beginning to see Mitt Romney suggesting, you know what, he's a businessman, spent his whole life in the private sector except four years when he was governor of Massachusetts.

On the other hand, he points out that Newt Gingrich has been in Washington for 30 years. He's a Washington politician, a Washington insider. He's beginning to make those kinds of cracks, those kinds of accusations against Newt Gingrich.

So it's showing he's beginning to feel the heat from Newt Gingrich. This could get tough over the next four or five weeks as we go into Iowa and then into New Hampshire. The battle between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney I think could become lively.

BALDWIN: And coming up in "THE SITUATION ROOM," we're going to have wait next hour, you and me back here. It's a date. We'll see what is going on.

BLITZER: Definitely.

BALDWIN: OK, Wolf, thank you.

Coming up next here, the first civil lawsuit has been filed in the case of former Penn State assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky. The alleged victim says Sandusky sexually abused him more than 100 times. We're going to tell you who else is named in that particular lawsuit.

Plus, $153 million in tax refunds just waiting to be claimed right now. The average undelivered refund check, more than $1,500? Find out how you can check to see if there is money waiting for you. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Let's go in depth now on the lawsuit filed today against former Penn State coach, Jerry Sandusky. This is the first suit stemming from the sex abuse allegations against Sandusky.

In it, he claims -- it claims, I should say, he molested a boy. We only know him as quote, unquote, "John Doe." This molestation allegedly began when the boy was 10 years of age.

And according to his lawyers, happened more than 100 times. The suit also says that Sandusky threatened the boy and his family if he told anyone. Here is Attorney Jim Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF ANDERSON, ATTORNEY FOR ALLEGED VICTIM: The sexual abuse of him began in 1992 at the age of 10. At that time, he was a promising athlete and Sandusky spotted him and spotted his promise and began to groom him. And that's what predators do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The lawsuit also names Penn State University and Sandusky's charity, The Second Mile, is defendants. And Attorney Marci Hamilton explains why charges were filed against Penn State.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCI HAMILTON, ATTORNEY: This survivor never told a soul until he contacted Jeff and believed, like most survivors do, that he was the only one.

But what we know from the grand jury report that's already been issued is that there were people who knew. He wouldn't be the only one and they are the ones that are the target of his anger and his feelings of betrayal.

And that's really what this case is about. It's about institutional concealment and in callous disregard of child sexual abuse by powerful men in a powerful institution. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And just a couple of hours from now, Penn State students will get the chance to post questions to their school administrator. That happens tonight, university is holding the first of three campus forums for students. These forums take place as the Department of Education begins its federal investigation into Penn State.

And now, like a little extra cash? Lean in, if you will. How would an extra $1,500 sound this holiday season? Not too bad, right? That's the average amount of a tax refund check sitting unclaimed right now.

So a total of $153 million worth of unclaimed checks, now most checks were returned because of some sort of error in the mailing address. So here's the news you need to know.

Two ways you could check to see if you have any money waiting. First go to this web site irs.gov, use "where's my refund" tool or you can simply access the same service just by phone, call 1-800-829-1954. See if you have some money waiting for you.

Arsenic in apple juice? I know we've heard about it for years, but now a new consumer report study found new reasons for us to be worried.

Also, you can't help but smile at this next piece of video. The story behind this coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The world's most popular cholesterol drug is getting a whole lot cheaper. Pfizer has patent down the drug, Lipitor runs out today so now other companies can start making less expensive generic versions. Pfizer says, more than 17 million people have been prescribed Lipitor to lower their cholesterol.

Apple juice, apple juice is a go-to drink for millions of parents. You give it to your kids because it's good for them, right? It's easy to grab.

But listen to this, a big name consumer group says you might be giving them arsenic as well and at unhealthy levels. Elizabeth Cohen, senior medical correspondent has been working the story.

I know we've heard about this before, and again, arsenic is a poison if it's in high levels in your apple juice. It's frightening.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's frightening. As a parent, I pay close attention to this report. And so I'm going to tell you what Consumer Reports found.

They bought 88 samples of juices from big stores all around New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and they found that 10 percent of them exceeded the levels of arsenic that you're supposed to have in your drinking water.

BALDWIN: Ten percent? COHEN: So, yes, 10 percent. I mean, that's not a small number.

BALDWIN: Why specifically, I guess, is this unsafe?

COHEN: All right, arsenic is a known carcinogen linked to prostate cancer, liver cancer, and all sorts of other cancers. That's the concern.

BALDWIN: And as always, I have to ask, what is the FDA's reaction to this report?

COHEN: The FDA says that they are looking at sort of setting new guidelines, but I want to also talk about what the industry says. The industry says juice is safe. This gets a little inside the beltway.

But I got to say because this is their argument. The FDA does have other levels for arsenic in juice. And the juice industry says and they are right, we are well within those levels, but then consumer activists would say, those levels don't really mean anything.

The FDA doesn't have to do anything about them. Those levels aren't really important. So it gets very confusing here, but the bottom line is that Consumer Report says that the levels are higher than they are supposed to be in drinking water.

BALDWIN: How does arsenic even get in apple juice?

COHEH: I don't know. It does. It sounds so crazy, doesn't it? Arsenic is naturally occurring. It's in the soil plus there were insecticides that used to be used and those got into the soil too. So we can take those two ways. You get arsenic in apples. You get arsenic in apple juice.

BALDWIN: So what do you do? If you're a parent, you're thinking OK, do I give my kid the apple juice or should I grab the pomegranate or the grape or whatever, what is the advice?

COHEN: OK, well, they looked at apple and grape juice, this study did and that seems to be where the concern is. So I would like to step back as a parent and say something, which is that parents perhaps reach for juice way too often and pediatricians say this.

Because juice have a lot of sugar in it and obesity is a big problem in this country so you want to think about juice both from that perspective as well as from the potential arsenic perspective.

So here is what Consumer Reports suggests and by the way, it's also what the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest, kids under the age of six months shouldn't be getting juice at all. There's no reason for them to be drinking juice.

For kids ages six months to six years, limit four to six ounces a day. That's not that very much. I mean, I know kids who down that stuff all day. For older kids, 8 to 12 ounces a day so really limit the amount of juice that they have according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. BALDWIN: Moderation, moderation.

COHEN: Right exactly.

BALDWIN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

COHEN: Thanks.

BALDWIN: And now, forget shopping centers in California or even in New Zealand and Europe. You're going to like this. Stick around. Flash mobs have gone global. Take a look at this scene. This is one of the world's busiest train stations. This is Mumbai, India.

Hundreds of people learned the choreography in a matter of weeks, took over the platform, broke it out. This is a popular Bollywood tune. Apparently, it's on my executive producer's iPod, Angie Massie. I don't know if these dancers are quite as good as the heartthrob in the movie. We see a lot of Amir Khans in training there.