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Dow Tilts Lower After Big Rally; Report: Iran Plot to Attack U.S. Bases; Cain: "Character Assassination" On Me; New Cain Ad to Air in Iowa; Obama Marks World AIDS Day; The Fight Against HIV/AIDS; Markets Open Flat After Big Rally; 32 Tons of Pot Found in Border Tunnel; California Blasted by Santa Ana Winds; Rev. Billy Graham Hospitalized; Penn State Sued in Sex Abuse Scandal

Aired December 01, 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'll tell you now the Dow so far not setting off any alarm bells, but stocks are tilting lower after one of the biggest Wall Street surges in three years. The question this morning after the opening bell, can it last? Is the worse finally over?

Christine Romans is live in New York. I don't see it's a close up shot of you. So I don't see your crystal ball there. I'm wondering if you can tell us what's ahead on Wall Street. Is this a sign of better times ahead?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I prefer tarot cards actually, Don. My tarot cards have been about as accurate as all the economists' forecasts over the past three or four years.

No, look, I think this is a good thing. I mean, 26 points down on the Dow after a 490-point rally. To me that showed that investors right now are not taking big profits after yesterday's rally and saying, I'm going to take that one and run.

They're saying, OK. We think the global central banks are going to make sure that the funding crises we were starting to see in Europe, the global central banks are going to make sure that doesn't get worse and that's a good thing.

So right now, it's kind of holding the line. Sometimes you see a big move up and then the next day you see the market take some of that back. Again, it's very early. It's only been 30 minutes. So we also have -- you know, a lot of things to worry about here.

The short-term funding problems in Europe have been eased. That's incredibly important. That's the number one factor happening in the markets right now. But we do still have challenges here in this country.

We have the debt crisis in Europe politically has not been resolved. These central bankers who can go, you know, they can go in with no authority and just flood the zone like they did last night or yesterday.

Politicians have to really fix the core problem. You have a deficit gridlock in D.C. This is not all about Europe's debt don't forget. We still have a problem in this country. The very problems that caused us to lose our AAA rating, Don, there's been nothing done to fix that.

We have a 9 percent jobless rate, weak housing market so those are the things that are the backdrop here. I don't want to continue to accentuate the, you know, the big cloud and not the silver lining. My silver lining today is that well, now the Dow's up 1 point. A Dow above 12,000 with all of these challenges is pretty impressive.

LEMON: And you know, it sounds like what you were saying there, which were the negatives. You're talking about unemployment and all of these things, that's what it's really going to take to rev this recovery up, right?

ROMANS: Yes. It's going to take -- look, I want to be clear. I mean, we're seeing these little tiny signs in this country that things are moving sideways or getting a little better in the economy.

The fed has a report called the beige book that came out yesterday. It's kind of a compilation of what all these regional banks are saying, fed banks are saying. Things were growing.

The U.S. economy is growing, but then you have this financial crisis problem in Europe that's almost ready to cause us not to grow again. So we're just -- I always say we're in a dangerous moment here. I think we are.

But I think that what we saw yesterday is central banks saying we're not going to let it get more dangerous. Now we're moving forward.

LEMON: We'll take any little bit. Real quickly here, throw in a plug. What's the name of your new book again?

ROMANS: "How to Speak Money." You're so nice. "How to Speak Money" with Ali Velshi.

LEMON: Good. Thank you, Christine. We appreciate it.

Coming up in about 15 minutes, we're talking about what to do with your money right now. The chairman of a financial management company shares her wisdom. That's coming up at 10:15 Eastern.

I want to turn now to news overseas. Christine talked about overseas a little bit, but just in. It's out of Germany this morning.

Federal prosecutors in Germany have reportedly opened an investigation to allegations that Iran has plotted to attack U.S. bases on German soil. That information is coming from a German media report.

Let's get straight now to Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, with the very latest on this. Barbara, what can you tell us?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, all of this still unfolding. The U.S. military is responding to these reports from the German media that German federal prosecutors have opened an investigation into a potential plot of Iran trying to sabotage U.S. military bases in Germany to attack supply lines perhaps if, in fact, the U.S. were to engage in a potential attack against Iran. So in other words, if there was an attack against Iran, Iran would respond by attacking U.S. supply bases in Germany. Now officials are aware of these reports. The details are still to come.

German press reporting that a German national was involved in trying to survey U.S. bases and work with Iranian agents or authorities on this potential plot.

We contacted U.S. military officials in Germany. One of them gave us a statement saying, quote, "We take any threats to our personnel, families and resources here very seriously. Each commander at every installation throughout Germany has the option to increase their force protection measures based on their local security environment."

So this is what typically happens at U.S. bases overseas if there is a threat. Local commanders can then do what they deem necessary to protect U.S. military personnel, their families, and the bases. It's unfolding.

We're not entirely clear how far this has gone, what the German authorities are particularly investigating about all of this, but clearly it's something the U.S. military in Germany is well aware of -- Don.

LEMON: Barbara Starr, thank you very much.

Now politics. Herman Cain may be closer to making a decision about whether to move forward with his presidential campaign. Our senior political editor Mr. Mark Preston joins us now. Mark, take us aboard the Cain train. What's the timing?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: You know, Don, is it derailed? You know, he continues to send us mixed signals about what his political future is. He talks about reassessing his campaign.

In fact, last night he told reporters there are three things he's going to evaluate when he makes the final decision about whether to continue on with this campaign or abandon it. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Number one, since I've been campaigning all week, I haven't had an opportunity to sit down with her and walk through this with my wife and my family. I will do that when I get back home on Friday.

Secondly, re-evaluate the support of my supporters. It has been overwhelming so far. Thirdly, re-evaluate the impact that this has on fundraising.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: You know, Don, the most interesting thing that he said to reporters last night is the fact that he hasn't had the discussion yet with his wife and his family about whether or not to continue on. He has stayed on the campaign trail. While we suspect she remains back in Georgia. Of course, tomorrow, he will sit down with her and I guess the final decision will be made. I find that fascinating that he hasn't had this discussion with her yet.

You know, another question that he was asked last night, Don, was if he were to become the Republican presidential nominee, would all of these allegations of sexual harassment and now this newest allegation of having this very long-time affair with an Atlanta businesswoman, would it hurt him as the nominee.

This is what he had to say. He says, it makes me problematic if you're looking for someone with no blemishes and no accusations. Not really a strong statement from Herman Cain as he's reassessing his candidacy at this time -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Mark, listen, they're also launching a new campaign ad in Iowa. Some people are wondering -- speculating that it may be a sign that his campaign is going to continue.

PRESTON: Yes, that's right. Again, going back to the top, mixed signals from him, they're spending $80,000 on this cable ad that's running in Iowa. Let's take a quick listen as we're talking about it right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: The engine of economic growth is the business sector. Now this is good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: Herman Cain right there, Don, talking about his experience as a CEO and how he can turn the economy back around. It makes no mention of the controversy that is surrounding him right now, but clearly that is at the forefront of what's going on in his campaign right now.

Quite frankly, Don, he's going to be meeting with the "New Hampshire Union Leader" today up in Manchester, one of the toughest newspapers in the country. I got to tell you. They're good friends of ours here at CNN. It will be interesting to see what hard questions they have for him and how he answers them -- Don.

LEMON: All right, thank you, Mark Preston. Appreciate that.

Herman Cain's lawyer is leaving open the possibility of legal action against the woman who alleges she had a 13-year affair with the candidate.

Attorney Lynnwood is going to join Piers Morgan for an exclusive interview. "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT," 9 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

We have been telling you here all morning, it is World AIDS day and all over the globe people are uniting in the fight against HIV/AIDS and raising awareness about that epidemic.

This hour, the president of the United States taking part in an event in Washington, it set to get started at any moment now. It's very big names, tops in entertainment.

Brianna Keilar joins us now from the White House with more. Brianna, as I said to you in your earlier live shot, the big AIDS ribbon right there hanging from the front of the White House right over your right shoulder.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, yes. It's here to honor, of course, World AIDS Day, which is something, Don, that is getting a lot of bipartisan support. Something we don't always see in Washington these days.

The event underway nearby at George Washington University where the president will be making remarks and he's marking World AIDS today we are told by a White House official by announcing a new - sort of a new commitment to an initiative that's already in place.

Adding $50 million to combat AIDS domestically here in the U.S. so prevention and treatment and also increasing the U.S. commitment to fighting AIDS around the world. Now that would be predominantly in Africa.

As you can imagine, it's a tough environment here in Washington for new spending so the White House emphasizing that this will come from funds that the Health and Human Services Department already has.

But all of this, Don, actually building on a program that was launched back in 2003 by President Bush called PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, haled by Democrats and Republicans as a success. This is going to continue that effort.

We'll see the president's announcement today and we'll also be seeing Bono, Alicia Keys, it's a pretty amazing all star line up.

LEMON: Right, Brianna, and we're also seeing right now as you and I were talking, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Dr. Gupta is moderating a panel here. It's called "The Beginning of the End of AIDS" panel.

He's also given us a little look behind the scenes. So Sanjay will be there. He's going to report back on exactly what he found. Make sure you tune in today at 12 noon. I want to tell you Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Bono is going to be with Suzanne Malveaux.

KEILAR: And also, Don --

LEMON: Yes, we're going to hear from the rock star about what the goal is for an AIDS free world by 2015. Go ahead, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, and you'll also be hearing from Presidents Bush and Clinton, which doesn't happen all the time. I just learned from a White House official that President Bush, they're going to be on satellite both Clinton and Bush. President Bush will be from Africa. So it's going to be a pretty interesting event I think.

LEMON: Yes, President Bush doing a lot with PEPFAR and President Clinton is doing a lot with the Clinton Foundation, as you said, worldwide for HIV/AIDS. Thank you, Brianna. We appreciate your reporting. When the president comes, when the current president, Barack Obama, we're going to take a little bit of it. We'll take the ceremony for you and you'll see it live here on CNN.

It is estimated 33 million people worldwide have HIV, and one thing World AIDS Day focuses on is finding ways to stop the spread of the virus.

CNN's Zain Verjee joins us now live from London with some headlines and some reactions. Zain, can you imagine by 2015 they said they want to eradicate this?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT, CNNI: Well, one of the biggest challenges, if that's the goal, according to the United Nations is that they face a major funding crisis. Donors are really going to have to step up in order to meet that goal.

Many would say it's quite unrealistic. Let's take a look and see what the newspapers are saying around the world. This is "The Herald's" headline in South Africa. It says, the fight against AIDS is not over. The responsibility for caring for AIDS orphans is not just the government's alone. It takes a village to raise a child. We all need to play our part in ensuring AIDS orphans are given a chance.

Then "The Guardian" says, do not forget this disease. How can this be the right time to let the global fund flounder? There are more than six million people in poor countries on the drug now, but just as many are still in need and many more will soon join the waiting lists. Without treatment and continuing effort, three decades of progress could be reversed.

Then in India "DNA" it says, slipping back is not an option. It's quoting a philanthropist that says access to prevention and care remains inadequate for most people vulnerable to HIV. Why is this?

The answer is stigma, stigma, stigma. Society still treats HIV positive people like dirt. Don, the biggest areas where infections around the world are on the rise are Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East -- Don.

LEMON: Zain Verjee, thank you very much. Appreciate your reporting this morning.

There is a morning after a slam dunk day on Wall Street so what should you be doing with your cash right now? We're asking a money expert in minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're keeping our eyes glued on this because we know you are too. On the big board this morning after yesterday's rock star session on Wall Street, you can see the Dow down 8.85 right now it's down.

It got in neutral territory like one point up just a moment ago. So we're going to keep an eye on that. Let's talk about how this affects your money.

Emily Sanders is the chairman and CEO of Sanders Financial Management. Emily, thanks for joining us. Lots of people, lots of cheering after that 490-point one-day gain. Everyone's asking, can it last?

EMILY SANDERS, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, SANDERS FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: Yes, Don. It is a good question because as we say to our clients, you've been very nervous the last few months with all the volatility.

Things are going up and down, and gyrating. Yesterday was a response to a coordinated action amongst six central banks, the U.S., U.K., European, Canadian, Swiss, and Japanese to help lower interest rates for European bank lending.

LEMON: So when we've seen such volatility, when we've seen it go down so much, when it goes up to positive territory, take it in stride, is that what you're saying? Is this a long-term indicator of anything?

SANDERS: Probably not. It's an indicator to an action that happened yesterday. The long-term trend is still very nervous. There's a lot of uncertainty in Europe. China lowered interest rates yesterday. So we're telling our clients to stay cautious.

LEMON: Even with the experts like you, you're saying, OK, keep it all in stride. Just keep it all in perspective here. We've seen big holiday sales lately, but weekly job numbers ticked up again and climbing back to over 400,000.

We're getting some mixed signals. When will be able to tell if a larger economic recovery is taking hold here?

LEMON: Well, regarding the job numbers, Don, tomorrow is an indicator, non-farm payrolls that is released by the U.S. government. That will show not only unemployment claims, but also job formations.

Yes, the 400,000 indicator is a benchmark. We just went a little over that today in new unemployment claims, but basically the unemployment rate is holding steady at around 9 percent. We expect it to continue in that path.

LEMON: OK, honestly, are you optimistic in you're an expert. Are you optimistic that we're in a recovery?

SANDERS: We are in a recovery. The data has been better, but I am cautiously optimistic, Don and looking to the long-term signs like all the debt in the global economies.

LEMON: Because everybody's looking for some positive news here, especially around the holidays. That's why I asked. So any little bit of encouragement you can offer we ask. We also want reality as well if you don't feel that way.

Thank you very much, Emily Sanders. We appreciate you joining us here on CNN. Up next, the Penn State community has a chance to speak out publicly about the sex abuse scandal plaguing the university.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sandusky is part of the Penn State family, we all are, and I feel shame.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check your stories cross-country right now.

The fed seized 32 tons of pot from an elaborate border tunnel linking Tijuana to San Diego. It's one of the biggest marijuana busts in history. Here's what authorities are saying about the tunnel, that's the length of six football fields with an elevator and rail cart system.

I want you to check out this camera shot. It's in L.A. It's bouncing around the violent Santa Ana winds some with hurricane force strength. That means flying debris and power outages affected tens of thousands of people there. Even parts of L.A.'s airport went dark leading to delays and diverted flights.

The Reverend Billy Graham is in a North Carolina hospital. The 93- year-old Evangelist is being monitored and treated for possible pneumonia. But he is said to be in good spirits this morning.

Penn State has been just hit with its first lawsuit in connection with the child sex abuse scandal. It was filed by a 29-year-old man who was not mentioned in the grand jury report.

He says former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky molested him more than 100 times over four years. Sandusky and his former charity, Second Mile, are also named as defendants. The plaintiff's lawyers read from a statement or read from a statement written by his client.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF ANDERSON, PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: I am hurting and have been for a long time because of what happened, but feel now even more tormented that I have learned of so many other kids were abused after me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Jean Casarez is a correspondent with "In Session" on TruTV. It's our sister network here at CNN and she joins us now from State College in Pennsylvania where Penn State administrators actually just hosted a student forum on the scandal.

Good morning to you, Jean. What was that like? Did this new lawsuit come up at all?

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION" ON TRUTV: Good morning, Don. It did not. It was a fascinating two hours for many reasons. I want to show you the headline. This is the newspaper of Penn State University, "The Daily Collegian." It has as a headline, leaders address concerns. Well, the students were very concerned. It took about an hour for them to get going. But I really saw the main focus on their mind was the board of trustees of Penn State University.

They don't have trust in that body any more. What they kept focusing on over and over again was did national pressure or media pressure force them to make the decisions they had to make? They're talking about the firing of Joe Paterno.

They also talked about transparency. They begged for transparency in one sense even to the point of asking, can you tell us something tonight that we don't know in the spirit of transparency?

Many of the answers were very broad, but the students really let out their emotions. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sandusky is part of the Penn State family. We all are, and I feel shame. What do I do with these feelings?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: And a lot of the questions focused on the students themselves, one being with all of the civil suits that are going to be coming and the payouts that may have to be made by Penn State, will our tuition go up?

The response was, no, not at all, because we have general liability insurance. Don, there's two questions that come to my mind, will the insurance companies just readily pay out what may be huge civil settlements or will they try to show that the university had knowledge of what was happening and they intentionally did not do anything about it?

I think insurance companies may not readily pay out. Furthermore, if they do pay out, Don, then there could be higher premiums for Penn State and who's going to pay for those?

LEMON: All right, thank you, Jean Casarez, State College, Pennsylvania. We appreciate your reporting on that.

We want to go now live. This is to the White House. As a matter of fact, this is former President George Bush via satellite. He's doing this from Africa. He's speaking. President Obama hosting an event today for World AIDS Day. Let's listen in to former President George W. Bush.

(BEGIN LIVE SPEECH)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: There is nothing more effective than PEPFAR. The reason I say that is I'm not guessing. I've not only talked to leaders like the president of Africa, but the number of people who live today as a result of PEPFAR is staggering. There's no greater priority. This is something our American citizens must understand and our government must understand. There is no greater priority than living out the admonition to whom much is given, much is required. We're a blessed nation in the United States of America, and I believe we are required to support effective programs that save lives.

(END LIVE SPEECH)

LEMON: Former President George W. Bush speaking from Tanzania via satellite. This is all being piped into the White House. You see Bono there sitting on the front row, sitting next to Marco Rubio, a senator from Florida.

And also our Sanjay Gupta is hosting a panel there. It's called "The End of AIDS by 2015." He's going to discuss that. We're going to dip back into this when the president does speak.

Of course, the former president speaking about the PEPFAR program, which provided billions and billions of dollars for AIDS relief around the world. He was instrumental in that.

Former President Clinton will speak as well via satellite coming up. His foundation, the Clinton Foundation also helping out with HIV/AIDS. We'll get back to World AIDS Day in a moment.

We want to talk some politics. Mitt Romney lands a cover of "Time" magazine, but he may not find the caption too flattering. The caption, why don't they like me? Our "Political Buzz" panel offers up answers next.

Plus Chris Humphreys accuses wife, Kim Kardashian of fraud. We'll explain in showbiz.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Back now live to Washington and George Washington University. The President of the United States is talking about the beginning of the end. The beginning of the end of AIDS.

(BEGIN LIVE SPEECH)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We arrived here because of all of you and your unwavering belief that we can and we will beat this disease.

Because we invested in antiretroviral treatment people who would have died from AIDS, some of whom are here today, are living full and vibrant lives. Because we developed new tools, more and more mothers are giving birth to children free from this disease. And because of a persistent focus on awareness, the global rate of new infections and deaths is declining.

So make no mistake, we are going to win this fight. But the fight is not over, not by a long shot.

The rate of new infections may be going down elsewhere, but it's not going down here in America. The infection rate here has been holding steady for over a decade. There are communities in this country being devastated still by this disease.

When new infections among young black gay men increase by nearly 50 percent in three years, we need to do more to show them that their lives matter. When Latinos are dying sooner than other groups; when black women feel forgotten even though they account for most of the new cases among women, then we've got to do more.

This fight is not over, not for the 1.2 million Americans who are living with HIV right now, not for the Americans who are infected every day. This fight is not over for them. It's not over for their families. And as a consequence, it can't be over for anybody in this room. And it certainly isn't over for your president.

Since I took office, we've had a robust national dialogue on HIV/AIDS. Members of my administration have fanned out across the country to meet people living with HIV, to meet researchers, faith leaders, medical providers and private sector partners. We've spoken to over 4,000 people, and out of all those conversations we drafted a new plan to combat this disease.

Last year we released that plan. Our first ever national HIV/AIDS strategy. We went back to basics: prevention, treatment, and focusing our efforts where the need is greatest. And we laid out a vision where every American, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or socioeconomic status can get access to life-extending care.

I want to be clear about something else. Since taking office we've increased overall funding to combat HIV/AIDS to record levels with bipartisan support. We reauthorized the Ryan White Care Act. And as I signed that bill I was so proud to also announce that my administration was ending the ban that prohibited people with HIV from entering America. Because of that step, next year for the first time in two decades, we will host the International Aids Conference.

So we've done a lot over the past three years. But we can do so much more. Today I'm announcing some new commitments. We're committing an additional $15 million for the Ryan White Program that supports care provided by HIV medical clinics across the country. We want to keep those doors open so they can keep saving lives. We're committing an additional $35 million for state AIDS drug assistance programs. And the federal government can't do this alone, so I'm also calling on state governments and pharmaceutical companies and private foundations to do their part to help Americans get access to all the life-saving treatments.

This is a global fight, and it's one that America must continue to lead. In looking back at the history of HIV/AIDS you'll see that no other country has done more than this country and that's a testament to our leadership as a country, but we can't be complacent.

(END LIVE SPEECH)

LEMON: President Barack Obama at George Washington University in Washington D.C., talking about the fight against HIV/AIDS. Talking about what the United States has done and saying that the United States has stopped banning people from entering the country who have HIV/AIDS and that's why next year this country will host the Global Aids Conference right here in the United States.

The President of the United States talking there. This is World AIDS Day. We are remembering the people who have been affected by this disease and also hoping that the goal will be reached that those leaders in Washington are talking about, the end of AIDS by 2015.

We'll check back in, in Washington in moments.

But up next, Mitt Romney lands the cover of "Time" magazine. The caption, "Why don't they like me?" Our political buzz panel offers up some answers. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. "Political Buzz". This is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, three seconds on the clock -- 30 seconds on the clock. I shouldn't use three seconds. Because I know they'll go long.

But let's see who the contenders are. Playing today, CNN political analyst, Roland Martin. Can I say on the left. On the left Roland Martin.

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Actually, only that's technically you're correct. That's not how I roll.

LEMON: Founder and editor of Citizen Jane Politics, Patricia Murphy.

PATRICIA MURPHY, FOUNDER/EDITOR, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: Hello.

LEMON: And on the right, there you go, nice.

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: There you go.

LEMON: Come on Will do something flex, you've got to do something everybody else, there you go. Nice. Right.

MARTIN: Oh that, do not show that again.

LEMON: The polls are that way.

CAIN: Don't show that again.

LEMON: The polls are that way. All right so the cover of "Time" magazine features Mitt Romney. The caption, "Why don't they like me?" What's your answer, Ro-Ro.

MARTIN: Well, primarily because this is a guy who was plastic man when he ran last time. I mean, he really was just so stiff. The whole issue obviously in terms of he had to deal with his Mormon faith in the 2008 campaign. But also conservatives don't like folks who frankly evolve. I mean really. Ronald Reagan couldn't run for the GOP nomination today so that bothers that he's taken positions in the past that he's now changed. And so they want somebody who stays the same, is consistent and that's his biggest deal. This whole deal, find anybody but Mitt, that's what this campaign is all about now.

LEMON: Boom. Right on target.

Big Will C, what do you think.

CAIN: I always thought you go to Patricia first. Because then we can get maybe -- I don't know what you're going to say, Patricia -- but the normal answers. Maybe because he's Mormon. Maybe because he's amorphous ideologically.

The truth I've thought a lot about this. I think the main inhibitor for Mitt Romney's popularity is style. Amorphous politically as Roland just said; philosophically, Newt Gingrich is that as well. He's equally hard to pin down on the ideological spectrum.

The truth is, I think that's only a problem for Romney in that it lends to it's hard to find out who he is at all. He's just this kind of bland guy. And of course, the cliche is always the Democrats fall in love and the Republicans fall in line. This year the Republicans want to follow love --

LEMON: You're done.

Cain: -- the shiny bottle -- it doesn't work well for Romney.

LEMON: You're done. Ok. So Patricia. Come on. You've got to jump in there. She's a lady but she's strong. What do you think?

PATRICIA MURPHY, FOUNDER, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: Ok. Here I go. The problem with Mitt Romney with these conservative voters, they don't know who he is and they don't know where he is. He is keeping a bizarrely low profile. One of the first national interviews two days ago and it didn't go very well.

In terms of who he is, Mitt Romney on his positions has taken so many positions conservative voters literally don't know which one is true. They don't trust him at this point.

And if you look at "The Union Leader's" endorsement of Newt Gingrich, what they said about somebody, and we know it's Mitt Romney, is we would rather have a nominee we disagree with on some issues than somebody who's telling us what he thinks we want to hear. That's the problem.

LEMON: All right. That's it. So Roland says it's evolving of the candidate. Everyone else says it's flip-flopping.

All right. Let's move on now to Gingrich. Made some bold statements on Fox News. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I helped Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp develop supply side economics. I helped lead the effort to defeat Communism in the Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. So do 2012 voters want to go back to the future Will? And you can get in there while you're laughing as well. Go ahead.

CAIN: Look, here's the problem. This all ties in now with Roland and Patricia's analysis on Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich doesn't -- you cannot pin him down ideologically either. He's just like Mitt Romney in that way.

And so if Newt Gingrich wants to run on his record, run on the past, talk about Reagan, he needs to also be ready to talk about that he was the champion of Medicare Part D. That he sat down with Nancy Pelosi for a global warming ad.

These are big issues and there's plenty more.

Newt Gingrich will also tell you what you want to hear, he'll just tell you more passionately and convincingly. So I think this ties all these together. Newt Gingrich doesn't want to look at his past and this is all about style more than substance.

LEMON: All right. Roland?

MARTIN: Look, Newt Gingrich wants to stand here and just drape himself. If he could wear a Ronald Reagan suit, actually he couldn't because he couldn't fit it. Look, the problem here is if Newt Gingrich has been able to climb in the polls because he's been forward thinking. You don't sit here, keep trying to go, oh, I've done all these things in the past.

Yes, you also ran white suburban women away. That's why you lost congress to President Bill Clinton. Newt, you really don't want to go back on your past because your past is not that great.

LEMON: Why do you want to hate on the man's suit size.

MARTIN: I'm stating. I'm not hating, I'm stating.

CAIN: You live in the glass house. Don't live in the glass house. You live in the glass house, Roland.

MARTIN: I don't live in the glass house. My house got bricks. We saw your muscle. You really need to stop.

MURPHY: Hello.

LEMON: Go ahead, Patricia.

MURPHY: Hello. Anyway, back to the point. What were we talking about? I know what we're talking about. Newt Gingrich, this is what the top of the self-destruct button looks like. He doesn't need to elaborate what he has done in the past. He's treading dangerously close to Al Gore, "I invented the Internet" territory.

The good news for Newt Gingrich is he has a lot to run on in his past that is good. He did work with Bill Clinton. They did reform welfare. They did run a very long era of peace and prosperity. Just say what you did. Do not make it up.

LEMON: All right. With ten seconds left, do you want to -- you have anything else.

MURPHY: I don't need ten seconds.

LEMON: See. Right to the point. She's not taking cheap shots, nothing like that.

MARTIN: Excuse me?

LEMON: All right. It's time now for your buzzer beater; 20 seconds each. 20 seconds each. All right. Here it is. Conan spoofs Herman Cain's new ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONAN O'BRIEN, TALK SHOW HOST: Cain is vowing to stay in the race. In fact, I couldn't believe this today. He started fighting back with a new campaign ad. Check it out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jimmy Carter never cheated on his wife, and we had 7 percent unemployment and 14 percent inflation. Bill Clinton cheated on his wife every chance he could get and we had only 4 percent unemployment, 1 percent inflation, and a balanced budget. Herman Cain, because when presidents get laid, you get paid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was awesome. So Herman Cain tells CNN he'll make a final decision if he'll stay in the race in the next several days. Ok. Roland, your prediction.

MARTIN: I think Herman Cain is getting out of this race. I mean you can't keep taking these hits. Also, if this came up when you ran for the U.S. Senate and you told one of your advisors, how do you not think it was going to come up when you run for president? He says, put my family through it. Bottom line, dude. You've got to get out. Seriously.

You can sell books on amazon.com without having to run for president. It's ok.

LEMON: Go, Will.

Cain: That's the issue. Is him staying in the race continuing to raise his profile. Raising his chances of getting a TV gig? Raising his chances of selling more books. Because if it is, I don't know why he's going to get out. I don't think he will get out.

I think that's got -- that's what he's in the race for because all of these issues were there for him ahead of time. He knew they would come up. He knew they were out there. I don't think he was in it to be a president. He was in it to do those things. He'll stick around.

LEMON: All right. All right. With one second left. There you go. Patricia?

MURPHY: If I could predict what Herman Cain was going to do, I would also be playing the ponies and betting on the stock market. Nobody knows what this man is going to do. Whatever he does, I hope he'll start taking some responsibility for some these problems. He's blaming it on the Democrats, the Republicans. Somebody out there. Somebody who wants to get him and doesn't want to win.

And he's also saying maybe his family's going to be the reason he gets out. Whatever his decision, please take responsibility for at least some of this.

LEMON: Yes. And my money today, I'm not sure if it's on Roland or Will as they were going back and forth today.

MARTIN: Hey Will, show us that mini-me muscle again. Show us that mini-me muscle of yours.

CAIN: Roland, we can take this in person if you want.

MARTIN: Will, seriously.

LEMON: Still ahead. Thanks, guys.

Still ahead, Mitt Romney has his eyes on Iowa. Wow.

It's getting hot in our political ticker just moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check stories making headlines today.

To mark World AIDS Day, at 11:45 Eastern Magic Johnson will kick off a free HIV testing caravan across Los Angeles.

At 2:00 this afternoon the top execs of Fannie and Freddie Mac will testify at a congressional hearing. The troubled mortgage giants have come under fire for handing out hefty bonuses.

And at 5:00 President Barack Obama and his family light the National Christmas Tree.

Baby boomers moving to new retirement hot spots and saving money. We'll tell you where they're heading. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: When you think of places to retire, you probably think of Florida and Arizona, but that is changing. Baby boomers are now packing up and moving to other states that give them big tax breaks. Our Christine Romans breaks down the benefits.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 10,000 boomers a day are turning 65. 10,000 a day. That means many of you are going to be thinking about where to retire down the road. Florida and Arizona are the most famous retirement spots.

But what other states are boomers migrating to and why? One of them is Nevada. And it's not because of the gambling. Like Florida, Nevada has no inheritance tax. Plus if you make less than $28,000 a year you may be eligible for a refund of up to 90 percent of real estate and personal property taxes.

And hey the weather is not bad there either, right. And real estate prices are down pretty sharply. So there are some cheap places to buy right now.

Also, oldest of the baby boomers are two years shy of the retirement age, regular retirement age of 67. Which states cut seniors a break on retirement income? Georgia is one of them. It's growing more and more popular because starting in 2012, next year, taxes on retirement income will be completely phased out. And state taxes on social security are already exempt.

Now, something else to think about heading into your golden years. Your medication costs. Odds are they're likely going to go up the older you get. And more states are getting rid of state sales taxes and prescription and non-prescription drugs to attract seniors.

You've got one of them is Pennsylvania. It's also a good place to live for seniors because social security benefits and pensions are both exempt from income taxes. The bottom line is there are a lot of factors to consider but you could reap some serious benefits financially by moving to a senior friendly state.

These are just some of them. And for more you can go to cnnmoney.com/BPretire, BP as in "best places to retire" for more on this -- Don, back to you.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, Christine.

U.S. students dig up China's nuclear secrets; thousands of miles of hidden tunnels. We'll show you the secret tunnels next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: There are new signs Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is making an aggressive push to win in Iowa. CNN's deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser has more on that. Get my mouth to work. Hey, Paul.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I like that Don. That's good. Like Hogan's heroes.

We are now less than five weeks away from the Iowa caucuses. You know, of course, caucuses kick off the presidential primary and caucus calendar. The big question was Mitt Romney going to step up his efforts in this very, very crucial state. Well, take a listen to this new ad that starts playing today on TV Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I spent my life in the private sector. I've competed with companies around the world. I've learned something about how it is that economies grow.

We're not going to balance the budget just by pretending that all you have to do is take out the waste. We're going to have to cut spending. And I'm in favor of cutting spending --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Little taste there you can see of Romney kind of touting his business world credentials. This is his first ad in Iowa. It comes as I said with less than five weeks to go. He's already had two commercial in New Hampshire. A similar one to this is playing today in New Hampshire as well.

The big question, Don, of course for Romney was how big he was going to step things up in Iowa. Remember four years ago he spent a lot of time and money campaigning in Iowa but it didn't work out very well. He lost the caucuses there. Then a week later he lost in New Hampshire. And that was the end of it for him.

So kind of walking on a tight rope here I guess in Iowa. He wants to win but he doesn't want to really show that he's trying hard in Iowa, I guess -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much. We appreciate that.

We'll be getting back to Washington soon because our next political update is in one hour. And a reminder for you, for all the latest political news you can go to our Web site cnnpolitics.com. Lots of politics and I'm sure lots of things that we're going to be following here including the stock market. What's happening on Wall Street, big day yesterday the day we're going to see how it plays out as well.

Good to see you Suzanne Malveaux.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you.

LEMON: Did you have a great turkey day.

MALVEAUX: I did. I ate a lot and still working it off.

LEMON: Same here, I know. I can't even.

MALVEAUX: Can you fit in that suit?

LEMON: Barely. Barely. This is the mid-range suit. This isn't the skinny. This is mid-range. MALVEAUX: All right. Work on it. Work on it, Don.

LEMON: Good to see you. Have a great show.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks