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Help Wanted: Not Enough Engineers; Hiring Up, Jobless Rate Down; Israeli Ad Campaign Angers U.S. Jews; Iraqis Control Camp Victory; Photos From Iraq; Kids Given Brain-Altering Drugs; Cain and Wife Speak About Scandal

Aired December 02, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed. We begin with encouraging news about the job market. The unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since March of 2009. The Labor Department says employers added 120,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent. A better-than- expected report was welcome news on Wall Street. The Dow climbed more than 80 points in early trading. Right now it is up by 32 points.

President Obama says his latest initiative is going to put thousands of Americans back to work. He brought former president Bill Clinton with him to a construction site in D.C., where he announced $4 billion for energy-saving renovations at federal, as well as private, buildings.

Now, the president also ripped the Senate, which blocked an extension of the payroll tax cut. That happened last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now is not the time to slam the brakes on the recovery. Right now, it's time to step on the gas.

We need to get this done. And I expect that it's going to get done before Congress leaves. Otherwise, Congress may not be leaving, and we can all spend Christmas here together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Sounds like a threat. If the payroll tax cut is to survive past December 31st, senators from both parties are going to have to compromise.

And there are now new developments in the suspected hazing death of a Florida A&M drug major last month. We are hearing a 911 tape of Robert Champion's band mates desperately calling for help when they realized he wasn't breathing.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Are you with the person right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm outside the bus so I can hear you. 911 OPERATOR: OK. So he's inside the bus?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he's inside the bus.

911 OPERATOR: OK. How old is he?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is 25.

911 OPERATOR: OK. Is he awake?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wasn't responding. We thought he was breathing. He was making noises, but I don't even know if he's breathing now.

911 OPERATOR: OK. Is he awake? Do you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His eyes are open. He's not responding.

911 OPERATOR: OK. But is he breathing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea. I cannot tell you that.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just threw up.

911 OPERATOR: He just threw up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

911 OPERATOR: OK. Well, like I said, I do already have help on the way. I want you to keep -- was he, like, shaking or anything like that prior to this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, he wasn't. He wasn't shaking.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The school has fired the band director and expelled four students. Champion's family, they are planning to sue Florida A&M for his death.

Unbelievable pictures. We're getting some new insight today into what happened during that deadly stage collapse at Indiana's State Fair back in August. CNN affiliate WTHR has obtained audiotapes of emergency responders.

Now, that storm hit within three minutes of a police radio call, and then the stage collapsed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stage has collapsed!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Control, grandstand EMS, the grandstands are gone. Fire control, grandstand EMS, I'm calling a mass casualty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Seven people were killed in the collapse, dozens more were hurt.

Herman Cain is sitting down with his wife this weekend to decide whether he's going to end his presidential bid. Another woman, Ginger White, rocked the campaign this week when she claimed she had a 13- year affair with Cain. He denies they were anything more than friends, but Cain does admit he gave White money to help her out of a bind and he never told his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It may appear now that, why didn't I tell her about this when it was going on? You're absolutely right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In retrospect.

CAIN: You know, in retrospect. But retrospect doesn't necessarily change what we're dealing with now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But your wife knew that you two were friends anyway?

CAIN: She did not know we were friends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

CAIN: OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until she came out --

CAIN: Until she came out with this story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: In a few minutes, I'm going to talk to our senior political editor, Mark Preston, about Cain's decision and the role of family in presidential campaigns.

Well, a country music star now is accused of stealing her own son. Authorities say Mindy McCready refused to return her child to authorities despite a court order to do so last week. Now, the musician, who struggled with drugs in the past, does not have legal custody of the 5-year-old. A Florida judge has now signed an emergency police pickup order for the boy.

Parts of the West Coast look like they have been hit by a hurricane. Powerful winds known as Santa Ana winds have caused damage in southern California. They're also hitting parts of Arizona and Utah, and in some places they are as strong as 140 miles an hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounds like a hurricane. Very scary, and we couldn't sleep.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was listening to my little radio, and all of a sudden, bam!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Wow.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: Here's what's head "On the Rundown."

First, companies across the country are hungry for engineers, but college students keep dropping out.

Also, a contentious ad campaign launched by the Israeli government is upsetting American Jews.

Then, a frank discussion about political candidates and family values.

And a CNN correspondent looks back on his years covering the war in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the early part of the war, we were able to travel what the military called unilateral. We'd go out, we'd do stories all over the country. That all changed in January of 2004, which is when we were attacked. We were down in a place called Hillah, and we were ambushed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Finally, is your smartphone spying on you? I'm going to talk with an expert.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: While millions of Americans are looking for work, one profession can't find enough people to actually hire. We're talking about engineers. A lot of students, they start out majoring in engineering, but they end up dropping out and switching majors.

That story from Poppy Harlow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These machines are moving more than dirt. They're moving jobs, too. And entry level engineers here rake in $65,000 a year. Companies from Caterpillar to Google are on the hunt for engineers.

(on camera): You were an engineering major here.

BERNIE DALBERICE, CITY COLLEGE STUDENT: Yes.

HARLOW: And then what?

DALBERICE: I was struggling in the program, so I decided to study something different. And right now I'm majoring in public relation advertising.

HARLOW (voice-over): Here, at the City College of New York, only 35 percent of students who enter the engineering school graduate as engineers. With 9 percent unemployment, and companies desperate to hire engineers, you'd think undergrads would be lining up to major in the sciences. But few are, and many who do are quitting them.

DALBERICE: I needed to raise my GPA to stay in the school, and that's what I did. So I left.

HARLOW: Alina Subanska has dreamed of being a scientist since she was a young girl.

ALINA SUBANSKA, CITY COLLEGE STUDENT: About two-thirds drop out. That was actually my experience with my friends. We all started together as freshmen, two of them switched out of the major.

HARLOW (on camera): But City College isn't alone. It's a national phenomenon. Twenty-two percent of students choose a STEM major -- that's science, technology, engineering or math -- at some point in their college career, but only 14 percent finish school in a STEM major.

DALBERICE: After just finishing the assignments, you have to put in extra work, so it's like maybe eight hours a day extra.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of students don't realize how much work is required to really become an engineer. Actually (ph), admissions and professors could do also a better job of making a case that this is something that you want do.

HARLOW (voice-over): But many say they enter college ill prepared.

DALBERICE: In high school, I took a lot of calculus and physics and chemistry courses, so it was something I was interested in. And throughout my first couple semesters, I was struggling with the math and sciences.

HARLOW (on camera): But here at Columbia, 96 percent of students that enter engineering graduate as engineers.

FENIOSKY PENA-MORA, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING DEAN: I believe and a lot of people in our school believe that engineering is the liberal arts of the 21st century.

HARLOW (voice-over): The engineering dean at Columbia University attributes its success to a more practical approach.

PENA-MORA: When you go to school and all you see is differential equations, and you don't see the application of that differential equation or the full transform into a real application of a bridge or a building, you start losing interest. HARLOW (on camera): Why spend so much time studying. Is it worth it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is worth it.

HARLOW: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because you become more well rounded. You look at the world differently.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Poppy Harlow, she joins us live.

So, Poppy, I can't imagine what grade, GPA I would have gotten if I tried to major in engineering.

HARLOW: Me, too. Me, too.

MALVEAUX: So, you've got to wonder. These students, it takes longer to graduate in engineering. They see their friends getting higher GPAs with less work.

I mean, how do you buck that trend?

HARLOW: You know, I don't know if you do, other than telling these kids that this is where the jobs are right now. Not only a job, but a really good-paying job.

It's a trend I saw in my very close friends in college. They were -- some were dropping out of engineering, out of the sciences, because they were getting half the GPA other people were getting with double the work.

It's interesting. The associate dean at City College told me on this shoot, you know, there are a lot easier ways to get bachelor's degrees, and then the dean at Columbia said what we need right now -- and this really stuck with me -- we need a Sputnik moment just like in the '60s, when there was a big push into the hard sciences. There was a national drive.

And we don't have that now at all. But what we are seeing across the board and what gave us the idea to do this story, in part, was CEOs telling me all the time in our interviews that they are hiring, but the people that they are looking for aren't out there, and those are engineers.

MALVEAUX: All right.

Poppy Harlow.

Thank you, Poppy. Appreciate it.

So, hiring is up, the unemployment rate is down. In fact, it's at its lowest level in more than two years.

Christine Romans of the Money team, she's joining us from New York to kind of break all of this down for us, the jobs report that was released today.

Let's start off with the overall numbers. How significant is this, that we actually saw the unemployment rate go down?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, it shows you that there is hiring. There's hiring again, slow but steady hiring. And within that unemployment rate of 8.6 percent, there's something that economists call statistical noise. There's some reasons why that number fell so quickly, so fast.

There are people who dropped out of the labor market. Women, in particular, dropping out of the labor market, and that helped lower that as well. Fewer people to compete for the jobs lowered the unemployment rate.

These are the numbers of jobs that were created though over the past year. I want to show you that we had some revisions in September and October.

You had 200,000 jobs created in September. We didn't expect that exactly. That was revised from I think almost half of that.

October had about 100,000 jobs. And then here, in November, 120,000 jobs created.

I want to show you what this looks like over the course of the president's administration, however, because of course it's political, right? The White House says immediately this shows the labor market is healing, slowly healing, after the worst labor situation since the Great Depression. John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, said Obama's policies are failing, the president's policies are failing, and that for 34 months in a row, we've had an unemployment rate above 8 percent.

Both of them, by the way, are right. Both of those statements are correct. But look at this. This is when the president first took office.

Remember that, Suzanne? Every month we reported those huge job losses. And then it was stop and go in 2010.

Remember, we thought we had some early year strength because of Census hiring. And then, suddenly, boom, you had losses again in the summer.

And then this is this year. You have consecutive months of jobs growth. Not necessarily enough to really, really feel like this is a gangbusters economy.

I mean, don't forget, you have an economy, quite frankly, that you've lost 8.8 million jobs, and about a third of those have come back, slowly but surely coming back. So there you go.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Christine. We appreciate that.

The Israeli government is urging its citizens not to marry Americans. We're going to get to the bottom of this unusual advertising campaign with our guest. That, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A contentious ad campaign aimed at Israelis living in the United States is upsetting American Jews.

Our Sandra Endo explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These Hebrew language ads running in the United States look warm and fuzzy, but some Jewish Americans say their message is offensive, like Holocaust survivor Thomas Tugend, and Rachel, his Israeli wife of 55 years.

RACHEL TUGEND, ISRAELI IMMIGRANT: I think they are not realistic.

ENDO: It's part of a nearly $1 million campaign by the Israeli government targeting Israelis living in American cities with high Jewish populations. In one ad, it shows a young Israeli woman whose boyfriend doesn't understand the somber meaning of Israel's Memorial Day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dafna (ph), what is this?

ENDO: The Tugends say the ad's message implies Israelis could lose their identities without an Israeli partner.

THOMAS TUGEND, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR: If two people are attracted to each other, if the parents say don't do it, the teachers say don't do it, the government says don't do it, it doesn't matter.

ENDO: The head of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles calls the ads insensitive.

JAY SANDERSON, CEO, JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER LOS ANGELES: It felt like when you watched those commercials that Israel Jews and American Jews are basically people from different planets.

ENDO: The Ministry of Absorption in Israel, which is responsible for promoting immigration to the country, funded the ad campaign. A ministry spokesperson says it is surprised and shocked at the reaction to the ads in the U.S.

"If anyone is offended, we're sorry. We're not in the business of offending people. It isn't our business who an Israeli should or could marry. This was taken wrongfully."

While critics are calling the ads misguided, they understand the intention.

SANDERSON: Israel always fights for its existence. A large number of Israelis have gone and left Israel. They would like as many of those Israelis to come home.

ENDO: But this long-time Los Angeles resident says where you live doesn't define who you are.

R. TUGEND: It doesn't take away from my identity as an Israeli.

ENDO: Sandra Endo, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: So, this ad campaign raising a lot of eyebrows here in the United States.

Joining me from New York, Rabbi Joe Potasnik. He sits on the New York Board of Rabbis as its executive vice president.

You see this campaign by Israel's Ministry for Immigrant Absorption. What do you make of this?

RABBI JOE POTASNIK, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, NEW YORK BOARD OF RABBIS: Well, I'm not going to defend it. I understand there are some people who look at the threat of assimilation, say the best way to confront it is to withdraw, to retreat to a particular enclave. We've heard this that from countless communities over the years.

The reality is that people make choices, and they choose to live in diaspora, or they choose to live in Israel. So, to try to separate the two from one another I don't think makes a whole lot of sense, and it ends up offending.

I understand that the prime minister of Israel is going to issue an apology as well. This doesn't help us. With all of the problems that Israel is facing, it doesn't need this to compound the issues.

MALVEAUX: Are you offended by these ads? What was your initial reaction when you saw this?

POTASNIK: I was shocked. I was surprised. But again, I understand.

I deal with different kinds of communities, and I know there are some people who say, look, we dilute our identity if we choose to live in a secular society, so it's best to stay in this area. Don't leave the area, that way we strengthen ourselves. But it doesn't work.

I think someone said years ago, if theology and biology come into conflict, biology always seems to win. So, the reality is we have to live within society, with one another, and strengthen our identity within.

And it doesn't really help when you say to young people, don't do this and don't do that. They're not going to associate. They're not going to come closer to religious identity, Israeli identity, by this negative campaign.

MALVEAUX: It seems as if these ads question what it means to be Jewish, because you're assimilated into American culture.

How do you define what it means to be Jewish? POTASNIK: Well, we've always -- we are still wrestling with that discussion after all these years. I think it means to be part of a people, because you have people who are religious people, who are not so religious, people who believe, who don't believe.

There are different places on the religious spectrum for practice. So, it's being part of a people. And there are those who think if you leave Israel and go into the Diaspora, you're going to lose your connection to peoplehood. And what we're saying is we can strengthen it if we work together wherever we live.

MALVEAUX: Rabbi, do you think these ads are based on fear? Do you see this as discriminatory?

POTASNIK: I see it based on -- look, you can't say it's discriminatory in this sense: Israel is a country that welcomes Cambodian refugees, Viennese refugees, Sudanese refugees. It's an open society, but it is concerned about losing people to the Diaspora.

And I think it was a poor attempt to try to recapture them in some way, and you end up losing and you end up apologizing. So, at the end of all of this, it was not a good move.

MALVEAUX: What would you like the Israeli government to do, Rabbi?

POTASNIK: Well, I think the apology is in place. I think we have to work together, Diaspora and Israel, work together to strengthen our communities, strengthen the synagogues, strengthen Jewish centers, strengthen Jewish camping, strengthen experiences where young people from America go to Israel and learn there, and people from Israel come here and learn from us. There has to be a true partnership.

MALVEAUX: All right. Rabbi, thank you very much.

POTASNIK: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Want to bring in the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren. He's joining us now.

We are just getting word that you brought this to the attention of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that these ads are actually going to be pulled. Is that correct? When are they going to stop running?

MICHAEL OREN, ISRAELI AMB. TO THE U.S.: They're already pulled down, Suzanne. They're gone.

MALVEAUX: And how did that happen?

OREN: The billboards may take a little bit longer.

MALVEAUX: Can you tell us how that happened? Who made that decision?

OREN: Well, the prime minister's office knew nothing about these ads. They weren't brought to the prime minister's office for approval. We had no knowledge of them. And as soon as they were brought to my attention, I brought it to the prime minister's attention this morning. And he immediately ordered them brought down.

Now, the Ministry of Immigration didn't act out of any malicious intent here. Israel, we're a very small country, less than eight million people. Every single Israeli is precious to us. You saw that recently in the Gilad Shalit trade. You remember that. One soldier was precious to us.

Now, there are a number of Israelis living in this country, and the Ministry of Absorption quite -- in a laudable fashion, sought to try to encourage then to come home. And it did not take into account sufficiently American Jewish sensibilities. And as you heard, there were people who were offended, and we regret that.

That was not the intention. In fact, Prime Minister Netanyahu deeply is committed to strengthening ties with the American Jewish community. He values those ties. I, myself, was born in this country, and I value those ties.

MALVEAUX: What was the point of the ads in the first place? Because you look at these ads, and a lot of American Jews are looking at them quite puzzled and offended, saying that this looks like -- they're saying they are not Jewish enough for the Israelis to marry and to be with.

OREN: Well, keep in mind, the ads are in Hebrew.

MALVEAUX: Right.

OREN: They are aimed at Israelis living in this country, not at American Jews. And it was designed to say, if you want to strengthen your family ties, come back to Israel.

And again, it didn't take into account American Jewish sensibilities, and we regret that, and that's why they were taken down. But the purpose was not to offend. It was to bring Israelis home, because we greatly value their presence back in Israel.

MALVEAUX: How is it that the prime minister wasn't aware that this ministry, this immigration absorption group in the government, that he didn't know that was actually happening, that it took place?

OREM: Well, Prime Minister Netanyahu has a lot on this plate, as you know. We're in the middle of great upheaval throughout the Arab world, Iranians developing nuclear weapons, threats on our borders. There are many things on his plate every day, and he cannot be expected to be aware of every campaign going on.

The Ministry of Immigration has in its charge, in its mandate to bring Israelis home, and has various funds available to make that happen. In this case, I think, again, the campaign did not take into account sufficiently American Jewish sensibilities. We regret that. But we still are committed to trying to bring Israelis back home and reuniting families. Again, I know what it feels like. I have children living in Israel. I'm serving here. I have family living in the United States, my parents, my sisters. So I know the value of the Jewish people together understanding one another and committing to themselves, committing to one another as a people.

MALVEAUX: All right. Ambassador, thank you very much. We're going to leave it there. Thank you, once again.

Well, it contains your passwords, your e-mails, pictures, and your secrets. So imagine if someone was spying on your smartphone. We're going to tell you how to protect yourself from cellular snooping.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some stories we are working on next. Your smart phone could be spying on you. You might not even know it. We're going to ask about a special program that records every key stroke you make.

Then Republican presidential candidates, they often talk about family values, right? But what do they really mean in the 2012 race?

Later, an alarming report about brain altering drugs given to children across America.

So, is your smart phone spying on you? There is a controversy brewing right now about a program called "Carrier IQ." It watches, records every key stroke.

Now the worst part, "Carrier IQ" may very well be installed on your phone without you even knowing about it. Wired.com's John Abell joins us via Skype to talk to us about this.

John, first of all, I got my phone here. What is this all about, "Carrier IQ"? How does this thing work?

JOHN ABELL, WIRED.COM: Sure. Well in a nutshell, "Carrier IQ" is a company, which provides a piece of software to your phone company. The phone company ostensibly uses this to track network issues, we all know about dropped calls and lousy 3G service.

This thing is supposed to report back from the wild so they can figure out how to make your service better. What they are also doing is gathering some pretty sensitive information and passing that along.

We don't know what that information is -- what purpose it is being put to, if any, but it is a pretty scary product.

MALVEAUX: How do I know if I'm trouble? How do I know if they're actually doing this with my phone?

ABELL: Well, we don't know. The companies have said what they're saying, and that is they're either not using the software or they're using it in a way that it is supposed to be used, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But this is an issue now between wireless companies and their customers. And their customers need to go to them directly and firmly and say, what is going on, what will be going on, what has been going on, explain this to me and stop the stuff that you shouldn't be doing.

MALVEAUX: So is that the best way to protect yourself? Is there anything you can really do to make sure this is not happening?

ABELL: The answer is -- not really because it requires a certain amount of technical expertise. This is not an app you can just delete from your phone. It's built deep into the phone's operating software.

You could if you knew what you were doing get at it, but ironically that might void the warrantee on your phone. But the issue is you have a relationship with these companies. They shouldn't be doing things potentially.

They need to stop. You need to tell them that. The Senate is getting involved. That's always an ugly thing when it comes to commerce. So this is the way to deal with this problem. It is exposure, transparency and complaining.

MALVEAUX: All right, I'm sure a lot of people will be complaining about this one. Thank you, John.

ABELL: Yes, thank you.

MALVEAUX: Sure, eight years and more than a dozen trips into the war zone. A veteran CNN reporter looks back at his time spent in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A historic moment in Baghdad today as U.S. forces handover control of Camp Victory to the Iraqis. The base served as the U.S. military's headquarters for much of the war. This comes just weeks before American troops complete their withdrawal from Iraq.

More than eight years since the American invasion, Iraq has seen its share of triumph as well as tragedy. Our CNN correspondent Michael Holmes shares some milestones.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: It's still, you know, resonates with me as a very big part of where I've been in the last eight or nine years.

I look back on those photos now and remember what that was like. I was going on an average of twice a year for a month or six weeks at a time. Initially this is like day one of the set-up.

You see all the wires everywhere, people everywhere, plastic chairs. This was our live shot position. This was our first post combat bureau, if you like. We were a pretty tight-knit group. It is a bit of a club and anyone who was there at the time, you never forget it.

In the early part of the war, we were able to travel what the military called unilateral. We'd go out. We'd do stories all over the country. That all changed in January of 2004, which is when we were attack, we were down in a place called Hilla and we were ambushed.

It was just a horrible, horrible day because, two men were killed that day. That's when embedding with the military became almost the only real safe way or safer way of getting out of the city.

In '06 and '07, too, there was this absolute explosion of sectarian violence where Sunni militia and Shia militia were killing each other by the dozens. Here's the photograph. I turned the corner. There is a body in the street.

It is a bizarre reality when you think about it that way. There's a body. Let the police know and we'll keep on moving. For a while you were conditioned to be looking for suspicious packages. Then for a whole period of the war you find you'd be always looking up and looking around.

And there's a photo of these guys, that's what they're doing. They're looking out at rooftops to look out for sniper activity. In '08 we did a patrol out in the western desert. This was a place that the U.S. military hadn't even been to before.

We did find a couple of car bombs. These are all bits of shrapnel coming off it. In more recent years going back, things have eased, I remember last year for the first time for me since '04 we headed out of town.

We went to Diyala Province on our own without the military, wandered around the marketplace with Iraqi soldiers - not Americans -- and I got photographs of that walking around the marketplace. And that again just shows how overall things have settled down a lot.

Because the reality is in Iraq now, are things better? Yes, they are a lot better than they were in '06, '07, '08, '09. Are they good? No, not really. You've still got an average of 14 attacks a day, got an infrastructure that's crumbled and still is not working well.

Until we have sewage, roads, electricity. Influence of Iran, the militias, the political power play. What will happen when the Americans are all gone? What's going to happen then? There is so much that remains to be seen in this story.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Herman Cain accused of having a long-term affair, says today he is discussing the accusations with his wife and family. We'll have more on future of his troubled campaign.

But first, here's some free money advice from the CNN Help Desk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time now for the "Help Desk" where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Jack Otter, executive editor of cbsmoneywatch.com. Donna Rosato is senior editor of "Money" magazine. Thank you both for being here. Your question comes from Nan in Denver Colorado, Nan and her husband are in their late 40s. They've got about $50,000 in car loans and credit card debt. They want to know should they take their money out of their 401(k)s to pay off all that debt, then re-invest it into a new 401(k).

DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR EDITOR, MONEY MAGAZINE: It sounds very tempting, but it is never a good idea to take money out of your 401(k) to pay off debt and there is a good reason. The amount of money you can withdraw from your 401(k) is limited, but if they actually cash all the money out they'll pay a 10 percent penalty and it end up a 35 percent tax if they're going to pay.

They surely aren't paying that much on their car loans and their credit cards. That said, there are other things they can do. One thing they might consider not -- stopping the contributions to their 401(k) right now. Take that savings and apply it to paying down their debt. That's a smarter option.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, absolutely. Your question, Jack, comes from Chris in Minneapolis. Chris says, I have so much credit card debt that I cannot get new credit cards or loans.

His son is starting college next year. He doesn't want his debt to hurt their ability to take out loans for school. He is asking if he should consider offering the credit card companies a settlement.

JACK OTTER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, CBSMONEYWATCH.COM: A couple of aspects to this. First of all, you will hurt your credit rating with a settlement. So that's a problem. What's not a problem is if you have a government subsidized college loan, say a Stafford loan for students.

Then they actually don't look at your credit rating so he'd be OK there. I think the bigger issue is if he's so maxed out on debt that he can't get a credit card, I want them to be really careful about borrowing more money for school. Stick with the government subsidized loans. Interest rates are lower.

We did some math and they borrow $24,000 for college, that would be about $276 a month on a Stafford loan. Do they have the cash flow to pay for that?

If so, maybe make that the upper limit. But think about strategies, go to community college for the first two, then transfer to state university for the last two.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, and cut where you can because education is so key. Absolutely, thank you, guys, very much. Folks, if you have a question you want sensed, send an e-mail any time to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.

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MALVEAUX: All right. So Herman Cain, he's holding a critical family meeting today. The outcome of this conversation could determine whether or not he continues his presidential campaign or he folds the tent. Senior political editor Mark Preston, he's joining us.

So, Mark, you've got this scenario, right, where Cain has to explain this woman, Ginger White, to his wife Gloria. So, God, pretend you're in the room. Describe this conversation. How does this unfold?

MARK PRESTON, SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Well certainly I -- well, it would be interesting to be in the room. I'm not sure if I would want to be in the room. You would hope at this point now, Suzanne, that he has already explained this to his wife. You know, this allegation came out late on Monday afternoon, shortly after Mr. Cain gave an interview to Wolf Blitzer here where he tried to preempt the news by saying another allegation was coming out.

But since Monday, he's been on campaign trail. He hasn't been home in metro Atlanta. He will be in just a couple of hours. That's where his schedule will be taking him.

However, in previous interviews, Suzanne, he has said he has spoken to his wife several times a day and they have discussed it, although it is very interesting that we haven't seen his wife by his side all week, especially in light of these allegations. However, we haven't seen her all campaign really. She just hasn't been there. She hasn't been part of the campaign. So I can't imagine what's going to happen today when they actually meet face to face.

MALVEAUX: And, Mark, I understand that what Cain has said is that he adamantly denies that this is an affair, but he does acknowledge that he did give her money for rent and other various expenses. Is that right? And that his wife was not aware of that?

PRESTON: Yes, that's right. And his wife was not aware of that. And he says that he has done this for several different people, although it just seems -- it's -- there's something that doesn't seem to add up at this point. The fact that he had this relationship, this friendship with her, he says for 13 years. She says that it was sexual in nature. Something doesn't seem to add up. And this is what has been so damaging to his presidential campaign because the fact of the matter is, he has not done a very good job of handling this, nor has his campaign.

And not just on this issue, but on the sexual harassment allegations which are not related to this. There are several of them that we heard just several weeks ago. So the fact that he has not handled this very well, Suzanne, has really been a big part of the story.

MALVEAUX: And why do you -- why do you suppose it's so important? How does family factor into this when it comes to Republican voters?

PRESTON: Well, for voters just in general, but specifically when you're looking at the Republican presidential primary in a state, let's say like Iowa. You know, just in the last hour, Rick Perry has announced that he is running a 30-second ad now in Iowa that's titled "faith." So when you take faith and you take the whole idea of social conservative voters and morals and what have you, they play a big role in the Republican presidential primary. Certainly in the key early states, such as Iowa and South Carolina. So if there's any question about someone's morals, that can only be very damaging.

And we've seen that, Suzanne, in the poll. Herman Cain, who was polling very high just a few weeks ago, is now plummeting. We've seen that in a new Des Moines register poll that is out this morning. And we've seen that in Florida, another key state.

MALVEAUX: And, Mark, let's take a look here. This is candidate's first go-round. They got a chance to say a little bit, something about themselves, at the start of the CNN New Hampshire debate in June. And here's how they define themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hello. I'm Herman Cain. I am not a politician. I am a problem solver with over 40 years of business and executive experience. Father of two. Grandfather of three. And I'm here tonight because it's not about us, it's about those grandkids.

MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi. My name is Michele Bachmann. I'm a former federal tax litigation attorney. I'm a business woman. We started our own successful company. I'm also a member of the United States Congress. I'm a wife of 33 years. I've had five children and we are the proud foster parents of 23 great children.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Mitt Romney and it's an honor to be back at Saint Anslem. Hopefully I'll get it right this year. And appreciate the chance to be with you and to welcome my wife. And I have five sons, as you know, five daughters-in-law, 16 grandkids.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House. And when 14 million Americans are out of work, we need a new president to end the Obama depression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right. So you recognize the theme there, Mark. Six of the eight talk about their families. We noticed Newt Gingrich did not. We know that previously he's had two affairs. Now you've got Cain's alleged affair here. How do Republicans square with this idea of family values or does it make a mockery of that very idea?

PRESTON: Well, I mean, look, I mean we should point out, too, that President Clinton had that incredible episode with an intern in the White House, Suzanne. And, of course, John Edwards, when he was running for president, was carrying on an affair. So the affairs aren't exclusive.

You know, however, some would say that the Republican Party, at least social conservative in the Republican Party, demand a little bit more of their candidates when it comes to moral issues.

Now, the difference between Newt Gingrich right now and Herman Cain is that Newt Gingrich has been pretty forthright about what his past has been. In fact, he's puts a website up where he lists all of his questions about his past, including the affairs. Herman Cain's it's all fresh and new and that's why it's so damaging, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, very quick here, Mark, does he survive the weekend? Does his campaign survive the weekend? What do you think?

PRESTON: I mean, look, he's not going to be the Republican presidential nominee. I don't know how he survives that. It doesn't mean that he's not going to try to continue on with this campaign. If he was going to quit his campaign, you would have thought he would have done it by now, but he's standing by his guns, so to speak, and he seems to want to run. Remember, he's opening up his world -- or at least his national headquarters down in Atlanta this weekend.

MALVEAUX: All right, we'll see -- we'll see if his wife stands by him as well. Thank you, Mark. Appreciate it.

A report shows that young kids are being prescribed drugs that alter the brain's chemistry at alarming rates. And your tax dollars are paying for some of it.

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MALVEAUX: Drugs that alter the brain's chemistry are being prescribed to young kids at alarming rates. And our tax dollars are now paying for it. A new government report found that foster care children are being prescribed drugs at a rate that is two to four times higher than other kids. In many cases, the drugs aren't even approved for use in kids who are so young. Well, Elizabeth Cohen, she joins us.

And what are we talking about? What kind of drugs here?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, I've got to tell you, my heart just sank when I saw this report because when you see the drugs that these kids are being prescribed in large numbers, way, way more often than non-foster kids, look at what kind of drugs. So these kids are getting anti-anxiety drugs, anti- depressants and anti-psychotics. These are foster kids. Much more likely than non-foster kids. And this is even worse. Some of these kids -- actually many of these kids are taking five or more of these drugs.

MALVEAUX: And how old are these kids? What are we talking about here?

COHEN: These kids are -- some of them are babies. Babies under the age of one are being prescribed anti-depressants --

MALVEAUX: Really?

COHEN: Anti-psychotics, anti-anxiety drugs. And the doctors that we talked to said there's no medical reason for that. You're not supposed to prescribe these drugs to babies.

MALVEAUX: So why are they taking these drugs? Why are they giving these kids these drugs?

COHEN: We talked to a doctor who used to work in the foster care system and he said, look, this is the dirty little secret of the foster care system, that it is just easier to deal with a sedated child than a non-sedated child. Now, sometimes the drugs are given for good reason. A foster child may have gone through a lot of terrible things and may need an anti-depressant or an anti-anxiety drug. But when you see these numbers, the doctors we talked to said, you have to think that this is just, you know, way more than they should be getting.

MALVEAUX: All right, thank you, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: Such an important story.

Well, CNN NEWSROOM will continue with T.J. Holmes right after this break.

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