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NYT: Sandusky Denies Sex Abuse Charges; Herman Cain "Suspending" Campaign; Homecomings at Fort Hood; Hidden Bank Fees
Aired December 03, 2011 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for joining us here in THE CNN NEWSROOM.
And we're going to begin tonight with the horrific allegations of child sexual abuse against former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky. Tonight, Sandusky is trying to defend himself on camera and in print -- this time in a lengthy interview with "The New York Times."
Once again, Sandusky denies he abused boys in his Second Mile charity program. But at the same time, he makes intriguing assertions about how Penn State handled allegations against him in 2002.
Our national correspondent Susan Candiotti joins us now live from New York.
Susan, what's going on here?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, embattled former coach Jerry Sandusky says no one at Penn State ever demanded his keys to the locker room after he was accused of sodomizing a boy in the shower. But there's also a new unsettling response when he's asked about that interview with NBC's Bob Costas. His new interview, at least parts of it, arguably, are raising as many eyebrows as his first one.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): In an interview videotaped by "The New York Times," Jerry Sandusky not only repeats his denials of wrongdoing, he tells the paper, youngsters in his Second Mile program, quote, "might say I was a father figure" -- a father figure who stands accused of 40 counts of raping and molesting young boys.
In an intriguing exchange, Sandusky tries to explain the way he answered NBC's Bob Costas a few weeks ago when asked whether he is sexually attracted to young boys.
JERRY SANDUSKY, ALLEGED CHILD SEX ABUSER: Am I sexually attracted to underage boys? Sexually attracted, you know, I enjoy young people.
CANDIOTTI: He tells "The New York Times" at first he wondered what to make of the question. Off camera, you'll hear the voice of Sandusky's lawyer prompting his client.
SANDUSKY: If I say, no, I'm not attracted to boys, that's not the truth because I'm attracted to young people, boys, girls --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but not sexually. You're attracted because you enjoy spending time.
SANDUSKY: Right. I enjoy. That's what I was trying to say. I enjoy spending time with young people. I enjoy spending time with people.
I mean, my two favorite groups are the elderly and the young.
CANDIOTTI: An attorney who represents victim number 6 named in the grand jury report, the boy whose mother came forward in 1998 saying Sandusky had showered with her son and hugged him naked from behind says the accused coach's latest explanations are hardest to watch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His efforts to speak are backfiring on him. And I welcome him. The more -- the more that he's willing to come out and talk, let's have it. We'll take all he's got to say about it.
CANDIOTTI: Sandusky admits that after he was banned from taking young people onto Penn State's main campus, following a 2002 allegation that he raped a boy in a locker room, he still had access. Sandusky told the paper then-athletic director Tim Curley never took away his keys. Quote, 'I still have my keys," Sandusky said. "And I still went in there and worked out."
MARCI HAMILTON, ATTORNEY FOR ALLEGED VICTIM NO. 6: Any argument that these men now are making any of this up is really weak. And if that is all that he has in terms of his defense, he is going to have really rough going in the courts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Sandusky, again, denies that then head coach Joe Paterno ever mentioned anything to him about the 2002 shower allegation. Sandusky faces a preliminary hearing in a couple of weeks. Among the expected witnesses? At least one of his accusers, Don.
LEMON: Susan, listen, I understand he had dinner just this past summer with some of his accusers. What do you know about that?
CANDIOTTI: Yes, I talked about that tonight with the lawyer representing victim number 6, who is one of the people who he said attended that dinner. And the lawyer is saying it's highly questionable why Sandusky was doing that at that time because at the time of this dinner, Sandusky already knew, at least should have known, it was in the press locally, at least, that he was under a grand jury investigation.
And, in fact, one of these boys who attended the dinner, young men, was actually asked by police to wear a wire. But he turned them down because he said he was too nervous about it. That's what his lawyer tells me. But, instead, after the dinner was over, he did go back and report to police about that dinner.
LEMON: Susan Candiotti, thank you.
Now this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul-searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: An ironic grand opening celebration for Herman Cain in Atlanta. Cain in town to cut the ribbon on his new campaign headquarters -- instead, announces he's effectively ending his bid for the White House.
The candidate who just a month ago was being talked about as a front runner for the Republican nomination is suspending his campaign. Recently, Cain has denied allegations of sexual harassment and an Atlanta woman's claim that she had a 13-year affair with him.
Well, today, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses. His wife Gloria by his side. Cain broke the news to his supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: I am at peace with my God.
(CHEERS)
CAIN: I am at peace with my wife.
(CHEERS)
CAIN: And she is at peace with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Just moments ago, we received a statement from an attorney for Ginger White, the woman who claims she had an affair with Herman Cain for 13 years.
And here's what it reads in part, right here, "Ginger White respects Mr. Cain's decision regarding his campaign and indeed would have respected any decision he made. That being said, she is disappointed that he has not apologized for the public statements he has made about her and other women who have spoken out. We continue to encourage Mr. Cain to retract these statements and apologize for the way he has characterized these women."
OK, now, to Shannon Travis who was there when Cain made that announcement today.
So, here's the -- how did the crowd -- first, before we get to that crowd's reaction and what his wife had to say, because that's interesting, what about the crowd?
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: The crowd was weird in terms of -- I've been covering Herman Cain since the very beginning of his presidential ambition, since he formed this exploratory back in January. I've seen much larger crowds recently. This was a small crowd.
LEMON: And in Georgia, this is his base.
TRAVIS: And Georgia, this is the state that launched his bid. I was there in May right outside near here in Centennial Park. There were thousands of people. This, not so much.
LEMON: Reflecting the poll numbers as he is nationwide, right?
TRAVIS: Could be. Possibly. And even when I went into the crowd, Don, some of the people were loyal supporters.
LEMON: Right.
TRAVIS: But others were just there for the spectacle.
LEMON: OK. What do they say -- I want to get to his wife's reaction, but, first, what did they say to you? The people who were there who were his supporters.
TRAVIS: Sure. A lot of people who were there were Herman Cain loyalists. A lot of people who were there said, you know what? We do not believe any of these allegations.
LEMON: OK.
TRAVIS: They long ago dismissed the allegations of sexual harassment. They don't believe Ginger White. A lot of them feel like they've been maligned -- that Herman Cain has been maligned by the media and they especially were sympathetic to the wife.
LEMON: To the wife. So, the wife is there. And she has -- and I'm paraphrasing here, sort of like, I'm not going to be a prop or something like that. Yet, she was there.
So -- and that's the first time she has seen him.
TRAVIS: I was trying to think about how many times that I've seen Gloria Cain at a Herman Cain event. I can only remember two. Now, that's not to say that she's only been to two.
LEMON: Right.
TRAVIS: But from travels covering Herman Cain, I've only seen here at two -- the one where he announced in May, here in Atlanta, and this one.
LEMON: OK.
TRAVIS: She's not known for coming out and supporting, from what some of my inside sources tell me, that she didn't want to be out on the campaign trail. So there was a silence when she first came out and then a roar when people say her. LEMON: Listen, because we were talking about the newsroom yesterday and I said, oh, he's not going to do it. Why would do it before the Sunday shows and whatever? And then, once I got home and I thought about it, when I turn the key to my door, I said if I were coming home to someone I hadn't told about a 13-year affair and was giving the money, my Friday night, when I caulk into that house would not be so good. I said he's not going to do it.
TRAVIS: Yes, I was outside the house yesterday and we were talking about it, in personal terms, not even reporting. But in personal terms, what it must be like coming home for the first time talking to your wife?
LEMON: Yes, like, what, 40 years in December?
TRAVIS: Yes, over 40 years.
LEMON: So, listen, he's suspending. That's basically a soft landing to say I'm getting out so he can pay off all of his bills and all of that.
TRAVIS: Right. It's basically good distinction, but an important distinction. If you suspend your campaign, it basically means that you can continue to raise money, political donations and continue to spend that money on political activities. And, technically, by federal law, you're still a candidate for the office of the presidency.
If you drop out, that means that you can only raise money to retire your campaign.
LEMON: We get it. We get it. Yes. He's got to do all of that.
I would imagine that other candidates, there's some behind the scenes wrangling -- hey, listen, we can work this out with you, if you endorse me, I'll do this, blah, blah, blah.
TRAVIS: Let's just say yes to all of that.
I reported earlier that the Bachmann campaign and the Herman Cain campaign have talked.
LEMON: And they want those supporters, everybody.
TRAVIS: And -- everybody wants the supporters. And that the Bachmann campaign tells me that Herman Cain, some of his prominent supporters have said, you know what, we are coming over to support Michelle Bachmann now.
But take a listen at what Herman Cain said when asked the question about whether he's going to endorse.
LEMON: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Are you endorsing Michelle Bachmann?
CAIN: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very, very much.
REPORTER: Mr. Cain, will you endorse --
CAIN: Not making that decision for at least several days. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. So we get it. He doesn't want to show his hands now.
So, did you get a chance to talk to him in person?
TRAVIS: I did. I did. I mean, as I mentioned before, I share a little bit of a long history with Herman Cain. I knew him back from the Tea Party circuit before -- back in the day when people were going Herman Cain, who is that? I know him then. I broke the story.
LEMON: We used to call him Hurricane, right?
TRAVIS: Yes, Hurricane, all of that. I broke a story about it, it's exploratory. And I've interviewed him several times along the way. And so, today, I said you know what, my last hoorah. Take a listen to that, as well.
LEMON: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRAVIS: And say I was the person to --
(CROSSTALK)
CAIN: We are not -- we are not done yet. Thanks, Shannon. Appreciate it, man. You were. You were.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TRAVIS: You were. You were the first person to interview him on a major network or what have you.
One of the things about Herman Cain is that he was always a pretty charming and gracious guy in person. Was he flawed? Probably. Did he make major gaffes? Definitely.
But to the press, when you know that a lot of these candidates aren't the most warm and fuzzy, he was definitely one of the nicest.
LEMON: Oh, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Boy, do I know? And you know what? You listen, as you said, flawed. Everybody, when you look at the other candidates in the race now and previous races, there are a lot of flawed people in the world. I'm going to venture to say that everyone in the world is flawed in some ways, right?
All right. But we don't all get the opportunity to run for leader of the free world. So different standards there.
Thank you, Shannon Travis. We appreciate it.
Up next here on CNN, more on the derailment of the Herman Cain train. When did his campaign begin to go off the tracks? We're discussing it in two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So what did you think about this? Back to just a month ago, Herman Cain sits down with Newt Gingrich for a sexual debate in Texas to talk Social Security and Medicare. And Cain, riding high in the polls, was perhaps hinting about Gingrich becoming his second in command.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: If you were vice president of the United States --
(LAUGHTER)
CAIN: -- what would you want the president to assign you to do first?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Oh, boy. Now, the seats are switched. The tables are turned. Gingrich leading and Cain -- well, you heard. He has effectively left the raise.
Independent voter and political analyst Goldie Taylor is here to talk about the collapse of the Cain campaign.
And you have a -- first of all, you said this was going to happen. You remember when we sat here and you said I've known Cain from -- what's the campaign? I forget.
GOLDIE TAYLOR, POLITICAL ANALYST: He ran for U.S. Senate here in Georgia.
LEMON: Yes, you said you've known him for a very long time and you said that he would probably implode. I remember you saying that.
TAYLOR: Yes.
LEMON: You have a special name for this phenomenon today?
TAYLOR: Cain wreck. I called it a Cain wreck several weeks ago on Twitter. It is now trending worldwide, which is hilarious to me. But that's exactly what's happened.
LEMON: A Cain wreck? TAYLOR: A Cain wreck.
LEMON: I know people re going to say, but -- OK. So, listen, do you think he's really officially out? Because he's saying I'm suspending, but really, when you say suspending, as I have been saying, that's a soft landing, you're going to pay off your bills, make sure everything is taken care of.
TAYLOR: That is just a technical distinction. If you look at the end of John Edwards' campaign, the end of Hillary Clinton's campaign, they all suspended their campaigns. That gives them the ability to continue to raise money, to sunset the debt. That gives them the ability in January to hit matching funds so that he can pay for the unwinding of his campaign.
And so that is really just a technical distinction. But he is out of the race.
LEMON: Yes, let's talk about -- he certainly made this race interesting. And for those of us in the news media, especially in the late night comedy show, as Jon Stewart said, don't get up, please, what are you nuts? Please stay in there.
But, you know, serious. There's a family involved in this. And your heart has to go out for the family. So, what was the clincher? Do you think the clincher was his family? And what do you think that conversation was like when he turned the key to go and opened that door to see his wife for the first time since this 13-year claim?
TAYLOR: You know, there are a couple things about that. One, I wonder what took so long. If these kinds of things came out of my husband, I would expect him home immediately to talk to me about it. But you handle this in different ways. The issue here for Herman Cain going forward really wasn't about whether or not his family was supporting of what he wanted to do --
LEMON: Can we stop right there? You said if you -- if this happened and your husband was out on the campaign trail, again, why do you say that?
TAYLOR: Well, I say you get on a plane and you come home immediately, because that's putting family first. To wait a full week -- these disclosures came out on Monday. To wait a full week to come home to Georgia to meet your wife, to talk about these issues face to face, you know, it strikes me as a bit odd.
But, you know, I'm not in the Cain family. I'm not part of their marriage. So, they manage this the way they need to do.
LEMON: And you have to feel, again, for the family.
TAYLOR: You have to feel, absolutely, for the family. But this, at the end of the day, is about donors and whether or not they're going to continue to give and if they see a pathway to victory. When the donors say, no, you've got to suspend. LEMON: OK. Someone who has any sort of -- whether it's true or not, but there's the opportunity for someone to have claims like this with skeletons or whatever, should they really be considering a legitimate run for the presidency?
TAYLOR: Well, I've said that this is a legitimate crisis of arrogance. To believe that you could run for the president of these United States, leader of the free world, we could say, but understand that you could have these kinds of thing ins your background, but not believe that they would come out in a credible way, I think that's a bit, you know, I think that's a bit delusional, to say the least.
LEMON: But the strategy at the end still, his attorney was on with Piers Morgan saying, listen, no candidate should be -- this is, you know, someone's personal business. That may work in the courtroom, but it doesn't work in the media, doesn't work in the court of public opinion that it's always the media's fault or everyone has you know, certain predilections and certain things in the past. Really?
TAYLOR: I think there is a standard of behavior that we expect. But at the end of the day, if you're running on the sanctity of marriage, if you're running on preserving the marriage, then yours ought to be one of those marriages.
LEMON: And if you're running on transparency and telling the truth, then you have to come forward and tell the truth when asked the questions.
TAYLOR: You ought to be able to tell the truth. There's a congressman who is still in Congress today because he got caught with these kinds of things, came out and said, I have sinned, I have done wrong. He's still in Congress today.
LEMON: Just real quickly, endorsement?
TAYLOR: Yes, there will be an endorsement. But I don't think that capitalism is going to work out the way people suspect. He's going to endorse the person that can do a couple things for him. One, ensure his own political future. Two, help him sunset some of that debt.
LEMON: If someone will ask, who do you think? That's what I want -- do you have any idea? I know you don't have a crystal.
TAYLOR: I know -- I don't have a crystal ball. I know that numerous people are talking to Michele Bachmann.
LEMON: OK.
TAYLOR: I don't think he gets around endorsing Newt Gingrich, his friend.
LEMON: This is too much for V.P., right? He can't.
TAYLOR: This is way too much for V.P.
LEMON: Goldie, thank you. Much appreciated. Our top story this hour, Jerry Sandusky speaking out. The former Penn State assistant football coach talking about his relationship and the charges he now faces. The local reporter who talked to us the day the scandal blew wide open joins us now in just a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Jared Jagiello is full of energy, just what you'd expect from a typical 10-year-old boy. But his life has been anything but typical. He was adopted from Russia just before his first birthday.
CATHERINE JAGIELLO, JARED'S MOTHER: When he first came, he had a lot of medical issues. His respiratory system was not used to germs.
PERRY: As a result, Jared experienced many physical and developmental problems. His mom enrolled him in pre-school at 3 years old, she met resistance.
C. JAGIELLO: They virtually tell me he was autistic and that he would never go to regular school. And I said, no, he's going to spend two years to integrate in a classroom and he's (INAUDIBLE) when he's 5.
And they said, that's a nice dream but that's not going to happen.
PERRY (on camera): How do you know you were right?
C. JAGIELLO: I didn't. I just had a gut feeling that, you know, we can improve and it will all go away. I didn't know.
PERRY (voice-over): Thanks to various therapies, Jared made strides in preschool. But his transition to kindergarten was rough.
(on camera): In what ways?
C. JAGIELLO: First of all, there's more children and less teachers. And he's not blending in.
PERRY: What did Jared do that made him stand out?
C. JAGIELLO: He was moving all the time. He's not getting up and walking around. But he's moving in the chair.
PERRY (voice-over): Jared was diagnosed with ADD, and started taking medication. Now, four years later, Catherine is confident she made the right decision.
(on camera): Did the meds help?
C. JAGIELLO: Yes.
PERRY: Was it necessary?
C. JAGIELLO: Yes. PERRY: There are some people who say they're not, say that we're dragging our kids.
C. JAGIELLO: I was on that side of the fence for a long time.
PERRY: Really?
C. JAGIELLO: Do I need to give him his medication just to be in school, to be socially and academically successful. But then he's in cub scouts. He goes to camp. He's got to go along with the program.
PERRY: Got to fit in.
C. JAGIELLO: Am I happy that he has to take it? No. Does it work for him? Yes.
PERRY: Are you proud of how well you do in school?
JARED JAGIELLO: Of course.
PERRY: Do you have a lot of friends?
J. JAGIELLO: Yes.
PERRY: You're a popular kid.
J. JAGIELLO: Yes.
PERRY: That feels good?
J. JAGIELLO: Yes.
PERRY: What do you think you want to be when you grow up?
J. JAGIELLO: Pilot.
PERRY: Really?
J. JAGIELLO: Pilot, monster truck driver and architect.
PERRY: Those families who are making a decision about meds, what do you say to those parents?
C. JAGIELLO: You've got to do what you've got to do.
PERRY (voice-over): Steve Perry, Oakland Gardens, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's go back to Penn State now and the long interview, former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has given to "The New York Times." Sara Ganim with "The Patriot-News" joins us now on the phone form State College. She's been covering this since the very beginning, since it really started to become a big story here, and she joined us here on CNN.
What's the reaction now, Sara, to what Sandusky is staying in this interview?
SARA GANIM, THE PATRIOT NEWS (via telephone): Well, I heard from two attorneys today, one who called this interview unconvincing, an unconvincing denial, and a series of bizarre explanations. Another one who said that every denial attempt that Sandusky makes and casts himself as a victim inflicts more suffering on the actual victims. Other people, other words that I heard today were disturbing, delusional.
So, you know, the reaction to this actually seems to be very similar to the reaction to the first interview that Jerry Sandusky gave to Bob Costas on NBC. And in both interviews, I think some of the similarities are that he categorically denies all the claims but talks about his love for young people in a way that some people, really, you know, don't like to hear, given what's gone down in the last month.
And, you know, a lot of the things that he said, also, are inline with what his attorney told us earlier this week, that they plan to fight each and every case at this point because they feel they have a strong defense and all eight of those cases brought forward by the state attorney general's office.
LEMON: The interesting thing, Sara, when you talked about -- when you were talking about this, how it's infuriating to the victims, you would have to -- one would question the wisdom of his attorney for allowing him to do this again, and, also, his maturity level when you look at these interviews, for someone who is accused of the horrendous crimes, a number of crimes that he's accused of to not really understand what someone is saying to them.
Apparently -- are you attracted to someone? Clearly, they mean sexually attracted. For him to sort of fumble over that again, you would have to question his maturity level.
GANIM: Well, two things there. Earlier this week when I sat down with Joe Amendola, his attorney, he actually said to me that people who know Jerry know that he's really a big kid. And that his maturity level is, you know, at a kid's level.
And he said that people who know him aren't surprised that he's saying, you know, things like I did shower with kids and I was horsing around with kids. And in the course of playing football or wrestling with kids, this might have happened.
But the people who don't know him and don't understand his personality wouldn't get that. That's what his attorney said earlier this week.
Now, as far as this decision to put him on TV and do this again, I asked his attorney last week, earlier this week, you know, what the reaction was to that first interview. And he said that he got good feed back from colleagues who said you had to put him out there. You had to have him make his statement and proclaim his innocence. That's again what we're seeing today. DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Sarah Ganim, thank you, great analysis. We'll be calling on you again. We appreciate you joining us. OK.
GANIM: Thank you, Don.
LEMON: All right. Thank you.
You know, our country has been at war now for more than a decade. Soldiers return home knowing they face another deployment soon enough. The pull out from Iraq could change all of that.
Chris Lawrence went to a very different homecoming at Fort Hood, Texas.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don, I know you've seen a lot of these homecomings over the years and you know, it just never ever gets old. But in the case of this one, it's very special in that in the case of Iraq, there is no next time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whew!
LAWRENCE: It's really hard to describe the emotion that was going on here before the troops arrived. I mean, kids were running around, jumping up and down, they had so much excitement, anticipation of the families. It's been a long 10 months. And then all of a sudden, this smoke starts coming out, and the gate rises up. And the soldiers come out like rock stars, literally. The crowd is screaming. Everyone tried to make the speeches very, very short, because the highlight was seeing these troops rush into the arms of their loved ones, hugging, kissing, trying to catch up you over - over what's been missed over the last 10 months.
MICHELLE FREY, WIFE OF RETURNING SOLDIER: A lot has gone on. We put our first one in preschool, our first one in high school. Yes, it's big, you know. And we put one in college this year. So it has been a very long 10 months. Glad it's over.
MAJ. MIKE IANUCHILLI, U.S. ARMY: There's a sense of peace knowing that it's one less opportunity for us to be separated from our families. We know we still have our operations going on in Afghanistan, another contingency operation as they come up. But to know that what has consumed so much of our careers recently as a profession, to know that that's not there looming over us is certainly peace of mind.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (on camera): So the troops have to do a reintegration training, basically learning how to acclimate to being back home and with their families again. After that, they get about 30 days leave to really just kick back, spend time with the family and maybe start to let it sink in that they were some of the last troops to walk out of Iraq in that there won't be any of them going back. Don?
LEMON: Chris Lawrence, thank you very much.
From your personal finances to spending for the holidays, we've got some cool tech gadgets to show you straight ahead. Look at that table. I'm taking everything home.
Plus thousands of Californians still without power from unusually strong winds. Our Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN severe weather center for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Southern California has certainly endured some wild weather this week. Unusually strong Santa Ana winds have whipped the region toppling trees and leaving thousands without power. Jacqui Jeras here with more in the CNN Severe Weather Center to tell us about those winds out west. Crazy as I watched that.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's really amazing. Check out the pictures. We have some amazing video here showing you the huge trees that just toppled over on top of houses, on top of buildings, on top of power lines. And thousands of people are without power. And officials are telling us it could be a month before all power is restored. And, unfortunately, Don, this event isn't over with. The worst of that really came into play Wednesday night. Well, we're still dealing with winds today between 40 and 65 miles per hour.
Take a look at some of the gusts that we've already seen across Southern California today. This is going to stick with us here all the way through the weekend. So not just today, but also through tomorrow. And these are really dry winds. You know, those dry winds that move down the mountains. They heat up and they accelerate. And that's why they get so fast and that is what can really what can make wild fires spread. So if anything sparks here, we can have a very serious situation there. But a number of smaller acreage fires, thankfully all of which have stayed in control.
As of this time, we'll continue to monitor that situation. Now, our weather pattern is set up as we're going to see these series of storms moving on through. The big Santa Ana maker is here right now. It's across the plains states and it's bringing in some flooding rains across the nation's mid section, some heavy snow on the backside of it. Our winds today being caused by this area of low pressure developing into the four corners region.
And the next one, way up here we're going to get high pressure diving on down and we're looking for a major event once again. Probably starting Sunday night and continuing into Tuesday. So a very active pattern bringing all kinds of weather down. We've got winds, we've got snow and we've got some flooding rains as well.
LEMON: You know, I'm sitting here laughing because, you know, we can always, we have to wear these things, we put it like right on our waistbands, right. So guys can do that. Women don't always have waistbands. Show them where you have to keep yours. They're in your boots.
JERAS: It's on the back of my boots right there. Yes, when you wear a dress, your options are limited, Don.
LEMON: It's so funny watching you. What do they call it? Ingenuity, right. Ingenuity. Thank you, Jacqui Jeras.
JERAS: All right.
LEMON: Appreciate it. What do you call it? Fourth wall we're taking out.
OK. Turning now to finances, the holiday season is also a criminal's busy season. Thefts, robberies and scams are more common this time of year. Of course, in a moment we're going to tell you how to protect yourself from those criminals but first let's talk about protecting yourself from hidden bank fees.
We want to go to Terry Savage, she's the author of the book, "The Savage Truth" on money and a personal finance columnist with "The Chicago Sun Times." Hey, Terry, good to se you. She's live from Chicago. Beautiful, beautiful Michigan Avenue, looks like behind her. OK. Terry, where are these hidden fees?
TERRY SAVAGE, FINANCE COLUMNIST "THE CHICAGO TIMES": Yes, hi, Don. You know, the banks are picking your pocket, too. They have to give you 30 days notice before they change the terms of your checking account. Longer for credit cards, so you're starting to see some little notices. You should pay attention to those. They're starting to charge monthly fees or giving you a min that.
Wire transfers, if someone wire transfers money into your account, they may charge you a fee and all kinds of other things like certified checks and other bank services that used to be free for higher end accounts. They're adding those on and even some cases higher ATM fees.
So pay attention there. They're hoping you're so busy shopping you won't notice but they are starting to raise fees and a lot of that start in January.
LEMON: So, Terry, any advice for keeping your money safe while shopping this holiday season?
SAVAGE: Well, OK, before we get into this, Don, where is your wallet? Right now?
LEMON: Oh, it's right here on the set. It's not with me. It's in a little cubby we keep here?
SAVAGE: Are you sure?
LEMON: Yes, why?
SAVAGE: Are you sure?
LEMON: Yes, I have it. I got it.
SAVAGE: How would you feel if I told you it's not there. A moment of panic, right?
LEMON: Yes. I would. I'd be in panic.
SAVAGE: OK. Do you know what's in your wallet? Would you know where to start filling out the forms and finding all the credit cards and everything you have to replace?
LEMON: No, actually wouldn't.
SAVAGE: That's the real problem.
LEMON: Yes.
SAVAGE: OK. So here's my tip. First of all, during this holiday shopping season especially look at your wallet and take out the stuff you don't really need to be carrying around. And then, as you put things back in, make a list. For your credit cards, put in not only the account number, but turn it over and make a list of the toll free number you have to call in case your wallet is stolen. Because you'll be in a panic. And then only put back the kinds of things you really need. You'll probably need to carry your health insurance card and your auto insurance. Maybe you need, you're carrying your bus or a transit card or something like that, a health club membership.
But make a list of what's in your wallet so you know what's there. And in case your wallet is take taken, you know exactly how to put things back together and stop payment on those cards.
LEMON: That's some very good advice. I never even thought about that. I'm sure most people don't think about it. Thank you very much, Terry. What about security for online shopping?
SAVAGE: You know, if you ever sit in a coffee shop and you watch people on their computers, I'm always going please, please, please don't be doing any banking or shopping on an insecure wi-fi. That's really dangerous. Other people there can log on and track your movements. So make sure that you're in a locked wi-fi if you're going to do some shopping online. Beyond that, shop at secure sites. If you look up at the top left-hand corner that says https instead of just http, that means it's a more secure shopping site.
And many of the larger companies of course don't have that but are very secure. Make sure you're dealing with people you know. Never send your credit card information by e-mail. The person who is receiving it might be sitting in that coffee shop. That's very insecure. You know, check your credit card balances on line. If you're paying your bills online, your credit cards out there, check and see so that you know that your account hasn't been used by someone else. You're a 100 percent protected for fraud against for visa or Mastercards. But instead of using your debit card, be sure you use your credit card. Because if your debit card, they could drain your bank account. And it could take a while to take that money back.
As long as you practice safe online shopping, it will save you a lot of time and aggravation. But don't be careless when you're using your computer to shop. LEMON: And you can always go out to the brick and mortar stores like the beautiful ones they have right there on the Mag Mile behind Terry Savage in Chicago.
SAVAGE: You should see it. Everybody is shopping tonight. The lights are on and it's starting to be a very good holiday season, especially with the good news of employment. Things are picking up, I think.
LEMON: It is a toggle town, as they say. Thank you very much. We appreciate it.
SAVAGE: You bet.
LEMON: Terry Savage. We're going to put Terry's tips on our blog and you can check it out at cnn.com. And on terrysavage.com, you can e- mail Terry your finance questions. Again, thanks to Terry.
Does it always seem like your iPhone battery runs out way too fast? Well, check out what I'm using on mine right here. This little thing. I'm going to tell you about that. This may look like a regular case, but - oops - it almost doubles the juice for your iPhone. It's just one of the must have tech toys. Katie Linendoll is going to show you - what the heck are you doing? I'm coming after you with that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I feel like I'm back on a morning show at this table. Let's just show the table here. This is the 14th hour of the CNN morning show.
KATIE LINENDOLL, TECH EXPERT: Yes.
LEMON: And now we've gone to the table.
LINENDOLL: It's time for the fun segment.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: So the question is, have you finished your holiday shopping yet? Of course, most people haven't even started yet. If you're like most of us, there's still plenty of names to cross off your list. And if you're hard to shop for, we've got so many ideas for you. Tech reporter Katie Linendoll is here to show us all of this stuff. So, Katie, take it away. What's first?
LINENDOLL: All right. First, you've got to wear this. This is a Santa Yoda hat. It's 12 bucks from ThinkGeek.
LEMON: I can't wear it. You're going to mess up my fro. What's the back and front?
LINENDOLL: It's the part that says Santa Yoda. It's perfect for you. And, to accompany it, here is your $99, it's on sale, light saber.
LEMON: This is a credible news anchor right here. LINENDOLL: And I've got one for Jacqui too. Jacqui, come in.
So, here, let me show you how it works. You just turn on the on button. There's a full switch. Each one is different. Fire that up. Oh, really.
JERAS: They sound awesome. These are so awesome.
LINENDOLL: it's like you can't even figure it out. You slide yours up.
JERAS: There you go.
LINENDOLL: And it has authentic sounds from the movie. That's enough, Lemon. Let's go.
LEMON: I'm going to get in trouble. I'm hitting a lady.
All right. OK. Sorry.
LINENDOLL: Isn't the saber really durable, too? Like this is a really good product for a hundred bucks.
JERAS: A hundred dollars? That's a lot of money for a light saber.
(CROSSTALK)
LINENDOLL: OK. This is a Think Geek. If you know somebody that loves Star Wars hundred dollars. Awesome, turns on, turns off. Every single one is different. One of my top recommendation.
LEMON: Oh, there it is, this is a hundred bucks.
LINENDOLL: I think it's a deal.
LEMON: A deal for - can you imagine if I was a parent? This would annoy the heck out of me.
JERAS: It would.
LINENDOLL: And it's authentic sounds from the movie. Officially licensed merchandise.
LEMON: Go, go. Are you ready.
JERAS: All right, we've got to move on.
LEMON: All right. Go for it.
JERAS: All right. We've got a lot the to get through.
LEMON: All right, Jacqui. Thank you, Jacqui.
LINENDOLL: All right. Let's start with the list. First off, I want to talk holiday etiquette.
LEMON: Right.
LINENDOLL: Because you're probably already getting those e-cards in the mail which are online which are totally passe. So what I want to recommend doing is there's an app for that.
LEMON: I blocked them, by the way. Go ahead.
LINENDOLL: They're annoying. It's kind of like voice mail. Nobody wants it.
LEMON: Yes.
LINENDOLL: So the first app I want to start with is post-o-gram. This is, for 99 cents, you can create a custom postcard and send it to (INAUDIBLE) to the mail, which is something tangible which is really nice. And, this little piece right here, as you can see, it pops out.
LEMON: That's cool.
LINENDOLL: So they have a take away. 99 cents, take a picture from your smart phone. Personalized message. It's a nice little option. Another app that I love. This is sincerely and it's a 5 by 7. It starts at $1.69 for a postcard. Basically, listen, I google image here.
LEMON: Oh my god.
LINENDOLL: (INAUDIBLE) send a card like this. It's totally awkward and weird but it goes to show you how good a quality it is for $1.69.
LEMON: I got pictures on Google.
LINENDOLL: That's on images.google.com. You look good.
LEMON: It's from my four square account. Yes.
LINENDOLL: Noted. So post-a-gram and sincerely, two apps. And also, if you want to pick it up a notch, Apple has the app called cards. For 2.99, you can send a high-quality card, again using those photos from your smart phone, create a personalized message. And when they receive it in the mail, he had a little push notification.
LEMON: Very nice. Very nice. What else you got here?
LINENDOLL: Next, let's go to the one that you love which is the (INAUDIBLE) juice pack. Now, how many times do we have something that has an iPhone that says "I'm running out of juice. I'm running out of battery." The Moby Juice Pack, it ranges from $39.95 to $99.95.
LEMON: Yes.
LINENDOLL: As you can see here. I have a $99 one on my phone. You just slide it on and it's an extra eight hours of battery life. Now, you might be saying a hundred extra dollars, it's kind of expensive. But it's really worth it for a device that you have on you 24/7. But I also want to show you the 34.99 one. This is, (INAUDIBLE) connection that's going to charge your phone. It plugs in via USB.
LEMON: All right.
LINENDOLL: It slides out right there. So somebody can put this on their key chain.
LEMON: All right. Cool.
LINENDOLL: Nice little option.
LEMON: Wait till you hear about - hold on. I know. I know. These are the magic gloves that everyone wants to know about. Why? Hold that thought! We'll tell you after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Katie Linendoll is back to tell us about the holiday gifts. All right. These cool gloves we're talking about.
LINENDOLL: Freehand, Freehands.com, $18 to $35. You can get a nice pair for cashmere for $80. But here's the thing, the tips, conducted tips so can actually use your touch screen on your phone or on your tablet. You can't do this when you have gloves on, right. I like this little option that I have, it just gives you, it takes your tip off so you can put it on, put it off. All right. Next on my list, gaming.
LEMON: You usually can't do that with gloves, right?
LINENDOLL: You can't do that with gloves with your smartphone.
I want to talk gaming. Because I'm obsessed with gaming. And coming out tomorrow. I've had my hands on for this for a week (INAUDIBLE). Mario Kart 7 and my console of choice this Christmas is the 3DS, which is down from $250 to $169.99. I also love Zelda, Skyworld Sword. And it also comes with a gold wii-mote.
LEMON: So what is this? Is this a game?
LINENDOLL: Yes. That's for the Wii. And also if you want it really quick, anyone that has Kinect, I love Disneyland Adventures and Dance Central 3, really fast if you have kids. Something to look for and next on my list, let's talk about audio because there are a lot of different docking stations out there in terms of music. My go to is the Sonos play 3. It's 299. If you are looking for a great wireless system in your home, you can actually have multiple ones of these. Connect them together but you have access to 10s and thousands of internet radio stations for free, podcasts and of course your music library and you can control it from your iPad, from your computer or from your phone. Nice little option.
This one is just totally corny.
LEMON: I saw this one when you guys were coming into the studio.
LINENDOLL: This one is Fincredible. They had to add something really wacky commercially. This is an electronic pet fish. It doesn't crap. You don't have to clean up after.
LEMON: I thought it was real.
LINENDOLL: Right? It has LED and it acts like a nice night light for a kid. The only down side to it is it's only available at the Cracker Barrel.
LEMON: What? You mean the Cracker Barrel food place?
LINENDOLL: I don't know what's up with their distribution plan but it's incredible. Twenty five bucks, nice little options.
Moving through this really quick. I got to show you this. Here, hold these. These are slingshot monkeys. They're $7, in terms of a stocking stuffer option. Think Geek.com.
LEMON: (INAUDIBLE) right here.
LINENDOLL: You just fire them off.
LEMON: Oh, the monkey goes away. I thought you did it - oh, you do both of them.
LINENDOLL: Yes, yes. You got to take it by its arm and its tail.
LEMON: Arm and tail. One arm and one tail. OK.
LINENDOLL: OK. Moving on. $7, nice little stocking stuffer option. This one is very practical for the lady in your life. These are actually my two laptop bags. I get stopped all the time in the subway because they're actually very portable, very sleek. It's called (INAUDIBLE). Go ahead and zip that open. Because what it's made for is an iPad and obviously there's a bigger option for your laptop. But what's really cool is I can fit my Macbook Air in here, I can fir my iPad here, I can fit my notebooks in here. This takes the place of my purse. It's a durable options. It looks really hip.
And then last but not the least, let's talk about e-readers. Basic e- readers, now you can get the Kindle for $109 now with without ads and also Barnes and Noble's simple Touch Reader $99, access to thousands of books. (INAUDIBLE) great little Christmas option.
LEMON: And where did that one come from?
LINENDOLL: Oh, hello SEC championship.
LEMON: Oh, I was just wondering. Was that a little gift for you?
LINENDOLL: He is. Yes, it was.
LEMON: We have to go. Great stocking stuffers.
LINENDOLL: We're back tomorrow with more gifts.
LEMON: You got more gifts for us tomorrow. Oh, it's on the side.
LINENDOLL: At 7:45.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Coming up at 10:00 Eastern tonight.
Look at this.
Look at this huge great white shark spotted off the Carolina coast. Kind of reminds you of the famous "Jaws" shark. Well, how rare is this type of sighting and what would you do if confronted by a giant man eater? A scientist from the Georgia Aquarium says everyone, including you, should know what to do if that happens.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. CNN PRESENTS "TO CATCH A SERIAL KILLER" begins in just a moment. Go Titans!
