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Sandusky Denies Sex Abuse Charges; Syracuse Head Coach Regrets Defending Bernie Fine; Cain Suspends Presidential Campaign; FAMU Band Hazing Scandal; Inside the Mind of a Killer
Aired December 03, 2011 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Setting the record state, former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky in an interview denies having sexual contact with young boys. Was he convincing? We will take you through it and let you decide.
Suspended campaign, accused of a sexual affair. Herman Cain suspends his run for the presidency. His wife by his side, he insists you have not seen the last of him.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not going to be silenced and I'm not going away.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: Mind of a serial killer. New York police say bodies being dumped along Long Island are the work of just one serial killer. We will talk to a forensic psychologist about the mind of a killer.
And shark encounter.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like the fact he's circling on us for the last ten minutes. He might know something we don't.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: A huge great white spotted off the Carolina Coast. What would you do if confronted by a giant man eater? This is information you need to know. It's all right here, right now on CNN.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for joining us. We begin tonight with former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. In a lengthy interview with this "New York Times," Sandusky tries to explain his actions that led to child sex abuse charges. But as CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti reports, he almost makes intriguing assertions about how Penn State handled allegations against him in 2002.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (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.
A few weeks ago, NBC's Bob Costas asked Sandusky 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: The former coach tells "The New York Times" at first he wondered what to make of the question. Then in an intriguing exchange and apparently uncomfortable Sandusky tries to explain his answer. 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 hard to watch.
HOWARD JANET, ATTORNEY FOR VICTIM NO. 6: His answer was really no different, frankly, than the answer he gave before and the sad part from his perspective, if we want to look at it from that perspective that his lawyer had to intervene and give him some advice as to how to answer that question. He won't have that luxury in a courtroom.
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, VICTIM'S ATTORNEY: 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 (on camera): 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: All right. Susan Candiotti in New York. Thank you very much, Susan.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
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.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: I asked two human behavior experts Dr. Wendy Walsh of "The Doctors" and psychologist Alduan Tart to analyze Sandusky's answer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Well, clearly in our culture we have a problem with the word "attracted." As soon as you say "attracted," there's this idea that it's sexual. And of course he used the word in its true meaning, which it means he moves toward certain groups of people.
But now in the context of what's going on, you would think he'd figure that that wouldn't be the word to use so much anymore because so many people do misinterpret it.
LEMON: Yes. And I mean, Alduan, when you're accused of these sorts of things, you should be savvy enough not to, you know, they're not asking you if you're attracted to someone -- oh, I'm attracted to you, you're a good friend, we can go out and hang out and have beers. They're not asking that kind of question. They mean, sexually attractive. Bob Costas was explicit, he said, are you sexually attracted to boys? And I think "The New York Times" was the same thing, what was going on with him?
ALDUAN TARTT, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, when you're a pedophile, typically, you lie. If you have that many victims, you're in a complete state of denial that you did anything wrong. So, you're not thinking about, what sounds good, you say, hey, this is how I defend myself. I'm not attracted to anyone. He's just lying. That's what pedophiles do. They're in a state of denial and that's why they don't stop.
LEMON: One child victim Dr. Tartt, a child victim advocate says, Sandusky has re-victimized his accusers by doing these interviews. Explain that.
TARTT: Oh, absolutely, every time I see his face, every time he denies it, it makes them -- the trauma resurface over -- it's called vicarious traumatization. It happened and I have to see it on TV over and over again with him denying it, it's excruciating.
WALSH: Well, also, remember that victims of child sex abuse often don't report because they blamed themselves, and they are very confused about it, because their body did experience some arousal. So, it's very hard for them to come forward and say, this guy was all wrong, because there was a piece of them that participated in it.
Now, it was a not powerful piece, the child piece was manipulated. But the point is, when the powerful figure comes out and says, that wasn't abuse, I didn't do that, that didn't happen, they start to self-blame again. And that's the dangerous thing. That's the psychological injury for these kids.
LEMON: Thank you, both. We appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And now for reaction from Penn State, I spoke with Sara Ganim who is with The Patriot News in Harrisburg. She's been covering the scandal from the beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
SARA GANIM, THE PATRIOT NEWS (via telephone): 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.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: I want to go to Syracuse now. Head basketball coach Jim Boeheim said he should have taken the child molestation allegation against Bernie Fine more seriously. Fine was fired last weekend after explosive comments from his wife were made public in a taped conversation.
Laurie Fine said she was aware of her husband's alleged behavior with young boys. Boeheim who staunchly defended Fine now has deep regrets.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
JIM BOEHEIM, SYRACUSE HEAD BASKETBALL COACH: I believe I misspoke very badly in my response to the allegations that have been made. I shouldn't have questioned what the accusers' expressed or their motives. I am really sorry that I did that. And I regret any harm that I caused.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: Bernie Fine has not been charged with a crime.
If you haven't heard by now, Herman Cain, with his wife by his side, has suspended his campaign for president. That report is coming up next.
Also ahead, new clues in the Long Island serial killing case lead police to now believe there's only one killer. We will have that report. Plus, I will talk with a forensic psychologist about the case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Now to our other big story here on CNN and it is one for the world of politics. Herman Cain's 2012 White House dreams are apparently over. Ironically, he was in Atlanta to open a new campaign headquarters when he told supporters this.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
CAIN: So as of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: This comes after Cain denied allegations of sexual harassment and a claim by an Atlanta woman that she had a 13-year affair with him.
CNN political reporter Shannon Travis was there for Cain's announcement and he explains why Cain suspended his campaign instead of ending it outright.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: There is a legal 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 are 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. So he has got to do all of that.
I would imagine that other candidates, there are 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: They want those supporters. Everybody does.
TRAVIS: Everybody wants his 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 Michele Bachmann now.
But take a listen at what Herman Cain said when asked the question about whether he will endorse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you endorsing Michelle Bachmann?
CAIN: Thank you very much. Thank you, very, very much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Cain.
CAIN: I'm not making that decision until several days. Thank you.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: All right, so we get it. He doesn't want to show his hand now. So did you get a chance to talk to him personally?
TRAVIS: I did. I did. I mean, as I mentioned before, I share 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 knew him then. I broke the story.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: They were calling him hurricane.
TRAVIS: Yes, hurricane, all of that. I broke the story about it. It's exploratory. And I have interviewed him several times along the way. And so today I just said, you know what, my last hurrah, take a listen to that, as well. All right.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
TRAVIS: I was the first person --
CAIN: We are not done yet. Thank you, Shannon. Appreciate it. You were. You were.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: You were, you were, the first person to interview him on a major network, or what have you.
TRAVIS: 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 gaps? 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 nice ones.
LEMON: Oh yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: We should tell you that we received a statement from an attorney for Ginger White, the woman who claimed she had an affair with Herman Cain for 13 years. Here's how it reads in part.
"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."
Many Republican candidates are also reacting to Cain's decision to suspend his campaign. Michelle Bachmann says this, "Herman Cain provided an important voice to this process. His ideas and energy generated tremendous enthusiasm for the conservative movement at a time it was so desperately needed to restore confidence in our country."
This is from Jon Huntsman. "Herman Cain offered a unique and valuable voice to the debate over how to reform our country's uncompetitive tax code and turn around the economy."
And this one is from Rick Perry, "I know this was a very difficult decision for Herman Cain, his family and his supporters. He helped invigorate conservative voters and our nation with a discussion of major tax reform."
Mitt Romney has won a big endorsement in the politically crucial State of Iowa. "The Sioux City Journal" announced tonight it is backing the former Massachusetts governor in the January 3rd Iowa caucuses. The newspaper says Romney is the Republican candidate most likely to beat Barack Obama in the general election. Romney campaigned on Saturday in New Hampshire with supporters and former presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty. New Hampshire holds the nation's first primary just one week after the Iowa caucuses.
It is a university band with historic traditions, one of the best around. But does that include a legacy of hazing? A report on the Florida A&M hazing scandal next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A lawyer for the family of Florida A&M University student Robert Champion accuses the school of turning a blind eye on hazing. Champion died last month after a halftime performance by the band. University officials say hazing was a factor. George Howell looks at the investigation and join an alleged culture of hazing at the school.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fans affectionately call at this time best band in the land, the marching 100 has long been the pride of Florida A&M University. But since two hazing related incidents, one resulting in the death of the band's drum major, Robert Champion, it's a campus in mourning.
(on camera): What's the mood been like here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mood has been really sad. The Monday coming back to school was really quiet.
HOWELL (voice-over): Police are now investigating a culture of alleged hazing within the band. In this 911 tape, you can hear band members on a bus with Champion, desperately trying to save him.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Are you with him right now? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm with him, ma'am. He's not breathing. I tried to give him CPR and he started to vomit.
HOWELL: Champion died at the hospital November 19th, not even two weeks before that, another student told police she was rushed to the hospital with injuries after a several-week-long initiation period, dangerous and even violent behavior that former drum major A.J. Richardson says went underground after the school declared a zero tolerance policy on hazing.
A.J. RICHARDSON, FORMER FLORIDA A&M BAND MEMBER: Those things that began as innocent pranks have been added to over the years. We were asked to do push-ups, but we did not experience the kind of hazing that involved physicality, to get beat up. That just did not happen.
HOWELL: Richardson says he's worked closely over the years with the band's former director, Doctor Julian White, to try to eliminate hazing. White dismissed 30 students from the band for hazing-related incidents prior to Robert Champion's death.
A week later, the university president Doctor James Amens fired Doctor White and expelled four students.
(on camera): We reached out to several current and former band members but no one really wanted to talk about the hazing incidents or the students who were expelled. We found this to be a tight-knit group. And many students on this campus tell me they're shocked that this even happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We hear about hazing, sort of these. But when we hear the band, we're like, wait, we have hazing in the band? What's going on?
HOWELL: Investigators have not yet released details into what caused Robert Champion's death. But the tragedy has left a cloud of uncertainty on this campus about its beloved band and the culture within its ranks.
George Howell, CNN, Tallahassee, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: We want to tell you that on Sunday you will hear from the mothers of two members of the Florida A&M Marching 100. The reports of hazing were no surprise to them. They've also reported harassment to school authorities. I will have them on tomorrow, Sunday night, only here on CNN.
A new development in the Long Island serial killings investigation. Police now say bodies dumped along beaches are the work of one serial killer. We will review the case and talk with a forensic psychologist after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's get you caught up on the headlines now.
Islamists were the big winners in Egypt's election this week. The Muslim Brotherhood says the result reflects the will of the people and the other parties should respect it. The relatively moderate group won 40 percent of the vote. Lawmakers elected this week will write Egypt's new constitution. More liberal parties performed poorly in the election, but hope to rebound before the next round of voting.
Another bloody day in Syria where at least 22 people were killed. Ten of those died in the City of Holmes where we believe this video was shot. The government refused to end its crackdown on protesters despite widespread criticism. On Friday, the U.N. Human Rights Council became the latest to condemn the crackdown. Syria called that report unjust.
Vice President Joe Biden is in Turkey this weekend calling for more openness around the world. Biden said political and social freedoms can create economic opportunities. He was speaking at a Global Business Summit in Istanbul. The crowd applauded when he suggested the next Steve Jobs could be a Turk, noting how Turkey's economy has tripled in size over the past decade.
Ohio investigators have released a name of a third person they believe was murdered after answering a Craigslist job posting. The latest victim was identified as 56-year-old Ralph Geiger of Akron, Ohio. Sixteen-year-old Brogan Rafferty is charged with aggravated murder and attempted murder for the deaths.
The suspect's mother says the mastermind behind the killings is this man, 52-year-old Richard Beasley who is yet to be charged in the murders, but is in jail on charges of promoting prostitution.
Police on Long Island are set to renew their search for Shannon Gillbort, a New Jersey prostitute missing since May of last year. The hunt for Gillbort led to the discovery of the remains of ten women. Those were linked to cases going back 15 years. And for a time, the hunt led authorities to suspect the deaths were the works of several killers, but that changed this week with a chilling admission from police.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
RICHARD DORMER, SUFFOLK COUNTY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, our theory is now that there is one killer involved. We are leaning towards the one serial killer scenario. And that's based on the similarities of, you know, the victims, where they were dumped, their ages, their occupation. And, you know, it is logical to assume at this point that it is one.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: All right, so to better help us understand the inner workings of a serial killer's mind, forensic psychologist, Dr. J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner joins us now. We will call him Dr. Buzz.
He has worked with convicted murders and rapists in the New York State prison system and he currently runs a mental health court advocacy program, rehabilitating the mentally ill and prostitutes arrested for posting ads on Craigslist. He joins us tonight from New York.
Thank you, sir, for joining us. Doing okay?
DR. J. BUZZ VON ORNSTEINER, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes, thank you for having me.
LEMON: So, Dr. Buzz, listen, tell us what exactly goes through the mind of a serial killer, and what do you make of this Long Island case so far?
ORNSTEINER: Well, one thing we do know is that four to five of the victims were all prostitute who are all on Craigslist. And so there we have a killer who is systematically searching for women. A vulnerable population which prostitutes are. Oftentimes, they are mentally ill. They are cognitively ill. They are oftentimes, addicted to drug and alcohol abuse.
And on top of that, they are desirable. They are beautiful and they are young. They also have no support services. So if they go missing or are not seen for a while, very few people care unfortunately and here is a predator. Here is a killer who is systemically searching for that type of individual. Small in stature, petite in height. In addition, there was a male found, but that male was dressed in women's clothing and was also petite in height and is possibly working as a transgender.
But also in the sex population as a sex worker. And then in addition, they found a toddler and they believe the mother. Unfortunately, I know this may sound terribly disturbed to many people, but I work with prostitutes who oftentimes use their child as a tool, oftentimes to try to get more money from the John and in addition to that, if they feel they are going to get arrested, they think possibly the police won't arrest them if they are with a child.
LEMON: If there were a child, yes.
ORNSTEINER: It is a very sad, disturbed population.
LEMON: Yes.
So, listen, I have to ask you this. That's what makes these women attractive to the serial killer. He's looking for that that sort of person and the opportunity that goes along with it.
I have to ask you this, Dr. Buzz. In the Long Island killings, the first case goes back 15 years. If they haven't found the killer, why is it so hard to crack this particular case? It's been a long time.
ORNSTEINER: One of the reasons is we only go by profiling and research. Every serial killer, of course, is an individual just like we are. And these killings have been going on for at least 15 years. Now if this individual started, and I do believe it's a male, because generally women do not engage -- they do engage in serial killing, but it is generally through poison, or through advancement, through marriage, kind of like a black widow type of individual. So I believe this is more looking towards a male killer.
He's been doing this for at least 15 years, dumping bodies in this isolated area, but also dumping bodies in other areas. We just don't know enough about how many he's killed. But after 15 years if an individual starts at 35, he is now 50 or 55, he may no longer be killing. He may have sublimated those areas that compulsion to kill into other areas. He maybe dead for all we know, or he may have moved to another area.
It's very hard to track people, especially if they are in occupations where they travel themselves. This individual, though, clearly this is a home base for him. He's familiar with the area and it was an excellent, unfortunately an excellent dumping ground because it took those many years.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: You bring up a good point. Because a lot of people have been asking from informations you have, does he live in this area?
ORNSTEINER: That would be the indication that he lives in this area or he is familiar with this area. We know this one area is where there are body parts that have been found. Remember, these are not intact humans. He's chopped off the hands. He's chopped off the heads. He knows how to dispose of these bodies so the police cannot connect and identify the victims.
And, unfortunately, as I said, this is population that very few people care about. Oftentimes, I get calls from parents and relatives who are still looking for their daughters or in some cases their cousins, and they can't locate them so they are calling me. It is population that is lost and forgotten. Oftentimes, the killer when they are finally caught, is the one who tells police, I killed this person or they find their identification in their apartments. So they are telling the police finally that they are killing them.
LEMON: Yes. Thank you, Dr. Buzz. We appreciate it. Good analysis there, OK. We were going to have you back.
Home sweet home. American troops return to Fort Hood, Texas, but this time it is different. We'll explain right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: No one is more grateful for the end of the war in Iraq than our soldiers' families. That was clear at Fort Hood, Texas, as arriving servicemen and women were enthusiastically welcomed home.
As Chris Lawrence explains, they are looking forward to staying on base for a while. 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, thank you very much.
Now listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at this (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: What would you do if you encountered a man-eating great white shark? What should you do? An expert from the Georgia Aquarium has answers up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Can you imagine this. You're out on the Atlantic in a small boat off the Coast of North Carolina. The fish are biting like crazy. Suddenly, a sight very few people ever see.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at this (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: A giant 18-foot great white shark shows up and starts circling the boat. Now I asked a shark expert from the Georgia Aquarium about this rare event and what should you do if you ever come face to face with one of those ocean monsters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIAN SCHREIBER, GEORGIA AQUARIUM: What an incredible sighting this is for anyone out there. This is not a shark that is seen in areas where it frequents. To have an opportunity like this off the coast of North Carolina, how incredible that must have been.
LEMON: You call it an opportunity, but I mean, come on. The thing, it head butted the boat; it slapped the boat with its tail. I mean, what was it trying to prove here. Was it just trying to figure this people out, or was it like get out of my territory.
SCHREIBER: Well, I see here, you are imparting your beliefs upon this shark. What was it doing? These guys were fishing. They are having a great time about 25 miles off shore. There's food in the water. The shark is looking around. And you get this thing sitting out in the middle, he wants to come check it out. Maybe food, maybe not.
LEMON: So what do you do in that situation? Should they have just stayed put? And especially, if you are in the water, like, what do I do if I'm all of a sudden I'm being confronted by a shark or I see a shark and I'm out there.
SCHREIBER: Well, that's two questions. What these guys did was perfect. They sat there and enjoyed the experience of seeing this incredible animal. Now if you happen to be in the water with a shark, what I would do is stay still or always orient yourself towards, face the animal, so that you can see it is coming and you know what is going on.
If you have the opportunity to get out of the water, you should probably take advantage of that, too.
LEMON: OK, so you said, face the shark head on. Do you move towards the shark? Are you aggressive towards a shark first? Is that what you are saying?
SCHREIBER: Aggressive might be too strong a term. But what I would like to think is if you move towards that animal, you're going to confuse it a little bit. It is used to chasing prey down from behind. It is not used to being approach, and if you stay conscious of that animal and never really give it a chance to get behind you, if you try and swim away, then you are splashing and exciting the situation.
LEMON: So it's almost like they say with a dog. A dog can sense, most animals, especially dog, can sense when you are afraid of it. Are you saying that the sharks have a similar sense? So if you sort of confront it head on and it may back off rather than you just turning in and trying to swim away and running.
SCHREIBER: Just a little bit. And sharks do sense that. They sense it in fish as well. Fishermen have seen it. These guys probably saw it out in their boat. If you catch a fish and you're bringing it up towards the boat, the fish is stressed and secretes this enzyme, this mucus into the water. The sharks cue in on that and that allows them to hone in on their prey.
LEMON: OK. You know, I have learned a lot. I have learned from this being a little bit more up front with the shark, not letting it get behind you.
But what about this whole idea that you are supposed to if the shark comes near you, hit it in the nose with your fist as hard as you can and that will make it go away.
SCHREIBER: Well, it certainly can't hurt. On the nose of the shark are these little pockets called ampullae. It's a complicated thing. But that's how they sense a lot of what is going on around them. Be it the blood drops in the water or electromagnetic fields or changes in pressure in the water. If you create an impact upon those, then you are going to disorient that shark and allow yourself an opportunity to move away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: The video was shot by Matt Garrett of Boston off Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Still ahead here, the bones of a prehistoric mammal that lived thousands of years ago during the ice age found in Florida. We will have a report on the discovery of a fossil Mastodon. And here's Fredricka Whitfield to tell us what's ahead on Sunday's "Political Hour."
Fred?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don't miss our hour of "POLITICAL POWER," Sunday, 4:00 Eastern time. We'll be talking about the presidential landscape post Herman Cain. And about who could inherit Cain's supporters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The sky is falling. Really, it is. It fell the other day through the roof of a warehouse in New England. But what is it? Jacqui Jeras is here with -- Saturday night mysteries.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Mysteries.
Wasn't the sky.
LEMON: Was it blue ice?
JERAS: It wasn't blue ice.
You know what blue ice was. Thank goodness it wasn't blue ice. It was mystery metal. It was a big hunk of metal. It happened in Plymouth, Massachusetts at furniture warehouse and its big hunk about 3 to 5 pounds is what it weighed.
Look at that. It blew a hole through the roof and caused quite a big mess actually throughout much of the warehouse. Now there's an airport coming nearby so they thought, oh, could this be a piece of the plane, well, the FAA did a little investigation, they say no, it is not of a piece of airplane.
LEMON: It's a space junk.
JERAS: They don't really know what it is for sure. And actually, our local affiliate WBZ TV out of Boston aired the story and some man from Texas says he knows what it is because the same thing happened to him at his funeral home in Texas. And he said it was a piece of a grinder from a construction site that was nearby. So local authorities in Plymouth, Massachusetts, are going to try and get together with the pictures from the guy in Texas, see if they match up and see what this mystery metal could possibly be.
LEMON: All right. I thought it was -- maybe it was a piece of a helicopter or something.
JERAS: I don't know.
FAA says it is not aviation related.
LEMON: Oh, really?
JERAS: Really.
LEMON: It is a bird, it's a plane, it's a piece of space metal.
OK, how about now, I like the last three letters of this.
JERAS: The mastodon bone?
LEMON: Mastodon.
JERAS: Yes, cool. You know what that is, right? The big woolly mammoth looking thing. It's like a huge elephant with tusks.
LEMON: Oh my gosh, look at that.
JERAS: Look at this. Yes, these are actual fossilized bones. This is from a site in Daytona, Florida. They say that these bones age back to the ice age between 13,000 and 130,000 years ago.
They found two tusks. They found part of a skull, teeth, vertebrae and as they continue to the dig, apparently, they keep finding more. Now these artifacts were discovered from a construction crew that were working on a storm water project and they are like lo and behold, take a look at this, what they found. It's amazing.
LEMON: It's amazing. That you can say is an amazing discovery. That is fantastic.
JERAS: Absolutely. And what was cool to me, as I was researching the story is that I thought Florida, bones, are you kidding. I always think of like, Utah or New Mexico or something for this kind of find, but it has to do with the black muck. Look at all that muck.
In that video, apparently, there is no oxygen in it. So it kind of preserves.
LEMON: It preserves it.
JERAS: Yes. It doesn't allow to decompose.
LEMON: Hey, very quick, I'm being told we got to run. You have another, an unmanned space plan.
JERAS: Yes. Basically, this is an experimental thing by the U.S. Air Force. They launched this thing back in March. It's supposed to land in California on Wednesday, but they say, no, we are going to keep it up there indefinitely. The Air Force said that they are doing some orbital experiments on this, but a lot of skeptics had been talking and say this is spy or maybe defense-related. So no one really knows what is going on.
LEMON: We can tell that you love doing these segments. You come up with a little...
JERAS: Music.
LEMON: Jacqui Jeras Saturday night mysteries graphics package because we like good stuff. Good stuff. I love the bones. That was amazing.
JERAS: Good, thanks.
LEMON: Thanks, Jacqui.
So let's go to Germany now. There's another discovery to tell you about.
Authorities evacuated 45,000 people this weekend as they get ready to try to diffuse a World War II era bomb. Look at this thing, Jacqui. The bomb contains 3,000 pounds of explosives and it is one of the biggest ever found in Germany. It is sitting in 16 inches of water, making it hard to diffuse. It was likely dropped by Britain's Royal Air Force during the war. Now that was a discovery as well. Herman Cain suspends his Republican presidential campaign. Details on that and our other top stories straight ahead.
But first this for you. Each week, we are calling on friends of "CNN Heroes" to shine a spotlight on our top 10 honorees and their work as you vote for the one who inspires you the most. The CNN Hero of the Year.
Tonight actress Kristin Chenoweth introduces us to Richard St. Denis after a skiing accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. Richard overcame the tragedy to help others like him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTIN CHENOWETH, ACTRESS: Hi, I'm Kristin Chenoweth. As founder of Maddie's Corner, I'm committed to celebrating the bond between people and their pets while lending a helping paw to those in need. Now, I am absolutely thrilled to introduce one of this year's top ten CNN heroes.
RICHARD ST. DENIS, CNN HERO: In Mexico, people with disabilities who can't get around have no options. Their world is the four walls of their house. When someone has a disability, the whole family has to pitch in to help them. If they don't have the money, the care they provide for them is the very basic care. My name is Richard St. Denis. I take wheelchairs to people in Mexico who can't afford them but really need them.
In 1976, I broke my back skiing and severed my spinal cord. I see what happened to me as an opportunity to help other people with disabilities. We collect used wheelchairs from the United States.
We teach them how to use it. Mobility means being independent and more active. Someone said, Richard, I want to thank you for giving up your legs so we could have a better quality of life. When I see them happy, seeing their self-confidence, I know people's lives are getting better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: This is your last weekend to vote for the CNN hero who inspires you the most. You can vote on our Web site, CNNHeroes.com or just scan the code on the left of your screen to vote from your Smartphone.
You can also use it to donate to any of their causes, then tune in live next Sunday as Anderson Cooper hosts "CNN HEROES: AN ALL STAR TRIBUTE."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's check your headlines now.
Herman Cain is out of the race for president after announcing that he is suspending his campaign. In recent weeks, Cain has denied allegations of sexual harassment and an Atlanta woman's claim she had a 13-year affair with him. By suspending his campaign, Cain is still allowed to raise money to cover campaign debts.
Former Penn State football coach, Jerry Sandusky, tells "The New York Times" his decades of charity work with young people are being, quote, "twisted by prosecutors into something sexual." Sandusky spoke with the newspaper for four hours denying the criminal charges against him. He's accused of sexually molesting eight children, dating back to 1994.
Ohio investigators have released the name of a third person they believe was murdered after answering a Craigslist job posting. The latest victim was identified as 56-year-old Ralph Geiger, of Akron, Ohio. Sixteen-year-old Brogan Rafferty is charged with aggravated murder and attempted murder for the death. The suspect's mother says the mastermind behind the killings is this man, 52-year-old Richard Beasley, who has yet to be charged in the murders, but is in jail on charges of promoting prostitution.
Police in Arkansas say they found country music singer Mindy McCready and her young son hiding in a closet in her boyfriend's home Friday night. The singer was violating a court order to return the boy to her mother who is the child's legal guardian. McCready who has battled drug addiction over the years has visitation rights. The boy is now in protective custody and McCready hasn't been charged with any crime.
It's a simple sketch but it's worth a whole lot of money. This 1950 pencil drawing of the contour of Coca-Cola prototype bottle by Earl R. Dean has sold at auction in Beverly Hills for a record $228,000. The actual bottle sold for even more, $240,000. It hasn't changed much, has it? And for good reasons.
And finally, my LSU Tigers are one game away from another national championship. Louisiana State University flatten the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC title game Saturday, 42-10.
By the way, I predicted it would be 43-7 so I was pretty close. The number one ranked Tigers have won 13 games since season without a loss. Next up will likely be a rematch with the Alabama Crimson Tide. And the national championship game in New Orleans on January 9th.
We will beat them again, but we have already won. So it doesn't matter. I don't know why they are rematching those guys.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. I'll see you back here tomorrow night 6:00, 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern. That's right. Go Tigers. Good night.
