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Blagojevich Sentenced to 14 Years; Syracuse Ex-coach won't be charged; Syrian President Says He Didn't Order Crackdown; Sandusky Arrested Again; Geithner Backs Euro Crisis Plan; Arrest In Seven-Year- Old Girl's Murder; Obama Administration: Gay Rights Are Human Rights; Saadi Gadhafi In Mexico?

Aired December 07, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Suzanne, thank you very much. Hello, everyone, I'm Randi Kaye. It is 1:00 Eastern.

Let's get straight to the news. Any moment now, the former governor who tried to sell the Senate seat of a newly elected president could find out his punishment. Rod Blagojevich is being sentenced in Chicago and prosecutors are asking for upwards of 15 years. The defense is asking for mercy while admitting for the first time that Blago broke the law. He was convicted in June and today he told the judge he should've known better. He said, and I'm quoting here, "I'm incredibly sorry." If Blago does go to prison, he'll be the second consecutive Illinois governor to so. Now, as we said, the sentence could come down just any moment now, we'll let you know as soon as it does.

New developments to report in the Syracuse University sexual abuse case. The New York district attorney investigating claims against former associate basketball coach Bernie Fine says the allegations are, quote, "credible," but no charges will be filed because the statute of limitations has expired. Two former Syracuse ball boys accused Fine of molesting them more than 25 years ago. One of these accusers, Bobby Davis, told the Syracuse police detective in 2002 that Fine had molested him when he was team ball boy. A third man has come forward and claims Fine abused him in 2002. Fine denies all allegations.

The White House isn't buying the Syrian president's claim that he never ordered a brutal military crackdown on his own people. Bashar al-Assad gave a rare T.V. interview to Barbara Walters on ABC, in which he says some Syrian troops may have gone too far but not on anyone's command.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASHAR AL-ASSAD, PRESIDENT, SYRIA: We don't kill our people. Nobody kill no government in the world -- kill its people unless it's led by crazy person. Before as president -- I became president because of the public support. It's impossible for anyone in this state to be ordered to kill.

BARBARA WALTERS, ANCHOR, ABC: Do you feel guilty?

Al-ASSAD: I did my best to protect the people, so you cannot feel guilty when you do your best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The U.N. estimates more than 4,000 Syrians have been killed, thousands more jailed since that uprising started in March.

America's friendship with Israel is toping the agendas at a half dozen Republican candidates for president. One by one, they are speaking today to the Republican Jewish coalition meeting in Washington. The only major GOP contender who won't be making his pitch today is Ron Paul and that's because he wasn't invited.

A new accuser has stepped forward in the abuse against former Penn State assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky. A 19-year-old man says Sandusky gave him whisky and sexually abused him in 2004 when the accuser was 12 years old. His attorney says the incidents involved more than touching and happened while his client was staying overnight during activities at Second Mile. Second Mile is the children's charity founded by Sandusky. The lawyer says he plans to file a lawsuit against Penn State, the charity, and Sandusky in the coming weeks.

U.S. treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, is giving a thumbs up to a plan by Germany and France to tackle the European debt crisis. The Obama administration's money man met with French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, in Paris today. Tomorrow, European leaders will gather in Brussels to seek agreement on the plan. Geithner says the European Central Bank must play a major role in any solution, but he says he doesn't see the U.S. Federal Reserve providing any funding.

To the countries that persecute gays and lesbians around the world, the U.S. government says, get with it, being gay is a human reality. At a U.N. convention in Geneva, Secretary Hillary Clinton said the rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender are, quote, "universal." The U.S. is pledging the promotion and protection of those rights as part of its foreign policy.

And how's this for irony when it comes to privacy issues and social media. Take a look. These private photos of Facebook founder, Mike Zuckerberg, were among several revealed after a security breach at the online site yesterday. The images of Zuckerberg and the private pictures of 10s of thousands of other Facebook users were exposed to unauthorized downloads for a few hours. Facebook says engineers plugged the glitch hours later. They blame problems with software.

And news just in to CNN. Police in Georgia say they have just made an arrest in the murder of this 7-year-old girl. She was beaten, stabbed, sexual assaulted and then thrown in a dumpster. More on the arrest and the suspect right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We have just gotten word that there has been an arrest in the murder of a 7-year-old girl just north of Atlanta. Police say the suspect was arrested just a short while ago at the apartment complex where the victim, Jorelys Rivera, lived. Jorelys was found dead three days after she went missing Friday from her home in Kansas. Police say she was savagely beaten, stabbed and sexual assaulted. Her body was found in a trash bin outside her apartment complex. The girl's father said he was overcome with grief when he was first told what had happened to his daughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICARDO GALARZA, JORELYS RIVERA'S FATHER: At first I thought it was a lie but when I got here, my whole world fell apart. They told me that it was true and they had taken her away.

MIRIAM RIVERA, MEMBER OF JORELYS RIVERA'S FAMILY: I asked the state of Georgia that the person who committed this atrocity that they throw the full force of the law against him because they need to stop this -- they need to stop this abuse against children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Casey Jordan is a criminologist and an attorney. Casey, you just heard there -- we just got this news that there's been an arrest. Apparently, this accused -- the suspect here in this case worked at that apartment complex. What is this tell you about this suspect? Is this a case where maybe if this is indeed the right guy, where he may have been watching that little girl at that complex?

CASEY JORDAN, PROFESSOR, WESTERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY: That's possible, although, I have to say it is completely -- the arrest of the suspect who was apparently -- who had worked at the complex is completely in keeping with what we predicted. Quite simply that the person was very familiar with the complex. I happen to think that the location certainly wasn't random. If this man worked there, that confirms it.

But I think the child may have been random, I don't think he really stalked her, I think this was more of an opportunistic crime. The little girl simply left her playmates at the playground, went back to her apartment to get some drinks, he saw her alone and an opportunistic attack, took her apparently to a vacant apartment. Again, if he worked there, he would know exactly where that was and I think she was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person.

KAYE: So, it doesn't sound like someone -- or a case where this guy may have had reason to get to know the family or even reason to get to know this little girl?

JORDAN: I do not think that the picking on little Jorelys was very specific and targeted. I think it could have been any child. The way this child was murdered, sadly, by being bludgeoned, beaten to death on the head and stabbed as well shows a great deal of anger. And typically, we call this an anger retaliatory rapist or murderer. In this case, we -- they believe she was sexually assaulted. And it's not the sort of thing that the person tends to plan so much as fantasize about it. They have a lot of pent up rage and it's something, if they're having a bad day for whatever reason, whatever child happens to wander into the path of such a predator at that exact moment is going to be the unfortunately victim.

KAYE: Yes, I was going to ask you about what would be going on in the mind of somebody who could do this to such a young defenseless little girl. I mean, obviously, this anger that you are talking about, you're saying it wouldn't be focused on her or toward her but possibly something else?

JORDAN: Well, typically, these sorts of perpetrators were abused themselves physically or sexually and certainly emotionally as children. They carry that anger around, they tend to stuff it down, but in adulthood, it tends to bubble up and come out. And if they were indeed abused as children, they tend to want to exploit the innocent and trust and vulnerability of a child, because typically, that's what happened to them. Again, we don't know anything about this suspect at this time, but again, the overkill of a seven-year-old child, the child is very defenseless and powerless, it doesn't take many stabbings or many blows to the head. So, we usually see these children strangled, killed in the most easy way. Again, the overkill indicates a lot of pent up rage whoever is responsible for this child's murder.

KAYE: And here is the question, I mean this is a child. Why leave the body there? Does that tell you anything about the murder in this case -- the killer in this case? Because really they could've taken the body -- dumped the body somewhere and this family never would have found her.

JORDAN: Right. And Randi, that simply indicates that it was an impulsive crime, and a sign of disorganization on behalf of the killer. Again, if this person had planned it, and the police said they thought there was a lot of planning involved, but I don't see it as planning as much as a premeditation of fantasy. And again, a seven-year-old child would be easy enough to secret off the property, could fit into a duffel bag or a suitcase.

This perpetrator, again, I suspect is a maintenance worker at the complex, knows where the dumpsters are, knows which apartments are vacant, did it and panicked. You see a lot of panic with the stabbing and the overkill, and then didn't know what to do so perhaps put the child in a dumpster. If he had thought it out carefully he cough probably could've gotten away with it. The good news is they have a suspect in custody at this time.

KAYE: Difficult case to talk about. Casey Jordan, thank you very much.

Up next, imagine losing 30 pounds in 30 days. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, not if you're using HCG. At least that's what many American dieters who are using it say. So, what is it and is it really safe? The FDA says no way, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Well, if you eat just 500 calories a day, the odds are pretty good that you're going to lose some weight, you'll also get pretty hungry and soon pretty miserable. Enter HCG, Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. It's a hormone produced by pregnant women and taken by lots of other women and men, along with very low calorie diets to quickly lose serious amounts of weight.

Trouble is, there's no scientific evidence HCG plays any role in weight loss and there's ample evidence that eating 500 calories a day can wreck your health.

So now the FDA is warning companies that make and market HCG diet plans to cease and desist. It says the drugs are unapproved, the claims unsupported and the firms have now 15 days to correct the violations or face legal action.

Snow and sub freezing temperatures are gripping parts of the south today. Folks in Springfield, Missouri, woke up to temperatures in the upper teens after the season's first snowfall yesterday. Even the southwest is seeing some snowflakes and brutal temperatures that bottomed out below zero. Meteorologist Chad Myers is tracking it all for us, joins us now.

Hi there, Chad. So what are we looking at?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm looking at 70 degrees right now in Raleigh. And so that's the warm side of the front. And back behind it, 36 in Nashville with some snowflakes in the air. There will be snow across parts of northern Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia and on up the Appalachian chain. That's for today as this storm pulls out.

Now, there's a lot of rain farther to the north into New York, into Vermont, New Hampshire. Flood watches are posted all the way from the Delaware water gap, back even towards Scranton. Now, there will be some snow developing back on this side here on the colder part. But for the most part, all the big cities and I-95 will stay wet and not white. Tonight, though, that white may freeze. Especially some of the puddles. Watch out for that as you drive around, especially after dark.

There will be some significant amounts of snow. Upstate New York, six to eight inches. I'm even thinking somewhere between Schenectady and Albany there could be a 10 inch snowfall amount. Two to four on up into Vermont and New Hampshire. And seven to nine way up there into Maine.

Now on the other side, on the warm side, this is where the flooding could occur, especially on some of these expressways tonight as you try to drive home. An awful lot of rainfall. From Boston, two to three inches. New York, probably an inch or two, but not that far into Bergen Country and not that far west of the city you're going to see this yellow area coming here. Two to four inches of rainfall just in the next 24 hours. And that could cause localized flooding and a lot of trouble on your way home.

Randi.

KAYE: I'm glad you mentioned Bergen County. That's where I grew up, Chad.

MYERS: Hey, there you go.

KAYE: So, thank you very much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

KAYE: It's been 70 years since the attack on a U.S. naval base in the Pacific. Nearly half of those killed that day were serving on the USS Arizona. Next, the man responsible for archiving that warship's precious documents gives us his unique perspective on the attack on Pearl Harbor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It has been 70 years since Japan's surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. More than 100 survivors of the attack attended today's commemorations in Hawaii. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called it a date which will live in infamy. It's done just that for 70 years. Nearly 2,400 Americans killed, 21 U.S. ships, and 323 aircraft were damaged or destroyed. The U.S. declared war against Japan the very next day.

We're going to speak, in just a moment, with Daniel Martinez. He's a chief historian at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, about how they're restoring some of the records there, the personnel records. So we'll get to him in a moment. But let's listen to just a little bit of this ceremony taking place today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of you are our family, our ohana, for what you have given and what you remind us to give. Let us learn the lessons, teach them forever, and pray for peace. Let us never forget the price that has been paid for the freedoms that we enjoy. Let us humbly remember.

KAYE: And if you'd like to see more of the Pearl Harbor 70th anniversary live event going on right now, we are streaming it live on cnn.com. All you have to do is head to cnn.com/live.

All right, now to our political junkie question of the day. What president founded the U.S. charity March of Dimes. Bonus points if you know the original name of that organization. You can tweet me the right answer @randikayecnn. And I'll give you a shout-out if you are the first person to give me that right answer on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Democrats have long taken a Mitt Romney candidacy seriously because of his perceived ability to win independents and conservative Democrats. So now the sudden rise of Newt Gingrich has many supporters of President Obama downright giddy. Barney Frank for one. The iconic Massachusetts liberal says Gingrich winning the GOP presidential nomination would be "the best thing to happen to Democrats since Barry Goldwater."

But some believe a Gingrich nomination could energize conservatives and attract Hispanics, much as George W. Bush did in 2004. Could Gingrich be a bigger threat than Romney? It is all "Fair Game" for my guest today. With us, Democratic political consultant Ed Espinoza and Republican strategist Ron Bonjean.

Let's talk about this a little bit, OK. Ron, I mean, Newt, we know, took a lot of heat from the right for his so-called humane immigration stance. But will it be a net gain, do you think, for him?

RON BONJEAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think if he became the general election candidate, it sure would be. He's -- he has taken on a huge policy initiative to go after Hispanic voters. And I think that it sure could be -- it sure could help him. You know, just even a few percentage points, getting the Hispanic vote, could help him in the mountain west. Places like Colorado, New Mexico, those are key -- Arizona. Those are key states where just chipping away at that can be very helpful. His pre-general election statements on immigration, however, could hurt him among primary voters that, you know, maybe see this as a softening on immigration. So it's a little bit early yet.

KAYE: Ed, what do you think, because you see him doing this outreach to the Hispanic voters. He's taking part in a Spanish language newspaper. He's had some online outreach for them. So can he chip away, do you think, at the support that President Obama saw?

ED ESPINOZA, DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Well, you know, when you're working with the Latino vote, there's something that's important with any constituency out there, which is, these relation -- this outreach is relationship based. Credit to Newt Gingrich, he has actually done that relationship building. And I think that that can help him.

The problem that he's going to encounter is when you have to compare his relationships with the rhetoric of the Republican Party in Congress, with the RNC, and the things that they've said and done with regards to immigrant communities over the past few years. That's going to be a hurdle for him.

KAYE: Do you think, Ed, that his stance on immigration will help him?

ESPINOZA: Yes. Actually, you know, I think it helps everybody. And, again, credit to Newt Gingrich on this. We need to have an honest conversation on immigration in this country. We need to have one where we can realistically talk about what options are on the table and what we can do and not vilify a group of people. And I think that his position has helped bring that around. It's a very unique position in his party. But I'm glad to see it and I think that it could lead to productive discussions down the road.

KAYE: Let's talk about the Jewish vote. It's pretty small, but it can also be pretty mighty. As we've seen, just 2 percent of the electorate in 2008, but strongly Democratic. Let's look at this poll that we have here from back in 2008.

Seventy-eight percent, actually, of the vote went to President Obama. Twenty-one percent for John McCain. Today, the Republican hopefuls are paying their respects to the Republican Jewish Coalition. I mean who, if anybody, of these candidates, Ron, do you think has an inside track with these voters?

BONJEAN: Well, that's a great question. I think that, you know, Republican candidates in general have the inside track due to President Obama's stance on Iran. He's not strong enough in the minds of many Jewish voters. And, frankly, the statements made by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the Belgium -- the ambassador to Belgium, that look very anti-Israel.

They have painted themselves into a corner and alienated the Jewish vote. And I can tell you that that percentage is going to grow Republican in the next election. We're already seeing that in some places. You know, Jewish voters elected a Republican to Anthony Weiner's seat. And you're going to see that -- them grow and that vote grow in different pockets around the country. In Florida, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts. They really have an opportunity here as long as we They really have an opportunity here as long as we reach out and talk to them directly that we support Israel and that we support economic policies that benefit Jewish voters.

KAYE: Ed, do you think the Jewish vote is up for grabs?

ESPINOZA: It's just like the Latino community or any other group. We don't take any group for granted. When you look at the relationships that the party has built with the Jewish community over the years, it's a strong relationship. And it's been helpful in places like Pennsylvania, an important battleground state. And New Jersey, which can be a battleground state in most years, places like Florida, it's a pivotal hook. So, yes, I think it's a competitive community. But I'm confident that the president and the Democratic Party will continue to do well among the community.

KAYE: Ed, Ron, thank you both.

That is "Fair Game" today.

CNN has the most political coverage on television. Today, at 3:00 eastern, Congressman Ron Paul will be in the NEWSROOM. And at 5:00, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry join Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." At 7:00 eastern, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is a guest on "JOHN KING USA." And then tonight at 9:00, real estate mogul, debate moderator, Donald Trump, will join Piers Morgan. All of that and so much more today on CNN.

Before the break, we asked you which president founded the March of Dimes. The answer? President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Originally, called the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The charity was founded to find a cure for polio. I would like to give a shout out to @ryanlove007 there. He was one of the first to tweet the correct answer to me during the break. Congratulations to you.

It borders the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the northern Pacific Ocean. The government is a federal republic with a population of more than 114 million. Its ancient culture dates back to the 16th century. Where in the world are you? We'll tell you next in today's "Globe Trekking."

Plus, we're getting some breaking news on Jerry Sandusky. Stay with us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We're following a couple of breaking stories here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First, we want to tell you about former Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich. He has been sentenced moments ago to 14 years in prison. He was convicted on corruption charges, including trying to sell President Obama's Senate seat when he was Senator there in Illinois.

We do have Ted Rowlands in Illinois for us. We'll get to him. He was inside that courtroom, so as soon as we can get to him, we will bring more to you. But he doesn't have to report to prison for 90 days, we're told. But once again, former Illinois governor, Blago, sentenced to 14 years.

Another breaking story that we're following, former Penn State assistance football coach, Jerry Sandusky, we are getting word about additional charges and word that he was arrested yet again.

Susan Candiotti is joining us live on the telephone with details, we hope -- Susan?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This new information involves two additional victims, now known by -- as victim nine and victim 10. This comes from new information and testimony before the grand jury that has been investigating this case for at least a couple of years. And so, after the initial charges, the grand jury continued to hear testimony and that's how these additional charges came about.

This information coming to us from Pennsylvania's attorney general's office. In this case, they said it was similar to the other alleged victims and fit a pattern of what they call grooming victims on the part of former Coach Jerry Sandusky, starting with football games and gifts and went on to, according to the attorney general's office, physical contact that allegedly escalated to sexual assault.

Now the grand jury says that victim nine first allegedly encountered Sandusky in about 2004 while in that summer camp we have heard about, organized by the Second Mile, the program run by Sandusky, founded by him. In this case, when the victim was 11 or 12 years old.

The grand jury says that Sandusky allegedly approached the young man, engaged him in conversation and said he was interested in spending more time with him. That led to allegedly taking the boy to a number of Penn State football games, giving gifts and money.

Later, the grand jury says that there were overnight stays at Sandusky's home and behavior that included hugging, rubbing, cuddling and tickling. Initially, viewed as acts of affection, but that escalated to alleged sexual assault. Then the grand jury states that this victim was also assaulted in the swimming pool and the Jacuzzi at a hotel in State College, in that area, at times, when the pool was not occupied except for by these two people. According to the grand jury presentment, Sandusky told victim -- nine -- that he loved and cared for him and told him to keep what was happening a secret.

Now in the case of the second additional victim, known as victim number 10, the boy was referred to the Second Mile program in 1997, says the grand jury, when he was about 10 years old, at the recommendation of a counselor. He was having trouble at home. This seems to fit the pattern of other alleged victims.

Sandusky allegedly approached this victim during a summer camp and later made arrangements to take him to a number of football games, went to tailgate parties and spent time at Sandusky's home. The grand jury said there were wrestling sessions, what they're calling, in the basement of Sandusky's home that eventually led to incidents of sodomy on the boy. Now victim 10 also detailed alleged incidents that occurred at a swimming pool on the Penn State campus along with an encounter in a car where Sandusky allegedly exposed himself and asked for a sexual act to be performed upon him.

KAYE: Do we know, Susan, if --

(CROSSTALK)

CANDIOTTI: This boy allegedly also received gifts and Sandusky told him that he loved him.

So these four new charges are counts of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, two counts of unlawful contact with a minor. These are first-degree felonies punishable by 20 years in prison and $25,000 fines. He is also charged with indecent assault, two counts of endangering the welfare of children. And these are third-degree felonies. He also faces one count of indecent sexual assault, two counts of corruption on minors, all first-degree misdemeanors, each punishable by five years in prison.

He was arrested today and he is due to be arraigned before a judge in Bellefonte, in the area of State College. And, of course, he also has that preliminary hearing coming up on the previous charges next Tuesday.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Susan, let me ask you, because obviously we know we have been following his statements. He's made a series of public statements, at times, looked very uncomfortable in front of the camera or on the telephone. Has he made any statement today claiming innocence or has his lawyer come out and made any statement on his behalf?

CANDIOTTI: I'm sorry the last part of your question was?

KAYE: Has his lawyer -- has Sandusky or his lawyer come out claiming innocence, yet again, after these charges?

CANDIOTTI: We're in the process of reaching out to his lawyer. That's the first thing we're working on doing to see about any reaction. Certainly, additional charges are not -- were expected by his lawyer. His lawyer said so publically on a number of occasions. The attorney general's office said that it will continue meet with victims. and they expected more alleged victims to come forward once the first series of allegations were made public.

KAYE: And do we know -- he is due to be arraigned this afternoon? Do you expect he would stay in jail after this or do you think he would --

(CROSSTALK)

CANDIOTTI: That's an interesting question. As we know, he was freed on bail after the first round of charges. And that did raise a number of eyebrows on the part of a number of people. It was controversial. It was revealed that the judge in that particular case had some connection, having made donations to the Second Mile Program.

So it is possible, at this juncture, that the prosecutors could ask the judge if they now believe -- could make an argument possibly that he is now viewed as a danger to other children, allegedly, or that he is a risk of flight. It's very likely that his lawyer would say he is not a risk of flight. He is in the area. he is not going anywhere. and everyone knows where to find him.

So if there is any argument to be made, it will be on the fact of whether he is now viewed by the attorney general's office as a danger and either ask for an extremely high bond or no bond at all.

KAYE: Susan Candiotti, thank you so much for your reporting there on the case of Jerry Sandusky being arrested again. We will continue to follow that and keep our viewers posted.

We are also continuing to follow what is happening in Chicago, Illinois, where the former governor has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. Rod Blagojevich just sentenced today. He will have to report to prison in about 90 days. What I can tell you is he actually spoke in court this morning, asking for leniency. He said, "I would like to take the opportunity to apologize to the people of Illinois and to you," meaning the jury and the judge. He said he never set out to break the law and never set out to cross the line.

Our Ted Rowlands was in the courtroom, watching the sentencing. Ted joins us now from Chicago.

Ted, what can you tell us?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, as you said, the judge handed down the 14-year sentence to Rod Blagojevich. he didn't have a noticeable reaction. He put his head down a little bit and his wife, Patti, put her head down. But this was obviously something they were prepared for on multiple levels.

Before he walked up to the judge to talk to him at a side bar right near the judge's bunch, he turned to Patti and looked at her, came over to her and said, are you all right? And she nodded, yes.

The judge, before sentencing Blagojevich, spoke for about 35 minutes. He talked about a number of different topics concerning the governor. At one point, he said, when you took the stand the jury did not believe you and neither did I.

He then said that he knew that his children were a major factor in terms of it. And he said, I know the thoughts of children weigh heavy on you now, but the same thoughts should have basically stopped you. He said, you're not being convicted of being a bad father.

He said the damage that was done in this case was to the state of Illinois, the erosion of public trust in government. The image of corruption, he says, from the governor's office, seeps into the fabric of Illinois. And he said you did that damage.

And as you reported, he has until February 16 to spend time with his family, and then he will report to the Bureau of Prisons at that time.

KAYE: Just very quickly, Ted, how will this play in Chicago?

ROWLANDS: Well, a lot of people wanted a strong message sent by this judge, people who have followed this, because it comes on the heels of Governor George Ryan, who is still in prison for corruption. Blagojevich ran on a platform of ending corruption in office. And to be in the exact same situation, people were really looking for the judge to storm in, which he did. Coming (AUDIO PROBLEM) prosecution (AUDIO PROBLEM.)

But people like Blagojevich, and like him, and got to know him through his reality television show. (AUDIO PROBLEM).

KAYE: All right, Ted, we're having a hard time hearing you, Ted. I know you're inside the courtroom there trying to get us that story. We appreciated that very much.

There you have it, the news of Blagojevich being sentenced to 14 years, even though he had asked the judge for mercy.

Did one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons try to escape to Mexico? Shocking news out today about a plot foiled. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. We are going to update you now on a couple of breaking news stories that we have been following.

First of all, former Penn State coach, Jerry Sandusky, has been arrested again following more charges against him from some more victims coming forward claiming that he sexually abused hem. He was taken away in handcuffs. Our Susan Candiotti tells us that he will be arraigned this afternoon. Whether or not he will be freed on bail is unclear at this point.

The other story that we are following is out of Illinois where the former governor, Rob Blagojevich -- who you see right there -- has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption charges. He was convicted on those charges, convicted for trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat after he left Illinois. He doesn't have to report to prison for 90 days. Apparently, Blagojevich did expect this. The prosecutors had asked for 15 to 20 years. In court, before the sentencing, he said, I have nobody to blame but myself for my stupidity.

So those are just a couple of updates on the breaking news that we're following.

Now in today's "Globe Trekking," a would-be secret trip into Mexico by a son of late Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi. Mexican government officials say Saadi Gadhafi tried to use fake documents to secretly travel to Mexico. Four people have been arrested in the plot, including a Canadian, a Dane, and two Mexicans.

Senior Latin affair editor, Rafael Romo, is here with details for us.

Rafael, how did this all unfold? How did they discover this?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: It all started in September. And Mexican officials say that's when they first learned about what was going on. They're not telling us exactly how they learned about it or how it transpired but they said they started following a group of people doing suspicious activity in Mexico, namely buying property, opening bank accounts and falsifying documents that were allegedly to be used by the Gadhafi family to enter Mexico under assumed identities as Mexican nationals.

Then in November, they arrested a woman, a Canadian woman, in Mexico City, who was allegedly at the top of this ring of people working to help the Gadhafi family get into Mexico. And a lot of people know about Puerto Vallarta and Mexico. Many Americans go there --

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Is that where they were trying to go?

ROMO: Not exactly there. it is a placed just north of Puerto Vallarta in the state of (INAUDIBLE), a placed call Punta Mita This is a place where -- Hollywood stars and celebrities have been there, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Charlie Sheen.

KAYE: There's a beautiful Four Seasons hotel there, yes

ROMO: A very beautiful place in Mexico. Allegedly, the Gadhafi family, him and his wife and children were trying to get there.

It's really interesting, the question of why Mexico? There have been invitations, like Venezuela and Nicaragua, to give asylum to the family. But apparently, the reason why is because nobody would really imagine that they would be there right next to the United States. So it would be the least likely place, although, not in the United States, of course, that they would go to.

KAYE: You have some sound from somebody who is talking about this?

ROMO: Yes. This morning, Mexican interior minister, Alejandro Poire, talked about it and he was talking about the kind of money that they were using to do this.

Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEJANDRO POIRE, MEXICAN INTERIOR MINISTER (through translation): The vast economic resources allowed them to charter flights and, according to the information we obtained in our country, the criminal ring was transporting people between Mexico, the United States, Canada, Kosovo, and several Middle Eastern countries in order to coordinate the routes and prepare the logistics to transport Mr. Gadhafi to Mexico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Also, Randi, we heard from Saadi Gadhafi's attorney, who said that he spoke to Gadhafi earlier today in the jail where he is, and he says that he's grateful for the humanitarian protection afforded him by the country of Niger. But he was emphasizing there was absolutely no truth whatsoever to the allegation that, since fleeing Libya, where his life was in great danger, Saadi Gadhafi has attempted to file jurisdictive measures placed on him by the international community.

He doesn't address specifically the charges that were raised in Mexico today but he said he did not intend to leave Niger, which would have violated his position by the international community.

KAYE: Well, if he did, it sounds like a pretty bold move to try and get to Mexico.

All right, Rafael, thank you. Nice to see you.

ROMO: Sure.

KAYE: Is the GOP political race turning into a three-ring circus? CNN's Gloria Borger joins us next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: A whole lot happening here in the CNN NEWSROOM following two major breaking news stories.

First, out of the Penn State case, former Penn State coach, Jerry Sandusky, arrested again following more charges. More victims have come forward claiming that Sandusky sexually abused them on several occasions. He was arrested and handcuffed and brought to court. He is expected to be arraigned this afternoon. He may or may not be released following that arraignment.

Also, in Chicago, Illinois, former Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, has been sentenced following his conviction on corruption charges, sentenced to 14 years in prison. He had been convicted on corruption charges, including trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat there in Illinois.

He did not have much of a reaction in court, we're told by our Ted Rowlands, who was there. Although, before that sentencing, he did say he wanted to give a final apology to his family, saying that his life is ruined, his political career is over. The judge said that apology came too late.

Moving on now, CNN chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, is not one to mince words. On CNN's opinion blog, she asks, is the GOP race turning into a circus? In her article, she says, "Mitt Romney had better start answering somebody's questions and doing it soon. It's great that he's not aligning himself with the speckle of the Trump's circus but how about opening up and showing the voters what you've really got to offer."

All right, Gloria, if you were the Romney campaign manager, what would your advice be? I think we heard most of it right there.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, that's right. It's not my job to advise campaigns but I know how to cover them. I think what Romney campaign did today, by releasing an ad in Iowa, New Hampshire, to tell people who Romney is, he's talking about how he's been married for four decades, just sort of open the curtain a little bit, let people feel some affection or attachment for Mitt Romney would be a good thing.

And then on another front, he's got to start taking on Newt Gingrich. Newt Gingrich is a real front-runner here. And instead of just calling Newt Gingrich a career politician, why not actually take on Newt Gingrich for what he did when he actually held power in the House of Representatives?

Let the voters know a little bit about Newt Gingrich's history and how controversial he was as House speaker and how some of his own lieutenants tried to overthrow him when he was speaker of the House, because they felt he didn't do a good job as leader. Because, after all, when you vote for a president, you are voting for a leader.

KAYE: Right. Let's talk about Newt Gingrich. He has the fourth fundraiser in three days tonight. He's surging in the polls. Do you think he can sustain this?

BORGER: I think it's very, very hard to tell. I mean, Newt Gingrich has been involved in politics for a long time. He's not a newcomer like Herman Cain. But the question everyone has about Newt Gingrich is his discipline and whether he'll be able to stay disciplined and on message enough to sustain himself throughout a campaign. Also, whether he can get together the organization and whether he can get together the money.

The key to his success right now is that he channels Republican voters' anger towards President Obama with his passion. And so they like him in their hearts. With their heads, the question is whether they believe that he can actually beat Barack Obama or whether, in fact, Mitt Romney is the person who can do that. But Mitt Romney has to prove that to Republican voters.

KAYE: So what do you think the key is, then, to getting to the top and staying there? The Republican candidates have traded the lead more times than in a NASCAR race. (LAUGHTER)

BORGER: That's a good way to put it. They certainly have. Look, I think that, at this point, it's down to a two-man race, clearly, between Gingrich and Romney. And I think both of them have to show Republicans that they have sustainability, that they can sustain a campaign against Barack Obama, and that they are plausible presidents.

Republicans want to win and they want to look at Newt Gingrich and say, you know what, I think you're a plausible president, so you've got to show them the discipline that you can sustain a presidential campaign and win. And he hasn't done that yet.

KAYE: We'll see if he does.

Gloria Borger, great column and great to speak with you as well.

BORGER: Sure. Thank you.

BORGER: Thank you.

And thank you, everyone, for watching today. As always, I'd love to hear what you think of the show. You can continue the conversation with me online on Facebook or on Twitter at randikaye/CNN.

I'll hand it over now to Brooke Baldwin.

Hi, Brooke.