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Sandusky Faces More Child Sex Charges; Gingrich Leads in Key States; European Crisis Summit; Corzine Testifies About MF Global; Former GOP Colleagues Rip Gingrich; "Jesus was a Free-Marketer"; Angels Join the Pujols Bidding; Florida Beats Arizona in OT; Setting Tweets to Music

Aired December 08, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Good morning. You have a great day, ladies.

We're going to start with this this morning. Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is in jail this morning facing new child sex abuse charges. Just as Penn State tracks it, Sandusky was cuffed and arrested at his home on yesterday. Well, the new charges involve two more alleged victims, bringing the total now to 10. It is believed the two came in contact with Sandusky as his Second Mile charity.

Let's go down to CNN's Jason Carroll, he joins us now from State College, Pennsylvania live.

Jason, we're expecting Sandusky to be bailed out today. Then what?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, let's talk about when he gets bailed out. We do know -- we do know that just about half an hour ago his wife left his home, which is located about 20 minutes from now. Not sure if that's any sort of indication in terms of whether or not he might be released soon.

Currently being held on $250,000 bail. If he's able to post bail, Don, he'll be under very tight restrictions. He'll essentially be under house arrest. He'll have to wear some sort of an electronic monitoring device while he is under house arrest. In addition to that, he will not be allowed to have any contact with victims or possible witnesses in the case. And another condition of his bail would be that he would not be able to have any unsupervised visits with minors -- Don.

LEMON: All right. So we're hearing, Jason, that there's going to be a hearing next Tuesday, what do you know about that?

CARROLL: Yes, of course, that's going to be the preliminary hearing, Don, as you know, and I think what might be interesting in that is that would be the first time that Jerry Sandusky would come face to face again with his accusers in the courtroom. As you know, previously there was a grand jury report that named eight alleged victims. We are expecting during that preliminary hearing to at least hear some testimony from some of them.

What's unclear at this point, Don, is whether or not we will hear from the two new additional victims identified as victims number 9 and 10. Yesterday when we spoke to a representative from the attorney general's office he said it was unclear at that point whether or not those two would be there to testify during the preliminary hearing.

LEMON: Live from State College, Pennsylvania, Jason Carroll.

Jason, thank you very much.

And one of the two new accusers testified he screamed from the basement for help knowing Sandusky's wife was upstairs but no one ever came. And we'll talk about how the Sandusky basement has become a focal point of this investigation.

Reporter Sarah Ganim joins us in about 12 minutes here on CNN.

Want to turn to the Syracuse sex scandal now. Well, a district attorney will not bring charges against fired Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine. A federal investigation continues. Onondaga County DA William Fitzpatrick says the statute of limitations has expired on sexual abuse allegations made by former Syracuse ball boy Bobby Davis, but in an exclusive interview with CNN, the DA talked about an au pair who lived with the Fines and knew of a sexual relationship between Fine and Davis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's your impression that the au pair is convinced that Bernie Fine had a sexual relationship with Bobby Davis while she was at the house?

BILL FITZPATRICK, ONONDAGA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: No question about it. She -- all kinds of things that -- I mean, she didn't physically witness any molestation, but clearly body language, affect, the way they talked to each other, the way they acted around each other, the conversations she had with Laurie Fine. There's no question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The lawyers for Fine's third accuser, Zach Tomaselli, have a news conference set for two hours from now. Two hours from now a news conference. Tomaselli's lawyers are expected to talk about filing a civil suit against Fine.

We'll follow that news conference and bring you the details later here on CNN.

All right. It gets more interesting by the second we talk about politics. Let's talk about the GOP frontrunner, building his lead in battleground states. I want you to take a look at this new CNN/ORC poll from Iowa. Newt Gingrich is ahead of Mitt Romney by 13 points.

Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is with us now. Paul, he's pulling away here and in other states, too.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: He sure is. Less than four weeks now until Iowa. That's the first state to vote in the primary caucus calendar, but let's see what happens after Iowa.

New Hampshire one week later. Remember, New Hampshire was home field advantage for Romney because he was governor of neighboring Massachusetts, but look at Romney's lead. In our brand new CNN/ORC/"TIME" poll, you can see his lead over Gingrich really diminishing, nine points right now of the people likely to vote in the New Hampshire primary.

Let's push forward to South Carolina, the third state to vote, and this is the first southern state, and look at Gingrich's lead, according to our poll. Boy, 23 points over Romney. Everybody else in single digits in the Palmetto State.

And Florida, the fourth state to vote, it votes on January 31st, among people likely to vote in the Republican primary there, again, our poll indicates Gingrich with a large lead over Romney and the rest of the field. Fascinating numbers.

Now Gingrich sat down with our Wolf Blitzer yesterday, and here's what he said about his lead in the polls and where things stand. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Can you taste this Republican nomination right now?

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No. I think it's not -- look, remember, I was way down here and now I'm up here so I know you can go way back down here.

We still have a lot of work to do with the next four weeks in Iowa, then a real rush in New Hampshire then on to South Carolina, then on to Florida and Nevada. I mean all those within about a month, so I think if we have a little interview right after Nevada, we'll have a better sense of how real it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Nevada votes on the 4th of February. Now Romney does have one advantage here. You know Newt's numbers are surging in the polls, but Romney has the organization to get out the vote efforts in all these early states already. Newt Gingrich playing catch-up on that -- Don.

LEMON: So, listen, there's more behind the polling than just the initial question about who's -- you know, who's where in this horse race. Do any of these polls offer any indication as to why Gingrich is skyrocketing?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. Our polls do give some clues, and one of the reasons is Tea Party supporters. We asked in these polls, are you a supporter of the Tea Party movement or not, about half of them say they are in these Republican primaries and caucuses, and those people are going for Newt Gingrich big time according to our poll numbers.

One other thing, though, Don, that our polls indicate, only less than half the people in all four of these states that we polled say they are definitely, have definitely made up their minds, people can still change their minds with one month to go -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Paul Steinhauser.

Our next political update one hour here on CNN. And a reminder for you, for all the latest political news, go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com.

As European leaders start their summit and work to address their debt crisis, Wall Street is watching like a hawk today. Developments there are expected to drive U.S. markets as we close out the year.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has been criss-crossing the continent this week expressing support and some pressure for a solution. Well, today he met with the Italian prime minister and praised his new austerity measures.

Monita Rajpal joins us now live from London with more on the EU summit and the international reaction to it.

Monita, how are these meetings being covered around the world?

MONITA RAJPAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, not just traders that are watching this like a hawk, journalist as well. I've got three headlines for you, Don, that will give you an idea of just what's at stake here.

"The Guardian" here in the UK has the headline, "The crisis won't be solved in a few days. It's a long battle against euro oblivion." The article goes on to say, "Europe will not be saved in Brussels this week. At best it will live to face another trauma. After these 10 days to save the euro, there will be 10 weeks, 10 months, 10 years, then we take you to Australia, "The Daily Telegraph" there has the headline, "Avalanche of debts could crush Europe."

It goes on to say, "EU leaders are under intense pressure to convince markets they can come up with a rapid rescue plan for the eurozone following the threat of possible debt downgrades." And then finally the "International Herald Tribune" has the headline, "The wrong euro fix." It says, "Instead of trying to re-engineering the eurozone over night, Germany should use its wealth and that of the ECB to back up foundering countries, alleviate Europe's slump and give its weak neighbors more time to grow and reform." Don?

LEMON: All right, Monita Rajpal, watching that for us, thank you very much for that.

Here in the United States, much of the south wakes up to a winter weather advisory as storms move through the region -- a storm, I should say. That means slow traffic in Memphis, Tennessee, where there's at least two inches of snow on bridges and overpasses.

Same situation in North Carolina last night. Expect icy conditions if you're traveling through the mountains this morning.

OK. Jacqui Jeras tracking the storm for us.

Jacqui, the big question is where is this thing headed to next?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's basically out of here.

LEMON: It's out of here.

JERAS: Yes. You know --

LEMON: Oh, that's good, I guess.

JERAS: It is good. You know the storm has stalled out for what felt like forever for some folks, has moved very, very quickly and picked up a lot of forward speed, so this is it. It's moving to the Canadian Maritimes, you know, barely northern Maine still getting hit with some of that snow but, boy, it did bring quite a bit of snow to some of parts of the interior of the northeast.

(WEATHER REPORT)

JERAS: Get used to the cold, Don. It'll last for a bit.

LEMON: Hey, it's winter.

JERAS: It's winter.

(LAUGHTER)

JERAS: Meteorological winter.

LEMON: Yes. Thank you very much. We appreciate it, Jacqui.

Coming up, one of Jerry Sandusky's alleged victims claimed he screamed for help from the Sandusky basement but no one came. We'll talk about how that basement has become a key location for investigators. That's next.

And hot video out of Hawaii. A stream of molten lava sends those living nearby scrambling. Look at that stuff. Look at those pictures. Oh, my gosh, can you imagine that coming towards you? That and more next as we go "Cross Country."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Good morning, everyone. We're going to take you "Cross Country" right now.

More confrontations and arrests as police in San Francisco took down the encampment belonging to "Occupy" protesters. Dozens were arrested in the Wednesday morning raid. From Greenwood, Indiana, yesterday a smash-and-grab robbery of a local gun store is caught on tape. Look at that. After driving to -- driving an SUV into the building, the suspects found much of the shop's merchandise safely unlocked -- safely locked up, I should say. The burglars allegedly stole a few guns but an estimated $35,000 worth of damage to the store.

And check this out. It's from Hawaii's big island. Really, look at this stuff. Imagine this headed towards you. Hot lava spews from a volcano sending nearly -- sending nearby residents, I should say, scrambling. Who wouldn't run from that?

The photographer says one homeowner had to be rescued by helicopter after the molten lava surrounded his house.

One of the most chilling pieces of grand jury testimony in the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse case comes from one of the two new accusers. I want you to listen to this. According to the report the alleged victim stayed in a basement bedroom on overnight visits to the Sandusky home. The victim testified that on at least one occasion he screamed for help, knowing that Sandusky's wife was upstairs, but no one ever came to help him.

Let's bring in "Patriot News" reporter and CNN contributor Sara Ganim.

So, Sara, you and I talked yesterday, there was one new accuser. Now, there are two new accusers. So, what do we know about this, about this basement situation, screaming for help, knowing that his wife was upstairs and then Sandusky's wife not coming to help the kid.

SARA GANIM, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, we know that the basement has been mentioned several times, both in this grand jury presentment and the original one from earlier in November. You know, that basement seems to be -- it's a finished basement with a bedroom -- seems to be one of the places where overnight guests would stay, and particularly these Second Mile kids, many of them who have come forward who said they were abused down there.

What we also know from the latest grand jury presentment is that one of the kids said that he did scream out for help knowing that Dottie Sandusky, Jerry Sandusky's wife might be upstairs but no help came. Not the first time that Dottie's name has been mentioned by alleged victims but it's certainly one of the most compelling pieces of testimony from that new grand jury presentment.

LEMON: So, how has this basement become such a key in this investigation? Is it because of the two new people? Why is it so key now?

GANIM: Well, I think that you're correct, Don. I mean, it's becoming key because so many -- so many alleged victims have said that they were abused down there in that basement. You know, it's almost as prominent a place in this grand jury presentment as the locker rooms, where the showers took place. It seems like a lot of these victims were either abused in that locker room in the football building or in the basement.

LEMON: Listen, I have to ask you because these accusers are saying they were in the basement. They were screaming. One of them at least said they knew that Mrs. Sandusky was upstairs. Is this in some way, is this implicating Mrs. Sandusky that she may have been complicit or at least may have had some knowledge of what was going on?

GANIM: You know, we don't any way of really knowing that at this point. I'm sure investigators are, you know, asking the same question but we don't have any evidence that Dottie Sandusky is complicit.

LEMON: Thank you very much for that. Sara Ganim, we appreciate your reporting.

Let's talk about the former New Jersey governor here. Jon Corzine heads to Capitol Hill today. The former CEO of MF Global will answer questions about the eighth biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Customers want to know, where is the money?

Plus, a Pakistani actress says her father was in tears when he saw her nude magazine cover. Nude magazine cover. She says the problem is, it was supposed to just be topless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a big difference between topless and being nude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The scandal makes international headlines, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Magazine cover with a nude actress would hardly raise eyebrows here in America, but when it happens in India, it's making international headlines. And she's a looker, by the way.

Let's go now to Reza Sayah who joins us live from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Reza, why is this racy cover causing so much trouble?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, what we have here is a very attractive and popular Pakistani actress, Veena Malik, who obviously comes from a very conservative Islamic society here in Pakistan where you can't take racy photos and put them on magazine covers. So, she goes next door to Pakistan's bitter rival India, and she poses semi-nude in an Indian magazine.

And on top of that, on her arm, there appears to be tattooed the acronym ISI, which is the acronym for Pakistan's powerful spy agency, the ISI. So, that's created a little bit of buzz. The trouble seems to be between her and her family. Veena Malik's family not happy with her. Her father is not speaking with her.

Also trouble between her and the magazine. She's suing the magazine for almost $2 million, saying they doctored the photos. The magazine is countersuing her saying, no, these are the exact photos that she approved.

Our colleague Sara Sidner caught up with Veena Malik in India and put to her the big question, did she pose topless? Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Were you topless?

VEENA MALIK, PAKISTANI ACTRESS: Si. Actually I was, but I was not nude. See, there's a big difference between being topless and being nude. You will see various shoots in the Bollywood industry where actresses actually went topless but they were covered like the way I was. There are various examples that you can see. But I did not go nude. Si.

SIDNER: So, you had bottoms on?

MALIK: Bottoms on, I had. And they actually removed those bottoms by, you know, getting morphed or removed or whatever the technology that was used.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAYAH: All right. That was Veena Malik, perhaps not the most convincing answer, Don, but that was her response and she's sticking to it.

Again, her family is not quite happy with her. She's still in India. No words if and when she's going to come back to Pakistan.

LEMON: Very interesting. Reza Sayah, thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

(MUSIC)

LEMON: Jon Corzine on the hot seat today. The former CEO of MF Global is on Capitol Hill to answer questions about the brokerage bankruptcy.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison, we should point out, former governor of New Jersey as well. We've been hearing a lot of money is missing. What is Corzine saying about the missing money?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, in his written statement that I have right here, he is expected, Don, to say he doesn't know where the money is. Now, he's set to testify before the House Agriculture Committee sometime today. The hearing is beginning in oh, about seven minutes.

But Corzine, he's not expected to appear until at least early this afternoon. Of course, when he does sit down in front of lawmakers, the big question is really going to be all about the money.

Investigators they want to know where $1.2 billion is. It went missing from MF Global's books. And the problem is this money we're talking about, Don, is customer money.

Now, in this prepared testimony I have here, we've pulled out this sort of sound bite from him saying, "I simply do not know where the money is or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date." He says he was stunned when he found out the money was missing.

Keep in mind, this is the first public appearance that Corzine is making since he resigned from MF Global. This is going to be his first full response to the MF Global bankruptcy. Just so you know, he was subpoenaed to appear in this hearing and he could still take the Fifth. So, may not get any answers today.

We will, of course, be carrying this hearing live when he does begin to testify -- Don.

LEMON: OK. Here's the interesting thing. So, you mentioned MF Global. A lot of people may not be familiar with mf global. Explain to us about the company and what happened to pull this company down and for all this money to be missing.

KOSIK: OK. I'm going to simplify it for you here. This is a big complex investment firm and what it essentially did was it made a lot of risky bets. In fact, more than $6 billion is tied up in debt, that's connected to, and that is the debt of the weak European countries that I sit here and talk about every day, you know, the European debt crisis, talking about debt in Italy and Spain and Portugal.

And just to give you an idea of how fast their exposure grew, talking about MF Global's exposure. It grew from $1.5 billion late last year to that $6.3 billion just before MF Global filed for bankruptcy on October 21st. And, of course, things started to unravel. There was a last ditch effort to sell MF Global and that fell through after these accounting deficiencies were found.

And this is a big deal. It is the eighth biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Now, the FBI, the CFTC, Congress, they're all investigating this one -- Don.

LEMON: It is a big deal. Thank you, Alison Kosik. We'll be checking on the markets with you as well very soon. Appreciate it.

Rick Perry says he'll end what he calls President Obama's war on religion and Newt Gingrich is getting slammed left and right, left and the right. Some of the harshest words are coming from his old Republican colleagues in the House.

And Roland Martin and Will Cain, they're going to weigh in right after the break.

Plus, take a look at this. It's Alec Baldwin's Twitter account. It's been shut down. I wonder if his word with friends account has been shut down. This comes one day after he's kicked off a plane for refusing to turn off the cell phone. We'll get the lowdown later in showbiz headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: That sound right there means it's time now for your top stories.

First off, Jerry Sandusky expected to make bail following his arrest on new sexual abuse charges. Ten alleged victims have now made accusations against a former Penn State assistant football coach.

Attorney General Eric Holder set to testify on Capitol Hill this morning about the Fast and Furious operation. Several House Republicans have called for Holder to step down over the highly criticized gun sting operation.

And former CEO, the former CEO of the bankrupt broker firm MF Global says he doesn't know where the missing money went. Jon Corzine appears before the house committee today as well.

All right. More politics. A GOP presidential race just gets more interesting every single day. Let's start with the GOP front- runner catching heat from all sides.

Listen to this exchange between Newt Gingrich and CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I've been surprised, and I don't know if you have been, some of the Republican congressmen who worked with you in the '90s, Contract with America, the Republican revolution, and you know these guys like Joe Scarborough, for example.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sure.

BLITZER: Or Peter King of New York, Tom Coburn. They have suggested you with words as erratic, undisciplined, a train wreck. And they know you well, these guys. Why are they saying that?

GINGRICH: Look, I think if you are a very aggressive leader and you drive to get things done. I mean, we drove to get welfare reform, we drove to balance the budget for four straight years. I think in a legislative body, there's sort of a go along to get along collegial attitude.

I wasn't there in a collegial job. I was there as the leader, and my job was to drive through change on a scale that Washington wasn't comfortable with. And, you know, if you're a genuine outsider forcing change, you're going to leave some bruised feelings.

And I don't apologize for that. I think I probably learned some more. I think I'll probably be more effective this time. But you look back -- you know, we switched the fiscal condition of the United States by $5 trillion in a four-year period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Roland Martin, you're on. Will Cain, they are both here.

So, listen, basically he's saying I was a change agent, I'm a change agent and that's why, you know, we didn't get along many times.

What do you think of his answer? First, Roland.

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm still cracking up how Newt continues to portray himself as an outsider. I mean, he's the ultimate insider, and also it's revisionist history. His actions also turned the House over to the Democrats after the debacle when he went through the battle with President Bill Clinton.

I think it's important to listen to King and Scarborough because, look, temperament matters when you're in the Oval Office. That's a critical component of a leader, and that's really one of the things they were talking about.

LEMON: All right, Will, what do you make of Newt's answer?

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I would take the flaw even deeper than temperament. I would take the flaw down to the level of humility. I think that's Newt Gingrich's fundamental flaw. And humility is an integral part of conservatism, knowing your limits and knowing what you cannot accomplish.

The lack of humility in Newt Gingrich's personality is reflected in his substantive positions. I mean, whether or not we're talking about policies where he embraces tax credits and subsidies, which suggests you know how to optimize capitalism in the government to its perfect levels, or his character issues. The lack of humility and his ability to get along with people like Scarborough and Coburn -- Coburn, one of the most respected members of either body of Congress, this shows that Newt Gingrich's problem, at his core level, is a lack of humility.

LEMON: OK. Then, Will, I've got to ask you -- as a conservative, you're saying all of this. Why is he the front-runner?

CAIN: Style. That's the reason. Substantively, I've said this many times, he is almost indistinguishable from Mitt Romney -- meaning if you criticize Mitt Romney, if you find Mitt Romney incredibly distasteful because he's flipped on issues, how do you accept Newt Gingrich? If you liked Herman Cain because you saw him as an outsider, how do you like Newt Gingrich when he's an insider?

It's all about being bombastic and combative and taking a passionately to President Obama and Gingrich can do that.

LEMON: Real quickly, Roland, because I want to go to something else.

MARTIN: Don, we have to understand we are in a period of anger. If you look at President Barack Obama's poll numbers, when he began having a more populist tone, you saw his numbers increase. You're looking at Occupy Wall Street.

The reason the Tea Party has grown is people are so angry to what's happening. We just reported on Jon Corzine, he can't find all this money. People are angry at what's happening.

And so, when Newt attacks the media, when he's going after President Obama, he's appealing to the Tea Party folks --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Right, he's doing what they can't do in public.

MARTIN: And Romney is too calm for them.

LEMON: Or on a bigger platform.

OK. I want to talk you, let's move on and talk about Rick Perry. Here's a new campaign ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian, but you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know that there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So there's a whole lot about that ad, but starting with "I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian." Most people in America aren't ashamed to admit that because most people in America are Christians.

So, what do you make about this Perry's holiday statement on -- on the war on Christmas and the war on Christianity? Go ahead, Roland, first.

MARTIN: Look, I'm a Christian. My wife is a pastor.

This is a desperation ad. This is Governor Rick Perry who is trying to appeal to social conservatives in Iowa to somehow raise his profile because he is buried in the poll numbers.

Bottom line is: he is -- he has been inept when it comes to debate, so he's trying to push those buttons by talking about Christmas, talking about gays in the military. But it's not working with the most critical issue out there, the economy.

This is a Hail Mary that nobody is catching.

LEMON: Go ahead, Will.

CAIN: I really wish it was something I could disagree with Roland about here. The only thing I question is whether or not it works.

I mean, you know, Bill O'Reilly is one of the most successful segments is the war on Christmas stuff. It resonates. That doesn't mean it should.

Here's the more important thing at the base level what's wrong with Rick Perry's ad is that it appeals to populism. It's just pushing buttons as Roland said.

But I want to say this. He's not alone. The president gave a two-hour speech it seemed like on Tuesday that was chock full of pandering and populism and telling people that the greatest economic system on this earth has failed them.

LEMON: Yes, thank you. The war on Christmas, anyway, Christianity, interesting. We need a whole segment to talk about that or maybe a whole day. Thank you, guys.

MARTIN: No, actually, Don, we don't, because it's a -- it's a trumped-up issue that plays into the drama. So, talking about it is really a waste of time because there's no war on Christmas.

Celebrate Christmas. Have a grand time, and if you don't want to, don't. So, let Bill O'Reilly has --

LEMON: It's worth a discussion. It's worth a discussion to take away the myths of what's true and what's not true.

MARTIN: Actually, it's really not.

LEMON: So, anyway, I think it is. Thank you, Roland. Thank you, Will. Have a great day, cries. Enjoy your Christmas as well if I don't talk to you before then.

MARTIN: Absolutely.

LEMON: All right. We're taking a live look at Washington. We told you about Attorney General Eric Holder. He's going to be on the hot seat today. He's going to be taking questions about the Fast and Furious gun operation. Several House Republicans have asked for Holder to step down over this gun sting.

We're going to have it for you live here on CNN when Eric Holder testifies today on Capitol Hill. You can see him getting ready right there live in Washington.

In the meantime, coming up, as the Occupy protesters march on, some folks wonder what would Jesus do. Well, an op-ed on CNN.com says he wouldn't support the movement. Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council joins us to explain his piece.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Earlier this year, NBC "Today" host Matt Lauer hinted he might be ready to step down. And this morning, there are reports that if that does happen, "American Idol's" Ryan Seacrest could be Lauer's successor.

Details now from entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter.

OK. Kareen, we're hearing that there have been talks already, right?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and you think how can he handle all those gigs -- "Today" show, "American Idol," what's going on here, Don?

According to multiple reports, NBC has been talking to Ryan Seacrest about joining the "Today" show. It really seems like a logical move, some would say. The merger between NBC Universal and Comcast, well, it means that Seacrest and the entire E Network are already a part of the NBC family. And Seacrest, he has a relationship with the "Today" show.

Also, according to the "Hollywood Reporter," Seacrest's contract with E! is up early next year, 2012, and they certainly want to keep him around, Don. Neither Ryan nor NBC, of course, they are not commenting right now.

But in public, Matt Lauer, he's only dropped hints about leaving, and there's also speculation that this story could be, who knows, a play by NBC for leverage in negotiating with the "Today" show anchor -- maybe a little bit of politics.

LEMON: Yes.

WYNTER: So, certainly, this move doesn't need to be in the immediate future, but I can see Seacrest doing a fine job in the morning TV anchor role.

LEMON: I don't see it. See him as a contributor.

WYNTER: You don't?

LEMON: No, because --

WYNTER: Really?

LEMON: -- the "Today" show has a strong news background. Matt Lauer has a strong news background, Ann Curry, everybody who sat there before, news people. Ryan Seacrest is not a news person, can see him as a contributor much in the way.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I see him being a contributor, much in a way Lara Spencer is a contributor on the other morning show, but I don't really see him being the main game. Just doesn't have the news chop.

WYNTER: OK. Fair enough.

LEMON: All right. We're also hearing that Alec Baldwin is sort of sorry about the airplane incident as well.

WYNTER: Yes, the incident that we're still talking about today, Don. I know you had yesterday. But Alec Baldwin, there's more to say today. He apologized to his fellow passengers for any delays caused when he was kicked off a plane for playing words with friends on his iPhone, but, you know, he isn't apologizing, Don, to American airlines. He posted a blog on "The Huffington Post" Wednesday. Basically, he's blaming the flight attendant for the entire situation.

LEMON: Oh, geez.

WYNTER: He says he was unfairly targeted by the attendant. I'm going to try to get through this without cracking up. This is the quote that he gave, "The lesson I've learned is to keep my phone off when the 1950s gym teacher is on duty."

In the wake of this story, Baldwin who originally responded to this story on Twitter while he deactivated his account -- that's a kind of a shame because he really used Twitter to interact with his fans and it seemed like he enjoyed it. But the happiest people out there is the company Zynga, the company behind words with friends and seen a spike in interest in the game since the story broke. The company is also trying to capitalize on the publicity with some cheeky ads, saying, let Alec play.

Wow, 1950s gym teacher with Alec. It just keeps coming.

LEMON: Yes, it's picking a word -- this whole thing is about word play. This Words with Friend. What's behind the words, what's wrong with a 1950s gym teacher? It's some sort of --

(CROSSTALK)

WYNTER: It's hilarious, but I just -- I couldn't read that line without falling out of my chair. I got to keep it together for this. So, that's good.

LEMON: All righty. Thank you, Kareen Wynter. Appreciate it.

WYNTER: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Coming up next hour, the latest Harry Potter movie brought in about $1 billion worldwide so far. Now one of the stars is named entertainer of the year. Kareen Wynter will tell us which one next hour when she brings us more in our showbiz headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Occupy protesters around the world are getting spiritual support and material help from local churches. Jesus, or a guy dressed like him, even camped out on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Well an opinion piece on our belief blog contends that Jesus would oppose the occupiers, not join them. Joining us now, right here is Tony Perkins. He wrote an op-ed. He heads up the Family Research Council at the conservative and controversial Christian think tank and he wrote that on our belief blog.

So thank you for joining us. Good morning to you.

TONY PERKINS, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: Good morning, Don.

LEMON: Good morning.

Obviously you've written this based on your interpretation of biblical doctrine but one of Jesus' basic tenets Mr. Perkins concerns the least of these, right? So wouldn't it be more likely that he would side with the struggling folks rather than the bankers and the money men?

PERKINS: Well, I think the title of the piece is a little more provocative than the actual piece itself and I didn't title it, and I don't think Jesus would actually pick either side.

But I do think there are principles at play here. You know, a parable and this is base on what I wrote is on Luke 19, the parable is a story that identifies with the common activities to draw on a much deeper spiritual meaning. And Jesus is speaking to his followers saying hey, the kingdom of God is not coming right away but here's what I want you to do while I'm gone. I want you to occupy. But in the Greek the word "occupy", the terminology actually means to do business while I'm gone.

And in the parable he endorses activities like trading, banking, interest, and those types of things. And so it's speaking to the fact that these are legitimate activities that are key to the free market system.

LEMON: OK.

In your piece, Mr. Perkins, you criticize these protests against equality and you say each of us is given the same opportunity to build our lives and to succeed. That's great in theory, but do you actually think that's the reality?

PERKINS: Well, again, you go to the parable and that is one very clear principle that's kind of the -- the shocker at the end of the parable and that's common among these parables that Jesus told. He actually kind of refutes this idea that everybody gets a trophy, that you simply show up and everybody is treated the same.

He actually takes what the -- the lazy servant had, the one pound that he began with and he gave it to the one who had gained ten pounds in his trading, and he says this. He says to -- to those who have, more will be given. And that is counterintuitive, at least to the way we think today, that somehow we have to have for -- we have to have this equality of outcomes based upon inequitable contributions. And so I think that is a notion that is in clear contrast with some who are promoting the Occupy Movement. LEMON: Good stuff, good point you said about the title of the article versus what's actually in it because it may be more provocative. It doesn't seem as you're provocative -- as provocative as I'm speaking to you right now.

PERKINS: Well it's I mean, I -- I do think that Jesus is not going to say hey, I'm for those who are engaged in illegal or unethical behavior, absolutely not and you're correct. The scripture, when you interpret it, you have to look at it along with other scriptures, but I think what he's saying here is that we should be engaged in business, and part of that we gain should be helped -- be helping the poor, helping the widows, the fatherless, the strangers, but through our own activities, not through the leverage of government coming in trying to bring about equitable outcomes.

LEMON: We've got to run. Tony Perkins, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

PERKINS: All right, Don. Thank you.

LEMON: You can read Tony's piece at CNN.com/beliefs, CNN.com/beliefs, and if you would like to join the conversation you can leave a comment for him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Take a look at stories making news later on today.

At 11:00 a.m. Eastern, in Pittsburgh, attorneys representing the latest man accusing fired Syracuse basketball coach Bernie Fine of sexually assaulting him as a child, speaks to the media.

At 1:30 Eastern in suburban Atlanta, the man charged with killing a 7-year-old Georgia girl is set to appear in court.

And at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time a judicial panel considers the latest motions in California's ongoing Proposition Eight hearings.

We're following lots of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in now first with Mr. Mark Preston.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Don, there's new evidence that Newt Gingrich is more than just the flavor of the month in his race for the Republican presidential nomination. I'll have that story at the top of the hour.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras. A fast moving storm brought record rain and heavy snow in the northeast. But the winds are still sticking around. Find out what that's going to do to your travel. That's coming up in your forecast.

KOSIK,: And I'm Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. A credit ratings agency not only put the Euro Zone countries on notice. Now it's fired a warning shot at the whole European Union. So that warning is to be ready for a downgrade. Plus how markets are reacting to the make or break debt summit in Brussels. Don, I'm going to have more on all of that in the next hour.

LEMON: I'm looking forward to it guys. Thank you very much.

Also next hour, Bangor, Maine, is the first American soil many U.S. troops touched when they returned from war. We'll introduce you to a dedicated group of people who are at that airport every time a plane load of troops arrives to welcome them home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: One team is out. You're out of here. Another team is in. Jeff Fischel, it's hard to tell who has the inside track for the baseball's best slugger.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: Yes, you know, we were just talking about this yesterday. It looked like maybe the Marlins would reel in first baseman Albert Pujols. But no, while he weighed his options, the Marlins went out and spent their cash somewhere else. Now they can't afford him. So what now for Pujols. Obviously he could go back to the St. Louis Cardinals but he wants more dead presidents.

The team that could swoop in, the Angels. Reports are they're offering him 10 years, $210 million. Pujols wants some time to decide between staying in St. Louis or going out West to the halos.

Great hoops last night. Florida's final 4. Arizona could be the best in the pack 12. This one goes to overtime. The Gators Irving Walker. That's a hoop for two.

The Gators keep pouring it on. There's no stopping the Gators early on in the Final Four. The win for Billy Donovan, the club in overtime, 78-72.

All right Don. Check this out. I played hoops growing up but I was bound to the ground I think is one way to put it. Here's what it looks like and feels like to fly. An LSU cheerleader wearing a tiny camera and 100,000 people watching.

Wow.

You know, some people are made for that. I'm not, but whew. That's what it looks like when you have 100,000 people watching you do flips in the air.

LEMON: Very cool.

FISCHEL: That's LSU.

LEMON: Nice. Go Tigers.

FISCHEL: Go Tigers.

LEMON: Go Tigers.

FISCHEL: That's right.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

So Twitter is giving a philharmonic chorus in Canada something to sing about. Along with some new tips for staying warm. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Imagine your pathetic little tweet sung by a majestic 120 member chorus.

TIMOTHY SHANTZ, CHORUS MASTER: We decided to ask people to tweet about how to stay warm in a Calgary winter.

MOOS: The Calgary Philharmonic Chorus sang those tweeted tips to one of the most mellow dramatic pieces of music ever, "Oh, Fortuna".

(on camera): Do people actually put their clothes in the dryer to warm them up before they go out?

SHANTZ: Of course.

MOOS (voice-over): The chorus did this to promote the Canadian city of Calgary. But it's not the first time "Oh, Fortuna" has gotten new lyrics.

Beer might help to wash down one of the most popular tweets sing by the Calgary Chorus.

(on camera): Some of the tweets require translation from the Canadian.

SHANTZ: It's a French Canadian delicacy of fries with cheese on top and then gravy on top of that.

MOOS (voice-over): Tweeted tips on how to stay warm are nice, but someone posted, they should do this with Kanye West or Snooki tweets. Kanye West's have already been done on Jimmy Kimmel's show.

So are Snooki's tweets.

Even Sarah Palin has had her tweets performed by William Shatner on Conan's old show.

WILLIAM SHATNER, ACTOR: A consistent rain reminds us, no rain, no rainbow.

MOOS: Delivered soulfully, almost any tweet will have you.

SHATNER: LMAO.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Thank you very much, Jeanne.