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Obama On Cordray, Tax Cut, Middle East; Jerry Sandusky Posts Bail; Democrats Scramble for Gingrich Strategy; Iran Airs Images of Purported U.S. Drone; Leaving Iraq; Battling Breast Cancer; Breaking: Virginia Tech Shooting

Aired December 08, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: All right. First, I want to go to John King on this.

So, John, there are a couple of things that stood out here.

On the one hand, he's talking about the payroll tax cut, he's also talking about unemployment insurance, and perhaps willing to put in some time before he goes off to his Hawaii vacation to make sure that gets done. On the other hand, he was very definitive, very bold when it came to talking about Iran, that Iran has weakened, and about hitting back really hard on Republicans about supporting appeasement, saying ask Osama bin Laden and some of the others that are left out there to -- whether or not he supports appeasement.

Which issue do you think that voters are listening to now? Which one is going to make the real difference in this campaign? Is it the economics? Is it the foreign policy?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Eleven months from now, when the American people pick their next president, and decide whether to give President Obama four more years, or pick whoever the Republican nominee is, the economy, by and large, overwhelmingly, will be the issue. But at the moment, the president is coming under attack from several fronts.

And Suzanne, I think if you wanted a headline for that event, it would be "Game On." The president making that clear he is ready to be more combative. As you did, I found it quite striking.

Of late, there was a big Republican event in town just yesterday. The Republican Jewish Coalition had an event. Six of the Republican presidential contenders spoke to it.

There has been a great deal of criticism of the president when it comes to his policy regarding Israel, whether he's being tough enough vis-a-vis Iran. And you heard the president's answer there.

And most Republicans would concede, most publicly, and the rest of them privately, that there is not much to be gained in saying the president has been weak on the world when he can say what he just said, go ask Osama bin Laden how weak I have been in the world. And anyway, this will be a debate about the economy. And on that front, whether its this consumer finance bureau chief, or the fight now about the payroll tax extension, again we talk about politics a lot -- there are some legitimate policy questions here. Some people, some Republicans, and even some Democrats who supported the payroll tax cut months ago now say there's not that much evidence it has been stimulative to the economy, and that money comes out of the Social Security trust fund. Is there another way to provide some stimulus or some tax breaks? There is a policy debate about this.

But in the broader political argument, there are a lot of Republicans who are now privately grumbling that in standing up to the president here, whether it's on this consumer finance bureau or on the payroll tax cut, that even if the Republicans have legitimate policy questions, they want the consumer board restructured, they're not sure the payroll tax cut has been so effective, there are a lot of Republicans who think they are creating an opening to give this president, a struggling president, to give him a chance to find his voice on the economic challenges. You get more and more nervous Republicans, Suzanne, when you have conversations with them on that front.

MALVEAUX: And finding his voice. I want to bring that to Brianna Keilar, who's actually at the White House, inside of the Briefing Room there.

Brianna, when John and I were covering the president and former presidents, you did not see a podium with a countdown clock behind it saying this is when middle tax -- that tax increases are going to happen here. You didn't hear the president saying, look, I'm going to stay in the White House until this gets done.

Talk a little bit about the strategy, the optics, the picture of this White House and this president in trying to deliver that message to the middle class in this campaign season.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And this was a clock -- I'm looking at it right now, Suzanne -- that was unveiled this week here in the Briefing Room. It's also on the White House Web site, and this is just part of President Obama's plan and the plan of White House officials to really ratchet up pressure on Republicans as they try to draw this contrast that he is for the middle class and that Republicans are for the wealthy, the argument that will permeate his reelection fight.

Now, what he's really trying to do is exploit a rift, Suzanne, that we have seen between Republicans. Of course, we've heard from Republican leaders -- or certainly sources in Republican leadership in Congress -- that the expectation is that that payroll tax cut will be extended. No doubt, one of my sources told me.

But at the same time, there's a number of Republican rank-and-file members who are not on board, who say not having that money go in to the Social Security fund creates a vulnerability in that entitlement program, and also they feel that it's a temporary measure that doesn't really work. And so as Republicans try to work out something that can be palatable to them, and as they try to certainly add some things to an extension of the payroll tax cut to make it more palatable to their members, essentially President Obama is kind of trying to have a field day with that.

We saw that today as he pushed not only for the nomination to be confirmed, but also for the payroll tax cut extension. He got to that pretty quickly, as you noted as well, as the extension of unemployment benefits that he and Democrats are pushing for when he was giving his comments here -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right.

Brianna Keilar, John King, thank you very much for your perspective.

(NEWSBREAK)

MALVEAUX: Want to go now back to Pennsylvania. That is where former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky could soon walk out of jail. He posted $250,000 bond just within the last hour.

Our Jason Carroll, he is live in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. That is just outside the jail.

Jason, do we know when he might be released, when he's getting out?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that would be anyone's guess. When I e-mailed his attorney, Joe Amendola, a little while ago, I asked after he had posted the bail, would he even be with him here at the Center County Correctional Facility, would he be leaving with him? He said hopefully. So, hopefully, we will se very soon Jerry Sandusky walk out of the facility behind me.

Again, $250,000 bail is what he had to post. Before he does leave this facility, a probation officer will have to come in and put that electronic monitoring device on him. That is one of the conditions of his bail, one of the few conditions.

In addition to that, he will be under house arrest, Suzanne, as you know. In addition to that, he will also not be able to have any contact with any victims or any witnesses. Also, he will not be able to have any unsupervised visits with any minors. So these are some of the conditions of the bail that have been set forth -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Jason, do we know how he came up with the money?

CARROLL: Not at this point. I mean, it would be pure speculation, which I'm certainly not going to do.

Obviously, in situations like this, you can put up your home. These are some of the things you can do. You can borrow money. But at this point, it would just be pure speculation.

MALVEAUX: And Jason, I know you're outside the jail. Obviously, the media, very interested in this story.

Do we suspect, do we even know in his own neighborhood, Sandusky's neighborhood, whether or not people have been outraged, whether or not they've been outside the home, whether or not people are actually outside the jail following what happens to this guy and where he goes next?

CARROLL: Well, let's start with his neighborhood, which is located just about 20 minutes from here.

As you can imagine, his neighbors are fed up with the media coming to and from Sandusky's home. He lives in sort of a remote neighborhood on a cul-de-sac. It's hard to get in and out. They've restricted media from even parking news vans and news trucks in front of his home for obvious reasons. So his neighbors are understandably a little bit fed up with the media.

There have been some situations at the home when some rocks have been thrown through Sandusky's window there. So that, in itself, says something. But in terms of people showing up here at the jail, no one's showing up here at the jail except, of course, for the media.

MALVEAUX: All right, Jason. Thank you very much.

Obviously, we're going to be monitoring the jail. We're probably going to go back to Jason as well to bring you an update on actually when Sandusky will walk out. We're going to have more on that story after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Rod Blagojevich just got sentenced to 14 years in prison, but does the time fit the crime?

Carol Costello, she's joining us from New York with today's "Talk Back" question.

Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Suzanne.

It's safe to say the judge threw the book at Rod Blagojevich. Fourteen years for, among other things, selling a Senate seat for personal political gain. Make no mistake, U.S. District Judge James Zagel made an example of the man of a million hair jokes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK FITZGERALD, U.S. ATTORNEY: Today's sentenced of 14 years on former governor Blagojevich sends a strong message that the public has had enough and judges have had enough. This needs to stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Not many would disagree with that, but 14 years? Dr. Conrad Murray only got four years for causing Michael Jackson's death. DePaul law professor Len Cavise told "The Chicago Sun-Times," "I think it's outrageous."

Cavise likened the sentence to cruel and unusual punishment. He says, "I think it's outrageous. The judge and the prosecution went off the deep end on this one."

After all, former congressman and majority leader Tom DeLay appeared on "Dancing With the Stars" while charges of money laundering swirled around him. Congressman Bob Ney got 30 months for conspiracy. Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham got eight years for accepting bribes and tax evasion. Richard Nixon, he got zero time.

Clearly, Mr. Blagojevich is not happy to be the example the public has had enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), FMR. ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: We're going to keep fighting on through this adversity and see you soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Yet, he and many other politicians have violated something that ought to be sacred -- your trust.

So we want to take the conversation one step further. The "Talk Back" question today: Should politicians be subject to harsher punishments for wrongdoing?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Carol.

A new poll shows Newt Gingrich taking the lead in three battleground states: Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio. But in a match-up with President Obama, the president would win.

Meanwhile, President Clinton had some interesting things to say about the former Speaker of the House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He is, first, resilient. And secondly, he's always thinking, and he's got a million ideas. And some of them are good, and some of them I think are horrible.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you think he's the strongest in the field?

CLINTON: I don't know. I don't know. But in both our party and in theirs, very often the strongest person for the nomination is not necessarily the strongest person in the general election. And it's a mistake to underestimate Governor Romney.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right. So you had a lot of kind words.

Question: politics at play?

Want to bring in Larry Sabato, professor of politics from the University of Virginia, to talk about all of this.

So, I don't know if this is transparent or not, but Bill Clinton, a lot of compliments that he's paying to Republicans these days, especially towards the front-runner, Newt Gingrich. What do we make of this? A strategy to say, hey, we're buddy-buddy with these guys and turn the Republicans against him?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Well, either President Clinton has mellowed -- you know, he's a vegan now. Maybe the change in diet has encouraged him to take a new view of Newt Gingrich.

MALVEAUX: Yes.

SABATO: He wasn't saying these things in the 1990s. Or, it's part of the Machiavellian strategy of Democrats to get someone they consider a weaker nominee, which would certainly be Newt Gingrich. That's the way they look at it.

Now, they all wanted Ronald Reagan in 1980, and we know what happened. But they seem to think that Newt Gingrich is a weaker general election candidate than Mitt Romney.

MALVEAUX: And how do they do that? How do they take on Gingrich if he actually runs away with the nomination? They clearly were not prepared for this.

SABATO: No, they were not prepared for it. Though, in their defense, I would have to say that almost nobody other than Newt Gingrich thought he would be the runaway front-runner at this point in the campaign.

But, of course they have a year, and it's not as though they have to go digging very far to find things about Newt Gingrich they can use in the campaign. He's got enough baggage to fill the cargo hold of a 747.

So they're going to use all of that information from the 1990s and after the 1990s -- the lobbyist career -- the non-lobbyist lobbyist career, they taking of all that money from Freddie Mac, and serving as a historian, and all the rest of it. They have got plenty to use, but I think they also have to focus on the economic situation and the future and put Gingrich in that picture.

MALVEAUX: Yes. You know, I want to ask you about the timing of that, because the DNC, already they released this attack ad hitting Romney pretty hard. But besides just a couple of digs on the Sunday talk shows, there really hasn't been that kind of substantial swinging at Gingrich yet.

Why do you suppose we haven't seen that kind of hard-hitting criticism yet?

SABATO: Well, Suzanne, I think, first of all, they really weren't prepared for Gingrich to be the front-runner. But second, their strategy with Mitt Romney was to weaken him early. Now, in their wildest dreams, they really didn't think they could help weaken Romney enough so that somebody else could get the nomination, but they may have assisted this process where an anti-Romney -- in this case, Newt Gingrich -- skyrockets to the top of the polls. They had simply hoped to weaken Romney enough for the general election so that President Obama could make quick work of him in the fall.

MALVEAUX: All right, Professor Sabato. Thank you very much. We'll be following all these developments. Thanks again.

Well, there are some serious charges that a government weapons sting really put guns in the hands of Mexican drug runners. Now the U.S. attorney general, he's on Capitol Hill trying to explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The man who police say beat, raped and killed a 7-year-old girl and threw her body in a trash bin will face a judge in about an hour from now. Police say that Ryan Brunn tracked down that little girl near her apartment playground. He's a maintenance worker at that complex.

Well, joining us from outside the courthouse in Canton, Georgia, is Holly Firfer, who's covering this.

Holly, tell us a little bit about who this person is and what they believe he's done.

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ryan Brunn was a 20-year-old maintenance worker. He actually lived and worked in the apartment complex where she was killed, and that was very important for police when they were looking for the suspect, because the maintenance workers were the only ones who had keys to the trash compactor where they found her body.

He lived with a roommate in the complex, and it was a tip from neighbors that alerted police to his -- to him, which then subsequently ended in his arrest. And actually, I have the arrest warrant, copies of them, here.

He was arrested for lying to law enforcement, and also for murder, malice aforethought. So today he'll have his first appearance in a courtroom. They'll read the charges against him, and it should be very brief.

And after that, then we'll find out exactly what other charges they're going to add. Law enforcement tells us they'll probably be charges that have to do with sexual molestation, kidnapping, and it remains to be seen whether they will go for the death penalty -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Holly, we've heard from Brunn's brother now, who says this arrest is a big mistake.

Are people coming to his defense now?

FIRFER: Not many people. His brother, his family members, that's about it.

Not a lot of people knew him very well. He had only moved into the complex about a month before this happened. On November 7th, he started working there.

Law enforcement did say they did a check on his background. There's no known criminal history.

The apartment complex actually gave us a statement last night saying they investigated him and did a background check and didn't find anything, but law enforcement is going to continue to see what there might be in the background. They're going to look at every state, every county where he's lived, to see if they can connect any unsolved crimes or maybe some unreported crimes -- Suzanne.

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

American soldiers on the road again, moving equipment and troops out of Iraq. It is a dangerous mission, but worth it after eight long years of war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: CNN goes in-depth now on Iraq.

U.S. troops raced across the desert to reach Baghdad during the invasion back in 2003. Well, now, eight-and-a-half years later, the operation is in reverse.

CNN's Martin Savidge is there as some of the troops left Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 2:30 a.m., and the convoy comes to life in the dark, bitter cold. Despite the time and temperature, these soldiers of the 82nd Airborne are in a good mood. This trip will mean their war is almost over.

The trip has taken six weeks to prepare, mainly because of security. Convoys are tempting targets, especially for IEDs. To counter them, the U.S. military began using MRAPs, mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, steel monsters weighing several tons (INAUDIBLE). Looking like snowplows, trucks with massive rollers designed to detonate mines lead the way.

(on camera): This is part of the first series (ph) that's heading out the front gate. The convoy is divided into, well, various sections. It makes it easier to travel. So this group will run ahead of the group that we're with. All told though, 160, 170 trucks, seven to 10 hours, all of it (INAUDIBLE).

(voice-over): Once on the Iraqi highway, the soldiers are now the most vulnerable they have been during their entire deployment.

(on camera): How you feeling?

SGT. JONATHON SKELTON, 82ND AIRBORNE: I'm pretty excited to get home, but careful to get too excited, because anything can happen.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Helicopters providing cover from the air check in. If there's going to be trouble, convoy leaders believe it will be in and around Baghdad.

But instead, the only thing the convoy meets is the rising sun. The drive drags on and on. The M-raps are so packed with bodies and gear it is hard to find a spot to rest your feet. Air condition something kept near freezing so the soldiers remain alert. Then --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just called up that they may have received small arms fire in the vicinity of the rest stop.

SAVIDGE: Some lead vehicles have come under fire at a place where the convoy planned to take a break. The rest of the M-raps bypass the problem stopping later instead by the side of the road.

SPC. CHRISTIAN GORKE, 82ND AIRBORNE: Make sure everyone has a chance to trade out their drivers, trade out their gunners and make sure everybody has a chance to stretch out their legs.

SAVIDGE: Eventually we make it. It has been a grinding 10 hours at an average speed of just 13 kilometers or 20 miles an hour. Here the convoy will spend the night. What does that mean for you?

SKELTON: It means one step closer to home hopefully if everything goes as planned.

SAVIDGE: Tomorrow they'll be on the road again for the final six hours to Kuwait.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Group photo there of the team. I should point out, Suzanne, the military officials say that there have been several IED attacks against convoys over the past six weeks that they've really been operating at full force.

They say there has not been any real serious damage as a result of that. The concern is that as the number of American forces in Iraq continues to go down, they believe the attacks against those convoys could rise. Some groups will want to give the impression that American forces are leaving under fire -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX: All right, still a dangerous situation there. Thank you, Martin.

Iranian press TV is now showing video of what it says is a U.S. drone that went down over the country last week. We'll go live to the Pentagon to see what does this mean for national security.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Iranian press TV is showing video now of what it says is a U.S. drone that went down over the country last week. Iran claims that its forces shot down that drone. But a senior U.S. official says that the aircraft crashed solely because the guidance system failed.

Well, our CNN's Chris Lawrence is live at the Pentagon. So Chris, what's this new information or do we have new information that we could learn from these pictures?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have what looks to be a drone that matches the pictures we had seen before of this U.S. stealth drone. Now we also have Iranian claims that go with that with the commander of the Islamic revolution guards corps coming on state TV in Iran explaining how they downed this aircraft.

Saying that their electronic surveillance and intelligence gathering detected that this plane was going to cross into their airspace beforehand, and that when it did and started flying over that part of the border in Iran that they then brought it down by some means.

They also say that they are well aware how precious the technology in this drone is. Now we've spoken to some of the experts. I've e-mailed out this picture a couple times and some of this video to get some feedback.

One person e-mailed me back and said, wow, that's in glorious condition. He said sarcastically for a crashed drone. Someone else said, it almost appears to be a mock-up for a parade.

So just yesterday we had U.S. officials saying they had satellite images on the crash and they said that it suffered significant damage. So we've obviously got two stories going on here, U.S. and Iran.

MALVEAUX: So they don't really believe these pictures, they don't think that that's the drone that went down in Iran.

LAWRENCE: They believe that Iran does have what's left of the drone. I'm not so sure if they believe that is what they actually recovered. But, Suzanne, the key here is they may not need a completely intact drone.

Back in 1999, one of the U.S.' first stealth planes was shot down over Serbia. Chinese officials were set to come into Serbia and buy up those pieces from the local farmers. When you look at what makes this drone stealthy, some of the paint, the coating, the shape, some of that can be learned from fragments, not just an intact drone.

MALVEAUX: OK, so obviously, national security a big issue with that. Thank you, Chris. Appreciate it.

So if you tend to pile the food on your plate during the holidays? You got to check this out, OK. Here's something to think about. Scientists are claiming color plays a role in your serving size. We'll explain why.

But first, the next list is a new CNN program focusing on some of America's most creative minds. Each Sunday, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is profiling people on the cutting edge of technology and innovation and this week he's looking at toys as art.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I design the toy made by kid robot. It is a combination of devil and bunny. It is design to be a blank surface for artists to collaborate on so everyone that comes out is designed by a particular artist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Customizing to our community has grown immensely. It's been pretty much a part of it from the beginning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everywhere there is a major city where there are creative people you'll find art toys now from Tokyo to all across Europe, South America. They're everywhere now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: There are some promising new developments in the fight against breast cancer. Two studies now show a combination of treatments that can help slow down the spread of the disease.

The treatments can overcome or reduce drug resistance when the cancer has spread beyond the breasts and lymph nodes. Studies involved a number of different therapies, including a combination of a hormone blocking drug and kidney cancer drug. About 200,000 American women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year.

Well, lunch time in the east, maybe a little late breakfast in the west. Time to dish with diet. Researchers are saying the color of your plate actually counts when it comes to counting calories.

Elizabeth Cohen is joining us to talk about this. So I don't really get this, Elizabeth. The color of your plate actually matters in how much you eat?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I guess -- this is so crazy, but that's what this study showed. Is that it matters what color plate you eat off of that is sort of plays tricks on your brain and can make you eat more or eat less.

So I have here some plates and what they did in this study is that people went through buffet lines with red plates or white plates. What they found is that people put more food on their plate when it matched the color of the plate.

You see spaghetti with a red sauce on a red plate. However when it contrasts, they put less on their plate. The thinking is that perhaps what's going on is that here it just looks like more food because there's a contrast.

Whereas here it looks like less, you think, I need more, I'm really hungry when in fact there isn't less, it just kind of blends in.

MALVEAUX: That's really interesting because it really does look like more on the white plate.

COHEN: It is the exact same amount.

MALVEAUX: Really. I guess it does kind of play tricks on you a little bit. So what about the tablecloth? Does that matter at all or is that a part of the equation?

COHEN: You know what? The tablecloth matters, too. It is crazy. According to another study, they looked at -- first they looked at an optical illusion. I'm sure you've seen this before, kind of like an old party trick, which dot looks bigger.

The one on the right looks bigger just because of the size of the circle that's around it. So because of that exact same optical illusion, people ate more when the plate contrasts with the tablecloth and people ate less when the plate matched the tablecloth.

We're not talking about tons and tons. I mean this is in terms of putting food on your plate. We aren't talking about a huge difference. But look, if you eat a 50-calorie difference and do you that every single day that can add up to like five pounds a year. So this might help you.

MALVEAUX: Wow, I wonder if you're just standing and you aren't sitting at a table if it makes any difference at all if you're always eating on the go --

COHEN: Or if you're colorblind maybe it doesn't matter.

MALVEAUX: There you go. You know, I guess it brings up a more serious question obviously. CDC says about one-third of Americans are now obese. Regardless of the color of the plate, how can we make ourselves more aware of just how much these portions that we're eating?

MALVEAUX: The color of the plate. I mean how can we make ourselves more aware of just how much these portions that we're eating?

COHEN: You know, one of the things you can do is do what people do really in the rest of the world, and that is eat on a smaller plate. Plate sizes in this country have gone way up. So if you eat on a smaller plate, you're going -- studies show you're going to put less food on that plate. So that's another thing you can do.

You know, portion size, Suzanne, is huge. And, in many ways in this country, our problem isn't so much necessarily what we eat, although, of course, that plays a role. It's the portion sizes. So whatever you can do to trick your brain into thinking you're eating more and that you should be satisfied, you should do it.

MALVEAUX: Yes, you ever notice the buffets, those plates are huge at the buffet?

COHEN: They're huge for a reason, right?

MALVEAUX: They're like really, really big plates. Yes, they want you to pile it on, I guess.

COHEN: Exactly.

MALVEAUX: All right, thank you, Elizabeth.

COHEN: OK. Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So, really interesting. Fascinating.

He tried to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat, right, to the highest bidder. He got 14 years for it. Some are saying the judge was making an example of Rod Blagojevich. But should politicians get harsher sentences than the rest of us? We're letting you answer that question for us in the "Talk Back" section next.

But first, some free money advice from the CNN "Help Desk."

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Jack Otter is the executive editor of cbsmoneywatch.com, Donna Rosato is the senior editor at "Money" magazine.

Thank you both for being here.

Donna, your question comes from Monique. Monique's a 58-year-old widow. She was married for 10 years. She wants to know, if she remarries, is she going to lose the right to her late husband's Social Security benefit.

DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR EDITOR, MONEY: This is an interesting one. She actually -- she will not lose her rights if she remarries, but she can't remarry until she's after age 60. So if she's got someone in mind, they might want to have a long engagement. It's true that if you're divorced that have you to be married at least 10 years to collect, but that's not true of a widow.

The one other thing she might keep in mind, though, whoever she marries, check how much Social Security that person might get and, you know, weigh that against what she might have gotten from her previous husband and see which one might be higher.

HARLOW: Sure. Good advice.

Jack, your question comes from Minn (ph) in California. Minn writes, are there any tax advantages to investing my 401(k) contribution in my own company's stock?

JACK OTTER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, CBSMONEYWATCH.COM: There's no tax advantage. There is a huge financial investing disadvantage that we'll talk about. But anything within a 401(k) is all taxed the same as ordinary income when you take it out.

But the problem with investing in company stock is, look, your financial present and future is hitched to your company. I know everyone thinks their company's great. There will be no problems. But, who knows, there could be a stumble down the road. You could lose your job. And if your retirement savings are invested in that company, you could lose both your job and your retirement savings. So no more than 5 percent in company stock. And, really, is there any reason to be in company stock? Answer that question very carefully. Generally I would say, no. Diversify away. Your fortunes are already hitched to your company.

HARLOW: All right, thank you guys so much.

If you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail any time to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right, for some reason, not entirely clear, many of the Republicans presidential candidates think that the road to the White House runs past Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in New York. Comedians, well, they're getting a kick out of the pilgrimage to see The Donald.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Newt Gingrich met with Donald Trump the other day in New York City to discuss the election. Here they are meeting. Take a look at this.

DONALD TRUMP, ENTREPRENEUR: It's amazing how well he's doing and how it's really resonating with so many people.

LENO: Well, you know it's fascinating. You can see Trump has really had an influence on Newt Gingrich. I saw him today on another cable show. Show them Newt Gingrich.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, first of all, I think you take the (INAUDIBLE) amount of money we're spending and you could say to all the states --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Well, it's going to be 14 years of hard time for Rod Blagojevich. But did the punishment fit the crime? And should politicians be subjected to harsher punishment than the rest of us, say? Carol Costello, she's in New York with today's "Talk Back" question.

Hey, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hi, Suzanne.

That was the "Talk Back" question today, should politicians be subject to harsher punishments?

This from John. "Absolutely. But Blagojevich will never serve the full 14 years. What about hedge fund managers and rating agencies? They also destroyed our confidence and our institutions while cheating us out of trillions of dollars. They're protected from justice by their money, lobby money and positions of power." This from Jeffrey. "They need to abide by the same rules like you and me. They should not get away scot free. When harsher punishment are implemented for those politicians, it will stop the domino effect and will prevent them from developing the mindset of I'm above a--l-l, all."

This from Steven. "Creative and compassionate sentencing ought to be used more often. America cannot afford to have the world's highest incarceration rate. In addition to a monetary fine, community service is called for and not the caging of Blagojevich as though he were a wild animal."

And this from Charlie. "It has reached a point where politicians use their elected and appointed offices to capitalize of what it can do for them and their futures in the private sector. The good of the American people and the good of the country mean nothing to most of them. They have to be made aware that to violate the public trust is a heinous crime and they must pay dearly. A harsh punishment is absolutely necessary to stop or at least to slow down the abuse."

Keep the conversation going, facebook.com/carolcnn. Although I will warn you, for some reason, FaceBook is automatically deleting posts today. It's not me. So I'm reading as fast as I can --

MALVEAUX: Really?

COSTELLO: Before the Facebook monsters comes in and gobbles it -- yes, it's weird.

MALVEAUX: That's happening. Oh, OK. Well good thing we got some of those on, at least.

Now you know, Carol, I got a -- we love these favorite stories. We always throw them your way. So this is something that's really interesting. When you and I, right, when we turned 16, we probably thought, great, you know, get keys to the family car. So now teens are asked whether or not they'd rather have access to the car or a computer.

And it shows that they're actually split. Almost half of all 18 to 24 year-olds, they pick the computer. That's according to a survey from Gartner Research. So really a sign of the times. And researchers say that kids are spending more time, right, e-mailing their friends rather than actually getting in the car to see their friends. That that's happening. And I'll tell you, I mean mine --

COSTELLO: See, I was --

MALVEAUX: Go ahead.

COSTELLO: No, I was going to say, you can go anywhere in the world on your computer, right? You can't do that in your parents' car. You probably can only go two blocks because that's the rule.

MALVEAUX: That's the rule. But I think it's true because my 17-year- old niece, not interested at all in driving. Couldn't care less about the keys to the car. But, of course, she's got computer access. I mean that's just -- I guess that's just the way it is now, huh?

COSTELLO: I don't know. It's kind of sad. But it is kind of sad, actually. So much better to see people in person. But then, I'm not 16.

MALVEAUX: Yes, but she always -- somebody just gives her a ride. She just asks her mom for a ride. She gets the ride. I guess --

COSTELLO: I'm sure.

MALVEAUX: She's a little spoiled. All right, Carol, we'll see you.

Well, there are now charges that government weapons sting put guns in the hands of Mexican drug runners and now the U.S. attorney general, he's on Capitol Hill trying to explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We've got some breaking news here we want to go to. We have just learned that Virginia Tech has posted on their Web site that the campus is now on lockdown. This is after reports of shots being fired. A suspect described as a white male wearing gray sweatpants, a gray hat with a neon brim and a maroon hoodie and backpack, that he was on foot. This is just coming into us now. Virginia Tech posting on their website that the campus is on lockdown after reports of shots fired.

You could imagine how significant this is to the Virginia Tech community. You may recall it was back in 2007 that tragedy where you had a gunman who went through and killed more than 30 people on that campus just four years ago at Virginia Tech. So they're taking all precautions and that campus is now on lockdown.

Now, how are they actually alerting the students? How are they alerting the faculty and the community there? They've done a number of things to try to communicate and communicate quickly to people since the 2007 tragedy. One of the things that they are doing is that they have a Web site and they are posting on their Web site what is taking place there, letting people know that they are now on lockdown because they have reports of shots being fired.

Now, so far there is not a lot of information about the suspected shooter. The shooter is only described as a white male wearing gray sweatpants, a gray hat with a neon brim, maroon hoodie and a backpack, who was actually headed on foot. That is really all the information that we know.

But you can imagine the kind of tension and the concern and the worry after we had seen what had happened in 2007. That campus was terrorized in one of the largest incidents of a school shooting that has taken place in this country. Thirty-three people who were killed, including the shooter himself, in that tragic situation.

So Virginia Tech immediately trying to figure out what went wrong, how to actually find those victims and to warn people, because it took a lot of time for people to heal and to get over some of the fear that they had because of that shooting. I want to go to Randi Kaye, who has a little bit more information about this.

Randi.