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Erin Burnett Outfront
"Occupy" Marches on Brooklyn Bridge; GOP Race Dead-Heat in Iowa; White House Shooting
Aired November 17, 2011 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks, Candy.
We're on the front line at Penn State with reports that more alleged victims are about to come forward.
The Super Committee, by the way, running out of time to reach a deal. Will Democrats and Republicans get it done?
A homeless man turned billionaire OUTFRONT tonight.
And the bottom line on "Occupy Wall Street's" day of action, 177 protesters arrested according to an e-mail to OUTFRONT from the NYPD moments ago. Seven police officers injured and what the mayor has to say about it.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the Brooklyn Bridge is occupied. "Occupy Wall Street's" day of action culminating in a demonstration at one of New York's most iconic locations.
And you can see it now. People walking across. This is the pedestrian area which is important to emphasize. Obviously doesn't look like there's any disruption of traffic at this time.
It all started at 7:00 this morning when protesters descended on the New York Stock Exchange in an attempt to, quote, "shut down Wall Street."
Now, in Zuccotti Park, the original campground for the occupiers, demonstrators clashed with police. They pulled down barricades that were there to block them from entering the area.
Hundreds of protesters have been arrested, as we said. NYPD saying 177 to us just a moment ago. At least officers have been injured according to the police. Mayor Bloomberg talked about those injuries earlier today at a press conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY: Someone in the crowd threw a star shaped glass object at the officer. Another officer -- another protester threw a liquid, possibly vinegar, in the face of another officer. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, the mayor did note that at most points demonstrations had been peaceful. Let's go to the Brooklyn Bridge now. Mary Snow is there.
Mary, we just showed everyone a live picture. People looking like they're in the pedestrian area and staying there as opposed to disrupting traffic. But what can you tell us that you're seeing right now?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erin, it's been fairly peaceful. We're at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. I apologize for my voice. It's been a long day out here covering these protests. But for about the past 45 minutes or so, protesters have been streaming out to the bridge. Police have been telling them to stay on the pedestrian walkway.
And as long as they stay on that pedestrian walkway, then they're being told that they will not be arrested. Now before this march started, there was a symbolic 99 people arrested. This, for the 99 percent. It was civil disobedience. We saw a number of people arrested. But it was very calm.
And -- you know, it's hard to say just how many people have shown out here tonight. But clearly, it appears to be in the thousands. And this is the biggest march of this action all day today. There have been a number of protests throughout the day.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Mary, thank you very much.
And I think -- to emphasize to all of you out there, with Mary losing her voice, it has been a crazy day. It may seem calm from some of those aerial shots but it has been a crazy day and she's had to yell to be heard for much of the day.
Let's turn now to Howard Safir, former NYPD police commissioner.
Good to have you with us, Mr. Safir. We appreciate your taking the time. What's your sense of how things have gone so far today? It was an important day, the two-month anniversary of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. That's why they had planned to do this. What would be your takeaway for how it's been handled?
HOWARD SAFIR, FMR. NYPD POLICE COMMISSIONER: I think the NYPD handled it as well as could be expected. The fact that seven police officers were injured is regrettable. But you know you always have some people in these protests who do not obey the law. Who want to make trouble. And I think based on the numbers I'd say it was a pretty good day for the NYPD.
BURNETT: And what do you think will happen tonight? Obviously, there's a key thing just to explain to everyone out here. We're going to talk about the legality of it in a moment. But as to whether they stay in the pedestrian area versus trying to stop traffic. Two very different things when it comes potentially to First Amendment rights, Mr. Safir.
So what's your sense if they stay on the pedestrian pathway, I would presume you would think that this would remain peaceful?
SAFIR: I would think so. You know, the First Amendment gives you the right to protest and say anything you want to say. But it doesn't -- does not give you the right to impinge on other people's rights. So as long as they stay in the pedestrian walkway and do not block traffic, I think it's going to be fine.
BURNETT: And what's your sense? I mean, the NYPD, the biggest police force in the nation, and you've taken a look at how other cities around the country have handled the "Occupy Wall Street" and compared to the NYPD, who's gotten it right, who's gotten it wrong?
SAFIR: Well, I think, you know, clearly I'm not going to criticize other police departments but clearly Chicago got it right. Gary McCarthy, who I know for a long time, made sure that the protesters did not camp in the park. I think the NYPD did a good job. I personally would have liked to have seen the tents evicted a little earlier. I think Oakland unfortunately got it wrong.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much, sir. We appreciate you taking the time and joining us tonight.
SAFIR: Good to be with you.
BURNETT: As we said, Howard Safir was the commissioner for the New York Police Department from 1996 until the year 2000.
Let's bring in Jeffrey Toobin now, our chief legal analyst, and John Avlon, CNN contributor.
Good to have both of you with us.
John Avlon, let me start with you first. You've been -- you live near the original encampment. Not -- no longer an encampment. But near Zuccotti Park. You've been back and forth down there the past couple of days.
What are you seeing?
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, the day of the eviction -- and they really hunkered down with a pretty organized tent city. And the next day, taken out. It's become a park again. They have -- the court order has said they're not allowed to bring back tents and sleeping bags.
And that's really a challenge I think for the "Occupy" movement in New York particularly. To ask themselves what's next. Are they going to evolve and become a constructive political force or are they going to become a destructive political force which will lead to their declining poll numbers.
The fact they're using the pedestrian bridge right now in Brooklyn Bridge, good for them. That's a constructive step. BURNETT: That's positive.
AVLON: As opposed to blocking traffic and getting arrested just to get a short-term headline.
BURNETT: And let me ask you about that, Jeff Toobin, because what are their rights? Where does it come -- where is there a line if there is legally where you are allowed to protest and exercise your First Amendment rights and then you're not allowed to because you're disrupting commerce?
Earlier today, obviously, there was some pride from some protesters about disrupting traffic, disrupting buses, and shutting down entrances to businesses.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Right. Well, as so often in the law, it's not a very clear line, but the general outlines of the rules have been established for many, many years. The government is allowed to make what are called time, place and manner restrictions on exercises of the First Amendment rights.
They can say, you know, this has to end at 1:00 in the morning. It says, you can't go in the street. You can't go in somebody's lawn. You can't have a bullhorn in a residential neighborhood. Those are all well-established restrictions.
But you can't have so many restrictions that it amounts to preventing people from exercising their First Amendment rights. And it sounds like, you know, the bridge protest is an example of one where everybody is on good ground.
BURNETT: Right.
TOOBIN: You know you have people protesting by the thousands. But they're not disrupting people's train's homes, or car rides home.
BURNETT: Right. Absolutely.
TOOBIN: So, you know, it seems to be -- as Commissioner Safir said, a pretty good day in terms of how it unfolded.
BURNETT: It absolutely does. It's interesting how -- you know, bullhorns, I mean, obviously, in this case, people talked about things like the drum circles.
TOOBIN: Sure.
BURNETT: Which you can chuckle at but also have been a significant part of this and noise disruption in the neighborhood.
Let me ask you, John Avlon, you've been down there a lot. You've seen some of their brochures and things.
What's the takeaway from this one that you've got?
AVLON: Well, if you read "Occupy the Machine" or any of the basic anarchist guides, you do get a sense of the professional protester element in this. That they've got an agenda that's way beyond income and equality. I mean some of the lines and here to talk about, you know, 500 years of genocide, characterizing all we've done in this country.
BURNETT: Right. In terms of taking land from the American Indians.
AVLON: Yes.
BURNETT: Yes.
AVLON: That's not a useful argument to make if you want to put -- play a constructive role in our politics. And here's what the Tea Party really did very quickly. Take a populist political movement and quickly turned it into a political forces.
BURNETT: Yes.
AVLON: And that's been one of the interesting challenges going forward for the "Occupy." As they mature, as even liberal allies like Portland Mayor Sam Adams said, look, I sympathize with your goals but you've got to evolve to be a constructive force. What issues are they going to take? Are they -- going to continue talking about income equality? Great. What to do about it? Are you -- you know, are you going to talk about crony capitalism? Great. But then what specific plans s do you want to put forward? Then you can really -- determine the debate we have going forward. That would be a constructive role for the movement to play.
BURNETT: Right. Laws you want to change.
AVLON: Absolutely.
BURNETT: Allowing the banks to be as big as they were. There's very specific things --
AVLON: Absolutely.
BURNETT: -- that you could put on the table.
AVLON: Absolutely. And things that are in the news. Take on, you know, the crony capitalism. Lobbyist reform. Congressman doing insider trading. Glass-Steagall. There are specific rules that you can say that look, here are some specific areas. Agitate and influence the debate and get those passed into law.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thanks very much to both of you. We appreciate it.
And I just want to update the numbers coming in. The NYPD now saying there have been 276 protesters arrested. Obviously, we had earlier told you 177 so takes them a while to get those numbers and aggregate them but we'll continue to keep you updated on that and exactly how this protest goes on. OUTFRONT next a lot of people have picked Mitt Romney as the inevitable GOP nominee but the latest poll out of Iowa has four candidates in a dead heat.
And the man who allegedly shot at the White House. We told you about him yesterday. But he's charged today with trying to assassinate the president. And those bullets, yes, did hit the White House.
And then San Diego, California, investigators seizing $30 million in pot. After discovering a smuggling tunnel between Mexico and the United States. We've got the story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: "The Number" for tonight. Zero. That's how many songs the Columbia University Marching Band will be playing at Saturday's football game. It's also how many wins the football team has had this year. So the band was banned but the -- the band was banned from the game after it mocked the players following a 62-41 loss to Cornell.
By changing words to the school fight song from "Roar, Lion, roar" to "We always lose, lose, lose." Sung as the team left the field.
Now according to the Columbia spectator, band members have now banned those lyrics and are planning to attend the game and cheer the team on from the bleachers, which is good because that's team spirit and a positive attitude. I mean come on. If you haven't won a game, do you really need your band to be so nasty?
OK. In politics, speaking of nasty things, let's talk about politics. We're going to focus in on Iowa. With seven weeks to go, the GOP field is in chaos. Take a look at the latest state poll. Four candidates in a statistical dead heat. The man almost everyone thinks is the inevitable nominee, Mitt Romney, hasn't even decided if he should seriously contest the state.
Now Iowa's influential governor Terry Branstad is criticizing Romney for sliding his state, saying, quote, "I think he's making a big mistake by not coming here and spending more time." And, quote, "Iowans don't like being ignored. They don't like being ignored."
So why isn't Mitt Romney fighting for Iowa?
Douglas Heye is a former RNC spokesman and Republican strategist. Maria Cardona is a CNN contributor and Democratic strategist.
OK, good to have both of you with us.
Doug, Mitt Romney's strategy has been to play down Iowa, win big in New Hampshire. But you know he's in a four-way dead heat. And Iowa's upset at him. If he went in and gave them a little bit of love, couldn't he lock it up if he just decided to go spend the time now? DOUGLAS HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think he can do very really well. The real asset that Mitt Romney has is a lot of finance, obviously, but also key supporters and a real organization where other campaigns don't. In Iowa, obviously, it's a caucus state and primaries people vote to make their voices heard.
In caucuses, people show up to make their presence felt. That's a key difference and that's where organization come -- can come in play. Mitt Romney doesn't have to necessarily decide to do all or nothing at all, but even if he plays just a little bit, he can possibly win but certainly come in second place.
BURNETT: And Maria, doesn't he need to come in at least in second place to really solidify his role as the nominee if that's what he's going to be?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I absolutely -- I think that's the case. I think that Terry Branstad is absolutely right if he comes in fourth. I actually frankly think even if he comes in third, it's going to be detrimental to his campaign and the momentum that he wants to build at the very beginning.
I think the problem with Romney in Iowa is the problem that has dogged Romney from the very beginning with conservative voters because everybody knows that in Iowa it's conservative mostly evangelical voters who have a real say in who the nominee is.
Clearly, there is no love lost between Romney and evangelical conservative voters. They are looking for the anti-Romney and I think that is something that Romney has to come to terms with and it's why he's not going to put all of his eggs in the Iowa basket right now.
BURNETT: You know what would be neat is just if we just changed it up so every year a different -- every election year a different state got to go first. So Iowa didn't always get to be --
CARDONA: It's a great idea.
BURNETT: That would be really neat. But that's -- for another day.
HEYE: And Erin.
BURNETT: Yes.
HEYE: Look, with Iowa, let's remember, if we're having this conversation four years ago today.
BURNETT: Yes.
HEYE: We're talking about Hillary Clinton as the inevitable nominee and whether or not Barack Obama or John Edwards can do anything. It's always up in the air in politics. And that's why we can't count votes before they're actually made.
BURNETT: That's a fair point. Well, want to turn to the president. Obviously he is in Asia right now. But a hot topic for Republican candidates this week has been the president's remarks in Hawaii during a business summit. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've been a little bit lazy I think over the last couple of decades.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. So now some Republicans wasted no time pouncing on that. They put some ads together calling the president's words an insult. Take a look at Perry. We'll show you the Perry ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's what our president thinks wrong with America that Americans are lazy? That's pathetic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK, now let me just -- let's get some facts in here. The president wasn't really talking about American workers. He was talking about -- well, that we haven't worked hard enough to sell America as a great place to invest.
Here's the full sound bite of what the president said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: A lot of things that make foreign investors see the U.S. as a great opportunity are stability, our openness, our innovative free market culture. But, you know, we've been a little bit lazy I think over the last couple of decades. We've kind of taken for granted, well, people will want to come here. And we aren't out there hungry selling America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's a little bit different, isn't it, Maria?
CARDONA: It's very different, Erin. And I think what you're seeing is that these are two candidates who are being very disingenuous on a comment that was clearly taken out of context. And in fact, many news organizations have already said that this is not -- that this is not fair what they're doing, but then again, you know, what can you expect from two candidates, one who can't even remember the three cabinet departments that he was -- that he was going to eliminate, and another one who's done a 180 flip-flop on every major issue facing American politics today.
And if you look at the truth of it, the president is the one who says, time and again, over and over, that in America, we have the most productive and hard-working workforce in the world. BURNETT: Doug -- OK. Doug, he has said before, though, that -- this summer at one point I recall him saying America can be number one again. Even though we already are.
HEYE: Which presupposes that we're not number one anymore. And that's really the problem with the president is we've heard this kind of rhetoric before. Ultimately in politics what matters most isn't what you say, it's what people hear. And we know Barack Obama is obviously such a skilled person at rhetoric but he often thinks out loud.
Frankly Republican should stop making fun of him for being on the teleprompter, and hope that he stays on the teleprompter. When he thinks out loud, he gets in trouble. And that's what we see today, and that's what we've seen in the past. Obviously, the bitter clinging-gods-and-gun comments. We've seen all this before.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thanks very much to both of you. Appreciate it.
HEYE: Thank you.
CARDONA: Thanks, Erin.
BURNETT: We know the barbs will continue on both sides. That's an election for you.
Well, an Idaho man accused of shooting at the White House was charged today with trying to assassinate the president. Now authorities said that Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez -- that's who you're looking at there -- fired shots from an assault rifle at the White House Friday night.
Now one bullet hit bulletproof glass near the first family's residence. It's a shocking story.
Athena Jones has been following it for us and described what allegedly the assassinator said about the president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The suspect had quite a bit to say about President Obama according to three witnesses that investigators spoke with. Those witnesses say that over the past year Ortega-Hernandez has become increasingly agitated about the federal government. Believing that the government was conspiring against him and that President Obama himself was part of the problem.
They say that he wanted to, quote, "hurt Obama," that he called him the anti-Christ, called him the devil. Said he needed to be taken care of and, quote, "that he needed to kill him." So those are just some of the details coming out of the criminal complaint today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: All right, Ortega-Hernandez faces up to life in prison if he is convicted.
There are new developments in the Penn State rape scandal. We have more victims expected to come forward. We're going to tell you that in just a couple of moments.
And then Andrew Weil, coming OUTFRONT to talk about how we can all be a little happier. Testing out his plan on the show, by the way.
And speaking of doctors, President Obama might need one because apparently he has Bieber fever. Seriously.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: We do a lot of serious stories on this show, but this one is a little more seriously? The president stopped at a high school in Australia for a meet-and-greet with students yesterday. Now during the event he took questions. And one of the students asked the president this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you ever thought about teaming up with a high-profile celebrity such as Justin Bieber to appeal to more people?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Seriously. That was a high schooler. If you could ask the president one question, would it be about Justin Bieber? Now the president responded, saying, quote, "Hopefully, if I'm going to be successful, it's going to be because of the ideas I put forward and not because I'm hanging out with Justin Bieber."
Now the strange thing is, this is not the first time the president has been asked about the Biebs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know Justin Bieber?
OBAMA: I do know Justin Bieber.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. She actually seemed more excited about meeting a friend of Bieber than meeting the president. Now seriously, what's with these kids asking Obama about a singer? Maybe it's because he keeps inviting Bieber to his house for the holidays.
Here's the Obamas introducing Bieber at the Annual White House Easter Egg Roll.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: You guys know Justin Bieber? (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The president didn't really seem that into it that time. It seemed more like he was doing it for the kids. But here's Justin Bieber performing at the Annual White House Christmas celebration last year. And there's the Obamas. Look at the president. He looks to be enjoying himself. And I don't see his kids there.
The president says he wants to be known for his ideas more than his friendship with Bieber but it's not necessarily the image he's giving off by inviting Justin Bieber to the White House all the time. And yesterday, they announced the performers for next month's White House Christmas celebration and guess who is on the list again? Justin Bieber.
Mr. President, we're giving you the benefit of the doubt. Assuming it might be one of your daughters who has Bieber fever. Seriously.
All right, still OUTFRONT, Andrew Weil, the man called America's most famous doctor, comes OUTFRONT with the secret to happiness.
A homeless man turned billionaire called out the Super Committee. And police in San Diego seized almost $30 million in a drug deal that's like a movie.
We've got all the details in tonight's "Outer Circle."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: We start the second half of our show with stories we care about, where we focus on our reporting, do the work and find the "OUTFRONT Five."
Number one tonight: the Brooklyn Bridge occupied. Occupy Wall Street protesters walking across one of New York's most iconic locations. The demonstration capping off the movement's, quote, "day of action."
Now, so far, the Brooklyn Bridge demonstration has been mostly peaceful. There have been clashes during the day. Total arrests reached just over 270 according to the NYD with seven officers injured.
Number two: the president of Connecticut Light & Power, Jeff Butler, has resigned. This is less than a month after the company struggled to restore power across the state after that freak October snowstorm.
OUTFRONT spoke with Davies Consulting. A Davies team is flying to Connecticut tomorrow to tell the company how they can fix this problem, so that it doesn't happen again.
More than 800,000 customers lost power in Connecticut. Some had no power for 12 days. Number three: good news on jobs. Claims for unemployment benefits fell again. Initial claims fell by 5,000 to 388,000. Now, that is a seven-month low.
And that little bit of good news, not enough to keep traders from selling. The Dow did drop today, 134 points. A big reason, it was just a trading level was hit. That causes some automatic programs to hit. But there are also real concerns about the European debt crisis. That is front and center.
Number four: Congresswoman Giffords tonight calling on all members of Congress to take a pay cut. In a letter to the super committee obtained by OUTFRONT, Giffords said she wants salaries cut by at least 5 percent, saying that would save $50 million over 10 years. Eleven Republicans and 14 Democrats signed the letter.
The bottom line is, OK, $50 million is a small fraction of the $1.2 million the super committee has to cut, but you got to start somewhere to make a difference with this.
It's been 104 days since we lost our top credit rating due to too much debt. What are we doing to get it back? Super committee, we're talking to you.
Well, super committee, you have six days and counting until the clock runs out on you for a deadline. But Republicans and Democrats are at an impasse over tax hikes and spending cuts. Aides have characterized the talks to us as in a tail spin and, quote, "not particularly promising."
We're all very frustrated with this community, because they could make a real difference for our entire country.
Our next guest has a beef of his own with the super committee. He's co-founder and CEO of Paul Mitchell Systems, cofounder of Petron Tequila, John Paul DeJoria.
This is a man who spent time being homeless in a car and became a billionaire. He joins us tonight from Austin, Texas.
Mr. DeJoria, a real pressure to have you with us.
JOHN PAUL DEJORIA, CEO, PAUL MITCHELL SYSTEMS & PATRON TEQUILA: Hi, Erin.
BURNETT: I want to start with the super committee. What do you think that they need right now to get this deal done?
DEJORIA: Well, immediately, they need a businessperson. If you're looking at good people from the House of Representatives and the Senate, the only one who has any business experience to the best of my knowledge is one of them's father started a business. So, here you have people that voted on laws that created all this extra debt but there's no one there that's used to saying, hey, there's too much being spent, where do you cut it? That's the first thing.
The second thing is, this (INAUDIBLE) -- $1.2 trillion over 10 years is very, very little, especially inflation in the years to come.
BURNETT: It's nothing. You're being polite.
DEJORIA: Yes, no. They need to go $4 trillion to $5 trillion in the cut. And they need some businesspeople there helping them out, because they've never done this before. I'm just blown away why the administration has some top businesspeople in there that have built businesses, know where to cut but still keep jobs.
We in private enterprise right now are hiring lots of people. All my companies have been hiring people, Paul Mitchell. And there's jobs out there people can get right now if they just knew about it.
So, there's something missing there. I think it's some business influence on people like myself that will do it for nothing to help our country out.
I mean, hey, I'm homeless. There's people down there all over the United States there without jobs. That are saying, hey, what's in it for me? Is it the big guy against the little guy?
Well, that's not true. When I started my companies back in 1980, inflation was worse. Unemployment was worse. My God, if you could get a loan -- it was 18 percent. So, things were worse then. America still works.
BURNETT: It's a good point when you point. I mean, God knows interest rates, they can't go lower.
Let me ask you this, because a lot of people will say, OK, that's fine, but now that you're rich and you want all these cuts, but what -- are you going to take your fair share of it? And this is important. Because, John Paul, you've said $4 trillion to $5 trillion in cuts and you are willing then to put in a whole lot of money in increased taxes from people like yourself.
DEJORIA: Everybody I think out there -- let me say not everybody but most people that make really big money would gladly put in that extra 5 percent they want if it was in addition to. If they came up with, here's how we're going to cut $4 trillion to $5 trillion over the next 10 years, not add anything on, just cut it out. And you guys making big money, can we raise your taxes 5 percent for an extra trillion? Now, it's $5 trillion to $6 trillion? I'd say heck yes are you kidding, you got my money.
BURNETT: That's a good deal.
DEJORIA: Yes. But if it doesn't happen, I'd rather do things like projects I'm doing to feed hundreds of thousands of people in the Appalachian Mountains, all over the United States, to give them good jobs, good food, and get them off government assistance. I mean, we're doing that in the private sector.
The government isn't, unfortunately. They're wasting trillions of dollars creating very few jobs. People are still on food stamps. If you take our Appalachian program, which costs the government nothing, I pay for it all. Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, part of the Carolinas, getting all these folks that were coal miners out of work, planting their own gardens. I buy their equipment, their seeds, their fertilizer --
BURNETT: And what's the cost compared to food stamps?
DEJORIA: This will blow your mind, OK? For 300,000 people, which is my goal in the next five years, it's $10 million. That is less than $40 per person. The government spends that at least every month on food stamps. That's a total cost to get their own gardens.
Not only do they have their own gardens to feed themselves, but the excess takes care of the winter when they can it and they're now selling it to local grocery stores to have an income. And when you look at 16,000 students at our Paul Mitchell schools. Everyone who graduates have jobs waiting for them. There are thousands more in that one industry that are going unfulfilled.
At Patron, everything we do there -- I'm sorry, let me let you talk. I could go on for hours about how Americans really working -- the enterprise is working.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: And you're talking about when -- you're talking about some of the frustration out there. And a lot of people really haven't been able to get jobs. But there are some that you think could do what? What kinds of jobs are there for some people?
DEJORIA: Immediately in all your major cities, there are jobs in fast food restaurants that people don't want to take because it's only $7 and some odd cents an hour. In North Dakota, there are tens of thousands of jobs waiting for people to fill. In the energy sector of the United States, whether it's solar whether it's wind, anything in energy, there are thousand, tens of thousands of jobs waiting to be filled that people are not filling, which is just amazing.
BURNETT: And one question before we go.
DEJORIA: They're out there.
BURNETT: I want to ask you because Warren Buffett has a pledge that he has tried to get American billionaires on board. If you're a billionaire, you sign away to give away the majority of your money when you die.
You signed it. Why?
DEJORIA: Well, here's the thing. When Warren came to me, I was already doing it. And I'm not doing it when I die. I'm doing it right now.
I was already doing it. Whether it's buying conservation land to protect for the future, I spent millions on that in the past. Big programs going on now like this last year, they put millions into, I'm doing it now. I'm not waiting until I die.
I've been doing this over the last several years. Warren Buffett mentioned to me, I said, Warren, are you kidding? I'm doing it now. What's left when I die, some will go to charity and some of my kids will give to charities. But a lot of it I'm doing when I'm alive.
And that's what people should do. While we're here, let's change things.
People are having difficulties now. People like me are putting money in, they're creating jobs. Latitudes, a whole new company, in water. How you clean up the water in the United States, at the same time, give jobs to thousands of people? It's happening.
America works, Erin, it really does. There's a lot of people out there making big changes that made money and want to give back because we remember what it was like when we were homeless or we had nothing.
America works.
BURNETT: Well, thank you very much for the optimism, John Paul. See you soon.
DEJORIA: Peace, love and happiness.
BURNETT: All right. Let's check in with Anderson with a look at what's coming up on "A.C. 360."
Little peace, love and happiness, Anderson.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "A.C. 360": You got to love it.
Breaking news tonight on the story that I know you're also following. A new accuser stepping forward alleging that Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky raped him in the 1990s. We're going to speak with his attorney who also says he's been contacted by more than 10 other alleged victims not mentioned in the grand jury report. You'll hear the lawyer in his own words. What he says is a pattern of abuse stretching for decades leaving a trail of young victims all suffering in secrecy and silence and shame until now.
Also ahead tonight, we're covering the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. Clashes between protesters and police, these videos from here in New York. Happening all across the country. Protests and arrests, there have been hundreds going on today. Still going on tonight in New York.
We've got reporters in the streets and we'll bring you the latest live.
We're also going to speak two very different viewpoints on the protests. New York Congressman Peter King has been a fierce critic of the protesters. On the other side, Occupy Wall Street backer Van Jones who says this may just be the beginning. We'll talk to him about what that means.
Those stories and tonight's "Ridiculist" at the top of the hour, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Anderson, looking forward to all of that.
And still OUTFRONT tonight, we have some new details from the Penn State child rape scandal. We're going to tell you about some new victims.
And police in San Diego seize $30 million in marijuana after discovering -- this is like a movie -- a tunnel between Mexico and the United States, a pot smuggling tunnel.
And are you feeling a little down? It would amaze you how many of us are. Dr. Andrew Weil comes OUTFRONT with a happiness plan that I'm trying out.
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BURNETT: We do this at the same time every night, our "Outer Circle" -- where we reach out to our sources around the world.
And we begin tonight in Kuwait where leaders held an emergency session vowing to clamp down on violence after protesters stormed parliament late yesterday, calling for the prime minister to resign. Kuwait hadn't been touched by the Arab Spring so much.
Rima Maktabi is covering the story from nearby Dubai.
Rima, how serious is this group?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIMA MAKTABI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, this prime minister, Sheikh Nasser, was appointed by the Amir, the ruler of Kuwait, in 2006. I have spoken today to a Kuwaiti opposition figures and they told me they will continue to protest until the Amir decides to sack this prime minister. And this Amir seems keen so far to keep the prime minister in place. So, the events taking place in Kuwait are quite alarming for this oil-rich country in the gulf -- Erin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much.
And out to England where passengers arriving on a chartered flight from India -- this is not a joke -- were forced to pay $200 additional dollars after they got on the plane to complete their trip. It's the second time this week this has happened.
Max Foster's in London tonight.
Max, what happened? Will they get their money back?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erin, under British rules, the passengers will go their money back if they booked a package holiday. But for those who booked flights only, there are no rules unfortunately. The airlines main shareholder says all passengers should be repaid but not by him. Bhupinder Kandra says it's down to the travel agents who took the money to pay it back.
It's a very murky situation. Pretty much unheard of. But that doesn't help the passengers who were left temporarily stranded and out of pocket -- Erin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And the money, by the way, apparently because the plane needed fuel.
Now to San Diego, where investigators have seized tons of marijuana worth up to $30 million. Now, this is amazing. They discovered a drug smuggling tunnel that connected Mexico to the United States.
Rafael Romo is covering the story tonight.
Rafael, how sophisticated was this operation?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was very sophisticated, Erin. It was equipped with structural supports, electricity and ventilation. Although evidence found inside leads investigators to believe the tunnel was only recently completed.
It all started when agents spotted a small cargo truck leaving a nondescript warehouse in San Diego. When the agents pulled it over, they found three tons of marijuana. Altogether, investigators found more than 15 tons of pot in the warehouse, another facility in Mexico and the truck -- Erin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Rafael, thank you.
We have more alleged victims of former assistant head coach Jerry Sandusky about to come forward. This is according to sources involved in the case. Sandusky has been charged with sexually abusing eight boys, most of them from his charity for underprivileged children called the Second Mile.
Authorities say they are now checking into dozens of calls from people who claim to have been abused by Sandusky after hearing him deny the charges on Monday night.
Mike Galanos of HLN is at Penn State for us tonight and he's here with the latest.
And, Mike, do you have any idea of how many new victims there could be coming forward?
MIKE GALANOS, HLN ANCHOR: Well, we've got a couple of different sources working here, Erin. There's an attorney in St. Paul says he received calls from roughly 10. Now, all these cases have to be investigated. But these victims say that they were assaulted by Jerry Sandusky back in the 1980s.
There's an attorney right here in State College, Andy Shubin, who says he began receiving phone calls from people would say they were molested by Sandusky dating back to the 1970s. Again, all that has to be investigated.
But, Erin, when you think of that time line, the Second Mile foundation was founded by Jerry Sandusky in 1977 -- the first allegation and the grand jury presentment, 1994. There is a 17-year window where there could be many victims. The victims we're hearing about now coming forward, that could sadly fill in that gap.
BURNETT: And do you have any idea, Mike, you know, we've heard so much recently about how in abuse cases it starts with eight or a dozen and then ends up with 100 or more children who have been impacted by lifelong pedophiles.
Do you have any sense of numbers? I know a lot of people have been calling in to this hotline. So what are you hearing?
GALANOS: You know, from different sources and different reports, you know, we mentioned St. Paul, at least 10 there -- roughly that same number here in State College. We're not privy to the number of phone calls that investigators and prosecutors have received -- the number of cases we're seeing. But it could be a very large number. I mean, just that thumbnail right there takes you in upwards of 20 to 30.
And again, when you look at 17 years, it could be many, many more.
BURNETT: Oh, gosh. It's unbelievable.
Mike Galanos, thank you so much -- working this and working his sources at Penn State.
Paul Callan is with us now -- a former prosecutor who's been following this case, as you know, OUTFRONT.
Paul, obviously, I imagine you're not surprised more victims are coming forward. One of the strange things about the case to this point had been, well, if there were eight in the past decade or so, then there would be more before.
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. Of course, pedophiles are repeat offenders generally. You know what happens in cases like this, if you have been abused and you hear this person on television giving, you know, a bogus explanation, it causes so much anger inside of you. So, anger brings people forward.
And then they get the courage to come forward because they see there are other victims who are being taken care of and that it's OK to complain about this. So, you're going to see a whole bunch of victims coming forward in this case. I'm not surprised.
BURNETT: And what about their willingness to identify themselves? It's one thing to call a hotline, give an anonymous tip, give, kind of, an age it happened to you and a year.
But it's another thing to put your name and your face out there.
CALLAN: Well, it is, especially when you're now an adult. You know, many of these people are in their late 20s, early 30s probably. They've gone on with their lives.
But many of them have been suffering psychological problems, undoubtedly. And I think you'll se a substantial number come forward, if there is, in fact, truth to these charges.
Every time I see one of these child abuse cases, one leads to another, leads to another. There was an attorney in the courthouse today who was telling me he was approached by clients here in New York who said they had a case and they were coming forward because of all the coverage concerning this case.
So, there are a lot of cases.
BURNETT: So, a case not about Jerry Sandusky, but another is causing --
CALLAN: No, totally unrelated.
BURNETT: -- more people to come out.
CALLAN: Yes. A person who didn't have the person to come forward before, sees this case, and says: you know something? I'm going to do something about it.
BURNETT: If that's an outcome, that's good thing. Although I think it will mean for everyone watching we're going to be hearing a lot more about this -- obviously disturbing, but a lot of awareness, which is good. How often, when you start to have a lot of calls on something like this or someone comes forward, I would imagine almost none of them are false. I mean, no one is going to call and accuse someone on a hot line this if it didn't happen, do they?
CALLAN: Well, no, they do, I'm afraid to say because there's a second inspector to the cases. There are going to be civil suits for money damages. A lot of people are thinking the there's going to be big settlements.
BURNETT: You're talking about punitive?
CALLAN: Yes. Well, it's not just punitive. But you look at the Catholic Church cases. A lot of those, there was one or two legitimate cases and then a number of people made false claims hoping for a settlement.
So, it's really hard to sort out the true from the false in this situation. It gets to be a very, very nasty situation all around.
BURNETT: That is truly vile, the only thing worse than being a pedophile and abusing a young boy would be someone falsely accusing you of doing it.
I want to ask you another thing about Mike McQueary, the assistant coach here. He continues to be a key witness, as we all know, witnessed the rape in 2002. Insists he spoke to the police. The police say he didn't.
So, who has bigger risk in this situation, Mike McQueary or Penn State?
CALLAN: Well, there's something bizarre going on here because, you know, McQueary is the key witness in the whole case against the two university administrators.
BURNETT: Right. And now, university police and local police are saying, hey, he never reported this rape. McQueary is saying he did report it. So, now, the chief witness against the university administrators is being accused of being a liar by the Penn State police. They have to rely on his testimony, prosecutors, on perjury counts. So, that case is falling apart.
And also, reports today, reliable reports, he played golf with Sandusky three months after he allegedly turned him in for a rape, and he attended an Easter seal flag football game with him three weeks after he said he accused him of being a rapist. McQueary looks like his case is toast at this point.
BURNETT: Yes.
All right. Up next, Dr. Andrew Weil joins us with ways we can all feel a bit happier. Headlines like we've had lately, we need it.
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BURNETT: If you don't know my next guest, you probably should. He's written 12 books, graduate of Harvard Medical School, and spent the last 30 years bringing together alternative healing and Western medicine. We're talking about Dr. Andrew Weil. And he's here to talk about his latest book, number 13, called "Spontaneous Happiness." Hopefully lucky 13, right?
DR. ANDREW WEIL, M.D., FOUNDER, ARIZONA CENTER FOR INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE: Yes.
BURNETT: It tackles what you are talking about as the world's fastest growing epidemic, depression. So, thanks so much for being with us.
And why is it that it's such a fast growing epidemic? I mean, some people might say, well, there's so many advertisements for anti- depressants. That's why we think we're depressed.
WEIL: Well, certainly, some of this has been manufactured by the medical pharmaceutical industry, which has been very successful at convincing people with ordinary state of sadness are matters of imbalance brain chemistry that require treatment with drugs. I don't know what that percentage -- maybe a third, a quarter. We take that out, we're still left with a lot of unexplained depression.
I hear many people today blame it on the world and the economy. But my parents lived through the Great Depression, which makes this look pretty tame, and that by all indications mental health was better than it was now.
BURNETT: So why?
WEIL: Well, I think it's a mismatch between the life our genes prepared us for and the life that most of us are now living. I think over the past 100 years one of the thing that's happened is increasing social isolation. And there's a lot of research showing that social connection is effective against depression. We're disconnected from nature. We're eating unnatural diets.
I think the effects of information overload and all the media, I think that's also very significant.
BURNETT: But you do think that there is a role both for antidepressants, in some cases, but also for certain supplements.
WEIL: Well, first of all, with the anti-depressant drugs, there's a growing body of evidence that they work no better than placebos in most cases. For very severe depression, they may show an advantage. I'm not going to tell anybody to get off them. If people are showing them, I think it's worth thinking about being on them for a limited period, maybe up to a year and then trying to phase of and use other methods.
BURNETT: OK.
WEIL: For bipolar disorder, the drugs are absolutely necessary. But I think for many cases of mild to moderate depression, I would try other things first. In addition to diet, exercise, supplemental fish oil is very effective. Correcting vitamin D deficiency if it exists, correcting sleep patterns.
But then there's a range of things you can do aimed at the mind and a whole other range of things aimed at your spiritual life.
BURNETT: And let me ask you about a couple of other things that you noticed -- auto immune disease, in my family, someone who suffers greatly from it. And you have noticed that there is a link between autoimmune disease and depression.
WEIL: Many people with autoimmune diseases are depressed. But even more interesting, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that inflammation is linked to depression. This is mediated by compounds made by the immune system.
BURNETT: So what causes inflammation? WEIL: Stress can cause it. Exposure to environmental toxins line second-hand smoke. But diet plays a huge influence. I've designed an anti-inflammatory diet. It's a version of the Mediterranean diet. The basic rule of it is to stop eating refined, processed and manufactured foods.
You know, it's all these industrial food which strong promotes inflammation.
BURNETT: And one thing I want to ask (ph) that really brought it all home to me. You talk about the change over the past 100 years. That the way we live our lives has changed so dramatically. We're used to be agrarian, and now we're urban.
And it was just about eyes and vision.
WEIL: Yes. Well, what I've read about was that, you know, I've spent time in the '70s when I was doing my botanical research. I lived with Amazonian tribes.
People don't wear glasses. Their eyesight is much better. I think some of this is that from the time they're very young, they're looking at both distant and near objects. They're not forced to read books or to look at blackboards. So, you know, not only is eyesight better in these cultures but hearing is better.
I think our senses have really suffered by the way we live. This is one example of what I mean about a mismatch between genes and environment today.
BURNETT: All right. Dr. Weil, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
WEIL: Glad to talk to you.
BURNETT: All right. Syracuse University has just issued a statement about child molestation charges involving an assistant basketball coach. Anderson Cooper is going to have a lot more on that.
"A.C. 360" starts now.
