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American Morning
Rare, Deadly October Nor'Easter; Blackouts Could Last Days in New England; Get Updates on Connecticut Outages; Passengers Stuck 8, 9 Hours in Hartford Tarmac; Cain Denies Sexual Harassment Claims; Bob Schieffer Comments on Herman Cain's New Ad; Occupy Wall Street a Trademark? Herman Cain Tops the Latest Poll
Aired October 31, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Snowfall before the leaves fall. People cleaning up after a nor'easter slams the East Coast, and it could be days, up to a week before millions get their power back.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: No food, no water, no bathroom. Passengers stuck on a plane for seven hours in the storm, and boy, are they vetting their anger this morning.
CHO: Explosive claims of sexual harassment. GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain speaks out about the charges against him.
COSTELLO: And baby makes seven billion, a new milestone for the global population on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you and happy Halloween.
CHO: Happy Halloween!
COSTELLO: Whoo! It is Monday, October 31st. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Carol Costello.
CHO: Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. Christine and Ali have the day off. Boy, talk about an October surprise, and I'm not talking about politics.
COSTELLO: No.
CHO: That storm was really --
COSTELLO: It was vicious, wasn't it?
CHO: It certainly was, and it came through fast and left just as fast, but boy, did it leave a trail of destruction.
COSTELLO: Yes, it did, and that's up first, the aftermath of a rare and deadly October nor'easter. The storm dumping wet, slushy, heavy snow from Maryland to Maine. Close to three feet of snow fell in parts of New England leaving millions without power this morning.
It's the storm that has literally postponed Halloween in parts of New England. The "Boston Globe" reporting some towns have actually rescheduled the holiday for Friday instead. Local officials don't want the kids out with so many power lines down.
CHO: And it was one of those weekends where travelers were in trouble. Forty eight passengers stuck on an Amtrak train for 13 hours when a rockslide blocked the tracks in Central Massachusetts.
COSTELLO: At least they had a working bathroom on that train because they didn't on this plane. JetBlue is facing millions of dollars in potential fines this morning.
After passengers on board a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Newark were diverted to Hartford, and then trapped on board that plane on the tarmac for seven hours. No food, no water, little fresh air and, yes, the toilets were backed up.
CHO: It sounds like a great time. Check out this I-Report. Time-lapsed video of the storm from a yard in Oak Ridge, New Jersey. See the changes right before your eyes, autumn turning to winter. The I-Reporter says they ended up with 16 inches there. He set up his camera to take a picture every minute for seven hours on Saturday.
COSTELLO: That is cool.
CHO: That is cool.
COSTELLO: And the storm was almost worth it, seeing those pictures knock. In some of the hardest hit areas, people are being told it could be a week or more before they get the power back on.
Chad Myers is live in York, Pennsylvania, this morning. And Chad, you usually like snow, but maybe not so much this morning?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not when there are still leaves on the trees, Carol, it was a mess yesterday. Power crews were up and down trying to get these power lines back on, and they did a pretty good job.
It was sunny yesterday, almost 45 degrees. Our Saturday snowman turned into this yesterday. So, although it melted rather quickly and the roads look pretty good this morning, you know, those eight hours of snow.
That just brought down so many power lines. It will be days before they get all this power back working for everyone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYERS: This is going to take a long time to get this back up, isn't it?
RARBY BAUMGARDNER, METROPOLITAN ELECTRIC: Absolutely.
MYERS: How many days, do you think?
BAUMGARDNER: I'd say probably Wednesday. Yes, we've got a lot of crews coming in from other areas, other states.
MYERS: I see the windshield just a mess, completely smashed. What did that feel like?
JOEL ROSENBLATT, YORK, PENNSYLVANIA: Well, just looking at it, it's the sound of the tree falling on the car that scared me, and it didn't break, so I didn't get any glass in my face. I mean, it shattered and the mirror's hanging down there. So I couldn't even see the back windshield through the mirror.
MYERS: Does it make you think about driving under trees next time or even driving at all?
ROSENBLATT: Yes. I debated whether to turn right and go home before I made that part of my trip yesterday or not and I didn't, and it was the wrong mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MYERS: So, what do we have for this morning? This morning we have fog out here. Fog is never good when temperatures are below 30, especially 32 where we are right here. The fog could make black ice, especially on the bridges and overpasses. Watch that.
You're going to be driving along the roads will look good and all of a sudden, you'll get to a bridge and it could be a sheet of ice. What else does it mean? It means because we had clear skies, temperatures were very cold overnight, the planes have frost on every wing, every surface.
Nearly every plane leaving Atlanta today all the way to Maine will have to be de-iced before it leaves. That will slow down the first departures, maybe even a couple arrivals later on having to be a little slow, so expect that.
Everything's going to move just a little bit slower today. By some time, maybe 8:00, 9:00, things are going to start to melt. That means there's going to be spray on your windshield from the car ahead of you, melting some of that slush on the roadways.
Make sure you have that little blue jug, that windshield washer fluid, make sure that jug under your hood is filled up today, because otherwise, you'll just be smearing that muddy water back and forth with the windshield wipers.
It will be kind of a tough day to be driving around, especially this afternoon. And every night this week it's going to get down to 32 or colder, so it's going to be a cold night in houses without power. I'll tell you what area hotels are jammed here in York, Pennsylvania.
COSTELLO: Yes, I don't think there's a hotel room that - I mean, there aren't any left, that's it, you're right. Chad Myers, thank you live in York, Pennsylvania, this morning.
MYERS: You're welcome.
CHO: More than four million people across the northeast are waking up in the dark this morning. It really was the perfect storm as far as power outages go. Wet, heavy snow snapping tree limbs that didn't even have a chance to shed their leaves yet.
In Connecticut, in particular, a big mess, branches and power lines. The governor said this storm broke a state record for blackouts, and that record was just set back in August when the remnants of Hurricane Irene came through.
Joining us now for an update on the situation is Mitch Gross. He's the spokesman for Connecticut Light & Power and he's joining us by phone from Berlin, Connecticut.
Mr. Gross, thank you for joining us this morning. Seven hundred and fifty thousand customers in Connecticut without power, when we take a look at the map, that's nearly the entire top half of the state, plus more.
There you see it there in the black. What are you doing this morning to try to get the power back on?
MITCH GROSS, CONNECTICUT LIGHT AND POWER SPOKESMAN: It's all hands on deck. Good morning. And yes, 750,000 CL&B customers without. However, in Saturday night, we've restored power to over 140,000. So, we are making progress.
It's a 24/7 exercise, of course, around the clock the crews are working, and we have commitments from an additional 600 crews coming in from literally all over North America to help us out.
So, a lot of help is already here, a lot more on the way, and we still have, yes, quite honestly, a lot of work to do.
CHO: That's right. And by some estimates, it's going to take more than a week in some areas of Connecticut. Now, having said that, in terms of tree damage, this was five times as bad as Hurricane Irene in terms of downed trees.
I think it's safe to say it took a lot of people by surprise. And if you had to point your finger, was the culprit the leaves on the trees, do you think, that just weighed those trees down?
GROSS: Exactly, it's the trees. We have -- Connecticut has one of the most -- we are one of the most heavily wooded states in the country. Connecticut Light & Power, one of the most heavily wooded utility service areas in the country.
Trees are, you know, our customers love their trees, but sometimes it's a double-edged sword, and we knew and it was accurately predicted that all of our trees and with this storm coming, you know, the snow and the ice was going to weigh the leaves down and snap the branches.
And you know, there were going to be problems. We made that very clear to our customers, as did government officials. And you know, the reality was, yes, we were in the dark in a lot of places.
CHO: Is it fair to say that every county in the state of Connecticut is affected by this? GROSS: Every county. There are eight counties in Connecticut. We service 149 of Connecticut's 169 towns. Every one of the towns we service has been impacted to some extent by this storm.
CHO: One last question here. People in Connecticut are saying it's like a third world country, no food, no water, no light. Obviously, a lot of people are really frustrated.
What is your suggestion for these residents in terms of coping and getting through this in the meantime, while their power is out?
GROSS: Well, I can easily say patience, of course, but there are -- you know, shelters have been set up in many communities, and neighbors are helping neighbors and reaching out, and that's what we do up here, you know?
You know, it's New England, it does snow. It just happened to snow a lot earlier than we're originally used to, but we will get through this.
Neighbors are helping neighbors and reaching out to families and friends. People are taking advantage of the shelters, and we'll work as hard as we can to get those lights back on.
CHO: There's a reason why they're calling it shocktober. All right, Mitch Gross with Connecticut Light & Power, we thank you for that update.
COSTELLO: I like that, shocktober.
CHO: Best of luck.
COSTELLO: Really, it's the last day, thank goodness. Let's send it to Atlanta and Reynolds Wolf. So, shocktober is over. Is it going to get better?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A little bit. You know, like they say, this is one of those things where it will take a couple days to get back to normal. The reason why all this happened was, of course, because of the nor'easter.
There is an intense area of low pressure pulling along the eastern seaboard. It did two things. It brought in a lot of cold air that came from the north, plus it brought in a lot of moisture off the Atlantic.
And the result was what you see here, over 30 inches of snowfall in parts of New Hampshire. Plainfield, Massachusetts, had over 30 inches, Windsor, a couple feet, also in West Milford and Millbrook and a few other places.
What's interesting is the contrast you're going to see in places like New Jersey and then back over towards Philadelphia. Philadelphia had only 0.3 inches of snowfall. So again, kind of a feast or famine in parts of the northeast, but we anticipate today that that cold air will remain locked in place, especially from the Jersey shore, parts of Long Island, back along the Delmarva Peninsula.
And Washington, D.C., certainly a cold morning, which should be above the freezing point, and we do expect temperatures to modify, warm up a bit through the rest of the workweek. In terms of traveling, here's what it means.
If you're flying out, biggest problems will be well south in the sunshine state of Florida where it's going to live up to its billing today. Not a whole lot of sunshine, but still heavy rain, delays under an hour for Miami, Orlando and Tampa. In Detroit, scattered showers may keep you grounded.
In San Francisco, not the fog, but rather, the gusty winds may give you a few delays here and there. Now, what we're going to be seeing across the nation's midsection, a little dry air moving into the central plains, the Midwest, into the intermountain west, Central Rockies, scattered showers.
Maybe in the highest peaks you'll see a touch of snowfall. For much of the west coast, pockets of fog along the coast, and for the four corners, southward into Phoenix and Tucson, should be just beautiful.
Now moving into the great lakes, we're seeing another area of low pressure, and with that, scattered showers to parts of, say Michigan, maybe even Detroit before all is said and done. But in the northeast, things should improve a little bit.
Still some scattered showers in parts of the southeast. Wrapping up your forecast, highs for the day, 68 Kansas City, 54 Minneapolis, 60 in Billings, 73 in San Francisco, 70 in Albuquerque, 56 in Chicago, 62 in Atlanta, 53 in New York and 50 in Boston, Miami and Tampa into the 80s.
All right, that is a look at your forecast on this Halloween. Let's pitch it back to you.
CHO: All right.
COSTELLO: We got it.
WOLF: There you go. Good catch.
CHO: Thank you, Reynolds. We'll check in with you later and often.
Meanwhile, politics now. Herman Cain's campaign is denying an explosive, new report that says two women filed sexual harassment claims against the Georgia businessman back in the 1990s.
Now according to "Politico," those complaints came when Cain was the head of the National Restaurant Association. Both women were reportedly paid large cash settlements for their silence and left their jobs. Cain's camp says the report isn't true, calling it unfair.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not going to comment about two people you won't tell me who they are, OK. I'm not going to comment on that, because you know, I think that is one of those kinds of things that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you answer those, yes or no?
CAIN: Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: And the man you just saw questioning Cain is the man we will talk to very soon. We are going to talk about the report, how the sexual harassment claims against Cain might impact his run for the White House when we're joined by the reporter who broke the story.
The man there, Jonathan Martin, "Politico's" senior political reporter, will join us in the next half hour with AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: Some conservatives saying these reports are unfair because the women are not named and the allegations aren't really specific.
CHO: That's right. They're saying they can't go after his ideas for how to fix the economy, so they're pulling this out.
COSTELLO: We'll talk to Jonathan Martin and ask him to stand up for his story. It will be interesting.
Still ahead, stories from inside a nightmare JetBlue flight. Passengers stuck on the plane for seven hours after it was diverted in the storm. Food, water, air running out. You hear cell phone calls from passengers and the pilot pleading with the airport for help.
CHO: One man now says he knows what it feels like to be incarcerated.
Speaking of nightmares, at long last, 100,000 Qantas Airlines passengers may finally get to their destinations. We'll explain. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's 14 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back, at 17 minutes after the hour.
JetBlue passengers say it was downright degrading. About 200 people were stuck on a plane, on the tarmac for seven hours in Connecticut during this weekend's storm. I cannot imagine being on that plane.
COSTELLO: I think it would be like hell. Whatever happened to that Passengers' Bill of Rights, you ask? Because there's a Passengers' Bill of Rights. This was supposed to prevent this kind of thing.
Susan Candiotti have - has stories from inside the hell.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alina and Carol, good morning.
Blinding snow in a freak October storm created havoc in the northeast, but one of the worst nightmares was for stranded passengers in Hartford, Connecticut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Twenty-three planes were diverted to Hartford, according to JetBlue, which says six of the planes were theirs, stranding passengers on the tarmac for eight and nine hours. No food, water, bathrooms unusable. Passengers did have cell phones and unleashed their fury.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're filled. They're totally filled. Nobody can go in them anymore. You just have to hold it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was going in and out, bathrooms are locked. People are quite upset.
CANDIOTTI: A Department of Transportation rule enacted last year called the Airline Passengers Bill of Rights was supposed to prevent situations like this. Among the requirements food, water and a clean bathroom within two hours of being stuck, and the right to get off a stranded plane after three hours.
In a statement, JetBlue apologized and says power outages at the airport made correcting problems difficult.
The changes came after a February, 2007 incident. Passengers were stuck on a JetBlue flight at JFK for eight hours.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was no power, and it was hot. There was no air. They kept having to open the actual plane doors so we could breathe comfortably.
CANDIOTTI: And now, it appears history is repeating itself.
KATE HANNI, FOUNDER, FLYERSRIGHTS.ORG: It is absolutely unacceptable that the airlines and the airport did not manage to get these passengers off the plane.
CANDIOTTI: Kate Hanni fought for the bill of rights after being stuck on a plane herself five years ago. She now runs a website that advocates for passengers, and says the airlines needed to cancel flights sooner.
HANNI: The flying public has overwhelmingly said they would rather have their flight canceled or be stuck inside an airport than they would like to be stuck inside an airplane.
CANDIOTTI: An airport spokesman did not respond to CNN's call seeking comment. The DOT's new regulation doesn't apply to airports.
HANNI: Hopefully, we can get airports added to the rule, because this is a real - I knew, when I talked to operations last night, I knew that they were scrambling, and they knew they had screwed up royally.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: The DOT says its Passenger Protection Rule has virtually eliminated all delays of three hours or more. A spokeswoman says no airline has been fined since the new rule came out, but because of what happened this weekend in Connecticut, the DOT has just opened a new investigation - Alina and Carol.
COSTELLO: They've - they've opened this new investigation, but the legislation applies only to airlines, not to the airport itself, and, in this case, it appears the airport was to blame for these passengers being stuck on the tarmac for seven hours.
CHO: You can bet that the passengers are not mad at the airport, though. Probably mad at the airline.
COSTELLO: They're probably mad at just everyone. But we - we actually have some audio from the pilot aboard that JetBlue plane, and he's pleading for help during this ordeal because one of the passengers was sick, and another passenger was in a wheelchair. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO TAPE)
JETBLUE 504: Look, you know, we can't seem to get any help from our own company. I apologize for this, but is there any way you can get a tug and a tow bar out here to us and get us towed somewhere to a gate or something? I don't care. Take us anywhere.
CONTROLLER: JetBlue 504, roger. I will talk to state operations and see what they can do. Were you able to resolve the situation in the back or is that still ongoing?
JETBLUE 504: Yes, we've resolved it for now. We've got the show of authorities on board, but I have a paraplegic on board that needs to come off, I have a diabetic on here that's got an issue. It's - it's a list of things. I just got to get some help.
(END AUDIO TAPE)
COSTELLO: But they didn't get any help. But, again - so, the pilot is begging the airport to help him, and he is a JetBlue employee, so -
CHO: Under the category of making matters worse, that's exactly -
COSTELLO: Right, but as far as these fines that could be levied against JetBlue, maybe not, because JetBlue, you know, the pilot there, he apparently tried to do something about the - the situation but couldn't get anything done.
CHO: That's right. And, I mean, the reality is, is once - once this is all figured out, there - there is that possibility that JetBlue could face a fine. Really, what it is from that Passenger Bill of Rights is $27,500 per passenger. If JetBlue, in the end, is fined, which perhaps they wouldn't be, it would amount to -
COSTELLO: $5 million?
CHO: $5.5 million for the airline. So we'll have to watch this and see what happens.
But - but you're right. I mean, JetBlue is firmly placing the blame on the airport, saying it's their fault.
COSTELLO: We'll see what happens.
Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, a global population milestone. Now it's just you and seven billion of your closest friends.
AMERICAN MORNING, back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Happy Halloween.
"Minding Your Business" this morning, it's the final day of what could be a record-setting October on Wall Street. The Dow has climbed 11 percent this month and the S&P 500 is up 14 percent, the best monthly advance since 1974.
Australia's Qantas Airways resumes flights today, this after the airline grounded its entire fleet because of a labor dispute with its unions on Saturday. One hundred thousand passengers were affected. The government ordering service to return to normal after warning the dispute could cause serious damage to tourism.
Bank of America may be back-pedaling. CNN has learned the financial giant may soften its new policy to charge a $5 fee for using debit cards to make purchases. The plan was supposed to take effect in January, but, boy, has there been an angry backlash. And now Bank of America is looking at offering customers several options to avoid the fee.
"Puss in Boots" scratched out the competition, earning the top spot in this weekend's box office. The animated film's debut raked in $34 million. The "Shrek" spin-off follows Puss on his journey to find magic beans and golden eggs.
Rounding out the box office was "Paranormal Activity 3" and "In Time."
AMERICAN MORNING will be back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Isn't that fancy?
COSTELLO: The camera was way down there and then it came up.
CHO: Thirty-one minutes after the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm Alina Cho, along with Carol Costello.
Top stories now:
Four million people waking up without power after a nasty, surprise nor'easter this weekend. Authorities say some people could be in the dark for days after heavy snow snapped tree limbs and ripped down power lines up and down the East Coast.
COSTELLO: Four U.S. troops were among the nine Americans killed in a suicide bombing this weekend in Afghanistan. Saturday's attack in Kabul also killed two British civilians and a Canadian soldier. A diplomatic official says a car packed with explosives rammed into the side of an armored bus and a NATO convoy.
CHO: In less than 12 hours, NATO's mission over Libya officially comes to end, following a unanimous vote at the U.N. Security Council last week to formally end the seven-month military campaign. NATO's secretary-general calls it one of the most successful operations in the history of the organization.
A developing story this morning. Herman Cain's campaign hit by a report that two women filed sexual harassment claims against him in the 1990s. Those complaints reportedly came during Cain's tenure as head of the National Restaurant Association, a lobbying group. According to "Politico," both women were paid cash settlements, and both women left their jobs.
One of the reporters who broke this story is with us right now, Jonathan Martin, a "Politico" senior political reporter. He joins us live from Arlington, Virginia.
Good morning.
JONATHAN MARTIN, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER, POLITICO: Good morning.
COSTELLO: I know you've been working on this story for quite a while. Some people are confused about the specific allegations. What are they?
MARTIN: Well, there are reports of both physical and verbal actions by Mr. Cain. He made physical gestures and also comments that made the women feel uncomfortable, made them feel awkward and angry. And so much so actually that they complained to both colleagues and senior officials at the organization about their treatment and subsequently left the organization with five-figure cash payouts and nondisclosure agreements to not talk about what actually happened during their time at the organization.
COSTELLO: Is that why you're not naming the women in the article?
MARTIN: We aren't naming them for privacy concerns. But I would note that during the course of reporting this piece, over about three weeks, we've talked to dozens of individuals, current and former employees at the organization, current and former board members at the organization, and people here in Washington who are close to this trade group.
COSTELLO: I'm just getting back into these allegations because people are confused about them. This did not involve any physical touching, as far as you know, and the only specific allegation that I saw is --
MARTIN: Physical gestures. Yes, physical gestures and inappropriate language, too.
COSTELLO: And as far as specifics about the inappropriate language -- in your article, one of the women was asked to go up to Cain's hotel room?
MARTIN: Yes. One of the women at one point was asked by Mr. Cain to come to his hotel room, and she complained, the woman did, to a board member at the organization about that request, and she was one of the women who subsequently did leave the organization, got a cash payout.
COSTELLO: OK. And you gave Herman Cain's campaign 10 days to respond to the story. Then you decided to take matters into your own hands. You waited outside of the CBS studios yesterday. You confronted Herman Cain.
Let's play a bit of that confrontation and then we'll talk after.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN: Have you ever been accused, sir, of harassment?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last one, guys. Last question. Last question.
MARTIN: Sir, have you? Yes or no? Have you ever been accused, sir --
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm trying to --
MARTIN: -- of sexual harassment, have you? Have you, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the last question, thanks.
MARTIN: Have you, sir, yes or not?
CAIN: Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?
MARTIN: Have a nice day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, Herman Cain didn't look very happy with you.
MARTIN: Well, he was given the chance, as you can tell from that clip to answer a very direct question -- have you or have you not ever been accused of sexual harassment? I asked that question four times. He did not say yes or no to that question and he, you know, was given the chance repeatedly.
His campaign last night put out a statement after our story posted on the web, also not denying that he had ever been accused of sexual harassment.
So, you know, we started talking to the Cain campaign on October the 20th, some 10 days before this story went live. E-mails, phone calls, we gave them the opportunity to respond. The first response was that these allegations were, quote, "settled amicably by all parties years ago."
Subsequently, a campaign spokesperson went press, said that he, the spokesperson, talked to Cain, Mr. Cain vaguely recalled some episode and said that the general counsel at the organization dealt with the matter and that the campaign ought to talk to the general counsel at the organization.
We wanted more details about what actually transpired with that general counsel. The organization has a personnel policy of not commenting on employees, and the Cain campaign wouldn't say anything more. And so, yes, yesterday, as you showed there in that clip, I did go to the Washington bureau of CBS News and asked Mr. Cain that very simple, straight-forward question -- have you ever been accused of sexual harassment in your life? And he didn't answer the question.
COSTELLO: OK. Conservative Republicans are saying that your article is a bit unfair because these allegations of inappropriate sexual language didn't involve touching, we don't know exactly what they are, the women aren't named in your article.
MARTIN: Yes.
COSTELLO: Listen to Ann Coulter and what she said on FOX News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANN COULTER, "DEMONIC," AUTHOR: It's outrageous the way liberals treat a black conservative. This is another high-tech lynching.
It's not groping, it's not touching, it's not that he's demanding sex. It's that he had remarks that they found inappropriate. One is that he had inappropriate gestures that were not overtly sexual.
Well, what were they, then?
This is an outrageous attack on a black conservative who's doing extremely well and I think will be our vice presidential candidate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, is this an outrageous attack by the liberal press?
MARTIN: Look, I would direct your viewers to Politico.com, to read our story in full. Again, these women alleged in the late 1990s that Mr. Cain made unwelcome, unwanted, both physical gestures and made verbal comments, that made them feel uncomfortable, so much so that they confronted colleagues and senior officials at the organization.
So, the story speaks for itself and it's at Politico.com right now.
COSTELLO: And Herman Cain is set to speak at two big events in Washington later today. Will you be there?
MARTIN: He is here in town today and I'm looking forward to covering those events.
COSTELLO: All right. Jonathan Martin, thanks so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
MARTIN: Thanks for having me.
COSTELLO: Ready for a good scare? When we come back, we'll be talking about politics and all those creepy characters on Capitol Hill. We're not talking about --
CHO: Not talking about Halloween, not yet.
COSTELLO: No, creepy characters. We don't mean anybody like political figure. We're going to talk Halloween and more with our contributor John Avlon.
AMERICAN MORNING back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 41 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
We've got more now on the developing story we're following today, Herman Cain forced to answer questions about alleged sexual harassment complaints back in the 1990s. It's a big story that was first reported yesterday by "Politico." We just spoke to one of the reporters who broke it, Jonathan Martin.
And we want to give our John Avlon a chance to weigh in, too. John is a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast."
So, we've heard the allegations against Herman Cain. When he was head of the National Restaurant Association back in the 1990s, two women came forward and said that he was inappropriate. Both of them signed these agreements and got five-figure cash settlements not to talk about these allegations. And Herman Cain is now finding himself in a position where he has to defend himself.
So, let's play a bit of how he started to defend himself yesterday in front of CBS. Jonathan Martin confronted him and this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN: Have you ever been accused, sir, of harassment?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last one, guys. Last question. Last question.
MARTIN: Sir, have you? Yes or no? Have you ever been accused, sir --
CAIN: I'm trying to --
MARTIN: -- of sexual harassment, have you? Have you, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the last question, thanks.
MARTIN: Have you, sir, yes or not?
CAIN: Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?
MARTIN: Have a nice day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Sometimes, it's all in how you respond to allegations. So, your initial impression of how Herman Cain responded in this case?
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Not going to be used as a textbook of how you deal with these things in the future.
Look, these are serious allegations. Right now, they are allegations, and it's made more complicated to get clarity on this because of the fact that these women allegedly signed agreements to not speak about it.
But they are serious. I think the idea that this is a plot by the liberal press doesn't have any credibility to it. However, in addition to very good reporting by "Politico" on this, this does sort of smack of opposition research by a competing Republican campaign wanting to shine, you know, give discredit to Herman Cain.
In any political situation like this, one of the truisms is you get ahead of the story, right? In the case of Watergate, it's not the crime, it's the cover-up. But in any political communications, you want to get ahead of the story. That's clearly what they have not done.
COSTELLO: But it's funny because I have read articles that they knew these allegations would eventually come to light, and still, they were not prepared.
AVLON: For up to 10 days. And that's -- I mean, this is clearly, it is a sensitive issue, it is a personal issue. But you need to address it. You need to deal with it.
Denial is not a strategy. You know, hope is not a strategy.
So, you need to deal with the fact that these issues are out there and get ahead of them and tell people the truth. Put out all the information. Until that, I mean, the fact that Herman Cain's in Washington, D.C., today, giving two high-profile speeches that were allegedly about policy, he's going to get a lot of attention today, but it's not because of the policy speech.
COSTELLO: No, because every question will be about those sexual harassment allegations.
AVLON: That's right.
COSTELLO: Herman Cain was also kind of beaten up by Bob Schieffer on CBS.
AVLON: Yes.
COSTELLO: It was a bad weekend for Herman Cain.
So, it all stemmed from the weird campaign ad on the web with the smoking thing. So, let's listen to Bob Schieffer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: We didn't know that it was going to be funny to some people or whether they would ignore it or whatever the case may be.
BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS ANCHOR: Let me just tell you, it is not funny to me.
CAIN: OK.
SCHIEFFER: I am a cancer survivor, like you.
CAIN: Right. I am also.
SCHIEFFER: I had cancer that's smoking related.
CAIN: Yes.
SCHIEFFER: I don't think it serves the country well, and this is an editorial opinion here, to be showing someone smoking a cigarette. And you're the front-runner now, and it seems to me as front-runner, you would have a responsibility not to take that kind of a tone in this. I would suggest that, perhaps as the front-runner, you'd want to raise the level of the campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't know that it was going to be funny to some people or whether would ignore it or whatever the case may be.
BOB SCHIEFFER, ANCHOR, CBS EVENING NEWS: Well, let me tell you, it is not funny to me.
CAIN: OK.
SCHIEFFER: I am a cancer survivor, like you.
CAIN: Right. I am also.
SCHIEFFER: I had cancer that's smoking related.
CAIN: Yes.
SCHIEFFER: I don't think it serves the country well, and this is an editorial opinion here, to be showing someone smoking a cigarette. And you're the front-runner now, and it seems to me as front-runner, you would have a responsibility not to take that kind of a tone in this. I would suggest that, perhaps as the front-runner, you'd want to raise the level of the campaign.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: OK, so, in that instance, I can hear Herman Cain saying, get a sense of humor! And it all goes away.
AVLON: Right. I mean look, if Bob Schieffer taking this personally. And -- but I think people are making a little too much of the strategy behind the ad. I've spoken to the smoking man in the ad and I think this is not great strategy. This is simply, the guy smokes. He was smoking. There was an impulse to put it in the ad in part to get people to talk about it.
Guess what, mission accomplished. It was no way, shape or form an endorsement of smoking at anybody's part. I don't think he's in danger of enticing a new generation of kids to start smoking because he's so cool. I don't think that's going to happen.
(LAUGHTER)
AVLON: So -- but look, what the common denominator in all this at least is the fact that Herman Cain is now the front-runner in many polls in states like Iowa. He does have conservative support. That means he takes incoming. That means you get a lot of criticism. And look, this was a gonzo ad. There have been a lot of bad divisive, cynical ads, and we'll see a lot more of them going forward in this political season. This isn't one of them. This is a strange piece of film making that got a lot of buzz because it was hot.
COSTELLO: OK, so big picture.
AVLON: Big picture.
COSTELLO: Like these two issues together. Herman Cain is still leading in the polls in Iowa and in South Carolina --
AVLON: Yes.
COSTELLO: And he hasn't even campaigned in those states, right?
AVLON: That is true.
COSTELLO: Which is weird?
AVLON: That is spooky.
COSTELLO: That is spooky, it is. So, what might these two issues do to his popularity in the polls among conservatives?
AVLON: Look, you're not going to get accused of sexual harassment and have it go up in the polls. That's not going to happen. This is no way, shape or form a good thing. That said I mean Herman Cain has been able to coalesce a lot of support because he seems like a genuine guy, a good guy. People respond to him and he has the authenticity that the other guy competing for front-runner status, Mitt Romney, doesn't seem to have. Mitt Romney has that ceiling among support among conservatives. It will be interesting to see what his conservative support does in the wake of these allegations, in particular evangelicals.
COSTELLO: I can only bring up one thing, Clarence Thomas. Support among conservatives for Clarence Thomas did not diminish at all. In fact, I think it rose because of the sexual allegations against him. So, can you compare the two or am I comparing apples and oranges?
AVLON: Yes, to use one of Mister Cain's favorite metaphors. I think some people will try to run that narrative because that's the template we've got in our contemporary politics, you know when Clarence Thomas called potama (ph) high-tech lynching.
I think at the end of the day, these allegations need to be investigated on their own merits. But you know, what this will do to his conservative support has yet to be seen. He does have a real reservoir. He's shown staying power. This is not a 15 second of fame blip. This is not you know the new incarnation of Donald Trump. This is a political phenomena and that's in part why he's taking a lot of heat at the moment. COSTELLO: We'll see what happens later today. Speaking at two big events in Washington.
AVLON: Big news of the day.
COSTELLO: Yes.
AVLON: Happy Halloween.
COSTELLO: Yes. John Avlon thanks as always. Alina?
CHO: Alright Carol, Thank you. It is 48 minutes after the hour. And ahead on "American morning," profiting from the protests. An in- depth look at how people are hoping to make money off the Occupy Wall Street movement. Are you kidding me?
We'll explain. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Fifty minutes past the hour. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
Parts of New England shoveling out from under 33 inches of snow on Halloween after a nasty surprise nor'easter, four million people waking up without power this morning.
A fatal explosion in a grain elevator in Northeastern Kansas over the weekend. Three people were killed and two more injured. Three others are still missing. People three miles away felt the force. Officials are investigating but they say grain dust is highly combustible.
A great white shark attacks a surfer off the California coast Saturday. 27-year-old Eric Tarantino was bit in the arm and the neck, but he managed to swim to shore and he's recovering in the hospital. And doctors say he's expected to be OK.
A new concern for flooded Thailand, officials fear the widespread flooding could cause water and insect-borne diseases like malaria. So far, more than 370 people have died and flooding damages could top $6 billion.
A symbolic birth in the Philippines. A baby born overnight may have been the world's seventh billionth person. U.N. officials say it took just 12 years for the global population to go from six billion to seven billion people.
The president kicked off Halloween a little early. A few lucky kids got a chance to trick or treat at the White House on Saturday and meet the first couple. The U.S. census bureau estimates there were nearly 41 million trick-or-treaters across the United States last year.
That's news you need to know to start your day. "American morning" is back after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Its 52 minutes past the hour. Welcome back. This week we're reporting in depth on the Occupy Wall Street movement. The protests began here in New York City and have now spread all across the country, and actually, around the world.
CHO: That's right. And though it seems to run counter to what the occupy movement is all about, there are some who are looking to capitalize on the opportunity.
Here's CNN's Poppy Harlow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: You know what those are? They're trademark applications for this movement, Occupy Wall Street. And this guy over here, you see him? He's one of the folks trying to trademark it.
ROBERT MARESCA, TRADER APPLICANT, OCCUPY WALL STREET: I made these t-shirts, just a few on the first day, and then I made about 20 on the second day, and then I realized that it's not very healthy to spell the fumes, so I got in touch with a silk screener.
HARLOW: Why trademark it?
MARESCA: Because when you go into a large order, you have to make a large investment and there is the chance of being sued, the potential. It didn't fit through my head that it was a potential business thing.
HARLOW: Amazon is full of merchandise with that slogan, and an e-Bay search for "Occupy Wall Street" brings up nearly 5,000 results. And then there is Ray Agrazon, a self titled entre-protester we found online. He's made a few hundred bucks so far selling t-shirt at the occupystore.com.
MARESCA: If it's trademarkable, someone's going to trademark it and why not me?
HARLOW: But can anyone actually trademark Occupy Wall Street? It's not a brand name, at least not yet.
RICHARD ROTH, ATTORNEY, TRADEMARK: One would order on the one hand it is just common words, it is the public domain, it's descriptive, but it does have a little ring to it that may very well pass muster with trademark office.
HARLOW: If you get this trademark, are you going to keep it or are you going to give it to Occupy Wall Street?
MARESCA: I will give it to whatever legal structure that they organize, and they can do what they feel is best for it.
HARLOW: Down at Ducati Park, there is pretty overwhelming sentiment against Occupy Wall Street trademark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it belongs to the people and it's unnecessary to trademark it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bit hypocritical it kind of counteracts to why we're here.
HARLOW: What attracted you to this movement?
MARESCA: Separate money from politics.
HARLOW: But Robert Maresca insists he doesn't want to profit from it and promises to funnel the money back to the movement. Just how he plans to do that is another question.
How do you think you could get the money that you might make off of this, if you get the trademark, how do you get it back to Occupy Wall Street, if that's your goal? How does that work?
MARESCA: Well, I don't -- I'm not going to say that I had this big giant business plan in my head. All I knew is that I was getting sick off of smelling fumes.
HARLOW: You said that you would sell the trademark if you get it to Occupy Wall Street, if that's possible, for a dollar.
MARESCA: For $1, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sold!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: It's interesting to watch him down there talking with the Occupy Wall Street protesters, who their first impression was no one should trademark this. And then as they spoke more and realized that Robert wanted to give the money back to the movement, their tune sort of changed. But this is really interesting.
What we also learned is that last week Occupy Wall Street, the group, filed for the trademark Occupy Wall Street. They want to own it. The difference is they filed for the full name, street, and Robert filed for "st."
COSTELLO: What if it is so disorganized and there isn't any one leader, who are these people of the Occupy Wall Street movement who files for the trademark?
HARLOW: That's a very good question. Pete Dutrow (ph), the finance committee member that we spoke to weeks ago, he and another woman who help run the finances of the group, they're the ones we found on the trademark application who applied for it. So, that is organized. They have a lawyer on board who also helped them, who we spoke with last night.
But when you looked into this, it's not just that the trademark has been applied for Occupy Wall Street, it's also for "we are the 99 percent," "I am the 99 percent," Occupy D.C. 2012." You're seeing this across the board. A California-based investment company, foreign investment actually also applied last week to try to get the Occupy Wall Street trademark.
So you're going to see a lot of fate fighting over who owns this, or is it going to be deemed public domain so no one should own it? We'll see.
HARLOW: Interesting.
CHO: Bound to happen.
COSTELLO: Exactly. Poppy Harlow thanks.
HARLOW: Sure.
COSTELLO: Travel nightmares plaguing the east coast after a surprise snowstorm. JetBlue passengers venting this morning, after they were stuck without food, water, or working toilets for seven hours.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
