Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Cain: "I Was Falsely Accused"; Cain's Sexual Harassment Scandal; Presidential Debates Scheduled; Obama Gets Clean Bill of Health; First Lady Remains Popular; Shooting on Bourbon Street; JetBlue Apologizes to Stranded Travelers; Severe Flooding in South Florida; NYC Halloween Parade; Trial of Michael Jackson's Doctor; Will Sexual Harassment Allegations sink Herman Cain?; Operation: "Ghost Stories"; White House Targeting Romney; Cain: "I Was Falsely Accused"; 1.7 Million People Without Power; Hillary Clinton's Mother Becomes Ill
Aired November 01, 2011 - 05:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Of any sort of settlement, I was aware that an agreement was reached.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Herman Cain's changing story about claims he sexually harassed two women. Ahead, what he thinks triggered one of those women to speak out.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: 1.7 million people in people in the northeast still without power after this weekend's freak nor'easter. Luckily, temperatures are rising today, but sadly, so was the death toll.
ROMANS: Right out of the movies, the FBI releasing surveillance tape of Russian spies operating incompetent America, included that red headed bombshell, Anna Chapman.
COSTELLO: The pictures are fantastic and fascinating. And what the heck is going on with Rick Perry, the bizarre New Hampshire speech that has everyone buzzing on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: And good morning, everyone. It is Tuesday, November 1st. It feels like February here in New York City. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: I just can't believe it is November 1st. Where does time go? Good morning to you.
Up first, Herman Cain now fighting back against allegations of sexual harassment, problem is, his story just keeps changing. The GOP frontrunner is defending himself against a "Politico" report that claims two women accused him of inappropriate behavior during his tenure at the National Restaurant Association back in the 1990s.
We begin our coverage this morning with CNN's deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser. So I'm trying to think how many times Herman Cain's story shifted in what, a three-hour period yesterday?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Pretty much about that. I guess, you can say, Carol, for Herman the time was unfortunate. The story from "Politico" breaking just one day before the Republican presidential candidate had a number of high profile speeches and television interviews.
Well, let's start with the National Press Club. He was there around noon yesterday. This is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am unaware of any sort of settlement. I hope it wasn't for much because I didn't do anything, but the fact of the matter is I'm not aware of a settlement that came out of that accusation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: OK. Couple hours later, let's fast forward. He sat down for an interview with PBS' Judy Woodruff. This is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: I was aware that an agreement was reached. The word settlement versus the word agreement, you know, I'm not sure what they called it. I know that there was some sort of agreement, but because it ended up being minimal, they didn't have to bring it to me.
My general counsel and the head of Human Resources had the authority to resolve this thing. So it wasn't one of those things it got to a certain authority level and I had to sign it. If I did, and I don't think I did, I don't even remember signing it because it was minimal in terms of what the agreement was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: In his defense, Cain says listen, not everybody can remember what happened 12 years ago. He also said, well, the terms agreement and settlement are two different terms.
But Carol, maybe this is a sign of a campaign that just wasn't fully prepared for the story. Remember, Herman Cain went from basically an afterthought to one of the frontrunners in the race for the White House in just a matter of two months.
And his campaign structure is not that strong. So maybe this is a sign of that, maybe it is a sign that there's more there when it comes to these allegations. We just don't know.
COSTELLO: I talked to two lawyers who represent many, many women in sexual harassment cases. They find it incredible that Herman Cain can't remember being accused of sexual harassment.
Usually when a man is accused of something like that, he never forgets. Whether it is true or not, that's kind of -- that's a terrible allegation to make, number one, and it is something you don't forget. He says he doesn't remember the names of these women.
STEINHAUSER: We're going to hear more from Herman Cain today. In fact, he is on our sister network, HLN, in a couple of hours and I'm sure that's one of the questions that will be directed towards him.
This story is not over yet for Herman Cain. So I think we'll be hearing more from the Republican presidential candidate -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Paul Steinhauser reporting live in Washington, thank you.
ROMANS: All right, after acknowledging that he was falsely accused of sexual harassment, Cain said he tried to think back on what could have been perceived as offensive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: But here's the one incident that I recall as the day has gone on. She was in my office one day, and I made a gesture -- and I was standing close to her, and I made a gesture, you're the height as my wife.
And brought my hand, didn't touch her, up to my chin and said you're the same height as my wife because my wife comes up to my chin, my wife of 43 years, and that was put in there as something that made her uncomfortable as part of the sexual harassment charge.
That one little incident about the height thing was in my office, door open, plain view. My secretary sitting right outside the office, but in reviewing her case, she couldn't find anybody to corroborate her story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Cain also said he had an office on the same floor as the woman, but insisted he never traveled with her when he would go on speaking engagements.
COSTELLO: Cain's explanation came after a day of playing cat and mouse with the media. We told you that and he had one flat out denial. Campaign watchers are wondering how his team was caught so off guard. Here is CNN's Joe Johns with that part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is never a good day for a presidential campaign when the candidate's name appears in the morning headlines in a story about alleged sexually inappropriate behavior.
But from a campaign management standpoint, this may be a textbook example of how not to handle a crisis. "Politico," which broke the story says there was plenty of warning. It first asked the campaign about this 10 days before this confrontational interview outside CBS on Sunday.
CAIN: I'm not going to comment on that.
JOHNS: And when the campaign's chief of staff was asked about "Politico's" allegation two women received settlements, he seemed confused, too, saying he was not aware of any.
Just hours before the candidate said publicly that he had been falsely accused, Herman Cain's words, of sexual harassment. CNN political analyst, Rich Galen says it sounds like there was plenty of time for the campaign to prepare for the story to hit.
RICH GALEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: This is the kind of thing that you see with campaigns that aren't very skilled and very experienced. Every campaign will have a bad time.
Every campaign is going to have to explain something they didn't think they were going to have to explain, but you practice it, try to get ready for it. And when it does happen, if it does happen, you just execute on the plan.
JOHNS: Here is how one reporter at "Politico" responded when we asked if the story came from another Republican presidential campaign.
JONATHAN MARTIN, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER, POLITICO.COM: Now my colleagues and I have been reporting this story for last three weeks. In the course of that time, we talked to dozens of current, former employees at the organization, current former board members at the organization and a lot of folks in Washington that are close to the organization.
So this has been an extensively reported story, a thorough story, and we have a half-dozen sources telling us about the various aspects of these claims against Mr. Cain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Herman Cain calls it a witch hunt. He says there was an internal investigation at the National Restaurant Association where he worked in the 1990s. He says that investigation determined there was no factual basis for what he calls false allegations against him of sexual harassment. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
COSTELLO: You know what, we'll end it. I was talking to Gloria Allred, who's represented many women in sexual harassment. You know, she's a little extreme, but she said if only he would say what the amounts of the settlements were that might put the thing to rest.
Because if it is a $10,000 settlement, people would think this woman was a nuisance and they wanted her to go away and she left. If it was a $95,000 settlement, that might say something different, that charges were a little more serious. But because we don't know the details, it's left a lot of people wondering. ROMANS: We don't know what the charges are and we won't. You made a good point because if the women signed a confidentiality agreement with the settlement, we won't hear from them. It jeopardizes their financial settlements.
COSTELLO: Right, but he is not held to that confidentiality, you know, thing in the agreement, he can say whatever he wants to say. But he keeps putting it back on the restaurant association, saying it is a personnel matter, the restaurant association doesn't release details like that, but he can. So we'll see what he says on HLN later today.
A new movement bubbling right now. "Occupy Wall Street" protesters threatening to shut down the Iowa caucus. Yes, organizers say they plan to gather in Iowa one week before the vote is held on January 3rd.
Calling it the first in the nation caucus occupation. They plan to occupy the offices of all candidates that includes President Obama's offices in Iowa.
ROMANS: The White House says President Obama is looking forward to next year's presidential debates. We now know there will be three of them. The first, October 3rd at the University of Denver, the second, October 16th at Hofstra University on Long Island, and the third debate on October 22nd at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.
COSTELLO: President Obama gets a clean bill of health according to the president's recent physical. The 50-year-old commander in chief said to be fit for duty and in excellent health. The report says the president is tobacco free, yes. They say he has quit smoking for good.
ROMANS: All right, her husband's popularity may have slipped, but first lady Michelle Obama's approval rating remains strong. According to a new poll, 63 percent of Americans have a positive impression of the first lady.
That's essentially unchanged from back in May. That's why they call her the president's secret weapon on the campaign trail because she remains extremely popular. We'll know when and if what role she will have in the election coming up.
COSTELLO: I bet it will be bigger.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton canceling her scheduled trip to Britain and Turkey because according to the State Department, her mother is ill. No other details of her mother's illness were disclosed. Dorothy Rodham made several campaign appearances with her daughter during Clinton's run for president in 2008.
ROMANS: Also new this morning, it was a bloody Halloween night in Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Police say one person died, as many as seven people were wounded in a shooting just after midnight. A reporter at the scene said officers shut down Bourbon Street for hours. And about two hours later, not far from there, another person was injured by gunfire. Police say it appears to be unrelated incident.
COSTELLO: It could be Friday before 1.7 million homes and businesses in five northeast states have their power restored. At least 13 deaths now blamed on that freak weekend storm that triggered emergency declarations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
In the meantime, JetBlue is apologizing for leaving passengers stranded on the tarmac for seven hours in Hartford on Saturday. The airline releasing this video message on Youtube.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB MARUSTER, COO, JETBLUE: We know we let some of you down over the course of this weekend, and for that, we are truly sorry. Going forward, we plan to fully participate with the Department of Transportation in cooperating with their investigation into the events over the weekend. And we're also going to conduct an internal evaluation so we can learn from this event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: JetBlue faces $27,500 fines for each passenger it left stranded. In total, JetBlue could have to dole out 5 million bucks because of this incident.
ROMANS: All right, heavy rain causing severe flooding in South Florida. Coastal parts of Miami-Dade under flood warnings right now. Police have already rescued several drivers who stalled out in standing water. In some places, people are being warned to stay in their homes as the rain still is falling.
COSTELLO: Check out New York City's Halloween Parade. Thousands of people lined the streets in Greenwich Village last night. The parade has been around for 39 years with dozens of bands and dancers and even giant floats as you can see great costumes too from cute to very scary.
ROMANS: All right, up next on AMERICAN MORNING, spies operating in broad daylight right here in the U.S. including that red headed Russian bombshell, Anna Chapman. We have just released FBI spy tapes ahead.
COSTELLO: Will he or won't he. We could know as early as today if Michael Jackson's doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray will testify in his own defense.
ROMANS: And is nothing sacred, a favorite lunchtime staple is about to get a lot more expensive. That's right. It's 12 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Michael Jackson's death trial is wrapping up. And in only a few hours, a crucial decision, will Dr. Conrad Murray take the stand?
Here is Ted Rowlands with a look at what we can expect.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol and Christine, in a few hours we will find out definitively one way or another if Dr. Conrad Murray will take the stand. At the end of court yesterday, the judge after the jury left asked Murray flat out, "Are you going to take the stand or aren't you?" And Murray said he hasn't made up his mind yet.
The judge said, "Well, you better hurry up, you have until tomorrow morning before court." So at 8:30 Pacific Time, Murray is expected to tell the judge one way or another if he takes the stand. Of course, that would be a bombshell if he decides he does want to get up there in front of the jury.
On Monday, there were some fireworks in court between David Walgren, the lead prosecutor in this case, and Dr. Paul White, the defense expert and star witness. Walgren tried to dismantle the defense theory about how Michael Jackson died. He also attacked White in the way that Dr. Conrad Murray acted after he found Jackson unresponsive, specifically he asked White about the fact that Murray waited 20 minutes to call 911.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no justification for what Conrad Murray did in failing to immediately call 911, is there?
DR. PAUL WHITE, ANESTHESIOLOGIST: I - as I said earlier, I think he should have called 911 sooner. I do not, however, think it would have made any difference in the outcome of this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Now, White is still on the stands and he will be back on the stand to finish up his testimony when court resumes later this morning. Then the defense has one more witness, this is assuming Murray doesn't testify. This is a late add, if you will. So that will extend the defense case in chief by a few hours, although they told the judge after court they do expect to finish up their case at some point tomorrow, again, that is assuming that Dr. Conrad Murray does not take the stand - Carol, Christine.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Ted Rowlands.
Also new this morning, the parents of the missing Missouri Baby Lisa Irwin have fired their lawyer. Kansas City attorney Cindy Short announced her split from Baby Lisa's parents' legal team. She claimed it was because of a friction with the lead attorney.
ROMANS: Police have been investigating the parents in connection with that Baby Lisa Irwin disappearance. She went missing in early October.
A verdict in the case of the so-called Baseline Killer, an Arizonan jury found Mark Goudeau guilty of murdering nine people. He was also convicted of other charges including sexual assaults and kidnapping. String of murders happened along Baseline Road in Phoenix back in 2006.
A federal judge in Tennessee ordered officials to stop enforcing new rules that they were using to arrest Occupy Nashville protesters. Last week, the state imposed a curfew and told the protesters they needed permits to stay. The next morning, dozens of protesters were handcuffed and hauled away.
COSTELLO: The Dean of London's historic St. Paul's Cathedral has resigned over Occupy protests on the church's door steps. Occupy London activists set up camp at the landmark just over two weeks ago when their attempt to overtake the London Stock Exchange failed. St. Paul's came under fire after it said they would take legal action to try to remove the 200 tents from the square outside of its main entrance.
ROMANS: All right. Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center for us this morning. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Christine. Hi, Carol.
Again, temperatures across the northeast where the snow is falling and in some cases melted away, but it's also in some cases still there, helping refrigerate some of the air. Twenty-nine degrees in Albany right now and temperatures near the freezing mark in the snow zone in the area, where we still have over 1.7 million people in the dark this morning. And in some of those cases, you know, you can't fire up the furnace, so it's cold, for sure.
Fifty-six degrees is the expected high temperature in New York City. That's actually a couple degrees below where it should be. Hard to believe that the average high in New York is 58, 59 degrees and we had all that snow over the weekend. We'll see mild temperatures work into this area as we go through time.
Meanwhile, yet another storm dropping into the Inner Mountain West. Could see over a foot of snow above the 8,000 foot mark. In the high plains, will see some snow as well. But other than that, fairly quiet weather shaping up at least for today, kind of a breather of a day. But low clouds and some gusty winds creating some - potentially some ground delays in some of the northeast airports.
There is a system that's trying to get itself together, another nor'easter trying to make itself happen here, but it's going to stay offshore. It's not going to really bomb (ph) out, so it's just light showers and some clouds across parts of the extreme northeast shorelines today.
You mention the extreme rainfall across Florida. These are October rain totals for parts of South Florida. Vero beach, 21 inches of rainfall; Marathon chasing 20 inches of rainfall, and Miami, Florida seeing 15 inches of rainfall. So you've got to remember in places like Miami, I think the average is 60 or 70 inches a year, so to get that much in a month is certainly a lot of snow falls.
As far as what we're looking at for current temperatures, 47 degrees right now in New York City, so we're warming up somewhat since - what - when I started this weather cast 60 seconds ago, guys.
Happy Halloween. It's November 1st now. We've got 30 days left before hurricane season is over.
ROMANS: Oh, great. I know. I was just telling Carol, I've got branches on my roof. I've got a completely smashed swing set, 100- year-old oak tree just disintegrating in the - I mean, it's crazy out there in the burbs. This never happened in this village.
MARCIANO: No. That's, you know, one plus living in the house.
ROMANS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob.
Now is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, will sexual harassment allegations sink Herman Cain?
You've heard the ever-shifting story by now. It started with a story in Politico. Two women accused Cain of sexually impropriety back in the '90s, back when Cain was chief honcho for the National Restaurant Association.
At first, Cain's camp said the Politico story was false, then Cain denied there had been a cash settlement, until he didn't.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am unaware of any sort of settlement. I hope it wasn't for much because I didn't do anything. But the fact of the matter is I'm not aware of a settlement that came out of that accusation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: By the time Cain was on FOX News, he had an epiphany. Not only did he remember there was a cash settlement, he remembered the exact gesture that made one of his accusers uncomfortable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: She was in my office one day and I made a gesture saying, oh, and I was standing close to her and I made a gesture, you are the same height as my wife. And brought my hand, didn't touch her, up to my chin and said you're the same height as my wife because my wife comes up to my chin. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: None of this means Cain is guilty of anything, but his shifting story matters to those who represent victims of sexual harassment. If Cain is elected president, he will be head of the largest workplace in the nation.
As attorney and women's advocate Gloria Allred told me, "The president must be the gold standard of employers. Didn't we learn anything from the Clinton era?"
So the "Talk Back" question today, will sexual harassment accusations sink Herman Cain? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
ROMANS: All right.
Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, spies among us. Surveillance tapes of Russian operatives here in America released by the FBI, including, oh, yes, that red headed beauty, Ana Chapman.
COSTELLO: Plus the pool, the exercise room, the rollaway bed, it turns out there's a fee for that. Hotels now piling on extra costs.
It's 22 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Good morning. Welcome back. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
U.S. stock futures are down after a pretty bad day, a bad day that was, you know, a pretty good month, by the way. Stocks falling sharply yesterday. The Dow off by 276 points. That's about two percent. The sell-off fueled by concerns about Europe.
And former New Jersey Governor John Corzine's company MF Global filing for bankruptcy after millions of dollars in bets on Europe went bad.
Boeing will soon be setting up shop in an old space shuttle hangar at NASA at Kennedy Space Center. Boeing will use that space to build and test a new capsule that's designed to ferry astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station. The deal is expected to create more than 100 jobs.
All right. The list of major banks who are retreating now from those wildly unpopular debit card fees is growing. SunTrust and Regions Bank now say they're going to stop charging customers $5 a month for debit cards. That leaves Bank of America as the only major bank still planning to charge that fee. But even BofA is stepping back a little and testing some - some provisions that would allow more people to avoid that fee.
Now, hotels are piling on a bunch of new fees for services that used to be free, like, hey, using the pool, getting a rollaway bed. According to a study out of New York University, American hotels are expected to collect a record $1.8 billion in fees that's up 80 percent from a decade ago. Just like your airline.
Whether you prefer creamy or chunky, one thing is the same, the cost of peanut butter is going up. Manufacturers raising prices on the lunch staple by as much as 40 percent. The reason - a poor peanut harvest this year. You will feel it in your PB and J.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And welcome back. We're almost 30 minutes past the hour. Good morning to you.
The top stories now:
Herman Cain story seems to keep on changing after a report of two women that accused him of sexual harassment back in the '90s. Cain acknowledging there was a payout, a big change from his denials earlier yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am unaware of any sort of settlement. I hope it wasn't for much because I didn't do anything. But the fact of the matter is, I'm not aware of a settlement that came out of that accusation.
I was aware that an agreement was reached. The word settlement versus the word agreement, you know, I'm not sure what they called it. I know that there was some sort of agreement, but because it ended up being minimal, they didn't have to bring it to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Cain also said he thought back on what could have triggered the allegations. And all he could think of is when he stood next to the woman, the woman who made these allegations and noted that she was about the same height as his wife.
ROMANS: A Halloween night bloodbath in Bourbon Street. New Orleans police say one person died, as many as seven people were wounded in a shooting just after midnight. Not far from the scene, another person was injured by gunfire, two hours later, in what police say appears to be an unrelated incident.
COSTELLO: Utility crews going house to house this morning, trying to restore power to 1.7 million customers in five northeastern states. A five freak weekend snowstorm triggering emergency declarations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. At least 13 people have been killed because of that nor'easter.
ROMANS: The FBI has released video of the notorious Anna Chapman and other Russian spy conducting their business here in the U.S. It's from an undercover surveillance operation called "Ghost Stories."
Foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty live at the State Department.
Good morning, Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Christine.
Well, you know, we've all seen those spy movies, but this is the real thing. Spies, undercover FBI agents, all captured on videotape.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOUGHERTY (voice-over): Just in time for Halloween, the FBI releases a treasure trove of videos, photos, and heavy-edited documents from Operation Ghost Stories. A coincidence, the FBI says, but it's an undercover peek of how a Russian spy ring collected and passed on information, how the FBI trailed them, and finally cracked the operation.
In one video from January, 2010, Anna Chapman, the red-headed bombshell who later went on to fame in Moscow as a TV host, sits in a New York coffee shop wearing designer sunglasses, unknowingly talking with an undercover FBI agent about problems with her laptop that she uses to communicate with Russian officials.
"You are ready for the next step, OK?" he asks. "OK," she says. "This is not laptop to laptop, this is person to person," the agent says.
In another video, the classic spy technique, a brush pass, as another spy trades off a bag full of cash with a Russian official as they pass in a train station.
The FBI was forced to release the material recorded over the decade the FBI had the 10 Russians under surveillance as part of a Freedom of Information Act request. And it looks just like a spy movie, including one Russian digging up a package of money from what in spy lingo is called a "dead drop."
This spy ring is over, but the FBI says it's not the end of the story.
FRANK FIGLIUZZI, FBI: The U.S. remains the target of most of the world's spying. And again, as long as we have policy information, technology and research that the rest of the world wants, and as long as foreign intel services want to gain a strategic advantage against us, we'll continue to be the target of that kind of spying.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOUGHERTY: And Anna Chapman and her spy colleagues were returned to Moscow last year as part of a spy swap as we remember. And it looks as if being a former intelligence agent might actually be good for your career.
ROMANS: Jill, how sophisticated were the techniques that the spies were using? I mean, some of that surveillance video at the train station, for example, is like right out of a movie. Except sometimes they're smoother in the movies.
DOUGHERTY: Yes, it was like a 1950s movie. Some of those techniques were the old tried and true. But when we talked with the FBI, they said that some of the other things like Anna Chapman using that computer, she was actually using a Mac, they say, a Mac laptop, and it was communicating with another computer that was in a van that was going around the city -- in fact around that block and able to communicate. So there were more techniques that were a bit more cutting edge.
So I think that's one of the reasons that they were concerned. Obviously, as the agent said, there are a lot of countries that still would like to be spying on the United States.
And as you mention -- Anna Chapman, she's a hero at home, got her own talk show.
DOUGHERTY: Yes.
ROMANS: I mean, for her, getting thrown out of the country paid.
DOUGHERTY: It did. She's interesting because she has that kind of -- she was doing a few lingerie ads, and she was in men's magazines. But she's also kind of canny, too. She's using that to promote herself. She's been vaguely involved in some political stuff and some -- I understand some magazines dealing with financial issues. So, obviously, she's, you know, pretty intelligent and will parlay this into something good for herself, I'm sure.
ROMANS: All right. Jill Dougherty, thank you so much, Jill. I mean, the pictures are fascinating. Ten years of surveillance. Thanks.
COSTELLO: That was very cool.
ROMANS: Oh, yes.
COSTELLO: Also new this morning, Libya's transitional government picks a new interim prime minister. The NTC elected Abdurrahim el-Keib, an electrical engineer, born in Tripoli, and educated here in the United States. El-Keib pledges to respect human rights and international law. He'll serve in the role until Libya writes a constitution and organizes a national election.
ROMANS: No sign of relief yet from three months of catastrophic flooding in Thailand. Right now, there are new threats of water and insect-borne diseases like malaria. Two million people have been affected by these floods. So far, at least 370 people have died. Japanese automaker Honda is scrambling to protect its factories there exposed to rising waters. The company slashing production in six U.S. and Canadian plants.
COSTELLO: The bankrupt capital of Pennsylvania failing to come to an agreement on a financial recovery plan. A hearing today over whether the city can pay its creditors. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is essentially sitting on $310 million of debt it cannot pay for.
ROMANS: All right. They're literally getting crafty. School officials now warning parents about new bracelet kids are wearing that are a lot more than a fashion craze. When you take them off, they're actually a pipe used to smoke pop.
COSTELLO: No.
ROMANS: They are popping up in schools in central Florida. Schools are now suspending students just for having them and expelling kids if they have been used to store or to take drugs.
COSTELLO: I don't know if that's clever or not. You would think the kids would -- very strange.
Up next on AMERICAN MORNING: the White House going on the attack. The Republican candidate there already targeted before the first primary is even held.
ROMANS: And what's up with Rick Perry? Everyone is talking about his New Hampshire speech. Was he just fired up like his campaign says he was?
Thirty-eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Forty-one minutes past the hour. Welcome back.
The White House isn't even waiting for the primary season to begin to figure out who the Republican nominee for the president will be. The Obama administration already targeting the man they think they will be facing, actually he will be facing next November.
Here is CNN's chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS: You are now leading, Mr. Cain, in two national polls this week.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Romney is basically tied for the top spot with businessman Herman Cain.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS: Herman Cain and Romney, way ahead of the field.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": A statistical tie if you look at the plus-or-minus sampling error, five points.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): While political watchers measure who is up or down in a tight Republican horse race, the Obama reelection team is already focusing its firepower on Mitt Romney.
Top White House adviser David Plouffe on "Meet the Press":
DAVID PLOUFFE, WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: He has no core. You get the sense with Romney that, you know, if he thought he -- it was good to say the sky was green and the grass was blue to win an election, he'd say it.
YELLIN: Ouch. And we haven't even gotten to Iowa yet.
Convinced most voters still don't know much about Romney, and persuaded he is likely to become the nominee, team Obama is jumping in to define him while he is still distracted with primaries. It's a biting two-pronged attack.
One, they'll argue he's a flip-flopper. Press Secretary Jay Carney --
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It is always a question as to where he was and where he is and where he might be on any given issue.
YELLIN: Top campaign adviser David Axelrod --
DAVID AXELROD, OBAMA CAMPAIGN ADVISER: If you are willing to change positions on fundamental issues of principle, how can we know what you would do as president?
YELLIN: Two, they say he is a creature of Wall Street who won't help the middle class.
In a statement, Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt said, "Rather than restoring economic security for the middle class, Mitt Romney thinks we should join a race to the bottom by promoting outsourcing, loopholes, and risky financial deals."
The president himself made the case after a Republican debate in which Mitt Romney suggested he wouldn't support an extension of the payroll tax cut.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's exactly what one of the leading Republican presidential candidates suggested we do during last night's debate, allow taxes to rise by up to $1,000 next year for struggling middle class families.
YELLIN (on camera): The Romney campaign is not letting those attacks go unanswered. Romney campaign spokesperson Andrea Saul issued a statement saying, "President Obama and his allies already signaled they're going to run a campaign of personal destruction to, quote, 'kill,' Mitt Romney because they're intimidated by his candidacy. Americans know that Mitt Romney is a fiscally responsible businessman who will put in place pro-growth policies that will create jobs and undo the damage caused by the failed Obama presidency."
The makings of a very harsh campaign indeed.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Also new this morning, fewer babies are being born early. According to the March of Dimes report card, 40,000 fewer preemies were born between 2006 and 2009. That bumped the country's grade from a D to a C. The grade is based on each state's preemie rates compared to the goal birth rates.
COSTELLO: A little better. We finally have some answers in that fatal Disney World monorail accident back in 2009. The NTSB releasing a new report saying the crash was caused by failing to properly put a track switch. The report also blamed the monorail manager for not monitoring that switch. Disney worker Austin Wuennenberg died in that crash. It also caused more than $24 million in damages.
ROMANS: All right. Going out on top, just two days after winning the World Series, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is retiring. He's managed 33 seasons in the Major League, third -- wow, he's third in all time wins and won three World Series titles.
COSTELLO: Oh! He's amazing, and he's retiring on top, and isn't that the dream of everyone?
ROMANS: Oh, sure. Yes.
COSTELLO: The only question I have is what's up with his hair?
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I wish we had a picture with him with his hat off, because it's kind of strange.
(LAUGHTER)
It's the largest crime spree -- crime spree, rather, in Vancouver history. The riots after the Canucks lost the Stanley cup to the Boston Bruins. Now, Vancouver police are recommending charges against 60 people arrested in June. The charges include everything from assault to breaking and entering. And police say more arrests could be announced in the coming weeks.
ROMANS: And the field of dreams sold. A group of investors bought the Iowa farm that was featured in the 1989 Kevin Costner movie. The selling price wasn't disclosed, but it was listed at $5.4 million last year. The group plans to build a youth baseball complex next to the legendary diamond.
COSTELLO (on-camera): Yes. They're going to model it after Cal Ripken's baseball camp.
ROMANS (on-camera): Really?
COSTELLO: Yes. And so, the field of dreams will remain and maybe build dreams for little guys and girls who will come. ROMANS: There you go.
COSTELLO: It's awesome. Forty-six minutes past the hour.
Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, Rick Perry's campaign has hinted he may skip some debates. Who needs debates when you're a one man show? The speech that has everyone's buzzing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN KARNAZES, ULTRAMARATHON RUNNER: Hey, I'm Dean Karnazes. I'm the ultramarathon man, and I'm on the road about 250 days a year. A marathon is 26.2 miles. An ultramarathon might be 50 miles, a 100 miles, 200 miles. I have run up to 350 continuous miles in an ultramarathon. I've run on all seven continents of the earth, just about every possible terrain, every climate.
I recently spent 75 days running from Los Angeles to New York City. I didn't have one day of rest. I had to run between 40 and 50 miles a day. I got to see the country firsthand in a way that people will never see it. When I ran across the country, one thing I listened to a lot of was audio books. Good way to make an eight or ten-hour run go by fast.
The running, that can be extremely brutal. It's not always fun. There's a magic in misery, and we're drawn to it. You emerge stronger and you feel better after running.
Thanks for coming on a run with me today and see you down the road!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 49 minutes past the hour. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Herman Cain now saying he never sexually harassed anyone after a report that at least two women accused him of that back in the 1990s. Cain also now acknowledging there was a payout after denying he knew anything about any cash settlement earlier.
Halloween night turned into a bloodbath on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Police say one person was killed and as many as seven were wounded in a shooting just after midnight.
1.7 million people have no power in five northeast states, and officials say they may have to wait until Friday before the lights and the heat come back on. A freak weekend snowstorm killed at least 13 people. Hundreds of people have been forced to stay in shelters.
South Florida, on the other hand, dealing with heavy rain and dangerous flooding. Miami-Dade and Broward Counties under flash flood warnings last night. In some areas, people are being warned to stay in their homes.
Secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, is canceling her trip to Britain and Turkey because according to the state department, her mother is sick. Dorothy Rodham is 92. Mrs. Rodham made several campaign appearances with her daughter during Clinton's run for president in 2008.
Big day in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor. Conrad Murray has until the start of court this morning to decide if he will testify in his own defense. Closing arguments and jury deliberations could begin as early as Thursday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (on-camera): That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We asked to you "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, will sexual harassment accusations sink Herman Cain?
This from Rita, "Mr. Cain should have owned up to it from the beginning, but he changed his story, and that means he's done. At the same time, Republicans forgive their candidates for their transgressions.
This from Kerry, "I'm so confused. Why would anyone think less of Cain when it was perfectly OK for Bill Clinton to have Monica in the oval office? He then lied under oath to the American public, yet, he still viewed as a wonderful president. Are there double standards going on here, one for Democrats and one for Republicans? Why are we even discussing this?"
And this from Maria, "Of course it will. Any victims who initially supported Cain are going to quickly turn their backs on him. His wavering stories are not promising. He's losing my vote. If he had not done anything wrong, then I wouldn't care, but his flip flopping is less than reassuring. Not only on this matter but in regards to what may happen if he actually became president."
Keep the comments coming. Facebook.com/americanmorning. Read more of your thoughts later on in the show.
ROMANS: All right. It wasn't a great weekend for a couple of GOP contenders, Carol. Everyone still talking about Governor Rick Perry's very lively and all over the place speech in New Hampshire. Everyone including Jon Stewart.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": So, Cain is possibly hobbled. Could Rick Perry, hurt by stiffness in his debate performances, seize the moment in New Hampshire this weekend?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is such a cool state. I mean, come on, live free or die. I mean, live free or die, victory or death, bring it!
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: You're overcorrecting. Don't worry. It gets worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: Texas rangers after 50 years are going to win a World Series! Oops. The day has been awesome, girl. Or that. Twenty percent flat tax, put it on there, take your deductions off, send it in. I grew up on a farm. I grew up on a farm.
That little plan that I just shared with you doesn't force the Granite State to expand your tax footprint, if you know what I mean. Like nine percent is expansion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: Best case scenario, that dude's hammered.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: Worst case scenario, that is Perry sober, and every time we've seen him previously, he's been hammered.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: I have got to go watch -- I'm going to watch the whole speech. I want to know what percentage of the speech was that and what percentage was not.
COSTELLO: I'm telling you, he was funny, though. Maybe, he has another career in store as a comedian.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: He was relaxed and excited.
COSTELLO: He was relaxed, very relaxed. In our next hour. Good news for happy people. Is your boss a big old meenie? Don't worry. We'll tell you why he will probably die before you.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: That was cruel, wasn't it? And I enjoyed saying it.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: It is five minutes until the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
