Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Greece May Reject EU Bailout; Herman Cain Accuser Wants to Speak Out; President Obama Prepares for G-20 Summit; Deadly Duck Boat Crash; Reno Air Show Crash Lawsuit; Miracle Landing in Poland; Crack Offenders Eligible for Release; Wisconsin Pot Bust; Train Track Rescue; Herman Cain Accuser May Talk; David Slays Goliath; Alcohol and Breast Cancer; 60,000 Small Business Jobs Created Since March; Starbucks Rolls Out Program to Help American Small Businesses
Aired November 02, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: One of Herman Cain's accusers wants to talk. A sexual harassment scandal threatening to sink a surging presidential campaign.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A Wall Street firm collapses. Now, federal investigators are looking into why hundreds of millions of dollars are missing from the firm's book.
ROMANS: Consumer outrage forcing Bank of America to rethink its plan for a monthly fee for you to use your own money, but what will you end up paying more for now?
COSTELLO: Everybody's wondering that. And some sobering news for women about drinking and the risk of breast cancer on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. Good morning, everyone. It's Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: Yes. Happy Wednesday to you.
Up first this morning, later today President Obama will fly to Europe to attend the G-20 summit in France. The European debt crisis is expected to dominate the agenda over the next two days. And before the world's powerful leaders could even get started demonstrators are pouring into the streets along the French Riviera marching against corporate greed.
Our own Ali Velshi covering the summit. He joins us live from Cannes, France. And I guess all the talk there is about Greece.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right. You know, often these things are fairly technical. They try to decide on things that their ministers have been working on for months and months. And then there's the big story of security and the protests, which are happening here, by the way. They work very hard to keep the leaders safe and let these meetings go on and at the same time allow protesters to do what they have to do. But they are not close to where we are right now.
Bur really about 24 hours ago the discussion turned entirely toward Greece. In a very, very strange move, the Greece prime minister said instead of the deal that was made last week that would allow the Eurozone to bail out Greece given all the changes they made to their political and economic system, the Greek prime minister is going to put it to a vote, a referendum of the Greek people.
That was entirely unexpected. And there's some chance that a referendum like that would fail. In other words, it would not approve some of the things the Greeks have to do in order to get the bailout money.
So this has turned U.S. markets around. You saw the damage done to markets last night, yesterday during the day. It's got world leaders furious. Angela Merkel of German, Nicolas Sarkozy of France, and President Obama, Timothy Geithner, they're all going to be here. They are going to be meeting with the Greek prime minister George Papandreou, and they're going to be trying to convince him that this is a mistake. They cannot have hammered out this important deal designed to save the Eurozone and hence not send the world into a further recession because the Greeks want to do something different.
It's unclear what the goal is, what the Greek prime minister was trying to achieve, whether he's trying to save his popularity in Greece, whether he's trying to scuttle the deal, unclear. But all eyes are going to be on him tonight when he gets here. They're all going to be looking at him saying what are you up to? You can't do this.
There are other things that were on the agenda at the G-20. They might get to them, but largely this is going to be where the leaders efforts are going to be directed, at getting Greece to back off from this idea of holding a referendum which could happen sometime in December or January, keeping the world in financial uncertainty until then, Carol.
COSTELLO: Ali Velshi reporting live from France, thanks.
ROMANS: This morning a big name on Wall Street and politics is at the center of what appears to be a growing financial scandal involving the collapse of Jon Corzine's Wall Street firm MF Global. Hundreds of millions of dollars belonging to investors are said to be missing.
And this story ties in with Ali because the bets MF Global were making, big, big bets on European sovereign debt. That made Wall Street very nervous. It was a crisis of confidence. Susan Candiotti is here. Now the question is, what happened to $600 million from customers' accounts? Was it covering up losses in the firm's accounts? We don't know.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And as you do know, you can't mix customer money with company money. You can't do it. So CNN is learning the FBI is now investigating what happened to at least $600 million of customer money.
And the question is, did MF Global, which filed for bankruptcy use their customers money to prop up the company? If they did, serious charge. There are rules requiring firms to keep customer funds separate from company money. MF Global is a company that former New Jersey governor John Corzine took over last year. And Corzine, no stranger to managing money --- he was also the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, quickly made some big bets on some rather risky assets. We're talking more than $6 billion invested in the debts of, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland, Europe nations with troubled economies. And when Europe started to teeter, people started to worry about those, bets and it created a crisis of confidence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the end of the day, they took a very risky position. It was very large and because of its size became risky and put pressure on the capital of the firm, ultimately resulting in a lack of confidence by investors and other parties and essentially creating a run on the bank.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Corzine was close to finding a buyer for MF Global over the weekend, but when the potential buyer learned about the missing money, it walked away from the deal. At yesterday's bankruptcy hearing here in New York, MF Global's attorney argued that all the money has been accounted for. But federal officials say they are trying to get to the bottom of what really happened in the days before MF Global filed for chapter 11.
So at this point FBI is not speaking publicly about this, they offered no comment. Haven't heard from Jon Corzine yet or MF Global.
ROMANS: Wow, what a mess. Thank you so much.
COSTELLO: You took the words right out of my mought.
A growing Herman Cain sexual harassment scandal. One of the accusers is thinking of going public. Her attorney is telling CNN that he's asking the National Restaurant Association to let her out of the confidentially agreement to keep her quiet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOEL BENNETT, ATTORNEY FOR CAIN ACCUSER: Naturally she's been very upset about all this since the story broke because Mr. Cain has been giving the impression that she's someone who came out and made false allegations. And that's certainly not true. And she's still deciding once we hear from the restaurant association what she'll do if they'll waive the confidentiality. Until they do that, she's not going to speak out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Cain is now calling of all this part of a spear campaign against him, and being a black conservative may be the motivating factor. "The New York Times" now reporting that one accuser received a year's salary, about $35,000, as part of the settlement back in the 1990s. so information about these women and about their settlements slowly trickling out.
Joining us now, CNN legal contributor Paul Callan to talk more about this. You have some history in employment related contracts and the like, legal history. Let's talk about the agreements. Waiving the confidentiality -- if a woman signs one of these agreements, she's signed a clause saying she will not disparage the person. She accepts they are not admitting guilt. What do they usually look like?
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: The Rolls-Royce of clauses basically says that both parties can never talk about the case. Sometimes there's a crafted statement, both parties can say there was a case and it was resolved. But nobody can say whether there was merit to the claim or lack of merit to the claim. That's the essence of a confidentiality agreement.
And the second thing is there's usually a severe penalty for breach of the agreement. Now the only one who suffers from that clause is the woman because if she got $35,000 in settlement, she could forfeit the entire settlement or a percentage of the settlement if she violates the confidentiality agreement and talks.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: There's wiggle room, right? If Herman Cain is saying there's no truth to the allegations and it doesn't speak to what the settlement says, neither party admitting guilt here, right, then would a judge allow her to break that confidentiality agreement and come out and speak?
CALLAN: You are on to something there, Carol. He may very well, because Herman Cain by saying I never harassed anybody would be in breach of the agreement himself if it barred all parties from talking.
But let me throw another thing into the mix. There were reports that Herman Cain was not even a party to this agreement. He wasn't sued directly. The restaurant association was sued. So they may have negotiated the agreement and he may gain the benefit of it, but he may not be a party to it. So we really have to see the confidentiality agreement itself before we know the answers to these questions.
ROMANS: How common is it to get a year's salary to end the claim and they move along somewhere else? Is it common? Is it happening in corporate America?
CALLAN: It's happening all over the place. And I would say a full year's salary is a substantial award in a case like this, but there may have been other claims. The policy of the organization may have been to give six months for an ordinary dismissal of an employee. I don't know.
But I will say, and I don't think most people realize this, in this field, when people get sued for sex harassment, even if they are innocent, they settle the cases frequently. Why? Because the public humiliation for a corporate executive to be subject to the public charges, it's much better, pay the person.
COSTELLO: Not for the person making the charges, either. Who wants to sit through court? You never know how the jury is going to react to testimony. Most women want to settle it, too, out of court. It's not worth their while. They want to find another job down the line.
CALLAN: They do, and the confidentiality agreement lets them walk away, nobody knows about it, and the case is settled. So that's how a lot of these cases are resolved. Some of them have merit, some of them don't have merit. And now what's going to be interesting here is will the case from 12 years ago be refought in the public arena in a presidential campaign.
COSTELLO: Can you imagine, a he said/she said right in the middle of a presidential primary. It would just be ugly. How likely is it that this woman will be allowed to talk, because it seems like the restaurant association is going to be the entity that gives the permission of say for this woman to break her agreement?
CALLAN: I don't think the restaurant association is going to give up the confidentiality agreement. My bet is they are going to stand by it. But I do think that there's going to be a strong argument that Herman Cain violated the agreement by making public statements and probably she'll be able to talk.
Finally, the maximum penalty for talking that she faces is $35,000. I'm betting somebody is going to come forward and say to her I'll pay your legal fees and $35,000 if you to tell your story. So my prediction --- this whole thing is going to go public, and we're going to find out what people say really happened.
COSTELLO: Paul Callan, just starting to get interesting. CNN legal contributor, nice to see you this morning.
Still to come this morning, raise a glass, raise your risk of breast cancer. Details of an important new study for women just ahead.
Plus, could Apple be on the verge of battery gate? You are watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's 10 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Improvements in the northeast after this weekend's freak snowstorm. The number of people without power is now down, but there are still more than a million homes in the dark, especially in areas of Connecticut. So far 15 deaths have been linked to the storm.
COSTELLO: Under siege from its customers, Bank of America is dropping its plan for a $5 monthly fee for using a debit card. It's a victory for Molly Katchpole, who collected 300,000 signatures in an online petition to stop the fee. I talked with her earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MOLLY KATCHPOLE, GATHERED 300,000 SIGNATURES IN ONLINE PETITION AGAINST BANK OF AMERICA: It was really exciting that finally, you know, this big corporation is listening to its customers and backing down. And that is so exciting to me. I wish it could happen more often, you know? I want everybody to know, if they are unhappy about something, they can try to create change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Still, customers could be hit with other so called stealth fees. So be on the lookout for possible charges related to, oh, receiving paper statements, using towers instead of ATMs, and not keeping a certain minimum balance.
ROMANS: Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice revealing a scary story from inside the White House. In an "Nightline" interview she talked about a time right after September 11th when the president and most of his circle thought they were poisoned and they were going to die. She was with the President when Vice President Cheney bluntly delivered the news.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: He came on the screen and said that the White House protectors have detected Botulinum toxin and we were all -- those of us exposed were going to die.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said that?
RICE: Yes, he said that. And I remember everybody just sort of freezing and the President saying, "What was that? What was that, Dick?"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Including the president?
RICE: Including the president, because the exposure time would have meant that we were all exposed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Rice said the tests took 24 hours to come back and it came back negative, so they didn't know for a full day whether the president would simply drop dead.
COSTELLO: Oh, wow.
A verdict passed down to the extradition appeal of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. A London judge ruled that Assange can indeed be extradited to Sweden. Assange is wanted for questioning for two sexual misconduct allegations from last year.
In the meantime, Assange announced this week that WikiLeaks is dealing with financial problems and is struggling to stay afloat.
ROMANS: The Michael Jackson death trial about to enter its final phase. Both sides will deliver closing arguments tomorrow. Testimony wrapped up yesterday with Dr. Conrad Murray telling the judge that he wouldn't testify. Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death.
COSTELLO: Oh, baby, baby no. A young woman in California is reportedly claiming that Justin Bieber is the father of her three- month-old baby boy. Oh, gosh. And she wants him to take a paternity test.
The young woman claims she had sex with Bieber backstage at one of his Los Angeles concerts last year. Bieber would have been 16. Team Bieber denies the allegations telling CNN it's sad that someone would fabricate malicious, defamatory and false claims.
ROMANS: All right. Seventeen minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano --
COSTELLO: You didn't want to comment on that, did you?
ROMANS: I have no comment on Justin Bieber --
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I'm curious on how old is the -- how old the mother is and is there, you know, statutory issue going on as well.
COSTELLO: See, Rob is into this.
ROMANS: You know, he just topped Lady Gaga I think in total views, like two billion views online. I mean, there's so many people who love that guy. I mean --
COSTELLO: They want a piece of him, so to speak.
ROMANS: Just like you, Rob.
MARCIANO: Speak for yourself.
Good morning, again, guys. Hey, I want to start you off with what's going on out west. We have another early season. Pretty strong snowstorm that's affecting parts of Wyoming and Colorado. Over a foot of snow in Douglas, Wyoming. And Cheyenne set a record yesterday, 8.9 inches and still climbing. And 3.5 inches so far in Denver. We expect anywhere from 8 to 14 along the Front Range. Blizzard warnings east of Denver and some of the high plains here, winds will be gusting 30, 40, maybe 50 miles an hour at times with this system.
So, a strong one. And it will be heading up towards -- actually they'll head south of the northeast, but across the midsection of the country with mostly rain once it gets to the lower elevations.
All right. This is high resolution satellite picture of not clouds, but snow across the northeast. The snow zone from our big, freak storm over the weekend. And you can see the extreme contrast between the white and really kind of a greenish terrain. It wouldn't look this bright in, say, January or February when it would be a little bit more brown. So just one more facet to this storm that makes it remarkable.
All right. We still have over a million people that are in the dark this morning from places like Scranton up towards Albany to Pittsfield, up towards Wooster with temperatures there still hovering below the freezing mark. They will rebound obviously into the 50s and 60s and continue that melting process but that will be refreezing overnight. And people still being in the dark, it's kind of miserable.
Everyone, east of the Mississippi, though, will be dry and on the mild side. And here's your storm out to the west. By the way, the backside of this storm creating a bit of a fiery threat with a strong Santa Ana wind event happening right now across parts of Southern California. Temperatures in the Los Angeles will at least be 82, maybe a little bit warmer than that; 80 in Dallas; Denver will be 33 degrees; 57 degrees effective in New York; and 67 in Atlanta.
If you are traveling today, Obviously Denver is going to have an issue, although they do a pretty good job dealing with snow out there. Los Angeles and Phoenix because of the gusty winds, maybe a visibility issue in Phoenix. And Chicago, Minneapolis and Dallas will be the other problem spots there and obviously problems for the Bieber Team, as you said. We'll see what happens on that front.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: Back to you.
ROMANS: Still to come this morning, a link between alcohol and breast cancer risk, even for light drinkers. Dr. Sanjay Gupta examines a frightening new study.
COSTELLO: And a pilot pulls off a miracle emergency landing in Poland with over 200 passengers on board.
It's 19 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Right now, U.S. markets are poised to open slightly higher after a steep sell-off yesterday. The Dow fell 2.5 percent. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 were both down nearly three percent all because of Greece.
Later in the trading day, the country announced the plans to hold a popular vote on the European bailout package that was agreed upon last week. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou heads to the G-20 Summit in France today for emergency talks with other European leaders who are urging him to scrap that referendum. Without the bailout, the Greek economy could collapse. Maybe Greece could get kicked out of the E.U. It would be incredibly destabilizing for Europe, for Greeks, for banks and maybe the U.S.
This afternoon at 2:15 press briefing, there's no doubt Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will be asked about Greece's plan to put the European bailout vote to a national vote. The Fed has been meeting about efforts to boost the U.S. economy today and yesterday.
Homeowners who feel lenders played fast and loose with their foreclosures may be up for a payday. Under new federal program, about four million homeowners can have their cases reviewed for errors. And if the review finds the errors caused financial injury, homeowners could get some kind of compensation.
The gripes are getting a little louder over the new iPhone 4S' battery life. The problem, people say the battery seems to drain even when they're not using it. So far, no word from Apple. One theory, though, is that these location-based services on the phone may be cutting into your battery life.
And the devastating floods in Thailand could create a laptop shortage. That region is a -- is a hub for hundreds of companies that create hard drives, cameras and microchips. And many of those factories had to shut down because of the floodwaters.
Don't forget, for the very latest news about your money, check out the all-new CNNMoney.com.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
When President Obama arrives for the start of the G-20 Summit in France tomorrow, he wouldn't be going to get the rock star treatment he's enjoyed in the past.
ROMANS: With Europe's economy crumbling, the Obama administration has already made it clear that it doesn't plan to offer a hand out anytime soon.
Here is Chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the president meets with world leaders at the G-20 Summit, keep this in mind. What happens in Europe, doesn't necessarily stay in Europe.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The biggest head wind the American economy is facing right now is uncertainty about Europe, because it's affecting global markets.
If Europe is weak, if Europe is not growing as our largest trading partner, that's going to have an impact on our businesses and our ability to create jobs here in the United States. YELLIN: France and Germany have just outlined a plan to rescue Europe's debt strapped nations. At the Summit, those leaders will be pressed to fill in more details and explain where they'll get all the money their plan requires. The answers to those questions matter.
KEN ROGOFF, FMR. CHIEF ECONOMIST, IMF: If Europe goes into a deep recession, it will hurt us in many ways. Their direct effects, we trade with them. But much more importantly it will shake confidence. It will hurt our financial sector and take our very, very slow growth and possibly push us into a recession.
MARTIN BAILY, FMR. ECONOMIC ADVISER FOR PRESIDENT CLINTON: If Europe really were to have a continuing crisis or a worsening crisis, it would be very hard for the U.S. to avoid a double dip recession ourselves.
YELLIN: And a recession would not only hurt the economy, it could wound the president politically.
JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: If there's a recession -- if the recession is caused by something in Europe, it's caused by something in Asia, it's caused by something here, people are not going sort through it and sort of go, well, gee, thay's -- you know what I mean, they'll tend to blame the people in charge and the president who's in charge.
YELLIN: But given America's economic slowdown and the political stalemate in Washington, there's only so much the U.S. can do.
ROGOFF: Everyone at the G-20 wants their picture with President Obama. He's the central person everyone is looking to. But I don't think the United States can simply dictate the terms of an agreement the way it might have been able to 30 years ago.
YELLIN (on camera): Expect to hear plenty of questions about what will China, the U.S. or the International Monetary Fund will play in financing Europe's rescue. So far, the Obama administration's position has been Europe has to finance its own rescue.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Just about 30 minutes past the hour now.
Herman Cain accuser may want to talk, tell her side of the story. She's telling CNN -- actually her lawyer is -- is telling that she wants to share her side of the story. The attorney saying that she has a different view of what happened back in the 1990s when those sexual harassment claims were filed. But, of course, she's bound by that confidentiality agreement.
"The New York Times" says one of the two accusers was paid a year's salary in the settlement.
ROMANS: The FBI and federal prosecutors are now joining the investigation of a failure of financial firm led by former New Jersey Governor John Corzine. Sources close to the case say MF Global is unable to account for some $600 million in customer's money. MF Global filed for bankruptcy on Monday.
All right. It's 30 minutes after the hour. Here's what's new this morning.
A tugboat pilot responsible for a deadly river crash in Philadelphia that killed two Hungarian students had been sentenced to just about a year in jail. You're looking at new video shown in court for the first time showing the barge driving right over the tour boat.
COSTELLO: Oh.
ROMANS: Sending 37 people onboard into the river.
The NTSB found (INAUDIBLE) spent nearly an hour on his cell phone and laptop and turned down a marine radio.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The family of a spectator killed in a plane crash at the Reno Air Show has filed a $25 million lawsuit. The suit claimed the crash wasn't freak accident and blames the pilot for being reckless and race organizers for an (INAUDIBLE) drive for profit. The pilot and 10 people on the ground were killed in the air disaster in September.
ROMANS: A Boeing 767 carrying 226 passengers from Newark, New Jersey made a dramatic emergency landing on its belly yesterday. The worst off Poland. The landing gear malfunctioned, but the pilot put the plane down safely. There wasn't a single injury.
At 8:40 Eastern, we are going to joined live by Captain Sully Sullenberger here in AMERICAN MORNING. He's going to tell us why it this landing presented a much different challenge that he faced over the Hudson in 2009.
COSTELLO: More than 12,000 inmates convicted of crack cocaine offenses could be walking out of prison early. That's because Congress voted last summer to lessen the disparities between the penalties for crack and powdered cocaine. The new sentencing guidelines mean 1,800 convicts are eligible for release immediately.
ROMANS: A major marijuana bust in Raymond, Wisconsin. Police say they found more than 1,800 pounds of pot worth more than $7 million. The suspect in that case is now being held on $1 million bond.
COSTELLO: An incredible train track rescue in Missouri. This dash can video shows the train slamming into a car. There it goes. The car was stuck on the tracks.
And only moments before, an off duty police officer noticed the vehicle and managed to pull the woman inside and her baby to safety. They are both doing OK. Not clear how the car became stuck, but police say the woman failed sobriety tests.
ROMANS: Now back to the growing Herman Cain sexual harassment scandal. One of his accusers is thinking about going public. This coming as a new poll taken before this story broke. This poll shows he's pulling away as the GOP front-runner.
The Quinnipiac poll shows him leading Mitt Romney 30 percent to 23 percent. That's outside, well outside the poll's margin of error. Our Brian Todd picks up the story from there.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Carol, we may be about to see this story blow up even further than it already has. One of the women who has allegedly accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment is indicating she wants to go public. Her attorney says she wants to break her silence.
She's upset about what Mr. Cain has said about this case since the story broke over the weekend and does want to come public with her side of this saying that Mr. Cain is not telling the truth.
The attorney for this woman who is not named, the attorney named Joel Bennett says, he is going to approach the National Restaurant Association where both Mr. Cain and the women worked in the 1990s.
He's going to approach them to try to get them to release this woman from her confidentiality agreement. This is what Joel Bennett said to CNN's Anderson Cooper "360" last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does she believe that Mr. Cain is not telling the truth?
JOEL BENNETT: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you elaborate?
BENNETT: It's little difficult because there were two women who filed complaints at the time. It's unclear which one he's speaking about all the time. To the extent he's made statements that he did never sexually harassed anyone and there was no validity to these complaints, it's certainly not true with respect to my client's complaints.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: And again, Joel Bennett has said he is not formally asked the National Restaurant Association yet to release this woman from the confidentiality agreement. He would like the group to take action on its own.
We have contacted the National Restaurant Association for response to this. This is what this group says in a statement quote, "We have seen media reports saying that Attorney Joel Bennett is publicly making requests on behalf of a former National Restaurant Association employee. Mr. Bennett has not been in contact with the association. If we are contacted by Mr. Bennett, we will respond as appropriate."
Mr. Bennett has told CNN that he's not contacted them. He wants to wait until he meets with his client. We're told that could happen as early as today. He needs to get a copy of that confidentiality agreement, which he says his client is going to provide him.
Now in the meantime, Herman Cain himself has apparently injected the question of race into this or at least he was asked about race and made a pretty strong implication. This is an excerpt of an interview that he did on Fox where this question was raised.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think that race, being a strong, black conservative has anything to do with the fact that you have been so charged? If so, do you have any evidence to support that?
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe the answer is yes, but we do not have any evidence to support it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Of course, Herman Cain leading most polls right now for the Republican nomination for president. In the meantime, we are told that since the scandal broke over the weekend and into Monday, on Monday, Herman Cain raised a record amount of money for his campaign.
The campaign says it raised more than $400,000 after a political action committee sent out an e-mail soliciting funds in light of these revelations. So Mr. Cain doing well financially since the scandal broke, $400,000.
The single biggest day of fundraising since the campaign began we're told by the Herman Cain campaign --- Christine, Carol, back to you.
ROMANS: All right, Brian Todd. Still to come this morning in AMERICAN MORNING "House Call," Dr. Sanjay Gupta examines a new study linking alcohol and breast cancer even for light to moderate drinkers. That story, right after the break.
COSTELLO: Plus, if you're heading to Starbucks this morning, there is something new on the menu. It has nothing to do with caffeine instead it's all about putting Americans back to work. The CEO is talking to CNN about his jobs plan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 39 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. After an outcry from customers, Bank of America is scrapping the plans to charge $5 a month for making purchases with debit cards. So score one, a big one for Molly Katchpole. Her online petition collected 300,000 signatures and shamed Bank of America into an about face. We talked with her earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Are you feeling victorious?
MOLLY KATCHPOLE, GATHERED 300,000 SIGNATURES IN ONLINE PETITION AGAINST BANK OF AMERICA: I am. You know, it's a collective effort. So, you know, I'm excited I started it, but I wouldn't be anywhere would these 300 people who signed the petition.
COSTELLO: Still you have to be feeling pretty good about yourself this morning.
KATCHPOLE: It's exciting, but I'm trying to, you know, really trying to make it known that it was the 300,000 people who really did it.
COSTELLO: I know that you went to Bank of America and you spoke with some vice president, you know, in the Washington, D.C. area. But have you heard again from Bank of America at all?
KATCHPOLE: No, I haven't. It's interesting. They haven't tried to really contact me at all. So I don't know if they will. I welcome it. If they want to call me up, go for it, I'll talk to you, but I haven't heard anything.
COSTELLO: On the subject of creating change, you know, "Occupy Wall Street" is going on. We actually are doing a talk back question today about "Occupy Wall Street's" efforts and your efforts.
I mean, you really, you evoked change. The Wall Street protesters they have kind of like, you know, started a conversation, but not real change. Like what advice would you have for that movement?
KATCHPOLE: I mean, I think they are doing a great job with what they are doing. I mean, you know, it's not really about creating an immediate change with "Occupy Wall Street." I'm in solidarity with them.
You know, I think they are going about it a different way. It's great. You know, I can't really tell them anything. I mean, I'm not an expert. You know, keep trying to keep the media attention and keep rallying. I think it's great.
COSTELLO: People look at your efforts and they see a strategy. I mean, you had a plan. You instituted a plan and you carried it out and change happened. It seems like "Occupy Wall Street" doesn't really have a strategy per se.
KATCHPOLE: I mean, they are more of a long term effort. You know, this petition that happened was, it's a short-term thing. You know, I mean, it took a month. It kind of is getting the conversation started.
With "Occupy Wall Street" and all the occupy movements across the country, it's a long-term conversation. That's really exciting. You know, I reject the notion they need to have one leader or a clear set of demands because these movements, they all have general assemblies.
They all get together and they discuss it every day, you know, what they need to do. So, you know, I think if people actually went down there and talked to them, they would find that they do have demands.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: She's one bright young woman, enjoyable conversation. Along with the 300,000 signatures she collected online, 21,000 people pledged to close their Bank of America accounts.
ROMANS: Remember the CEO of the company said our customers have choices and in the end, they decided that -- maybe he wasn't going to give them that choice.
This morning's "House Call," a new study suggest even a moderate amount of alcohol, as few as three drinks a week, can increase a woman's risk of breast cancer.
COSTELLO: CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from Atlanta. So, Sanjay, what do we know about alcohol and breast cancer? What's new in this study?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, for some time we have known that alcohol likely increases your estrogen levels in a woman who drinks. That could be the potential reason why, you know, estrogen could be fueling breast cancer.
So drink more alcohol, have more estrogen circulating and more breast cancers. That's been the theory for some time and heavy drinkers have been studied to try and prove that out.
But as you pointed out, light and moderate drinkers were the target of this study specifically. This study is looking at 100,000 nurses over a period of time. They extracted lots of different data from the study.
What they found is that women who drink a drink a day on average increase their breast cancer risk by 1.2 times and women who drink two drinks per day on average increase it to 1.5 times increase risk of breast cancer.
It didn't seem to matter whether it was beer, wine or liquor. But what they did say was this was a cumulative risk. So you measure your risk over time.
If you're for 20 to 30 years, you don't drink at all and then you started drinking, you get credit for that and vice versa so accumulative risk. But again, light to moderate drinkers, there's an increase.
ROMANS: But we also know that other studies have shown that there are some benefits of alcohol. So, you know, I mean, one of the things about these studies is sometimes you pick the one you want to listen to.
GUPTA: Right. In some ways is like your world as well. There are risks and benefits to everything. One thing I do want to point out, I don't think we talked about this enough is that you know, you talk about relative risk going up 1.5 times.
But absolute numbers are important here as well. So for example, women who drink two drinks per day on average, if she didn't drink at all, her risk would be about 2.8 percent in the general population.
This takes her risk up to 4.1 percent. Obviously an increase, but maybe not as significant as people think is either. With regard to benefits, you're right.
The American Cancer Society said they're not changing their recommendations on this because there are some benefits to alcohol drinking including lowering your risk of heart disease, increasing the good kind of cholesterol and decreasing clots. So again, that risk thing.
COSTELLO: So where does family history come into all of this?
GUPTA: Well, you know, what's interesting about that is that, you know, obviously family history is a risk factor. You add alcohol to that and you are basically causing more risk factors to add up.
But most women who develop breast cancer do not have a family history, 75 percent to 80 percent don't. They are the family history. They're the first one. So don't take solace in saying, look, I don't have a family history, therefore, I'm OK. Still need to get checked out. Still need to reduce your risk.
COSTELLO: Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: You've got it, guys. Thanks.
COSTELLO: Still to come this morning, Starbucks tries to jolt the job market. The company's CEO is talking to CNN about his big plans.
ROMANS: And today's "Romans' Numeral," 60,000. Here is a hint. It's why small businesses are driving jobs growth in the country. 60,000.
Forty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Forty-eight minutes past the hour. Here is what you need to know to start your day. One of Herman Cain's accusers may want to talk. Her attorney telling CNN she wants to share her side of the story about a sexual harassment claim, but it is bound by a confidentiality agreement. Cain denied he ever did anything inappropriate.
The FBI now investigating the failed investment firm, M.F. Global after the company was unable to account for at least $600 million of customer money. M.F. Global was run by former New Jersey governor and former head of Goldman Sachs, Jon Corzine. The company filed for bankruptcy on Monday.
Possible signs of nuclear fission at a crippled Fukushima Power Plant in Japan. Officials detected the chemical gadzion (ph) in one of the reactors. That puts the plant at risk for more radiation leaks or a nuclear reaction. The reactor damaged during the March earthquake and tsunami.
Lindsay Lohan due back in court for a probation hearing in Los Angeles. A judge could throw her back in jail for ditching the rest of her community service at a women's shelter.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are for sale. Owner, Frank McCord, pulling an about face, agreeing to sell the team after he dragged the storied franchise into a messy divorce and bankruptcy.
You are now caught up on today's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING, back after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back. This morning's "Romans' Numeral," a number in the news today, the number is 60,000 a month. It is the number of jobs per month small businesses have been adding since last March.
At a time when big companies, Carol, have not been adding or have been even cutting jobs.
COSTELLO: So, Main Street is doing its job for America, yes.
ROMANS: Main Street is hiring. Main Street is hiring.
COSTELLO: Talking about companies, but this is a big one. Starbucks is rolling out a new program to help America's small businesses.
CNN's Money's" Poppy Harlow joins us now.
You talked to the CEO of Starbucks, and what did he say?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, this is interesting. There's a big back story to this because Howard Schultz, the CEO, came out this summer -- and you may be aware of this, folks. He made a two-part pledge. He called on people to stop donating to political campaigns until Washington gets its fiscal house in order. He also called on business leaders, large and small, to hire. Here's what Starbucks is doing. You'll notice wrist bands like this. They say "indivisible" on them. You'll see them at all Starbucks counters across the country. The reason is Starbucks just launched a program asking you for $5 donations that they will then give to fund small business loans. Yes, the idea here is to get Main Street hiring even more, to get Americans back to work.
We had a chance to talk to him here at Starbucks in New York about why this move, and why Starbucks, a coffee company, is doing something like this right now. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD SCHULTZ, CEO, STARBUCKS: The real issue here is if 9 percent unemployment in America. It is almost double that in the Hispanic and African-American community. People are losing faith and hope in America. And I'm saying to businesses, to business leaders across the country, let's not wait for Washington. We, too, can make a difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: I went on to ask Schultz, all right, do business leaders like yourself have a moral obligation to hire? If you look at the books of a lot of these big companies across America and really globally, some have record amounts of cash. They have learned through the recession, as you know well, guys, to operate their businesses so leanly that they don't need as many people. He said, I won't go as far to say a moral obligation, but he explained why he thinks businesses need to operate differently than they have before. I thought it was a fascinating answer. Listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD SCHULTZ, CEO, STARBUCKS: The old school of looking at profit as a singular goal for the reason a company exists I think is a shallow, wrong approach. I also believe that those companies that are willing to embrace the balance between profitability and social conscious will make more money. You'll be able to attract and retain greater people because they'll believe in the reservoir of trust of the company. I also feel the consumer today has many choices, and the company that they're going to choose is a company whose values are likeminded to their own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So that's interesting. We're going to watch this and see if this brings more customers into Starbucks. The company is putting $5 million of their own money behind this. He said it may cost millions more. They are going to keep funding this. They're playing for the marketing, the bracelets, et cetera. The idea would be that people that like this come in and spend more money at Starbucks and help create more jobs. But what do you guys think of it?
COSTELLO: Well, that was an interesting answer because he didn't say it was a moral issue, but he did talk about profit and how it should not all be about the bottom line.
ROMANS: About the bottom line, right. And these companies, as we all know, go back and forth. They say it is about delivering for the shareholder. That's their only mission. He's saying there should be a social conscious to the shareholder.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: It's interesting because you talk about small -- there was a day when Howard Schultz and that company were criticized for putting small coffee shops out of business --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: -- because they're a big corporate entity. Did you ask -- other people keep asking me, is he running for something?
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: He sounds like he's running bank.
HARLOW: Right. It's a great question. I asked him, point blank, will we see you go to Washington and implement the change you want? He said, absolutely not, Poppy. I think I can do more in the private sector in this role than I can in Washington. Looking at Washington these days, he might be wrong. He doesn't need Congress to approve a measure like this. He's the CEO. He can do it.
But it's interesting to see that he thinks Washington is so dysfunctional. And he really feels, at least in his company, that business has a duty to do something, to make a change like this.
COSTELLO: It's also kind of nice that, you know, he's the CEO of this big company and he's working with Main Street, because those are the people, from Main Street, that will donate the $5 for this bracelet. And he will also donate, what, $5 million?
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: They put $5 million behind the effort.
COSTELLO: They're sort of like working in tandem and you don't really see that much.
HARLOW: That's the idea. That's the idea. And let me give you a little background on this. Howard Schultz, he calls himself a guy from the other side of the tracks. He grew up here in New York, family, didn't have a lot of money. He watched his father go through a very difficult time without health care. So they've always been committed to health care. Health care costs them more than coffee beans costs. During the middle of the recession, he got a lot of pushback from shareholders that said, why don't you cut back the health care as much as you haven't because it's costing so much. He refused to do that. I asked him, is this a moment like that for you, even if you get pushed back from non-shareholders, is this something you believe should be done by big corporations with a lot of money. He said it's exactly the same sort of moment. So it's going to be interesting to watch, you know, what happens with this. But is a unique move so far among business leaders I think.
ROMANS: He certainly is a unique voice. When you talk about big corporate titans, he is speaking a different language than other corporate CEOs are.
HARLOW: Yes. Yes. I will push people to the full interview with him on "CNN Money." He had some other interesting points that he had to make.
ROMANS: Great, Poppy.
HARLOW: We'll watch how it progresses.
ROMANS: We'll take a look at it. Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Poppy.
OK, next hour, Greece rolling the dice, gambling with the world's economy by putting a bailout deal to a vote. You're already feeling the fallout. Ali Velshi, live at the G-20 meeting, where President Obama, in France, will join talks to avoid an economic disaster.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
