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Cain Fights Back Against Harassment Claims; Perry: Our Campaign Had Nothing To Do With It; Perry Defends New Hampshire Speech; Greece Dominates G-20 Agenda; G-20 Summit: All About Greece; Michael Jackson Death Trial; Setback for Palestinians at U.N.; 400,000 Homes in Connecticut Still Without Power; JetBlue Refunding Stranded Fliers; "Occupy Oakland" Protesters Trash Stores; Texas Judge Taped Whipping Daughter; Asteroid Fly-By; Wealthy Corporations Paying Zero Taxes; Why Do Women Make Less?; Greek Debt Crisis Tops G-20 Agenda; Ireland Closing Vatican Embassy; New James Bond Movie Titled "Skyfall"

Aired November 04, 2011 - 06:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Herman Cain struggled to save his campaign. The Republican front-runner denies sexually harassing anyone. We could hear now for the very first time from one of Cain's accusers today.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Greece in crisis. With your 401(k) and the global economy hanging in the balance, the next 24 hours could determine whether the Greek economy collapses, something that could set off a dangerous domino effect worldwide.

ROMANS: The Michael Jackson death trial ending with powerful and dramatic words. The prosecution painting the picture of a family ripped apart by grief. Now the fate of Dr. Conrad Murray is up to a jury.

COSTELLO: And U.S. corporations raking in millions in profits and not paying taxes. In some cases, the government is paying them. That's triggering outrage on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning, everyone. It is Friday, my very favorite day of the week besides Saturday and Sunday. Happy Friday. It's November 4th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Ali is on assignment this morning. He is still in Cannes where he is following the G-20 where there's a lot going on right now.

Today, here in the U.S. so let's get right to it. Herman Cain still defiant this morning, the Republican frontrunner is pushing back against the sexual harassment allegations swirling around him. Cain says that he will not let it derail his campaign for president.

Also developing this morning we may hear from one of Cain's accusers today. Her attorney hopes to be able to release a statement, which could rebut Cain's contention that any allegations made against him were groundless.

CNN's Joe Johns live in Washington. Good morning, Joe. Following all the twists and turns of this case that continues to twist and turn, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's for sure. If it happens today, the best case scenario it would be the moment where we start to learn something about the actual allegations that were lodged against the frontrunner in the Republican race for the presidential nomination.

The hope is for a one-page press release from the lawyer of one of the accusers. This is being described as an attempt to defend the woman's reputation and if it happens, it's expected to give us some sense of what she did and why she did it.

And apparently, the main goal of such a press release would be to rebut Herman Cain's assertion that sexual harassment allegations, which were made against him a dozen years ago were false.

This is a drum he continues to beat. He was on the radio just last night talking a little bit about that and he went after "Politico", the publication and online service that first reported the story. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you look at the facts and you look at the fact that "Politico" doesn't have any documentation. They've never talked to these women who are anonymous. I didn't know there were so many women named anonymous in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: The woman in question said she was sexually harassed by Cain while she was an employee at the National Restaurant Association. Now this dance you may know is going on because there's a confidentiality agreement put in place as a result of the settlement here.

Supposedly bars all sides from talking publicly about the details. So the next question is do we know what we're not going to get? Well, we're told not to expect the name of the woman to be released because she's trying to protect her privacy and just wants to get on with her life and set the record straight. Back to you.

ROMANS: All right, Joe Johns. Thanks, Joe.

COSTELLO: Herman Cain, of course, is pointing the finger at conservative rival, Rick Perry accusing his campaign of leaking details of the sexual harassment complaints.

In an exclusive interview with CNN's John King, Texas Governor Rick Perry denied his people had anything to do with that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN KING, HOST, CNN's "JOHN KING USA": I want to start with what's driving the news right now. The Cain's campaign and the candidate himself say that you and your campaign owe him an apology, do you?

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We found out about this the same time that I supposed the rest of America found out about it, both on the internet or next day in the news. So, you know, I don't know how to tell any other way except knew nothing about it, sir.

KING: You said, I don't want to dwell on this. But if you ever found out somebody in your campaign did something like that, would you fire them?

PERRY: Out the door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He said they would be out the door. Governor Perry also talked about this rather animated speech he gave to supporters in New Hampshire.

Perry said he had not been drinking alcohol or taking any medication. He told John King if he had the chance to deliver the speech again, he would deliver it exactly in the same fashion.

ROMANS: All right, turning to Greece now, still dominating the conversation at the G-20 Summit in France this morning with the global economy and your 401(k) on the line.

Right now, it looks like Prime Minister George Papandreou of Greece is backing off those plans to put a euro zone bailout plan to a vote by the Greek people.

Instead he's trying to convince the opposition there support the measure while he tries to survive a confidence vote in parliament.

Ali Velshi is covering the G-20 and the internal politics of Greece, which is literally holding the world hostage right now. He joins us live from Cannes, France this morning. Is that an overstatement, Ali?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No, not really. I mean, I don't know if you see the pictures of what's going on, the arrivals at the G-20 this morning, lots of intense conversation.

Looks like everybody is getting along, having good conversations and there's definitely some sense that some of the agenda items at the G-20 many of which had nothing to do with Europe at all are getting achieved.

But the bottom line is the attention is not there. The attention span, the concentration on the things that G-20 was supposed to set out to do because all of those world leaders, every time they leave one of those meetings end up talking to their advisors about Greece, about what they can do, about what influence they can put in.

Here's the bottom line though, Christine, this is a tough situation. Everybody else in the world has told Greece what Greece needs to be told particularly France and Germany have told them you got to get on with this. How you sort out your problems in Greece, what decision you make to deal with your debt and your cuts and your government spending are up to you, but you have to deal with this.

You've got to deal with it now. At this point, it's a waiting game. As of now, you're right. We think there isn't going to be a referendum, but there's going to be a confidence vote in 12 hours from now, in 12 or 13 hours from now in Greece and we're not quite sure what that's going mean.

We're not quite sure whether the government of George Papandreou was going to survive or not. So at the moment, I think the betting is that there isn't going to be a referendum, but we're not entirely sure. And until that it is settled, it is holding the world hostage right now -- Christine.

ROMANS: Those four words, "we're not quite sure" are four words that the world economy and the financial system and the financial markets don't want to hear right now.

They wanted some certainty that Greece was going to get its act together, was going to accept this bail out. The bailout was going to move forward. Europe could stabilize and then that would even allow the U.S. to continue its recovery. That's the point.

VELSHI: Except we have another problem now and one of the issues is that Greece has drawn a -- put a light on Europe to say, can this group of 17 countries that use a common currency get it together. Is there some danger by lending these countries money, if they decide to default the other 16 in the group won't do enough to make sure that outlying country pays?

That's having an effect on Italy, which unlike Greece, which is a relatively small global economy. Italy as you know is a major global economy and a major borrower. The cost to the Italian government of borrowing money right now is approaching 7 percent.

By contrast in the United States it's 2 percent. This is now bringing Italy into this -- if the Europeans can't get Greece to do the right thing and Greece is a relatively insignificant economy, can Italy go the same way? So it's really shaking up world confidence at the moment -- Christine.

ROMANS: People who study the world's financial system are looking at those Italian bond yields at 7 percent and that makes them very nervous. They don't like those levels. Ali Velshi, thank you so much. Ali in Cannes.

COSTELLO: The fate of Dr. Conrad Murray now rests with the jury. Deliberations are set to begin later this morning. This after powerful and emotional closing arguments. The prosecution is reminding jurors that the trial isn't just about Michael Jackson, but about his children who will now grow up without a father.

The defense arguing that the trial isn't a reality show. Casey Wian, covering the trial live in Los Angeles. So, I understand there was actually applause after the prosecution presented its closing arguments.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Carol. There were fans of Michael Jackson who were lining the hallway in the courthouse behind me and reporters saw those fans applauding for Prosecutor David Walgren after he left the courtroom and delivered that impassioned closing argument.

Some even speculated that perhaps the jury, which was not too far away behind closed doors may have even heard that applause. We don't know if that's the case. But these jurors after six weeks and hearing testimony from 49 witnesses will finally get the case later this morning.

They heard the closing arguments yesterday where the prosecutor reinforced his contention that Dr. Conrad Murray was criminally negligent because he provided Propofol to Michael Jackson outside of a hospital setting. The defense countered with its argument by blaming Michael Jackson himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WALGREN, DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The evidence in this case is abundantly clear that Conrad Murray acted with criminal negligence. That Conrad Murray caused the death of Michael Jackson. That Conrad Murray left Prince, Paris and Blanket without a father.

ED CHERNOFF, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Really asking you to do, just say it, what they are really asking you to do is to convict Dr. Murray for the actions of Michael Jackson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: Now the defense also sought to punch holes in the prosecution's theory that Michael Jackson received that Propofol through an intravenous drip that continued to go into his body while Conrad Murray was out of the bedroom.

The prosecutor countered with its argument that basically what Dr. Conrad Murray subjected Michael Jackson to was an obscene pharmaceutical experiment. Jurors will decide who is right beginning in about five hours -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Casey Wian reporting live for us from Los Angeles, thanks.

ROMANS: All right, a big setback now in the Palestinian bid for U.N. statehood. France and Britain now announcing plans to abstain from next week's U.N. vote. Both countries took part in a closed door meeting yesterday to discuss new U.N. membership.

The Palestinians have applied to become a U.N. member state despite Israeli opposition. The United States has already threatened to veto membership.

COSTELLO: More than 400,000 homes still without power in Connecticut, six days after a freak snowstorm pounded the northeast and those poor people may not have power all weekend either.

The state's attorney general is now calling for an investigation of Connecticut Light & Power to find out why those repairs are taking so long.

And JetBlue has started refunding hundreds of passengers who were stranded on a tarmac in Hartford for up to eight hours when the storm hit. Those passengers are also getting a round trip voucher for a future trip and a personal apology by phone for a JetBlue customer service agent.

ROMANS: The city of Oakland recovering this morning after another round of violent protests. The city's shipping port is back up and running this morning. But officials say just about every office building and store within a block of city hall was vandalized, even businesses that publicly stated they sided with the protesters.

In New York more than 60 "Occupy Wall Street" protesters showed up in court, most of them pleading not guilty nonviolent charges stemming from demonstrations there. New York's protest in Zuccotti Park now enters its 49th day.

COSTELLO: Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, a Texas family court judge admits it was him, caught on tape, viciously beating his teenage daughter. Now we're learning, he's going to get away with it.

ROMANS: A high-speed chase involving a plane, Brazilian police desperate to stop a group of smugglers. They had to improvise and get creative. The wild video you need to see that's ahead.

COSTELLO: How a cashier's screw up turned a Louisiana man into an accidental millionaire. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is 15 minutes past the hour. Welcome back.

The video is shocking. It shows a Texas judge beating his then 16-year-old daughter. Now, another stunner. Authorities say the judge cannot be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has expired.

We want to warn you, again, the video is hard to watch, so here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): The video tape beating took place seven years ago. Judge William Adams, seen whipping his daughter, Hillary, repeatedly with a belt, supposedly after he found out she was downloading games and music on the Internet.

Last night, on CNN's "AC630", Hillary Adams said it was part of a regular pattern of abuse.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This tape - I mean, it's extraordinarily difficult to watch. Is it - did this kind of thing happen a lot to you?

HILLARY ADAMS, VIDEOTAPED BEATING BY FATHER: Well, a lot of people are asking that and, well, the corporal punishment was just corporal punishment when I was younger and - but then it escalated and got worse and worse over time, until when I was a teenager it started turning into full blown abuse, like - similar to what you see in the video. And it got so bad, and I recognized the pattern of it about to erupt that I knew to set up the camera, and I knew that I just needed to capture this, because it was getting so bad.

COSTELLO: Hillary says she posted the video now in an effort to reconcile with her father.

Judge Adams, a family law judge who presides over child abuse cases, has been taken off the bench temporarily pending a conduct review.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, not to worry, people, but an asteroid about the size of an aircraft carrier is headed our way. Happy Friday, everyone.

NASA has projected the asteroid's path, and it is predicting a close call next week. Did I say it's the size of an aircraft carrier?

COSTELLO: Wow.

ROMANS: Of course, close in outer space means about 200,000 miles, so if you're scoring it at home, that's closer than the orbit of the moon around us. Officials say there hasn't been any object that close to our planet in more than 30 years.

COSTELLO: Wow. Let's head to Atlanta and check in with Rob Marciano.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: How about that?

COSTELLO: That's a - that's a - that scares me, even though it's 200,000 miles away.

MARCIANO: Well, you know, we do have stuff like that getting that close, but just not that big. So that's the thing about it.

And - but it's going to be great, because we're going to be able to study this thing as it passes.

COSTELLO: It's going to be great. It'd be great.

MARCIANO: OK? These asteroids, a lot of them have water, water resource. Some of them actually have compounds that - that could be used as jet fuel.

So, you know, if - some of these asteroids could be used as refueling stations in interplanetary travel, potentially.

COSTELLO: Wow. OK, so I love that big old asteroid now.

(CROSSTALK)

MARCIANO: OK, so let's look at this asteroid a little bit differently now, all right?

Let's look at the map here and I'll show you the rainfall that's moving across the - the mid-Atlantic and the Delmarva. It's a fairly fast-moving system. This is the storm that brought the snow to Colorado and to Wyoming, the blizzard conditions to western parts of Kansas and Nebraska, and to the heavier rain across parts of the Tennessee Valley and - and the Deep South, now heading towards Virginia Beach and to Hampton Roads area, into Richmond as well.

Some of this will get us far north to New York, but it's - for the most part it's going to stay well to the south and will scoot out to sea relatively quickly. And then, behind it, it will be chilly. Matter of fact, there are morning lows right now that are in the 20s, and we have freeze warnings that are posted as far south as the Mexican border. But, warm sunshine will replace this this afternoon, and actually east of the Mississippi this weekend looks to be perfect.

But we have a couple of storm systems that are heading into the West Coast and the intermountain west. This storm bringing a little bit of rain to California, but - and definitely some winds that could gust over 50 miles an hour in spots, and that's going to kick up some dust. If you're traveling to Phoenix, to Vegas, that may cause some travel delays at the airports there. Los Angeles, some wind as well; and San Francisco, another system rolling in. There's another one behind that.

But, as I mentioned, every where east of the Mississippi, we're looking OK once we get through the rainfall across the mid-Atlantic, and the - the weekend weather looks good. Although it's going to be chilly in the morning, temperatures will rebound nicely in the afternoon.

Sixty-five degrees for the high temperature in Dallas after the chilly start; 55 degrees in Chicago; it'll be 52 degrees in New York City. Still several hundred thousand people without power in Connecticut, so the mornings are going to be a tough go again this weekend. I can't believe just how many people are still in the dark. And 60 degrees in Memphis.

By the way, if you are a big fan of sleeping late, you get an extra hour this weekend. Don't forget to change your clocks over the weekend. We do it later now. You know what's weird? I think about what's weird about Halloween in recent years. It's because it's daylight when the kids are - are trick or treating, because daylight savings time goes a little bit later.

COSTELLO: Well, it's safer that way, though.

ROMANS: I know. Parents are a little more uptight these days than when we were little kids, you know?

COSTELLO: It's taking the fun out of Halloween for the kids, Rob.

MARCIANO: That might be so.

COSTELLO: And I can say that as a person with no children.

MARCIANO: Exactly. Likewise.

Anyway, turn the clocks back this weekend and enjoy that extra hour.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: See you, guys.

ROMANS: Getting stuck at work is bad enough. Getting stuck when you work way up here, not so good. More on that, coming up. Ouch.

COSTELLO: Plus, Google giving us one more reason to watch what we post on Facebook.

It's 20 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Welcome back. "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Solid gains in the U.S. market yesterday after Greece decided to scrap that vote on a critical bailout fund. Right now, European markets are up slightly, but U.S. futures are trading pretty flat ahead of the opening bell.

One of the reasons, the big October jobs report comes out this morning in about two hours from now. Economists are forecasting that about 102,000 jobs were added to the economy last month and they think the unemployment rate stayed steady, but at that pretty high level of 9.1 percent.

Jefferies Investment Bank could be the latest casualty from the collapse of the financial firm MF Global. Sources tell CNN that hedge fund clients are scrambling to find another investment bank to do business with because Jefferies had high exposure to the risky bets that MF Global was making on European debt.

MF Global filed for bankruptcy on Monday due to those risky investments and market concerns about its exposure.

AIG posting a massive $4.1 billion loss in the third quarter. Yes, that AIG. The CEO says that it was due to tough business conditions in the quarter.

It's not good news for taxpayers, because you still own a big chunk of this company due to the government bailout during the financial crisis.

If you're fed up with fees, you can vent your frustration tomorrow. It's being called Bank Transfer Day. A Facebook group encouraging people to ditch the big banks, and a new survey says more than 650,000 people have switched to credit unions since Bank of America announced its new debit card fee, a fee that was eventually scrapped under pressure from customers. But 650,000 of you out there have left your big bank and gone to a credit union.

A warning to Facebook users, watch what you say. It could turn up in search results. Google will soon expand its search index to include user comments on Facebook or other public pages within the social networking site. But anyone with private settings will still be protected.

Another reason to check your settings, folks.

AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Just about 30 minutes past the hour. Good morning to you.

Beating the system - America's biggest, most profitable corporations not paying a single penny in taxes, some of them even getting money back from the government. How can this be?

CNN is "Minding Your Business" on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Good morning, everyone. It is 6:30 in the East on a Friday morning. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.

COSTELLO: Our top stories.

We may hear from one of Herman Cain's accusers. Her lawyer is saying he's waiting for permission to a release statement.

In the meantime, Cain controlling the damage, a week of sexual harassment allegations apparently has not hurt Cain by a large actually with Republican supporters. He does remain the GOP front- runner in the latest polling. And this week alone, the Cain campaign has raised more than $1 million.

ROMANS: Jury deliberation set to begin this morning in the Michael Jackson death trial. Powerful closing arguments by both sides yesterday. Prosecution reminding jurors that the trial isn't just about Michael Jackson, but about his children who will now grow up without a father. The defense arguing that his trial isn't a reality show.

COSTELLO: Greece on top of the agenda at the G-20 summit. Prime Minister George Papandreou back-pedaling after his plan to let the Greek people vote on the Euro zone bailout backfired. He'll face a confident vote later today.

ROMANS: All right. Prepare to be outraged because while 14 million unemployed Americans are looking for jobs, dozens of the most profitable corporations in the country are raking in millions, even billions in profit without paying a dime in taxes. In fact, Uncle Sam is actually paying some of those taxes -- paying some of those companies back.

Here's Mary Snow, minding your business.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As protesters rally against big corporations and big profits, there's talk of corporate tax reform. Authors are hoping the results may inspire action. Citizens for Tax Justice, along with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, two left-leaning groups, found that 30 major corporations paid zero income taxes over the last three years.

How is that possible? Robert McIntyre is the lead author of the study.

ROBERT MCINTYRE, CITIZENS FOR TAX JUSTICE: It didn't happen by magic. The corporations are good at lobbying and Congress is good at rolling over for them. And over the years, the last 25 or so years, loopholes have crept back into the tax code and companies have found ways to shift their profits offshore and invest in tax shelters that cut their taxes.

SNOW: The corporate tax rate is 35 percent. This study found that, on average, of the 280 companies studies, they paid about half that rate.

The report also finds that some companies had so many tax breaks, their tax burden went negative, meaning they got money back.

General Electric is near the top of the list. The report finds it paid zero income tax for the last three years, while their U.S. profits in that time amounted to $10 billion.

G.E. challenged the report, telling CNN, "The report is inaccurate and distorted. GE paid billions of dollars in taxes in the United States over the last decade, and we expect our overall tax rate will be approximately 30 percent in 2011."

"GE, which is a multinational company, favors tax reform," it says, "to close all loopholes and lower the corporate rate.

The author of the report is hoping for major reform like the kind he advocated for in the 1980s, at time when then-President Reagan rid the tax code of special breaks.

MCINTYRE: If you don't keep cleaning things up, the lawyers and accountants will beat you. And we haven't had a clean-up in 25 years, and we desperately need one.

SNOW: Tax law professor Daniel Shaviro isn't holding his breath, noting changes in policy since the 1980s.

DANIEL SHAVIRO, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY And they're not compromising, so we kind of have a different political environment today, and that makes taxes, along with a lot of other things, harder to do.

SNOW (on camera): While the low tax rates and in some cases zero tax rates may be surprising, they are all perfectly legal, all part of a system that tax reform advocates are pushing to change.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Absolutely legal. Congress wrote the tax codes and companies find every way to make sure they lower their tax burden.

And you know what they say? They say we're in business to return value for our shareholders and our shareholders need to us have the lowest tax burden that we can legally have.

COSTELLO: Well, after watching that, my first question was companies are complaining about high corporate tax rates? Are they really that high? I mean, if they are getting away not paying any income tax like don't things balance out?

And the second question I have is these government regulations that are prohibiting companies from hiring, big companies, are they really?

ROMANS: I'll tell you where they are hiring? They are hiring in the tax departments.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: That's where there's a boom in hiring, in the tax departments. Big American companies.

COSTELLO: Alrighty then.

A House committee has voted to subpoena the White House of the growing Solyndra scandal. The solar panel firm filed for bankruptcy after receiving a guaranteed loan from the government, leaving taxpayers on the hook for half a billion dollars. Republicans on the energy and commerce committee say the subpoenas are necessary because the White House is refusing to turn over documentation. Democrats are calling the subpoenas politically motivated.

ROMANS: Japanese officials dismissing fears of new radiation leaks at the crippled Fukushima plant. They say the gas xenon detected earlier is the result of a rare type of radioactive decay. It is not a sign of a renewed nuclear reaction. The gas was discovered inside the plant's number two reactor, which was damaged during the March earthquake.

COSTELLO: A dramatic rescue caught on camera. Two construction workers trapped 100 feet up in the air. The men got stuck in a cherry picker while they were working on a church steeple. They were trapped eight stories high for about two hours before the fire department came rushing to their rescue. It took three tries using a giant crane before the men were finally brought down to the ground.

ROMANS: And more video that's just wild here. Brazilian police hunting down a group of smugglers. Check this out. Looks like a chase scene from a movie. These federal agents chasing down a small plane, slamming into it in order to stop the smugglers from take off. Police say the plane was packed with $200,000 of stolen electronics and five people on board the plane were arrested.

COSTELLO: Wow, a high-speed chase on the runway.

ROMANS: It's just really like a movie.

COSTELLO: Awesome.

ROMANS: Some people are just born lucky like Robert Thibodeaux, Louisiana's accidental millionaire. Robert just hit the state's lottery jackpot. But instead of collecting the $200,000 prize, he'll be getting a check for a cool million. That's because the young lady who sold him the winning ticket accidentally punched the wrong button and gave him a power play ticket by mistake. That mistake multiplied Robert's winnings times five.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT THIBODEAUX, ACCIDENTAL MILLIONAIRE: Oh, my. Yes. I went yes, yes. I went yes.

When I went to the store and bought the ticket, the girl gave me the power play and I never asked for it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) took the ticket.

THIBODEAUX: I mean, how lucky can you be? I never asked for the power play. But she put it on the ticket and I bought it. And then I go get my money, I'm going to write her a check. I'll give her some money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That's so awesome. Robert is bringing his family with him too to pick up the check today and then he said they are all going out the dinner.

ROMANS: All right. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: A degree still doesn't mean as much as your gender. Why are women passing men in education but not in salary and how can we close this gender gap? We're going to talk live about how we can narrow that gap next.

COSTELLO: He's got a license to kill and he's ready to use it. Super spy James Bond is back. We'll have details about the latest film just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Welcome back.

A new government report says women are successfully breaking through the education glass ceiling -- now more likely to graduate high school and go to college than men. But those degrees still aren't getting them equal pay.

Women with high school degrees are still struggling to close the gender pay gap. They are earning 86 cents for every one dollar a man makes.

Why are women still making less, and why are they so overrepresented rather in the low wage parts of this economy?

Here's to discuss this is Nicole Mason, the executive director of the Women of Color Policy Network at NYU.

Welcome to the program.

C. NICOLE MASON, EXEC. DIR., WOMEN OF COLOR POLICY NETWORK, NYU WAGNER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: So, the GAO, the Government Accountability Office, really getting a lot of attention for this report on pay, on gender and pay.

Why aren't women being paid the same as men for the same jobs in this country still?

MASON: I want to put aside the traditional thinking that women are coming in and leaving the labor market or they are just now persistent in asking for a raise and that's -- I just want to put that to the side. This is a persistent problem and it's only been 81 cents to 86 cents, that's five cents on the dollar. That's $2 per week. That's not enough to buy a cup of coffee, let alone take care of a family.

ROMANS: Right.

COSTELLO: So, women are struggling in this economy and in terms of why the problem persists, we see structural barriers and when women ask for a raise or fight back, they end up losing out. So, for example, when we look at the Wal-Mart case where women were experiencing discrimination got together to file a lawsuit and the Supreme Court threw it out. So, we have to look at these things because it is a structural problem.

ROMANS: When we talk about parts of the company where women are overrepresented, they are the fastest growing parts of the economy. They also happen to be parts of the economy that they don't make lot of people. You call these dead-end jobs. Women are overrepresented in dead end jobs in this country.

So, let's put aside the college story and how women are now out- pacing men in college. At the same time, they are also really overrepresented in parts of the economy that you're just never going to get ahead.

MASON: So, women are overrepresented in the service industry, health care, office and administrative support work. These are jobs dominated by women for a long time. These jobs, any career that's dominated by women tend to be dominated by lower wages. It's not getting better.

It's an employer's market, so women don't have the opportunity right now to ask for a raise because it's so competitive.

ROAMNS: Right. Home health aides, I'm thinking of cashiers, I'm thinking of retail clerks, people who work in hotels. These are places where you're seeing job creation. Labor department says this is where we're going to see a lot of jobs.

But what is the ladder from those jobs and for a family into the middle class?

MASON: Unfortunately, Christine, there is no ladder. These jobs are dead end jobs. They are jobs that has no clear movability, there's not pathway, there's few networks for women to advance in these careers.

And these are the careers that, unfortunately, we haven't seen much movement over the last decade, where women are moving into these high skilled industries that we had hoped for.

ROMANS: Let's look at the numbers. Women -- many women try to up their incomes by getting further along in their education, right? So, women who have a high school diploma, look at that, 81 percent of women. They have surpassed men last year, 75 percent of men. But even with a high school diploma, women account for 60 percent of low- income workers, folks earning about $9 an hour.

And when you look at where we're creating jobs, low wage jobs in 2010, three quarters of all job growth were from industries paying less than $15 an hour. Three quarters of jobs growth came at industries paying less at $15 an hour.

So, how do women overcome what you call the structural barriers and these numbers and launch themselves on the other side of the equation?

MASON: Many of them are single mothers, so they have an additional responsibility and care giving responsibility for their children. So, we have to not only work with women so that they can advocate for better pay and enter programs where there are clear pathways to higher pay but also work with employers to say it's not OK to pay women less than men who are doing the same job.

ROMANS: Yes. It's also education. I mean, you hear a lot about education, but when you see these numbers of how women are graduating from high school more than men, then we think, how much is education, how much is it opportunity?

All of this also feeds into the Occupy Wall Street stuff, doesn't it? It feeds into the feeling that people have in America that there aren't equal opportunities for everyone.

MASON: And I think so. It's the feeling that something is not right. You can do the right thing. You can get an education. You can apply for a job. You can get the job and you still lose out. And so, I think that's the feeling that, you know, we see captured in the Wall Street movement.

And then, I think that's what -- people are saying every day across America they're very frustrated about they're doing the right thing, and they're still not able to grab that American dream.

ROMANS: Yes. And you know, you talk about -- one of the things that I find so interesting, you know, if you get a raise, a $5,000 raise or you make $5,000 more even when your in your early 20s, that translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your working life, you know?

So, you've got to really kind of get the opportunity young and take the -- you know, and move up young so that you can, you know, build your way into the middle class and that opportunity just isn't there for so many people. Nicole Mason, thank you so much, executive director of the Women of Color Policy Network at NYU. Thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Christine. A quick check of the morning's top stories just ahead including the European country closing embassies because it's broke.

Plus, turn the season of spending into the season of savings. How to save $1,000 for the holidays. It's 46 minutes past the hour.

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COSTELLO: Forty-eight minutes past the hour. Here's what you need to know to start your day.

We could later today from one of the women whose accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment. Her lawyer says she wants to tell (ph) her side of the story, and she may put out a written statement. Cain insists he's never harassed anyone.

Greece's prime minister backing off plans to put a Euro zone bailout package up for a vote to the Greek people. Instead, he's trying to rally support for the package from his political opponents while he fights to keep his job.

Ireland is closing its embassy to the Vatican because of financial problems. They're denying it's because of fractured relations with the Catholic Church. Ireland will also be closing its embassies to Iran and the Southeast Asian State of Timor-Leste.

Jury deliberations in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor begins today. Dr. Conrad Murray is accused of giving Michael Jackson a lethal dose of propofol. Four years (ph) in prison if he's convicted.

The Annual Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca officially begins this weekend. The pilgrimage known as Hajj is the largest gathering of Muslims in the world. This year will be the first since the Arab spring.

The world's favorite super spy is back. Daniel Craig will return to the big screen as 007 in the newest "James Bond" flick. It is the 23rd installment of the series. The movie is entitled "Skyfall" and hits theaters next fall.

And that's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING back after a break.

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ROMANS: All right. What if I told you, you got seven weeks until the holidays and you don't want to have a debt hangover in January? It's time to start planning so you don't have too many credit card bills. You can save $1,000 by the holidays. I'm telling you that, and it's not -- I'm not going to tell you the standard. You can make your gifts.

I got real money for you, real savings. The biggest savings comes from your house, from your mortgage, refinance if can you. If you lower a six percent mortgage on a $200,000 loan down to 4.2 percent, you would save 221 bucks a month. If you can't finance, and a lot of people are telling me that it's hard for them, OK, try appealing your property taxes. That's real money too, and a lot of people are getting money that way.

You can also ditch your gym membership. Throw on a pair of running shoes instead. You could save yourself up to $120 if you either cancel or just put the gym membership on hold until after the holidays, and some gyms will let you do that if you ask. Be real careful about how you're shopping for the staples.

Never buy groceries at the drugstore. A recent study of the basics purchase at some Boston area drugstores shows they cost as much as 50 percent more at a drugstore or pharmacy than at the grocery store. You could save an average of 25 bucks a week if you avoid buying any grocery items in a pinch at the pharmacy, and you know, be smart, shop -- you know, buy in bulk, off label brands, stuff like that.

Never use an out of network ATM. If do you that even twice a week, you're spending more on ATM fees than you do on fresh vegetables. Walk the extra block, drive the extra mile, you're going to save 50 bucks easy by the time the holidays roll around. Don't give the banks that free money. Also, take a good look at whether you're using your technology in a smart way.

Everyone now is trying to bundle their Internet, phone, and cable for savings of up to 60 bucks a month if you switch for paying it all separately. This is a really good way to save some money. OK. This one is really controversial, because, you know, I like to get an iced tea every morning and pay for it, but if you made your coffee at home, you could be spending as little as 15 bucks a month instead of $2 a day on a cup of Joe.

Just do it for a couple of months, and you can save a little bit of money. So, it does all add up. If you did all of these things and they work for you, that's more than $1,000 right there. The National Retail Federation says the average person is going to shell out about 700 bucks on presents this year.

So, look you could pocket the next $300 or so for your savings or, you know, just do a couple of them, and it's a little bit of extra money, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. I'm too lazy to make my own coffee, but I'm going to try it.

ROMANS: You know, the thing about coffee, I feel bad even recommending that sometimes, because if it makes you good at work and it makes you efficient and on target, then I think that $2 is a good investment. But, if you really need to save a little bit of money for the next couple of months, I don't know, maybe think about it.

COSTELLO: OK. I will.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: I' going to think about it hard. I am.

They've already loss the first month of the NBA season, but team owners and the players union will resume negotiations tomorrow on a new collective bargaining agreement. We're talking about basketball. Talks broke of last week after which the NBA commissioner, David Stern, canceled the remainder of November's regular season games. The player lockout is now in it's 127th day.

They are playing ball at John Brown University in West Arkansas, and tradition ruled. When the Golden Eagles scored their first points, the fans covered the court in toilet paper. Very impressive, isn't it? And quite the clean-up job. The student body at JBU has been teepeeing the first home game for the past 30 years.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: All right. Late night laugh now, and when the cat is away, President Obama taking a goodnatured beating while he's overseas. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON: President Obama just went to the G-20 summit to give Europe advice on its debt crisis.

(LAUGHTER)

FALLON: Wait. Europe is getting economic advice from Obama. That's like J.Lo getting a marriage advice from Kim Kardashian.

(LAUGHTER)

FALLON: That's just -- it doesn't make it right.

CRAIG FERGUSON, HOST, "THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON": "Forbes" magazine put out the list of the most powerful people in the world, and President Obama is number one. I guess nobody told Congress.

(LAUGHTER)

FALLON: Did you see this, President Obama bumped Chinese president, Hu Jintao, from the number one spot on "Forbes" list of the world's most powerful people. Yes. It was awkward, though. Obama wanted to buy a copy of the magazine, but he had to borrow five bucks from Hu Jintao.

(LAUGHTER)

FALLON: Do you have the money? Do you have some more money? You got any money?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: Oh, that's so true it hurts.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Ahead in the next hour, verdict watch in the Michael Jackson death trial. The prosecution pouring it on during closing arguments using Jackson's children to try to put his former doctor behind bars. Was it enough?

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