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American Morning
Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal; Interview with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus; Stranded On A Deserted Island; Apple Security Flaw; Students Protest Tuition Hikes in London; American Youth Unemployment Higher than National Average; Making Digital Media More Diverse; London Students Storm Streets
Aired November 09, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A question of survival. I'm Christine Romans. Will the growing child sex scandal at Penn State mean the end of Joe Paterno after 46 years as the university's beloved head football coach?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Herman Cain fighting back, denying he ever sexually harassed anyone. He says the Democratic machine is out to get him and he's got a message for anyone who should step aside, saying, "It ain't going to happen."
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Skipping right to the grand finale.
I'm Ali Velshi.
See what happens when an entire fireworks display goes up all at once -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
VELSHI: Here you go, Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Ali. Ali is my secretary today.
VELSHI: Oh, my goodness. That little red light is on.
COSTELLO: Thanks for running these off on the copy machine for me, Ali.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: It is a Wednesday. You know what happens on a Wednesday. It's too late for Monday and you're not there on Friday. So, we're all stuck in the middle, right?
Good morning, everybody. It's Wednesday.
COSTELLO: Yes, good morning.
We begin this hour with new concerns that Italy could be the next domino to fall. That's because the price that country has to pay to borrow money is now up to 7 percent.
VELSHI: A lot of people think that'd be a great thing to get 7 percent of your money. But for a government, it's not. This is the level at which other countries have had to seek international bailout. There are concerns that Italy's problems are too big for a bailout.
This news, of course, coming just one day after Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced he will resign after Italy's next budget is approved by parliament. So, what's happening in Italy affects the U.S.
Right now, stock futures are down sharply. Dow futures is off by nearly 200 points.
ROMANS: OK. Our other big developing story this hour. Joe Paterno's storied career as Penn State football coach, I mean, could it be history because of this child sex scandal involving a former top assistant?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: We love you, Joe!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Of course, still an awful lot of love for him. Hundreds of students and supporters rallied outside Paterno's house last night in the face of these growing calls for him to resign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: We want Joe.
JOE PATERNO, PENN STATE HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: And I want you. And I want you guys. It's hard for me to tell you how much this means for me.
You know with the kids that are victims. Whatever they want to say, I think we ought to say a prayer for them because, you know, tough life when people do certain things to you.
But anyway, you've been great.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But that loving support may not be enough to save Paterno's job. Early on AMERICAN MORNING, Roxanne Jones, a former Penn State cheerleader, she said Paterno's reporting sex abuse allegation up the chain of command amounts to a tragic failure of leadership.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROXANNE JONES, FOUNDING EDITOR, "ESPN THE MAGAZINE": It's absolutely not good enough. He doesn't tell his football team to go out there and do just what you need to do to get by. He's never been that kind of person, not in the field and not in the classroom.
And so, because he did just what he needed to do to get by legally, you know, apparently, he knows that's not sufficient. That's not sufficient if you're the father or the mother of those boys. It's not sufficient for a football coach. It's absolutely horrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: In the meantime, Penn State administrators will appoint a special committee to investigate child sex abuse allegations involving that former coach, Jerry Sandusky, and charges that school officials tried to cover it all up.
VELSHI: CNN's Jason Carroll is following the developments for us. He is live in State College, Pennsylvania.
Good morning, Jason.
A lot has developed since yesterday morning with Paterno going out in public for the first time and the possibility of another accuser, another victim. What's the latest on the ground?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you remember yesterday there was supposed to have been a press conference here at Penn State and that was suddenly canceled because higher ups at the university put a squash on that.
But Joe Paterno is his own man and when we ran into him out here yesterday afternoon, he had indicated that he wanted to talk and perhaps he would be able to do something later. Well, that later ended up being last night in front of his home as you saw that video -- all his supporters coming out and screaming, "Joe, Joe, Joe" and Joe hushing the crowd and telling them that his heart goes out to the victims and that prayers should be said for the victims.
There was always a report out there yesterday that perhaps Joe was going to be forced to step down -- perhaps, Ali, before this weekend's game.
Well, Scott Paterno came out last night, as well, and said that report is not true. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT PATERNO, SON OF JOE PATERNO: Any discussion of an exit strategy has not taken place with anyone that is advising Joe or Joe himself. That's all I can tell you.
REPORTER: Nothing between the university?
PATERNO: There's no discussion between the university and Coach Paterno. Nothing has changed.
REPORTER: As far as you know, he's coaching Saturday and for the foreseeable future?
PATERNO: Yes, nothing's changed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And while a lot of the attention focused on Joe Paterno, some of that criticism and attention is being focused on Penn State's president, Graham Spanier. There have been calls for his resignation, as well.
And despite all these calls of resignation, Ali, in the midst of all these, there's been another legal development which is focused, of course, on the center of this investigation, Jerry Sandusky. As you know, he's accused of molesting eight boys, but I spoke to a source close to the investigation who confirmed to me that a ninth victim has come forward, a man who said he was victimized by Sandusky, as well.
And this falls in line with what the attorney general was telling us on Monday, which was basically that give on the fact that Sandusky had access to young people for such a long period of time, it stands within reason, at least in her eyes, that there might be more victims out there -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Jason, thanks very much -- Jason Carroll in State College, Pennsylvania.
ROMANS: All right. Herman Cain is fighting back. He says allegations of sexual harassment by four different women are false, that it never happened and to anyone who thinks he should pull out of the Republican primary race, he says that's not happening yesterday.
Cain called a news conference yesterday insisting a Democratic machine is out to get him. He says he doesn't even remember Sharon Bialek, that's the single mom from Chicago who publicly accused him of groping her 14 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Cain says he's willing to take a lie detector test to prove that he's being truthful, if he has to.
COSTELLO: One of Herman Cain's previously anonymous accusers has now come forward. Karen Kraushaar is a communications director for the Treasury Department. She calls Cain a serial denier and says she has all the documents from the harassment claim she filed against Cain in the late 1990s, confirming she received a $46,000 sexual harassment settlement in 1999 from the National Restaurant Association.
VELSHI: Kraushaar wants to meet the other accusers and hold a joint news conference with them. She says there's strength in numbers. Gloria Allred, the attorney for the alleged victim Sharon Bialek says she believes her client would be willing to do that.
ROMANS: All right. And Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska believes Cain should quite the GOP race if the allegations against him are true. Murkowski says she was moved by the courage of Sharon Bialek, the Chicago mother who came forward this week after she asked him for help finding a job.
COSTELLO: And with all the attention being focused on the sexual harassment claims against Cain, the Republican primary race is virtually fallen off America's radar screen. It could be a real challenge for the party to find one candidate everyone could rally around.
Our next guest's job is -- well, it's up to him to beat that challenge. Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, joins us from RNC headquarters in Washington this morning.
Welcome.
REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: Hey. Well, good morning to you.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
You're dealing with some tough stuff these days. You watched Herman Cain's press conference yesterday, I assumed. Do you think that he's effectively is dealing with this crisis?
PRIEBUS: Well, he's trying to address it and talk about it, and I think he has to do that. I mean, I think we can all agree on that and allegations are always serious in campaigns like this, especially these kind of allegations. And so, he's got to deal with them and he said that he would continue dealing with them. So, I would suspect that he will.
Now, I think you know, as far as refereeing and say who can run and who can't run and how that goes, you know, that's really not the role of the RNC chairman.
But I think in the end, and I said this before, I think primaries are tough and that, you know, if you look at where the president's come himself through a very difficult primary with Hillary Clinton through the end of June, if you look at most of these new governors around the country, which there's a lot of them, they all came through very tough primaries -- I think they work in the end, and it's a way that the public vets candidates. It's what happens.
COSTELLO: This is something different. David Frum said something interesting earlier. He said Cain is now running as a conservative martyr.
If that's true, at what point does that start to hurt the Republican Party brand?
PRIEBUS: You know, I think this is an individual problem that in a campaign that needs to be dealt with, whether, you know, how this all shakes out, you know, can change depending on the crisis is or the problems that each campaign will deal with over time or, you know, in the history of this sort of primary battles. But, you know, I think the way they turn out is that you have a candidate that ultimately survives and that candidate's stronger.
And, look, I think you're going to have complete unanimity around a Republican candidate. You have almost 70 percent of the American public saying that the country is on the wrong track and, therefore, I still see this as a real great opportunity for a Republican to be in the White House.
COSTELLO: Well -- yes, but going back to Herman Cain for a second. I mean, he's talking about these sexual harassment allegations. Let's say that all five of these accusers, these women, get together and they hold that news conference, and they come out and say, this is what we accuse Mr. Cain of doing. This is what happened.
At what point after that sort of thing happens does Herman Cain have to step aside?
PRIEBUS: Well, Carol, first of all, I mean, these are decisions that each campaign has to make. You know, I'm not in the decision seat to be able to referee you know, who runs, who doesn't and how a campaign should operate, how they should respond. It's really not the role of the RNC chairman.
My role is to make sure that we have a functional, operational Republican National Committee that's well-funded and that can be the support to the next Republican president of the United States, which I would still tell you, you know, this president is in peril, the economy is not where it should be. And by his own standards, the president should be defeated -- by his own standards.
And so, you know, all of these things come and go and they will come and go. But in the end, this is going to come down to president Barack Obama versus a Republican nominee. And I guarantee you, Carol, six months from now, eight months from now, this is going to all be ancient history and we're going to have to have the next conversation, which is who should be the next president of the United States.
COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about President Obama and maybe some of his supporters because Democrats are probably crowing this morning about what happened in the state of Ohio. Ohio voters didn't like SB- 5 which limited collective bargaining rights for public unions and they voted it down resoundingly.
Is that -- how big of a rebuke is that for Republicans?
PRIEBUS: Well, I think Democrats should be intellectually honest about what happened last night. I mean, the reality is, is that, yes, on Issue 2, the unions prevailed on Issue 2. But on Issue 3, on the question in a battleground state, in Ohio, we can all agree it's a crucial state.
COSTELLO: Let's go back to Issue 2 for a second and what happened there and the outcome. I mean, is this a rebuke for Republicans? Did Republicans overreach when they tried to kill off all collective bargaining rights? Not only in Ohio, but in Wisconsin, too?
PRIEBUS: Well, I mean, not at all. I mean, the reality is, this is about big labor and this is a matter of getting voters out to the polls. But what's your concern, you can't leave out Issue 3.
What should concern these folks is that on the issues that matter to 2012, the issues that are going to be on the ballot in 2012, which is Obamacare, in Ohio, in a bellwether state, presumably many blue collar workers, many union workers came out to vote last night. I think we can all agree on that. And they did vote down on Issue 2, but then they came back on the same ballot on Obama care, which is a question related to Barack Obama --
COSTELLO: And the individual mandate.
PRIEBUS: That came overwhelmingly the other direction and said, you know, I don't like the direction this president is taking us in regard to health care either.
So, you know, listen, I think that everyone has to be intellectually honest here as far as what happened. But as far as equating it to Wisconsin, I mean, look, Wisconsin has already won two separate major elections confirming the leadership of Scott Walker.
And, so, you know, you look at the people running in the state senate in Virginia, Carol, these Democrats didn't want to be seen with the president.
Look at the governor in Kentucky, you want to talk about that. Yes, a Democratic governor. You know what? He campaigned against Barack Obama.
The Democratic chairwoman went to Mississippi and said the road to the White House goes through Mississippi.
COSTELLO: There was also a conservative measure in Mississippi.
PRIEBUS: Guess what, the Republicans won about everything on the ballot in Mississippi. The point is, it's a silly thing to say, but, nevertheless, she said it.
COSTELLO: I don't think we're going to agree. Well, or the Democrats will agree with you, either. But thank you so much for being here this morning, we appreciate it.
PRIEBUS: All right, thank you.
VELSHI: All right. Still ahead: thousands of students taking to the streets of London, saying they feel betrayed by sky high tuition fees. These are live pictures you're looking at. We have a reporter on the ground. We'll talk to them when we come back.
ROMANS: Still ahead, fireworks fail or the best show ever. Want to see all about 20 minutes worth of pyrotechnics, what it looks like when it goes off all at once. It's caught worldwide attention this morning. We're going to show you.
COSTELLO: And ship wreck in cast away. But this is no movie. A U.S. Coast Guard crew spot seven men stranded on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean.
VELSHI: Also ahead, it's been called a super storm of epic proportions. Alaska is bracing for what could be one of the worst storms in decade. Rob Marciano has got the details on that.
It's 14 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: Good morning, Miami. Mostly cloudy right now at 73. That will be partly cloudy and 80 coming on later today.
VELSHI: Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Let's start of with what's going on in the 49th state of Alaska. As you mentioned before the break, a super storm hitting that state, especially on the western side of it. Here's some video and give you an idea of what these folks are enduring. Looks like a hurricane, right, except it's snowing, too.
Winds gusting well over 80 miles an hour at the reporting station from Nome has been copout (ph) for the past several hours. So, really don't know how strong it's been, but we've had reports of structural damage and some power out and folks along the immediate coastline have been advised to move onshore, because this thing is so strong and has such a long fetch of wind off the Bering Sea that decent storm surge with battering waves as well.
Look at the size of this thing. I mean, it goes beyond the scope of our actual satellite over 1,000 miles in width. And some of this energy actually will traverse down into the northwest as we get towards the end of the week. So, just be aware of that. Little bit closer to home, a snowstorm, yes, but not that much in the way of accumulation or in way of wind.
But still, for this time of year, in parts of Iowa up through Wisconsin, it's really, really early. Chicago seeing a little bit of rainfall here and winter storm warnings are posted for parts of Northern Wisconsin, six to nine inches there and three to six inches in parts of Iowa, although, the snow is beginning to move out.
We have reports of over six inches just southwest of Des Moines. And really, it would be early to mid-December before you'd see significant accumulating snow. So, yet another unusually early snowstorm. Meanwhile, everywhere east of the Mississippi, now there balmy (ph) day, Indian summer continues across the northeast.
Sixty-five degrees in New York City after a gorgeous day yesterday. Enjoy it, because rain is on the move towards the I-95. Guys, back up to you.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Couldn't last forever, right? Thanks, Rob.
ROMANS: All right. Kind of like the movie "Castaway," except Tom Hanks wasn't around. Seven missing fishermen have been found on a deserted island of the Pacific Ocean somewhere between Hawaii and Australia. They were last seen a week ago motoring near the Marshall island, and then, they never showed up again.
A U.S. coast guard aircrew says they spotted the men frantically waving palm fronds near their beach boat. The coast guard crew dropped boxes of food and supplies attached to parachutes and that should tie them over until rescue crews could arrive by boat. The man all between the ages of 19 and 30 are just fine this morning, and they are back on dry land.
VELSHI: You generally don't want the words fireworks and technical glitch in the same sentence, but this could turn out OK. Hear me out. Weekend fireworks show in Scotland was supposed to be 20 minutes long, perfectly orchestrated, but thanks to a computer glitch, all the fireworks went off at once, and they were all done in 50 seconds. Here it is for your entertainment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Oh, my gosh.
VELSHI (voice-over): Apparently, the crowd took it all in stride. No one booed. No asked for their money back. Video has now gone viral. Local councilman said all the publicity is, quote, "the best thing that's happened to the town for years."
COSTELLO: I know. What a great finale. That's what you wait for anyway, right?
VELSHI: If you're watching it, this is great. Wait, where is the rest of it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Scottish sensibility.
COSTELLO: Look at the bright side.
Now is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, should Joe Paterno resign? Let's not mince words. Legendary college football coaches are gods. Joe Paterno, Penn State University administrators are powerless in the face of his 409 wins and all the money that comes with them.
Mr. Paterno retired 84. Joe Paterno decides what Joe Paterno does, but maybe not now. According to a grand jury report, Paterno was informed back in 2002 that Coach Jerry Sandusky was sexually assaulting a young boy in the shower. Paterno did tell Penn State Athletic director and that's the minimum required by law. Paterno wants to explain, but the university won't let him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE PATERNO, PENN STATE HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: I know you guys got a lot of good questions and I'd like to answer them, but I can't do it now. We're going to try. I'm sorry the press conference didn't turn out, but we're going to try to have another one soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Still, Paterno is beloved. For 46 years, he taught his players about life as well as football.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATERNO: I think you've got a tremendous impact on a kid. You're not teaching them facts, you're teaching things about character and you're teaching them things about success, you're teaching things about what it takes to get along with other people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Paterno is known for running a clean program. You don't hear about paying players or falsifying S.A.T. scores, not Penn State, not Paterno. Now, his reputation may be irrevocably harmed. SA.com columnist, Michael Rosenberg, writes, "we don't get to know who was legally guilty, but several prominent employees at state university are morally guilty and one of them is Joe Paterno."
So, the "Talk Back" for you today, should Joe Paterno resign? Facebook.com/americanmorning. Facebook.com/americanmorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
ROMANS: All right. Up next, stocks showing big early losses as the time prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi eyes the door.
Plus, rumors of a security flaw in the Apple iPhone. We'll have that for you. It's 23 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: It's 26 minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
The crisis in Italy deepens this morning. Right now, the price that country has to pay to borrow money is up to seven percent. That's the level at which other countries have had to seek international bailouts. This comes just one day after Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, announced he will step aside after the next budget passes parliament.
All the news out of Europe and the concerns on Italy, in particular, weighing heavily on investors. Stock futures right now down sharply. Dow futures off about 200 points right now. The market for stocks opens at 9:30 in the east, in about an hour. Apple's app store may not be as safe as you think. A notable computer security researcher says he was able to get an app past Apple's screening process, an app that allowed hackers to gain control of your iPhone. The app apparently allowed them to steal the users' photos, read the contact list and send texts. So far, Apple not responding to this security flaw.
And soon, you'll be able to knock out your holiday shopping while you wait for the train, plane or bus. What will they think of next? Sears and K-Mart are rolling out so-called virtual shopping malls -- shopping walls. The ads feature toys with a QR coat for each item.
All you have to do is scan the code into your cell phone and, boom, you can buy an item right there. Talk about impulse purchase, right?
Up next, thousands of students taking to the streets of London saying they feel betrayed by sky high tuition prices. Police are on alert. We're going to take you there live. AMERICAN MORNING back right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: London bracing for a show down on the streets. Students protesting tuition hikes and police under pressure to maintain control. Something's got to give, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's 30 minutes past the hour. Time for your top stories.
Embattled Penn State football coach Joe Paterno feeling the love from students last night at a rally outside his home. He spoke briefly to the well-wishers, telling them he is praying who were allegedly abused by his former top assistant. That coach, of course, Jerry Sandusky, charged with sexually assaulting at least eight young boys. Critics say Paterno didn't do when he first learned about the alleged abuse. Penn State's board of trustees meets on Friday. They're planning a special investigation.
ROMANS: Herman Cain says he's never been inappropriate with any woman and sexual harassment allegations against him are all false. Cain called a news conference yesterday insisting the Democratic machine is out to get him and that he won't abandon his bid for the White House.
VELSHI: And the White House is not commenting on an embarrassing diplomatic problem for President Obama. At last week's G-20 summit an open microphone picked up a conversation that the president was having with French President Nicolas Sarkozy about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sarkozy is heard saying, quote, "I cannot bear Netanyahu. He is a liar." The president responding, quote "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you." The office of the French president and the Israeli prime minister also not commenting. COSTELLO: And happening right now, London bracing for yet another showdown, students coming out to march against tuition fees that have tripled. Take a look at those live pictures. They are expecting, what, some 10,000 protesters to show up. And, of course, the last time students rallied in the streets because of tuition hikes there was violence. So, London authorities are hoping things will be more peaceful this time.
Phil Black is live in London for us this morning. Good morning, Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Student protests here still in the west end of London and there is considerable -- as you say the first major on this issue seems the disruptive process -- it is also the best major student protest since the riots that took place in the city over the summer.
So some 4,000 police officers on the streets. You can see them over here escorting the crowd along. And we're also seeing within this crowd, undercover police officers carrying placards and dressed as the protesters.
One of the key goals for the police here today is to ensure that this crowd of some several thousand students keeps to the agreed route through the city. But they really want to avoid is stop this group from meeting up with the Occupy protest movements that is in the center of the city near London stock exchange. These protesters are here to try and link up with that group. The police have made it very clear they're not prepared to tolerate that. They're not going to let that happen. But so far, everything has been pretty calm here in London as it stands. Back to you.
COSTELLO: We apologize for the nasty signal, but you see Phil Black is walking down the street there and that's probably why it is breaking up. And the weather doesn't look so nice in London either. Again, those tens of thousands of students out there, young people protesting tuition hikes. We'll see what happens. Hopefully it will stay peaceful.
ROMANS: All right, a controversial initiative goes down to defeat in Mississippi. Voter's rejected a so called personhood amendment to the state constitution that would have declared life begins at the moment of conception. The measure would have outlawed abortion in effect in Mississippi and restricted forms of birth control, too.
VELSHI: Mississippi still has a Republican in the governor's mansion, however. Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant won the gubernatorial race, defeating Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree, who would have been the state's first black governor. Bryant will succeed Haley Barbour who was unable to run again because of term limits.
COSTELLO: And a big victory for organized labor in Ohio, voters repealing a law limiting the collective bargaining rights of state and local employee unions. It is a blow to Ohio's Republican Governor John Kasich. He had signed the measure into law but it wasn't scheduled to take effect until after yesterday's vote, and now it won't take effect at all.
ROMANS: Still ahead, so many talented grads and so few jobs. When will things change for today's 20-somethings? That's next. We'll speak with a man who is organizing jobs for young America days. It's 35 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Washington, D.C., fair right now, about 46. It will go up about 20, 21 degrees later on today, 67, sunny.
Welcome back. One of the groups hit hardest by this recession, young Americans. Not only have they taken on more debt to pay for school, facing this really tough job market.
And today young people from across the country are heading to Washington to urge their lawmakers to do more when it comes to youth job creation. Joining me now is one of those young people, Aaron Smith, co-founder and young director of Young Invincibles. Welcome to the program.
AARON SMITH, CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, YOUNG INVINCIBLES: Thanks for having me on.
ROMANS: Now, you and your group are particularly supportive of some of the measures of the president's jobs plan. Some of those measure, it's become a political hot potato, quite frankly, in Washington. But what do you want to see your government do to provide more opportunity. For you, Aaron?
So let's talk about some of the specifics. So the American Jobs that the Obama administration put forth is designed to basically do one thing, and that's create jobs. And there's some provisions in there that relate directly to young adults. So for example later this week Congress is going to be talking about part of a bill that actually provides incentives for employers to hire unemployed veterans. And young veterans for example, have a very high unemployment rate, above 20 percent.
And this relates to sort of the broader issues that we're talking about, which are the number one concern for young people regardless of political party, and you mentioned this is a political hot potato, is jobs and making college education more affordable.
We recently did a study called "The State of Young America" with our partner Demos that looked at all the economic challenges facing young adults. And I think, yes, the numbers are startling, 17 percent unemployment for young adults. But one of the trends that doesn't get talked about is the real potential for this generation. This is a generation that is serving in Iraq and Afghanistan that is incredibly entrepreneurial and has tremendous potential to be great.
ROMANS: I'm so glad you bring that up, because when you talk to CEOs, sometimes they say the thing that keeps them up at night is this lost generation of young people that don't have the first and second job when they're 21, 22, 23, there is going to be the basis for them getting the good ideas that will grow companies and grow ideas down the road.
But when I talk to HR executives, they are actually tremendously excited by your generation because you're an iPad generation. You don't know you can't do it. You've seen new technology come and go. It's institutional almost or intuitive almost technology that Generation X or baby boomers have to learn. So, there are reasons to be excited about your generation.
But, Aaron, interesting you're going to Washington because we may be in an era where looking to government to create opportunity is going to be much more difficult. So what is your generation going to do to create opportunity yourself?
SMITH: Well, I think you bring up a great point about entrepreneurship. We did roundtables with young adults everywhere from community college students to young soldiers to young professionals, and the thing that we heard over and over and over again was this desire to start a business and this entrepreneurial spirit.
And at the same time also barriers. So, you know, whether it was access to credit or whether it was entrepreneurship, education, or student debt. So actually we think we can combine these two things. Yes, young people can be drivers to our economy. We can take matters into our own hands and create the jobs we need. But the government can also play a role in reducing some of these barriers.
We actually put forth a set of proposals with a partner called Young Entrepreneur Council called the Youth Entrepreneurship Act. You can find it at youthentrepreneurshipact.com and basically lays out increased capital for young people who want to start a business, student loan forgiveness for young entrepreneurs, increased entrepreneurship education. These are very concrete things that can actually jumpstart job creation and put young people back to work.
ROMANS: So, I want to get your thoughts on something quick. A few months ago Jeff Immelt, the the chairman of the president's jobs council and he runs GE, he co-wrote an op-ed in the "Wall Street Journal" which said there are more than two million open jobs in the U.S. in part because employers can't find workers with the advanced manufacturing skills that they need.
We hear this again and again from corporate America. We know there are 3.4 million job openings over all right now. The labor department numbers just came out. So, are we in this country, is part of our crisis that we aren't training our young people and educating our young people in the right fields? That we have for so long encouraged people to do what they love or want to do and take on a ton of debt to do it, but we haven't in this country focused our young people on the knowledge-based economy that is going to be the way the country grows going forward?
SMITH: Yes, absolutely. This idea that there are jobs out there that are not being filled is really a question about American competitiveness and whether we're giving our young people the opportunities to succeed. You look at a program like Pell Grants which provides young income young adults over nine million the opportunity to go to college and get that training, whether it's community college or more vocational focus. That's a program that is actually creating opportunity and helping to train our next generation. You know, talking about cutting that program goes exactly the wrong direction. We need to be investing in those young people and investing in the American economy so that, you know, not just my generation but my siblings have this opportunity to succeed and the economy can continue to grow.
ROMANS: It also raises another discussion for another time, do you just continue to subsidize the tuition bubble, though? Are you now just taking government moment and throwing it at a system that is gobbling up our money and throwing it on the debt. And that's a discussion to have you back for another time.
I am happy to see that there are some surveys that 77 percent of all of you guys still think that you can achieve the American dream, so that's how we'll end it, on a bright note. Aaron, thank you so much. Aaron Smith, cofounder and executive director of Young Invincibles. Thanks, Aaron.
Here's something cool we want to show you, voices from Woodstock at Occupy Wall Street.
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SMITH: That's David Crosby and Graham Nash playing for protesters at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan. The 60s folk stars performed two protest songs and encouraged the crowd to keep up the fight.
Your morning headlines are next. It's about 45 minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: Forty-six minutes after the hour. Here are your "Morning Headlines".
You're looking at live pictures of London students storming the streets right now. Protesters, they're protesting storm -- skyrocketing tuition hikes. Police are under pressure to maintain control with the riots over the summer and similar violent protests still fresh in the country's memory.
Markets open in 45 minutes. Right now we're on track for a big drop at the market open. U.S. stock futures are down sharply after Italy's bond rating rose above a critical seven percent level. That's the rate at which other countries have had to seek an international bailout. Herman Cain says there's no way he's abandoning his bid for the White House. At a news conference yesterday, he called four women's accusations of sexual harassment false and insists he'll take a lie detector test if he has to.
Embattled Penn State football coach Joe Paterno still has his supporters but after 46 years as the head man in Happy Valley, reports say Paterno could be out in a matter of days or weeks because of the child sex abuse scandal involving Paterno's former top assistant.
NBA fans hoping for a buzzer beater locked out players have asked for one last bargaining session before today's 5:00 p.m. deadline. The players snubbed the league's latest contract offer. All games through the end of this month have been canceled.
This is a test, this is only a test. Well for the first time ever, the test of the emergency alert system will be made nationwide at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time today. Previously, the tests have been conducted by states and local communities, never from coast to coast.
That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING back right after this break.
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COSTELLO: It's ten minutes until the top of the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
He was one of the most influential rappers of the '90s. Hip-hop legend Heavy D has died. Police say Dwight Errington Myers collapsed at his Beverly Hills home struggling to breathe. No word yet on a cause of death. Heavy D rose to fame with hit singles like "Now that we Found Love" and he collaborated on albums with Michael and Janet Jackson, even performing at the MJ Tribute concert in Wales. Heavy D was only 44 years old.
ROMANS: And the Motion Picture Academy is now scrambling to find a producer for next year's Oscar telecast. Director Brett Ratner stepped down yesterday following the uproar over an anti-gay slur he used during a question and answer session for his new movie "Tower Heist".
In a statement Ratner apologized to everyone he's hurt and offended.
VELSHI: Well, today in "Black in America" making digital media more diverse in a field dominated by young, white men, one African- American woman has become a power player. Soledad O'Brien has a look at how she's paving the way for the future.
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SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jacqui Beauchamp is the founder, CEO and Chairwoman of the digital media of the company Nerjyzed Entertainment. TERRY JONES, REGIONAL INNOVATION ORGANIZATION: She's an entrepreneur starting up a video gaming company. And being a woman and African-American, she was trailblazing many paths and doing so from right here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
O'BRIEN: Born and raised there, she climbed the corporate ladder.
JACQUI BEAUCHAMP, FOUNDER, CHAIRWOMAN, NERJYZED ENTERTAINMENT: There's not a lot of diversity not just in the -- the executive ranks. In the industry and you know, there were times as an African-American female I was truly the only African-American female in -- in the room.
O'BRIEN: Then left that loneliness to follow her heart.
BEAUCHAMP: I'm an electrical engineer by degree, and so, technology has always been at the heart and soul of -- of who I am. But animation and multi-media is my passion.
As a kid growing up watching Fat Albert and Cosby kids, I'm seeing something that, you know, Mr. Cosby created and said, one day, I want to own a company that knows how to do that.
O'BRIEN: And now she does.
BEAUCHAMP: The biggest success so far has been the release and launch and shipment of our first console the video game, which is the Black College Football video game experience. What we constantly kept hearing and seeing in the industry were, you know, not enough content that reflects the urban character and those that were there, they were not portrayed in a very positive -- in a positive light.
So our -- our intent was to provide some different type of content into the market segment.
O'BRIEN: Up next, a documentary and then --
BEAUCHAMP: A dance-based, music-based video game on X-Box 360 utilizing Kinect, PlayStation 3, as well as Wii. It is not just for the African-American consumer to only enjoy and experience.
O'BRIEN: Jacqui Beauchamp concedes it's an uphill battle and embraces it.
BEAUCHAMP: I'm an African-American female and every day I know that I've got to get people to see me, to see me and not that I'm an African-American female.
O'BRIEN: For "In America" Soledad O'Brien, CNN, reporting.
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ROMANS: Soledad has got this amazing "Black in America" special Sunday night. She's got a new one. It's called "THE NEW PROMISED LAND: SILICON VALLEY." She talks to black entrepreneurs working to make it big time in the high tech capital and the barriers they have there. It's already sort of creating some buzz around it, so you really don't want to miss it. It's gosh, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right.
VELSHI: 8:00 p.m. Eastern yes.
ROMANS: Got it.
COSTELLO: Seven minutes until the top of the hour, we'll read your "Talk Back" responses after a break. We'll be back.
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ROMANS: London students storming the streets right now protesting sky rocketing tuition hikes. Police are under pressure to maintain control.
There are two groups here. The students who are marching to protest higher tuition and then police are concerned that they are marching toward an Occupy Wall Street group. And when those two merge together they just want to make sure that it's not going to be too large, too unwieldy or turn to violence.
VELSHI: And there's some action going on there which is why the camera has moved in. But when -- if you saw the camera out, you'd see it is actually quite a large protest. I think Phil Black was saying about 4,000 people involved in this thing. But you can see something is going on there right now. So the camera has moved in a little tighter.
COSTELLO: The last time this sort of protest took place, they had riots in London, right?
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: So they certainly want to avoid that this time.
ROMANS: But this -- when we talk about austerity around the world and the way different governments have to tighten the belts --
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: -- well, one of the ways they do it is they pass the cost on to their citizens. And these students aren't happy about higher tuition and paying more for an education in the UK.
VELSHI: And as you can see, the crowd is both like to the bottom of your screen and then those are police that you're seeing there.
So while it doesn't look -- you may not think that looks like a big crowd, it's mostly police and people interspersed. They stopped the crowd at that point. They are really concerned that they're going to meet up with the Occupy people -- I'm not sure what the concern is -- but that these few thousand people meet up with the people who are occupying a block of central London.
COSTELLO: Yes, they're expecting -- what -- something like 10,000 people. But we'll keep you posted and we'll keep our eye on this protest in London. We asked you to "Talk Back on a question today. Our question this morning, "Should Joe Paterno resign?"
This from Jay. "Joe didn't let the system down, the system let him down. He believes in the system and followed its rules by reporting an incident to his superiors. They failed to act on the information he provided."
This is from Shooter. "Remember what happened with the Duke lacrosse team? Let all the facts come out before calling for a guy's head to be chopped off."
This from Timothy, "Apparently wins, money and the insanity of college sports trump protecting innocent children."
This from Michael, "Powerless? Ridiculous. Paterno and many others morally guilty? Definitely. There are many sad stories here, including Mr. Paterno not seeing that his time at Penn State should have ended many years ago. It now ends in shame, true shame. Not for being a stumbling 84-year-old who can't get out of his own way, but for being a knowing party for what will become the most disturbing and disgusting scandal in NCAA history."
That was harsh.
Keep the comments coming, facebook.com/Americanmorning. And thanks, as always, for your comments.
VELSHI: That's it for us. "CNN NEWSROOM" starts right now with Kyra Phillips -- Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Thanks so much guys.
