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American Morning
Penn State Bracing For Game Day; Going After Criminal Silence; Paterno Loses "Medal of Freedom" Support; Panetta Orders Review of Dover Case; White House to Release Solyndra Documents; Obama Delays Decision on Keystone Pipeline; Greece's New Interim PM; Crucial Italian Senate Vote; The Top Ten, Rick Perry Excuses; Nixon Tapes Released; Penn State Price Tag; Big Banks Accused of Defrauding Veterans; Silence in the Locker Room
Aired November 11, 2011 - 05:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Game on. Penn State bracing for its first home gain game since the sex abuse scandal broke and the first game without Joe Paterno in 46 years.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: On this Veterans Day, some of the nation's biggest banks are accused of ripping off over a million war hero fees allegedly hidden deep inside VA loans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": The category tonight, at top 10, Rick Perry excuses.
RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hey, you try concentrating with Mitt Romney's smiling at you. That is hard to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: And a nation gets rip rolled. Governor Rick Perry trying to fix what's left of his campaign by taking shots at himself on this AMERICAN MORNING.
VELSHI: Good morning. It's Friday, November 11, 2011. Christine is off today. I'm Ali Velshi along with Alina Cho. Welcome. Great to have you here.
CHO: Great to see you, Ali. Good morning.
Up first, the growing Penn State sex abuse scandal. The university is vowing to find out who or who else failed the victims. Right now in State College P.A., they are bracing for game day. The last home game of the year. The first in a half century without legendary coach Joe Paterno.
The small college town swells to the third largest city in Pennsylvania on game day and given what we saw on campus two nights ago, police are under intense pressure to maintain control.
Our Jason Carroll is live for us in State College this morning and, Jason, I imagine that security has been stepped up quite a bit?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is true, and the mood on campus, really mixed in terms of how the students are feeling about everything that's been going on. You've got a number of students who are still quite frankly, have that same amount of anger that we saw out here on Wednesday.
But Alina, also there have been a number of students who have come up to me who said they were, quite frankly, embarrassed by the rioters who showed up in front of old main in downtown. They feel not enough attention has been focused on the victims.
That's why tonight they'll be a candlelight vigil, those students holding that about 9:30 and tomorrow at the game against Nebraska you may end up seeing a lot of people wearing the color blue in solidarity for those who were abused by sexual -- those who are victims of sexual abuse.
The man now at the helm who a lot of people are looking at, Tom Bradley, the new interim coach, spoke about the challenges he now faces heading into Saturday's game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM BRADLEY, PENN STATE INTERIM HEAD COACH: We're obviously in a very unprecedented situation that we find ourselves in, and, you know, I just have to find a way to restore the confidence and to start a healing process with everybody. And I'm going to try to go about it. I said earlier, it's a very mixed emotion and a heavy heart that his has occurred that I'm going through this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And Tom Bradley also speaking about the victims as well saying he's grieving for the victims and also said that much of the attention should be focused on that and not football.
But once again, with tomorrow heading into tomorrow's game, especially with all the attention that's been focused on Penn State. It's just a lot of mixed emotions going on down here. Not just from the coaches but the students, the faculty and the people in the community as well -- Alina.
CHO: I can only imagine. In football there, of course, is an institution and massive business. Now Jason, I know you talked to Jerry Sandusky's lawyer. What were you able to find out in terms of where they are in terms of developing a defense?
CARROLL: Right, that's Joseph Amandolla. I spoke with him last night about the case that they're trying to put together. He basically told me, Alina, that they're really in the infancy stages of trying to put together that case.
Trying to find witnesses to help Jerry Sandusky's case and also telling me that Jerry Sandusky told him that he is innocent of all the allegations.
And that the feeling is that Sandusky is being tried in the press, tried out here at Penn State, being made out to be a guilty man even without having an opportunity to defend himself. So a lot of frustration on that part as well.
CHO: And very quickly, are you getting a sense at all that the defense team on how Sandusky's reacting to Paterno's firing?
CARROLL: Absolutely, very good point. Actually, Sandusky told his attorney, Joseph Amandella, that he feels sickened, disheartened about the way things have happened for Joe Paterno. He looked up to that man.
The two were very close for many years, and Alina, he said he feels as though, he feels responsible in ways for taking down a man who he referred to, quote, as "a legend."
CHO: Our Jason Carroll live for us all week long in State College, Pennsylvania. Jason, thank you. We'll see you in an hour.
VELSHI: Watch tonight on "AC 360" Pennsylvania State Representative Kevin Boyle said the law may have failed the victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STATE REP. KEVIN BOYLE, PENNSYLVANIA: We need to toughen this up, the legislation -- the current legislation on the books, because the current law allows for conspiracies, allows for cover-ups.
And I feel as though if we had stronger legislation on the books, Paterno, who I'm sure was lawyered up from the get-go, would have reported this to the police and hopefully there wouldn't have been as many as a dozen victims in the last decade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: The stunning fall from grace continues for Joe Paterno. Pennsylvania's two senators are pulling support for a presidential Medal of Freedom for Paterno.
Democrat Bob Casey and Republican Pat Toomey had sent a letter to President Obama back in September backing Paterno for the nation's highest civilian honor for his dedication to his players and his grades-first philosophy.
Coming up at 6:40 Eastern, we'll speak to former Major League baseball player Doug Glanville, now an ESPN analyst who's written about the code in the locker room. What role did it play in the Penn State scandal?
CHO: The U.S. defense secretary is speaking out on the Air Force mortuary scandal. Secretary Leon Panetta is promising to get to the bottom of apparent mismanagement of the Dover Mortuary.
"The Washington Post" blew the lid off the scandal just this week reporting that the bodies of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are being grossly mishandled.
Shocking cases of missing body parts and remains being dumped in a Virginia landfill. Panetta is calling for an independent investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: None of us will be satisfied until we have proven to the families who were fallen heroes that we have taken every step possible to protect the honor and dignity that their loved ones richly deserve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Panetta is also asking the Air Force secretary to ensure that appropriate disciplinary action is taken.
VELSHI: New developments in the Solyndra saga, the White House now agreeing to release specific documents. The documents will reportedly shed light on what level of influence that Obama fundraiser and Solyndra investor George Kaiser had on getting a $535 million loan for the solar energy company.
The company went bankrupt shortly after receiving the White House loan. The House Energy Committee issued a subpoena for all of the Solyndra documents. The White House at first refused to hand them over, slamming the investigation as partisan politics.
CHO: President Obama making an unexpected decision on a controversial proposal. His administration announced it will delay an answer on whether to expand the Keystone oil pipeline.
Mr. Obama was expected to approve the project, but it was met with protests from environmental groups. The new pipeline would have stretched through the sand hills area in Nebraska.
The State Department now plans to find possible alternative routes. A final decision on the project is expected in 2013.
VELSHI: This is a pipeline meant to bring oil from the oil sands of Canada, which is where the U.S. gets most of its oil, very controversial project.
A new Greek prime minister would be sworn in today. Harvard economics professor and former banker, Lucas Papandemos will lead the country's new unity government and inherit its debt troubles.
It pledges to implement harsh austerity measures necessary for the country to receive a second bailout from the European Union. Former Prime Minister George Papandreou stepped down earlier this week.
CHO: That swearing in ceremony will be at 9 a.m. Eastern. Meanwhile, in Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's reign may soon be over. The Italian senate is set to vote on debt reduction measures to pull the country out of near bankruptcy. Berlusconi pledged to step down from his post once those economic reforms are passed clearing the way for a new technocrat government likely led by former E.U. Commissioner Mario Monte.
Our Matthew Chance is live for us in Rome. Matthew, good morning to you.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alina. That's right. The Senate here, the upper house of the Italian parliament voting through later today the financial austerity measure, likely to be passed tomorrow into law by the lower House of the Parliament.
A special session has been called by these lawmakers to get this process moving as quickly as possible. That would open the way to Silvio Berlusconi to step aside.
The general thinking right now, Alina, is we could see a new government in place, a new prime minister overseeing this country's very difficult economic future as early as the weekend.
CHO: All right. Our Matthew Chance live for us in Italy. Matthew, thank you very much for that update.
VELSHI: We can't beat them, join them. Governor Rick Perry is poking fun at himself on late night television, on "Letterman" after he couldn't name the third government agency that he would ax at the GOP debate, the night before. The top ten Rick Perry excuses right here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Actually three reasons I messed up last night. One was the nerves, and two was the headache, and three -- listen, you try concentrating when Mitt Romney's smiling at you.
That is one handsome dude. Yes. I had a five-hour energy drink six hours before the debate. I wanted to help take the heat off my buddy Herman Cain.
LETTERMAN: OK. That's stuff in the caboose, and the number one Rick Perry excuse --
PERRY: I just learned Justin Bieber is my father.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: I don't know where it gets him politically, but he definitely came up with the funny swing.
CHO: He might have a future as a comedian. He also said he was up late watching "Dancing with the Stars." That's one of the excuses.
All right, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, protesters disrupting a speech by Michele Bachmann and forcing her from the stage. Hear what the Minnesota congresswoman had to say about them.
VELSHI: And Richard Nixon in his own words. Audio recordings and grand jury transcripts released to the public. Find out what America's 37th president told the grand jury about that infamous 18 and a half minute gap on a White House tape.
CHO: And something you really have to see to believe, a police cruiser hitting high speeds and then hitting a house. We'll have the incredible dash cam video coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It was an accident that's how former President Richard Nixon explained the now famous 18 and a half minute gap on a White House audiotape to a U.S. grand jury.
Forty five minutes of audio recordings and nearly 50,000 pages of recordings from the Nixon White House were released by archivists yesterday including this story from Nixon about an impromptu pre-dawn meeting that he had at the Lincoln Memorial with student demonstrators who were outraged by his 1970 invasion of Cambodia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD NIXON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: They have not been able to hear the press conference because they had been driving all night in order to get here. I said, I was sorry they missed it, but as I tried to explain in the press conference that my goals in Vietnam were the same as theirs - to stop the killing, to end the war, to bring peace. Our goal was not to get into Cambodia by what we were doing, but to get out of Vietnam.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
VELSHI: Nixon's 1975 Grand Jury testimony came 10 months after he left office in disgrace, after this famous resignation, this famous wave that you see here. It was released after historians Stanley Cutler and others sued to have the Grand Jury testimony made public.
So for those of you who are historians or interested in that - that time period, it's rich with all sorts of information about that very interesting time in American politics.
CHO: We're about to show you another interesting time in politics.
VELSHI: Yes. Absolutely.
CHO: Some incredible videotape. Michele Bachmann says the Occupy Charleston protesters who interrupted her foreign policy speech yesterday and drove her off the stage were disrespectful and ignorant, but she's also defending their right to speak.
The Minnesota congresswoman was in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, aboard the aircraft carrier Yorktown when about a dozen protesters suddenly stood up and shut their speech down. She came back about 10 minutes later. But here's how it all went down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me talk about that. American consumers -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
CROWD: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will only take a minute.
CROWD: This will only take a minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a message for Ms. Bachmann.
CROWD: We have a message for Ms. Bachmann.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down
CROWD: (INAUDIBLE).
CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA!
BACHMANN: Thank you, everyone, for your patience. Don't you love the first amendment? It's great. We have a great country, and I want to thank you all for your understanding. God bless you. Thank you for that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Not a bad way of dealing with it, I suppose.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHO: You know, the protesters were ultimately escorted off the aircraft carrier by police chanting "We are the 99 percent."
VELSHI: President Obama will also be on an aircraft carrier of his own this Veterans Day. (INAUDIBLE). His own, just a different one. It's a day in tradition and parades as American honor - as Americans honor our soldiers, veterans and military families. The president will welcome some vets in the White House hosting breakfast there and later he'll take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
The president's next stop will be San Diego, where he'll watch the first college basketball game to be played on an active Navy aircraft carrier, the famous "USS Carl Vincent."
CHO: I wouldn't mind being there for that.
All right, so what's the weather going to be like in Washington and other parts across the country? Let's get a quick check of the morning's travel forecast with Reynolds Wolf.
Hey, Reynolds. Good morning.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey. Hey, guys.
I've got to tell you, in parts of New York, it's going to be an interesting day for you. Not only some wind, but also you could have a little bit of rain mixed in, too, and plenty of delays with that also.
As we go right to the weather maps, take a look at what we've got for you. In New York, Philadelphia, the gusty breezes. The winds are going to keep you delayed for about an hour in some spots in Boston, New York. You might have the winds giving you delay, but under an hour. Not quite as rough as it will be in parts of the northeast.
Out west in San Francisco, scattered showers, major delays over an hour time. So you have to be patient on a day like today.
Well, you can also expect in parts of the southeast, kind of a slow morning with you, with temperatures that are a bit below normal, to say the least. In fact morning lows from St. Louis, back to Memphis, even into Atlanta, anywhere from the 20s and 30s. Not quite as cold in Raleigh. But in the outer banks, we do have some of the freeze watch we're keeping a sharp eye on.
Your weather in the southeast, though - although it is cool, it will be a beautiful day. High pressure is going to give you pretty nice conditions. Chance of showers, again as we mentioned in parts of the northeast. Out to the West and the Pacific Northwest, snow in the highest elevations.
But in the valleys you're going to expect some rain troughs in parts of Central California. It looks we're going to see some showers. But as far south as San Diego, conditions should be OK.
Now, in terms of temperatures, day time highs, you can expect them to be fairly mild in spots like Denver, Kansas City into the 60s; 71 in Dallas; 54 in Minneapolis; 50 in Chicago; 49 your high in New York; 58 in Atlanta; 61 in Tampa; 61 also in San Francisco and back into Seattle, 48 degrees.
Now, out of the Atlantic we're still keeping a sharp eye on Tropical Storm Sean. At this point, winds are at 60 miles an hour moving past Bermuda. Expect it to move fairly slowly in parts of the northern Atlantic as it does. So it's going to interact with that cooler water and then it should begin to slowly but surely die out. So that is certainly some good news.
But, again, you're going to be - if you're traveling out and about, keep in mind of these delays. Also expect at the same time slick conditions on many of your roadways in parts of the Empire State, making the drive from New York over to Buffalo. You may even see a few scattered snowflakes for all is said and done. So certainly take it easy on this 11/11/11.
And thanks to all the veterans out there. Happy Veterans Day to you.
VELSHI: Absolute, Reynolds. Thanks very much for that. We'll check in with you a little later.
WOLF: You bet.
VELSHI: All right. Still ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, college football is big business at Penn State. We know that. But in the wake of the sex scandal, how big of a financial hit could that school take? The numbers are pretty staggering.
CHO: And if all those debit card fees had you furious with your bank, just wait until you hear what two whistle-blowers are saying the big banks have been doing to America's veterans. It's a story of outrage you just can't miss.
It's 20 minutes after the hour. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It's 24 minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
The business of big time college football. Penn State football program is one of the country's most lucrative college sports teams. Last year, the Nittany Lions generated more than $72 million. That's a top line that's robbing (ph) you. Take away what it cost them, $53 million in profit. This is unbelievable.
Much of this financial success attributed to this guy, former longtime coach Joe Paterno. In a 2010 interview, he recalled a time when the football program was not as profitable saying the team raised about $25,000 a year when he became coach, 1966.
Today, Penn State earns at least $10 million a year from its football TV contract. A typical home game brings in approximately $6 million in tickets, sales, parking, concessions, and things like that.
Now, the Nittany Lions as they are called are so popular that they help support the other varsity programs at the school. That's a common thing at a lot of colleges. Last year, Penn State reported more than $24 million in overall athletic revenue from merchandise, sales and sponsorships from big names like Pepsi, AT&T and PNC Bank.
Now what affect could this child sex scandal have on those partnerships? Well, PNC Bank told us, quote, "As a company whose philanthropic mission is focused on early childhood education, we expect to watch the unfolding events closely," end quote.
We have reached out to other sponsors. We're yet to hear back from them. But it is interesting that they're not saying some blanket statement about how they will stick with the Nittany Lions and Penn State if this goes the wrong way.
AMERICAN MORNING is taking a break. We'll be right back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's incomprehensible to me that the banks would do this to veterans.
CHO (voice-over): Some of the nation's biggest banks accused of defrauding more than one million U.S. war heroes on this AMERICAN MORNING.
VELSHI: We're just across half past the hour. Welcome back. It's time for this morning's top stories.
Penn State is bracing for what will be an emotional and potentially violent football Saturday. The school hosting its final home game tomorrow, the first since former defense coordinator Jerry Sandusky was accused of abusing young boys. The university says the assistant coach who allegedly witnessed a victim being sexually assaulted in a shower won't be at the game because of multiple threats.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaking for the first time about the mishandling of remains at the Air Force mortuary, promising a larger review and to protect the honor and dignity of the fallen. Three supervisors at Dover Air Force Base were disciplined after investigations found that some body parts were cremated and disposed off in a Virginia land fill.
And today, the U.S. honors its military members, past and present. Veterans Day parades will take place across the country. President Obama will pay tribute to servicemen. He'll visit Arlington National Cemetery this morning and then he's off to San Diego for a first of its kind Veterans Day college basketball game aboard a Navy aircraft carrier.
CHO: Billion dollar bailouts, infuriating debit card fees, it's the behavior of America's biggest banks that's fueling the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. And now, according to two whistle-blowers, there's one more reason to be outrage. They claim the banks are targeting our veterans and defrauding them.
The story now from CNN's Martin Savidge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brian Donnelly spent three years in the Army. So he was shocked by what he saw, not on the battlefield but a bank loan document.
BRIAN DONNELLY, WHISTLE-BLOWING VETERAN: At that point, the light went off and it was really apparent.
SAVIDGE: Donnelly, a mortgage broker says it was clear the bank was deliberately ripping off a veteran who was trying to refinance his home.
DONNELLY: Where the veteran didn't see it, the V.A didn't see it -- I mean, it was really slick how they did it.
SAVIDGE: Donnelly and fellow mortgage broker, Victor Bibby, began going through other veteran loan paperwork.
VICTOR BIBBY, WHISTLE-BLOWING VETERAN: Every one of the lenders were doing the exact same thing.
SAVIDGE: According to the two men, this shows how the alleged fraud was done. Under Veterans Affairs rules, the banks are to pay attorney fees for all refinanced loans. That's why the line for attorney fees on this document is blank. But the V.A. does allow banks to charge veterans other fees like for title examination, which according to Bibby and Donnelly normally should cost between $125 to $200.
This form shows the cost charged to the veteran was a whopping $950.
DONNELLY: They were taking that fee that they should have paid and they put it into an allowable fee.
SAVIDGE (on camera): How many loans are we talking about here?
MARLIN WILBANKS, ATTORNEY: We know that there have been over 1 million, I think approximately 1.2 million of these particular refinancing loans that are called IRRL loans over the last decade.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): And Attorney Marlin Wilbanks says up to 90 percent of them may have had fraudulent fees.
(on camera): Were you surprised by how brazen it appears this alleged fraud was?
JIM BUTLER, ATTORNEY: Yes. Stunned is a better word. It's incomprehensible to me that the banks would do this to veterans.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Bibby and Donnelly turned whistle- blowers, they filed suit in federal court, charging that veterans and taxpayers have been defrauded by some of the nation's biggest banks and mortgage companies.
(on camera): You might think with so many veterans potentially victimized at the U.S. Justice Department would join the case. That didn't happen. Instead they're taking a wait and see approach.
(voice-over): Almost all the dozen or so banks named in the suit declined comment, except Citi Mortgage, which in the email called the allegations without merit. On the background, banks suggested that if the feds aren't in on it, then the case can't be that strong, to which an attorney for the whistle-blowers had a simple reply.
BUTLER: We will see them in court.
SAVIDGE: Martin Savidge, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: You're watching spectacular dash cam video from Oregon. A police cruiser responding to an emergency call. Watch. It speeds down the road. Another car swerves in front of the cop, causing the cruiser to veer of --
CHO: Oh! Wow, man.
VELSHI: -- into a house, into a living room. The entire front of the house destroyed. A man was inside, but no one got hurt.
CHO: That is a close call.
Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: what role did the locker room code play in the Penn State sex abuse scandal? Coaches and school administrators accused of doing the bare minimum to prevent the ongoing abuse of young boy. We'll speak to a former pro-athlete who wrote about the code of silence.
Plus, low interest rates and rock bottom prices. I say now is a time to buy a house. Coming up: what you need to know before you make that decision.
It's 34 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Penn State University trying to move on from a sex abuse scandal that has rocked its foundation. Last night, the school introduced an interim head football coach but administrators left unanswered key questions about who knew about the alleged abuse of young boys on campus, and why it was allowed to continue.
Joining us now from Raleigh, North Carolina, is former Major League Baseball player Doug Glanville an analyst for ESPN, the author of "The Game From Where I Stand," a book about the code in the locker room and just has written a story on the scandal for Time.com.
Doug, thank you for joining us. Good morning.
Given what you know about locker room culture, are you surprised it took this long for the allegations to surface?
DOUG GLANVILLE, FMR. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER: Well, good morning, Alina.
Well, certainly I'm not surprised. It's one of those things that where the culture is set up where silence is golden, it's a difficult environment to sort of sift through to get the information you need to understand exactly the extent of the issue.
CHO: Let's talk a little more about that. You say in this article for Time.com, where you are at the highest level, you also endure the highest level of scrutiny, invasion of privacy and accountability. And you seek refuge by creating an environment which contains people with a common understanding -- meaning the locker room.
So, what is it about locker room culture that makes it so sacred?
GLANVILLE: Well, it's a lot to do with this sort of band of brothers in this particular case. You have an environment where often if you're a celebrity, a Penn State-type of environment, you don't have a lot of places for that privacy. So, as a team player, you go home to this locker room, and the space you're able to relate to all these issues, you're working for a common goal, common cause as you're trying to beat your opponent.
So, certainly, it's something that's important to players to be able to step back and to have your space to sort of connect. But at the same time, can you see how that can blur the lines and create silence where it's not appropriate.
CHO: Right. And you say it's the -- appears to be the ultimate in intimacy. But really what it is, it's close proximity. Now, having said that, you also say in your article that your teammates become brother, coaches become father figures.
And, you know, in families, often when one family member is doing something wrong, there's an intervention. And, you know, I have to say, I've had to play devil's advocate for just a second -- you know, don't you think that at some point someone could have, should have said something when they saw something?
GLANVILLE: Well, absolutely. I mean, there's no excuse for the extent of what ended up being the disturbing course of events. There's absolutely no excuse for that. However, if you're shedding light into the culture, when you have this silence and players don't necessarily create the silence out of a malicious intent.
Sometimes, it's the environment is such that you don't know who's around you. Yes, it's perceived that, oh, you're playing with these guys, you know everybody well. But you have 57 teammates and different players in and out. A lot of these players don't actually know, have that true intimacy with these, sort of, co-workers in effect.
So, there's an aspect of it that gets lost, but certainly there should be red flags and some way to a fail-safe system that players and people can actually communicate these type of horrible situations.
CHO: I think what you're getting at, too, is that there's intense pressure to keep quiet. Now, having said that, you know, Penn State football, as we've been reporting, is a massive business -- brings in $72 million to the university just last year. Ranks second only to the University of Texas in terms of profits.
How much pressure do you think that the players feel? Are they aware of that? And do you think they feel pressure as a result of that?
GLANVILLE: Well, there's no question there's a ton of pressure on these players, ton of pressure on these coaches to keep the golden goose going. And that creates a lot of conflicts of interest in certain respects if you're not understanding that there are certain things that are higher priorities to address, certainly ethical obligations in this particular case.
So, when you create this environment -- and, certainly, it snowballs. This has not just been Penn State. This is sort of a college environment or on a professional level, that silence becomes deadly. And a lot of that is steeped in the fact you're not exactly in tune or truly intimate with people around you.
Yes, you're close on the field, but on a co-worker level. But once you break camp and, all of a sudden, are out in the institution, joining the work force, you find yourself disconnected from the same group that you were close to all those years.
CHO: If you're a football coach right now on the college level, what are you telling your players? What kind of advice are you giving them?
GLANVILLE: Well, the advice is, you have to recognize the red flags. You're around each other. You're looking out for each other and ask those tough questions.
And, yes, these are young men, 19, 20 years old. But the danger is, these 19 and 20-year-olds become coaches down the road. If you're taking this culture and adding to it, developing it, and not really questioning it and developing it, you're going to breathe the same example 10, 20 years later when you're coaching.
And if you look at some of the coaches in the cross hairs, Jerry Sandusky who is allegedly central to all of this, you know, he played for Penn State. So, he was in that environment in the '60s.
So, you have to figure out how to change direction and recognize the red flag, where silence is not a healthy thing but it's something that you have to come forth with.
CHO: Good advice. Doug Glanville, ESPN analyst, author of the book "The Game From Where I Stand," and a former Major League Baseball player -- thank you so much for your thoughts.
VELSHI: Great conversation.
GLANVILLE: Thank you, Alina.
VELSHI: All right. You are going to love this. Well, OK. No arms, no legs, but no excuses. That's the part you're going to love.
Quadruple amputee, preparing to climb Africa's highest mountain with no help from anyone or any modern technology.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta with today's "Human Factor."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kyle Maynard is climbing to the top of Georgia's Stone Mountain, bear- crawling almost a thousand feet.
Maynard is a congenital quadruple amputee. He was born without arms or legs. His parents knew the world wasn't set up for him, but they weren't going to let his disability set him apart.
KYLE MAYNARD, SPEAKER AND AUTHOR: They raised me with that attitude that -- like they weren't going to treat me any different.
GUPTA: So like any other little kid, Maynard played sports, even joining the football team in sixth grade.
MAYNARD: And I loved it, because get to hit somebody in every play.
GUPTA: He took up wrestling when football became too intense, and stuck with it, even after losing his first 35 matches.
After high school, Maynard became an accomplished mixed martial arts fighter, and he also wrote a book. It's the best-selling memoir, "No Excuses." But a whirlwind book tour left him feeling exhausted and low.
MAYNARD: I got to a point where I was ready to quit speaking.
GUPTA: Then a chance encounter with two disabled veterans who were wounded in Iraq changed his mind.
MAYNARD: They made a suicide pact with one another that said when they -- the day that they did that, they happened to see my story on HBO and that's what got them to stop.
GUPTA: He regrets never getting their names, but says those veterans reenergized him. So instead of quitting, he continued, crisscrossing the country, sharing his story again and again.
MAYNARD: I know it's going to be tough.
GUPTA: And they inspired him to try for yet another milestone: scaling Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro.
MAYNARD: Why Kilimanjaro? It's exactly because it is the opposite end of the spectrum.
GUPTA: Maynard will hike with a team that includes two other disabled veterans. Their goal: to show the world that no obstacle is too hard to overcome. Today's hike up Stone Mountain is part of this training for the Kilimanjaro trek. And despite his rudimentary equipment, it only takes him an hour and a half from the bottom to the top.
MAYNARD: When people see me, they might think that like, you know, a guy born without arms and legs, or doesn't have arms and legs, like that must be the worst thing that ever happened to him. And I think that that is the greatest gift I've ever been given.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Forty-seven minutes past the hour. Here's what you need to know to start your day:
Penn State bracing for its first football game since the sex abuse scandal rocked the program and university. The university says the assistant coach who allegedly witnessed a victim being sexually assaulted in a shower won't be at the game because of multiple threats.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is calling for an independent investigation into the Air Force mortuary scandal. Bodies of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan reportedly being mishandled and dumped in a landfill.
Live pictures now of the U.S. Capitol on this Veterans Day, where the Senate has unanimously passed a jobs bill to help unemployed veterans. It gives tax credits up to $9,600 to employers who hire vets who've been out of work for six months or more.
Incredible video from Turkey this morning. Two hotels come crashing down during a 5.7 magnitude earthquake. It happened on Wednesday. Nineteen people were killed. Search crews were able to rescue 30 others.
Billy's back. Comedian veteran Billy Crystal tweeted that he is hosting the Oscars this year, replacing actor Eddie Murphy who stepped down. Crystal has hosted the awards show eight times before. The Oscars will air in February.
Feeling lucky? Superstitious people around the world are making special plans on this 11/11/11. That's today.
Everything from weddings, restaurants offering 11/11 meal deal to pregnant women planning their c-sections.
That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING is back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back. We've been showing you how to speak money all week.
Today, we wrap it up with buying a house. It's part of the American Dream. Should it be? I don't know.
It's also the single biggest investment most people you make. Before you take the plunge, take a run through the checklist in our new book.
First of all: spruce up your credit. Get a copy of your credit report from all three credit rating agencies. You find any errors, contact the agencies, get them corrected. The higher your credit score, the lower your loan rate.
Next, determine how much house you can afford. The rule of thumb, 2 1/2 times your annual salary. But this really depends on where you live. What you can really afford depends on how much debt you carry, your credit score and your other financial obligations.
For a more accurate approval, get a pre-approval from a lender and find out how much you're likely to get approved for.
Number three, figure out how much down payment you have. Lenders these days like to see at least 20 percent down, in some places 30 percent. If you don't have it, there are private and public agencies like Freddie and Fannie, and the Federal Housing Administration that offer low down payment mortgages. Really think that through, though. You'll also probably have to buy private mortgage insurance with those.
And finally, seek professional help. Find a real estate agent who knows your market, who can represent you. The seller has an agent working for them, trying to sell the house for as much money as possible. You need a dog in that fight to get you the best deal possible.
And find a mortgage lender. Check rates from national lenders, and local lenders, check on the Internet. You can often get a better rate from a local lender because they operate in the your local market. They know it better.
Once you got that all line up, you are ready to start looking. And right now, interest rates at historical lows. Housing prices are down 30 percent to 40 percent from their peak. I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy house, if you need one, if you can afford one and you should take advantage of it. Rates and home prices will not stay this low forever.
Now, Christine would disagree with me, but she's not here today. So, I'm going to channel her a bit.
Christine would tell you, low rates are not a reason to buy a house. You buy a house because you need a house. You've got the money and it's a good opportunity. You don't buy a house because interest rates are low.
And what happens if you actually have to move?
Well, thank you, Christine. But since you're not here today, I'm still going to tell you, homes are at a deep discount right now. So, if you are in the market for one, pick one up. So much to cover on housing from picking a neighborhood to negotiating and navigating the closing processes.
And we've all covered in our brand new book. It's called "How to Speak Money." You can buy it right now.
Thank you, Christine.
CHO: I was kind of hoping you'd do Christine's voice along with channeling --
VELSHI: Yes. I just figured I might as well represent her because she's somewhere out there watching TV and is going to email in about three seconds, saying, you did not represent me in that.
CHO: Right. We hope you're watching, Christine.
Well, you know, this was the "oops" heard around the world.
VELSHI: Oh, yes.
CHO: Rick Perry's debate flop now a viral sensation and comic inspiration.
CNN's Jeanne Moos shows us some of the best online parodies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What do Britney Spears and Rick Perry have in common?
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oops.
BRITNEY SPEARS, SINGER (singing): Oops. I did it again.
PERRY: Oops.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oops.
MOOS: "Oops" was everywhere from headlines to impersonations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oops.
MOOS: Even Rick Perry couldn't resist repeating himself as he came out of his replayed clip.
PERRY: Oops.
MOOS: When Rick Perry forgot the third department he wants to cut --
PERRY: The -- what's the third one there? Let's see.
MOOS: -- the forgotten Department of Energy gaffe took on an energy of its own.
PERRY: The -- the --
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Rick Perry had an amazing meltdown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Completely forgetting his point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my gosh.
MOOS: One defender described it as a "temporary loss of cabin pressure. We all have it."
Here come the jokes.
JOY BEHAR, "THE VIEW": He could be president if he only has two things to remember.
MOOS: Funny or Die put up a parody quiz asking the governor to name three things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three legal moves in rock, paper, scissors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. You've got rock, paper and -- there's a hawk.
MOOS: The governor's gaffe was gleefully timed.
PERRY: Oops.
MOOS (on camera): Rick Perry's 53-second brain freeze dwarfed previous whoppers.
(voice-over): It made Arizona Governor Jan Brewer seem like a scholar when she blanked for a mere 13 seconds.
GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: We have -- did what was right for Arizona.
MOOS: At least when President Bush did it, he was answering, what's been your biggest mistake?
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, I just -- I'm sure something will pop into my head here.
MOOS: Sometimes, what pops out is even worse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Such as in South Africa and the Iraq, everywhere like -- such as.
MOOS: "Like such as that" is some conciliation to Governor Perry.
(on camera): After that doozy of a gaffe, Perry come up with a recovery plan, a multi-step recovery plan.
PERRY: I stepped in it, that's for sure.
Obviously, I stepped in it.
I stepped in it last night.
Some of it stuck on my feet.
MOOS (voice-over): Remember how Sarah Palin made sure she wouldn't forget her three priorities?
SARAH PALIN (R), FMR. ALASKA GOVERNOR: We've got to start reining in the spending.
MOOS: Cartoonist Jeff Danziger drew imagined advice, handed down from Palin to Rick Perry: "Write it on your hand, stupid."
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Name three Rice Krispies mascots.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snap, Crackle, Sizzle.
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Can you imagine? Fifty-three seconds to us is a long time. Can you imagine what it felt like to Rick Perry?
VELSHI: Yes. Look, whether or not you think that that equips him better or not to be president or whether it mattered or as he likes to say he's not a great debater and it doesn't matter, I will have to say this -- what he did yesterday was a little humanizing.
CHO: It was.
VELSHI: It may not make you like him more? It may not make you think he's smarter. But he came out and he made it into a joke.
CHO: Well, you got to give him credit for going on every single morning show in America.
VELSHI: Sure. Knowing that everybody was going to be making fun of him and everybody was going to -- anybody who hadn't seen that clip was going to see it many more times.
CHO: He stepped in. He stepped in it. I stepped in it.
Anyway, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: How did the students really feel? We're going to speak to two Penn State seniors about what people are saying on campus right now and whether they think the football team should take the field tomorrow.
We're back after this.
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