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American Morning
Former Penn State Coach Accused of Child Abuse Out on Bail; GOP Candidates have Another Debate; Man Finds Wife's Lost Ring in Landfill; Italy Nominates New Prime Minister; Obama on Iran: No Options Off Table; Cities Crackdown on "Occupy" Protests; Occupy Protester Serenades President; Jay-Z's "Occupy" Shirts Yanked; Sword Stolen From Lincoln's Tomb; Pelosi Denies Using Position for Stock Gains; PA Governor Wants Tougher Child Sex Abuse Laws; Penn State Grad Blasts School "Culture"; Norway Terror Suspect in Court; Will Wall Street's Rally Continue?; 59 Percent of Parents Support Kids After College; Klout Score Measures Social Media Influence; Congressman Says NCAA Should Be Dismantled
Aired November 14, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky out on bail awaiting trial just a few feet from a playground and a school. Neighbors are asking how the judge let that happen.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Un-Occupy. Cities across the country telling Wall Street protesters your camps are too dangerous and too gross. Time is up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will continue to fight for the American jobs act so that we can put our people back to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Talking business in paradise. President Obama hosts Asia-Pacific leaders in Hawaii, saying jobs are job number one. He also gets tough with China and Iran.
CHO: And he pulled a fast one on the White House. How a Wall Street protester got to play in front of the president and 18 other heads of state on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: All right. Good morning, everybody. It's Monday, October 14th. Ali and Carol are both off today. I'm Christine Romans here with Alina Cho. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
CHO: Good morning, Christine. Good morning, everybody. New developments in the Penn State scandal involving disgraced former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. There are new questions this morning about the judge who granted bail to the accuse child abuser. Some say she should have recused herself from the case. And there are new concerns from neighbors after a cinder block was thrown through the window of Sandusky's home. Our Mary Snow is live in State College, Pennsylvania, this morning. Mary, good morning to you.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alina. And, you know, some neighbors living nearby Jerry Sandusky are furious that he is even out on bail given where he lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: When he was charged with 40 counts of sexually abusing children, Jerry Sandusky was released on $100,000 bail. One condition -- the former Penn State defensive coordinator was told not to go near children.
But take a look where his house is located. This is the playground for Lamont Elementary School. Right over here is Jerry Sandusky's house. And from his back porch he has a clear view of it. The administrators of the elementary school say local police reached out to them following Sandusky's arrest. The district superintendent is quoted saying the school, which runs through the second grade, "has taken additional administrative action to ensure our children are safe."
To be clear, Sandusky's never been accused of harming random children. Rather he is alleged to have molested young boys after developing close relationships with them through Second Mile, the charity he founded. Sandusky's maintained his innocence.
The road to his home is blocked off and "private property" signs on his lawn went up this weekend after police say a cinder block was thrown through a window.
Nearby neighbors question why he's out on bail.
MELISSA ANDERSON, CONCERNED PARENT: It baffles my mind.
CARL ANDERSON, CONCERNED PARENT: I think presumption of innocence, we all like to believe in that, and we do in this country. But I think there's a level of protection that a neighborhood and a community is entitled to.
SNOW: Melissa and Carl Anderson have two little boys. Carl was such a fan of Sandusky's at one time he had an autographed limited edition copy of Sandusky's book "Touched."
CARL ANDERSON: Immediately alternates between anger and sadness, really. I mean, it really is a loss of kind of community, wholesale community innocence.
SNOW (on camera): Have you seen more police here in the last week?
MELISSA ANDERSON: Yes. SNOW (voice-over): The Andersons, for one, want to see a stiffer bail. And now a new revelation about the judge who set the bail -- the judge's law firm listed her as a volunteer for Second Mile. CNN's legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The judge certainly should have raised the issue, disclosed her connections to Second Mile, so that the parties in the case could decide whether they wanted to ask her to recuse herself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TOOBIN: It's unclear whether the judge in this case has any current affiliation with the Second Mile. CNN has reached out to her, but so far we haven't gotten a response. Alina?
CHO: Mary Snow live for us in State College, Pennsylvania. Mary, thank you very much.
And at 7:40 Eastern time we'll be joined with Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush. He is pointing a finger at the NCAA in the wake of the Penn State scandal, an organization he compares to the Mafia. We'll talk to him live.
ROMANS: With the focus on the Penn State scandal and what school administrators didn't do, a South Carolina military college is coming under fire this morning for not doing more to stop an alleged child molester there. Louis Reville, an alumnus and ex-counselor at the Citadel's camp for young boys, is now charged with sexually abusing five boys. The academy got a report that Reville invited teen campers into his room to watch pornography as far back as 2007, but the school couldn't corroborate the story and so didn't pursue it.
CHO: In city after city police are growing more and more impatient in city after city with the Occupy protesters. They say their camps are unsanitary and it's time for the demonstrators to go home.
In Portland, Oregon, there was a standoff on the city streets overnight. More than a dozen people arrested as police cleared the city parks of makeshift camps. The mayor of Portland telling CNN the encampments have become public health hazards.
Chaos in Denver, Colorado, over the weekend. Two police officers were hurt, 17 people arrested when police tried to remove furniture and tents that were set up in a park.
And in Philadelphia, the city's mayor telling reporters that what started out as a peaceful protest is now threatening public safety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER, PHILADELPHIA: Occupy Philly has changed. We're seeing serious health and safety issues playing out on almost a daily basis. Occupy Philly is fractured with internal disagreement and disputes. The people of Occupy Philly have also changed and their intentions have changed. And all of this is not good for Philadelphia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: And here in New York with winter looming, volunteer doctors and nurses are actually providing Occupy Wall Street protesters with free flu shots.
ROMANS: President Obama saying China needs to act like a grown- up nation now and play by the same rules as everyone else.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Most economists estimate that the RNB is devalued by 20 percent to 25 percent. That means our exports to China are that much more expensive and their imports into the United States are that much cheaper. Now, there's been slight improvement over the last year, partly because of U.S. pressure, but it hasn't been enough. And it's time for them to go ahead and move towards a market-based system for their currency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: President Obama met one-on-one with President Hu as he hosted the leaders of 18 Asia-Pacific nations in Hawaii. He spoke late last night as the summit wrapped up. He also warned Iran that all options are on the table to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
CHO: Herman Cain's wife is speaking out for the first time since sexual harassment allegations surfaced about the candidate. Gloria cairn Cain on Fox News saying her husband would have had to have a split personality to do the things that were said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLORIA CAIN, WIFE OF HERMAN CAIN: To hear such graphic allegations and know that that would have been something that was totally disrespectful of her has a woman, and I know that's not the person he is. He totally respects women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Four women have now accused the GOP frontrunner of inappropriate behavior during his days at the National Restaurant Association back in the '90s. Two have come forward publicly. Cain denied all of the accusations.
ROMANS: Also new this morning, Italy is about to get a new leader. Economist Mario Monti was nominated Sunday to replace Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister. Italy's president praised him as gifted, competent, and experienced. He better be because Italy needs him to help solve that ongoing financial crisis there.
CHO: The confessed Norwegian terrorist making his first court appears in Norway today. When he tried to speak, apparently he was cut off by the judge. Anders Breivik is his name, and he's charged with killing 77 people in a shooting and bombing rampage in Oslo back in July. He has pleaded not guilty. The judge is expected to decide today whether to leave Breivik jailed until his trial begins in the spring.
ROMANS: An inquiry in the "News of the Worlds" phone hacking scandal begins today in London. It was ordered by Prime Minister David Cameron and it will be headed up by a judge. The outcome could transform the way newspapers operate there. The first witnesses are expected to be called next week.
CHO: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, the Republican presidential hopefuls are converging on Iowa this morning, and according to the latest poll, one of the candidates is making a very strong move on the frontrunners.
ROMANS: And the Occupy Wall Street protester who got the opportunity of a lifetime and took it, serenading the president and 18 other world leaders in Hawaii with a protest tune. The video you've got to see and you've got to hear. How he got in there with a guitar. It's nine minutes after the hour.
CHO: Plus, why one man searched through nine tons of garbage with his bare hands. This is my favorite story of the day. It has to do with his wife. We'll explain.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's now almost 10 minutes after the hour. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's not the corn that's luring all of GOP presidential candidates to Iowa today. It's the ticking clock. Only seven weeks to go before the crucial Iowa caucus, and there are hands to shake, there are babies to kiss, oh, and there are lots of dollars to collect.
Joining us this morning to talk about the race and the latest Republican debate this weekend is Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, and GOP strategist Ed Rollins. Welcome to both of you. Nice to see you. Another debate this weekend, this one in South Carolina. And I guess it's most notable for what headlines it didn't make, Ed.
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: There weren't any mistakes. The key thing here is, you know, Cain didn't give a great performance. Perry did an OK performance. It just wasn't -- you know, I think there was a consistency across the board on where they stand and where they differ from the president. But it was kind of a strange format, an hour on television. You had to go for the last half hour to your computer. Most people didn't do that. So I think it was kind of a mixed bag.
ROMANS: What's it from your perspective watching these debates, because you look at it different from Ed? You look at it as the person who's going to run against your president? NEERA TANDEN, DOMESTIC POLICY DIRECTOR, OBAMA-BIDEN 2008 CAMPAIGN: That's true. And I also look at it as someone who managed all of Hillary's debates last time. And so I feel some sympathy for candidates going into this process.
I think what was really interesting is, first and foremost, time's running out. So these candidates actually need to lay a glove on Romney in order to actually have a chance. And I think substantively coming out of the debate what was really interesting was that the consensus was we need more troops in all of these countries, more troops in Iraq, more troops in Afghanistan, and Romney threatening war with Iran. That's a lot of military buildup at a time we can't afford.
ROMANS: They're trying to go after the president on things he's actually been doing well on lately, and that is foreign policy, you know, with the death of bin Laden, with other gains that we've made, the way the U.S. performed in the whole Arab Spring thing. Is that smart?
ROLLINS: No, it's not, because the president has been pretty consistent with the foreign policy, as we always have. We're less partisan on foreign policy than just about anything else. The American public wants our troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq. They wanted them out a year ago. At the end of the day, we've got Bin Laden. People don't think it's in our interests, but we spend trillions of dollars on these wars and thousands of lives. People are ready to get it over with.
ROMANS: I want you to listen to some sound. A lot of attacks on the president, but one stood out. This is what Mitt Romney specifically said on Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. And if we elect Mitt Romney, if you elect me as the next president, they will not have a nuclear weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So, Neera, when you look at the president's approval ratings in terrorism and foreign affairs, terrorism, he gets an approval rating of 62 percent for how he's handling that. And Libya, 52 percent. Foreign affairs, 50 percent. I mean, you go down the line and he -- he seems to be doing well.
So this would seem to be, from your perspective, a good -- a good thing thing for these guys to be doing?
TANDEN: Yes. And I think what's scary about what Mitt Romney is saying is he's saber rattling in a very irresponsible way. I mean, the president has said that it's not tolerable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. He's trying to create a consensus around the world around these issues and actually threaten to invade reminds me kind of the saber rattling of what George Bush did and it wasn't -- it wasn't effective and it brought us into a lot of wars we couldn't afford.
ROMANS: And can I ask you about Newt Gingrich, because he is --
ROLLINS: Sure.
ROMANS: -- coming up in the polls. I mean, he's coming up. I mean, he's not -- he's the one who seems to be moving up a little bit. He keep -- he puts himself out there as the elder statesman, right, and he -- all of his debates have turned it back against the president. Every time when there seems to be in-fighting among the candidate, he's the one who refocuses.
ROLLINS: Newt's been at this game for 40 years, even debating someone for 40 years. There's nobody more knowledgeable on that stage or brighter. There's no organization out there, but certainly he has moved into that second tier or, I mean, that second spot, and I think people are starting to look for an alternative to Romney and each person's kind of had that slot sort of a horse (ph) order sort of lost it, Cain being the latest.
And my sense is that Gingrich is going to get a hard look. And he's a smart, capable guy to debate is his format. So we'll see whether he's - -he's not as good a retail politician as some of the others, so we'll have to wait and see on that front.
ROMANS: He's declined the opportunity to really kind of hit -- hit at Romney yesterday, or this weekend in the debate. Do you think he's vying for a spot on the ticket?
ROLLINS: No. I think he -- I think he's smart enough to realize you do that, as he said, on radio shows, you don't do it when the guy is standing next to you in front of a familiar audience. So I think -- I think the bottom line as we found out in Las Vegas, we fight among ourselves and look like "The Housewives of New Jersey." It's a detriment to us all and we need the base (INAUDIBLE).
ROMANS: Speaking of fighting among ourselves, that's a perfect segue to the Super Committee. What's going on in there? Are they going to be able to agree on some tax increases? Are they going to agree on anything, and what are the ramifications if they don't?
TANDEN: Well, the big issue here is whether Republicans will give them revenues. This is what the issue in the summer. It's the issue now that Democrats have put a whole host of issues on the table. They've actually been willing to talk about entitlements, and many progressives don't like. But the fundamental stumbling block is Republicans don't want to talk about revenues even for the highest end Americans, things that are super unpopular amongst the public and that's what's holding this whole thing up.
ROMANS: Are there cracks, though? There are cracks in that.
ROLLINS: Well, there are cracks in it, but the bottom line --
ROMANS: And the tax itself.
ROLLINS: -- you're exactly right. We do not want to raise taxes. We want more revenue. We want more revenue by putting people back to work. But the premise that they're putting forth today is we need a whole reform. We'll basically say we're going to basically raise $300 billion and some kind of taxes in the future, but we're not going to define it. That's not going to sell. And I think at the end of the day, I expect it to break apart in the next couple of weeks here.
ROMANS: Really?
ROLLINS: Yes, I do.
ROMANS: Well, that sounds a terrible message to the rest of the world about how we're getting our business.
ROLLINS: Yes.
ROMANS: And we got an S&P downgrade the last time this has happened.
ROLLINS: I don't think the Congress cares about those things. I think the Congress care about the pledges that they made, getting themselves re-elected a year from now and the world will take care of itself.
TANDEN: Look, I think the issue is they're supposed to be sequestered. The sequestered should be enforced. That's a trillion, too, (ph) and that's a reduction, whether they act or not. So the markets should, shouldn't be neutral. I mean, they should -- we're going to get $2.5 trillion. That's $2.5 trillion that we have no action by the super committee.
We already had the trillion. We should have -- let the sequester, going to --
ROMANS: Of course.
TANDEN: And then (INAUDIBLE) to have the climate (ph). If I'm -- if I'm in the markets, I would like a sequester more than the fumbling around of the super committee.
ROLLINS: The danger of the sequester, though, is -- is Republicans are never going to buy off in the defense, and -- ultimately. And they'll try and change the rules one more time.
ROMANS: And the deadline is -- what? Like next Wednesday?
ROLLINS: Thanksgiving.
ROMANS: No, geez. All right. Neera Tanden and Ed Rollins --
ROLLINS: Thank you.
ROMANS: Thank you. Thanks to you, guys. TANDEN: Nice to see you again.
ROMANS: CNN's next GOP debate is next Tuesday night, November 22nd. Wolf Blitzer will be moderating that from Washington, D.C. -- Alina.
CHO: All right. Christine, thank you very much.
He's the hero now, but he was on his way to spending a lifetime in the doghouse. A man accidentally threw away his wife's $10,000 engagement ring. Now, here's what happened. She asked him to hold on to it while she was in the shower and by mistake he tossed it out along with an old razor.
So what's a good husband to do? Well, follow the trail. He drove to the local landfill and dug through nine tons of garbage with his bare hands. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN MCGUINN, HUSBAND: Lifting you know, chairs out of the way, broken glass, other sanitary items that I don't want to get into, but it was horrific to say the least.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Perfect now. After an hour of picking through that gross garbage, he did finally find the ring.
Twenty-one minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano, what do you think about that? Is that something you'd do? Of course you would.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You do what you got to do.
CHO: That's right.
MARCIANO: I'll tell you that.
You know, aside from the sentimental value, you don't want to go out and buy another $10,000 ring at all. Come on. No man wants to do that. You'd dig through any garbage you have to.
CHO: He's always thinking practical, Rob.
MARCIANO: That's what my dad taught me.
Hey, let's talk about Denver, Colorado and points west, where it was pretty intense over the weekend in the form of some wind and snow. This video showing you what exactly it was like. Parts of the interstate shut down at times. And, yes, the winds are cranking as well. Some power outages. This was a piece of the energy of the storm that came through Alaska last week.
Hundred and fifteen mile-an-hour winds in Frisco, Colorado, just over the pass or right along the pass, 100 mile-an-hour winds in Loveland. So there you go. That's intense stuff. And some of that energy now getting into the Western Great Lakes and the Ohio River Valley across parts of Indiana now. Some thunderstorms that are pretty strong, they may issue a severe thunderstorm watch out for this area in the next couple of hours. Isolated tornadoes possible from the Ohio Valley back down to the Rio Grande with the southern end of this piece of energy out ahead of it.
We're still pretty toasty. Indian summer continues across the northeast with temps in D.C. getting to 70 degrees and 64 degrees in New York City. Enjoy one more day of it. You'll get your rainfall tonight and tomorrow.
Alina, Christine, back up to you.
CHO: You know, I almost took off my coat this weekend. It was that warm, Rob Marciano, and I thank you. When the weather is good, we thank you. When it's bad, we blame you. So, thanks.
MARCIANO: You're welcome.
ROMANS: It's just like -- that's right. It's just like a stock market, you know?
CHO: Don't shoot the messenger.
ROMANS: I know.
All right. Still to come this morning, a congressman who's comparing the NCAA to the Mafia in the wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. We're going to talk to Representative Bobby Rush.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Right now, it appears Wall Street's rally starting to fizzle. U.S. stock futures are trading lower. And despite the positive political news out of Europe, the region's future still pretty hazy, and that means more volatility for your 401(k).
President Obama stressing a need for increased trade with the Asia-Pacific Region. At this weekend's summit of Asian Economic Powers in Hawaii, the president pitched his vision for a seamless-free trade zone. He stressed such a deal is vital to bolstering America's economy.
Nine days and counting until the Super Committee's deadline and so far no deficit reduction deal. Republican Congressman Jeb Hensarling, who co-chairs the committee, tells CNN the tax hikes may be a reality. The 12 lawmakers have until November 23rd to reach an agreement on at least $1.2 trillion in cuts over the next decade.
Expect a tense face-to-face meeting this week between the lawmakers and the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The hearing is about the planned $1 million bonuses for top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two mortgage giants that needed -- what -- $170 billion in taxpayers' bailouts just to stay afloat. Boeing inks the deal worth approximately $18 billion. The airline Emirates announcing yesterday its placing an order for 50 Boeing 777s jetliners. The order is the largest by value in Boeing's history.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this quick break.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow, you know, they're never going to invite me back if they found out, and then I thought to myself, so what?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Who saw this coming? Certainly not the White House. How an Occupy Wall Street protester got a chance to play in front of President Obama and 18 other heads of state on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. This is Monday morning.
Top stories, it's down to business today for the man about to become Italy's new prime minister. Economist, Mario Monti was formally nominated yesterday to replace Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Monti must now form a new government that can lead Italy out of the debt crisis.
CHO: President Obama talking tough on Iran as he hosted the leaders of 18 Asia-Pacific nations at the APEC Summint in Hawaii saying no options are off the table to keep Iran from building a nuclear bomb.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They are engaging in a series of practices that are contrary to their international obligations and their IAE obligations, and that's what the IAE report indicates.
So what I did was to speak with the president as well as President Hu, and all three of us entirely agree on the objective, which is, making sure that Iran does not weaponize nuclear power and that we don't trigger a nuclear arms race in the region. That's in the interests of all of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: The president speaking from Honolulu last night. It was his first chance to address a new IAEA report on Iran's secret effort to develop an atomic weapon.
ROMANS: And enough is enough. That's the message from cities to the Occupy protesters. Over the weekend, clashes between police and demonstrators broke out in a number of places. In Portland, Oregon, more than a dozen arrested when they defied the city's eviction order. In Denver, two police officers were injured while trying to clear out an Occupy encampment there.
CHO: Well, an Occupy Wall Street protester really pulled a fast one on the White House. He actually got to play his protest song in front of the president and 18 other world leaders at APEC.
Our Brianna Keilar spoke to this very brave musician.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Alian, as President Obama and 18 other heads of states and their spouses dined on Saturday night at the APEC leaders' dinner, they were unwittingly serenaded by a musician for almost 45 minutes as he sang a song about the Occupy Wall Street movement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): That's Matthew Swalinkovich (ph), or as he calls himself, Makana, Hawaiian for "the gift." He's a well-known musician here on Oahu recognized for his talents playing Hawaiian- style guitar.
Saturday night at the request of the White House, he played during the APEC leaders' dinner, for President Obama, 18 other heads of states, and their spouses.
A song about the Occupy Wall Street movement probably wasn't what the White House had in mind. During the dinner as Makana provided background music, he unbuttoned his shirt to reveal an Occupy with Aloha T-shirt underneath and played a protest tune.
MAKANA, MUSICIAN: When I started playing it, I was very shy about it. Not like, everybody stop and listen to me. Total opposite, it was very subtle.
KEILAR: But then Makana played it over and over. He says for more than 40 minutes in all.
MAKANA: It didn't go over bad, so I kept playing. I felt like it was the only song I should be playing and I should really play it a lot. I don't have any other means of exercising my voice to shape policy that affects my life other than singing and writing songs.
KEILAR: Cell phone video recorded by Makana's sound technician shows some leaders turning to look at him, but others appeared not to notice at all, he said.
MAKANA: So I just came from playing the world leaders' dinner at APEC.
KEILAR: Makana, who opposes the trade goals of APEC planned his protest in conjunction with some anti-APEC organizers who edited this video together and helped him publicize what he'd done on the website, apecsucks.com and on a fake Twitter feed about the summer. Makana first played for the Obama's at the White House in 2009. His second performance here in Hawaii is likely his last. MAKANA: When I thought, wow, you know, they're never going to invite me back if they find out. Hold on. I thought to myself -- so what?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Makana said President Obama was on the other side of the tent from where he was performing and from what he could see, the president appeared to be engaged in conversation throughout much of the dinner. And it was unclear if he realized he was listening to a protest song. The White House declined to comment on the incident -- Christine and Alina.
CHO: All right, Brianna Keilar. Thank you. I doubt they knew. Doubt they were listening, quite frankly.
ROMANS: Well, if the president in an intense conversation with someone else. They're all talking how to get the world out of a hole. Maybe they didn't notice.
CHO: Elevator music to them. But anyway --
ROMANS: All right, Jay-Z feeling the heat from the 99 percent. The rapper and music mogul selling shirts on his web site that edited the words Occupy Wall Street to actually say, occupy all streets.
CHO: Wow. But they've disappeared after they came under heavy fire for profiting off the $22 shirts without donating anything to the cause.
ROMANS: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, vandals strike at Lincoln's Tomb and they manage to get away with a precious piece of history.
CHO: And the latest on the child sex abuse scandal rocking Penn State. We will talk to one congressman who says the NCAA operates like Al Capone and the Mafia and it's time for big some changes. It's 36 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Good morning, Washington, D.C. You have nine days to go to get the "Super Committee" situate and straightened out. Cut some money out of America's deficit. Mostly cloudy right now, high of 70 expected later today. Leave the parka in the closet.
CHO: Is it November?
ROMANS: That's right.
CHO: Anyway, welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's 39 minutes after the hour.
Thieves in Springfield, Illinois have stolen a three-foot copper sword from Lincoln's Tomb. It is believed to be the first theft at the site in more than a century.
The sword cut from a statue of a civil war officer may have been taken as far back at September. The statue is located in the tomb's balcony. That area is closed to visitors, but it is not guarded at night.
ROMANS: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denies using her political position to make money in the stock market. In a report that aired on "60 Minutes" last night, Pelosi was asked about her failure to thing a bill protecting credit card holders to a vote in the House.
Two years after she and her husband purchased millions of dollars worth of Visa stock. She says she's hold her record fighting the credit card companies against anybody's.
CHO: Well, the governor of Pennsylvania says laws need to be changed in the wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. Governor Tom Corbett says the state needs to require that child abuse reports be made to government authorities.
Not just internally and that he expects more victims to come forward in the case against former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
ROMANS: A Penn state graduate and member of Sandusky's Second Mile charity says he is disgusted by the culture that allowed the alleged abuse to go unreported.
Thomas Day says he considers himself lucky to have escape abuse as a teenager when his family enrolled him in the Second Mile program 15 years ago.
Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, Day admitted the events of the last few days have forced him to re-evaluate everything he believes in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS DAY, PENN STATE GRADUATE, MEMBER OF "SECOND MILE": People of my generation just don't have a whole lot of faith in our leaders today, and frankly, there's only so many John Edwards and so many Tom Delays that we can take before we say, you know, I can't follow you anymore.
And for me the situation with Coach Paterno and Jerry Sandusky, who were, you know, absolutely the most revered leaders of my community growing up was just kind of the final straw.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Day is a 31-year-old Iraq war veteran who says despite the events of the past week, he's very proud of the students at Penn State and the way they handled themselves this weekend when the Nittany Lions lost to Nebraska.
CHO: All right. Still ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, we will talk to one congressman who says the NCAA operates like the Mafia. Just like Al Capone. It's time for some big changes in the wake of Penn State.
ROMANS: And also ahead -- just about everyone has one, from the president to maybe even your kids. We're talking about a clout score. That's right, trying to measure your influence online. What exactly is this number and why do so many people care? People have been putting it on their resumes.
Also today's "Romans' Numeral." 59 percent. Here's a hint. If you expect your kids to graduate, get a job and take care of their own finances -- it's 42 after the hour.
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ROMANS: Welcome back. It's 43 minutes after the hour. Here are your morning headlines.
A judge ordered terror suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, to remain in custody for another 12 weeks in Norway. Breivik trying to make a speech, but was cut short after he referred to himself as the commander or a Norwegian resistant movement.
He is accused of killing 77 people during a shooting spree and bombing attack in Oslo back in July.
Former European Commissioner Mario Monti has been nominated as Italy's new prime minister. He must now form a new government and work together to lead back on solid financial footing.
And until Italy and the rest of Europe are back on solid footing, brace yourself for some more wild stock swings. Right now, U.S. futures are mixed this morning.
President Obama with a new warning to Tehran. Late last night as he wrapped up the APEC Summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Hawaii, the president saying the U.S. is not taking any options off the table in the effort to stop Iran from developing a nuke.
Cities across the country are cracking down on the Occupy movement. Police officers are now moving in to reclaim their public spaces. Overnight in Portland, Oregon, police cleared out protesters saying there's an increased crime rate around the camps, and a health hazard for everyone.
And here in New York, volunteer doctors and nurses are providing the Occupy Wall Street protesters with free flu shots. Doctors say the protester are at high risk of getting colds and other infections, because they're in such close quarters.
Republican Presidential Candidate Herman Cain's wife doesn't believe the sexual harassment allegations against him. Gloria Cain tells FOX News her husband, quote, "totally respects women."
A new poll, a sign that the scandal is sinking Herman Cain. The McClatchy-Marist survey shows Mitt Romney on top for the GOP nomination with 23 percent. Newt Gingrich now vaulting to second place. Herman Cain now right behind him at 17 percent.
The Soyuz spacecraft carrying one American astronaut and two Russians will land at the international space station Wednesday. It took off this morning in the middle of a snowstorm. This is the first, very first, flight of a U.S. astronaut since NASA shut down its shuttle program.
And saying farewell to the champ. Smokin' Joe Frazier will be laid to rest today in Philadelphia, the man who put Ali on his butt in their first fight. He died of liver cancer last week.
That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING, back right after this break.
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ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, New York City, take a look at the leaves in Central Park this morning. Partly cloudy and 64 degrees. Later showers. Say it isn't so.
(LAUGHTER)
With a high of 64.
ROMANS: This morning's "Romans' Numeral," a number in the news today. The number is 59 percent. And here's what it is -- the percentage of parents financially supporting their children who are no longer in school. You're not alone, mom and dad, out there.
(LAUGHTER)
You're neighbors, they're all doing it, too, your neighbors.
As we've been talking about, many people have been suffering in these hard economic times. But compared to the total unemployment rate, young people from 18 to 34 have a much higher unemployment rate and they have student debt. Sometimes even if they do get a job, they're still going home because they're trying to pay off the bills.
CHO: Yes, they need the help.
ROMANS: Another number for you. Kim Kardashian, she's a 93. The White House, a 79. I'm a 63. Ali Velshi's a 65. What am I talking about? It's our Klout scores. Klout is a social media analytics company that ranks what it calls your ability to drive action. Whether it be through Facebook or Twitter, but this is much more than how many friends you have or your retweets. Oh, no. Now there's different ways of measuring social influence.
A new number to worry about, the credit score, if you will, of your action online. According to the founder and CEO of Klout, Joe Fernandez, it's a growing your brand and your business.
Here's what he told me this morning as part of this mornings "Smart is the New Rich."
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JOE FERNANDEZ, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, KLOUT: Every few years, there's some skill that it's important for the work force to understand. A couple years ago, it was just getting comfortable on the Internet. Now it's about getting comfortable on social and being able to share your message with the world. Klout's a great way to benchmark your ability to impact your audience and activate them. So if you're a company or just a person, to be able to spread your ideas and products through social media is really important.
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ROMANS: Though Salon.com calls Klout, quote, "bad for your soul," saying it not only measure you, but assesses you, causing you to be influenced by your own influence. But even so, people are paying close attention to this score and even putting it on their resumes in hopes it will make them stand out.
Listen to Jeff Bercovici, who covers media and technology for Forbes.
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JEFF BERCOVICI, FORBES: It's a great idea to put on your resume or at least to tout it in the job interview. People are asked in job interviews how many Twitter followers they have.
ROMANS: They are.
BERCOVICI: I think a lot of companies are all trying to reinvent themselves for this social era. A lot of the time, people running companies are maybe older and not as fluent in the new social language.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERCOVICI: So they're extra interested in bringing people into the company who are fluent.
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ROMANS: How do you become fluent in this? And how do you increase your Klout score and your online footprint? Fernando says you have to be yourself but also be consistent. There you go.
CHO: There you go.
All right, in the wake of the Penn State sex abuse scandal and the investigation into a possible cover up, our next guest says the sport's governing body, the NCAA, needs to be dismantled because it operates a lot like the Mafia, and he says it's time to end the exploitation of students in the name of entertainment and profits.
Tough words from Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush. He joins us live from Chicago this morning.
Congressman Rush, thank you so much for joining us. Good morning to you.
REP. BOBBY RUSH, (D), ILLINOIS: Good morning, Alina. How are you doing?
CHO: I'm well, thank you. Thanks for waking up early for us.
You have been extremely outspoken on the NCAA, saying in part, quote, "I think they're one of the most vicious and ruthless organizations ever created by mankind." You go on to say, "I think you would compare the NCAA to Al Capone and the media." Ouch. You have gotten a lot of attention for those words.
RUSH: I said the Mafia.
CHO: What do you mean by them?
RUSH: I didn't say the media. Well, look, let me just say, first of all, I said that, but also today I'm wondering, where is the voice of the NCAA? Why haven't they been spoken? This has been a year of scandal in the NCAA. You had Ohio State, you had the University of Miami, and now you have Penn State, and the silence of the NCAA leadership is deafening. We want to hear the NCAA speak to this issue, deal with this culture of corruption, the cesspool of corruption whose putrid smell has created an embarrassment to the American people. It certainly speaks to the -- the America idea has been corrupted, has been compromised. And we need the NCAA to stand up and say something. The leadership, where's the leadership? We haven't heard anything. We've heard students, we heard athletes, and we haven't heard anything from the NCAA. And I demand that the NCAA stand up and let the voice be heard. Let us know what's going on.
CHO: Well, to be fair --
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: -- to be fair, Congressman Rush, the NCAA did respond saying, quote, "You obviously don't know the NCAA. They provide $2 billion a year in scholarships and support," which they say is second only to the government. How do you argue with that?
RUSH: That is the outside of the cup that looks like it's clean. But when you look at the inside of the cup -- when you look at the exterior, you see all this exploitation.
Let me just say this. The cultural exploitation of youngsters conducted under the NCAA begins at 8 years old when they go with these sports leagues. This club -- I'm told, this club that this coach at the -- at Penn State, this coach, the club that he founded was actually akin to a recruiting club. There has been documentation lastly -- I mean, lately in this book, "Play Their Hearts Out," about the recruiting effort, beginning at -- as early as 8 years old, where they begin to exploit these youngsters, these parents in order try to trick these young men to get into colleges so that they can exploit them. If the exploitation begin as early as 8 --
(CROSSTALK) CHO: Now, Congressman, you know, I know --
(CROSSTALK)
RUSH: -- an athletic exploitation, then sensual exploitation is very easily to turn into sexual exploitation. And that's what we have here.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: There's no denying -- there's no denying that people should have spoken up earlier about this. There's no reason why it should have taken this long for these allegations to come out. Egregious, I think, you know, to say the least.
But I think what you're saying --
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: Let me finish.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: Let me finish. I think what you're saying is that this is college sports the NCAA, in particular, is less about a game and more about entertainment. There's no denying that Penn State made $50 million in profits last year, second only to the University of Texas, which made $70 million.
But having said that, let me play devil's advocate for just a second. Because you know, they made that money because somebody wanted to watch. And somebody wanted to buy. So I'm just curious to know, practically speaking, how you break this bad cycle.
RUSH: Well, you bring in -- first of all, by making sure the NCAA operates within the moral -- within a moral framework and also within a legal framework.
Now, let me just say this. The NCAA operates because it has anti-trust provisions and privileges that the Congress allows it to operate under. What I'm questioning, whether or not we should revisit that, look at it in light of this culture and corruption that exists, this moral break down that exists, this systemic exploitation of our children. And I'm wondering whether or not we should look at this. Certainly, this fabric of -- of amateurism that they -- and student athletes that they try to parade before us, you know, it is really a canard. This is big business. It's an exploited business and it's a business that not only exploits our children economically, athletically, but it also exploits them sexually now.
How vast, how widespread is this sexual exploitation within the NCAA system? We need to look at that.
CHO: All right.
RUSH: The American people need to look at this. And the Congress needs to look at it. And when I get into Washington, I'm going to ask the Congressman to look at this.
CHO: Congressman Bobby Rush, I thank you for the spirited discussion. You can bet that a lot of people are looking at how to fix things in the wake of the Penn State scandal. I thank you for your time.
RUSH: Thank you so very, very much.
ROMANS: All right, top stories are next. It's about 57 minutes after the hour.
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