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American Morning
NYPD Moves In; Police Clear Out "Occupy" Park; Sandusky: "I Am Innocent" Of Sex Abuse Charges; Jerry Sandusky's Attorney Speaks for First Time; Scandal Scars Sandusky's Charity; Cain's "Oops" Moment; Sandusky: "I Am Innocent" of Sex Abuse Charges; Cain's Libya Gaffe; NYC Police Clear Out "Occupy" Park; Panetta Warns Of 'Hollow Military'
Aired November 15, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news to tell you about this morning. Wall Street protesters told to pick up their tents and leave. The NYPD moving in to kick them out overnight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jerry Sandusky is a big overgrown kid. He's a jock.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Jerry Sandusky's lawyer hinting at his client's defense, and the accused molester himself also speaking out saying he's only guilty of horsing around with children.
COSTELLO: And Herman Cain freezes when reporters ask him about Libya. Critics saying it's another sign Cain doesn't have the foreign policy chops on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: Good morning, everybody. It's Tuesday, November 15th. Ali Velshi is off today. I'm Christine Romans along with Carol Costello on AMERICAN MORNING. Welcome back, Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks. I had a great few days off, but it's good to be back. Good morning to you.
We have breaking news to tell you about right at the top. Overnight police in New York City moved in and cleared out the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters from Zuccotti Park. That is the birthplace of the "Occupy" movement.
The evictions came overnight, police ripping down tents, signs and cleaning up. A number of protesters were arrested for refusing to get out.
Poppy Harlow live downtown. We're now hearing the park is back open. So are police allowing the protesters to go back, like they said they would? POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: So far, no. So far we've still got police as far as we can tell surrounding the park, but it is all cleaned out. We made it in the park about an hour ago.
And we saw, really, what was left of "Occupy Wall Street," which was piles of tents and debris and clothing after the police came in here around 1:00 a.m. to clear out the protesters.
What you see behind me, still a number of New York City police officers in full riot gear, hundreds of them down here all night. We've been reporting here since about 2:00 a.m. live. It took us, Carol, about three hours to get past the police barricades.
They weren't even allowing press in to finally get in the park and see what had happened. What I can tell you according to an "Occupy Wall Street" spokeswoman, about 14 protesters arrested, possibly more.
We saw some of them handcuffed and being led on to NYPD buses in the park about an hour ago, but the park is completely cleared out. The mayor has said, he tweeted in the middle of the night, that the protesters will be allowed back in.
The back story on this is it really came as a shock. Protesters were woken up in the middle of the night to police surrounding the entire park, shining lights on the park, telling them they to leave.
What happened was Brookfield Properties, which owns that property in the city of New York determined that there was an increasing health risk and fire risk to having the protesters there. They removed all of them.
They have said they can go in, but they cannot camp out, Carol. They can't stay there. That has made protesters incredibly angry. Behind me, about an hour and a half ago, very intense altercations between the police and between the protesters, some of the protesters were leaning over on these police cars.
They were trying to get the protesters out of the street to allow traffic to move. You can see it behind me. But this really escalated I would say around 4:30 a.m. here on Wall Street.
COSTELLO: OK, I had a question. If New York City and the park's owner are no longer letting these protesters camp out overnight, how are the police going to get them out of the park tonight? Because you know they're going to go back, these protesters?
HARLOW: Carol, can you repeat that question for me?
COSTELLO: I'm just wondering, since these protesters aren't allowed to camp out any longer, how are police going to keep them out at night?
HARLOW: Right. It's a very good question. We've tried numerous times to talk to the police, but they would not talk to us. We haven't gotten an answer yet from them about why we weren't allowed for a long time into the park. That's a very good question.
Through my time reporting down here over the past few weeks, there have always been a few police officers just making sure that things were calm and under control. How they're going to keep them out at night, I am not sure. Obviously, when the sun rises, I think if the protesters are allowed back in, we're going to see many of them in the park.
I think it's going to be interesting to see whether they set up camp or not even though they're told mayor they're not supposed to. The sentiment down here is that this movement will continue.
The protesters telling me time and time again, we are not leaving. We are here to stay. You can feel it from them, Carol. I would not be surprised if they tried to set up camp here again.
COSTELLO: I wouldn't either. I wouldn't be surprised either. Poppy Harlow reporting live. We'll get back to you. Thank so much.
ROMANS: All right, now to the Penn State child sex scandal and the first public comments from the man at the center of it all, former coach Jerry Sandusky.
Sandusky says he's not a pedophile. He says he's innocent of all abuse charges leveled against him. In a telephone interview with NBC's Bob Costas, Sandusky does admit to questionable behavior with boys he met through the charity for at-risk kids.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY SANDUSKY, FORMER PENN STATE COACH (on the phone): I can say that, you know, I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts.
I have hugged them, and I have touched their leg without intent of sexual contact, but -- so if you look at it that way, there are things that wouldn't -- you know, would be accurate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Sandusky's attorney is also speaking out for the first time. He talked with CNN national correspondent, Jason Carroll. Jason is live in State College, Pennsylvania. Good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you. You know, I spoke to Jerry Sandusky's attorney for a little more than an hour, Christine.
He went over his defense point by point, and as you heard there, he says that Sandusky, yes, he says he showered with young boys. Yes, he regrets doing that, but he did not sexually assault anyone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Do you believe in his innocence? JOE AMENDOLA, SANDUSKY DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I do. I do. Jerry Sandusky is a big, overgrown kid. He's a jock. For anybody who's ever played sports. You get showers after you work out.
I mean, when people hear he got showers with kids, my goodness. You know, like he got showers with kids. That makes him guilty, right? I mean, obviously, anybody who gets a shower with a kid who's an adult has to be guilty of something.
But the bottom line is, jocks do that. I mean, they kid around. They horse around. In fact, what Jerry says in regard to the one allegation revolving what the assistant coach or grad student said he saw, he said we were horsing around. We weren't engaged in sexual activity.
CARROLL: Well, I want to wait before going to that, because that's separate. Even just in talking about the showering, I think a lot of people have trouble with the idea of a man showering with a young boy. What are your thoughts on that? I mean, I wouldn't do it.
AMENDOLA: I wouldn't do it. I'm sure you wouldn't do it. I would feel uncomfortable doing it, but Jerry did that. But -- but that's a far different thing than saying he got showers with kids than saying that he committed these other acts, which the prosecution has alleged he did. I mean, what's going to come out in this case is that Jerry did get showers with kids.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And, Christine, I also brought up during the interview a point that a lot of people have been focusing on. That's that incident from 2002 where allegedly Mike McQueary, a then grad assistant allegedly saw Sandusky sodomizing a young boy, a boy that appeared to be 10 or 11 years old in a shower here at Penn State. I want you to listen to how his attorney defended that allegation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMENDOLA: Imagine going to your father as a grown-up at your age and saying, dad, I just saw Jerry Sandusky having anal sex with a boy that looked to be 10 years old. What would be your reaction?
CARROLL: I would go to the police.
AMENDOLA: Exactly. Go to the police. That's exactly -- I would be my reaction. You have to report this. That's not what was done. What I'm hearing, although we haven't had live witnesses yet in court.
What I'm hearing is, his father said, call Joe Paterno. Tell Joe. What I think happened. What I'm being told happened, is that Jerry was in the shower with this kid. The kid was messing around, having a good time. He had McQueary come in and see that. He felt uncomfortable, which is exactly what Curley and Schultz are saying.
That it was reported by McQueary that he saw Sandusky in a shower with a kid and he felt uncomfortable. Well, feeling uncomfortable and seeing anal sex are two very different things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: You know, Christine, again, ugly allegations there. I also asked his attorney, how someone could mistake sodomy with just horsing around. These are just some of the questions that are going to be coming up as this investigation continues. Obviously, his attorney wants the opportunity to interview McQueary to try to get to the bottom of all of this -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Jason Carroll. Thanks, Jason.
COSTELLO: That's so difficult to hear, isn't it?
ROMANS: It is. It really is.
COSTELLO: The scandal is also putting the focus on the children's charity that the accused molester founded the Second Mile Foundation. It's also unravelling now. The organization has hired a defense attorney likely in anticipation of the many civil lawsuits.
Those lawsuits could involve millions and Second Mile's CEO has now resigned. Jack Raykovitz who has been in charge of the charity for 28 years has testified to the grand jury that he was informed in 2002 about Sandusky being in the shower with that little boy.
ROMANS: Coming up at 6:30, we'll talk with Sarah Ganim, reporter for the "Patriot News" about the ongoing investigation with the Penn State scandal. She has been there doing some fantastic reporting right there on the ground. We'll check in with her.
COSTELLO: Also ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, Herman Cain hitting us yet another oops moment on the campaign trail, when he couldn't give a coherent answer to a question about Libya. Hear it for yourself, straight ahead.
ROMANS: Don't look now, but Newt Gingrich is gaining ground fast from single digits to the top of the polls. We're going to talk about the former House speaker's stunning surge.
Straight ahead, you're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's 10 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. We're following breaking news out of New York. Intense situation is unfolding in lower Manhattan where overnight police have cleared out Zuccotti Park. That's where the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters have been camping out for most of the past two months.
COSTELLO: Yes. Within the past couple of hours, sanitation crews have tossed tents, tarps and tables, food, just about everything else that was left in the park, they tossed it out. A number of protesters have been arrested now for refusing to leave. The city said the demonstrators can return to the park once the cleanup is over, but, here's the big "but" they can no longer camp out in that park. So we'll see how that goes tonight.
ROMANS: A big turning point came yesterday and over the weekend when you saw Denver clearing people out. Pulling out furniture, tearing make shift tents. The encampments in Oakland were pulled out.
Lots of arrests in Portland and you have Philly's mayor who said, look, there are protesters and then there are the bad elements who have gotten in there and are actually threatening the protesters. And health and safety in our town and Philly's mayor said, enough is enough so a real turning point in the last few days.
COSTELLO: We're going to talk to a police officer from Washington, D.C., head the police union and ask him how difficult this has been for police. See what he has to say about it. Well, it's becoming a mess in many cities across the country.
ROMANS: All right. Switching to another story, the Supreme Court will decide on President Obama's Health Care Law. The ruling likely will come right in the middle of the 2012 presidential race as many had thought and some had feared. The justices will decide whether the law is unconstitutional and whether Congress went too far by requiring that all Americans buy health insurance or pay a penalty. The White House released a statement supporting the High Court's decision to hear this challenge once and for all.
COSTELLO: And, oh, it happened again. Another one of those awkward moments on the Republican campaign trail. Herman Cain sinking in the polls since those sexual harassment allegations surfaced now has another problem on his hands. He had a little lapse in Milwaukee yesterday during a chat with a group of newspaper executives. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you agree with President Obama on Libya, or not?
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: OK. Libya. President Obama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of Gadhafi. Just want to make sure we're talking about the same thing before I say yes, I agree. I'd know what I didn't agree.
I do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reasons -- no. That's a different one. I've got to go back. See -- I got all this stuff twirling around in my head. Specifically, you asked me that I agreed and not disagree with Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser, he's live in Washington this morning. So, Paul, Cain came back and he said, look, it was a pause, and he joked about it, and he was really tired. The interview lasted for 30 minutes. This was just a bad moment.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, but a bad moment that he doesn't need right now, Carol, because after this happened it kind of went viral online and it was a talk of Twitter.
So, as you said, he was almost forced to respond later in the day when he was campaigning in Wisconsin. Take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: I mean, they asked me a question about Libya, and I paused so I could gather my thoughts, you know? It's really complementary when people start documenting my pauses. You know, it's one thing to document every word. It was a pause. That's all it was. Good grief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: His campaign also putting out a statement saying that Cain got the answer right. It just took him a little while to get his bearings.
But, Carol, come on, this is Libya. The story has been in the news all year. It's not like he was grilled about some obscure topic in the middle of nowhere.
Also, let's be honest. Foreign policy not Herman Cain's wheelhouse. He's had trouble with it in some of the debates. It was just a couple of weeks ago. Then the controversy surrounding Herman Cain was whether he knew or did not know that China had nuclear weapons. Since then, of course, the sexual harassment charges.
And as you mentioned, check out our brand new poll, CNN/ORC, and you can see it right here, Herman Cain, now at 14 percent. That's an 11 point drop from about a month ago.
Another big story on our poll, look right above him, that's Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, another GOP presidential candidate at 22 percent. He has really jumped and he's basically in a tie right now with Mitt Romney for the top spot in the battle for the GOP nomination.
Carol, we've got seven weeks to go. Seven weeks from today until those Iowa caucuses. We've got a whole new race, it seems, in the battle for the nomination.
COSTELLO: I mean, should anybody be surprised by this? I mean, Herman Cain has no political experience, right? He was a CEO of Godfather's Pizza. He's a very popular talk show host. It's not like he's thought about these foreign policy issues for months and months and months. So maybe some of his supporters will excuse this lapse.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. And he has been touting for a long time that he is not a politician. That he's not a normal politician. That he's a businessman, and that helped him. His 9-9-9 tax plan definitely helped him skyrocket in the polls. But, yes, when you're skyrocketing in the polls, you come under a lot of scrutiny. We've seen that with Herman Cain. We may now see that with Newt Gingrich as he's rising in the polls, Carol.
COSTELLO: Paul Steinhauser, many thanks to you.
At 6:40 Eastern, we'll talk more about Herman Cain's moment of silence in Milwaukee when we're joined by Marty Kaiser, the editor of the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel." That's the very paper that Cain was giving that interview to.
And be sure to join CNN next Tuesday night, November 22nd as the GOP Candidates Debate live from Washington. Wolf Blitzer will be your moderator. That's 8:00 P.M. Eastern next Tuesday right here on CNN.
ROMANS: All right. It's about 20 minutes after the hour. Your travel forecast now. Rob Marciano in the Extreme Weather Center. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Christine. Hello again, Carol.
We have a prep for severe weather across the south with the same system that's going to cause that. It's stretching all the way up into the northeast and that may cause some delays.
Right now, though, South Central Texas, cluster of thunderstorms there. That will be rolling towards Houston, eventually across Southern Louisiana and in through Mississippi throughout the day today. Damaging winds potentially with this and large hail. This cluster of thunderstorms just west of San Antonio moving in that direction for about 30 miles an hour. These have some storms that could create wind gusts to 60 miles an hour.
A little bit more tranquil scenario as you slide up towards the north and east across the Ohio River Valley into the Allegheny and upstate New York. Some just lighter precip will get into the I-95 corridor over the next couple of hours but it shouldn't amount to a whole lot.
What comes behind that will be probably the bigger story; 67 in D.C. for a high today; 64 degrees in New York City, and that's with the cloud cover and at times light rain, so very mild and at times feeling more like September or August. Like that will be a big change from what we're seeing, or going to see in the next couple of days.
If that front comes through, temperatures will plummet a good 10, 15, maybe even 20 degrees from where they are right now. So, get ready for fall.
COSTELLO: I thought this was going to last forever.
MARCIANO: Yes, I'm sure you did.
ROMANS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you, guys. COSTELLO: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, the airlines have been warned. For the first time a carrier has been fined, I mean, big time fine for delays. We'll tell you which one.
It's 21 past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: And welcome back. Good morning. "Minding Your Business."
Stocks slide as investors wait to see how the political change in Greece and Italy will affect the European debt crisis. Right now, U.S. stock futures are trading low right now. And actually the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all fell by a little less than one percent.
In about two hours we'll find out if consumers are out there spending as we approach a critical holiday shopping season that's when the October retail sales report is released. Also this morning, America's biggest corporation, it's the largest single private employer Wal-Mart will release its third quarter earnings.
Oil prices are on the rise up 20 percent since the start of October. The recent rally fueled by falling supplies, a weaker dollar and the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
Warren Buffett is betting on big blue. The billionaire investor of Berkshire Hathaway disclosing he purchased more than $10.7 billion worth of IBM stock. That's enough to make it one of the largest investors in the technology giant. Warren Buffett also invested in Visa, CVS and Intel.
Citigroup and Deutsche Bank will pay a combined $165 million to settle claims of the bank's misled five credit unions about the risks tied to those bad mortgage backed securities. Those credit unions later failed because of those investments.
And for the first time, the government is fining an airline for lengthy delays. American Eagle has been ordered to pay $900,000 for leaving passengers on 15 flights stranded on the tarmac for more than three hours. All incidents happened earlier this year at Chicago's O'hare Airport. American Eagle blames weather and congestion.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's going to come out in this case is that Jerry did get showers with kids.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Jerry Sandusky's lawyer and the accused child molester himself speaking out saying Sandusky, yes, he did shower with young boys. He horsed around with them, but he's no pedophile on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS (on camera): All right. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It is 30 minutes past the hour. Time for the morning's top stories.
We're following breaking news this morning. A crackdown on the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Overnight police surrounded and cleared out Zuccotti Park, the birthplace of the Occupy Movement. Sanitation crews are now cleaning it up.
A number of protesters were taken into custody for refusing to leave the area. Mayor Bloomberg's Office says the demonstrators can return once the park is cleaned. But there will be no more tents. There will be no more encampments. There will be no more sleeping bags. They can no longer camp out overnight.
COSTELLO: Former Penn State football defensive coach Jerry Sandusky publicly speaking out for the first time since he was accused of sexually assaulting young boys who he was supposed to be helping. Sandusky says he showered with young boys and horsed around with them, but he's not a pedophile.
ROMANS: Sexual harassment allegations may be catching up to Herman Cain.
In the latest CNN/ORC poll, Cain fallen into the statistical tied third place with Texas Governor Rick Perry, dropping 11 points since last month. Mitt Romney leads with 24 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich now with 22 percent in the race for the GOP nomination.
COSTELLO: And as we just told you, a defiant Jerry Sandusky refuting child sex abuse allegations against him. In a phone interview with NBC's Bob Costas, Sandusky admits showering with young boys, hugging them, touching their legs, but no sexual intent. Costas asked specifically about a 2002 shower incident with a 10-year-old boy.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JERRY SANDUSKY, FORMER PENN STATE COACH: We were showering and horsing around, and he actually turned all the showers on and was actually sliding across the floor and we were -- as I recall, possibly like snapping a towel, horseplay.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Sara Ganim has been covering the Penn State scandal for "The Patriot News." She joins us now from State College, Pennsylvania.
Good morning, Sara.
SARA GANIM, CRIME REPORTER, "THE PATRIOT NEWS": Good morning.
COSTELLO: You know this story better than anybody. Frankly, I was a little surprised that Sandusky agreed to a phone interview with Bob Costas. Are you surprised he's speaking out?
GANIM: Well, it was a little shocking to hear his voice and to hear him explain that. However, we did kind of know that this was going to be his defense. As soon as the presentment was released, his attorney said that they were going to flat out deny any wrongdoing -- any of this prolonged abuse.
But as far as these smaller incidents, these shared showers, that he was going to admit that he did take showers with boys and that there was touching, but that the difference was that the boys interpreted the touching incorrectly. That it wasn't in bad faith. That it was just playful horsing around, like he said last night.
COSTELLO: Jason Carroll, he talked with Sandusky's lawyer. The other thing, I think, that will be part of the defense strategy is that this Mike McQueary, who claims that he saw Sandusky in the showers raping that 10-year-old boy. The lawyer says -- well, if you saw that, what would you do? Would you run home and tell your father, like McQueary did? Or would you call the police?
He seems to be saying that, McQueary didn't know what he saw in that shower.
GANIM: Right. And he did say something that I thought was very interesting. That the prosecutors have not found that boy from that 2002 shower incident, but Sandusky's attorney says, they found that boy, and that boy says he was never assaulted in that shower.
So, if that's true, that could be huge for the defense.
COSTELLO: Interesting. You also have a new story out this morning that's just been posted online and says, despite Sandusky's claims of innocence, his own charity was worried about him going back to at least 2008. Tell us more.
GANIM: Yes, we have information from yesterday is that a person of authority was told by one of the charity officials that they were aware of some strange behavior on the part of Sandusky toward some of the boys at the Second Mile charity. And that's important, because the grand jurors are saying that he founded that charity to get access to children that he could molest. So, if they knew about it, that would be -- that would make them -- that would put them in a bad place right now.
And they're struggling to see if they can recover, and in the meantime, they're launching an internal investigation that's going to be led by a former prosecutor, the former Philadelphia district attorney Lynne Abraham.
So I think that whether or not -- how much they knew, when they knew it, what they did about it is yet to be determined. But we have a good source telling us that they were -- they did make a statement that they were aware of some kind of strange behavior.
COSTELLO: Yes. And a lot of people think that charity's just going to go away. But we'll see. Going back to who knew what when, Joe Paterno, he's still in the news. Bob Costas on NBC asked Jerry Sandusky about Joe Paterno, whether Joe Paterno ever approached him, you know, to ask him about these allegations.
This is was what Jerry Sandusky said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB COSTAS, NBC NEWS: To your knowledge, did Joe Paterno have any information regarding objectionable activities on your part prior to that report in 2002?
SANDUSKY: My -- I can't totally answer that question. My answer would be, no.
COSTAS: Did Joe Paterno at any time ever speak to you directly about your behavior?
SANDUSKY: No.
COSTAS: Never?
SANDUSKY: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. So we know Paterno's name was stripped from the Big 10 trophy. We know he's not going to be charged criminally, too, but he's been fired, right, from Penn State. Is there another shoe to drop? I mean, will he lose that famous statue outside of Beaver Stadium?
GANIM: Well, I think the most telling remark about that last week was the new president of the university saying that in time, they are going to honor Joe Paterno. He thinks that is appropriate, for 60 years of service and a lot of good that he's done on campus. But now is not the right time.
And I think the feelings here are very raw, and they're raw on both ends of the spectrum. People who totally support Joe Paterno think he's been wronged, and people who think he got what he deserved.
And, you know, once all these very raw emotions settle down, I think we're going to find that he is going to be honored in some way. Is it what we all expected for our retirement for Joe Paterno? Probably not.
COSTELLO: Sara Ganim, thanks, as usual.
Sara Ganim, crime reporter for "The Patriot News" -- thanks so much.
ROMANS: All right. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, another awkward moment for Herman Cain. The candidate froze and couldn't answer a basic question about Libya yesterday. Reached for his thoughts and his bearings and then did. The final straw, maybe, for a sinking campaign?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
It's the moment of silence everyone's talking about. GOP hopeful Herman Cain stumbling badly when responding to a question about Libya. The Georgia businessman failing to come up with a coherent answer to a basic foreign policy issue.
It happened in front of a panel of newspaper reporters. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: So you agreed with President Obama on Libya, or not?
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: OK. Libya. President Obama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of Gadhafi. Just want to make sure we're talking about the same thing before I say yes, I agree, I know I didn't agree.
I do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason -- no, that's a different one. I got to go back and see -- got all this stuff twirling around in my head. Specifically, what are you asking me, did I agree or not disagree with on what?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Marty Kaiser was in the room when that moment happened. He's the editor of the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" and he joins us live from Milwaukee this morning.
So, first of all, what did -- were you thinking when this was happening? Was this a candidate who has been under a grueling schedule who is, you know, reaching to make sure he says the right thing? Or is this a candidate who didn't really know how to respond? What was your thought?
MARTY KAISER, EDITOR, "MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL": At the moment when he went into the discussion, it didn't come across as a candidate who was under grueling schedule. We were having a pleasant conversation. This is not a "Meet the Press" grill, a candidate session. We're asking questions.
He had just answered a question about the Bush foreign policy when he said he agreed with how that had been handled, and then a reporter, Dan Bice, asked him about Libya and how Obama handled that, and all of a sudden, what occurred is what you saw.
ROMANS: You know, his communications director, J.D. Gordon, basically said that video was taken off context. It's a long conversation. And he said it's out of context in some measure.
Was it taken out of context or is that an accurate representation of what happened there and it's moment that is a telling for potential voters?
KAISER: That's exactly an exact interpretation of what happened. We edit the questions down, put them on our Web site and break them into sections. But you can also go to the "Journal Sentinel" Web site and watch the whole interview for 35 minutes. So, there was no editing taking place. We just splice the different questions so people want to watch the question on Libya or question on foreign policy or another issue, if you want to talk about that.
ROMANS: How did he perform on those other issues?
KAISER: You know, it was interesting. On the first question, he really stumbled, I thought, on the issue of federal workers, and did they have bargaining rights for wages. He wasn't clear on that and he had to ask us about that.
ROMANS: Let's look up at what he said about collective bargaining now that you bring it up. I mean, he said the Republican bill in Ohio that was just voted down might have gone too far. And then here's what he said about collective bargaining for federal employees. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Would you favor collective bargains for federal employees?
CAIN: They already have it. Don't they? Yes. They already have --
REPORTER: No, they don't.
CAIN: They have unions.
REPORTER: They have unions.
CAIN: They have unions, OK.
REPORTER: But they don't have the same bargaining --
CAIN: They don't have the same bargaining powers. Here again, collective bargaining I'll support as long as it doesn't create an undue burden on the state, to the government, the taxpayer, and that sort of thing. That's the issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: This just confirmed he was saying he was for collective bargaining, but that's definitely not the standard conservative answer. Do you think he's got a different point of view or you got the sense he didn't understand the question?
KAISER: I'm just not sure he understood the question, understood what was going on with federal workers. He had to turn and ask us the question, and we had to correct him. He's turning to us to ask us for the information, which seemed awfully surprising. And that was the beginning of the interview. That was the first question.
ROMANS: You know, so Rick Perry just recently had this "oops" moment where he couldn't grasp, remember the Department of Energy, when he was trying to think of things to get rid of. And then this is -- this is -- I want to get Cain, I want you to listen what Cain said last night, his explanation for not being able to grasp his response to Libya right away.
Let's listen to that and then I want to get your reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: I mean, they asked me a question about Libya and I paused so I could gather my thoughts. You know, it's really complementary when people start documenting my pauses. You know, it's one thing to document every word. It was a pause. That's all it was. Good grief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So, Marty, is this about not knowing the material, or is this about really on a grueling campaign trail when you're going from A to Z subjects and discussing all kinds of different things, you know, in this very, I guess, hyper-connected world, every little one of these exchanges we see and talk about over and over again?
KAISER: You know, I think this is a very simple question that had been discussed for months, how President Obama had handled the situation in Libya. You know, people can go and watch the question themselves. Watch the interview, and see, you know, and make up their own minds, you know, how this was handled.
Trying to spin it and say it was edited or handled some other way is just not accurate.
ROMANS: Marty, you've seen an awful, I mean, clearly, you had a lot of candidates come through there for editorial boards. I mean, this is what candidates do with newspapers all the time. Have you seen a -- I mean, this is unusual to see a candidate falter on such critical issues?
KAISER: I have to admit, quite a few of us have been in the business a long time, been through a number of these kinds of interviews, and afterwards, we were really sort of stunned, you know, at what we had just seen. Our first story we talked a lot that we put up on the web.
That story we talked a lot about the collective bargaining and the Libya statement. And what's interesting, when the Libya statement got posted on our website, it went viral, and it had about 250,000 views, video views, within an hour.
ROMANS: All right. Marty Kaiser, editor of "the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel." Thank you so much for joining us today, sir.
KAISER: Thank you very much.
ROMANS: Wow! Seen a lot of those. I mean, I've sat in on editorial boards for newspapers before, and I mean, it's sort of -- this is the season of these. The candidates come in. They talk for a very long time. They really are kind of -- I would say off guard in a way. They're talking to local news reporters and writers and columnists, but usually, they are very polished.
COSTELLO: Or casual and fun. It's sort of one the more fun interviews you do as a candidate, because it is informal and you're not like --
ROMANS: But polished I mean on their points and on their answers, you know?
COSTELLO: True. If you want to be president, I guess, you got to be.
Coming up, she is a fighter and she is a survivor. And now, for the first time, hear Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords tell her inspirational story in her own words.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MONICA PALUMBO, MISS SPRINT CUP: Hey, guys. I'm Monica Palumbo, Miss Sprint Cup, and I've spent about 11 months on the road. I don't leave without my toothbrush. You have 13-hour days at the track. Brush your teeth, people, especially if you're talking to a lot of people.
My mother always said to keep your lipstick on so I have it in my sleeve. Summer months in a fire suit for hours and hours. You might be a little sweaty. Well, this helps. This Spring Cup is like an ambassador for the sport. We're the fans' friend on the inside.
Right now, walking around the garage, taking pictures, Tweeting, Facebooking. Watch behind you, there's a car. Hey. Look. See, you never know who's going to walk by. The king just walked by. Welcome to NASCAR, everybody.
Race day is insane. Interview drivers, help out with the pre- race show. Driver introductions and also how about victory lane and congratulate the winner. So, this is the day and the life of wild and wonderful having a good time. Thanks for joining us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Ten minutes to the top of the hour. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Developing here in New York City, crews are now cleaning up Zuccotti Park where hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters have been camping out. Overnight, police arrested dozens of protesters. The mayor's office says the demonstrators can return once the park is cleared, but they can no longer camp out overnight.
Former Penn State football defensive coach, Jerry Sandusky, saying he's horsed around with kids, but he's not a pedophile. Sandusky publicly speaking for the first time since he was accused of sexually assaulting young boys. Defense Secretary Panetta is set to testify on military budget cuts. He's already warned the Super Committee that budget cuts could be devastating and that the U.S. military could become hallow if members can't get past politics in the next eight days.
And a ruling on President Obama's healthcare law could come right smack in the middle of the 2012 race. The Supreme Court announcing it will hear challenges to the law.
No deal for the NBA. The players union turned down the league's latest offer in a dispute over collective bargaining calling it unfair. The union says they're prepared to file an antitrust suit against the NBA.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (on-camera): And that's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. Welcome back. In just a few hours, President Obama will leave Hawaii heading for his first visit to Australia.
COSTELLO: Yes. During a whirlwind two-day trip, he'll announce a new phase of military cooperation between the two countries. CNN's Brianna Keilar is traveling with the president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The third time's a charm. After cancelling planned trips to Australia twice now, President Obama is finally headed down under.
(on-camera) While the president's visit to the APEC Summit here in Hawaii was more about emphasizing U.S. trade interests in Asia, his visit to Australia is more about U.S. military interests in the region.
(voice-over) President Obama's first stop, the capital city of Canberra, where he will address parliament commemorating America's 60- year military alliance with Australia. Then, he heads north to the military stronghold of Darwin where he's expected to announce a plan for a more pronounced U.S. military presence in the country.
It's a symbolic increase of America's profile in the region as China demonstrates its might.
DR. VICTOR CHA, FORMER NSC DIRECTOR FOR ASIAN AFFAIRS: Clearly, the Chinese has experienced a larger and larger amount of economic growth are starting to flex their diplomatic muscle, further away from the shores of China into Southeast Asia, and I think countries in the region are looking to the United States to help balance against that.
KEILAR: American allies like Japan and Korea are concerned U.S. budget cuts could shrink America's military commitments in Asia. China recently launched its first aircraft carrier and has made territorial claims to much of the South China Sea.
ADM. ROBERT F. WILLARD, COMMANDER, U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND: The South China Sea, of vital interest to the region and national interest to the United States, an area that carries an immense amount of commerce and an area in which we must maintain maritime security and peace.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (on-camera): The president's stop in Australia is part of a push to highlight a new era in U.S. foreign policy. Focusing less on Iraq and Afghanistan, and instead, looking east -- Christine and Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Brianna.
ROMANS: All right. She is a survivor and an inspiration. And now, the touching story of Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in her own words. She sat down with ABC's Diane Sawyer for her first very interview since the January shooting that almost killed her. ABC aired a home video of her ongoing recovery learning to walk and talk again. Sawyer also asked Giffords if she would return to Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, (D) ARIZONA: Better.
DIANE SAWYER, ABC NEWS: It's better?
GIFFORDS: I -- oh --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wants to get better.
GIFFORDS: Better.
SAWYER: You want to get better.
GIFFORDS: Better.
SAWYER: And so, you think to yourself, I'll go back to Congress if I get better.
GIFFORDS: Yes, yes, yes. Yes.
SAWYER: And that's where you are right now?
GIFFORDS: Yes, yes, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Jarred Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges stemming from the rampage.
COSTELLO: I just can't imagine how frustrating that would be, because, you know, it's all here and can't come out.
ROMANS: It's like when you hear many people who've had a stroke have a hard time communicating after a stroke and how frustrating that can be as you're trying to rewire the brain and learn again and talk.
COSTELLO: Such a well-spoken woman. It's just --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: You go, Gabby.
ROMANS: She's made incredible progress.
COSTELLO: Ahead in the next hour, Wall Street protesters cleared out, some cuff (ph) and hauled away by police. We are live in Lower Manhattan watching all the developments for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
