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American Morning

Tornado Warning for New Orleans; Penn State Assistant Coach Speaks Out for the First Time; Penn State's Wall of Silence; Temporarily "Occupy" Wall Street; Obama in Australia; Can Perry or Cain Stage Comeback?; Newt Gingrich Back from the Brink; Penn State Child Sex Scandal; McQueary E-mail: I Did Go To Police; "Occupy Dallas" Eviction; Protesting Alabama's Immigration Law

Aired November 16, 2011 - 06:00   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: The eyewitness speaks. Penn State assistant coach fighting back this morning saying I stopped Jerry Sandusky.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A CNN exclusive, the wall of silence surrounding Penn State. Was the university allowed to keep secrets about a child sex abuse scandal for years?

ROMANS: All right, you can come back, but don't get too comfy. Wall Street protesters returning to the park where it all started without their tents, no more generators and they're not happy -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. It is Wednesday, November 16th. Only two days until Friday. Ali Velshi has the day off. I'm Carol Costello along with Christine Romans. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.

ROMANS: First up a severe weather warning right now for the New Orleans area. Jacqui Jeras is in the extreme weather center. Are we talking tornadoes, Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, tornado warning, we've got a rotating thunderstorm that could produce a tornado at any time. This is for Jefferson, St. Charles and (INAUDIBLE) and it does include the city of New Orleans.

It's probably about 15 minutes away. So you need to your safe place right now this morning. This is in effect until 5:30 local time. Again, this is a radar indicated tornado that could drop down.

That threat of tornadoes stretches from Louisiana through parts of Mississippi on into Alabama, and we think that line will intensify as it heads towards the east today.

So we'll continue to track the storm. Any new information we'll bring it along to you, but a tornado warning possible right now for the city of New Orleans. Back to you guys.

ROMANS: All right, thanks, Jacqui.

Now to Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary speaking out for the very first time about the child sex scandal that has rocked his world. McQueary's been under fire for his reported inaction after witnessing the alleged rape of a young boy by former coach Jerry Sandusky back in 2002.

In an e-mail dated last week and obtained by the "Allentown Morning Call," McQueary tells a former classmate, quote, "I did stop it. Not physically, but made sure that was stopped before I left that locker room."

McQueary claims he did go to police. He also says no one can imagine my thoughts or wants to be in my shoes for those 30 to 45 seconds. Trust me.

The e-mails appear to contradict McQueary's grand jury testimony. He also made his first public comment since the scandal broke to CBS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any idea when you think you might be ready to talk?

MIKE MCQUEARY, PENN STATE ASSISTANT FOOTBALL COACH: This process has to play out. I just don't have anything else to say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, and then just one last thing. Just describe your emotions right now.

MCQUEARY: All over, place. Just shaken.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crazy?

MCQUEARY: Crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said what? Like a --

MCQUEARY: Snow blower.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sarah Ganim, prime reporter for the "Patriot News" has been covering the Penn State scandal from the beginning. She joins us from State College, Pennsylvania. Good morning, Sarah.

SARAH GANIM, CRIME REPORTER, "THE PATRIOT NEWS": Good morning.

COSTELLO: So you heard McQueary. He's on the defense saying he stopped the sexual assault. That detail though was not included in the grand jury report, right?

GANIM: That's correct. But you have to remember the grand jury report is a summary. It's written by grand jurors and not direct testimony. It's not a transcript. So it's possible that that wasn't included, however, the second part of his e-mail where he says that he had discussions with police and discussions with the man who is in charge of police.

That is not included at all in that grand jury presentment, and there is a sentence in there that specifically states that McQueary was not interviewed by police at the university.

COSTELLO: Sarah, I just want to read those two statements, one from the grand jury and one from McQueary's e-mail to our viewers so they completely understand.

The grand jury report says the graduate assistant was never questioned by university police and no other entity conducted an investigation. And this is McQueary's e-mail, which seems to contradict that.

He wrote, "I did have discussions with police and with the official at the university in charge of police." Now if what McQueary says is true, that's a big deal.

GANIM: Well, I think it's going to be something that people are going to be talking about, at least until he testifies and attempts to clear it up. You know, I think it's a rush to judgment to say that he's contradicting himself at this point.

But it's raising a lot of questionS. People are talking about it. This is the guy that is the key witness for all three cases. He's a key witness against Jerry Sandusky, because he was an eyewitness to a sexual assault.

And he is really the sole witness against two Penn State officials charged with perjury and with failure to report. So if his story changes and he loses credibility, that could be a detriment to the prosecution's case against those two Penn State officials and possibly part of the case against Sandusky.

COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about Sandusky and his interview on Monday's NBC program. Sandusky's attorney said he found the second victim.

This is the victim McQueary allegedly witnessed being sexually molested in 2002. The one McQueary witnessed supposedly. Is this the real victim, too? I mean, have prosecutors commented at all on this claim?

GANIM: Prosecutors aren't talking about it. I did talk to a legal analyst yesterday who said that, you know, the defense is going to have to go to some great lengths to prove to jurors that this really is victim two.

That it's not some other kid who might have had some our contact with Jerry Sandusky in 2002. This child is now a man. He is coming forward and saying, you know, I took a shower with Jerry Sandusky, but nothing inappropriate ever happened, and that is directly -- directly contradicts what McQueary says. Because he says he witnessed an assault in progress and was very specific about that assault.

COSTELLO: And now he says he stopped it apparently. "The New York Times" is also reporting this that Joe Paterno, just four months ago, sold his house to his wife for $1.

So, you know, this makes you wonder. Is this an older man getting ready to get his estate in order or is he trying to protect himself from civil lawsuits?

GANIM: Well, you know, this happened a couple months ago. It certainly happened before this all unfolded, and I think that -- you know, it's hard to say. I don't think that you could judge that at this point why he did it, what's inside of his head.

But like you said, he is 84 years old. So these are certainly things that people do when they get older. They get ready to distribute their estate and get ready for the end of their life, essentially.

COSTELLO: Sarah Ganim, thanks, as always. Joining us live from Pennsylvania this morning.

ROMANS: We're getting a clear picture this morning about how Penn State was able to put up a wall of silence concerning Jerry Sandusky's alleges child sex abuse.

It turns out the university is exempt from the state's public disclosure law. Don't forget, this is a state university. Drew Griffin has more in a CNN exclusive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: It's the type of information we would normally get in the United States from any public institution, especially a police department, the records, the incident reports.

All of the information you rely on to get the facts to know who knew what, when and where, but Penn State you will not find that, because Penn State got itself an exemption from this state's open records act.

At the same time in 2000, 2008, when the legislature was discussing this new law, Penn State's president personally went to the legislature and asked to be exempt to make sure the records were kept private.

TERRY MUTCHLER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PENNSYLVANIA OPEN RECORDS: What that means in essence is that while every other commonwealth agency, governor's office, police departments, townships, school districts, are subject to this law and would be required to provide public record, Penn State is exempt.

That came as a result of a series ever lobbying efforts through the House of Representatives that was taking a look at rewriting Pennsylvania's right-to-know law, which was really among the worst in the nation.

And at that juncture, the president of Penn State was one of the key lobbyists testifying before the House Committee on, I believe it was August 7, 2007, seeking an exemption for Penn State.

GRIFFIN: We did try to reach Graham Spanier at his home. We did not get an answer from the former Penn State president, but we know what he told the legislature when he was seeking this exemption. He said he wanted Penn State to be exempt from the records because he needed to protect the competitiveness of the university.

That he was concerned about the cost of compliance, and that a huge bureaucracy would have to be built to answer questions and open those public records. Looking back on it now, it has a whole different look.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Wow. Later this hour, at 6:40 Eastern we're going to talk with clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere about why someone might stay silent when witnessing sexual abuse or some other horrible incident.

COSTELLO: Right at this very moment, the Wall Street protesters can once again occupy Zuccotti Park, but only temporarily. A judge upheld the city's eviction meaning that for now the group no longer has the right to sleep in the park.

Deb Feyerick is live downtown. So are protesters going in the park now or they just sort of like spread out around it?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are, as a matter of fact, Carol, about a handful of demonstrators that you can see behind me, and as you say, they're no longer allowed to occupy the park, per se.

They can demonstrate. They can protest, but they cannot setup any tent or any generators. If you take a look at this park, this was covered with tents.

Now, actually, somebody remarked that you can actually see that there are lights on the ground. Those light have been covered for nearly two months while those demonstrators were here in the park.

One person has setup a couple of umbrellas. That's really the only structure that we've seen here. A couple of moments ago, there was sort of an altercation between some of the demonstrators and police lined up, but really, no more than a couple of dozen protesters who are here. Yesterday far different scene when this park was completely cleared out.

Police in riot gear facing off against to the demonstrators, against the protesters, removing the tents and the generators and everything they accumulated over the course of two months in order to clean this park.

That park is now, in fact, clean, and you do see some people who have gathered, who are eating. Every now and again somebody yells out something about a paycheck, again, this occupation about the disparity in wealth here in the United States.

The New York Supreme Court yesterday did rule in favor of the city and the owners of this park saying the first amendment does not give people the right to take over a public space. You have to remember, this is a very sort of -- right in the middle of Wall Street.

A lot of people come here for lunch. It's right near the World Trade Center site where the buildings are going up there and is usually a very active site. Right now, it's quiet. It's interesting to see around lunchtime if people do kind of come back, slowly, slowly.

Probably not because there's still barricades that have been set up here so again, very much a sign that this park belongs, at least for now to the folks here who are demonstrating, and you see the people in yellow, that yellow security guard, those, in fact, are private security guards who were hired by the company who runs this.

And at one point earlier this morning they actually outnumbered the number of demonstrators. Nearby community church, they've actually said that the demonstrators can go there and hold their public meetings, which they do, and they're loaning that space to them -- Carol and Christine.

COSTELLO: Deb Feyerick, reporting live from Zuccotti Park this morning. Thanks.

ROMANS: After cancelling two previously scheduled trips, President Obama has kept his promise to visit Australia. He'll be there for just over a day announcing a new agreement to expand America's military presence in that country all with an eye on China.

CNN White House correspondent, Brianna Keilar traveling with the president, she joins us live from Australia this morning. Good morning, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Christine. President Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announcing a significant new partnership between Australia's defense force and the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marines, 200 to 250 U.S. Marines we will be seeing by the middle of next year permanently stationed in the northern territory of Australia.

So the part of Australia that borders -- that really looks on to Asia, and those troops would come in and out in six-month deployments, and you will see that force increased over a few years up to 2,500 U.S. Marines.

In addition, the U.S. Air Force seeing more access to this northern military base of Darwin, U.S. aircraft that would have more access along with the Royal Australian Air Force, they're doing some joint training.

And of course, the question is why. When you heard President Obama and the prime minister talk about this, the first thing that they used to explain this move is to better be able to respond to humanitarian crises, like natural disasters, like what we saw with the Indonesian tsunami and the earthquake in Japan.

But of course, there's this obvious question, what about China? It's military star very much on the rise? Here's as far as President Obama would go when asked that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The main message that I've said not only publicly, but also privately to the Chinese is that with their rise comes increased responsibilities.

It's important for them to play by the rules of the road. There are going to be times where they're not, and we will send a clear message to them that we think that they need to -- they need to be on track in terms of accepting the rules and responsibilities that come with being a world power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: But there's a subtext here that you cannot ignore. That's China is flexing, of course, not only its economic muscle, but it's military muscle. It's naval might. It recently launched an aircraft carrier for sea trials.

It has made a territorial claim to all of the South China Sea, a move that has threatened a number of the U.S. allies in Asia because it's an area that sees so much commerce. And already we're seeing reaction from the Chinese government to this move.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry saying this may not be quite appropriate, but a spokesperson for the White House, Carol and Christine, responding right back saying this is appropriate and it's necessary.

ROMANS: All right, Brianna Keilar in Australia. Thanks, Brianna.

We always hear from the Chinese after a move like this, Carol, where they say the United States is seeing shadows, or that it -- it controls its part of the world. The U.S. does not and they don't really like our advice about staying on track, so --

COSTELLO: So it seems as though like it's becoming a turf war in that part of the world between the United States and China. And a lot of people said that it may do more harm than good.

ROMANS: Well, we'll have to see. Well, they certainly are building up their military might with American dollars, by the way, that we borrow from China every single day.

COSTELLO: I know you're going to talk much more about that later.

Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, the Secret Service trying to explain how a bullet hit a window at the White House. We'll have the latest on their investigation.

ROMANS: And a new poll has Iowa up for grabs, but can Rick Perry and Herman Cain resurrect their campaigns and compete in the Hawkeye State?

COSTELLO: Plus the deer and the sheriff's deputy. An unusual encounter in the middle of a Michigan road.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's 18 minutes past the hour.

With the Iowa caucuses just seven weeks away, the nation's first presidential nominating state is up for grabs. A new poll showing a four-way statistical tie as two Republican candidates scramble to resurrect their sagging campaigns.

And Rick Perry unveils his plan to overhaul Congress.

CNN's senior political editor Mark Preston live in Washington. Ooh, this caucus is going to be exciting.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: It is, Carol.

You know, there's a segment of the Republican Party that will prefer that they would have already chosen their nominee. They realize they're going up against the Obama campaign machine. They realize how well tuned it is and the fact of the matter is President Obama is going to have more money than the Republican nominee.

But if you look at this new poll out of Iowa, it shows it's anything but settled. Look at those numbers right there. Herman Cain, even though he's had all these allegations of sexual harassment lodged at him for the past couple of weeks, he's coming in at 20 percent, followed by Ron Paul at 19, Mitt Romney at 18, Newt Gingrich at 17 percent.

Carol, you probably remember, back at the beginning of December, we all thought that Newt Gingrich would get out of the race. He had lost all of his campaign staffers. But clearly, he is making a comeback. And the reason why is that he is the anti-Romney at this point, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. That's amazing.

Let's talk about Rick Perry for a moment, because he's announcing this plan for a part-time Congress, although I must say many in America think Congress is already a part-time body, but tell us more about that.

PRESTON: Yes. You know, Rick Perry's clearly trying to cast himself as the Washington outsider. He was saying during a campaign stop yesterday in Iowa, but not only is he saying it but he is suggesting that Washington really needs to be turned on its head, including changing the way Congress operates. In fact, let's listen to what he had to say yesterday in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... this time to create a part-time Congress where their pay is cut in half, their office budgets are cut in half and their time in Washington is cut in half.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: And there you have, Carol, Rick Perry out there laying out how he would change Washington, dramatically change how Congress operates. Go back to a citizen legislature. He also offered several other reforms including the idea of putting a moratorium on all the rules and regulations against businesses.

And check this out as well. He is talking about putting term limits on the Supreme Court justices. The Supreme Court Justice right now has a lifetime appointment. However, Rick Perry is saying perhaps they should have only 18 years on the court.

So some bold, bold moves by Rick Perry in Iowa yesterday, and he really needs it, Carol. The fact of the matter is, his campaign is sagging at this time.

COSTELLO: Well, it's a definite push for the Tea Party voters, right? Because they're the ones that believe government is too big, but I would say that most voters in the United States complain that Congress doesn't work enough.

PRESTON: That's true. And in fact, if you look at the favorable, unfavorable ratings of Congress, they are terribly low. But why should we be surprised by that? The fact of the matter is unemployment is over nine percent nationally and all you hear out of Washington nowadays is gridlock, gridlock, gridlock.

And quite frankly the other story line out of Washington is corruption, corruption, corruption. So there's no surprise that Rick Perry is trying to seize upon this and you're absolutely right. He's trying to get these Tea Party folks to support his candidacy.

COSTELLO: Mark Preston live in Washington. Thanks.

Join us for -- join us actually Tuesday night, November 22nd for the "CNN Republican Debate." Wolf Blitzer will be the moderator. The focus will be on national security. That's live at 8:00 P.M. Eastern, Tuesday night right here on CNN.

ROMANS: All right. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, Newt Gingrich now in the worse place he could possibly be in the GOP race, right behind Mitt Romney. Just ask Bachmann, Perry or Cain. He talks to our Jim Acosta about why this -- this time it's for real. COSTELLO: And we have some good news when it comes to bank fees. Find out which bank is actually getting rid of them instead of adding them.

It's 23 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Welcome back. "Minding Your Business."

Right now, U.S. stock futures pointing to a lower open this morning after what eventually turned tout be a positive day on Wall Street. All three indices finished higher after upbeat reports on retail sales, inflation and manufacturing.

Farmland, wow, a very good investment. Prices jumped 25 percent in the third quarter -- 25 percent. That's the biggest one-year jump in more than three decades. The higher land prices fueled by higher corn, soybean, cattle and hog prices.

We should be talking about another bailout, only this one's not for Wall Street. An independent audit shows the Federal Housing Administration could run out of money in the coming year because its cash reserves have fallen that low. But the FHA says home prices would have to drop significantly in order for the agency to ask for an actual bailout.

The Postal Service reporting an annual loss of $5.1 billion, and it may be no surprise in today's digital age. The declining mail volume is one of the reasons for those losses. The other, an increase in health care costs for postal employees.

Chase is scrapping three bank fees it had been testing in various parts of the country. Among the charges being pulled, $10 and $15 monthly checking account fee and a $3 fee to use your debit card.

Shares in the professional social networking company LinkedIn are about to flood the market. Bane Capital, one of the company's early backers is selling its entire 3.7 million stake in that company.

AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've done this for 53 years. And the two hardest months of my career were June and July.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: His campaign was declared DOA. Now, Newt Gingrich is back. Can he convince the American people he's fresh at the same time? On this AMERICAN MORNING.

(MUSIC)

ROMANS: And welcome back. It's 30 minutes past the hour.

Your top stories this morning:

Mike McQueary, the Penn State assistant coach, claims he witnessed Jerry Sandusky raping a young boy back in 2002. He says in an e-mail he made sure the locker room assault was stopped and then went to police. The e-mail obtained by the Allentown "Morning Call" contradicts McQueary's reported testimony or the summary of that testimony to the grand jury.

COSTELLO: And in just about 30 minutes, the Occupy Wall Street protesters should be allowed to return to Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan. That's when the park opens to the public. Demonstrators were not allowed to spend the night there after a judge upheld yesterday's eviction.

ROMANS: A live look in New Orleans where they are under a tornado right now. Just a short time ago, a firm tornado did touch down about 60 miles southwest of the city. There are reports of broken windows at high schools and damage to buildings and to some homes.

Let's right to Jacqui Jeras in the extreme weather center for an update on that frightening weather down there.

Hi, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it really is an ugly morning across parts of the lower Mississippi Valley. We've got two storms that are rotating right now. And the one that caused damage was down here. This is near the Houma airport, and that cell appears to be weakening now.

And then the second one right here that includes Orleans Parish, the city of New Orleans. This is I-10 right here. And we're looking at the rotation I think just to the north of there approaching Lake Pontchartrain.

So, that's good news to see it's starting to move out of the city. But still, some intense rainfall, a lot of lightning and that warning still in effect. So, we'll continue to watch this one. This one indicate and radar, so, no ground truth just yet. And we'll continue to track that storm also to the south and west of there.

Now, this whole line has been intensifying over the last hour or so and we've got watches there from Louisiana stretching through, say, Birmingham, Alabama. All of this is going to spread east throughout the day, and it's really going to be an ugly day overall.

Now, if it's not raining where you are, it probably looks like this. That's a picture of downtown Atlanta this morning, very low overcast conditions, and Atlanta will be under the threat of severe thunderstorms late this morning through the early afternoon hours, and then that will move on to the Carolinas throughout the day. So, this is affecting a lot of big cities throughout our afternoon.

Now, the Northeast getting wet at this hour, but we think the storms had stay below a severe limit. You'll get heavy downpours and, of course, the travel is going to be real ugly.

Behind the system, very cold air moving in place. In fact a good 20-degree drop for many of you. Only 37 in Minneapolis, 48 in Kansas City. Look at the sultry air ahead of the front -- 82 in Houston, 85 in New Orleans today, and 75 in Atlanta. So, you can really se where the cold air is piling in.

Also, we've got a storm out to the west, guys. The Pacific Northwest looking for some heavy snow in the Cascades. One to two feet expected by this time tomorrow.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Jacqui.

ROMANS: Thanks, Jacqui.

COSTELLO: Who saw this coming? After Rick Perry's flub and the Herman Cain scandal, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is now surging in recent polls. But will voters buy what he's selling? The new Newt.

CNN's political correspondent Jim Acosta caught up with Newt on the trail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet the GOP's latest fresh face: Newt Gingrich.

GINGRICH: Yesterday afternoon in Jefferson, Iowa, somebody introduced me as the front-runner.

ACOSTA: Yes, the same Gingrich who was once a dead candidate walking now has a shot at the GOP nomination. Drawing big crowds in Iowa, he is candid about his near-death political experience when his entire senior staff abandoned him all at once last summer.

(on camera): Did you feel dead?

GINGRICH: No, I felt desperate, but I didn't feel dead. I've done this for 53 years. And the two hardest months of my career were June and July.

I am the only candidate running who has actually led at national level.

ACOSTA (voice-over): But with Gingrich, humility has its limits. In assessing what initially went wrong with his campaign, he compared himself to two conservative giants.

(on camera): And where did you go wrong?

GINGRICH: Oh, I think it was a big mistake in my part to try to bring in conventional consultants, because I am much like Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. I'm such an unconventional political figure that you really need to design a very unique campaign that fits the way I operate and what I'm trying to do.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Gingrich has climbed in the polls by outshining many of his rivals at the GOP debates and by selling ideas that sometimes veer from Tea Party doctrine.

For example, Gingrich would spend billions on a new federal brain science project to find cures for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

GINGRICH: The best way to control the cost of Medicare is to defeat the diseases so people stay healthy.

ACOSTA: But in nearly the same breath, Gingrich rails against the Washington establishment.

GINGRICH: The Washington establishment model is pain and austerity.

ACOSTA: Despite being a creature of the Capitol for nearly three decades.

(on camera): You're not a creature of Washington?

GINGRICH: No.

ACOSTA: How long have you lived outside of Washington since your days as a speaker?

GINGRICH: I haven't. I mean, I've lived in McClain, Virginia, for practical reasons. I did work at the Central Intelligence Agency. I did work at the Pentagon.

ACOSTA: But critics might say you are a creator of Washington. Have you spent all of these years --

GINGRICH: You can call me anything you want to, all right? None of my policy proposals represent the Washington establishment.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Ultimately, Gingrich wants voters to judge him not on his past, such as his previous marital difficulties, but on what his campaign Web site calls the "New Newt."

(on camera): Because this is the new Newt that we're seeing here? The new Gingrich?

GINGRICH: Go back and get the "Time" magazine cover in 1994 where they had me as scrooge holding tiny Tim's broken crutch and the title was "How Mean Will Gingrich's America Be to the Poor?"

One of the things the elite media did was it created a caricature of me, so that when people finally saw me in debates, they said, that can't be Newt Gingrich because, in fact, I'm very different from the media imagery.

ACOSTA: Another telling side of Gingrich's sudden surge, he plans to open up his first campaign office in Iowa next week. And he has an infusion of campaign cash to work with after raising nearly $3 million in just the last month.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Sheffield, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The Secret Service confirming a bullet shattered a window at the White House before it was stopped by protective glass. A second bullet was also found outside the window. The Secret Service says it has not confirmed whether this incident is connected to reports of gunfire near the White House on Friday. Witnesses say they heard shots and saw two speeding vehicles in the area. An AK-47 rifle was also recovered.

ROMANS: All right. At 37 minutes after the hour, here's what's news this morning:

Italy's prime minister designate Mario Monti says he is convinced his country can overcome its debt crisis. After two days of talks with political and labor leaders, Monti is presenting his new government to Italy's president this morning that includes the supposed list of new ministers. Italy's economy, of course, is buckling under more than $ 2.5 trillion in debt and very slow growth.

COSTELLO: Approaching D-Day in Detroit. Mayor Dave Bing will talk today to talk about the city's financial crisis. The speech comes days after a report revealed the possibility that the city will go broke by July 2012 unless immediate and drastic cuts are made.

ROMANS: And a little early for Santa, everyone. But a teenager was stuck in a chimney 12 hours overnight after he tried to break into someone's house. The suspect covered in soot as officers yanked him out of there.

COSTELLO: How can you think that's a great way to break into a house by -- OK. Whatever.

Talk about a deer in the headlights. This stunned animal survived being hit by a car in Huron County, Michigan. Oh, it's such a sweet picture. It stood frozen on the roadway, as you saw, nearly half an hour. A police deputy finally picked up the deer -- as you can see, he carried her to safety. He didn't want to -- ah.

ROMANS: That's so sweet. All right. And the deer runs away, by the way.

COSTELLO: Yes.

ROMANS: Waiting for the deer to run away.

COSTELLO: It took a half hour.

ROMANS: The deer has to run away. A cautious deer --

COSTELLO: Ah.

ROMANS: -- in the headlights.

Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, why do some people stay silent in the face of horrible events like the alleged child rape by a former Penn State coach? We're going to go in-depth with psychologist Jeff Gardere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Welcome back.

In e-mails just obtained by Allentown's "Morning Call" newspaper, Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary seems to contradict his grand jury testimony, claiming he did stop Jerry Sandusky's alleged locker room rape of a young boy back in 2002 and he did talk to police about it. McQueary has faced intense and immense criticism since the scandal broke for not doing enough after witnessing this alleged attack back in 2002.

We wanted to explore why some people choose to stay silent when confronted with this kind of situation.

Clinical psychologist Jeff Gardere joins us now. This is a very difficult story. There's no question about it. And a lot of people look at it in hindsight and say, why didn't this assistant coach do more?

Is there a psychological reason why maybe he didn't insist, insist, insist that police were involve, or didn't physically separate Sandusky from the boy? What could have been going through this mind to do just what on the outside looks like the minimum?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, first and foremost, I don't think there's any excuse for not separating Sandusky from this boy. This was a rape allegedly that was going on.

ROMANS: Not just making short stop and walking out of the locker room.

GARDERE: Right. We're talking about physically getting involve and separating them. Now, he's saying that somehow he did do more but we really don't know. What we know now is perhaps he didn't do enough.

There are some psychological things going on, too, as you are referring to. First of all, disbelief. He just could not believe that perhaps Sandusky, who is this revered figure on the campus, had esteemed history with this school, would do something like this.

Secondly, this thing being in his face, just not being able to fathom the depth of what was going on, that an actual rape was taking place, he may have frozen. He may have had extreme anxiety. He may have gone running out of there, but he just did not have the maturity, it seems, and he was much younger at the time, to do the right thing, which was to go to the police.

ROMANS: So, the moral obligation was to physically separate this from happening and to go to the police. But that's not --

GARDERE: Well, what would anyone do? What would you do if you saw an actual crime going on?

But we're not talking about two people fighting. We're not talking about a robbery. We're talking about a grown male raping a child.

ROMANS: I mean, we see it happen all the time where something's happening and people don't do something.

GARDERE: I think we are a society, a global society that operates under fear. A lot of times we're afraid that if we get involved, something may happen with us. We're so wrapped up in our own lives.

ROMANS: Right.

GARDERE: That we don't want the liability, perhaps, of getting involved in something else, because it's too much for us to bear, to be able to bring into our own emotions, and this is something that is extremely emotional. It's traumatic. You better believe it's traumatic to the child, what's going on.

ROMANS: Right.

GARDERE: But this also -- and I'm not making excuses here for this individual, McQueary, but there's also a trauma in seeing something so horrific and heinous going on that you're frozen and you're not doing what you should be doing.

ROMANS: I know. And there are other reports of a janitor who happened upon a similar scene, and it just destroyed him. We don't know. I mean, that man now is --

GARDERE: Exactly.

ROMANS: Can't testify, but --

GARDERE: And let's talk about the old boy network, issues of power, afraid of tarnishing something that's so huge, such as an institution, a literal institution like Penn State and afraid of getting in trouble for that.

ROMANS: And that's a good point, because back in 2008, when victim one, the boy known as victim one, reported Sandusky it was to his high school officials and the high school immediately acted, which is interesting.

With these allegations and concerns and improper behavior swirling around Penn State as far back, according to Sara Ganim's report, the local news reporter, as early 1985, and it took one report to a high school to immediately launch an investigation.

GARDERE: And when we look at that high school, that high school, in fact, may not have been indebted to Penn State in any way. That is a huge institution. If you're within Penn State, you may be afraid how those wheels may turn and how you may be ground up by those wheels.

ROMANS: I want to -- CBS spoke to Mike McQueary yesterday. I want you to listen to what he said about what was happening to him now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARMAN KETEYIAN, CBS NEWS: Just describe your emotions right now.

MCQUEARY: All over the place. Just kind of shaken.

KETEYIAN: Crazy?

MCQUEARY: Crazy.

KETEYIAN: You said what? Like a --

MCQUEARY: Snow blower.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: He's had ten years to think about this, or, to put it out of his mind. We don't know.

GARDERE: Uh-huh.

ROMANS: We're all just reacting after week. Snow blower was an interesting way to describe it, I think.

GARDERE: Well, he's talking about, of course, the fallout of what, perhaps, he should have done, what he didn't do enough of, and now, he's seeing -- it's one thing and it's horrific enough to see a child being raped, but now, to see that it has reverberations where there are so many more children involved.

If he had, perhaps, done more -- we don't know what he really did at this point, but if he had done more, perhaps, more lives would have been saved. So, on his conscience, he has to deal with eight, nine, 10, 15, 20 kids, perhaps, whose lives have been destroyed because in some ways he didn't do, perhaps, what he should have done.

If he could have done it different, you better believe it. He seems like a decent guy. He would go back in time and do much, much more. I think it's something that we all need to understand. When we see these situations, we've got to step in. It's a moral, not just a legal obligation.

ROMANS: And of course, we have three different ways we're hearing a story from the summary of the grand jury testimony, from some e-mails that a newspaper got, and from that short snippet right there. So, we don't even have the complete picture yet of exactly what he saw when and what he did when.

All of that, of course, will come out, and hopefully, we'll be able to see where mistakes were made and make sure nothing like this ever happen again.

GARDERE: Absolutely.

ROMANS: Jeff Gardere, very nice to see you. Thanks, Jeff.

GARDERE: It's always my pleasure.

ROMANS: Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Forty-eight minutes past the hour.

Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, cities across the country telling Wall Street protesters, your time is up. Now, we know what city is next.

And Hillary Clinton getting quite an aloha. Find out what had her all cracked up in Hawaii. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Nine minutes until the top of the hour. Here's what you need to know to start your day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): He's been criticized for not doing more in an alleged rape of a boy by former Coach, Jerry Sandusky. Now, Penn State assistant, Mike McQueary, is fighting back. In an e-mail obtained by Allentown's "Morning Call," McQueary says he stopped the assault and he went to police.

The Occupy Wall Street protesters can return to Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan this morning, but the state Supreme Court rule, they can no longer camp out overnight.

Crackdowns across the United States continue. A federal judge cleared the way for the eviction of protesters near city hall in Dallas. Dozens of people have camped out there for about a month. City officials will meet today before they take any action.

Several protesters were arrested after they descended on Alabama's capital yesterday. They're upset over what some call the toughest law against illegal immigration in the nation. The justice department was challenging that law calling it unconstitutional.

Duke basketball coach, Coach K, making history. Last night, he set the record for the most wins by a division I coach. The win, number 903 of his coaching career breaking the tie with his former mentor, Bobby Knight.

(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. Help wanted at NASA. The space agency launching an astronaut recruitment drive. Applicants are expected to have degrees in math, science and engineering. Carol, that means we're out.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: And you're going to have to learn Russian.

COSTELLO: I think we're out. Yes.

ROMANS: Now that the shuttle program's ended, NASA hopes now depends on Russia's Soyuz rockets to ferry crews to and from the space station.

COSTELLO: Hillary Clinton getting a little surprise during her trip to Hawaii. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was perfect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: I love her reaction.

COSTELLO: That's hilarious. I missed it the first time. That was --

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: It was a guy holding a (INAUDIBLE) wearing a mere loincloth. The Secretary of Defense and Hong Kong's chief executive during a photo-op. But as you can see, it really cracked people up. We're not sure who that man was with the tiki torch or why he was carrying his tiki torch past Hillary Clinton.

Think if you're one of these world leaders for a minute and you're in all of these photo ops. Something like that must really be funny.

ROMANS: All right. The late-night talk show host are having a field day with Rick Perry's plan to slash Congress in half and New York's decision to clear out the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: We have to hurry up, because Mayor Bloomberg is threatening now to clear the theater. I'm sorry.

(LAUGHTER)

LETTERMAN: But the mayor said that the reason people were thrown out of Zuccotti Park because conditions were hazardous, they were dangerous, and they were unsanitary. And I'm saying, if that's a reason to throw people out the park, I mean, we'd all have to leave New York, you know? We'd all be --

(APPLAUSE)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON: Today, Rick Perry unveiled a new plan to completely overhaul all three branches of government.

(LAUGHTER)

FALLON: Don't beat me to the joke --

(APPLAUSE)

FALLON: Don't beat me to the joke.

(LAUGHTER)

FALLON: He unveiled the new plan to completely overhaul all three branches of government. Just as soon as he comes over to find (ph) to remember all three branches of the government.

(APPLAUSE)

FALLON: Judicial -- the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Oh, poor Rick Perry. He'll never live that down.

Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, Wall Street protesters saying they are too big to jail. What can we expect when they all come back? A spokesman for the occupy movement will join us with a message for Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)