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CNN Saturday Morning News
Romney Under Fire For Religious Beliefs; NBA to Cancel First Two Weeks of Season; Job Numbers For September; Occupy Wall Street Gains Steam; Herman Cain's Rising Stock; Michael Jackson's Doctor on Trial; Changing Primary Calendar; Three Women Win Nobel Peace Prize
Aired October 08, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good Saturday morning.
Faith is back in the forefront in the race for the White House after an influential evangelical leader says Mitt Romney belongs to a cult. But calling Mormonism a cult is actually nothing new. We'll explain in just a moment.
Also, new this morning, it is all but certain now, the first two weeks of the NBA season will be canceled after owners issued an ultimatum to the players.
Also this morning, where is baby Lisa? Police say the parents of the missing 10-month-old have stopped cooperating. Some other twists and turns and new details in that case to tell you about on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Thank you for being here. I'm T.J. Holmes. 6:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 5:00 a.m. in Fayetteville, Arkansas, 3:00 a.m. in Salt Lake City. Wherever you may be, we're glad you are right here.
Let's start here at the top of the hour with Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney. He is, once again, facing criticism and questions for being a Mormon. This time it's coming from the pastor of a mega church in Dallas. His name is Reverend Robert Jeffress. You may recognize that name. You may recognize the face when you see it here in a moment. Jeffress introduced Governor Rick Perry at the Conservative Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. Now, he was critical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and told our Jim Acosta and others that Mormonism is a cult.
Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you don't mind me saying, Pastor Jeffress, you created a bit of a stir coming out of that speech because in talking to reporters, you said in pretty strong, plain language what you think of Mormonism. You describe it as a cult. And you said that if a Republican votes for Mitt Romney, they're giving some credibility to a cult.
Do you stand by that comment?
REV. ROBERT JEFFRESS, SENIOR PASTOR, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF DALLAS: Oh, absolutely.
And that's not some fanatical comment. That's been the historic position of evangelical Christianity. The Southern Baptist Convention, which is the largest Protestant denomination of the world, has officially labeled Mormonism as a cult.
I think Mitt Romney's a good moral man, but I think those of us who are born again followers of Christ should always prefer a competent Christian to a competent non-Christian, like Mitt Romney.
So that's why I'm enthusiastic about Rick Perry.
ACOSTA: But what do you say to those voters out there who say that religion, his Mormonism, shouldn't be an issue in this campaign? He's just as American as everybody else?
JEFFRESS: Oh, I agree he's just as American as anyone else. And Article Six of the Constitution prohibits --
ACOSTA: And Mormons do say they are Christians.
JEFFRESS: Yes.
ACOSTA: They say that. They believe in Jesus Christ.
JEFFRESS: A lot of people say they're Christians and they're not. But they do not embrace historical Christianity. And I, again, believe that as Christians we have the duty to prefer and select Christians as our leaders. That's what John Jay, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, said.
And, again, I think when we've got a choice as evangelicals, between a Rick Perry and a Mitt Romney, I believe evangelicals need to go with Rick Perry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And again, as we mentioned, this is not the first time Romney has come under attack for his beliefs, though the first time that Mormonism has been a part of a presidential campaign. He faced this same type of criticism when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination four years ago. And a lot of people just had questions. A lot of voters out there just don't know a whole lot about Mormonism. And it even caused one voter, you may remember this, to react to Mitt Romney this way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hello, sir. How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm one person who will not vote for a Mormon.
ROMNEY: Oh, is that right? Can I shake your hand anyway?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, you see it there. But a little about Mormonism. Again, it's a religion that maybe a lot of people don't know a whole lot about. But it was founded by a farmer. A farmer named Joseph Smith. This was back in the early 1800s. He says that an angel guided him to a hill in New York state and there, on that hill, church doctrine says Smith found golden tablets detailing how Christ visited an ancient civilization in the Americas. Those tablets are the basis for the Book of Mormon.
Smith claimed he saw God and Christ in the flesh on a hill in Palmyra, New York. He and his followers fled persecution in New York, moved out west, eventually settling in what became Utah.
Now heads of the church, presidents of the church are considered prophets and apostles of God. Mormons believe in Christ and God. And again, they do consider themselves Christians.
Now the pastor backing Perry says basically Americans should not vote for Romney because of his Mormon faith.
We'll turn to another presidential candidate who got into some trouble talking about faith not too long ago. That was the GOP presidential candidate, Herman Cain. He was making headlines for his stance against Muslims. You may remember he said he wouldn't put Muslims in his administrations. Or if he did, he would give them extra scrutiny.
Well, that was then. This is now. He's near the top of a number of GOP presidential polls. And Friday, at the same Value Voters Summit, the former talk show host and CEO of Godfather's Pizza was feeling pretty good about his new found popularity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you very much.
Three months ago the pundits -- the political pundits said Herman Cain can't get the nomination. Herman Cain cannot win the presidency because he doesn't have high name ID. He doesn't have a kajillion (ph) dollars and he's never held public office. But let me tell you what the American people are saying. They don't care about a kajillion dollars. America wants to raise some Cain, not more money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: He got a number of standing ovations, a lot of applause at that Value Voters Summit. He continues, though, to slam the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, calling those protesters anti-capitalists. We'll have more on that Value Voters Summit throughout the morning. Expecting Mitt Romney and also Ron Paul to address those voters a little later this morning.
But right now, six minutes past the hour, some new details to give you this morning about the White House involvement in that Solyndra loan deal. They're coming from e-mails the administration has just sent to Congress. Two House panels are looking into why the White House pushed for $535 million in federal loan guarantees for a California solar energy company that eventually went bankrupt. The loan was approved in may of 2010. Solyndra filed for bankruptcy in August of this year.
Some of these e-mails give new insights about the White House and the push to give this loan to this company. One e-mail from an Energy Department adviser was talking about getting the loan approved, says the White House is, quote, "breathing down my neck on this." The White House, meanwhile, has defended its handling of that loan.
Also, it was a quiet family gathering to say good-bye to Steve Jobs. "The Wall Street Journal" reporting the funeral for the Apple co- founder was held yesterday. The paper quotes an unnamed source who says the service was a small, private affair. No details about where it happened, though. Jobs, as you know, died Wednesday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
The number of deaths linked to those tainted cantaloupes continues to rise. These are the cantaloupes tainted with listeria bacteria. Well, the death toll now up to 21. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 109 cases of listeria have been reported in 24 states and they're afraid that number will continue to rise. These tainted cantaloupes traced to Jensen Farms of Colorado were recalled last month. It is believed they are all out of the stores. But again, because of the long incubation period of listeria, people could be sick or could have eaten one of those tainted cantaloupes could be a couple of months before you actually feel sick.
Let's turn to New York now, where the district attorney there in Queens says a two-year investigation has broken up a $13 million global crime ring. Police have arrested 86 people in a series of raids that began Tuesday. They're at least looking for 25 more suspects. The DA says the ring used forged credit cards and identity theft.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "THE SIMPSONS": Someone's got to stop her from going through with this fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the fight appears to be over. The fight between 20th Century Fox and the producers of the hit cartoon show "The Simpsons." Both sides appear to have come to an agreement for a 24th and 25th season. Negotiations had stalled over pay for the actors who do the voices for those popular characters. Details of the deal, however, were not announced.
At eight minutes past the hour, let's say good morning to our Reynolds Rolf, who I know is relieved to know that "The Simpsons" will continue.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know I really -- it caught my breath there for a moment. I just didn't know how we could possibly go on. But now, things are looking good. Thumbs are up, man.
Hey, weather is looking kind of interesting in parts of the country. You might think on the surface things would be sort of bad with the possibility of heavy rain into the central and southern plains. But then when you think about what a dry summer it's been, and now we're making that transition into fall, we have got heavy rain in store for that part of the world. Certainly some good reason -- it's a good reason for cheering there. But is it a little bit too late for a lot of the farmers and ranchers? We're going to have more on that coming up in a few moments, T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds, a simple question for you. You and I are in business together and we say, hey, we're going to split the profits 50/50. That sound like a good deal?
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: Absolutely. Sounds great.
HOLMES: Well, to most people it might be. But for the NBA players and the owners, that ain't good enough. 50/50 won't get it done. The owners give that offer and issue an ultimatum to the players. The players say, no. And you know what it means now? It's all but certain the first two weeks of the NBA season will be canceled. The very latest, next. Stay with me. It's nine past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And 11 minutes past the hour. A lovely good morning to Atlanta, Georgia. Downtown. Sun not coming up just yet.
Reynolds, the Atlanta Hawks, it might be a minute before (ph) they play again or anybody plays in the NBA for that matter.
WOLF: Deeply unfortunate.
HOLMES: It is unfortunate. And people always see this has a matter of millionaires and billionaires fighting. But, for them, this is their livelihood, this is their living down the road. For future generations, they're trying to get the best deal they can.
But what we're talking about here is that it appears all but certain that the NBA is going to have to cancel its first two weeks. A meeting between the NBA and the players union. They were going to try to get together this weekend to talk about a labor deal, but according to the owners, the players union said we don't even want to meet this weekend after the owners issued a bit of an ultimatum, saying, hey, we're going to split the money 50/50. We're not going to talk about anything else. The players wanted more of a cut of the revenue than 50/50. It had been, what was it, 53/47. And they were going back and forth. And 50/50, not good enough.
So now here's a statement from Tim Frank with the NBA. He says, "we told the union today we were willing to meet as early as Sunday. We also advised them that we were unwilling to move above the 50-50 split of revenues that was discussed between the parties on Tuesday, but that we wanted to meet with them to discuss the many remaining open issues. The union declined."
That's it, folks. We've going to have to canceled it looks like, Reynolds, the first two weeks. Who knows what after that. We just get (INAUDIBLE).
WOLF: Do you find it weird that we had a lot going on early this year, obviously, with the NFL and now we're having this.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: It seems like a lot of things are coming to an head.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: And you think of all sides kind of whining a bit. Who suffers the most? The fans.
HOLMES: The fans.
WOLF: The fans always suffer the most.
HOLMES: So, hey, we've got college football. We've got the NFL will carry us through. Then you've got -- then college basketball will come along as well. But it's unfortunate after the great --
WOLF: Truly.
HOLMES: Season they had last year to just -- might have a works (INAUDIBLE). A lot of people think they won't start playing basketball again until the beginning of the year. We shall see.
Did you see the game, stay up for the baseball last night?
WOLF: I did not. Some people sleep.
HOLMES: Oh.
WOLF: Yes, I know -- I know you're like a vampire. You're always up. You're always awake. And you saw great baseball.
HOLMES: A couple of good ones last night. A lot of people consider this a major upset. Don't tell that to St. Louis, though. They beat out the much favored Philadelphia Phillies in the deciding game five of the National League series. They were heavily favored, the Phillies were. The Cardinals just barely got into the playoffs. So now Milwaukee will be in. They will play Milwaukee for the National League championship series. That does start up on tomorrow.
The Brewers game last night was really probably the most exciting of the evening, even with a walk-off winner. They went into extras, by the way.
Also, this is pretty cool. Look at what happened at the White House yesterday. You know they always have champions there. Super Bowl champions and college champions. That's the '85 Bears you're looking at. Finally made a trip to the White House. Now they missed the trip back in 1985 after they won the Super Bowl because of the Challenger disaster that took place just days after the Super Bowl. They'd won. So it had to be canceled. It never got back on the schedule. Now, after all these years, and they have a guy from Chicago in the White House, this worked out perfectly, didn't it?
WOLF: Unbelievable. Too bad that Walter Payton didn't live to enjoy this. I mean what an amazing player. What an amazing man. But this is cool. This is a great thing to see the Bears finally get their due, to get -- what am I saying, to get their due. Come on, they're the Bears. They have plenty, plenty of thumbs up all around. But, yes, this is certainly a good moment, especially if you're a Chicago guy.
HOLMES: All right, and, Reynolds, we will be back with you with some weather in a little while. But what do we need to be keeping our eyes on weather wise?
WOLF: The biggest thing we're going to be seeing is that heavy rainfall possibly in parts of the U.S. and that's also the spot where we're going to see the best chance of delays from Dallas to Oklahoma City. It's going to be kind of tough there. But if you're traveling anywhere on the East Coast or West Coast, conditions are going to be phenomenal. Not just today, but through the weekend.
But you're also going to be feeling in parts of Texas, even here in Atlanta, a little bit higher humidity. It's been nice, crisp, fall weather, but it's going to be like a little bit more spring like, so to speak. But if you're a football fan, namely for Auburn or, say, Arkansas, boy, this should be pretty good up in Fayetteville today.
HOLMES: Thank you, Reynolds.
WOLF: He's a Razorback fan.
HOLMES: Thank you, Reynolds.
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: And we'll check in with Reynolds plenty throughout this morning.
We're at a quarter past the hour right now.
And it's only a couple of weeks old, but already showing some age. The "Occupy Wall Street" movement getting bigger and we're seeing demonstrators with a bit more maturity, shall we say. Stay with me on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: So, 17 minutes past the hour now and some positive jobs numbers to tell you about. Employers added 103,000 new jobs in September. That did not, however, make a dent in the unemployment rate, which sat at 9.1 percent. Now the people hurting most are African-Americans and Hispanics. Tom Foreman now with the breakdown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When President Obama took office, the unemployment trend line was already headed up and it has continued going up quite some time and leveling out up here. The only thing it's really not doing much of is dropping. We're still at 9.1 percent.
But context really matters here. Let's look at the months that we've had since the Obama administration began. A lot of months of job losses here. Then the stimulus came along. Some job growth. After that, more job losses. And now, job growth over here.
But why do I say context? I say context because, at the same time, more Americans are entering the workforce looking for jobs. So the simple fact that we're creating jobs in times like this is not necessarily enough. If you want to keep up with all those people entering the job market, you have to get above this red line right here.
And you can see that sometimes we do, a lot of times we don't. And even when we're in this area, it's just the status quo. We're simply not getting worse, not getting better. We've got to get all the way up here in terms of monthly job creation. And the truth is, we have to get there for many months to make up for all the losses we've seen.
So, who's being hurt the most as we continue looking at the context of all of this? Well, African-Americans are getting pounded here. Sixteen percent unemployment. Pushing up towards 17 percent. Hispanics behind them by a bit. Asians and whites actually a little bit below the national average.
And wages, that's another way of looking at it here. Before the recession, from 2001 to 2008, who was getting more jobs? Higher wage earners, lower wage earners. Mid wage, not so much, $35,000 to around $70,000, they really weren't getting much. But when the recession came, look what happened, they were the ones who got pounded. Massive job loss there. And it really hasn't come back much.
Look at all those things. Consider all that context. That's the key to solving our job problems and we haven't sorted it out yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, people hurting for jobs are a big part of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. The movement getting bigger. More protests in more cities. And it's not just young people showing up. CNN's Mary Snow with the story.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., the majority of people camped out here are young people. But we found some grandparents showing up for the first time. And it's their concern about jobs that brought them here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): As protesters started week three of their "Occupy Wall Street" movement, 73-year-old Alla Heretz decided it was time she joined them. The retired grandmother from New Jersey says she's frustrated with seeing jobs shipped overseas.
ALLA HERETZ, PROTESTER: Yes, I'm worried my son, about my grandchildren, about my neighbors. I just worry about decent people who want to work and can get a job.
SNOW: That worry also brought Jim Mortimer to Zuccotti Park for the first time. He has four grandchildren.
JIM MORTIMER, PROTESTER: I'm retired. I get Social Security. I get a pension. And, you know, maybe when they get to be my age, they'll have the same thing. But the way it looks now, they might not even have a job.
SNOW: While there's no singular message among this group, 43-year-old Buddy Bolton says the lack of jobs prompted him to come here Thursday and spend the night. He says he lost his creative design job a year ago and spent his savings on surgery.
BUDDY BOLTON, PROTESTER: My personal situation is so bad that I felt like I wanted to be amongst other people going through the same thing. And so that's why I came. And I came to support and to, you know, get -- help get the message out that this is a shame on America.
SNOW: Eighty-six-year-old Harvey Hafter, a World War II veteran, is also a newcomer. He is a long time union member and lobbyist.
HARVEY HAFTER, PROTESTER: I get kind of emotional because I spent my whole life fighting these forces. And it's like a ten-headed snake. You cut one head off and another one grows back. They're insidious. Totally.
SNOW (on camera): You say they.
HAFTER: The Wall Street crowd. The bankers.
SNOW (voice-over): By midday, some still remained in their sleeping bags. The curious looked in from the outside. More unions are showing support. But some union workers are skeptical, like Rob Chester.
ROB CHESTER, UNION WORKER: They're unorganized and they're just trying -- I don't know what point they're trying to make. I think where they need to march is they need to march on Washington. I don't know what they're doing here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: Some of the older people we've spoke with say they do plan on coming back and they say they hope to contribute in some way -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, thanks to our Mary Snow.
At 22 minutes past the hour now, we're going to turn to a crash at a car race. You know, you've heard of them before. You've seen video before. But it's not just the crash, it's the story we want to tell you about. It's actually the actions of a fellow racer that make this story. That's next. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twenty-five minutes past the hour now. Kip Hughes. You know him? Probably not. But he's someone we think you should know. And let me show you why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In seven years of announcing, that is the worst one I have ever seen!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes, you hear the announcer. This is what happened just before the announcer made that announcement. A crash at this stock car race. This was at stock car nationals in Oklahoma.
See one of the cars there. It flips over, catches fire. Then watch what happens. Several people go try to pull the driver out. They're not able to do so. But then here come a guy in a helmet who doesn't seem to mind those flames too much. And that is Kip Hughes. He was another driver in the race, stopped his car and pulls the other driver out.
He ripped off the window netting. He's pulling hard, keeps pulling, until he's able to get that driver out. Flames were literally whipping around his helmet. He says he had just one thought in mind. That thought was about something that happened 20 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIP HUGHES, RACE CAR DRIVER: I always said that I would -- you know, if something like that happens, I'm not going to be the guy standing back, you know, because I was, you know, seven in the stands with my mom and my brother watching this stuff unfold on (ph) my dad. So I always just kind of told myself, you know, just -- if something like that happens again, I'm just -- I don't think, I just go and do whatever it is you can do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOMES: Yes, Kip's dad was a racer as well. That's the scene he was describing some 20 years ago. The driver Hughes rescued had burns to his hand and back pain, but he is doing all right. Kip Hughes was the offense (ph) defending champion.
Well, 27 minutes past the hour now. Police searching for a missing child. They have more questions for the parents. And one of the parents reportedly has failed a polygraph test. More on that in a moment.
Plus, Mitt Romney faced criticism of his Mormon faith four years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: Hello, sir. How are you? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm one person who will not vote for a Mormon.
ROMNEY: Oh, is that right? Can I shake your hand anyway?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the issue raised again before a gathering of evangelicals and social conservatives in Washington.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, it's the bottom of the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Welcome back, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could spend part of your weekend here with us.
And did you hear about the controversy last night? Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney again facing criticism for being a Mormon, but this time it's coming from the pastor of a mega church in Dallas.
The pastor's name is Reverend Robert Jeffress. He introduced Rick Perry at the Conservative Values Voter Summit in Washington. Now, Jeffress was critical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormon Church, and told our Jim Acosta and told other reporters that Mormonism is a cult.
(BEGIN VIDE CLIP)
ACOSTA (on camera): If you don't mind me saying, Pastor Jeffress, you've created a bit of a stir coming out of that speech. Because in talking to reporters, you said in pretty strong plain language what you think of Mormonism. You described it as a cult. And you said that if a Republican votes for Mitt Romney, they're giving some credibility to a cult. Do you stand by that comment?
JEFFRESS: Oh, absolutely.
And that's not some fanatical comment. That's been the historic position of evangelical Christianity. The Southern Baptist Convention, which is the largest Protestant denomination of the world, has officially labeled Mormonism as a cult.
I think Mitt Romney's a good moral man, but I think those of us who are born again followers of Christ should always prefer a competent Christian to a competent non-Christian, like Mitt Romney.
So that's why I'm enthusiastic about Rick Perry.
ACOSTA: But what do you say to those voters out there who say that religion, his Mormonism, shouldn't be an issue in this campaign? He's just as American as everybody else?
JEFFRESS: Oh, I agree he's just as American as anyone else. And Article Six of the Constitution prohibits -- ACOSTA: And Mormons do say they are Christians.
JEFFRESS: Yes.
ACOSTA: They say that. They believe in Jesus Christ.
JEFFRESS: A lot of people say they're Christians and they're not. But they do not embrace historical Christianity. And I, again, believe that as Christians we have the duty to prefer and select Christians as our leaders. That's what John Jay, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, said.
And, again, I think when we've got a choice as evangelicals, between a Rick Perry and a Mitt Romney, I believe evangelicals need to go with Rick Perry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Again, this is not a new idea. This is not the first time we heard someone call Mormonism a cult at the Southern Baptist Convention as he was just referring to there a moment ago that's called Mormonism a cult.
And this certainly is the first time that Mitt Romney and his political career have come under fire for being a Mormon during his last run for the presidency four years ago. He got some of these same questions, even got kind of some nasty responses from potential voters. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Hello, sir. How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the one person who will not vote for a Mormon.
ROMNEY: Oh, is that right? Can I shake your hand anyway?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormon Church, was founded by a farmer named Joseph Smith in the early 1800s. He says an angel guided him to a hill in New York State and there on that hill church doctrine says Smith found golden tablets detailing how Christ visited an ancient civilization in the Americas. Those tablets are the basis for the Book of Mormons.
Smith claimed he saw God and Christ in the flesh on a hill in Palmyra, New York. He and his followers fled persecution in New York, headed out west, eventually settling in what became Utah. Presidents of the church are considered prophets and apostles of God. Mormons believe in Christ and God and they do consider themselves Christians.
Now, the pastor, Pastor Jeffress backing Perry says basically Americans should not vote for Romney because of his Mormon faith. Well, another GOP candidate, Herman Cain, he was talking about faith not too long ago. Got him in still hot water, talking about Muslims, you may remember. But that was then, this is now. He is near the top of a number of GOP presidential polls. Friday at the Values Voter Summit, the former talk show host and CEO of Godfather's Pizza was feeling pretty good about his new found popularity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: Three months ago the pundits -- the political pundits said Herman Cain can't get the nomination. Herman Cain cannot win the presidency because he doesn't have high name ID. He doesn't have a kajillion (ph) dollars and he's never held public office. But let me tell you what the American people are saying. They don't care about a kajillion dollars. America wants to raise some Cain, not more money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: I like that. Did you, Reynolds? Kajillion dollars, raise some Cain.
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: Reynolds is feeling out (ph) this morning.
Well, Cain got a lot of attention. A lot of applause, a lot of standing ovations. Really fired up the crowd there at the Value Voters Summit. He continued to slam as well the Occupy Wall Street Movement calling the protesters anti-capitalists.
Well, 35 minutes past the hour. Give you a look at some of the other stories making headlines. And let's start with those demonstrations. They began as demonstrations against corporate greed along New York's Wall Street. But they now have grown into demonstrations across the country like this one you're seeing in New Orleans. More demonstrations are slated for today and tomorrow as the movement enters now its fourth week.
Also, CNN has learned the same government group that said most women in their 40s don't need routine mammogram tests will soon recommend something similar for healthy men that they not get screened for prostate cancer. The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force says screening with the PSA blood test results in, quote, "small or no reduction in prostate cancer deaths."
Also, police in Kansas City still searching for missing 10-month-old Lisa Irwin as her parents come under greater scrutiny. Deborah Bradley, the baby's mother says police told her she failed a lie detector test and investigators say both parents have stopped cooperating with police. The couple says that's not true.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBORAH BRADLEY, MOTHER OF MISSING GIRL: She's - she's everything. She's our little girl. She's completed our family and she - she means everything to my boys. And we need her home. I can't - I can't be without her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the parents say Lisa Irwin, the baby, was last seen in her room on Monday night.
We turn now to the Conrad Murray trial. Testimony wrapped up for the week in that manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's personal physician with a recording of a conversation between Dr. Conrad Murray and investigators. Earlier this week, we learned more about the day Jackson died from Murray's former girlfriends.
Ted Rowlands is keeping us updated from L.A.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): T.J., the Murray trial ended the week with riveting testimony from Conrad Murray via an audio tape that jury listened as Murray talked to investigators and this was done just two days after Michael Jackson died.
He talked about the fact that when he came onboard to take care of Michael Jackson, he found out he'd be giving him Propofol on a daily basis. He said each and every night he put Michael Jackson to sleep using Propofol, except, he said, for the three days leading up to Jackson's death, he said he was trying to wean him off of Propofol and that was the only time that he didn't give it to him.
Listen carefully as Murray tells investigators what happened during those crucial minutes where Jackson was unresponsive.
DR. CONRAD MURRAY, MICHAEL JACKSON PERSONAL PHYSICIAN: And I came back to his bedside and was stunned in the sense that he wasn't breathing. Immediately, I checked for a pulse and I was able to get a thready pulse at the femoral region. His body was warm. There was no change in color.
I then lifted his leg, which can give you an auto transfusion and then I continued to do CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until paramedics came. And the paramedics came. They called UCLA. They hooked him up to the pulse oximeter. He was not breathing.
ROWLANDS: The headline from this audio, of course, is that Murray never mentions any of the telephone calls that we've already heard in court. Phone calls to his girlfriends and to his office staff during those critical periods. It's something that the defense will have to grapple with in closing arguments.
Looking forward to next week, what we're looking at is Monday is a dark day. There's no court at all. And on Tuesday, we'll hear the tail end of this audio tape. It's about a two-hour long tape. We got through about an hour and 40 minutes. So we'll finish that up. And then it will be cross-examination time of the detective that's on the stand - T.J.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: All right. Thanks as always to our Ted Rowlands.
Thirty-nine minutes past the hour. Say good morning to Mr. Reynolds Wolf. Good morning, again, kind sir.
WOLF: Good morning, my friend.
We're going to be seeing some interesting weather across parts of the nation. Just the boom of thunder across parts of the Central and Southern Plains. In spots around the nation, especially Texas and Oklahoma that were as dry as could be through the summer are now dealing with flash flood watches and warnings.
We're going to talk about that coming up in a few moments, plus your holiday travel forecast - or weekend travel forecast. It kind of feels like a holiday. We'll see you in a few.
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HOLMES: Forty-one minutes past the hour. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, New York City. Lovely shot right outside of our window at the Time Warner Center in New York, Columbus Circle. Nice park in the background. Gorgeous skyline. Gorgeous day in New York?
WOLF: It's going to be beautiful through the weekend. Certainly a beautiful fall weekend. If there's anyone that's going out about to enjoy some of the fall colors up in Maine, say in New Hampshire, Vermont, it's going to be nice.
But staying in New York is a good idea, too. I mean, you can't really tell from this vantage point, but Central Park, it will be a great morning for a jog and in the afternoon, too.
Different story, though, T.J., in parts of Texas. I want to show you something, my friend, real fast. This is what people in Texas have been wanting to see for a very, very long time. Some heavy rain moving into the Lone Star State. The problem is, though, some of the places, especially near South of Amarillo and Lubbock and into the Mid/Odessa area, we could be seeing some issues in terms of flash flooding. That's going to be a big problem for a lot of people. So we're going to watch that pretty carefully.
On the other side of that boundary, we have some wraparound moisture that's forming up in parts in the Central Rockies. We're seeing snow up here. So if you happen to be a ski hound, if you like hitting the slopes, it's going to be an interesting day. Not really perfect conditions as of yet in a lot of places, but it's just going to start building. A great beginning of the season from Vail to Aspen, even up towards places like, say, Gunnison or even Sea Boat Springs, it's going to be a beautiful day for you in Lincoln Park. Scattered showers of course where it's warm along parts. It's 25 in Pueblo, expect the rainfall.
Meanwhile, for parts of Florida, the Sunshine State, not really living up to its billing today. Anyone going around parts of I-4 today, say, from Daytona Beach southward to Orlando and Winter Haven, you're going to see the intermittent showers. Some thunderstorms from Port Orange southward to Jupiter Beach, even in West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale, just keep that in mind for today.
Now, the reason why we're seeing the heaviest rainfall in parts of the nation is actually quite simple. We have this area of low pressure and this frontal boundary that extends from the central, in Southern Plains, all the way up to the U.S.-Canadian border. That's going to slowly to drift its way from west to east through the weekend.
High pressure over parts of the Eastern Seaboard is going to give you the great conditions you're seeing in, say, New York. You'll have those in Boston, too. But as far south as Atlanta, we're going to see moisture coming in slowly feeding back in a little bit more humidity at spots like Atlanta. So it's going to feel fairly warm, but also kind of muggy on a day like today, where highs are going up to 80 degrees in Atlanta; 88 in Dallas; 83 in New Orleans; 87 Memphis; Chicago and Minneapolis into the low 80s.
On the other side of this frontal boundary, you're going to have, well, a big change in terms of temperatures and, of course, the showers. But 44 the high in Denver; 56 in Salt Lake City; 63 in Seattle; 56 in Billings; 77 Los Angeles; and 73 in El Paso.
Hey, you know what? That's your forecast. We're done here. Let's pitch it over to T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, thank you. You'll see Reynolds plenty throughout the morning.
But in about a quarter of the top of the hour, Iowa has spoken. So the rest of the states can now get in line. We'll have a look at the ever changing Republican Primary Calendar. Stay here.
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HOLMES: That's just gorgeous. Washington, D.C., good morning to you. It's quarter to the top of the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
And speaking of Washington, the president, he's been pushing hard for his jobs bill as you know. He's doing it again in his weekly address released just this morning, accusing Republicans of creating the gridlock in D.C.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is not the time for the usual games or political gridlock in Washington. So any senator out there who's thinking about voting against this jobs bill needs to explain why they would oppose something that we know would improve our economic situation.
If the Republicans in Congress think they have a better plan for creating jobs right now, they should prove it. Because one of the same independent economists who looked at our plan just said that their ideas, quote, "wouldn't mean much for the economy in the near term." (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, South Dakota's Republican Senator John Thune, he had a response. He knocks down the president's jobs plan in the weekly GOP address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN THUNE, (R) SOUTH DAKOTA: President Obama's policies are damaging our economy. And his proposed solutions are not serious. It's nothing but a rehash of the same failed ideas he's already tried combined with a huge tax increase. This is a cynical political ploy that's designed not to create jobs for struggling Americans, but to save the president's own job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, Thune went on to say that fewer government regulations and tax reform will get more Americans working and the economy moving in the right direction.
Well, if you think you know which states will have biggest impact on the Republican Presidential Nomination, you might want to think again. The primary calendar seems to just keep changing. Looks like though Iowa will be a key state once again. But you never really know.
Tom Foreman with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the part that hasn't changed. You have a lot of candidates still running a race where they're not sure where the finish line is going to be. But it is becoming a little bit clearer.
This is what happened. A while back we had everybody clustered here in February and then Florida jumped forward and said they were going into January. That triggered South Carolina. And Nevada rushed in there. And now we're talking about Iowa on the 3rd of January. That's that is the closest we've come to a solid day on that, which would probably putting New Hampshire somewhere in this vicinity.
They all have all sorts of rules of where they need to be in relation to each other. But this is probably the calendar we're looking at right now. Iowa did not go into December. That's something people were worried about, so that's probably a good thing. But, there is still concern about having the front loading of January. Same as before.
Now you have the holidays in here competing with the campaigning. You have the College Bowl Championships all taking place at the same time the early voting is happening much that's a real issue that these campaigns do look at. So watch for the conflicts that build up there as we move this whole campaign season up.
Who benefits? Same as we've said before, probably frontrunners with a lot of money do better if you have a shorter race because they have to defend for a less time and they can get ready for the general elections as they can move through that process.
Voters, just depends on who you like whether or not if this is good or bad for you. And for people who want a National Primary, having this happened for the second presidential race in a row kind of helps them build their case. That, look, we're moving to a national primary anyway. Let's go ahead and get it done. But still might be a long road before that happens.
Nonetheless, as we said all along, if you're writing in your primary calendar, for the moment, keep those last few entries in pencil because they're not locked up yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, as we get close to the top of the hour now, we have not seen a woman receive a Nobel Peace Prize since 2004 - until now. And not just one woman, but would you believe three? The story next.
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HOLMES: Well, it's about nine minutes at the top of the hour now.
And the Nobel Peace Prize hasn't gone to a woman since 2004. But now it's going to three women.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THORBJORN JAGLAND, NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE CHMN.: We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That's the announcement in Oslo.
But three women now who risked their lives pushing for peace will share in this award. Now, the three women we're talking about, one, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, she's the current president of Liberia, also Africa's first democratically elected female president. She's there on the right actually. She's Harvard educated. Also regarded as a reformer and peacekeeper in Liberia.
Also, Leymah Gbowee, she's on the left of your screen. Also from Liberia. She played a key role in helping to bring peace to Liberia following 14 years of war. Also led a movement of women protesting rape and child soldiers during war.
Also, in the middle there, you're seeing Tawakul Karman. She's the first Arab woman to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize before, during and after the Arab spring. She play a leading part in struggles for women's rights, democracy and peace in Yemen.
Now all three women will split the $1.5 million in Nobel Prize money. The award chose the committee support for the growing role of female empowerment in developing nations.
Well, we're about six minutes at the top of the hour. One man has a plan now for improving the old Frank Sinatra tune, "Take Me to the Moon." He wants to actually run on the lunar surface. Yes, we'll tell you when he wants to do it and why he wants to do it. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: About three minutes at the top of the hour.
Now we want to give you a look at some stories making news across the country. Remember the name Jonathan Prince? This is the guy who ran from Los Angeles to New Orleans. This is years ago to raise more than $100,000 for Hurricane Katrina survivors.
Well, he's back at it again. He wants to run again, but this time he wants to run on the moon. You're hearing me right, folks. Five years from now he plans on doing this. He wants to run on the lunar surface. He wants to run a mile and said he wants to do it to raise awareness about space travel. How he plans to get there is, yes, your guess is as good as mine.
Also, we turn to Eastern Ohio now where multiple sheriff departments confirm they're investigating a string of home invasions targeting the Amish in one particular community there. The attacks allegedly carried out by other Amish accused of cutting off the beards and hair of their victims.
Also take a look at the picture. This gusher outside Oklahoma City, an oil pipeline ruptures sending petroleum high into the air and also into a nearby pond. Families living next to that pond had to be evacuated. Crews working still to stop the leak, contain that spill. The pipeline's owner says a contractor accidentally hit it.
