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CNN Saturday Morning News

Saif Gadhafi Captured; Saving Penn State's Brand; Coach's Controversial Comment

Aired November 19, 2011 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Just days after being fired from Penn State, we are now learning that former coach Joe Paterno has been diagnosed with a treatable form of lung cancer. Paterno's family learned of the diagnosis after a follow-up doctor's visit last weekend for a bronchial illness.

Also President Obama heading home this morning after wrapping up a week-long trip to Asia, the trip focused on job creation and cooperation. President Obama is expected back in Washington sometime early tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, an Australian reporter claims to have found this. This is pretty embarrassing here. It could be a pretty embarrassing, potentially dangerous security slip-up. He says he discovered President Obama's confidential itinerary and security detail in the gutter outside Australia's Parliament building shortly after the president's visit there no Wednesday. No word from the White House or the Secret Service.

Also, a breaking story we're following out of Libya this morning where it appears that Saif Gadhafi, the son of Moammar Gadhafi has been captured after weeks on the run. Here's a photo we have gotten. This is being distributed in Libya. We got this is from the Libyan National Transitional Council. It says that his photo was taken today of Saif Gadhafi. You see what appears to be Saif Gadhafi there. It certainly resembles the son of Gadhafi. CNN not able, however, to independently verify the authenticity of this photo.

Apparently he was caught by the revolutionary fighters. This is after a firefight in the Libyan desert where (INAUDIBLE) at least according to the transitional council that he was slightly wounded. They did have a warrant out for his arrest from the International Criminal Court for war crimes. We'll get more on the son of the former Libyan leader. What does the capture mean now moving forward?

Our Matthew Chance is our senior international correspondent joins me now from London. After all that's happened and I mean the end of Gadhafi, he's gone and the council getting a government in place, how relevant is the capture of Saif Gadhafi?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think that if it's true this time, because of course his capture has been announced at least once in the past in October at the height of the rebellion which proved to be not true. Then I think it's obviously a good thing in terms of the ability of the country to move on. This is a figure, remember, Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi, who is a wanted fugitive at this point. There's an indictment for him for war crimes at the International Criminal Court at the Hague.

And we understand from the Hague authorities now that they are in touch with the justice authorities in Libya to try and get him handed over so he can be tried there. The big question now is what will happen to Saif al-Islam Gadhafi. Will he be handed over? Will he face some kind of trial or will he sort of meet the same fate as his father did back in October, T.J.?

HOLMES: Do you think they're taking extra care, the transitional council and the military there to handle Saif, if like you said, if this is true, to handle him differently. There was criticism after Moammar Gadhafi was captured. The video appeared to show him alive and then he ended up dead. So are they trying to handle this much more carefully?

CHANCE: We'll see how that develops. Obviously, tempers, you know, emotions run very high when someone like this has been captured. I think we've seen evidence of that with the celebratory gunfire being fired in the streets of Tripoli, elsewhere as well. But obviously the authorities will be keen to show that Libya, the new Libya is not the kind of country where people are executed at will of the mob. It is the kind of country that puts its fugitives, its criminals on trial.

And I expect that given the back of what happened with his father, Moammar Gadhafi, back in October, there will be extra efforts, extra attention given to you know have Saif al-Islam is treated whether or not he'll be handed over to the Hague is a different question altogether. There's a strong body of support and opinion that - in Libya, that once - that members of the Gadhafi clan, the Gadhafi tribe to be tried by Libyan courts.

So that's a debate that will be had once this initial celebration of Saif Gadhafi being taken into custody are over.

HOLMES: All right. Matthew Chance for us in London. Thank you as always.

Five minutes past the hour, we're going to turn back to news in this country. Out of Washington, D.C., the elusive deficit reduction deal. The deadline is Wednesday. But let me bring in our Joe Johns, live for us on Capitol Hill. Wednesday deadline but in reality that's not the real deadline.

JOE JOHNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No. The bottom line is they need, in the interest of transparency just to get the information out there 48 hours before there's any approval on the super committee for what would be at least a $1.2 trillion budget cutting deal. Which has been frankly, very elusive

There's a tremendous amount of pessimism right now here on Capitol Hill but they'll be able to reach some kind of agreement that they can live with and sort of keep this process in play. What's interesting though is if you talk to members of the super committee, that's been working on this for so long, T.J., what you hear is a lot of optimism that they're expressing at least in front of the cameras.

We have a couple of sound bites and we can listen to that and then we can talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-WA): Where the divide is right now is on taxes and whether or not the wealthiest Americans should share in the sacrifice that all of us have to make. That's the decision. It's what we're waiting for. I remain hopeful.

SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA): I remain hopeful that we can meet our goal. And I urge my democratic colleagues to join us in this effort. We have was it truly a once in a lifetime opportunity to pass legislation that will generate millions of jobs, create a simpler fairer tax system with lower rates for everyone and put our government on a path toward fiscal sanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: OK, T.J., this is one of the things that really doesn't get explained on Capitol Hill too much. But why are they sounding so optimistic if behind the scenes people are really pessimistic. The bottom line is, it's about expectations and smart members of Congress know that the first person or whoever comes out first saying "This isn't going to happen, it looks like they're quitting and then they can be blamed at the end of the game for the sort of stepping out of the process."

HOLMES: OK. So we've moved on from doing the work to doing the politics that will come immediately after. Joe Johns there for us on Capitol Hill. We'll continue to check in with you.

Seven minutes past the hour now.

And I want you to turn up your television sets just for a second here. I need to play something for you and I need to you listen closely to it. This is a doll. A doll that's going to be popular probably around the Christmas holiday time. But some people are now furious over what it appears the doll is saying. So take a listen to it now.

OK. Not sure how well you could make it out. But some people say they can clearly make out what the doll is saying. And if it's saying what they think is saying, this doll does not need to be in any toy store. Stay with me on this "CNN Saturday Morning."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Eleven minutes past the hour now.

And have you heard what dolls are saying these days? There's a new toy out there. It's a talking doll and some customers are upset about what they say is offensive and what the doll is saying. We played it for you a moment ago. It's a little hard to hear. The snippet we're going to play for you. So just turn the TV up just a tad and pay close attention. Listen to what the doll is saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: What did you think you heard, Reynolds?

WOLF: I want to know what you think it said. I want to hear your opinion.

HOLMES: OK. We're going to do this one more time. It's kind of tough there. We just have to play the snippet. But it's a doll, this is You and Me interactive triplets. It's what it is. And one of the dolls talks. Listen to what it says again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. I don't know what you all think you heard. But a lot of people say it's clear to them what the doll is saying. They think it's saying "Hey, you crazy blank."

WOLF: Well, blank is not offensive.

HOLMES: Yes.

WOLF: What does the blank represent? I mean you tell me.

HOLMES: A b-word. "Hey you crazy blank." Starts with a B.

WOLF: OK.

HOLMES: Now a lot of people upset. They think it's clear what they're hearing. Again it's the You and Me Interactive Triples, made for kids two years and up. Customers concerned. Now we've gotten reaction from Toys-R-Us where this doll is being sold and the spokesperson there explains it to us this way. He says the doll is going to stay in stores and will be on sale. She says, "Any sound similar to a swear word is just a coincidence." "What you are hearing is baby babble."

So people think they're hearing something. That's why I didn't want to tell the viewer ahead of time what people think they're hearing. I want you to jump to your own conclusion. So I'm very curious. Seriously, when you heard it the first time, before I told you what the word was supposed to be or people think it is -

WOLF: You want to know what I think? I think I found your Christmas present. I know what T.J. is getting. They're triplets but only one of them speaks.

HOLMES: I think all of them speak but just one of them has a potty mouth.

WOLF: OK.

HOLMES: A bad triplet.

WOLF: We need additional diapers. A mouth diaper so to speak for that one. Something we can learn every day.

Let's talk about some weather today. Something else you need to deal with.

It's going to be really brutal, T.J.. Northern plains, you're going to have some problems into the upper Midwest. You can actually see that on your delays. Take a look at San Francisco and Boston, Chicago, Miami all expecting delays. But one of the places that's really starting to stand out is Minneapolis-St. Paul, upper Midwest. Here is the reason why it's going to be an issue.

We're going to show you again. This storm system. This is about a day ago, it was moving to the Rocky Mountains. Hey this thing was producing snowfall. Not just in inches but several feet of snow in the highest elevations. But it was also producing some very strong winds that helped fan the flames. The big fires that we had of course in Reno that they're still battling. Now although the winds are going to die down towards the west in the Great Basin, (INAUDIBLE) they're going to finally get more moisture up there. Thankfully the winds are beginning to recede - that's certainly some great news.

Meanwhile for the eastern seaboard, high pressure is the dominating feature with plenty of sunshine, a few scattered clouds here and there. The windy conditions are going to persist for the Great Lakes. But also back in the upper Midwest, where you're going to see anywhere from 25 to 35 miles per hour gusts. Whiteout conditions are possible in parts of I-90 and I-94. It's going to be the situation throughout the day and this is the reason that storm system is going to push right between Minneapolis, right near Green Bay, Chicago should be just a wind event and also some rain. But when coming in from the south. So fairly mild conditions with the windy city with highs today going to 55, 68 in Memphis. 53 in Washington, 58 in Albuquerque, 30s and 40s from Seattle to Portland and 57 in San Francisco.

All right. T.J., over to you.

HOLMES: All right. (INAUDIBLE) buddy. We'll check in with Reynolds plenty throughout the morning.

Also CNN takes its place as the knowledge network with a new show profiling exceptional people around the world. Each week our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will lead you on a journey to meet the army of ground breakers who are changing our global society. That's the next list every Sunday afternoon, 2:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Penn State is now fighting to save its reputation in the wake of that embarrassing child sex abuse scandal. We'll have some advice for the university's new president from somebody who knows a thing or two about branding. Stay with me. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We're at 19 minutes past the top of the hour now.

And right now, students all across the country are thinking about what school they want to go to, what college they're going to go to. Well, as they fill out applications, how many had Penn State on their list? But now Penn State is no longer on the list? Maybe that's just one example of how Penn State has work to do on its reputation.

So let me bring in somebody here who can help me with that. Branding expert Melissa Dawn Johnson, a friend of our show here. She's CEO and president of (INAUDIBLE) Marketing and Brand Me International. Is that real? Do you think there's some kids sitting around and maybe more so the parents saying "Wait a minute, cross Penn State off your list.?"

MELISSA DAWN JOHNSON, BRANDING EXPERT: Oh, absolutely, let's be honest here. We're dealing with a tragedy of epic proportions. And so right now, the school's never seen an incident like this, intercollegiate athletics have never seen a crisis like this. And most importantly, for the children, I mean, this is truly a difficult time. My heart and prayer goes out to them.

HOLMES: Where do they even start? They got a new president. Where do you start to get people to think differently about Penn State?

JOHNSON: Yes, it's going to take time first of all. I also think it's really important. They're going to have to revive this brand. The brand is really about it's worth. Penn State has been noted to be worth over $4.6 billion. And so right now they got to begin to rally the troops, get the right minds at the table and do what I call CPR, which is create community, create clans and actually be resilient to just keep going forward.

HOLMES: OK. What do they really need to revitalize here? Is it work they need to do in their athletic department, maybe specifically the football team, that image? Or has this tainted the whole school and it's not just about the Nittany Lion, that mascot? It's about the campus as a whole.

JOHNSON: Yes, it's bigger than football. And I think, you know, Penn State's mantra is we are Penn State. Well now it's an identity crisis. Who is Penn State? Really what does it mean? What are their values? How do they bring in loyalty? How do they bring in compassion right now? And so they're going to have to talk about the broader side of the school, which is not just football, it's education.

Actually one of the top schools is a business school, which is all around their supply chain management. It's one of the top programs. Let's talk about that. Let's have conversations about how we're going to heal but also how this program is bigger than the university.

HOLMES: OK. How do you do that? You're talking about that CPR. So what would you tell them? Who do you target? Do you make sure you're out front? I mean how do you go about - you said time, but how do you really go about making people think differently about Penn State? JOHNSON: I mean, I think first of all it's the communication, right? They've got to be very honest and very empathetic about the situation, what's happened, about the scandal itself. Then they've got to really step back and say what is our new message going to be? How do we really those are our biggest fans. Our students, our faculty, our staff, those who attend the university and their alumni. So they have to begin to get back in with them and say how do you tell your story. What has been your experience at Penn State? How do we talk about this as an opportunity to recover and to be resilient?

HOLMES: It sounds like they do have a long, long way to go. Penn State University. All right. Melissa Dawn Johnson, good to have you here in studio with us.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

HOLMES: Thank you so much. We'll see you again plenty I'm sure.

Also coming up, we'll share some of your comments on a story you all have been talking about this morning with me. The controversial comments from a coach, a high school coach telling a student that he's going to end up on welfare. And yes, it was caught on camera. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welfare recipient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Students that don't get their grades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Yes. We'll show that to you, explain the story. We'll also have your comments and tell you why a racial harassment complaint has been filed against that coach. Stay with us on this "CNN Saturday Morning."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. We get close to the bottom of the hour.

High school coach in Kansas City is in some trouble for a comment he made to a student that happened to be caught on camera. He called the kid a future welfare recipient. Now the boy's family has filed a racial harassment complaint. We have the story from Sandra Olivas from our affiliate KCET.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDRA OLIVAS, REPORTER, KCET (voice-over): On Tuesday, Marcus Williams, Jr., says students in a photography class asked him to pose for a picture in the hallway at Winnetonka High School. A senior says what a coach said to him next crossed the line.

MARCUS WILLIAMS, JR., SENIOR, WINNETONKA HIGH SCHOOL: He was doing - he stopped and he was like, "Hey, take the picture and when you take the picture at the bottom label it, future welfare recipient." And I was just like, I'm kind of hurt. They were just laughing. I'm like trying to play it off, laughing with them.

OLIVAS: Marcus says for the past two years, this is the kind of awful remarks that he got from his basketball coach, Derrick Howard. But this time he decided to pull out his smartphone and he asked the coach to repeat it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEREK HOWARD, COACH, WINNETONKA HIGH SCHOOL: Future welfare recipient. Who?

MARCUS WILLIAMS JR, SENIOR, WINNETONKA HIGH SCHOOL: Who?

HOWARD: Who? Students who don't get good grades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCUS WILLIAMS SR., STUDENT'S FATHER: This is a coach, this is a teacher, this is somebody who I trusted to teach my son. My son is carrying a baggage of two years worth of harassment with the bullying by somebody who is bigger than him, who had more authority than him.

OLIVAS: Marcus Jr. said things were so bad, he decided not to try out for basketball this year because Coach Howard often allegedly spoke to African-American players in a belittling way.

WILLIAMS, JR.: You're at your high school, five years from now, you won't make $30,000. You won't be able to do this, you won't be successful.

OLIVAS: Marcus Junior says he told the coach to stop these remarks and he didn't so this week he went to the principal with the recording and says the coach was brought in and said he was sorry.

WILLIAMS JR.: I think he just apologized to take the heat off of him, you know. That I don't think he really mean what he say.

OLIVAS: So he and his father went to the school today to file this racial harassment report against Coach Howard. They want him removed from teaching and coaching.

WILLIAMS SENIOR: I speak for every black African-American in that school. You got to deal with the parents. We see you now. It's over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: I got a lot of response from you this morning. You the viewers been writing in to me. Here's what some of you said. One of them saying "Teachers or coaches are supposed to be role models. Regardless of student's behavior, comments are out of line and degrading." Another one here saying, "An apology from the coach is not enough. He should be fired."

Also, another perspective here saying "The coach is correct. Students who earned C's, D's and F's will have a terrible time in our current economy. Education is key to success." One more here to share with you says "Just goes to show you we still live in a society where skin colors still matters. Fact."

We appreciate many of you writing in. Some of you, again, the coach said people who don't make good grades are going to end up being welfare recipients. But no matter what context some of you are saying as well the comments were just out of line.

Well, coming up here in our next hour, somebody has been a friend to the show over the years. Excited to talk to her again. Victoria Rowell, actress. You know here well, from the soaps but also from a couple of books she's written that past couple of years. She's joining me to talk not about acting, not about books but about national adoption day. The topic certainly that is very close to her heart.

Victoria Rowell joining me when we continue here at the top of the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Of course, Reynolds Wolf will be back with us as well. We'll have the very latest for you on all things related to your day's news. So we'll see you here shortly right now.

Let me hand it over to "YOUR BOTTOM LINE."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)