-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com thank you for joining us. you are in the cnn newsroom. i'm don lemon. we will start with politics america's choice 2012. election day is exactly one year from today and the current republican front runner herman cain is losing patience fast with the media's focus on sexual

harassment claims from his past. we were the first to bring you this on our show, last night. a fed up, angry herman cain struggling to change the conversation with a room full of reporters. >> i was going to do something that my staff told me not to do and try to respond. what i'm saying is this, we are getting back on message. end of story. back on message. read all the other accounts. read all the other accounts, where everything has been answered. end of story. we are getting back on message. okay. >> of course the story is taylor made for these two guys, will cain, a cnn contributor, lz granderson a senior contributor to cnn.com and contributor to the "new york times." i got your tweets. lz said we are going to need 30

minutes on cnn to talk about everything that is going on. you may be right. we will have you on twice. will, you are all excited. dising me because i'm in the in new york. how does cain think he is going to get away by telling reporters to essentially shut up about this when there are so many unanswered questions. >> i don't know if he will get away with it but i think the last few words were the crux of the issue. this is a story chock full of anonymous sources and no details, don. i have been critical of the media coverage of this because the theory impugns guilt. when you deal withal is allegations the accusation is often enough. as we saw with khan khdominique strauss-kahn, he will never be the president of france now. and with this we need to treat it with a level of responsibility and say there is no clarity or details and everything is vague on this issue. >> okay. i know, lz, you are itching to

get in here. before you do. >> he wants a half hour. >> i want to play something else when the sexual misconduct came up again. >> mr. cain, the attorney for one of the women who filed a sexual harassment complaint -- >> don't even go there. >> can i ask my question? >> no. >> can i ask a good question? >> where's my chief of staff? >> i'm right here. >> please send him the journalistic code of ethics. >> i have a copy of the society of journalism code of ethics here. it says the cain camp e-mailed them this last night and you can find it on-line easily. there are four head lines and it says seek the truth and report it. journalists should be honest, fair, courageous in gathering and interpreting information. minimize harm. ethical sources street sources subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving respect. act hindly journalists should be

free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know. be accountable. journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners and viewers with each other. how did anyone in that room violate the code of ethics? >> absolutely not. and the fact that herman cain is trying to make it about journalism and the main stream media to borrow a line from our girl sarah palin it shows how irresponsible he is. how ill prepared he is for this stage and this moment. the real problem with this is he had an opportunity to get in front of the story and now he's been bn wagged by the story and is upset about it. if i was a voter and say if this is how the responds to something that is not a critical issue in his face, how is he going to handle the real issues. to me that would be a moment of concern if i was a voter. >> we will talk about other issues later on. but there is a reuters poll

indicating that cain has lost some favorability but is holding at the top. the rest of the polls. does he have anything to lose by attacking the media? i would say it is a win-win for him because there are conservatives that say it is a liberal media going after him though they go after every candidate that rises to this occasion, man, woman, black, white, whatever. everyone gets this level of scrutiny. >> i would say you have seen the conservative base circle the wagons around herman cain. i think that is because herman cain is likable and charming and you want to root for this guy. number two, herman cain the symbol, not just because he is a black conservative but a nontraditional politician, represents the outsider. and there is a sense of unfairness around the allegations because they are vague, anonymous. i think a lot of people go this doesn't sound like it should amount to a character assassination yet. that's why you will see him do

well in the polls and i agree if he plays the media as a bad guy pretty good strategy. >> you just answered the question. as a candidate you said, listen, there's not much to these allegations, right. they are vague. and that's how the question should be answered instead of excuse me, excuse me, i'm not answering these questions. i'm not going to answer these questions. it doesn't seem like someone in a position who is running for president and who's at the top of the polls. am i wrong, lz, to me it makes him seem like he is not ready or prepared. >> no, you are absolutely correct. he is not prepared for this moment. i don't think he thought he would be this popular. >> hang on before you do that. this has nothing to do with which side of the aisle he is on. this is just how he is reacting to this. if this was a democrat i would be saying the same thing or an independent the same thing. he seems ill prepared regardless of what party he is. >> absolutely. i would challenge a couple of

things that my friend will has said. one, i don't think that everybody likes herman cain. there are some people who think he is likable and some people who can't stand his very face. and the fact he is playing politics with the allegations. i go back to what i said about this when the story first broke. he went on the christian broadcasting network and said he was called by god to run for president and that he likened himself to moses. so if someone goes in your face and said, did you do anything that may question the trust your wife may have with you. you don't say i need to see the fact and hand out papers with the society of journalism code of ethics on it you answer the question and hopefully it is a. no the reason he is doing the dancing is i think the reason he is having problems. it is because he is not being honest and straightforward. >> we have to go but i will give you the last word because we are going to come back. >> herman cain is certainly been

guilty of being unprepared on many issues, but when we talk about how to handle crisis and is a sex scandal, i don't think we can point to a politician who has laid the ground work on how to handle. this do you think bill clinton and his circle said going to the lewinsky deal, let's challenge the word is. there's not a model. >> you would think people would learn from it. it is not that it happened, usually the denial. it is usually how you deal with it. we will talk more about this, will, lz, stick around. we will bring you back in a few minutes. while herman cain received so much attention this week, what about other gop candidates? what are they been up to? we will see you shortly. thank you. by this time tomorrow, greece could have a new prime minister george papandreou says he will step down in greece accepts the $178 billion bailout deal

negotiated with european leaders. the stakes are high. not just for greece but all of europe and the u.s. we are joined from athens with the latest on this. most of all people are concerned how it is going to affect me. how will it affect the rest of the world? >> reporter: i think it will be a positive. basically europe has been looking for greece's politicians to finally put their differences behind them. in the parliament behind me, for the last week, few months it's been an incredible political drama, almost a political fiasco where these parties have been bickering, fighting amongest each other and never managing to come to an agreement, despite the fact the rest of europe has been going to immense effort to get a bailout deal in place which greece can agree to which can try to get greece out of the massive debt problems.

finally in the 11th hour on the sunday night before the markets open on monday morning, there does seem to be an agreement reached. where by the opposition, the ruling party says okay, we will get rid of this government. there will be a new interim government for the period that we can implement the bailout deal to save greece. after that we will hold new elections and mr. papandreou, the prime minister will not be a leader. possibly a good thing. so many people in the country are fed up with him. he seems to have lost the respect of european counterparts having flip flopped all over the place in the last week of what greece was and wasn't going to do in terms of the bailout. so perhaps this is a fresh start. if that is a reassurance it is a signal that greece is trying to send right now. >> aappreciate the reporting. we will ask why should americans care what happens in greece. even though it is relatively a small economy, it could bring down other larger economies if it collapses and that's a big concern for the u.s.

cnn's jim baldwin explains. >> it will be difficult for the euro to survive and greece to survive if it goes bankrupt. recession could come to europe and affect the european markets and the u.s. market. just i think of what happened after lehman brothers collapsed in 2008. that is what upset so many people at the g-20 summit earlier this year and that's what upset the markets. it became clear that greece's government was having a hard time sticking together. now we will have to see in the coming days whether a new government can be formed and then they will start debate on this unpopular us a terry package. >> thank you very much, jim. next hour, the managing editor of cnn money.com will join us to explain how the greek crisis could impact your wallet. a rare earthquake shakes residents of oklahoma and causes a lot of damage. a live report is next. penn state university is in shock over sex abuse charges

against a former assistant football coach. but actually we do -- and my kids would be like, "awesome, mom!" oh! i did not see that. [ male announcer ] layaway's back for christmas in our toys, electronics, and jewelry departments. [ male announcer ] layaway's back for christmas [ stu ] yeah. it's electric. i don't think so. it's got a gas tank right here. electric tank, right over here. an electric tank? really, stu? is that what you pour the electricity in? it's actually both, guys. i can plug in and go 35 miles gas free, or i can fill up and go a whole lot farther. is that my burger? oh. i just got bun. i didn't even bite any burger.

two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

it was literally a rock 'n' roll night in central oklahoma after the strong theest earthquake in the state's recorded history hit minutes before midnight. the 5.6 magnitude earthquake was the second one to hit the state in less than 24 hours, but this one played out on live tv. i want you to look at a late-night newscast. >> having an earthquake right now. our lights shaking quite a bit here. it is now calming down as another earthquake has just hit. i still hear a few lights rat nlg our studio. we will if you can see our duratran is shaking here in

oklahoma city. we do not know the epicenter as it just happened. >> let's go to jerky jer ras. no report -- let's go to jacqui jeras . you count see it but when they pointed to the set you could see it. i was watching espn after the lsu game and the guy in oklahoma said i have no idea what you just asked me because i think we were in the middle of a earthquake. >> it was a scary thing. quite a bit of damage. mostly cabinets opening up and food falling out. some chimneys were damaged and did go through the roof of a house as a result of that. one injury did hear somebody bumped their head but minor. so nothing serious. and that is good news. also some roads buckled. highway 62, a pretty main road buckled in several places because of the 5.6 magnitude earthquake. it was the second one in less than 24-hour period and there have been a number of

aftershocks, too. as we go to our map and i will show you google earth. this is the area we are talking about. this is 50 miles outside of oklahoma city. the dots, the colors represent how recent those after shocks have been. there you can see the 4.7 and followed by the 5.6. the 4.7, by the way, we would call it a four shock. you think, oklahoma, earthquake, what are you talking about? they are common but usually so weak that most people don't feel them. last year there were 1,000 earthquakes in oklahoma. and the structure of this is there is a bunch of old ancient faults and they are much smaller, a couple in the area and they are very old. generally don't create strong earthquakes. let's talk about the magnitude. we will look at the 5.6 and that does cause some damage to buildings, but the aftershocks we have been seeing in the 3.0 range or so, maybe minor damage but not everybody would feel

something like that to put it in perspective. the way the ground is east of the rockies urks you can feel it four or five times west of the rockies. people felt it in texas t iowa all the way in illinois ill. that was hundreds of miles away. interesting. one other note i want to show you, this is really cool. doppler radar can detect things in the air like bugs and birds. when a earthquake happens, what happens to all of the bugs and the birds? they go flying in the to the air. we will advance this and show you what it looked like after the earthquake and there you can see them detected by doppler radar. you may say why is it so far from the earthquake, because the radar beam goes higher up in elevation so they didn't see them that low because it is shooting too high. >> very cool. >> isn't that neat. >> glad nobody is hurt. >> there will be more aftershocks, too in the coming weeks and months. >> thank you. >> sure. >> the college sport s world is

reeling from child sex abuse allegations from the excoach of the nittany lions. sandusky was arrested for allegation of sexual abuse on young men. he allegedly met them through an organization he founded for children in 1997. sandusky is out of jail on $100,000 bail. his lawyer says he maintains his innocence. also involved in the case, penn state's athletic director tim curly and jerry shultz the senior vice president for finance and business. both are charged with pergry and failing to report an investigation in to the allegations. susan candiotti has been digging around in the case and she is joining us from new york. what are people saying how penn state handled the sex abuse allegations. >> people who work with sex

abuse victims are among those questioning how penn state dealt with this. for one thing, penn state officials, according to the grand jury report said they thought the alleged sex assault by a coach in a locker room was "horsing around" and that's why the university told the jury it didn't try to identify the boy. some question at why penn state the didn't at the least ask police to look to why a former coach and a boy were in a locker room n a shower room, after hours. >> we see many institutions, whether they are large or small, deciding to take action to protect their reputation and their best interest first before the safety of a child. >> so far the university's president is saying very little. only issuing a statement. it says the two penn state officials charged have his unconditional support, don. >> susan, of course we have to talk about joe paterno.

is he saying anything tonight? and could he have done anything more than report this to the athletic director? >> that's what a lot of people want to know. when one said that he was a witness to him having sex allegedly with a boy. he did report it. he did not have a legal obligation to do anymore but some wonder about moral or ethical obligations saying whether he could have, should have have done more to follow up and should he resign over this. >> susan candiotti following the story from new york. thank you very much. up next a landslide that killed at least 18 people. rescuers are working to remove rubble piece by piece in search of survivors.

there are growing fears in thailand as floodwaters creep closer to the center of the capital. much of bangkok is under an evacuation order right now. people who aren't ordered to leave are scrambling to protect their homes and businesses. bangkok's governor says it may take months to drain all of the water out of the city. the death toll from months of flooding has reached 506. in colombia, this is a frantic search for survivors after la landslide buried more than a dozen homes.

red cross officials say 18 people have died and many more are trapped under mounds of earth. 100 rescuers are working around the clock at the disaster site. they say they are hopeful survivors will be found. five people were pulled out alive last night, 15 hours after the landslide hit. the arab league is blasting syria saying it's failed to fulfill its promise to end a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters. ministers scheduled a meeting on the issue this week. today there was more bloodshed on the syrian streets, even as the country marked an important religious holiday. >> reporter: in the damascus suburb, the sound of intense gun fire pierced the air. demonstrators scrambled for cover following dawn prayers on what should have been a moment of celebration. it's the first day of a muslim

holiday. in other areas they were spared the bullets forrer now. but rather than commemorating was one of islam's holiest times, demonstrators in syria mourned new martyrs and the price they continued to pay for their dissent. last week, the syrian government agreed to an arab league proposal that would have ended the violence and would have seen the withdrawal of the sere yalian military forces from cities. instead, activists say in many areas the military beefed up its presence, like the flash point city. the voice on this video says these are the reconciliations the syrian army promised us. in this clip, the poster reads, what kind of -- my father detained. >> activists say it is a mere fraction of those who remain behind bars.

demonstrators carried an effigy of the president, the sign reading, i'm a liar, a criminal. meanwhile, on the very same day, the president himself makes a rare public appearance in the northern city as a crowd of supporters surrounded the mosque where he carried out his prayers. the imam paraded the president during his sermon for his leadership in the face of foreign conspiracies and terrorists armed gangs. it is as if syria were split this to two realities with both sides of warning of civil war. the bloodshed not even stopping during what should have been a time of forgiveness and peace. why two dozen protesters were arrested in atlanta last night. that and more after a quick break.

no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. we salute america's amazing service members and veterans with our proud sponsorship of the 2011 quicken loans carrier classic -- a first-of-its-kind college basketball game that will be played on the deck of a u.s. aircraft carrier this november 11th. it's one way for the quicken loans family to thank all of the american heroes who have given so much... for all of us. ♪

my son and i never missed opening day. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better, and that means... game on! symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it.

[ whistle ] with copd, i thought i might miss out on my favorite tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today i'm back with my favorite team. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. let's check the head liebs. 19 occupy protesters were arrested in downtown atlanta saturday night. according to police, protesters wither given verbal warning to be out of the park by 11:00 p.m. or face arrests. leading some to pour in to the streets disrupting traffic. one protester was charged with aggravated assault and obstruction for assaulting a motorcycle officer. crooner andy williams is

battling bladder cancer. he revealed it on saturday night. a reporter from the branson trilake news says that williams told the audience that people with bladder cancer are beating it and i'm going to be one of them. williams starred in the andy williams show during the 1960s. today's ing new york city marathon is one for the record books. look at that. kenyan geoffrey mutai shave toledo minutes from the previous record set in 2001. this year's 47,000 runners is a far cry from the 127 that ran in 1970. a spokesman for connecticut light and power says the utility won't make a promise to restore power to 99% of the customers affected by power outages.

the governor asked state prosecutors to join a review in to what he calls an inadequate response by the state's largest utility to last week's freak snowstorm. 100,000 people are without power as temperatures dipped to the low 20s in some parts of the state overnight. a spokesman for connecticut light and power says the company will cooperate fully with the state's inquiry. >> now big stories in the week ahead from the white house to wall street to tinseltown. our correspondents tell you what you need to know. we begin with the president's plan for the week with. >> i'm dan lothian in washington. just back from his overseas trip to the grk-20, president obama will hit the road. on tuesday he will tour a head start school in pennsylvania. then on friday he heads to san diego to attend the ncaa basketball game between michigan state and the university of north carolina. from this he heads to hawaii to attend the apec forum where

trade and the economy will top the agenda. >> i'm barbara starr at the pentagon and of course veterans day is coming up. it is expected to be the last veteran's day to see u.s. troops at war in iraq. most of them expect to be out of that country by the middle of next month, but four for u.s. veterans it is still a rough road home. unemployment for veterans now at double-digits and in congress still a struggle from both democrats and republicans to pass a long-awaited jobs bill to help american veterans. >> i'm paul stein at the cnn political desk. mitt romney returns to iowa tomorrow. the republican presidential candidate hasn't spent a lot of time stumping in the state that kicks off the primary caucus calendar but he is tied at the top with herman cain. wednesday, the major presidential candidates team up in a cnbc debate in michigan, which will focus on the economy.

i'm poppy harlow in new york. coming up this week we will have earnings from gm, disney and cisco and numbers from nordstrom, macy's and kohls and on friday the most recent look at consumer sentiment heading to the shopping season which is when retailers want consumers to feel confident and spend more money. and on friday it is veteran's day but the stock market will be open. we will track it for you all week on cnn money. here's what we are watching, verdict watch for the michael jackson death trial. we, of course, will be there when the jury announces dr. murray's fate. and lindsay lohan goes to jail. we will have wall-to-wall coverage of her southern render to l.a. county authorities. catch "showbiz tonight" week nights at 11:00 p.m. eastern time on hln. herman cain's sexual harassment scandal dominated the headlines this week but a lot of people pick ed up on this, too. >> that little plan that i

shared with you, doesn't force the granite state to expand your tax footprint. you know what i mean. >> what is up with his loopy speech in new hampshire. will cain and lz granderson weigh in coming up. while some fiber ads use super models, metamucil uses super hard working psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol.

but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. i was worried it would be hard to install. but it's really easy. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. yeah. you're not... filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive.

without a doubt the most dominant political story this past week was about the resurfaced allegation of sexual misconduct against herman cain. all the other candidates seem to fly under the radar. well, almost all of them. i want you to check out part of this report on rick perry's speech in new hampshire from our own jeanne moos. >> reporter: when presidential candidate rick perry gave a salute, arms in the upright position, kiss-blowing speech, you could have thought he was overcaffeinated, but when he opened his mouth. >> the day has been awesome, girl. >> you'll never look at this guy the same way again. >> if they print anymore money in washington the goal is going to be good. >> he was loosy goosy. >> this is such a cool state. come on, live free or die. >> i will have what he is having. >> we are in to those slogans,

live free or die, victory or death, bring it. >> we always hate to cut jeanne moos short but i want to bring in will cain and lz granderson. lz, what do you -- listen, later in that report, jeanne moos said that people thought he was channelling paul lynn from the game shows in the '60s and '70s. >> who's paul lynn? >> oh, no. really? the center square request. are you kidding me? >> right. >> explain to him. >> i thought you said '60s. >> here i can explain this. one more piece of rotten behavior for rick perry. i don't get it. he gives these pathetic, low energy performances during the debates. then he comes back at the last debate and he is all angry and agitated and now he is loopy and soupy sales. so i'm not sure what is going on

with rick right now but it is rather entertaining. i will tell you that much. >> do you know who soupy sales is? >> i have heard of him. >> we will give you much later a cultural reference. how about howard dean, some people are calling this his howard dean moment. saying we are going to iowa back in 2004. >> isn't that interesting? howard dean, poor guy, had one moment, one tiny 20 seconds in a speech and it killed his campaign. i don't think this will happen to rick perry here. this isn't a good moment for his campaign. i don't think it will be the death nell, though. let me tell you something, i'm a texas rangers fan. a week ago they were one strike away from winning the world series. >> here we go. >> twice. you can not miss these moments in time. what i am trying to tell you is the republican party is missing its moment in time. barack obama is incredibly vulnerable. the republican party has a huge

enthusiasm for conservative principles and that manifested in this, rick perry, michele bachmann, not chris christie and jeb bush. >> don't you love him? he's the best. >> that is going to have to be all. thank you, guys. appreciate it. most of the week we spent talking about herman cain but then that moment came through. sort of popped up. and mitt romney waits another week to really get back in it. he is still steady. >> poor mitt romney. >> yeah. >> can't get a break. >> i could do the whole show with you guys. you are fun. thanks. see you later. coming up, how antarctica may be taking on a new shape. nasa is tracking a monster piece of ice that is coming apart from continent. we are talking as big as new york city. details ahead.

a continental divide may be playing out before our eyes. nasa is tracking a gargantuan peace of ice, that is cracking off the continent. that story first. but first we will go globe

trekking to hajj, the pilgrimage that millions of muslims take. we are joined to the hear what the hajj is and those amazing pictures we see every year. >> it's the largest gathering of muslims around the world, as you know. and this year they are estimating 2.5 million are making this pilgrimage and mecca, saudi arabia is the birthplace of the prophet mohammad and the holiest city of islam. now i want to point something out. -- >> can we see pictures of the hajj as we are talking about this. >> beautiful. >> one of the concerns going in to this leading out of the unrest in the middle east in north africa is there going to be continued violence going in to the hajj. fortunately none of that has happened this year. muslims came together and set aside their differences and it was a time of unity, peace and brotherhood and the pictures

speak a thousand words. they are majestic and moving when you look at them in its entirety and i want to point out one new feature, google teamed up with the saudi arabian government this year to live stream the pilgrimage on a you tube channel. so you can watch it live. if you go to you tube.com/hajjlive. >> very cool. let's talk about a run away iceberg in antarctica. >> don, this is quite it will rae rally a breakthrough. nasa scientists conducted overflights over western antarctica and looking at the pine island glacier, you are looking at it right here, they noticed this crack in the glacier itself. this crack is 18 miles long. >> oh, my gosh. >> and 164 feet deep. they are estimating it is roughly the size of new york city. this process is breaking ice from the glacier itself is a natural process that occurs but anytime you talk about ice

shells raises the question is it due to global warming. scientists are considering it as a strong possibility with the oceans warming up and everything. >> they are investigating. let's quickly talk about an asteroid. >> this is the closest visit we are going to have from a space rock this size. >> coming to earth. >> luckily it is visiting. it is not staying and you don't want it to stay. it is the size of an aircraft carrier and it will be here on tuesday and if you miss it the next chance is 2028. >> we will still be around hopefully. >> appreciate it. coming up, disturbing allegations against a former coach at penn state have rocked the college football world. we will have more with jon jon wertheim next. e from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet?

natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ you know what else is early? medicare open enrollment. now through december 7th. can i stick with my old medicare plan? sure! or find a new plan with better coverage, less cost, or both. medicare plans give you free cancer screenings and wellness visits

and 50% off on brand-name prescriptions when you're in the doughnut hole. it's part of the healthcare law. so it's time to look, compare... and choose the right plan for you. learn more at 1-800-medicare or medicare.gov.

the nba has given the players association until wednesday to accept a new collective bargaining agreement. both sides met for about eight hours on saturday. the first such meeting after eight days after talks broke off last month. the latest proposal will give players between 49 and 51% of revenues, but the commissioner says by wednesday it will fall

to 47%. the president of the players association says the proposal is "unacceptable." penn state's football program is reeling from terrible accusation against a former assistant coach and it is shining an uncomfortable spotlight on the team's legendary joe paterno. let's talk about it now with "sports illustrated's" jon werthe wertheim. so, john, these allegations, if true, it's just disgusting to hear. we've been following this story all week here on cnn. and i'm pointing out to our viewers that you're not only a writer for "sports illustrated," you're a nonpracticing lawyer right now. so why is this a big deal, bigger deal, than just some retired assistant coach some place facing some terrible allegations? >> yeah, you and i have talked about college scandals in the past and there's been inappropriate benefits or rogue boosters, this is something totally different.

this is a level of just sort of disturbing, shocking scandal that i don't think college sports has seen in a long time. a, there's sort of the nature of these allegations. also, this is penn state's football. this is one of the iconic college sports programs. they win a lot of games. but you know what, this is also a program predicated on sort of erectitude, integrity. to have a scandal like this. joe paterno's name is in the complaint, he's not been charged, but he's a player in this. you put it all together, and this could be one of the great, awful college sports scandals in the past few decades. >> why do you say that? >> well, again, given the nature of these allegations, and given the reports of a cover-up that implicates joe paterno, this is not a rogue booster giving a couple hundred bucks to a football player. this is just a completely different level of allegation. >> yeah, you talked about a former player or someone there witnessing some alleged indiscretions in a locker room or in a shower, you know, with

sandusky and a young man, it's just -- it's horrible. and joe paterno is a name, john, that everyone knows, even non-football fans. and to be clear, he's not charged with anything. paterno's not charged with anything, but it sure puts him in an uncomfortable spot, doesn't it? >> yeah. i mean, he's in an uncomfortable spot in the beginning. he's got an employee coming and telling him that he witnessed this action by his loyal lieutenant. that's not an enviable position for anyone. joe paterno legally seems to discharge his duties. i think there's a discussion we could be having about whether morally, there's a moral component to this, what did he think when nobody went to the police. nobody went to child services. what did he think when this lieutenant, given these allegations, subsequently came to games and practices with young boys and wonder what had the relationship of that nature was. >> hey, jon, what i do you think no one did it? no one just wanted to believe it? why didn't anyone step up? >> well, this is explosive, explosive stuff.

this is a big-time athletic program. i mean, this is joe paterno's legacy in here. you're dealing with sensitive allegations. this isn't easy for anyone. >> it's children. >> it's children. we've seen this with other institutions too. there are cover-ups and, you know, this is the kind of allegation -- i mean, frankly, it doesn't get much worse than these kinds of allegations. and i think, you know, you've got a lot of important people, why the police weren't summoned in is the ultimate question. these coaches are paid a lot of money to be the ceo of these programs. they don't score points, but they're paid like ceos to manage it and part of that means you take ownership of the mistakes. joe paterno may not have legally done anything wrong, but at some level, it's his program and this was done on his watch. >> does he have a regular meeting every week with reporters? >> yeah, penn state, ironically enough, did not play. i was wondering the next time he has to play with the media, what the nature of that conference call or that press conference was going to be, that this comes during the season. again, we're stressing this. joe paterno was not charged, but

this was his program, he's the ceo. again, given his legacy, this was the winningest coach, this is a man known for his integrity. this is just shocking, shocking stuff. we'll see, as this plays out, what the effect of this will be on his legacy. >> yeah, it's almost -- you can't even write this. it's like a "law & order" or something, where you see these sorts of things on television. thank you. don't go anywhere, jon. when we come right back, we're going to talk more about sports and about former heavyweight boxing champ, joe frazier, who is very sick. that's right after the break. s . it's his two favorite things in one... burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you. they're cute. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. actually... that way i could split my payments up into, like, little bite-size chunks. yeah, i mean you feel me right? i mean... yeah. uh, sir... ah... [ male announcer ] layaway's back for christmas in our electronics, toys, and jewelry departments.

good gravy, bill. our insurance company doesn't have anything like it. magnificent, isn't it? with progressive, it's easy to cover all of your favorite rides. progressive has truck insurance? number one in truck and motorcycle. is that a golf cart? yep. we also cover rvs, boats, atvs. anything else i can help you with? can i take a ride? you need a ticket -- i'm first! and that's by the water slide. okay. no running. oh, dear. save on all your rides. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

we're back now -- back now with "sports illustrated's" jon wertheim. we learned this week that boxing legend joe frazier is in a hospice with liver cancer. has he ever got the credit that he really deserves? >> one of the boxing tragic's figures. this was muhammad ali's great rivals, beat him once, had three great fights. it was not mohamv his rival. decades after their great fights, there was this grudge

match. and i think joe frazier was always a bit bitter. he felt he didn't get his due. he couldn't compete with muhammad ali as a statesman. neither of them now in great physical condition. i think tragic figure, is how i probably think of joe frazier. >> and the video that's up, i had the honor of interviewing him back in 2009. that was april of 2009, and he even sparred with me. and i mean, the guy could hit. i was like, if he hits me, i'm out. i'm going to be on the floor and it's going to be on camera. but he was an affable guy, a great guy. and as you said, he has never gotten over the verbal jabs from muhammad ali, as you said. he never became the popular pitchman like george foreman. people even talk about how philly built a statue to honor the fictional rocky, but never built one to honor joe frazier. is he a tragic figure, though? >> yeah, he did not have such easy living after his boxing career. some of that is probably his own

doing. he could have been a little quirk to forgive ali, ali didn't help matters. but boxing's the hurt matters. he did a lot of good in philadelphia, but was never able to parlay that into a national profile as other fighters have. the news of the past few days is tragic. >> smoking joe, smoking joe frazier. that's all -- he kept saying that, you know, when we were -- when we interviewed him. again, we hope he gets better. what do you see, though? what do you see as his legacy? he is not gone, but i talked to him about his legacy, and he thinks it's his camp in philadelphia, his boxing camp, kids who are underprivileged, who might be on the streets. do you see that as part of his legacy? >> yeah, he did a lot of good work after his fight. i think, ultimately, his legacy is going to be the guy who was the closest thing muhammad ali had to a rival, the first guy to beat ali. three classic, classic fights all over the globe. i think his legacy first and foremost is going to be as a figh