approaching the cockpit and radioed air traffic control. i hope you got that. listen to this. >> 6132. we're at 180 knots, 10,000 feet. can we leave the frequency for a minute? we are going to try to contact dispatch. the captain has disappeared in the back and i have someone with a thick, foreign accent trying to access the cockpit right now and i got to deal with the situation. >> the pilot was able to get out and the plane landed safely. >> the man with the heavy accent was just trying to help the pilot get out of the bathroom. that will wrap it up for us on "american morning." "cnn newsroom" starts right now with fredricka whitfield. >> we'll begin in the very place you were leaving off in new york, in what could be an ugly turning point in the "occupy" movement. seize control of a public square across from city hall. demonstrations first cropped up two months ago today.

tensions have been building ever since. mary snow is there witnessing the protesters and she's joining us there by phone. so, mary, give me an idea of what the police presence is like and is this crowd growing? >> it's been a massive crowd this morning, fredricka. down here in lower manhattan in the surrounding blocks around the new york stock exchange. we are on one intersection where there has been pretty much a standoff between police and protesters and there was a barricade up preventing them from going any closer to the new york stock exchange and on the last few minutes we have seen some arrests. people were carried out and how we have seen, also, more police showing up at this intersection where we are with handcuffs. the police got on the loud speaker just a short time ago telling protesters to get on the sidewalk. they have blocked the

intersection in this block right near the stock exchange and it's pretty much protesters just kind of in this standoff with police. it's been, you know, a very charged atmosphere. certainly tense at times. but mostly peaceful. you might hear in between chanting there is fans behind me. you're hearing that music. but this is just the first of the number of events today that protesters plan to hold in new york city. >> so, mary, among the other events for lack of a better word that some of these demonstrators are planning is to actually disrupt the commute, the evening commute at the brooklyn bridge. what more are you hearing about that for later today? >> yeah not just the brooklyn bridge, fredricka. they're planning to go into several subway stations throughout new york. and then around rush hour march on the brooklyn bridge connecting brooklyn and

manhattan, the city and police have already told them that they cannot block traffic on that bridge. where the arrest several weeks ago, there has been a more massive march in lower manhattan. so, there are a number of protests throughout the day and this, of course, coming just two days after the city evicted protesters from zuccotti park and they can protest there, but they can no longer camp out there. and some of these protesters are saying that after that eviction, this has given them more resolve. this protest has been planned because it is the two-month mark of this movement. but, they are really determined, they say, just to show their force here in new york today. >> mary snow, thanks so much. as we look at live pictures, thanks to our affiliate there of lower manhattan. we were just witnessing while you were talking, mary, what appeared to be the arrest of at least one person there.

it's unclear exactly why, but we saw that one person being handcuffed and then police then escorting another person who was in a wheelchair out. not sure what that resulted in, but we'll keep you posted. meantime, alison kosik is also in lower manhattan, but at the new york stock exchange. alison, what might security be like there? >> it's very tight and we talked with the officials from the new york stock exchange and they said, hey, it's business as usual, but it certainly doesn't seem that way as you try to get to the new york stock exchange. i, for one, had to walk quite a ways because a lot of the streets are literally closed off surrounding the stock exchange and then when you finally get close enough, it's literally fortified. the building, the perimeter is fortified by nypd officers. also, a lot of media vans, as well, also surrounding the perimeter, as well. i had to show my i.d. several times to get close to the building to the new york stock

exchange and then when i got in and got a bird's eye view, interesting to see. pretty much each corner of the building here, especially at each entrance, you would just see huge groups of nypd officers just standing in mass, sort of a show of force. many of them on horseback. really just a show of force here as these protesters say that they want to shut down the new york stock exchange before the opening bell. opening bell happening in about 25 minutes. and a lot of people are pretty skeptical about whether or not they'll be success on that. i took pictures out here of the officers on horseback and how many officers are here and it's amazing and i did not see one protesterser as i walked towards the building. nypd is running a tight ship today, fredricka. >> the pictures that we're seeing you took. the still pictures. if we can go back to that. those were images of the assembly of these mountain police officers and other police officers. this is kind of, i guess,

unfolding that area is almost like a command post or a starting point for those officers? >> stay on that picture. you see this picture here with these officers on horseback. this is one of the entrances to the stock exchange. and you see they are just fanned out, just one of many entrances and they're saying, you know what, you won't be able to get through here. but even beyond the officers sitting there are just layers upon layers of gates, which i began to see yesterday when i left the exchange at the end of my work day yesterday. these layers of gates. literally one upon the other. surrounding. literally is like a fortress here at the new york stock exchange, just in case, just in case the protesters try to make their way here. >> all right, alison kosik, keep us posted on that. thanks for sharing the images you took earlier today, as well. meantime, across the country the cities are showing the strain of this "occupy" movement. seattle's mayor is apologizing

for the police using pepper spray on peaceful demonstrators. he's asking the police chief to investigate. and this morning in dallas, police are surrounding the tent city, but not planning to evict the protesters there. the city is trying to define a compromise with the "occupy" leaders there in dallas. this morning new questions meantime and contradictions in the penn state child molestation scandal. also, we hear from the mother of one of jerry sandusky's alleged victims. we disguised her voice to protect her son's identity. here she describes her reaction to the interview sandusky gave to nbc news. >> he was upset. he was upset about it. i didn't watch it at the time, i watched it when it was on and he watched it after that. and he said that he cried. and i said, well, why did you cry? he said because i'm afraid he might go free. >> he's afraid that sandusky might go free?

>> yeah. >> and more now on other disturbing new developments in the case. the "new york times" is reporting that three years of records are missing from second mile, the charity that sandusky founded and where he met many of his victims. his alleged victims. the paper says those alleged victims were reluctant to cooperate. both the public and the prosecutors would not believe them when pitted against the beloved penn state football program. in fact, the prominence of that program prompted investigators to meet a key witness, assistant coach mike mcqueary in a secluded parking lot. today new questions about mcqueary and an e-mail he recently sent a classmate. mcqueary claimed in the e-mail that after he witnessed sandusky ra raping a boy in 2002, he went to police. this morning, there's no record of that. sarah hoy is on the penn state campus and, sarah, tell us more

about this conflict and this contradiction of events. >> well, that's right. earlier this week, the morning call newspaper, like you just said, reported that mcqueary sent an e-mail to a former classmate. let me just read some of that to you. in this e-mail he says, i did stop it. not physically, but made sure it was stopped when i left that locker room. he says that he reported it. in this same e-mail he goes on to say, he had discussions with police and with the official at the university in charge of police. now, as of yesterday evening, both penn state officials and state college police say they have no record of any police report filed with either agency. fred? >> okay. sarah, thanks so much. we'll check back with you momentarily. also turning now to presidential politics. newt gingrich has enjoyed a

recent surge in polls, but today he's on the defensive. at the very time that he was rallying against politicians and their cozy relationship with freddie mac, the giant wads dulling out $2 million in payments to his company. our deputy political director paul steinhauser is in washington. paul, how much does this hurt gingrich potentially? >> troubling for him. fred, we've seen this before where a republican presidential candidate rises or jumps in the polls and think herman cain over the last couple weeks. for the former house speaker this is doubly troubling because it wasn't that long ago that he was critical of democrats who dealt with the troubled mortgage giant and saying they should be jailed. it seems that gingrich has changed his story, first. first offered freddie mac advice and denying he did any lob yaeg. yesterday on the campaign trail in iowa he was peppered by reporters with questions. take a listen. >> strategic advice over a long

period of time. >> how much did you spend like on a monthly basis? >> we'd have to go back and look. first of all, it wasn't paid to me. gingrich group was a consulting firm that had lots of people doing things. and -- >> you did do it personally? >> is it 1.6 million figure, correct? >> i don't know, we're going back to check. >> sounds like a whole lot more than being a historian. >> look, i was speaker of the house and strategic adviser. >> you also consulted fannie? >> no. >> just freddie. >> a source that worked at freddie mac saying gingrich was on the payroll there said that gingrich offered political strategic advice, not lobbying but political strategic advice. gingrich on the campaign trail in florida. we'll hear more about this story and some of the other candidates, michele bachmann, criticizing gingrich saying he was taking freddie mac's money,

i was fighting against it. fred? >> thanks so much. i know this is not the first and the last hearing about it. thanks so much, paul. all right, tuesday night on cnn the republicans running for president will gather just steps away from the white house for presidential debate on national security and the economy. the debate co-sponsored by the heritage foundation and the american enterprise institute beginning at 8:00 eastern time, tuesday night. and we'll have your next political update in one hour and a reminder for all the latest political news, you know exactly where to go. cnnpolitics.com. reports of explosions and gunfire today in the syrian capital. details are scarce, but along with these new clashes, there's new pressure from the international community on president assad. zain verjee joins us now with details and other world headlines. zain? >> hi, fred, good morning. let's take you through some of the newspaper headlines around the world. all of these are comment or opinion pieces, okay.

this is what "gulf news" headline is. al assad has run out of options. it goes on to say, what is regrettable and surprising is the syrian president not cooperating with the arab league. what lies ahead is difficult to ascertain at the moment. then, look at the "jerusalem post." syria on the brink. the latest threat to the assad regime is multi-facetted which is precisely why it should be taken seriously. what should be cleared, though, is that a chaotic violent transition of power would not be in syria's interest or israel's. finally, "wall street journal" it says syria game change. this is the europe edition. it says it may not be this or next week, but bashar apssad is heading for a fall of syria. the puzzle for the syrians other arab states and not least the u.s. is how to get the butcher out of damascus quickly and with as little bloodshed as possible.

in spite of all of this pressure still holding out but also still has friends. number one on the list is iran. russia is still a really strong ally and, finally, china is saying, look, why don't you just dialogue with the opposition. the chinese are also not calling for assad to step down. china and russia are really critical players because they have veto powers on the u.n. security council. those do matter. fred? >> thanks so much, zain verjee. coming up, we'll take a closer look at the latest developments in that penn state case. we'll ask a trial attorney and former prosecutor about a report of missing files from jerry sandusky's charity and what this could mean to the case. plus, a driver has a seizure while she's driving and her car goes flying into a cold lake. she could have died right there, but the state trooper who just happened to be driving behind her wasn't about to let that happen. that story is coming up. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future.

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together for your future. ♪ all right. let's take a quick look at news from across the country now. the man police believe fired a shot that hit a white house window will be in a pittsburgh courtroom later on today. 21-year-old oscar ortega-hernandez was arrested yesterday at a hotel in

pennsylvania. police say he is mentally ill and has a long, criminal record. check out this protest in california. college students along with "occupy" long beach were furious after the board of trustees approved a 9% tuition hike. that means students will have to pay an additional $500 next fall. police in riot gear used pepper spray and batons to control the crowd. in minnesota, a woman could easily have died in her car on her birthday. that car, she had a seizure and her car went flying into a cold lake. but a state trooper was driving behind her. he and another trooper pulled her out seconds before that car sank. all right, let's talk about more new development in the penn state case. the "new york times" reports that three years of records are missing from the charity that jerry sandusky founded and where he met his alleged victims.

d.j. bernstein is here to talk about this. a trial attorney and former prosecutor. how important could those files be? clearly, they're missing. so, now, investigators are going to be hot on the trial to find out where they went and who's responsible for their missing. >> in terms of the prosecutor being together a case to show the length that people went to protect sandusky that would indicate something was very wrong, as opposed to just an innocent mistake and that's how that is going to become a significant or they may find the files. someone may have them and someone they have done something and have them at their home and finally come forward now. >> what is interesting about this article, it also talks about this code of silence that persists. we've heard it time and time again as it surrounds this investigation. but now we're looking at many entities that are possibly complicit here. we're talking about campus police that is under the microscope and even the college

station police. many including the university who may have known about these allegations but just didn't do anything because they thought while there could be charges imposed against jerry sandusky, we may not be able to get a conviction because he's so revered. in my practice of law, as both the prosecutor and defense attorney and as a civil lit g l litigator, i confronted that with clients and victims with who i represented for the state. the person is in such power with that little kingdom. whether it's a national stage or a little stage and truthfully it takes some very brave people to bust through that. and the code of silence is what allows child molestation to continue. >> adding to that problem, however, a lack of physical evidence. that, apparently, is at the crux of whether this investigation or how this investigation might be able to go forward. yes, there may be eyewitness accounts, the victims, the alleged victims, their stories.

but then how difficult would it be to prosecute or move forward without dna, without some kind of physical evidence? >> completely easy. only television makes dna think it is in every case. when i was a child abuse prosecutor and i tried, let's say, 38 child molestation trials in a short period of time, none of them had dna. the word of the victim is enough to convict someone. and add to it here something that you never have, which is someone saying, i saw it happen. that, you know, changes the dynamics completely. what really the concern, you know, we have this interview of sandusky now who says he was in the shower. who he says, you know, slapping the towel. what's interesting to me about that interview is it was a very careful interview to get around the legal issues here. which is, it's not just that you were alone in a shower with a child, but that you had the intent, the sexual intent there and that interview was

significant because it shows where the defend -- >> did it show intent? >> that's what the defense was trying to do. now, why in the world they ever did it on national television and not save that for the courtroom, i have no idea. >> interesting. >> that's what is significant there. not so much not having the dna or the physical, but since they've got him cold in the shower, so to speak, they have to try to say, well, it was innocent as opposed to meant for a purpose of sexual assault, which is what the criminal statute would require. >> interesting. all right, b.j. bernstein, thanks so much. fascinating. all right, i think we're going to move on now to oil prices. soaring to a three-month high topping $100 a barrel. we'll go to the new york stock exchange for a look at what it could mean for gas prices, next.

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it's the two-month anniversary of the start of the "occupy wall street" movement and you're looking at live pictures right now and how demonstrators are trying to kick it up a notch. their plan today is to try to disrupt a lot of wall street business today on what they're calling a day of action. among the plans, protesters say they're hoping by evening rush hour to disrupt subway traffic, as well as a vehicular traffic, as well as possibly shutting down or disrupting the brooklyn bridge. we've got our own correspondents on our the ground there keeping close watch on the activity taking place there in the streets of lower manhattan as well as from the point of view from inside the new york stock exchange. it appears, as though, the numbers have swelled quite a bit this morning. you see police presence.

there are mountedplice, as well as a number of policemen on foot, as well, trying to keep the peace there. it is unclear exacly what will unfold today. what we do know is that this is two-month marker of the start of the "occupy" movement that really has spread across the country from coast to coast our alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. you described police presence and took pictures of your own. we shared them and protesters outside the buildings and barricades being put up. meantime, business does move on. we're talking oil, crude oil right now. that's the focus of attention inside there at the new york stock exchange. crude crossing the $100 a barrel mark yesterday. tell us more. >> you know, that milestone there that you're talking about with oil hitting $100 a barrel. it's more of a psychological milestone. we haven't seen it happen since july. in this case it's tough to pin

it on one reason that is really driving prices higher. one reason could be that there have been some encouraging u.s. economic reports that the thinking here is that the better the economy gets, the greater the demand for oil and then gas. and this is despite the fact that oil supply seems to be in check. so, you see how prices have gone over the past month. they're up 17%. now, analysts are split on how it will wind up affecting gas prices. some say gas could rise a few cents and others say it tops $4 a gallon. right now national average $3.49 a gallon and this, fredricka, when you go to the dwas station, you know, the price seems to change day by day. same with oil. day-by-day thing and things can change quickly as far as oil goes. >> a couple economic reports out this morning, jobless claims and home construction all being impacted. what do they say about the recovery, so to speak. >> yeah, so they say the recovery is, plotting along, as

one way to put it. we have some new reports telling us that. new jobless claims continue to fall last week. that's a good sign because it shows fewer people are being laid off. we also got another report on what's being called housing starts. that's actually new home construction. that number fell but didn't fall as much. you see how the bar is kind of set low these days. we also have a final report on building permits. that is future construction. that number went up, that's a good sign because that's a sign of future construction. though, we are still not at a point that indicates we're in the middle of a healthy economy. but things are definitely improving ever so slowly and slightly. >> alison kosik, thanks for keeping us posted there on all that is taking place inside the new york stock exchange. we'll keep you posted at home, too, on all that is taking place outside on wall street with this so-called day of action involving wall street protesters. all right, coming up, more politics. newt gingrich storms to the top of the pack and gets pummeled on

his freddie mac connection. we'll look at his place in the republican field and if he's likely to stay there. first, jerry sandusky broke his silence. now the mother of one of his alleged victims is speaking out. her thoughts and her son's fears. straight ahead. [ dad ] ok, do you see my location on your phone son? yeah. [ dad ] ugh, your old mans kinda in a jam. yeah, yeah. [ wind howling ] [ dad ] i owe you big time. [ son ] yeah, you do. [ dad ] by the way, don't tell your mom. we'll see. [ dad ] ok, now look up. dad, how did you even get... ♪ son? no no no no, no no no. [ male announcer ] get the latest 4g phones with family tracking apps for christmas starting at $28.88. save money. live better. walmart. oh, brother. hey, guys. ni-i-i-ck.

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checking our top stories right now. the "occupy" movement is staging a mass day of action right now in new york's zuccotti park. protesters are taking their fight against economic inequality to the new york stock exchange. they want to shut down wall street. occupy subways and march across the brooklyn bridge. at least five people were killed after severe storms and possible tornadoes swept across the southeast yesterday.

a search and rescue operation is under way this morning in south carolina. and overseas, president obama arrived in indonesia in the island, on the island of bali just a few hours ago. he's taking part in economic talks with asian leaders. one by one, the republican hopefuls have seen it, zooming to the top of the polls means more support and much more scrutiny. now, it's newt gingrich's turn, thanks to a recent spike the former house speaker is tied with mitt romney for frontrunner position. on the stump, gingrich has blasted mortgage giants like fannie mae and freddie mac. now a report that freddie paid his firm more than $1.5 million bucks is dogging him. at issue, the nature of his work. >> what i try to do over and over again with folks was offer

strategic advice to whatever they were dealing with. we did that very successfully at the center for health transporfagz. a lot of it was aimed at health care. how do you lower the health cost for your employees? how do you explain what you're doing and how you're doing it? i did no lobbying of any kind. that's all i have to say it about it. >> maria cardona and will cain joining us now. is this a straight forward issue? gingrich is saying he was given political, strategic advice. he was giving strategic advice, not political advice. so, maria, would this save him from scrutiny or is this a double standard? hypocritica hypocritical? >> yeah, i do think it's hypocritical and i don't think it really matters in the minds of voters whether it's strategic or a political or for communication purposes. i think what they'll remember is that this is somebody who greatly criticized democrats for doing work with freddie mac and

supporting freddie mac and here he is getting paid millions to help freddie mac. i do think it is the double standard issue and something he will have to face. what is interesting about him, he is not good at being disciplined and he is not good at withstanding these kind of questions. he gets testy. we'll see how he withstands this. >> i don't want to talk about it any further. is it done because he doesn't want to talk about it further or is he done here? >> i agreed with maria about four words into her statement. she should have put a period right there. here's the deal, tactically. strictly as a tactical analysis, this will not resonate with voters. you need to have the word sex or do something that will end up on "saturday night live" for this to end up resonating with voters. here's what it will do? join a quilt of issues for newt gingrich, including having $500,000 line of credit. that altogether can begin to mean something to voters. i want to say this, this is the important thing, fred.

substantively it should matter. this story joins two other stories this week. solydra e-mails that they asked not to lay off employees until after the elections and the political insider trading. the point is crony capitalism. this is the issue. if you focus on the men and say we need better leaders, you're not looking at the right problem. the problem is the government involved in economics. these kind of problems will be endemic as long as you enable the government to be involved in economics. >> let's look ahead to tuesday's debate. right here on cnn, national security and foreign policy are likely to be the focus. will this debate, the performance of a debate, whether it's newt gingrich or maybe mitt romney, might the performance help solidify that frontrunner position? maria? >> well, it's going to be tough to say because we're going to have to see how they all perform. we've seen that these debates really have changed the process in terms of who's up and who's down in the way that debates

have really never done during any primary process. in terms of foreign policy, it is interesting to see. i do think gingrich will have a leg up because i think he is the smartest person on that stage. but going back to something that will said, it is the cumulative effect in terms of what is going to dog gingrich and in addition to this, which i do think will be substantive in terms that it adds to the hippypocrisy. the issue with gingrich is not just discipline, but the fact that he has been quite moderate on the issues that are so important to conservatives. he supported at one point cap and trade and supported the individual mandate, which we all know, is what conservatives hate about the president's health care plan. i think that all of those issues will come back to haunt gingrich in the long run. >> will, you see it that way? >> you know, i don't have a political crystal ball y can't say where newt gingrich is going to go. but if history is our judge and tell us what will play out, newt gingrich has a problem of talking himself into problems saying medicare reform was right wing social engineering.

it's as if you give newt gingrich a mike, he'll create the problem. also, i do agree with maria. newt gingrich has a long, long history. not all of it is pretty. the more that gets to be known, you know, that can't have a positive effect of where he stands in the polls. >> all right, will cain, maria cardona, thanks to both of you. always good to see you. all right, mark your calendars right here on tuesday night. the republicans running for president gathering just steps from the white house for a debate on national security and the economy. it is co-sponsored by the heritage foundation and the american enterprise institute. things get under way 8:00 eastern right here on cnn with wolf blitzer, moderating. straight ahead, the child molestation scandal at penn state and a mother demanding justice. >> what do you want to see happen to jerry sandusky? >> i want jerry sandusky to go to jail for the rest of his life. >> would that be justice? >> i don't even know.

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this morning. new questions about a central figure in the penn state child molestation scandal. earlier this week, we learned that assistant coach mike mcqueary claimed he went to police after he allegedly saw jerry sandusky raping boy. local police department and campus police say they have no record of that report being made. this morning, we're also hearing from the mother of one of jerry sandusky's alleged victims. she spoke to our anderson cooper and we've disguised her voice to protect her son's identity. >> how did you learn what had

happened? >> the school, well, i called the school and i had brought it to their attention about jerry, you know, calling him out of class and things like that. and the school, they said, oh, we well, it's not uncommon for him to do that. and i said, let's look at this from an educational standpoint. i had already talked to them prior and told them that i had a suspicion of something, but i didn't, i didn't want to accuse anybody of anything. but i just, something was off. and i said, you know, i told her, i said, i'm not going to accuse him of that because, i just -- what i want you to do is end him taking out of class, number one. number two, i want you to pull him down to the office and just ask him. just ask him how he feels. and that's what i told them to do. >> and what happened when they did that?

>> well, when they did, the principal had called me in tears and she was crying. i could tell she was crying. she told me to get to the school right away. so, i went to the school. and met with the guy and the principal and when i did, they told me that my son had some things about, that there was a problem with jerry and he didn't know. he didn't really admit anything at that point. he just said that he thought he needed to tell somebody or it would get worse. >> that's a really brave thing for him to have said. >> and then, yeah, it is. and then, and then the principal said, oh, you know, jerry has a heart of gold. >> the principal said that to you, that jerry has a heart of

gold? >> yes, yes. and that -- and i said, listen, i was very upset at this point. i was extremely upset and i was basically yelling at them that they needed to call the police. i said i want you to call the police, call children and youth and i said call the police right now. i said it three times, call the police right now. they said, no, i needed to think about the ramphic ramifications happen if i did that. >> what do you think they meant by that? >> i don't know. i am assuming what we're going through now. i don't really know. >> still ahead, the big questions. who knew what and when did they know it? next hour, drew griffin tries to crack this penn state wall of silence. are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world.

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yes, he's an old bird, but the 61-year-old one-time superstar could make a comeback at the movies. a.j. hammer joins us to tell us about the possible return of, i'm talking about woody woodbecker. a.j., it's been a long time. >> very exciting. well, it has, fred. it looks like woody is bringing that world famous big laugh back to the big screen. at least for one here time, i say, it's about time. illumination entertainment, which is the animation house

behind "despisable me" is working on it. it started back in the 1940s. he was a huge hit in theaters throughout that whole decade. of course, he later became a tv staple in the '50s. those reruns that we're looking at right now basically how most of us know woody, according to the "hollywood reporter." universal bought the rights back in 1985 and just now using this movie to launch a whole film franchise, fred. really the cliched reporter thing for me to do would be to ask you to do the laugh, but i won't do that, though, because it's such a cliche. i won't ask you to do it. >> i won't do it, but i do it well. i don't want to embarrassing myself. >> there you go. >> how is that? >> perfect. i knew i'd get it out of you. let's talk about the golden globes. third time is a charm, right? >> yeah, this was actually a huge surprise to a lot of people.

the host of the golden globes this year is ricky gerais and it is his third time hosting. if you told people the day after last year, no one would have believed you. he got so much criticism from the globes last year. the people behind the globes even acknowledged last year in their announcement. here's what they said, while many may welcome his return, not everybody is happy with the decision because last year his blunt one-liners caused anger and resentment. he took some shots. you probably remember, robert downy jr. called him out on stage saying the vibe of the night, as he put it, mean spirited with mildly sinister overtones. if you ask me, it takes sense to bring him back because all the controversy is good buzz for the

awards. you know we're going to be talking about, what's ricky doing this year? he's not acting at all like he's planning on toning things down. piers morgan asked if he'd appear on the globes. listen to what he replied. what if i'm not sorry, like last time? >> sounds like woody woodpecker. this is a case when you don't want to sit in the front. when you sit in the front row and there's a comedian on stage, you're going to be a target. now all the stars are going to want to sit in the back. >> this is why they serve alcohol at the golden globes. >> that too. a little sobbering. thanks so much. next hour in showbiz headlines, lindsay lohan is getting advice from an ex-madam. that's a story you don't want to miss. and tastes simply delicious.

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all right. stories making news later on today. the man police believe fired a shot and hit the white house window has a 2:00 p.m. federal court appearance in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. in new york, occupy protesters have a rally set for 5:00 p.m. eastern to commemorate the second month of the movement. and 5:00 p.m. in washington, saudi arabia's ambassador to the u.s. is scheduled to make his first public appearance since an alleged assassination plot. and we're following lots of developments in the next hour in the cnn newsroom. let's check in with sara hoye.

>> reporter: hey, fred. here we are still on the state college campus. as you know, there's been some fallout with the mcqueary e-mail. that's the assistant coach who sent an e-mail to a former colleague saying he spoke with campus officials, campus police, city police. there's a question as to why neither agency said how come nobody heard about those reports being filed. well, sunny hostin talking with anderson cooper last night made an interesting point. although people can speak with law officials, law enforcement, that there -- >> all right. we're having some interruption on sarah's audio there. we'll check back with you momentarily. meantime, we're also going to look at a pilot in mid-flight headed to new york taking a short break to use the restroom and then the door gets stuck. he's locked inside the toilet.

that's just the beginning of a rather bizarre story coming up next hour.

all right. with today's big play, hln sports jeff is with us. that was a mouthful. anyway, let's talk about penn state and the follow up to that. >> exactly. now we're talking about one of the legends, one of the former players now having an impact or at least the scandal impacting

him. the former nittany lion and nfl hall of famer frank o'harris has been dropped by a pennsylvania casino for simply speaking out for fired coach joe paterno. harris is the one who's being fired as casino spokesman. the casino says, quote, in light of the recent developments with franco harris regarding joe paterno, we've decided to put our business relationship on hold while these matters are looked into further. harris actually thinks paterno should be retired. reports out of venezuela say eight people are charged in had connection with last week's kidnapping of washington's catcher wilson ramos. he was taken at gunpoint from his mother's home. the suspects include a 59-year-old woman and 74-year-old man. to golf now. the first round of the president's cup in melbourne, australia. tiger woods shaking hands with

his former caddie. their little rift is apparently over. it was a brutal round for tiger and his partner. tiger shot way outside. ends up on the beach. they got blown out. despite the meltdown, the u.s. has a 4-2 lead. today, tyinger is teamed up with dustin johnson. >> a secondhand shake there. >> got to be polite. it's golf. >> that's right. okay. thanks so much, jeff. appreciate that. we begin in new york and what could be an ugly turning point in the occupy movement. protesters outside the new york stock exchange vowing to shut down wall street and unleash chaos throughout the city on this so-called day of action. they plan to paralyze street traffic and subway routes, rush hour. the demonstrations first cropped up two months ago today. tensions have been building ever since. mary snow is surrounded by protesters and joins us live by

phone. mary, give us an idea what's happening around you. >> reporter: police have cleared the intersection where we have been standing. there are protesters on each of the four corners surrounding police. we did witness arrests about an hour ago. we counted about 12. how many arrests there might be is unclear. we were just at one of these intersections that have been blocked. to give you an idea, though, of just how tight security is around the stock exchange, i'm standing on the corner of the stock exchange. just to even get on the block, police are checking i.d. on broadway to give you an idea of the police presence down here in lower manhattan. also, on the other side of the stock exchange, there are police barricades. that's where we witnessed several arrests as people having a sit-in and were carried out. we didn't witness any violence, but police told protesters to

clear the streets. there have been delivery trucks that have been stuck because protesters took over the street. traffic is now moving through. >> so mary, have you received, like, a clear objective, you know, from demonstrators today? what are they hoping to achieve? >> reporter: you know, with you ask them, they'll say their main message that they want to convey is economic injustice. this protest had been planned because it is the two-month anniversary. this is where the occupy movement began in new york. it comes two days after they were evicted from their home base. while they're able to protest, they're not allowed to camp there. many will tell you that because of that action, it's only angered them even more, and they have more resolve to show their force. they do plan to, in their words, occupy several subway stations

in new york later today. they said they don't want to stop subways from moving or interfere with commuters, but they plan to do that. later on today, have a protest at the brooklyn bridge around 5:00, which of course is rush hour. >> all right. mary snow, thanks so much out there in lower manhattan. inside the new york stock exchange, we find our alison kosik. before you got in that building, you ghot a clear view of police presence. >> reporter: yes, and mary had mentioned the fact that you need an i.d. to get anywhere close to this building. so because i have that i.d., i got a perspective that maybe others didn't. even getting to the building, it was a real tough struggle just to get to the building. but once i did get toward the building, yeah, they were there very close. they looked very closely at my i.d. several times. nypd officers clearly staring me

down, making sure i am where i'm supposed to be. this picture i shot, this is right along one of the entrances to the new york stock exchange on broad street. you see how new york police officers are literally fortifying almost every entrance of this building. they're on horseback. they're in large groups. they're really have a show of force surrounding the new york stock exchange, especially because the protesters were saying they wanted to storm this area. they wanted to get close enough to try to disrupt the opening bell. clearly, that didn't happen. opening bell rang as expected. inside the building here, you'd never know what's going on outside. i do step out from time to time during my hits and take a look at what's going on. as you see here, i took some pictures just before i walked in. you saw how new york police officers were at the ready just in case protesters got close enough. and they are pretty close. they're literally about a stone's throw away from this building. in fact, at least 20 protesters were arrested.

my producer david here has some video we'll show to you as soon as we can get that up. video of some 20 protesters arrested in a makeshift pen singing happy birthday. >> thanks so much, alison kosik. trying to disrupt the new york stock exchange is just one of the items on today's calendar for this so-called day of action. here's a run down of what's on tap for the "occupy wall street" protesters. at 3:00 eastern time, they plan to occupy the subways. they'll take their stories to the trains in all five buorough. at 5:00, they'll take the square across from city hall. after that, during rush hour, it's a march to the brooklyn bridge. this morning, there are new questions and kron tra dictions in the penn state child sex

abuse scandal. also, we're hearing from one of the victim's mothers. >> he was upset. he was very upset about it. he said, i didn't -- didn't watch it at, i watched it when it was on. he said that he cried. i said, well, why did you cry? he said because i'm afraid he might go free. >> he's afraid that sandusky might go free. >> yeah. >> more now on other disturbing new developments in the case. the "new york times" is reporting that three years of records are missing from second mile, the charity that sandusky founded and where he met his alleged victims. the paper says those alleged victims were reluctant to cooperate. they told investigators that both the public and the prosecutors wouldn't believe them when pitted against the beloved penn state football program. in fact, the prominence of that program prompted investigators to meet a key witness, assistant

coach mike mcqueary, in a secluded parking lot. today, new questions about mcqueary and an e-mail he recently sent a classmate. mcqueary claimed in that e-mail that after he witnessed sandusky allegedly raping a boy in 2002, he went to police. this morning, there is no record of that. cnn's sarah hoye is at the penn state campus. any further explanation about this discrepancy? >> reporter: well, that's right, like you had stated. both the local officials as well as penn state officials are saying that there's no record of a police report filed. however, according to "in session's" sunny hostin, even though somebody could go to authorities or speak, let's say, to a sex crimes unit, that doesn't necessarily mean a report was filed. so the fact that there's something not on file does not necessarily mean mcqueary is incorrect. fred. >> and what more is being said, perhaps, even on campus?

whether it be about these alleged contradictions or about new audio from a mother of an alleged victim talking about the fear to come forward and afraid that nobody would believe him. >> reporter: well, fred, as you can imagine, everybody is hanging on to every single new story that comes out about this case. here in state college as well as on the campus. so you have different student groups and different organizations all kind of contemplating going over all this new information. yesterday there was two events on campus focusing on victims of actual abuse. you do have people here fired up. emotions are still high. they're debating on who did what to whom, what's correct, what's not correct. you also have a number of groups coming forward doing different events to put the focus on victims. >> all right, sarah hoye. thanks so much at the penn state

campus. mike mcqueary's e-mail raises all sorts of questions, but don't expect a lot of answers from penn state. that's because the school isn't held to the same laws as other institutions. later, drew griffin tries to crack penn state's wall of silence. newt gingrich is enjoying a surge in the polls, but he's also defending his relationship with freddie mac, the government-backed mortgage giant paid his firm nearly $2 million. gingrich says he never lobbied anyone. paul, gingrich has slammed freddie mac and fannie maye for having ties to them. now he's at the center of this fire storm. >> reporter: trouble definitely for the former house speaker. fred, listen. we've seen this before. seen this just in the last couple weeks. a presidential candidate rises

in the polls and increased scrutiny comes on them. think of herman cain. newt gingrich, a couple weeks ago at a debate in new hampshire, basically said that two top democrats close with the mortgage giant should go to jail. since the story has broken in the last couple days, he's changed his story a little bit. first, he said he offered freddie mac advice as a historian then strategic advice. he was on the campaign trail in iowa. he was peppered with questions. take a listen. >> i gave strategic advice over a long period of time. >> how much did you spend? >> we'd have to go back and look. first of all, it wasn't paid to me. gingrich group was a consulting firm that had lots of people doing things. we offered strategic advice.

>> reporter: now, cnn spoke to a source who worked at freddie mac at time gingrich was on the payroll. they say gingrich offered them political advice. some of the other presidential can dpats are starting to get into this story. take a listen to michele bachmann. >> whether former speaker gingrich made $300,000 or whether he made $2 million, the point is that he took money to also influence senior republicans to be favorable toward fannie and freddie. while he was taking that money, i was fighting against fannie and freddie. >> reporter: newt gingrich on the campaign trail in florida today. we'll be there when he's asked more about this. >> all right, paul. thanks so much. tuesday night, meantime, mark your calendacalendar. right here on cnn, the republicans running for president will gather near the white house for a debate on national security and the economy. the debate is co-sponsored by

the heritage foundation. it begins at 8:00 eastern time. overseas, reports of explosions and gunfire today in the syrian capital. details are scarce, but along with these new clashes, there is new pressure from the international community. >> reporter: hi, fred. let's look at what the international papers are saying about syria today. these are comment or opinion pieces. let's start with "gulf news." this is the headline they have. al assad has run out of options. what's regrettable and surprising is the syrian president not cooperating with the arab league. what lies ahead is difficult to ascertain at the moment. the jerusalem post, syria on the brink. the latest threat to the assad regime is multi-faceted, which is precisely why it should be taken seriously. what should be clear is that a

chaotic, violent transition of power would not be in syria's interest. finally, the "wall street journal." syria game change. it may not be this or next week, but assad is heading for a fall in syria. the puzzle for the syrians, other arab states, and not least the u.s. is how to get the butcher out of damascus quickly and with as little bloodshed as possible. just remember, fred, syria and assad still has friends. you've got iran, top of their list, as buddies there. the chinese, who aren't calling for him to step down. they're calling for assad to dialogue with the opposition. crucially, the russians that have been big advocates and supporters. their relationship goes back a long way to his father. >> all right. thanks so much for keeping us abreast of all those developments. up next, find out why a pilot's bathroom break almost

triggered a terror scare. and we'll also tell you about storms and possible tornados that pounded the southeast when we come right back. ♪

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all right. let's take a quick look at news across the country. a search and rescue operation is underway in south carolina after severe weather pounded the state. at least five people died in the region. and check out this protest. in california, college students along with occupy long beach demonstrators were furious after the california state board of trustees approved a 9% tuition hike. that means students will tr to pay an extra $500 next fall. police used pepper spray and batons to control the crowd. in minnesota a woman could easily have died in her car on her birthday. she had a seizure and her car went flying into a cold lake. a state trooper was driving behind her. he and another trooper pulled her out seconds before the car sank. here's a call you'd never

expect in an air traffic control tower. a delta pilot in mid-flight from north carolina to new york calls to say the captain is stuck in the bathroom. but that's not all. >> we're at 180 knots, 10,000. can we leave the frequency for a minute? we're going to try to contact dispatch. the captain has disappeared in the back. i have someone with a thick foreign accent trying to access the cockpit right now. i got to deal with the situation. >> so the co-pilot wouldn't open the cockpit door because the passenger trying to help had a thick foreign accent. you heard him say that. well, the crew was moments away from calling in fighter jets for help, thinking it might be a terrorist attack. fortunately, the captain of the plane managed to break his way out in time. no one was hurt in the incident. apparently that passenger happened to be someone who was trying to help. big misunderstanding. all right. cracking into the crust of

jupiter's frozen moon. why scientists think the building blocks for life could be below the surface, next in the newsroom. 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. -why? -why? -why? [ female announcer ] we all age differently. roc® multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade.

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demonstrations taking place, "occupy wall street," in lower manhattan. now you're looking at athens, greece, where demonstrations are taking place on the anniversary of a student uprising that was in protest of a military dictatorship. many have converged in downtown athens there. many of those demonstrators are also being met with police there who have been firing tear gas. we understand that there are students as well as teachers and workers and pensioners who have been marching. in large part, they're also protesting the austerity measures being taken place there. we're seeing levels of protests and demonstrations taking place worldwide on this day. we'll keep a close eye on what's happening in athens as well as lower manhattan. meanwhile, life on jupiter's frozen moon might be possible. you just need to get below the

surface. cnn's zain vergie back with us. do tell. >> reporter: this is very exciting, fred. many people around the world, scientists, space watchers, enthusiasts are all over the moon of jupiter. it's causing the big deal today because there may be life on ueropa, which is the moon most likely to be similar to some of the qualities that earth actually has. what's happened is there's a sense that there could be water below the ice crust of europa. scientists have long thought there might be a big ocean swirling under this particular ice crust. water is an essential element for life. there's still a long way to go before proving something like this, but it is something quite significant. it's about 350 million miles away from us, by the way.

just think about it like this, fred. think of greenland or the antarctic. they have the ice shelf. you have warm water underneath the ice. if you think of what's happening and what we're learning about europa right now, it's similar to that. what has to happen over the next 20 years, somebody's got to drill down to the very rocky core of europa just to see if there is that ocean swirling. >> got to get there in order to make that happen. that's going to be one heck of a trip. >> nasa's budget cuts, it's going to be a problem. >> maybe they're not the ones that do it. we'll see. we know you'll keep us posted. thanks so much. we've got some hot topics for our political buzz panel, including the house speaker's latest bout with his tear ducts. what's going on? the political buzz, straight ahead. and, the secretary of energy is in the hot seat today. a house panel wants to know more

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prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. all right. checking our top stories right now. the occupy movement wants to shut down wall street. protesters are staging a mass day of action right now. they're taking their fight

against economic inequality to the new york stock exchange. overseas, president obama arrived at bali this morning. back in this country, the man police believe fired a shot that hit a white house window will be in a pittsburgh courtroom later an today. he was arrested yesterday at a hotel in pennsylvania. our political buzz is your rapid fire look at political topics of the day. three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. playing today, democratic national committee member, robert zimmerman. good to see you. patricia murphy, a contributor for the daily beast. cnn contributor, will cain joining us. "occupy wall street," it's two months old today. marking it with a day of action. organizers say tens of thousands

of people will be involved. have candidates failed to capitalize on this moment or are they? robert. >> the bigger problem is that both parties have tried to play to this movement with empty rhetoric to a movement that, quite frankly, doesn't stands for anything. when wall street was doing well, you didn't see people occupying wall street to talk about economic ine quaquality. we should be talking about the american jobs act to put people back to work. that's the challenge before us. >> okay. patricia. >> i haven't seen a whole lot of politicians rushing to embrace this. we don't see, for example, politicians on the streets marching with the "occupy wall street" protesters. that's because this is a double-edged sword. it's also so new we don't know exactly how this is going to come out. i think americans overwhelmingly

believe these people have the right to protest and that as long as there's no violence, as long as they're not breaking any laws. but they're a little bit split on the message. they don't know exactly what the message is. for a politician to embrace this right now really could be very dangerous for their own political careers. we all know that's what they care about the most. >> all right, will. >> ditto. do i think politicians have failed to capitalize on an unfocused, volatile movement? a movement whose day of action, today, whose purpose is to occupy bridges and subways, to keep middle-class workers from commuting in streets. not guys commuting in limos, but people riding from brooklyn and queens to their jobs. do i think it's a failure for politicians to attach themgss to a movement like that? no. >> that was quick. when it comes to being commandser in chief, michele bachmann says she's the man for the job. listen. >> when people think of the president, they think of who is that individual, and i'm willing to man up, so to speak, for the

job and do what needs to be done. >> okay. so will manning up help her sagging poll numbers? patricia, you first. >> any female politician has a much higher bar to clear with voters when it comes to a woman being the commander in chief. michele bachman, like every woman who has run for president before her, literally has to say i'm going to man up, i'm the man for the job. her policy positions are extremely tough. sometimes the toughest in the field. very hard line on iran. very hard line on water boarding. she says it's not torture and fine to use. we see her positioning herself there. the problem for her, she's on the opposite side of president obama on issues. that's where he's most popular, on foreign policy. >> all right, will. >> michele bachmann's problem isn't a lack of mas cue lenty. her problem is a lack of discipline, suggesting that hpv vaccinations cause retardation. it's a lack of understanding, suggesting as president she will

promise $2 gasoline. >> robert. >> you know, patricia, i've never seen a credible or respected woman in government ever say they've got to man up or use that terminology. i've never hear hillary clinton ever say that. the point is, michele bachman doesn't have the karvegt to man up, even if she was being advised by chaz bono. this rhetoric demonstrates why she's not a credible figure for public office. >> okay. all right. let's talk about that buzzer beater now. 20 seconds each. speaker boehner got a little choked up presenting a gold medal to astronaut neal armstrong. in the past, he's gotten choked up. what's the next issue on the horizon worthy of such tears? robert. >> i've got to give speaker boehner credit for his honest

emotion in referring to neal armstrong and presenting him that medal. i remember as a child watching that moon landing and what it meant for our country, how it united our country. i hope that all of us will reflect and be a bit teary eyed as we think about our servicemen and women in battle and also as we think about so many americans who are facing difficulties this time of the year. >> all right. patricia, how do you see it? >> i want to go on record saying i love it every time john boehner cries. i feel like it's real emotion. he's not usually crying because he's not getting his way. it's because he's moved to tears. i have no problem with it. i love it every time it happens. i think, though, he will be crying and all of america will be crying if congress does not get its act together on the super committee, if they don't get a deal by a week from wednesday. we're going to have a credit downgrade, and no one's going to have anything to smile about. >> and will. >> this is my big issue of the week. it's capitalism. we have three stories circula

circulating this week. it's newt gingrich taking money. it's president obama putting off fires at solyndra until after mid-term elections and a "60 minutes" piece on insider trading. reduce the areas where capitalism and government have an excess. always ugly. >> all right. will cain, patricia murphy, robert zimmerman, thanks so much. tuesday night on cnn, the republicans running for president will gather near the white house for a debate on national security and the economy. the debate is co-sponsored by the heritage foundation and american enterprise institute. it begins 8:00 eastern on tuesday. happening now, a house panel is questioning energy secretary stephen chu. lawmakers want to know more about solyndra. that's the solar power company that got $535 million in federal guarante

guarantees. it went bankrupt. jessica, what's this panel trying to resolve? >> reporter: hi, fredricka. today is a big day for this investigation because the secretary of energy, stephen chu, is testifying. you saw him there. he's just begun. he, in his testimony, is taking full responsibility for approving the solyndra loan, being sort of the buck stops here guy. the purpose of this is essentially it began when republicans said they wanted to know if political influence drove the decision to give solyndra $535 million in loans. what the purpose of this particular hearing is, to find out whether the department of energy did enough due diligence in finding out if solyndra was up to the job of accepting the money and doing the proper, you know, investing it correctly. they make solar panels, and the problem they said, was that the solar panel industry and the time it took, over two years, the solar panel business sort of

collapsed because we've seen the economy go the way it went. already there have been partisan fireworks. here is some sounds i'm going to play for you, first from a republican who leads the committee and then a zrdemocratn the committee arguing about how they led the investigation. listen. >> it's readily apparent that senior officials in the administration put politics before the stewardship of taxpayer's dollars. >> unfortunately, instead of conducting a serious inquiry into the facts relating to solyndra and the lessons we can learn from this case, the majority to date as evidenced by my colleague's opening statement, has focused on firing partisan broadsides on the obama administration. >> reporter: now, in his testimony already, secretary chu has said that political considerations played no role in their decisions, and he made taxpayer -- the taxpayers were foremost in his mind when he was

considering solyndra. >> all right. jessica, thanks so much from washington. all right. coming up, the golden globes want ricky gervais back for a third time. not everyone is happy about that. that story next in showbiz headlines. [ male announcer ] humana and walmart have teamed up to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with the lowest national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪

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a 61-year-old one-time super star with a trademark laugh could be making a comeback. a.j. hammer joins us now to tell us about the possible return of woody woodpecker. i will not laugh again. a little out of practice. >> all right. we got it that one time. it's going to go right up on youtube after the show here. woody reportedly bringing his iconic laugh back to the big screen. the hollywood reporter is saying that universal's animation house illumination animation is working on a film for the character. woody woodpecker's career started over 70 years ago. he was a huge hit in theaters throughout the 1940s. he became a tv staple in the '50s 7 those reruns, that's how most of us know woody. the hollywood reporter is saying that universal bought the rights to woody back in 1985. they're just now trying to use

this movie to launch a whole film franchise. the good news for woody woodpecker fans, he may not only be back, but he'll be sticking around for an entire generation. >> that's fun. i think they'll get a big kick out of that. so the next story has former hollywood madam heidi fleiss, people haven't heard that name in quite a while, but she's back with advice for a troubled actress. >> let's call it a special kind of career advice. heidi thinks lindsay's decision to pose for "playboy" is brilliant. heidi offered her a somewhat back-handed compliment. watch what she said. >> she's beautiful. i think it's brilliant. who knows, when you need money, you need money. maybe she needs this money to get on the right track. she's hot. she would have made a great hooker. i could have made millions off her. >> yeah, there you go. listen, fleiss knows a thing or two about career changes. she's now starring in an animal planet special with the most

unique show name of the year. it's called "heidi fleiss prostitutes to parrots." let that sink in. >> it will take a while. a very interesting love story between she and these birds. also news about next year's golden globes. kind of déjà vu, right? >> yeah, a lot of people probably found this to be surprising based on what happened last year. ricky gervais is slated to come back as the host of the golden globes. this will be his third time. we've been hearing buzz this might happen. after last year's show, it was almost unimaginable ricky would be asked back. he got a lot of grief for last year's performance. that's not lost on the people behind the golden globes, the hollywood foreign press association. here's what they said in their announcement. while many may welcome gervais' return, not everyone is happy with the decision because last year his blunt one-liners caused anger and resentment in some quarters. remember, ricky was going after

everybody. angelina jolie, all kinds of hollywood royalty. johnny depp. one of my favorite moments was when robert downey jr. got on the stage saying the night was mean spirited. but ricky is back and it will get an awful lot of buzz. >> i remember those nervous smi smiles. we'll see that again. all right, a.j. appreciate that. all right. you want more information? of course you do on everything breaking in the entertainment world. a.j.'s got it this evening on "showbiz tonight." a heated debate on capitol hill pits congress against president obama. schools can serve pizza as long as it has two tablespoons of tomato sauce on it. the president wanted to change that. obama also wants more fresh

fruits, fresh milk, and other items, but it could cost millions of dollars. coming up, with days until the deadline, members of the super committee still can't reach a deal. a bipartisan group of lawmakers is taking them to task. we'll talk to one of them next. [ male announcer ] go beyond the brush with listerine® total care. its multi-action formula works to restore enamel, help prevent cavities, and kill bad breath germs for a whole mouth clean. whooo... [ male announcer ] listerine® total care. the most complete mouthwash. wait a second... with olay challenge that.

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they call themselves the go-big coalition. a bipartisan group of lawmakers spurred by their colleague's lack of action. they're asking the super committee to keep all options on the table. some 150 senators and members of congress have signed on to the coalition. representative jeff fortonberry from nebraska joins us. where do things stand? >> well, there's a pretty significant impasse at the moment. the patient is in the emergency room, but we're hopeful for a resuscitation here. as you mentioned, a nonpartisan group has come forward to urge this committee to go bigger, go bolder, do something substantial. we're hopeful this strong

bipartisan push actually creates momentum for a bigger deal. >> among those big, bold things, what would you be most proud of in terms of a real common ground being found? >> well, we've ask that everything be put on the table. this has to be about substantially reducing spending though. in the last ten years, the size of the federal government has basically doubled in size. it's twice as big as it was basically ten years ago. the revenues have also gone occupy, but they've not kept pace with the spending. i think this overspending is actually undermining our ability to turn the economy around. any deal has to be focussed in that area. >> can you have one without the other? a reduction in spendsiing and increase in revenue? >> there might be common ground fur the right types of tax reform. if you look at a company like ge, for instance, who paid nothing in taxes this year because they can hire an army of accountants and lawyers, it

really speaks to the disequal librium in the tax code. if you had the right types of tax reform that actually expa expanded the base of institutions paying by removing some of these loopholes and deductions, you may actually be able to lower rates, stimulate the economy, and improve the revenue outlook. so i think the right -- >> what are the chances of that happening? >> well, we all have an individual vote here. we're pushing as best we can. this is a pretty strong group of members, over 100 now. including the u.s. senate, who has come along and said, let's be bolder. let's get out of our political lanes here, take some risk, and do something that will get our nation's fiscal house in order. i'm convinced if a reasonable agreement were attained, you would see the power of the economy unleashed.

entrepreneurial confidence would increase. the united states could stop standing at door, begging to borrow money. >> isn't the obstacle still the republican who is signed a contract saying there will be no increase in taxes? >> if you think about the right kinds of tax reform that you could potentially increase the tax paying base and potentially lower the rates, if it's good for the economy, that ought to be the question we're asking ourselves. if it's stimulative to the economy, that will help with revenue situation. so we're hopeful that we can work around some of these constraints, creatively, and actually have a deal that's substantially focused on spending because that's the major problem here. but also includes the right types of reforms. >> wednesday is the deadline. do you see that happening, being met? >> pretty tough. pretty tough. like i said, patient's in the emergency rigoom right now. we all have an obligation to keep pushing. even if that deadline is not

met, i'm hopeful this initiative creates momentum. >> congressman jeff fortenberry. thank you for your time. >> pleasure. thank you. coming up, a secret drug tunnel is discovered. we'll take you inside and pinpoint where it was found. is make a car that's worth building, that has all the luxury you'd expect. then you put in an 8-speed transmission that gets 31 miles per gallon. that combination of luxury and efficiency only comes from one place in the world. ♪ now lease the 2012 chrysler 300 for $339 a month for well-qualified lessees.

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all right. we're getting pictures of storm damage in south carolina. the national weather service is there right now to see if a tornado caused this damage in york county. three people were killed. storms across the southeast yesterday left at least six people dead across several states. checking stories across country now. federal agents say they've discovered a drug-smuggling tunnel along the u.s.-mexican border. it links warehouses in tijuana, mexico, with warehouses 400 yards away in california. mexican and u.s. authorities seized about 14 tons of marijuana tuesday. in illinois, parts of the desplanes river were dyed red. it's part of a plan to track asian carp. and peta is asking the turn

to of turkey to change its name to tofurkey. can that be right? did i get that right? yeah, in time for thanksgiving. the group says thanksgiving is murder on the birds. so what do the residents think? >> what do i think about changing the name of turkey to tofu? i think it's about the stupidest thing i've ever heard. >> we love turkey. we're not about to change our name. >> okay. tofu. peta says it will treat the entire city to a vegan holiday feast if the name is changed. coming up, new in the next hour of the news room, millionaires head to capitol hill with a message for congress. increase my taxes, say the millionaires. hear business owners explain why they're willing to pay more. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

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they ran back into their little box. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for unsurpassed fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion. could've had a v8. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com a new political ad from rick perry quotes president obama saying americans are lazy. time for some truth. >> this is really buzzing right now on the campaign trail. it's perry and mitt romney. comments the president made earlier this week. here's what mitt romney saidrai comments about the president saying americans are lazy. he said americans are lazy. i don't think that describes america. that's mitt romney yesterday. with a new ad in iowa ion t

and on national cable television. take a listen. >> we've been a little bitlazy, i think, over the last couple decades. >> can you believe that? that's what our president thinks is wrong with america, that americans are are lazy. that's pathetic. >> so what did the president actually say? let's listen. this was earlier in hawaii. take a listen, fred. >> a lot of things that make foreign investors see the u.s. as a great opportunity are stability, are openness, innovative free market culture. but we've been a little bit lazy over the last couple decades. we've kind of taken for granted, well, people want to come here. we aren't out there selling america, trying to attract new businesses into network. >> well, this morning, the democratic national committee out with a web video basically saying that perry and romney took the president's comments way out of context. that's what the democratic party is saying this morning. perry, on tv la