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tv   NBC Nightly News  NBC  November 8, 2011 6:30pm-7:00pm EST

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on the broadcast tonight, who is telling the truth? one of his accusers faced cameras yesterday. just tonight herman cain did the same and said, it simply didn't happen. and now another woman has come out publicly and the problems for cain continue. under fire. is this how it ends for a coaching legend? new caughts for joe paterno to resign. and the bigger question is the human damage, why didn't anyone protect the children in the scandal at penn state. women's rights, the vote that could turn some forms of birth control and fertility treatments into a crime. the aircraft carrier sized
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asteroid has missed the earth, but it got close enough to get pictures of it. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. and again here tonight, the campaign of herman cain is in the news. and it's not for his 9-9-9 economic plan or his standing in the polls. because he went before cameras in a wide-ranging news conference and said it just didn't happen. he was talking about the allegations of the woman who came forward, went public, went before cameras yesterday to say she had been sexually harassed by cain years ago. she's one of several accusers. we learned the identity of another one today and she is tonight quoted as having called herman cain a monster. despite his efforts to be final at today's pleads ya event this is likely to continue to haunt
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the cain campaign for president. we begin tonight with lisa myers. lisa, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. today herman cain changed his strategy. instead of refusing to answer any more questions, he launched a full-scale assault on one of his accusers. a defiant herman cain says he doesn't remember anything about his latest accuser. not her face or her name. >> i have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period. the charges and the accusations are absolutely reject. they simply didn't happen. they simply did not happen. >> reporter: he charged that sharon's claim that he groped her when she came to him with help with a job is part of an effort to derail him and his
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candidate. >> and now the democratic machine in america has brought forth a troubled woman to make false accusations, statements, many of which exceed common sense. and they certainly exceed the standards of decency in america. >> reporter: earlier in the day, the cain campaign even put out the case numbers for a half dozen lawsuits against bialek, as well as two filings for personal bankruptcy. her lawyer defended such attacks yesterday much. >> she knows by stepping out into the light, she will face public scrutiny. >> it's not about me. i'm not the one running for president. >> for her part, bialek is making the media rounds, six interviews in 24 hours, defending her integrity and denying she did this for financial gain. >> i could have, actually, sold my story, but i didn't. because i wanted -- my whole objective is to tell the truth. >> would she do an init view for
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money or write a book in the future? >> i'd have to think about that. that's so far off the radar right now. >> reporter: it's a familiar story line, the accuser under a micro scope. debra katz represents victims of sexual harassment. >> this is hell for the woman who's made this allegation, and her life will never be the same. >> reporter: late today, another of cain's accusers said she now intends to speak publicly about incidents with cain. she filed an official complaint with the national restaurant association and received a financial settlement. today one of cain's opponents waded into the controversy. >> these are serious allegations. >> reporter: political analyst charlie cook says if is hurting cain politically. >> how do you survive three or four direct torpedo hits to the engine room? >> karen says she wants all four of the women who have made accusations about cain to speak out together. cain says he won't quit the race no matter what, "ain't gonna
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happen." >> lisa myers starting us off tonight. thanks. college football's most legendary active coach, penn state's joe paterno may be on his way out tonight in the wake of these revelations about a child sex abuse scandal involving one of his assistant coaches at penn state. reporters and students gathered outside the paterno's house tonight not far from campus. we caught a glimpse of the coach through the window. he was said by observers to be moved to tears at the show of support. nbc's ron allen is with us from state college pa tonight, ron, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. we have not heard from coach paterno directly today, but the new york times is reporting that university officials here are very busy planning for his exit sometime in the days or weeks to come. that as the calls for the coach to step down grow louder.
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the coach refused to answer questions about the 40 count indictment alleging his long-time assistant coach sexually abused at least eight young boys for more than ten years. paterno's son spoke for him. >> no one has asked joe to step down, that's all i can say. >> if they do -- >> reporter: earlier, his weekly media briefing has been abruptly cancelled. >> today's press conference cannot be held and will not be rescheduled. >> i don't see him surviving. i don't think he should. >> reporter: the harrisburg patriot news is one of many partially criticizing paterno, saying he should have done more. back in 2002, prosecutors say the coach did report an abuse complaint to tim curley, who along with gary schultz has been charged with failing to alert authorities about abuse cases and lying to a grand jury. both men deny the charges.
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many say while paterno followed the letter of the law he should have also notified police. and should now step down. >> i think the question is, he comes up short on the moral question, and he should step down. >> reporter: a coach who had a pristine reputation. paterno is the wingest college football coach ever. he's brought tens of millions of dollars to the school that has his name and image all over campus. neil rudell has covered penn state football for 30 years. >> it's been the kingdom and power of joe paterno. unfortunately, it all came back to roost. >> it's going to take a clean sweep of everybody who's been involved. >> reporter: paterno is a fighter, and his son said today he wanted to tell his side of the story, but the university shut down that media event the. there are reports a ninth victim has come forward with a similar
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story of being abused at a football facility. >> impossible to overstate the human damage if any of these allegations are true, also, impossible to overstate the legend of this man they call joe pa locally, even though there have been discussions about an exit strategy before this scandal? >> indeed, brian. this is a very profound thing that's happened to this campus, to this community. just really something that came out of the blue. today, the mothers of some of those alleged victims were quoted in the newspaper of telling how difficult it was for their sons to come forward to take on this very powerful institution. this has been going on for many years, and some of their complaints were discounted early on in the process. yes, there is a lot of affection for joe paterno here, but people just feel this -- they have to get past this, and the only way for that to happen is for him and the university president and others to resign. >> ron allen on this envelopini
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scandal in state college, pa. big news from europe and it will be felt here. the long-time prime minister of italy will step down shortly as italy follows greece in reacting to massive financial pressures. richard engel began his reporting there last night for "rock center" and watched it all u unfold there today. >> reporter: it's with a degree of irony that silvio berlusconi is being brought down not by his numerous sexual scandals this is a man who while in office was accused of having sex with an underaged prostitute and has been in court more than 2,500 times. but in the end, it is the economy that is bringing down mr. berlusconi. he's a billionaire, and italians thought he would be good at managing the economy. instead, italy is drowning in
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debt. berlusconi said today after his coalition collapsed, that he would resign as soon as the government here passes a series of economic reforms. that could take place as early as next week. that is, if mr. berlusconi is keeping his word. >> richard engel in rome for us tonight. thanks. there's news about iran and the threat of nuclear weapons. there's a new u.n. report out, it says the threat has grown more real, and this happens to come amid reports. israel is considering some sort of military strike. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: even before the reports were released, they've been denouncing as a tool of the united states and israel. iran's president ahmadinejad called it a puppet of the u.s. but the iaea reports iran is on
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the verge of a nuclear breakthrough. satellite images show iran has built an enormous structure that could be used to test explosives used to trigger a weapon. a warhead small enough to felt on a missile is that could hit israel or europe. despite denials, experts say iran had help from a former soviet scientist. >> the evidence looks pretty clear that he -- iran has benefited tremendously from his expertise, and used it to build a smaller nuclear weapons design. i think some will conclude it is a smoking gun. >> for years israel and the u.s. have waged a cyber war against iran's nuclear program. they slowed its centrifuges with a stuxnet computer virus. and two iranian scientists were mysteriously assassinated on their way to work. iran has now overcome those hurdles and is back on track. intelligence efforts differ widely on how close iran may be to developing a nuclear bomb.
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those outside israel believe a military action could take out iran's nuclear program. >> they don't have the conventional air power, the air-to-air refuelling to credibly strike the iranian nuclear production facilities. >> reporter: israel is already holding mock disaster drills in anticipation of an attack gofro iran. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. there is a disturbing story tonight at dover air force base in delaware. this is a tough one. it's a place we've all become familiar with, where the remains of americans are first returned home. three air force officials have been reprimanded after the loss and mishandling of body parts of u.s. service members. the u.s. office of special counsel found evidence of gross
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mismanagement dishonesty and misconduct among the three top leaders at the dover mortuary. as of tonight no one has been relieved of their duties. still ahead this evening, an emotional debate over when someone becomes a person. this could impact women, the choices they make before theabo families. tonight's fly by, a new perspective on that massive asteroid that just hurdled past us here on earth. to watch it for us. sked total strs thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. the doctor leaned over and said to me, "you just beat the widow-maker."
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person to say that life begins at the moment of fertilization. our report tonight from janet shamlian. >> reporter: what many consider a private decision is playing out in the most public of venues. from city streets -- ♪ >> reporter: to suburban churches. >> choose life. >> reporter: the latest battle over reproductive rights is coming to a head in mission miss. >> so much at stake in this election for women and families. >> reporter: what's been called the personhood amendment or initiative 26 would declare a fertilized egg a person, and the destruction of that egg an act of murder. if passed it would limit some forms of birth control and ban abortion. >> it will restore a culture of life in mississippi. >> reporter: supporter frida bush says there would be no exceptions for rape or incest. >> regardless of how the baby is conceived, does not deserve
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death. >> reporter: this woman's children were conceived through invitro fertilization. the amendment could have a major impact on ivf. outlawing the destruction of unused embryos could limit the practice. >> i absolutely do not want the government telling me what my medical treatment options are, that's for me and my doctor to decide how we build our family. >> reporter: ivf could continue, but a couple's fertilized embryos would have to be used or given up for adoption. mississippi is favorable ground for the amendment, and if it passes here, it's likely to fuel similar movements in places like ohio, michigan and florida. with the battle being waged in front yards and on the local news. >> how has one paragraph become so divisive? >> reporter: an issue that's deeply divided mississippi, and may have an impact well beyond
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a heads up here tonight about something coming tomorrow. if you're around any media like tv or radio, around 2:00 p.m. eastern time, you will hear a test of the emergency alert system. this one will be different, it's the first across the board national test of the new fema system designed to give the president or the government the ability to alert the population to a national disaster or event. they even have a slogan for tomorrow, don't stress, it's only a test. that sound you may hear tonight is anger from the normally reserved people in the state of connecticut. tonight 11,000 homes are still without power. it's been ten days since it was
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knocked out in that freak pre-halloween snowstorm. and the folks who just went through this from hurricane irene are furious. connecticut light and power has been promising by tomorrow power will be restored. perhaps from the time you saw the first commercial you bought one, was either a revolutionary piece of card cardioequipment or expensive clothes hanger. the nordick track maker has died. ed pauls was 80 years old. late last night we received word that smokin' joe frazier had died, he died of liver cancer. he was just 67 years old. because most of his fans are still around, it felt today like a part of the recent history of
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sports had just left us. he was once the heavyweight champ, back in a time when boxing was a much bigger deal than it is now. and, of course, back in the time of ali. smoke was born a poor kid in beaufort, south carolina. when not booxing, he worked as butcher and janitor. he was the working class guy with the crushing left hook, while ali was the performer. the greatest, they called him. and they called joe the guy who knocked ali down. they didn't get along, and their fights may have been the greatest of all time. up next here tonight, how close the planet actually came a short time ago this evening. what's in the mail? well, it just might surprise you. because this is how people and business connect. feeling safe and secure that important letters and information don't get lost in thin air. or disappear with a click. but are delivered. from person to person.
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and may include prescription drug coverage for as low as a zero dollar monthly premium. you only have until december 7th to enroll. call unitedhealthcare today. as we mentioned earlier, the fact that we're still on the air is proof we were not hilt by an asteroid tonight. in space terms, it was close enough to muss your hair. the asteroid at one point got closer to us than the moon, whizzing by at 29,000 miles an hour. the name of the asteroid is yu-55. as in why you have to pass so close to our planet. a direct hit would have been
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catastrophic. it missed us by about 200,000 miles. george lewis watched it all go by at the deep space communications complex where they track such things in southern california. >> reporter: an asteroid watching party tonight in brookline, massachusetts. astronomers and students are using a 25-inch telescope to get a good look at the object known as yu-55 as it hurdles past us. >> it's not an opportunity for panic or concern. it's an opportunity to look up at the night sky and enjoy the wonders of the skies. >> it helps us progress a lot in understanding space and what's out there, and what it's made of. it's very important and exciting. >> reporter: this animation shows how the asteroid, 1300 feet at its longest point compares to an 1100 foot long nuclear aircraft carrier. the asteroid is closer to us than the moon. the moon's orbit about 240,000 miles from earth.
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yu-55 coming within 201,000 miles. nasa is bouncing radar signals off the asteroid from this dish in california. and as researchers used powerful computers to turn the radar echos into images. they try to reassure people the asteroid will not collide with us. >> there's no chance of it hitting us as long as we can compute its motion. >> reporter: we are far from alone on earth. >> you can think of this as an encounter with spaceship earth flying by this asteroid. >> reporter: and enthralling amateurs who love to gaze through telescopes as well as scientists tracking it on radar. george lewis, nbc news at the nasa goldstone station in cafornia. >> and that, thankfully, is our broadcast for this tuesday night. thank you for being here with us.
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i'm brian williams, and we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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