Transcripts For CNN The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20111111

you're in "the situation room." first, an apparent shake-up in the republican race for the white house after a turbulent week that saw herman cain finding new allegations of sexual harassment and rick perry stumbling sadly in a debate. newt gingrich leaping towards the top of a pack in a stunni stunningcome back. jim acosta is watching the race for us as he always does. where do things stand right now? >> some candidates are stepping in it, newt gingrich is stepping it up. what's old is newt. he's back. >> it is a wide open race. >> consider campaign road kill over the summer, newt gingrich is peaking at just the right time. he is leaping ahead of herman cain in a new poll and falling within the margin of error for the lead in another poll from cbs. the former house speaker may be scoffing at his numbers. >> all of this effort to create a two-man race when it was perry and romney. >> reporter: he already has a new racer line attack for mitt roxny. >> you're not running to be super governor. this is more complicated than being governor. >> reporter: the campaign lost its luster in may surrounding the tiffany's jewelry chain. but he hung on and serving up red meat filled debate performances along with a tax on the immediate gentleman. >> i have yet to hear a single reporter ask a single rational question about the economy, who's going to pay for the park you're occupying if there are no businesses making a profit? >> reporter: he's also benefited from the clouds hanging over herman cain, got off track again when he joked he might pick up the support of anita hill, once accused supreme court justice clarence thomas of sexual harrisment. cain admitted he goofed. >> i want to get back on message. that's not on message. i'm back on message. >> reporter: speaking of gaffes -- >> the third one, i can't, i'm sorry. oops. rick perry's debate oops may help gingrich as well. he fails to laugh it off. >> two is the headache and three -- um -- um, oops. >> reporter: asked about the latest contender to make a run to become the un-romney saying bring it on. >> if other people do well, that's great. there's a funny thing about democracy, you have competition. >> the more the debates the better for newt gingrich. there's another one in south carolina tomorrow night then it's off to iowa where the former speaker has a jam packed campaign schedule laid out that has a feel of a candidate on the rise. >> newt gingrich before that, the last cnn debate in vegas, a few hours before he was preparing, he was just relaxing, just getting ready. he doesn't need to. >> that's right. i had a chance to catch up with his campaign spokesman at the cnbc debate the other night, there's a sense that they are just having fun right now. they almost don't really understand to realize that they are really in the thick of this. they have a chance to do quite well in the early primary statsz but they are taking the right approach they are -- it reinvolves around jersenginee j sandusky, led to the departure of four top university figures including joe paterno and the university president graham spanier. the temporary replacement calls it a tragedy. >> i accept the new leadership role under circumstances i never could have managed. it has been truly difficult to comprehend the terrible nature of the allegations that were revealed in the attorney general's presentment last week. my heart aches for the victims and their families and my mind searches for answers like millions of others across the nation. this is a tragedy for many lives. it will take all of us some time to come to grips to truly feel all of the damage that has been done. >> it's not just penn state reeling from this scandal. jason carroll looks at the children's foundation founded by jerry sandusky where he met many of the alleged victims. >> reporter: after learning details of the allegations against jerry sandusky, listening to him describe the mission of his charity is chilling. >> we thought if we could help a handful of kids, we would do that. and then the staff looks at the need that existed and grown and rereached out and touched so much kids. >> reporter: that's exactly what prosecutors say was the problem. >> what happened here was grooming where the predators identify a child, become mentors and usually children that they are having a little difficulty, at risk children. through the program he was able to give them gifts and establish a trust and initiate physical contact which leads to sexual contact. >> for children abused or kn neglected, the second mile provides leadership training and counseling. each year the organization claims to serve some 100,000 children across the state of pennsylvania and for many years sandusky was its public face and primary fundrazor. troy craig met sandusky when he was a young boy. >> i got to go to a lot of penn state football events. i remember standing on the sidelines for certain football games and other games sitting with his family on the 50 yard line. >> reporter: with sandusky's family? >> yeah. >> reporter: despite the good times, craig knew even at 11 years old, something wasn't quite right. >> you know if you were getting in the car with him, he would have his happennd on your thigh >> reporter: this video shows the type of close contact sandusky had with the children. he started the second mile in 1977 and last year raised $2.66 million. >> trying to motivate them, to mentor them, to provide them for some sort of life of success, life of excellence. >> reporter: second mile first learned of suspicious behavior in 2002 from penn state athletic director curley who reported that he was seen in a locker room shower with a young boy. an internal review found no wrong doing. it wasn't until 2008 after sandusky himself reported that an add less ent boy made allegations against him that the group decideded to ban him from programs. sandusky denied the allegations now and denied all of the allegations in the just released grand jury report. in a statement second mile says we have done everything in our power to cooperate with law enforcement officials and will continue to do so. our highest priority always has been and will continue to be the safety and well being of the children participating in our programs. we encourage program participants to report any allegations of abuse and/or inappropriate sexual activity wherever it has occurred. >> reporter: now that you see the allegations out there standing against sandusky, do you feel in some ways that you were fortunate that more did not happen? >> absolutely. i'm fortunate. i can only spek late as to why. >> reporter: jason carroll, cnn, state college, pennsylvania. >> the interim president of penn state is answering reporters questions right now at a news conference. >> it's indefinite at this point. >> right here. >> how was michael told about this? >> he was told this afternoon by the acting athletic director. >> bill? >> two-part question, is that paid or unpaid? i was wondering if you could give us a sense on what the impact on fund raising has been. >> with respect to paid or unpaid, at this point the leave is paid. that's subject to further determination. with respect to the issue of how this may have affected donations to the university, certainly there may be some impact at least in the short term but i have to tell you that i've been very, very gratified by penn state's donors. they have sent us numerous messages that said we will not let the actions of any individuals deter us in what we believe as the mission of penn state and the contributions of penn state. and we're with you and we will continue to be. so we're very grateful that our friends and alumni and donors, those who have made significant contributions to the university are sticking with us. >> over here. >> you offer some ee lab race, why you made the decision to put him on administrative leave. what were you thinking? >> it became clear coach mcqueary could not function under these circumstances. >> act on finding a permanent -- >> certainly we have a season to play, remainder of a season to play, coach tom bradley is in charge right now. an we will -- i will certainly be working with the athletic director and supporting coach bradley in every way that i can. >> an attorney for some of the victims involved suggested that the victims are in fear of backlash, on the firing of the coach. would you address that and what your reaction is? >> i'm not sure about what kind of backlash you're talking about, but certainly we're well aware that many victims of child abuse are not willing to come forward. i want to say here very publicly, we would encourage anyone who has been abuse d in the context of this particular situation to not be afraid. >> was there any consideration made to firing mcqueary? >> there are complexities too that issue that i'm not prepared to go into at this particular point. >> adam. >> can you speak to the fact that spanier -- >> graham spanier is a tenured member of the faculty at penn state. >> will he be teaching? >> i don't know. i have not had an opportunity to talk to dr. spanier about his future plans. he is a member of the faculty and at least two colleges, college of health and human development and the college of liberal arts and if dr. spanier were to resume a role of teaching and research in the traditional faculty sense, then he would return to his profess orrial role in one or more of those particular units. >> you said never again should anyone at penn state do the right thing, would you say that's what happened here? >> it certainly appears from what we know. we do not know everything that happened obviously. we have seen the presentment of the grand jury but clearly this is an ongoing investigation but it does appear that certainly some individuals were afraid to make known what they might have seen. >> has there been a discussion about canceling the season after tomorrow and set a goal -- >> there was a lot of discussion about the season over the course of the last week. we believe that playing the game tomorrow and the two remaining games this season we will go forward with those games. we believe there will be an opportunity through the game tomorrow to demonstrate many of the aspects of childhood sexual abuse. the tragedy of it. and that it will provide a moment in time where we can really focus and use the game to focus. there are many student groups as i suggested, one of these groups that i mentioned with the blueout but there are many others. as most of you saw in the case of governor's press conference, there are many student groups that will come forward to use the game as a vehicle to raise the awareness about these important issues. so we will continue. it would also i believe not be fair to our student athletes who wrn weren't involved in this situation to penalize them, many of them have worked for their entire life and certainly for many cases the last four years. this is senior day at penn state. and so it really is a reflection of both kinds of considerations. >> rodney erickson, we'll continue to monitor the q and a at the news knchs. he also said there would be increased security at tomorrow's football game. penn state hosting nebraska. the news mike mcqueary won't be participating in this became. he's been put on administrative leave with pay as you heard that going on. let's bring in erin burnett, she's been covering this story thoroughly. this charity that's been involved right at the center of all of this because of jerry sandusky, the man accused of sexually abusing these young boys. i know you've been speaking to speaking to frank o harris who is on second mile's board. give us a sense of what's going on. >> when you look at this charity, wolf, as you've been talking about, 250 high schools across pennsylvania have participated in the second mile program. franco harris is a honorary member of the board there. he's going to be on with us again tonight and really find out who knew what when at second mile, especially as you were just reporting that they looked into it there and then decided nothing had gone wrong and waited another six years before taking jerry sandusky. also, we'll talk about his staunch defense of coach paterno who was his coach at penn state. another thing that's interesting, wolf, when we were listening to the press conference. you talk about the implications of how many people, eight people, none of them actually reported it to law enforcement authorities. i was amazed in the state of pennsylvania, not reporting child abuse doesn't even rise to the level of a crime. there are a lot of things that bear close scrutiny as we move forward and try to prevent something from this from ever possibly happening again. >> what a sad, sad story. going in depth, 7:00 eastern, erin burnett, "outfront." we'll see you soon. now, president obama stepping up the pressure, details of his phone call to the committee co-chair -- plus, my interview this hour with democratic national committee chair, debbie wasserman shultz. we'll talk about the debt, her friend, the wounded congresswoman gabby giffords and a whole lot more in the situation room. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. and who ordered the yummy cereal? 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[ dennis ] shop less, get more, make one call to an allstate agent. certainly not much time left for the congressional super committee to come up with a bipartisan plan to cut the u.s. debt. president obama called the co-chairs for an update and urged them to reach a deal and do so quickly. cnn congressional correspondent kate bolduan has the latest. enormous amount at stake right now. >> reporter: we all know and you'll remember, that the super committee made of 12 lawmakers, six democrats and six rpz. this is a group tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings. less than two weeks before the deadline and they are under huge pressure to strike the deal. latest is democrats and republicans have been trading offers, we can call them. republicans for first time put tax increases on the table. this in exchange for lowering all individual income tax rate, a major concession according to the traditionally tax averse republicans and democrats say this is a possible breakthrough but others like the top democrat senate harry reid called the gop offer phony. the issue remains that both sides say that they themselves have made major concessions, republicans on tax increases and democrats on cuts to entitlements. both sides are also saying that the other still isn't giving enough. listen here to the republican and democratic co-chairs of the committee. >> what we still haven't seen from the democrats is a plan that deals with our structural debt crisis that actually solves the problem. unfortunately we've never seen any reforms that would save and secure our health care programs that weren't attached to a trillion dollars worth of tax increase. >> as democrats we came to the table to begin with and every day have said for us it's extremely important, this -- whatever we end up with at the end of the day is balanced and fair and has revenue, real revenue on the table. and the other side knows that and again, every one of us is trying to bridge that gap. >> time is running out but it is significant to note that the co-chairs on committee, the two you just heard from and others are still talking and still negotiating and they are hopeful. we heard a little less optimism earlier on. they say they are still working and working together. but they are absolutely entering crunch time now. >> they only have a few days, november 23rd is do or die. when will they meet next? >> all this week there have not be any formal full committee meetings, it's been piece by piece small group meetings individual meetings. but i was assured by patty murray that she was sticking in town all weekend to continue working. they know the pressure on their shoulders but they are taking on tough stuff. >> all 12 should remain here in washington and get the job done. the american people demand it. no more vacations, don't go back to your home districts and don't start campaigning or do anything else, get the job done. meet in a room and do it. >> i think a lot of people would agree with you. >> thanks very much. one of the most important figures in mexican's drug war killed in a helicopter crash. plus the day's other top stories. more turbulence from herman cain's presidential campaign. we're talking to a critic about his remarks about the house minority leader nancy pelosi. [ male announcer ] do you know how you will react when someone changes lanes without warning? or when you're distracted? when you're falling asleep at the wheel? do you know how you'll react? lexus can now precisely test the most unpredictable variable in a car -- the driver. when you pursue perfection, you don't just engineer the world's most advanced driving simulator. you engineer amazing. ♪ it's amazing in what's going on in the republican race for white house. joining us, our cnn political contributor, donna brazil along with republican strategist rich gal ek who used to work for one of the front-runners, newt gingrich. among republicans only, right now herman cain is at 18%. romney 15%. gingrich 15%, perry 8%, plus or minus, 5%, a three way race right now, donna. gingrich is doing amazing. >> he's had one of the best debate performances of all of the candidates, he's a steady debater. clearly he knows the issues and hasn't had the deer in a headlight moment. he's able to capitalize on the rick perry implosion. >> was he serious at the beginning running, a lot of people thought he was just doing it. did he think he would be one of top tier candidates? >> newt is a college professor, ph.d. in history. one of things he has taught me, the reason most people fail in what they try to do is because they give up too soon. he's always done that. go back to all of the days when he was trying to figure how to win the house of representatives. this is in keeping with newt. but let me say something about the cbs poll. there's something wrong with it because it's so different from all of the other polls. also another poll that shows romney at 23%. >> even that poll shows newt gingrich doing better. >> in the dosecy do of the republican candidates, it looks like it's newt's turn and if you jump up to the first tier, this is a good time to do it. >> it helps in fundraising. but what's really so much more opinion, south carolina, florida, he seems to do well. he could do well in the iowa caucuses. he certainly could do well in south carolina. >> the key to winning those caucuses is to have a great organization on the ground. it's important you identify your supporters and get them on one cold, windy night in january, and get them to the caucuses. he can pull it together and capitalize on all of the debates and rick perry's implosion, it may be coming -- >> let me put the nbs up on the screen. there you see romney at 23, gingrich at 19 and herman cain at 17, and ron paul 10 and rick perry at 8. gingrich at 19, he's right up there. it looks like if herman cain and rick perry who have had problems, a lot of support hasn't gone particularly to mitt romney. >> most of it has been undecided but newt is clearly the flavor of the month. and the difference between the other ones, he's been through this before. the only one with national experience unlike the others who have statewide or districtwide experience. he's had to deal with these things on a national level. >> rick perry has had to deal with a lot over the past 48 hours, he went on david letterman and did the top ten. i'll play a little clip. >> there were three reasons i messed up last night. one was the nerves and two was the headache and three um -- um -- >> listen, you try concentrating with mitt romney smiling at you, that is one handsome dude. >> i had a five-hour energy drink six hours before the debate. >> i wanted to help take the heat on my buddy herman cain. >> okay. let's put this stuff in the caboose. and the number one rick perry excuse -- >> i just learned justin bieber is my father. >> oh, my god. >> do you think that will help him rebound? >> no, he wasn't going to rebound no matter what. he was like the backup quarterback in the stadium. everyone thought he was the guy. he got in for three receptions and fumbled and said he's not the guy. rick perry's campaign was over before? >> you agree? >> he's raised a substantial amount of money, so i'm the last person that will say rick perry should drop out. >> i didn't say drop out, i don't think he's going to get there. >> rich, not rick. >> herman cain, being accused of sexual harassment. i'll talk about that and talk with debbie wasserman shultz, does she believe these allegations? mitt romney slamming usa to china, what does washington really get for its money? we'll have a reality check. what's going on here? hey, whats up guys? this is not how witness protection works! when we set you up with that little hardware store we didn't intend for your face to be everywhere. but fedex office makes it so easy. not only do they ship stuff, they print flyers, brochures -- everything i need to get my name out there. that's the problem. now we need to give you a third identity. you're paul matheson. and you're gonna run your business into the ground. erik gustafson would never do that! there is no erik gustafson. hey that's erik gustafson!!! there is no erik gustafson!!!!! [ male announcer ] small business solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. raising taxes versus cutting entitlement, it's the debate congress is gridlocked over as the u.s. debt climbs to unprecedented levels. let's talk with that and more with debbie wasserman shultz. thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me wolf, it's great to be with you. >> you heard a man you aadmire very much, former president clinton, you've got to raise taxes on rich people but also have to cut spending for entitlements like social security and medicare and medicaid. are you ready for part two of that? >> well, what i'm ready for is for the republican leadership to join the democratic leadership and president obama to sit down and hammer out a balanced approach to deficit reduction and so that we can ask for more from people who really should be paying their fair share and aren't. we all will have to deal with painful spending cuts. i've already voted for painful spending cuts i would have preferred not to. knowing we have to get a handle on our deficit and get the economy turned around, those are the tough choices we have to make. >> let me -- you represent a district in florida, a lot of seniors there as all of us know. are you ready to tell your constituents in exchange for tax increases if the republicans were to go along with that, let's say they were, would you be willing to cut social security benefits, medicare benefits, medicaid benefits? >> i don't think we have to cut benefits. i think that there are enough reforms that we can make if we sit down at the table like tip o neil and ronald reagan did, sit around the table and let's hammer out how to address medicaid and medicare without cutting benefits. we've got to roll up our sleeves and try. what disturbs me the most, wolf, so far republicans don't seem at all interested in compromise. they seem interesteded in one job, barack obama's and we're focused on getting this economy turned and getting people back to work bypassing the american jobs act. we'd like cooperation but so far they only have political priorities focused on the next election. >> you did see that letter, more than 100 of your colleagues, say they are ready for precisely that kind of compromise. you must be encouraged by that. >> i am. i know all of those members, republicans and democrats, i was thrilled to see 40 republicans sign that letter along with 60 democrats. where's the leadership? the problem right now is that the republican leadership is allowing themselves to be controlled by the tea party, by extremists in their caucus and in their party who are preventing us from working together. look, we can't engage in my way or the highway politics. we have to work together. there are will be tough decisions we have to make that are not going to be what we love doing but we know we should be doing. it's a two-way street. >> the super committee, the deadline is november 23rd, will they come up with a deal or no deal? >> you know, i can't even say i'm cautiously optimistic at this point. there are glimmers of hope and i know that all of the members of the super committee are p patriotic and want to do what's best for the country. i hope there's enough to put partisan politics aside and work together to get this done. that's what president obama wants. >> one of the front-runners herman cain said this about your leader, nancy pelosi. listen. >> it's already been written, we didn't hear about it in the previous congress because princess nancy sent it to committee and it stayed there. >> when you heard that and he sort of apologized. when you heard him refer to her as princess nancy, what did you think? >> i thought it was a pretty sexist throwaway line that demonstrates one more example of how deficient the entire republican presidential field is. you have mitt romney who flip flops on any issue based on what popular opinion on. herman cain who has serious allegations by four different women and continues to make comments like the one he made at the debate the other night. you have a guy in rick perry who didn't have enough conviction to remember his own agenda. it's no wonder that mitt romney hasn't been able to run away with this because there's a clearly deficient field and republicans have been left wanting because there's no quality candidate that really will be able to go head to head with barack obama bautsz the american people know that barack obama is focused on the creating jobs and getting which economy this economy turned around and taken us from hundreds of thousands of jobs to 20 straight months of private sector job growth. we have a long way to go but we're beginning to turn things around. we need republicans to work with us. >> who do you believe herman cain or the four women making accusations? >> you know, i think it stretches co-jillty for four different women who have nothing to do with each other that the allegations aren't credible and real. i think herman cain needs to come clean and address them and say far more than he's said already. >> your good friend gabrielle giffords has a new book and thrilled she's doing interviews. tell us how you're doing. i know you're in real close touch with her. >> i just actually saw her. flew to houston on monday and able to have dinner at her home. she looks amazing. her speech has become to come back. she initiates speech much more and still is struggling to find words here and there but she's made a remarkable recovery. she's walking so much better. we have the best time. it was just awesome to be with her. she's got a long way to go and long way from deciding what she's going to do in terms of her career. i'm so proud of her and it was just -- i'm really looking forward to the next week or so to all of the good things that are going to be happening for gabby and mark all so well deserved. >> we're looking forward to it too. please pass along our best to her as part of her recovery. thanks very much, congresswoman. >> mitt romney doesn't like the u.s. sending aid to china. is the u.s. sending aid to china? he says the funds should be elsewhere. if he were in the oval office they wouldn't be going to china? what is that money doing overseas, we'll take a closer look at the facts. and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life matter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i'm sure i could take something positive away from that. 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[ male announcer ] our nation's veterans are real-life heroes. but when they come home, they don't want a parade; they want a job. the postal service employs more veterans than any other civilian employer. but congress is debating a bill that would force the postal service to fire tens of thousands of vets, close post offices, shut mail processing plants, and disrupt mail delivery. drastic cuts won't fix the postal service and aren't needed. tell your representative to vote "no" on house resolution 2309. it's time to deliver for our veterans -- and america. ♪ [ multiple snds ng melodic tune ] ♪ [ malennounc ] at northrop grumman, makthworld a feplace. th's value performance. northr gruan. the death of a ranking official in mexico. what happened? >> interior minister jose francis co-blake mora was one of five killed in a helicopter crash. u.s. president barack obama called his mexican counterpart felipe calderon to express his condolences. and all 1,066 employees of mf global were laid off. the firm went bankrupt after revealing more than $6 billion in exposure to the sovereign debt of troubled european countries. authorities are also investigating a reported $633 million reportedly missing from clients' accounts. and passengers on a delta flight to charlotte from atlanta were thrilled to be on the ground this after an engine caught fire. the emergency forced the plane to turn around. the airline couldn't confirm a fire but did say there was smoke in the cabin. passengers didn't try to hide their anxiety afterward? >> made a huge crashing noiz. >> and i looked and seen the flame. >> all i heard was a bunch of vibrating. >> it felt like really bad turbulence. >> the pilots came on the intercoms and said we had an engine failure. >> and fire and smoke in the cabin. >> everyone was very scared. >> scary stuff there. delta airlines says its mechanics are inspecting the plane to determine what happened. pretty scary to be on a flight like that. >> i hope delta takes care of those passengers too. new details in the kidnapping of the rising major league baseball star. what witnesses are now telling police. on this veteran's day, we take a closer look at what one retired u.s. general is doing to help veterans behind bars. ♪ if i should fall from grace with god ♪ ♪ where no doctor can relieve me ♪ ♪ if i'm buried 'neath the sod ♪ but the angels won't receive me ♪ ♪ let me go, boys, let me go, boys ♪ ♪ let me go down in the mud where the rivers... ♪ [ female announcer ] when you're responsible for this much of the team, you need a car you can count on. ♪ [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business. [ daniel ] my name is daniel northcutt. [ jennifer ] and i'm jennifer northcutt. opening a restaurant is utterly terrifying. we lost well over half of our funding when everything took a big dip. i don't think anyone would open up a restaurant if they knew what that moment is like. ♪ day 1, everything happened at once. ♪ i don't know how long that day was. we went home and let it sink in what we had just done. [ laughs ] ♪ word of mouth is everything, and word of mouth today is online. it all goes back to the mom and pop business founded within a family. ♪ when i found out i was pregnant, daniel was working on our second location. everyone will find out soon enough i think that something's happening. ♪ ♪ i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. on this veterans day, let's remember the veterans and especially the soldiers returning from war who face a new battle back home. one largely fought in their own minds. too many end up in prison falling victim to the streets that they once escaped. cnn photo journalist has their story. >> reporter: i was enlisted into the army but decided to go into the marines. >> 1972 to 1976, hm3 ss. >> i was in the united states army, specialist, almost went to vietnam. >> my specialty was planting and removal of under water explosive devices. >> i did my entire tour in jurp and willing to serve my country again. >> i've been locked up 18 years. my family and i discuss that i need some more structure or little bit more discipline in my life. and they felt that the military would be the best thing for me. so i enlisted. they serve this country and put themselves in harm's way. they got out of the service. some honorably, some dishonorably but got out of the service and committed the crime against the state of maryland in this case. i think people it would be good if people remember even though they committed a crime against the state of maryland, they did serve this country and did put themselves in harm's way for us. >> this group here, they have a shine about themselves and pride about themselves the way they do things and conduct themselves with the staff in a very respectful way. when you give respect you get respect. >> straight up. >> right. >> if possible, i would like for us once we're released to keep the same bond. i want for us to get outside here and form some sort of a group and re-establish ourselves in the communities. >> please watch our special "veterans in focus", tomorrow saturday at 2:30 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. you're in the situation room. happening now the the coach who blew the wistle on the penn state scandal is put on administrative leave. how will it play with students after a week of raw emotion and even violence? also, rick perry is now poking fun at his memory lapse on the debate stage. we're taking a closer and serious look at the topic he was trying to talk about, a proposal to get rid of some federal agencies. president obama is being accused of putting election year politics ahead of creating jobs. we'll talk about his decision to delay a decision on important oil pipeline project. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." penn state officials are repealing for calm on campus after a week filled with shocking allegations and painful firings. another twist just a little while ago, the coach when witnessed and reported the alleged rape of a boy was sidelined. >> first, assistant coach mike mcqueary has been placed on administrative leave, he will not be coaching or attending tomorrow's game. second, we have received many questions about security at tomorrow's game. let me assure you that we have taken every precaution, including extra security personnel to ensure a safe game day experience. but we need the public's assistance. there will be significant attention to the conduct of the crowd attending tomorrow's game. it is my sincere hope that all members of the penn state community and our guests will conduct themselves in a way that reflects our collective values before, during and after the game. >> let's go to the campus of penn state university. mary snow is on the scene for us. another momentous day on that campus. >> reporter: yeah, and wolf, mike mcqueary was told this afternoon that he was being put on administrative leave. it was anticipated yesterday that he would be at the game. last night the university came out saying there had been multiple threats made and they decided to keep him away from the game. now he's on administrative leave. we should point out, he's not accused of doing anything wrong legally and was a credible witness in the grand jury testimony. but there has been increasing scrutiny mcqueary and why he didn't do now. announcing the appointment of an ethics officer, the latest move as this university tries to put this dark scandal behind them. two days after ousting its president and legendary coach joe paterno, penn state's board of trustees named kenneth frazier to head a committee to look within. its job is to investigate who knew what and when did they know about sex abuse allegations involving former coach jersey sandusky dating back to the '90s. those exploded into public view within the past week. >> we intend to look on every fact that bears on whether its university and officials and employees acted responsibly in response to any information on possible child sex abuse. >> reporter: on campus -- students singing penn state's alma mater, one line of it -- ♪ >> reporter: may no act of ours bring shame. instead of a traditional pep rally leading into a home game, tonight there will be a vigil to remember victims of child sex abuse. outside penn state's stadium, joe paterno remains popular with the fans taking pictures in front of his statue. saturday's game is the last home game this season. andrew porter a senior. >> tomorrow is a big day, today is the calm before the storm. i know the students will be supportive of the players because the players have no effect on this. in terms of what to expect, we don't know. >> reporter: security is being beefed up following unrest on wednesday night in wake of the firing. university is getting extra help from state police. their opponent, nebraska says they've also brought extra security. students like ryan murray says this weekend is about showing support, not only to players but victims of sexual abuse. he will attend tonight's vigil. >> i think it's important just to show that you know, a lot of the media is focused on the riots and that sort of thing, to show we're also -- we haven't forgotten about the victims. >> wolf, one thing that will be different tomorrow is while students are planning to wear blue to remember victims of child sex abuse and president rodney erickson is encouraging students to convey the best of penn state values, reminding them in his words, much of the world is looking at us tomorrow. wolf? >> what a story, we'll be watching together with you, mary. the mother of the alleged victim who triggered the sex abuse investigation is speaking out. she told abc news her son lived in fear of exposing what the former coach allegedly was doing to him. she says he gradually became aware of what was happening and her son would intentionally try to be groundeded to prevent sandusky from taking him out of the high school. her identity is not being revealed to protect her son. >> i didn't even know that he was leaving the school with my child or taking him out of classes. they never told me that. you just can't tell jerry no. i want justice. i want him -- i want him to be locked up. there's no -- there's no help for somebody that does this. not like this. he needs to be put away for a long time. >> the woman's son known as victim one first met sandusky through his program for at risk boys when he was 11 years old. we'll have more on this story coming up later this hour. meanwhile, growing questions this hour about the fate of a major league baseball player, kidnapped in venezuela. wilson ramos, a rising star with the home team here in washington has been missing since wednesday. our own brian todd has been investigating what's going on taking a closer look at this story. it's a heartbreaking story. what's the latest? >> experts say kidnapping is an industry in that part of latin america. right now one of the highest profile kidnappings is shrouded in mystery. >> reporter: from all accounts the kidnappers of wilson ramos targeted him for kidnapping. police say the perpetrators followed ramos. a spokesperson says what happened next at the family's home in venezuela. >> translator: they attempted to take him at gun point of course. >> reporter: an xrush naturing moment for the family. they aren't saying much, giving no indications they've had contact with the kidnappers or heard ransom demands. >> more than likely someone is talking to the kidnappers. this is -- the degree of publicity this is getting now down there is actually a little bit dangerous because it may potentially limit the kidnappers options and make them more worried about getting caught. >> reporter: police say witnesses have given them descriptions of two suspects and say the kidnappers tried to burn a vehicle they used. >> the nationals aren't commenting at all other than a general statement of support for the families. chris vos says it's likely they are helping out behind the scenes, not necessarily with money but with help in bringing in experts to aid in the negotiations. >> reporter: negotiations that will be delicate and may become more intense as time passes, voss, a former fbi negotiator who worked more than 100 kidnappers took us inside the process. what are you saying to the kidnappers right now as a negotiator? >> we're being defrnt shal and we need to know he's alive and we're going to link his safety and well being to the payment of a ransom. >> police and family members have given indications that they believe wilson ramos is alive. voss says he would advise the family to pay a ransom in one payment but not too soon. if they pay it too soon, the kidnappers may double down and say they want more money and not turn their loved one back to them. >> we know there have been other instances in venezuela, the families members. >> it's extraordinary. we checked the records. over the past seven years, relatives of four major league baseball players have been kidnapped in swen venezuela. in one instance, the brother of blanco was kidnapped and killed. this was the first time we know of an active major league player being kidnapped in that part of the world. they have money and everyone around them knows this. these are small towns, not much security. police are sometimes lax and that's what we're told is going on in venezuela. >> if they go home, they've got to have security, otherwise don't go home. it's dangerous. let's go to turkey where the death toll is rising and it's a race against time to find those buried in the rubble. two days after a powerful earthquake, here's a closer look at how the earthquake unfolded and the outrage erupted on its way. >> a dramatic escape seconds before an entire building collapses. the earth just won't stop shaking in eastern turkey. security camera footage shows wednesday night's 5.6 earthquake knocking out electricity in the eastern city and racing three men racing into the street just seconds before the hotel came suddenly tumbling down. >> reporter: this is all that's left of what was a five-story building, a pancaked pile of rubble. now the scene of a dramatic rescue operation that's working round the clock. fortunately rescue workers and heavy equipment were close by to help. they flooded the area after a much more powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake slammed the region killing more than 500 people. on wednesday, some of these rescue workers became victims of the latest quake. emergency workers pulled this japanese volunteer from the rubble. >>. >> translator: i tried to open my eyes but i could not because of lots of dust getting into my eyes. when i finally managed to open my left eye slowly, there was a ray of light i could see in what thought was kpleelt darkness. that light gave me relief and gave me hope to live. that was the light from the computer i was using. >> reporter: one of her fellow japanese volunteers died from his injuries, amid stories of tragedy and hope, there's also anger. residents confronted turkish officials on thursday demanding resignations. riot police charged the crowd just yards away from collapsed build beings. in the days ahead there will be more questions about government enforcement of building codes and pressure to resettle hundreds of thousands of people made homeless. but for now, turkey's earthquake survivors are just looking for a warm place to sleep. most of them clearly too scared to step into their own homes. ivan watson, cnn, turkey. elsewhere in turkey, we're getting word of a hijacking of a ferry in turkey. at least one hijacker maybe four are on board. you're looking at live pictures coming in from ismet. it's after midnight, one of hijackers claiming to be armed has explosives on the ferry, ferry carrying 17 passengers and four crew according to the governor in the area. we'll stay on top of this story as well. never dull when one story breaks in turkey, another one seems to follow. this one obviously very serious, hijacking of a ferry. new evidence that controversy may be catching up with herman cain and rec perry. but mitt romney doesn't seem to be benefitting from the uproar. rick perry forgot which federal agency he wants to cut but we haven't forgotten the serious issue that got lost because of his gaffe. i want healthy skin for life. 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try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance. we saw rick perry make fun of himself on the david letterman show after his brain freeze during the republican debate. there's been a lot of discussion about the political fallout for perry. but lisa sylvester is here to talk about the very serious issue that perry struggled with wednesday night. tell us what's going on. >> wolf, after the debate there was only one thing people in the political world were talking about. rick perry's major gaffe. but he was actually testing out a new policy message, cutting three federal departments. >> governor rick perry. >> reporter: rick perry was trying to make a point before quote, he steppeded in it. >> the third agency of government i would do away with, education, the commerce -- and let's see -- i can't -- the third one i can't, sorry. oops. >> perry's message, entirely lost in the massive fumble. but what was his point? he wants to eliminate the departments of education and commerce and energy. the texas governor would cut nondefense discretionary spending by $100 billion in the first year. but reducing the size of government is not new. fellow republican contender ron paul has made it part of his calling card, going back even further, ronald reagan proposed cutting the department of education. >> this is a standard part of playing to a certain conservative base that dramatically wants to reduce the size of government and feels the best way to do it in some cases is whole sale elimination of certain cabinet agencies. >> reporter: consider this, the department of commerce houses various agencies including the patent and trade office and noaa and census bureau, the education department is in charge of federal student loans and enforcing eek squall access laws. overseeing the country's nuclear reactors and maintaining the nation's nuclear weapons. but fiscal conservatives say washington has become too bloated. chris edwards runs the cato's institute down sizing website. he says energy spends $45 billion. with the country deep in the red, he says something has to go. >> the growth and entitlement program like social security and medicare are squeezing out a lot of activity of the federal government. eventually we have to take on the departments and down size them because the entitlements are costing so much. >> reporter: but rolling up a whole agency? it's not easy. a former deputy director of office of manager and budget and senior analyst with the podesta group. >> does that mean you slice it down to size and what size do you want because there are functions that are critical to the american people? it matters in your every daylife and matter to the business community and the way it functions. if you abolish those functions, you've lost something. >> on tuesday, governor perry will give a speech in iowa outlining his fix for the government and a member of the press staff said that's when you'll hear more of the details if you proposed cutting the wholesale or keeping the critical functions in place. >> ron paul wanted to eliminate five departments. we have three, five. we'll see what happens. good report as usual. newt gingrich is strengthening his position near the top of the republican presidential pact as they deal with gaffes and controversy. a new poll shows a very competitive three-way race with mitt romney on top. newt gingrich essentially tied with herman cain for second place. the poll was taken after perry's so-called brain freeze and after the sexual harassment allegations against herman cain that surfaced over the past several days. a new cbs news poll shows a closer three-way race with cain on top and romney and gingrich dead even. let's bring in gloria borger who is watching all of this unfold. you're learning that rick perry has got some new initiatives, new efforts that he's wanting to do to bring his campaign back? >> a lot bit of damage control. he's bought a national ad of about $1 million. it's an ad already on the air in iowa. when you take a look at a little piece of it, you'll see why it makes a lot of sense after that oops moment. >> if you're looking for a slick politician or guy with great teleprompter skills, we already have that, he's destroying our economy. i'm a doer, not a talker. >> here you are, he's not a talker. he's also trying to reassure donors, the campaign has been talking to donors. the real issue right now is to get rick perry's credibility back with the voter as and that's what that ad is about. >> that is going to buy a lot of 30 second spots. if rick perry and herman cain are slipping a bit and they apparently are for obvious reasons, why isn't mitt romney going up? >> the truth is he's not the perfect fit for the republican primary voter. they are skeptical about him. they remember his so-called flip-flops from the 2008 campaign. eventually, wolf, i think what you're going to see, they will end up believing they have to settle for mitt romney. they are not going to fall in love with mitt romney. but the big question now for romney campaign, whether they actually compete actively in iowa and south carolina. romney is at the top or near the top in those states, they did not expect to be there. i spoke with a senior romney adviser who said, look, the way you know whether we're going to compete in iowa is if you see an ad go up in that state. >> doesn't it -- if he could win, for example in iowa, new hampshire he probably will win. >> sure. >> and south carolina, it could be over? >> wolf, he doesn't have to win. if he comes in second it looks like a win. do they put their resources into organizing in iowa? thauz what the iowa caucuses are about. >> it looks like the big winner so far over the past several days is newt gingrich, all of a sudden you saw the polls and he's doing amazingly well. >> he's doing amazingly well, he keeps complaining that he doesn't like the debates. take a listen to this. >> i just want to point out, my colleagues have done a terrific job of answering a certain question. to say in 30 seconds -- >> the debates are a better way of communicating than anything else we've found so far. >> there you are. he says the questions are absurd but they are good ways of communicating. for a candidate like newt gingrich whose campaign seemed to implode early on, the debates are a way to get out there on the platform and get well known, strut your stuff and so far, he's a pretty good debater, wolf. >> he's done very well. >> if anyone has gained from the debates, it's newt gingrich. >> he complains but not going to opt out of any of them. he'll be at your debate. >> he will be, of course. i'll be the moderator when the candidates take part in cnn's next republican debate washington, d.c. constitution hall, tuesday night, november 22nd, 8:00 p.m. eastern. you'll want to see that debate. president obama delays a decision on a controversial pipeline expansion. is he playing project with a project republicans argue could create tens of thousands of jobs? losing your chex mix too easily? time to deploy the chex mix boring potato chip decoy bag. now no one will want to steal the deliciousness. with a variety of tastes and textures, only chex mix is a bag of interesting. the fallout for penn state university following the horrible child sex abuse scandal. it was announced that the university will have a special committee look into the alleged abuse. let's bring in our senior political analyst david gergen, served on the boards over at yale and duke universities. when you see this scandal unfolding at penn state and you're affiliated with harvard right now, what went throughout your mind? >> it's so sad because penn state has had a legendary football program with a legendary coach. right at the heart, center of that program was a predator. and he was allowed, even though there were various reports coming out, people just ignored them. had to remind you of the hierarchy of the catholic church, they didn't respond. i think the university board, the central responsibility is to preserve the long-term interests, hence the long-term interests of the university had no choice but to make an unpopular move. it was the right move and it was done diseasively and i think students are obviously very upset about it. over time it will do more to protect the university than if they allowed both of them to stay in place. >> david, you've got to admit, everybody is shocked that almost ten years ago, an official at the university sees this alleged activity going on in the men's locker room with a young boy. for ten years, apparently, if you believe the allegations, this kind of stuff continued there. how could this happen? >> well, that's -- you know, you almost have to think that the program, the football program became so big, such a big money maker and had this world class reputation that people were scared to take action as they just wanted to sweep it under the rug. again, that's similar to the catholic church. and there was a responsibility here on the part of those who knew that something was amiss, that included the coach paterno and included the university president. they sat on it. they didn't push. they weren't aggressive about it. they sort of tried to treat it as well that sounds minor, let's not look into it. when you have now there are three individual high level officials of that university facing criminal charges over this, including the predator, but two other university officials as well. the university president has no choice but to fall on this sword and so does joe paterno. i must say to his credit. he seems to take this very well, i think he understands. >> stand by for a moment because jill dougherty is getting new information on a totally different story, the oil pipeline that was supposed to be built from canada through the united states. the president announcing yesterday the state department also announcing they were going to hold off on a final decision for at least a year. what are you learning right now? >> that was the environmental debate, wolf, now we're getting more information on the jobs side of it. the supporters of this pipeline said it was going to create 23,000 jobs. that's what it looked like for quite a while. now there's clarification coming from an interview with cnn's drew griffin who spoke with robert jones, the vp for trans canada. in that, he explains that mr. jones sticks by the 20,000 figure, he says, 13,000 direct construction jobs and 7,000 manufacturing jobs, but he explains they are not permanent. let's listen to what he said. >> we will have integrated operation with the existing pipeline, so you know, the numbers are you know, literally technicians and stuff down the like. you're probably looking in the field from montana to houston in the hundreds, certainly not in the thousands because those of construction jobs. >> so i guess you have to look at the fine print here, wolf. in the briefing yesterday we got from the state department from carry ann jones with the bureau of oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs said they are still studying those numbers for the state department. she also confirmed that they are short term jobs but the construction jobs of course would be important to people who are in construction and who really do need some work. >> all right, jill. thanks very much. let's go back to david gergen to discuss this because a lot of people are outraged. they've been studying this pipeline for a long time. and a lot of president obama's critics are saying, he punted -- he couldn't make a decision so he decided to hold off because of the politics for at least a year until after next year's election basically saying, we'll deal with it another time and environmentalists don't like it and a lot of unions do. what do you think, david? >> i think unfortunately wolf the president did punt. and this project has been understudied by the state department for three years. they've had on a couple of occasions multivolume reports saying it's environmentally insignificant. there's not a real danger to the environment. here at the last minute, they pull back from a decision that everybody expected them to make by now. there's no -- the only -- this is similar to what they've done in other areas of the environment and energy, they postponed a number of decisions until after the election because they don't want to have to -- inevitable making this decision will alienate some block of voters so they are making a political decision. one other aspect is really important, i've been up to canada a couple of times in recent weeks and spoken to the business leaders there. to a person they say, you folks in the united states don't really understand this very well. we've had this project -- we've always seen you as americans, as our chief partner for oil and gas. this was a big project together. if you guys are not going -- if you're going to screw around with this for a long time. we've got another partner that really wants to work with us and that's china. their sentiment is changing in china. >> there's a real sense of frustration in canada right now. republicans and some of president obama's critics are saying -- tell me if this is fair criticism or not. he's doing now what he did when he used to be a state legislator back in illinois when he couldn't make up his mind on a controversial vote. he voted present. is that what he's doing now? >> in a fact but i think he's -- i think he's into campaign mode and he just wants to put this off. think eventually he probably will support but we can't be certain. let's go back to the 20,000 jobs point. when the president was pushing the shovel ready projects and the administration passed the stimulus program, a lot of jobs created were these construction jobs that were going to be one-shot jobs. the nature of construction. they weren't permanent jobs. the administration proudly claimed that it was creating x millions of jobs and saving x millions of jobs. in the canadian case they are under underscoring, they are really only short-term jobs. >> independence is much more important if you get the energy from canada than from some other countries as all of us know. david, thanks very much. >> thank you, wolf. dozens reportedly killed in new clashes in syria. what the new humanitarian report could mean. gabrielle giffords speaking for the first time since being shot in the head. you'll hear how she says she's feeling right now. 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>> pretty good. >> is it painful? is it hard? >> it's difficult. >> that's pretty amazing. it really is. giffords and her husband, mark kelly, have a new book chronicling the milestones in her progress. that is amazing to see considering she was shot in the head. >> almost a year already. thanks very much, lisa. president obama is getting ready to go to a basketball game and this one is a bit unusual. stand by. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee. all right, this just coming into the situation room, the obama wougs re-white house releasing more e-mail about the solyndra loan controversy. what's the latest, jessica? >> reporter: the white house has supplied the house energy and commerce committee with more of their internal white house e-mails. these are the first internal white house e-mails they have sent up in response to the subpoena that was issued. in a letter accompanying those e-mails, the white house counsel slams the committee for what she essentially calls a xlektive release of some e-mails earlier this week that paint a picture of apparent political influence in giving out the solyndra loan. in a letter accompanying the e-mails, this is a quote, none of these documents, referring to the e-mails contain evidence of political favoritism or wrong doing of white house officials. mr. kiser, an obama donor involved in all of this, including mr. kiser's e-mails indicate that white house officials did not intervene to influence the decision to grantor restructure the solyndra loan grarn tee. the white house has not fully complied with the subpoena because the committee wants every single e-mail that ever mentioned solyndra. folks here say that's just too much. they insert they are only satisfying what they think is the legitimate interest of the committee and in this letter, the white house council writes that the committee has issued a quote overbroad and overreaching subpoena to the white house that encroaches upon important and long standing executive branch prerogatives. an administration official says they feel the e-mails they provided today satisfy the legitimate interest of the committee. we'll see if the committee agrees. somehow i think this back and forth will continue. >> i think you're absolutely correct, jessica, thanks very much. the saga will continue. a boy without a country. the debate at the united states supreme court. what it could mean for middle east peace. the postal service is critical to our economy-- delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year from post-office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it. you're looking at a time lapseuss carl vinson the aircraft carrier is being transformed into a basketball court. buried osama bin laden's body at sea. also where president obama is about to watch a matchup between unc and michigan state. we have the details. wolf not only is this ship that buried osama bin laden at sea, the ship that first laumpked attack against taliban and al qaeda following 2011. a historic setting on veterans day, the first time that a college basketball game has been played on an aircraft carrier. and president obama will be delivering remarks shortly before the game. as you know, he's a huge basketball fan and player. he'll be joined by thousands of service men and women to watch this game which begins at 7:15 eastern. it will be broadcast on espn. during the game he'll be interviewed courtside both by espn and westwood one. so television and radio that radio interview will be airing as well on the armed forces radio network. after the game, it's business. he'll be departing san diego, heading for honolulu where he'll be the hosting the apex summit to be talking about economic issues. but this is really an extraordinary way to celebrate veterans day and to kick off this nine-day trip that he's going on hawaii and bali. he'll try to stay focused on his jobs message while he's overseas. meanwhile here in washington, debate unfolding over the united states supreme court over a birthplace of a little boy, serious implications for middle east peace. >> reporter: he's a shy, 9-year-old boy, a boy without country. so to speak. >> we moved to israel and then we're having proud that our third child was born there and he want his documents to say that. >> reporter: his son is at the center of a highly-charged legal dispute pitting one family's wish against the future of the mideast peace process all over a u.s. passport. >> 50,000 americans in the last ten years that were born in jerusal jerusalem, many would like to have it indicated as their place of birth. this an extremely gee political issue. >> it the united nations and the most of the whole community don't recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. they are american citizens, when their son was born in jerusalem, they requested his u.s. passport list israel as the place of birth. following the practice of the being born. listed only jerusalem on the boy's passport. sparking this nearly decade long battle. >> what is at stake is their deep, personal pride and sense oaf identification with the state of israel and their right given by congress to enxpress that on the passport. >> they're asking the court to enforce a law passed by congress in 200 # t giving their son and others the israel option on passports 37 both the bush and obama administrations has ignored the law. while they recognize the complex and thorny issues surrounding this fight, his father argues their request is a simple one -- where can his son call home. >> whatever else they decide, whatever the big herb shoe is, that's their issue. we're requesting just what the lawsuit is. implement the law. and write on the passport that he was born in israel. >> they had tough questions for both sides. they showed little sympathy for the family involved but also struggled with the larger question, where does congressional authority begin with policy issues? we expect a ruling in the next few months. millions of catholics may find themselves confused when they go to mass. stand by, we'll explain. i'm kind of a fixture in different parts of town... some folks call me a rock star, some call me the mayor... and i love it. and, i make everybody happy. i keep my business insurance with the hartford because... they came through for me once, and i know they've got my back. for whatever challenges come your way... the hartford is here to back you up. helping you move ahead... with confidence. meet some of our small business customers at: thehartford.com/business i don't think about the unknown... i just rock n' roll. to the flu. an accident... to asthma. a new heartbeat... to a heart condition. when you see your doctor, you don't face any medical issue alone. you do it together. at the american medical association, we're committed to preserving that essential partnership between patients and their doctors. because when it comes to your health, you need someone you trust. the ama. protecting the relationship between patients and physicians. i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. there could be mass confusion at catholic churches here on the sunday after thanksgiving. >> reporter: wolf, big changes are coming for american 70 million catholics as a new translation of the mass goes into effect november 27th. revised words and phrases will provide a more literal translation from the latin. we spoke to catholics about the coming changes. >> for us this is a pretty landmarked moment. probably the biggest change that we're seeing in the way we celebrate mass in almost 40 years. >> reporter: about a decade in the making, the changes to the text are met to provide a more literal change of the latin. he's helping the church with the transition says priests and parishioners will have to adjust to the new language. >> the language will sound far more rich, in many cases it won't sound like everyday casual spoken eng learn. >> reporter: when catholics say lord i'm not worthy to receive you. . catholic bookstores like this one at the national is shrine on stocking up on the new text. >> i think it's subtle enough that we'll have to pay attention. >> each word has great value. and so we don't just like throw a word out. you know, with you, with your soul, your spirit, there's a specific reason for each word. >> reporter: still the new transs translation could lead confusion. >> at some people might have some apprehension. >> he has led 22 workshops for clergy and church leaders to explain the changes. >> there have been critics that might say we don't exactly the words that were chosen and things like that. but to understand the process, then one would understand maybe having less of an apprehension or less of a criticism. >> reporter: churches will provide pew cards to help parishioners learn the new translations. the goal is to unify

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