alison, everyone is noting that this is just a part of the trend. >> right. well, first of all, don, it is an encouraging report, especially when you look at the trend here. when you look at the trend, 1.6 million jobs have been added in the last year. the unemployment rate is at 8.5%. so, yes, things are getting better. the dow is down and nasdaq is mixed. not so overly impressed. as things improve, the expectation is rising and the fact is these numbers just didn't blow away expectations. the economy at this point is kind of like an economy that's had its training wheels taken off but we still haven't moved into the fast lane and wall street wants to see if the economy is picking up steam. >> and when you break up these numbers, it's not equal among everyone. >> it's not. the unemployment rate didn't budge for african-americans. in fact, the black unemployment rate in december was 15.8%. compare that to the rate for whites at 7.5%. you know what, economists say, it's nothing knew. the black unemployment rate has been double that of whites since the government began tracking this 40 years ago and education is one key reason fewer blacks have college degrees. don, i have good news for you. the jobs picture for black men is improving but for black women it is worse. most public sector jobs are filled by mine north. >> thank you, alison. jim acosta is next in manchester. mitt romney is already gone. he's in south carolina? >> that's right. don, it makes perfect sense for mitt romney to be in south carolina if you consider where he stands. there's going to be a race for second place right now with rick santorum, jon huntsman, ron paul and newt gingrich. all the of the candidates have to look at what is coming out at orc. it's really kind of shocking when you consider how things have changed down in south carolina, which is a critical state for all of these un-romney candidates. you can see the surge that's carried into south carolina but it's not strong at the moment. these polls are snapshots. at the moment he doesn't appear to be taking over mitt romney. all of that could change with the debate coming up this weekend but one of the game changers, if you will, that sort of came out today were the positive job numbers which is a good thing for the white house. rick santorum was asked about this earlier today and he didn't exactly poo-poo the numbers, if i can put it that way. here's what he had to say. >> despite of president obama's numbers, the jobs market is picking up a bit and there is optimism that the republicans are going to take the white house and maybe that's spurring people to take some risks. >> reporter: the reason why i wanted to play that sound for you, don, it opens up a window into this difficult situation that the republicans are going to be in if the economy keeps doing this, keeps chipping away at the unemployment rate, and knocks it down below 8%. what do the republicans then do when it comes to the issue of the economy, don, that's going to be interesting to watch. >> he was saying that in gist, i'm sure. was that a joke? >> reporter: no, it wasn't. >> come on. >> reporter: i think that's really the message from all of these candidates that, yes, the economy is improving but if we can get what they call obamacare off of our backs and so forth, they are going to continue to make those comments and it's going to be up to voters, obviously, to make up their minds themselves whether or not this argument is going to win the day. but it is -- you can sort of tell how this is putting them in this box as to how to take on the economy. if it's slowly but surely improving, don. >> all right. thank you, jim appreciate it. >> you bet. next up, jessica yellin with the political side of today's jobs news. again, the jobless rate down to 8.5%. hi, jess. >> hey, don. let's talk first about what the president talked about. he emphasized the growth in the job economy and the real engine of the economy is revving up. listen in and then we can talk politics. >> obviously we have a lot more work to do. it's important to recognize that we've added 3.2 million private sector jobs over the last two months. nearly two million new jobs last year alone. and the manufacturing sector is also adding jobs and we're making progress. >> he went on to press congress to pass the full-year extension of the payroll tax cut but, john, i want to pick up on something that you were sort of dismissive of what jim acosta was saying there and the unemployment rate remains high when it's at 8.5% but the reason it's meaningful that the rate would be there, the reason it's make the case during the campaign that the agenda is working and the economy is moving in the right direction and the whole thing is don't change horses midstream that he had a vision to improve over time so stick with obama going forward. while 8% wouldn't be good for americans at that snapshot of in time, it could be over time given that it is showing improvement. >> yeah, it was just a matter of time before when the numbers came out we were wondering how both sides were trying to take credit for it. now we know basically it starts very quickly. thank you very much, jessica yellin. appreciate it. that's today's reporter roulette. one of the men who wants president obama's jobs suddenly under a big microscope and critics are saying rick santorum is part of the problem in washington. cnn did some investigating and we got the facts on santorum's time in office plus, bloody clothes, surveillance video, and a confession. >> did you kill stephany tatiana? >> yes. >> joran van der sloot in court accused of murder. also, a new twist in the case of a young mom who asked 911 if she could shoot an intruder. we now know why the suspects wanted to break into her home. and if you're going to steel someone's identity, you may want to think twice about targeting a guy in the white house. stay right there. if it is happening right now, you are about to see it. rapid fire, let's go. a deadly day in syria. at least 20 people killed. a suicide car bombing in the capital of damascus. outside the city and clashes between security forces and protesters trying to remove syria's leader. this video that you're looking at is from youtube. various accounts say more than 5,000 people have died as the government cracks down on civil unrest. an american teenager who was deported to colombia is back on her way to the united states. jakadrien turner was deported after giving authorities a fake name. military prosecutors are charging three air force academy cadets with sexual assault. the cases are not connected. they come on the heels of a report finding a sharp increase in such attacks at the military academies. the court documents show that two of the cadets tried to take advantage of two victims who were intoxicated. a senior white house official with secret service protection was a victim. investigators say this was the i.d. thief. he used the official's social security number to get a credit card. >> he's not a terrorist but a child surfing the internet and got this. >> it was a lot bigger and my fear is if that number is on the there what else is on the internet that people can get to. >> in a scene right out of the movies, thieves break into a virginia store and steal more than $2 million in jewelry to bypass an elaborate steel doors, trip chains and a smoke producing alarm system. it is right out of the movies. it wasn't the first time that the store owner gary baker has been hit. baker and his brother shot and killed two would-be robbers. he says he may just close down the store. two children were among four people rescued off the coast of australia. did you hear that? clinging to an ice chest. the chopper crew dropped a life raft and a bliss boat quickly arrived on the scene. all four in good condition. good stuff. it is no secret that there is tension between iran and the u.s. this story involves pirates. i'll show you the video. plus, joran van der sloot facing charges of murder of a young girl but he seemed to be in court like it was an inconvenience. you've got to see more of that video. we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. hey, i love your cereal there-- it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way. lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one. an update on a story we told you about a few minutes ago. look at that truck in monticello, minnesota. the driver appeared to lose control and ended up in the ice. it's being pulled out of the ice now as we look at the live pictures right now but on the left side of the screen that's the tape. that's how it looking at its deepest. imagine being in that truck. guess what, the driver managed to escape as well. he's been released from the hospital. so all is well. we'll move on now and talk about iran. the u.s. navy lends a helping hand to iran. take a look at this video. it shows an iranian ship high jacked more than a month ago. they captured 15 suspected pirates, mostly somali, and arrested a rescued a 13-member crew. and before leaving the iranian navy thanked the u.s. for help. he's had more than a year and a half in custody and it's time -- a a lot of time to think about it, really, but today joran van der sloot told a peruvian court that he wants more time to reflect on his murder trial. he's long been the suspect in the disappearance of natalee holloway in aruba but he went on trial today for the murder of 21-year-old stephany flores. she was beaten and strangled in van der sloot's hotel room in lima, peru. his lawyer indicated today that he wanted to make a plea or at least plead guilt to this case. so what happened? >> that's what he told me this morning. he said, what we're going to do is pleetd guilty and then hope for leniency but then when joran van der sloot was in court and the prosecutors started listening to all of the charges and how serious they were and how graphic the description of the prosecutor was, he started nodding his head and apparently was not in agreement an it came time for the judge to ask him, so, mr. van der sloot, how do you plead? he said i would like to use my right to say a sincere confession but i do not agree with everything that the prosecutor is saying so i need time to speak with my attorney and after that then the attorney asked for a continuance and that's what happened today in court. >> let's take a listen. >> translator: i want to use my right to plead a sincere confession but do not agree with all of the aggravating factors that the prosecutor is charging me with. >> it's interesting, because he's sort of negotiating his own -- if you're going to confess, hey, i'm going ton confess but negotiate it, they say, hey, buddy, you just confessed. there are rules. is this common? >> it's not an official confession because he stopped right in the middle of it and then his attorney intervened so he did not finish the full confession. >> odd behavior in court. he's standing down, sitting up, yawning, and what's up with that? >> you know, the guy is in court facing murder charges and face as prospect of facing as many as 35 years in prison, i wouldn't do that. he was yawning, scratching his head, he -- you see him there, he seems bored. he was not paying attention. at one point the judge asked him, you've got to sit up straight and you have to respect -- >> he's going to go down for a long time, right? >> exactly. he made it a little bit better but still he was a little bit unfocused. >> and everybody is watching it. what's her name? casey anthony. up next on cnn, a stunning new poll. it suggests that mitt romney is up big in south carolina, which of course is a big prize in the gop race. this as rick santorum tries to play catchup on a wave of momentum. cnn is taking a look at his political past and is looking at his spending habits. dana bash is standing by. her report is up next. dana. w! from your house?! from the car. unh! ooh. 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[oinking] [hissing] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. welcome back, everyone. officials are taking a look at the iowa kaukds. as the spotlight gets bigger, the scrutiny grows. especially his history of earmarks. i'm going to talk to dana bash in a second but first take a look at what she discovered. >> we're in a financial crisis right now. >> stumping in new hampshire, rick santorum gives his prescription for reducing the deficit. >> we have to do it in the areas where the deficit has been created and that is spending. >> he's liberal. >> what makes him liberal. >> $1 million of earmarks, jay from ames. >> rick santorum? >> right. >> i have had a lot of earmarks. in fact, i've very proud of all of the earmarks. >> reporter: the reality is, it's hard to know if santorum really got a billion dollars in required to disclose that and commonsense says -- >> i think it's pretty clear if you look at the anecdotal evidence that he got at least a billion and probably much more. >> reporter: in 2005, pennsylvania alone received $483 million in earmarks for 872 projects and during his years in congress, santorum issued press release after press release bragging about bringing home the bacon like an expansion project and $50,000 for gateway fasteners, a career development program. and he voted for the infamous bridge to nowhere in alaska. >> to go against the bridge of nowhere was powerful with senator stevens. >> if he would have voted against the bridge to nowhere, bye-bye money for petition if he? >> absolutely bye-bye money for pennsylvania. >> when you go to congress, you make sure that when taxes go from your state to washington, d.c., you fight to make sure you get your fair share back. >> and to be sure he was hardly alone. until recent years, even for republicans, spending federal funds on folks back home was a path to re-election. but now in a gop primary it's fodder for opponents. >> i believe that earmarking is a gateway drug to corruption and senator santorum supported it and engaged in it as much as he possibly could. >> a gateway drug to corruption? now that is a sound bite. dana bash, there she is in washington. santorum doesn't sound apologetic for saying what he took was a billion dollars worth of earmarks does he? >> no, he doesn't. he's defending the fact that he took earmarks and basically what he says and not only does he say that it was constitutional and is constitutional which many members of congress say, he also points out that earmarks were very, very small percentage of the budget. less than 1% of the budget. so that is actually true, don. and what he's also saying on the stump is that what he wants to do when it kwcomes to cutting spending. >> the earmarks for pennsylvania generals and when he was back in 2006 he really started bringing home the bacon for himself, didn't he? >> there's no question about it. just on a personal level, as you mentioned, when he was in congress he made $162,000. that was his salary in the united states senate. when he left -- actually, when he was defeated from a pretty big margin, he went to make money for the first time in his life, big money. and he made $1.3 million, according to a financial disclosure that he wrote out when he started running for president. that was. >> 2010 and the beginning of 2011 and not just for working for a newschannel that we all mentioned but also from working for the interests that he helped back in pennsylvania. health care company and also an energy company. wasn't a lobbyist, never registered as a lobbyist, but the kind of work that we see a lot of former members do, don't have the l word, lobbyist, but they definitely help these companies get political intelligence information for their companies. >> yeah. i think he worked for msnbc or something like that. i'm just kidding. but you know, hey, making money is what everyone wants to learn a good living. you can't hold that against them. thank you, dana. >> absolutely he. i have two guns in my hand. is it okay to shoot him if he comes in this door. a young mom shoots and kills a man after calling 911 and asks for permission. someone has been charged with murder and it's not the person who pulled trigger. more than 80 decades, a narrow definition of rape until now. find out what has changed. sunny hostin is on the case. looking forward to it, sunny. see you after the break. a new twist to report to you in the story of a young oklahoma widow who took matters in her own hands when a man tried to break into her home. >> i have two guns in my hand. is it okay to shoot him if he comes in this door? >> you have to do whatever you can to protect yourself. you do what you have to do to protect your baby. >> that was sarah mckinly. she killed the intruder with a 12-gauge shotgun. investigators say she won't face any charges. but the intruders alleged accomplice, who ran away from the scene and turned himself in after he heard the gunshots, has been charged with first-degree murder. all right. sunny hostin, how does this work? the alleged accomplice was not allegedly armed. how did he get charged with murder? >> he's a co-conspirator. the underlying felony was burglary in the first degree because they devised a plan to go into that home and break in. apparently they were also druggdrug up on hydrocode don't. they were both addicted to hydrocodeine and this this planned. this led to the other person being shot dead. now, that means this guy, he's also responsible for felony murder. that's the way the law works. so many people have been tweeting me and face booking me saying this is justice. >> this was allegedly because of hydrocodone. so that's why. the alleged accomplice has been released from jail on bond. is he under any other restrictions? >> he sure is. he has a $50,000 bond. interestingly enough, he's also under house arrest, don. also, he has a gps monitoring system and he has to stay 2,000 feet away from mckinnley. so pretty strict restrictions. i would say that this is a pretty significant case and the restrictions should restrict mckinley. >> sunny, we've spent some time talking about penn state and what was rape and what didn't. the fbi is making a big change, not because of that but who knows, a big change in the way that it collects and reports the changing of the definition and what was the old definition and what will the new one be now? >> its wa really just targeting women, women who were victims of sexual assault. i think we have a full screen that has that old definition and i think what is so significant now is that the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly against her will. the new definition will encompass not only women but children and men so i think the significance of this cannot be estimated because the fbi, while most of these cases are compiled, the fbi compiles all of these statistics and that means that resources are generally funneled according to statics. many, many sexual assaults and sexual crimes did not fall under that former definition so unfortunately a lot of them went unreported in terms of the statistics. we're talking about tens and millions of dollars could not be funneled, not only towards sex -- victims of sexual crimes but also towards the prosecution of those crimes. so this is an ex timely important moment in the fight against sexual assault and sexual crimes. >> yeah. the statistics, the numbers will no doubt go up because i'm sure of the definition. it's going to be very interesting and you said the money. wow. good stuff. sunny, thank you. always a pleasure seeing you. up next, the real skinny of today's upbeat jobs report. i caught up with christine romans and she kocuts through t spin of the political battle and how it affects all americans and their wallets. you don't want to miss it. i'm really glad we took this last minute trip! you booked our room right? 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[ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪ all right. look at these pictures. this is out of indiana near the chicago area because wls is the affiliate. there has been an accident with two trains, we are told. two trains crashed in porter, indiana. live pictures from our affiliate pls there. porter county, indiana. they collided and police and firefighters are en route. the collision is located near county road near 550 east shutting down some roads in the area because it's believed that one of the trains may have been carrying hazardous material. there are injuries reported and, again, one of the trains may be carrying hazardous material. two trains may have collided there. thank you, wls, for that video. we'll stay on it. did you know that each year more than 3,000 americans drown in the u.s.? as a child collin jones almost did. he's the first african-american man to hold a record for swimming. dr. san ji gupta with the human factor. >> beijing olympics. becomes the second african-american swimmer to take home gold and the first to hold a world record. but growing up, learning to swim was the last thing on his mind. >> my dad was a basketball player. he was like, you ought to play basketball. >> but a trip to the water park changed his life. >> we went down this ride and i ended up flipping upside down because i was so light. i almost drowned. after that, learning to swim became a priority. not easy when you're growing up in an inner city neighborhood. >> i grew up in an area that wasn't the friendliest area. >> he found challenges in being different. >> i'm like to my dad, there's no black people here. stick to basketball and you wouldn't have had that problem. >> how many of you guys have ever had a swim lesson? >> it's so important to him to inspire other kids like him. >> i was getting sixth and seventh place and now i've got an olympic gold medal. there is hope. you just have to stick with it and keep with it and that's what i tell kids. >> they never imagined they would be getting swimming lessons from an olympian. >> i want to make sure i shine in the path to another kid. >> he's going for gold again and hopes to perform 234 in london this year. >> it can happen. as long as you stick with it, there are going to be rough days. i still have rough days. it's not easy. it it's never easy but you can sit back and when you're standing on the podium and you hear your national anthem, that's what i sing for. >> dr. sanjay gupta, cnn reporting. >> nice job. from olympic swimmer to football. playoff games under way this weekend. first, sanjay talks with a former bowl running back who is suing the nfl over health issues. 7:30 a.m. saturday and sunday mornings. it's news that americans crave, more jobs. and today's govern moth reports shows there were 200,000 more of them in december. here's the real truth. we cut to the quick of it. cnn's christine romans showed me where the jobs are. >> it's the best news they've had in a long time. 200,000 jobs created. overall for the whole year, 1.6 million jobs created. 1.6 million jobs over the last year, that's slow, steady improvement in the labor department. >> what does that mean for people in the labor department? >> it means if you have newly lost your job, you're going to have a better chance getting a job. if you've been out of work for six months or longer, it's the same hard job market. >> we're in a political season. is this an economic story or -- >> this is a political story because economists like me who follow the markets, we know that it's been slowly getting better. >> you know why i ask you that? i saw months and months of positive numbers for the economy and job growth and it's become a talking point. >> it is. but they have to be careful. i just told you, for people who have to work six months or longer, it's terrible. when things are slowly healing, people say, not for me, not for my cousin or my brother. it still feels badly out there. and i can show you how many jobs we've lost. this is 2008 when president bush was in office. this is hundreds and thousands of jobs lost. here's where president obama takes office. still, 700, 800, job loss month after month. this is a catastrophe for the american people. >> that's what they mean by positive growth over month? >> on the campaign trail you'll hear the republicans say they want to say the president has created this jobs crisis this is sml that both people live through and this is the slow healing. just to keep up with people entering the job force. >> what's this? >> census hiring and stimulus money. and this is people worried about a double-dip recession and this is 12,000 jobs since 2006. we just don't know that quite yet and i think we need three or four months of 200,000-ish, one after the other. now, the quality of the jobs, too, and that's another reason why it's not easy for people at home. we had a lot of retail jobs, temporary jobs, fedex, ups. maybe those jobs aren't going to be there in january or february or march. we saw mining, manufacturing, health care. but government jobs over the year, 280,000 government workers lost their jobs in this country. that's the trend. we're waiting to see if the private sector can take over because budget cuts are the name of the game for years to come. >> you now it how it works, ten seconds. bottom line. >> slowly getting better. there you go. >> she's good. christine romans, thank you. >> thank you. remember we told you seconds ago about porter county, indiana, those are the live pictures. apparently the emergency crews are on the scene. you can see them now. they are trying to douse those flames. it's interesting because it is feared that one of the trains may have been carrying hazardous material. police and firefighters, many of them en route, you're looking at live pictures of the scene. we thank wls for bringing this to you. david james is on the phone now. he's the assistant highway supervisor for porter county highway department. so do you know what the has cha material is? >> sir, from what we understand, it's ethanol material on the train. >> ethanol, alcohol, so that poses for you -- what does this mean for the efforts in trying to get this under control? >>. >> from what we understand, it's a very volatile flammable liquid and it's going to take multiple units of fire departments to get this put out and it's an air hazard to the effect that they are evacuating within a mile radius in and i think it's starting to disperse somewhat. i am not on the scene. this is what i've been told. we have blocked off all the roads and we are asking that people stay away from the scene. it was two trains involved in this accident from what we understand and as far as injuries, i cannot comment on that. because that hasn't come back in yet. >> >> all right. david james, thank you so much. he said that there was ethanol, alcohol, very volatile used for fuel. man f. that explodes, it can be catastrophic there. they are working to get it out of control. two trains colliding. one of the trains carrying ethanol alcohol. we're back in moments here on cnn with more news. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. man on tv: ...rbis and 36 homers. swings at the first pitch and fouls it deep back into the stands. [ding] [fans whirring] announcer: chill raw and prepared foods promptly. one in 6 americans will get sick from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. it's time if for political pop and first up, the website funny or die holding a mock debate of gop candidates played by an assortment of celebrities. hosting duties went to larry king. >> we give the candidates seven seconds and whoever can mention ronald reagan's name the most wins the round. go! >> reagan, reagan, reagan -- >> reagan. >> reagan -- >> time's up. >> reagan! >> and the winner of the reagan speed round is jon huntsman. >> thank you, thank you. who said that? >> stop, top. >> hey, guys, look at me. >> herman cain, get out of here. >> live in prime time. >> herman, go. >> so long, suckers. >> now, we'll be taking some questions from twitting. >> pretty funny. it has been two days since john mccain endorsed mitt romney and in those two days, he's had back-to-back flubs on the campaign trail. to charleston, south carolina just yesterday. >> i am confident with the leadership and backing of the american people, r president obama will turn this country around. we believe that our best days ahead of us. excuse me, president romney. president romney. >> and here he is today getting his names mixed up talking about earmarks. >> lindsey graham and jim demint have joined with me time after time to go to the floor of the senate to fight against the earmark pork barrel corruption that goes on in washington, d.c. earmarks are a gateway to corruption and i can tell you that neither mitt romney nor rick santorum share that view. >> apparently, he meant to say newt gingrich there instead of mitt romney. "the situation room" coming up, wolf joins me now with a preview. your speaking with rnc chair today. what did he say? >> you have to watch this show. i'm not going to tell you. why would you watch? but i am going to e tell you who else is in "the situation room." the president's chairman of the council of economic advisers. just reporting on the jobs numbers. 200,000 new jobs. we'll talk about that. jon huntsman is joining us. also in the 5:00 p.m. eastern hour, a live interview, in "the situation room," herman cain. coming back to talk to us about what's going on right now. one other thing you should know, don, ask me the question, what is it. >> what is it, blitz? >> this is the last show we're doing from this venue in "the situation room." next week, i'm going to be at the cnn election center monday, tuesday and wednesday, but when i come back to washington on thursday, we've got a whole new situation room going on and we're building a whole new studio that's going to be ready later this year, but i feel sort of sad. you see these lovely walls and all the stuff, the video. this is "the situation room" we started in august six years ago. six and a half years we've been in this room. things happen. we're moving on. it's a little sad. you can see the wide shot. viewers aren't going to see that anymore after today, so if you want pictures, do it today because starting today, we're going to be some place else. >> you know, love it and i think i filled in for you twice and i got to be part of that historic situation room. remember the old set in the news room. i got to anchor the last cast and you feel really this is the end of an era. >> even journalists like us. if they do a tight shot of my eyes later today, you might see a little something going on. >> oh, blitz. >> i see you get sent mental. you're a centimental guy. >> guys can cry. we'll see you top of the hour. up next, it is a legendary program. now as reports circulate that penn state has chosen a new coach, how is this program even operating. we'll have the conversation next. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. at one time, joe paterno's successor would have been a dream job, but after a child sex abuse scandal ended his career, penn state's head coaching job is the hottest seat in college football, but it looks like the school has found the man to take it. bill o'brien has accepted the position. the defense coordinator for the patriots. he'll stay with the patriots through the playoffs. john, good to see you. senior investigative reporter for sports illustrated. program that's under this much scrutiny, why take this job? >> well, it's still a prominent program and you'll notice when the scandal broke, we heard urban meyer was going to take the job. they were floating these candidates, the man who got this job is not a high pro file coaching candidate, so it wasn't as though they were lining up outside state college for this job. it's still a head coaching job, so it's a risk, no question. >> what does penn state think that o'brien will bring to the table to help the team move past the scandal? the football program there is really sort of in shambles in uproar. >> yeah. what he brings is a fresh start. here's a guy who has no real track record, no ties to penn state. most people don't have opinions about him personally. most people can't identify him. here's a guy where he goes in with a complete clean slate. that's probably the best they could ask for right now. >> i had to ask you this because many people are saying, why is this program still in operation after all of this, especially when you're talking about children and the respected, two respected coaches, as a matter of fact, why isn't it suspended? what's going on? >> i mean, you and i have talked about that. in fairness, we're still, there has not been a conviction, a plea. we're still at the who knew what and when phase. there's a healthy debate here. given there's still trials to come, maybe you take a break and keep it low for a season, but i understand they're players, opponents, a lot to be affected if you said we need to cancel the season. i think we can discuss it, but realistically, let's see how this plays out. >> i only have about ten seconds left. not all the letter man's club, they don't approve. he doesn't get approval fro