Transcripts For MSNBC Weekends With Alex Witt 20111112

boy has been placed on administrative leave, and fired joe paterno has hired an attorney who has advised him not to speak about the scandal. joining me now, ron mott in state college with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. this is a new step forward for this penn state football program. first time in 46 years the team will take the field without joe paterno leading the charge. last night there was another big demonstration on campus. unlike the one we saw wednesday night, an unfortunate one a few days ago, this gathering was intended to help put back together what's been taken apart. ♪ imagine there's no heaven >> reporter: last night thousands of penn state students and alums sought to make amends. >> we are sorry, but the only thing that matters right now is that we are here for you. >> reporter: it was a chance at forgiveness and unity through music -- ♪ and the tears come streaming down your face ♪ >> reporter: through silence. through painful words. >> i relate to it because i was sexually abused when i was little. >> reporter: all in hopes of shining a more positive light on their ranks. after a week that saw some of them react violently to the firing of legendary football coach joe paterno. >> let's make tonight the greatest story ever told, ever, out of something as horrible as this. >> reporter: earlier these two students say they organized the candlelight prayer vigil to help focus attention on the victims of alleged child sexual abuse, tied to former assistant coach jerry sandusky who denies the criminal charges against him. >> we are with the people. we are with the victims of the scandal. and that's going to be the overall message. >> we can show that we care for them, we honor them, we respect them. and at the same time that we can unit as pen state student body. >> come pless>> reporter: frida school's new president sought to reorient the campus culture with a five-point promise centered around what he called a moral imperative. >> i will reinforce to the entire penn state community the moral imperative of doing the right thing. the first time every time. never again should anyone at penn state regardless of their position, feel scared to dot right thing. >> reporter: president erickson announced mike mcqueary, who told a grand jury he saw sandusky sexually assault a young boy in a campus shower nine years, is on indefinite paid leave citing security threats. penn state officials are increased security for this game. they're hoping to ensure it's a fun and safe environment for the expected crowd out of 100,000 to see the nittany lions take on the nebraska cornhuskers. back to you. >> as we look at just the emotion that was clearly evident by your piece there from last night, i'm curious about the scene there today and the feeling. what's it like? >> reporter: well, alex, i think we'll have a traditional pregame, a lot of tailgating out there, some folks started arriving last night with the rvs. so i think the community here is really ready to have something to cheer. they call this happy valley. they want to get back at least for a few hours at least to that community togetherness, that unity they want, she share at this stadium behind me and they want to win this game. it's a big game for them. it's 8-1, final home game, senior day. so they're wanting to to honor those players who have spent their collegiate careers here at penn state. unfortunately for them, they're going out with a little bit of a cloud over their program. but at least for a few hours today, they want to come together to cheer their team to victory. >> all right, ron mott, thanks. we're learning more about the charity sandusky founded, second mile. there are new questions into what top executives knew and had they knew it. joining me is michael, nbc national investigative correspondent. good saturday morning to you. i know you found -- >> good morning, alex. >> -- years before any authorities were told about the sexual abuse report, some of the second mile children were uncomfortable with sandusky? >> exactly. sandusky has been charged with abusing eight kids, all of whom we met through this second mile program. but he encountered hundreds of kids through that program. and we talked to one of them this week who described had conduct he found disturbing and in his words creepy. it's troy craig. here's what he had to say. >> any time we were in the car, driving anywhere, his hand, it was a given that his hand would be on my thigh. you know, i just knew that that was not the way any other adult man in my life touched me. i remember him coming up behind me and, you know, trying to make a joke of it, but all the same, feeling kind of -- no, stop it, stop that. >> so troy craig did not complain. he doesn't profess to be someone who was sexually abused but you get a sense of how jerry sandusky interacted with these kids and how that kind of behavior then spilled over to conduct that was far worse. the other question here, alex, what did charity executives know about all this? if you read through the grand jury report released this week, it's clear that at least by 1 -- by 2002 executive direct other of the second mile is informed about that allegation of jerry sandusky naked in a shower with a 10-year-old boy. he says that he was told that the -- there had been an investigation, it was unfounded. the charity takes no action. jerry sandusky continues to participate in second mile programs, continues to encounter kids. one of the alleged abused victims takes -- it happens after this event. it's not until 2008 when a third allegation comes -- gets made, a second police investigation gets launched, when jerry sandusky is separated from second mile programs. >> thank you so much, michael. there has been incredible outrage over the penn state sex abuse scandal this week. some led by buzz, perhaps best known for his book "friday night lights," he wrote this week even the mafia has higher standards than penn state officials. buzz joins me right now from philadelphia. glad you're here. good morning. >> good morning. >> i know -- i think people would understand your outrage. most of us out there. how do we move the ball forward from here when it comes to college sports. i mean, undo this mafia attitude you describe. how do you do it? >> there are two things you can do. i want to thank george of "sports illustrated" i advise everyone to read it. he had a series of articles on changes that can be made. the most radical change, it's difficult because, of course, lawyers get involved. basically to spin off major college football and basketball programs into their own entity. almost like a minor league system. the university licensed these programs out. you negotiate revenue, who gets what. these are separate entities. they can pay athletes if they want. the university gets a certain pot of money and they're out of it. they're out of the scandal. they're out of the mess. college presidents hate dealing with these coaches but they're too powerful, too scared. that's one thing you can do. the quicker thing you can do, and particularly penn state, too many varsity sports that don't make money. i think we have forgotten the fact, kids are not going -- should go to school for academics. not for sports. there are 29 varsity sports at penn state. basically, you get rid of every nonrevenue sport, if a booster wants to pick it up, that's fine. they can be club sports, which are just as competitive. if you don't like it, go to a sports academy. what that at least does is that the revenue, which is $50 million profit at penn state will at least, at least if nothing else, go to education, higher faculty salaries, scholarships. schools are being cut to the bone. so, at least the money goes into the right place. >> all right. you're definitely making sense here. do you at all step back then from your written words earlier saying that you think that college sports is rotten beyond repair? >> it may be rotten -- yes, because i think none of these things will happen. i think the ncaa's response to everything is we have to wait and see. we have to have the legal system takes its recourse. you know what, at a certain point in time, someone has the guts to say, i've had it. i'm doing this. screw the legal system. if you want to sue me, sue me. the argument they should play out the rest of the season but if there was ever, ever any school in the history of sports that deserves the death penalty, whether it's a year, two years, three years, is penn state. and i guarantee you, the ncaa will drag its feet, drag its feet. it takes something simple. humanity, morality and courage and no one has it in sports. i have never heard of a scandal in which a coach has turned in his own team. there may be some that exists. it's always an outsider. often a newspaper, often a disgruntled booster. never a coach because of the code of omert a. >> having written about sports for decades, you're drawing upon this knowledge. how do you think penn state survives this as a university? you're talking about the importance that needs to be placed on academics but you see penn state being so dependent on the football program for its mere livelihood. >> as i said, if penn state wants to be bold -- it's not playing the nebraska game. the board of trustees says, we're cutting ten varsity sports, we're cutting them because we don't have the money. we are going to use the money that we save to go into the general academic fund, which is our original purpose. that's the first thing they can do. and that is not hard to do. schools have cut varsity programs. the second thing they can do is really lead the way in spinning out these programs. the problem is, i'm very disturbed by who they pick to lead the investigation. he is a board of trustee member. they should have picked someone from the outside who is sophisticated and has no knowledge of that school whatsoever. so, i think that's a terrible choice because you know what, he has all sorts of relationships. you know what happens? politics. >> buzz, you've written a lot over the years. you've investigated stories, including those inside the court system. how does this story rank among all of those stories in terms of cover-ups you've seen? >> the worst. the worst. >> the worst. >> now, i have not covered the catholic church. this is by far, by far, the worst. i'm not saying that to be whatever, for hyperbole or sensationalism. the worst. basically what you have as far as we know, and we know a lot, is nothing less than eight -- coach paterno and high-ranking university officials and a graduate assistant, aiding and abetting a -- basically a known sexual predator who, because he was a coach, was allowed to go unchecked. you cannot get any worse than that, which is why i don't feel sorry for joe paterno. i do not. for all the good he did, that's a washout compared to really basically letting a coach give oral sex to kids, get oral sex, and of course you cannot get any worse. >> right. we should just, for the record, say these are all allegations at this point. >> allegations, that's right. >> buzz, many thanks, appreciate you weighing in. >> thank you. should today's game have been canceled? how do you expect fans to react? talk to me on twitter, my handle is @alexwitt. top political headlines. all eyes on south carolina right now with gop presidential hopefuls will debate tonight. south carolina akey for primary hopefuls. since 1980 the winner of that primary has gone on to win the republican nomination. new reaction to the cbs news poll with herman cain leading the pack followed by minute romney. >> here's gingrich. >> the real front-runners are tied, it's a wide open race. >> in south carolina mitt romney talked about that infamous demate moment with rick perry earlier this week. perry had the memory lapse when he was unable to remember a federal agency he wanted to scrap. here's romney's take. >> most of my time in these debates i'm concentrated on my own performance and own mistakes. i can think of a few and i i'm not going to rehearse them for you. we all make mistakes. i'm more concerned about my own than anybody else's. >> rick perry and michele bachmann marched in the same veterans day parade and they stopped to speak with vote aerz long the way. herman cain released a new online spod creatad. rick santorum and ron paul are meeting with voters in south carolina. the legal battles ahead in the penn state child sex abuse scandal. will anyone end up in jail for keeping silent and how far could the scandal spread? the rescue of a kidnapped major leaguer. how the ordeal came to an end for washington nationals catcher wilson ramos. fight fight. what to expect from tonight's debate when it turns to foreign policy. [ female announcer ] new crest complete multi-benefit plus deep clean. you feel it working, so you know you're ready for whatever the day brings. compared to ordinary toothpaste, you feel a deeper clean. up to a two times cleaner feeling. new crest complete. feel it working. is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain, think again. and take aleve. it's the one doctors recommend most for arthritis pain... two pills can last all day. ♪ president obama is in hawaii. he arrived early in morning with the first lady and the white house says the trip centers around securing trade agreements that will help the american economy. nbc's kristin welker is traveling with the president in honolulu. with a very early good morning, what is the president doing there today? >> reporter: good morning to you, alex. the president has a jam-packed day. he is hosting what is knowns at apec summit in hawaii, his hometown. so this morning he's going to be meeting with nine leaders who are members of apec. is an asian pacific economic summit. so, during that meeting today they'll sketch out the broad outlines i'm told of a potential trade deal for the larger apec summit. later on today he has a number of bilateral meetings including with the president of russia, medvedev, president of china hu jintao and later on they'll be hosting a big dinner here. later on in the trip next week, the president heads to australia where he'll make two stops to mark the 60th anniversary of the military alliance between our two nations and also stop in bali, indonesia. alex, as we head into an election year, there are a number of political overtones to this trip, including the fact that the super committee, that's that bipartisan, bicameraal committee charged with identifying over $1 trillion in debt recollection by will be in final days of negotiate. president obama has to show he's engaged on what's happening on the home front while he's handling his foreign foefl here. >> kristin welker, thank you very much. joining me, john harwood, cnbc chief washington correspondent and political writer for "the new york times." good saturday morning to you. >> morning. >> as kristin was saying, super committee coming town to the wire. is it better that he's not around? >> the president has benefitted politically from not being tied too closely to congress. so, i think if you're looking at the president's re-election prospects, it's probably better for him to be away, especially if the super committee ends up failing. if your concern is trying to push people over the finish line, remember, the president invested a lot of effort over the summer, got couldn't republicans to go in the direction democrats needed to make a deal given con secs he was offering. i don't know if he can change that now. if you were running the white house, you might decide, as they have, it's more prudent to keep distance. >> so, is the super committee going to make the deadline, john, or are triggers going to kick in? >> i think they are likely to achieve something by the deadline. remember, the triggers kick in only to the extent that they don't reach the $1.2 trillion over ten years that is their target. so, if they do half of that, that means triggers would kick in for the remaining $600 billion. not all that consequence, especially since a year before the see questers, the automatic cuts, kick in. those could be reversed in the meantime. so, i think the stakes are lower for the -- for the super committee than some people think, although if they have a total failure, then have you the potential for an adverse market reaction. >> okay. let's shift right now to the gop presidential field. i want to start with that oops heard round the world. has perry effect livety used humor to mitigate his debate flub or did he lose all chance to be president of the united states? >> it's hard to write off somebody who has $15 million in the bank, so i'm reluctant to say, no, he can't come back. but he's got a very deep hole. he went into this debate with people wondering, is he really up to the challenge of competing nationally, competing with barack obama, should he get the republican nomination? his debate performances have been weak before. this is one of those indelible moments that's going to follow him for a very long time. it's not impossible that he could come back but he's got a very, very deep hole. his numbers in iowa and in south carolina, which ought to be a base state for him, are pretty low. >> okay. the new cbs news shows herman cain out front and romney sliding down with gingrich. some think of this is this as an indictment of the gop field. what do you think? >> it's an unusual field because you only have one person, by all conventional metrics, is a credible candidate to go the distance. jon huntsman might have been that by virtue of his record in utah but he hasn't been able to move the needle nationally. other candidates have a lot of baggage and some difficulty breaking through. so, mitt romney, even though he is trailing herman cain, remains in a strong position for the republican nomination. and if he gets it, he's going to be a very credible general election candidate. so, you could say the field itself has some flaws in it. but they do have one candidate who has most of the qualities that you would think a very strong general election nominee would have. >> john harwood, good to see you. tom brokaw weighs in on the current political climate. plus, the sight that took his breath away in montana and the lesson we could learn from it coming up in "office politics" but the end of an era today in italy, sylvilvia berlusconi is expected to retire ending his 17-year rule italy is under intense pressure to put in place a new government that can push through more austerity measures to deal with the staggering debts. 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>> in this particular case the grand jury found mr. schultz and mr. curley, both administrators, the athletic director and vp of finance, who oversaw university police as well, grand jury found they failed to report in 2002. in pennsylvania it's a third-degree misdemeanor. they have 48 hours from the time of the incident, both verbally and in writing, the institution has got to report that to welfare and to the police. they did not do that in 2002. grand jury cited them for that. and also a couple other criminal charges as well. >> so, with wendy, legally speaking when a crime is committed on campus, on private property, where do you draw the line between keeping it an on-campus security issue or taking it to authorities of city and state? >> well, there's no excuse just because it's a private environment not to comply with mandatory reporting laws. what pennsylvania provides, true in a lot of states and facilitates institutional kovups in schools all over the country is the law allows them to just have a designated person responsible for making the report. so if a child tells somebody on campus that they've been abused, that employee really isn't allowed to directly call cops or child welfare. officials are supposed to report it to their superior. the law expects the boss, in this case the president of the university, if not one of the two guys who's being prosecuted for nonreporting, had a mandate then to call protective services. the problem is there's no oversight. if they don't do their job, it's lie a tree in the forest problem. >> do you think these people did not report because they were afraid to lose their job? >> well, you can. that's an important question you just asked. in lots of jurisdictions, including in pennsylvania, you can be told by your employer that if you do directly report to the police or child welfare authorities, you can be fired because it violates our employment policy. our employment policy says you're only allowed to tell your supervisor. then it's none of your business. some people don't report because they don't want to lose their job. shame on us as a nation. it facility cover-ups. >> maybe a discussion we'll have now. karen, i want to go with a report in the "new york times" today which talks about penn state officials, including joe paterno, who could soon face civil lawsuits. what kind of money are we talking about? how will that play out? >> the way, obviously, murdering a child's soul, i don't know how you put a price on it, but when i do institutions is i'll take the profits, because you don't really have too many guidelines. emotional -- >> profits meaning what? from the football program? >> from -- which is $90 million a year. also, let's not forget, second mile, they make millions of dollars a year as well. there is some charitable immunity but because of the scandals with the church, you can penetrate, obviously, the charitable immunity with them. millions of dollars. penn state, $90 million a year. obviously, that's something that i'm going to tell the jury that that's part of what i should get for my damages. >> so karen's going to be the jugular there. i wouldn't expect anything less. what about potential obstacles or roadblocks? what might they run into if they go ahead and sue the penn state officials. >> a couple important roadblocks. the first is called state immunity. penn state is in a sense the government and pennsylvania law provides government entities with immunity from lawsuits for negligence. but there's a good exception which will work here which is for intentional or willfulness misconduct. victims have to say look at the willful blindness. a nice way around that immunity barrier. the other is statue of limitations. it's a two-year period for bringing claims against state entities in pennsylvania. again, what stops the clock from running in pennsylvania? another nice exception that will work for these victims, fraud. fraud! if there's any evidence of cover-up, the clock stops running. i think they'll get through that door as well. >> wendy murphy, karen de soto, good discussion. police in state college, pennsylvania, say jerry sandusky's home been vandalized. cops say someone through two cinder blocks through the bedroom window. no one was hurt sthu a round table discussion with a panel of sports journalists continues our penn state coverage in a few minutes. we'll dig into a number of topics including the power of money at penn state. this morning president obama has a challenge for america, to give back to the nation's brave men and women who served this country. speaking from the "uss carl vincent" in san diego the president called on hire companies to hire more veterans by 2013. >> today more than 850,000 veterans remain unemployed. too many are struggling to find a job worthy of their talents and experience. that's not right. we ask these men and women to leave their families and their jobs and risk their lives to fight for our country. the last thing they should have to do is fight for a job when they get home. >> last night president honored servicemen and women aboard aircraft carrier saying veterans day is a time to say thank you. a basketball court was set up on the flight deck and the crew watched the unc tar heels take on michigan state spartans. in 2012 politics all eyes will be on spart tin burg, south carolina, where gop candidates are squaring off in another deba debate. the focus on foreign policy and national security. tonight is crucial for rick perry following his brain freeze debacle in wednesday's debate and rapidly sliding poll numbers. it's time now for "office politics" and this week we took our cameras into the office of legendary nbc news man tom brokaw, former anchor of "nightly news" and talked about his new book "the time of our lives" and after five decades, brokaw gave me had his per speck five on the political climate we're facing now. >> i want to ask you about your assessment of where things are with the american political landscape, where the american people are standing right now. i think it's pretty safe to say it's somewhat dysfunctional these days. what's your opinion? >> i think it's the worst i've ever seen in my lifetime. that's 50 years of political reporting. that everybody has retreated in washington, the four corners of the room and only yelling at each other and not listening to each other in any fashion. beyond the beltway there's a lot of work still being done. people in local communities -- n banker is working with a democrat who owns a back hoe company and trying to make the business work for them and their families and their town. they feel walled off from washington. i hear that wherever i go. >> you mentioned a host of challenges in this country. and the most pressing of them are what, in your mind? and how do we go about solving them? >> i think the single most pressing problem is having a dialogue in which we can, and broadly speaking, decide what direction we to want go and how we'll get there. you know, we emerge from -- we did that in world war ii. we had to because the threat was imminent and immediate and really the whole world was at stake. there are a lot of people who are not happy about us getting involved in the war but we move forward together. you know, i grew up in the '50s when we had mccarthyism and a lot of people who were trying to pull the country down from inside. then when the civil rights movement grew up, a lot of folks saying, we're moving too fast in civil rights. this is a communist trick. but the rest of the country got it because of the power of dr. king's arguments, his oratory, nonviolent philosophy and his trust in the rule of law. we're a much better country because of what happened in the '60s with civil rights movement. it's that kind of discussion we need to have more of. >> in this book you have a number of charming vignettes. the last one that was offered, i are to say, brought a tear to my eye, even thinking about it. >> the elk. >> tell us that story. >> well, i always learn something every summer in montana from nature. and especially from wildlife. four, five years ago in the springtime when the river running through our national reservoir because of flood stage because of snow runoff and heavy rain. i was standing at a high point looking at a bend in the river when a small herd of mother elk came out, cows with her newborn calves. couldn't have been more than two, three weeks old. they looked at me, decided i wasn't a threat. they then led the calves into this raging river to a bushy bank on the other side so they could get into the grassland on the other part of our ranch. it was not easy for these newborn calves. i'm sure it was the first time they'd ever gone swimming. wouldn't dick make it. he was swept downstream. i thought, my god, what do i do? he got into an eddy, a back current, got on the sand bar. he tried again on his own a second time. failed a second time. failed a third time. i could barely breathe at that point. and he's back up on the far bank. he's trembling now, you know, he could see his little legs shaking. i looked at the herd of mother cows. and one stepped out, went down to the edge of the bank on the far side, god as my witness, nodded her head as if to say, i'm coming to get you. waded in, nuzzled him, calmed him down, and the whole herd waited for him. they went over the hill off to greener pastures. what i say in the book is that this country's at flood stage and we all have to help each other across these rivers. >> gets me hearing you talk about it. it does. >> it was a great moment. >> it was a great moment. you know, a majestic mom. >> yeah, it really was. >> i will have more of my interview with tom brokaw later in our show, including memories of his role in one of the most remarkable moments in political history. you want to stick around for that. in a moment, was there a culture of cover-up at penn state? a round table discussion next on that. financial fallout. penn state sponsors react. toothpaste is the wrong thing to use on a denture, it could be very abrasive. if the surface gets abraded, it's just the environment that bacteria likes to nestle into and they can cause the odor. your denture needs to be cleaned gently on a daily basis. i like to recommend polident, it kills the bacteria without causing any abrasion. when my patients follow my instructions, their dentures feel clean and fresh. they look forward to putting them in their mouth and smiling. is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain, think again. and take aleve. it's the one doctors recommend most for arthritis pain... two pills can last all day. ♪ are on our wish lists? 'cause this season, the timing couldn't be better. right now, we can get those black friday prices without fighting through all those black friday crowds, which means we can do more this year without waiting around for the season to start. ♪ more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. why wait for black friday? this refrigerator is already just 1,198 bucks. ♪ oh, oh for black friday? e♪ iom yo♪ [ aou rr for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years. disturbing child sex abuse allegations at penn state are causing sponsors to pull their deals. car stop said it was pulling commercials from upcoming broadcast because of the allegations. several other companies reportedly doing the same thing. sher win williams pulled its logo from the banner used in penn state press conferences. security will be tight for today's game against nebraska where fans are being asked to wear blue in support of the victims. let's go to our sports panel now. kevin blackstone is an aspn commentator, a journalism professor. bonnie bernstein a sports reporter and pablo reporter for "sports illustrated." thank you for being here. kevin, some have said today's game should have been called off. do you agree? >> no. >> and how can fans cheer in light of something so horrific? >> it's not about cheering a football game, about calling the game off. whether the game is played or not is not going to have any impact on what's unfolding at penn state over the last 12, 14 years. you know, i think they should show up. i think they should have the blue out which represents the blue ribbon against child abuse in this country. and i think a really good gesture would have all the receipts from today's game at 108,000 seat stadium donated to a child abuse victims and child abuse -- anti-child abuse organizations in the state of pennsylvania. i think that would be the way to go about it. >> that's an interesting proposal there. sounds good. bone how does the college address this scandal today? do they say something? do they go public and make something official or something like what kevin has suggested? >> i think they're doing what they can do. most involved have been let go or on administrative leave. last night you saw a vigil and beautiful candlelight vigil. when they talk about potentially canceling the games, one thing about sports is it's a place for people to heal. 9/11 was a perfect example of that where people rally around sports as a healing mechanism. and i think that's one of the things penn state as a ute needs right now. >> yeah. i'm curious about the investigation here, pablo. we've heard the mother of one of the alleged victims says she has grave concerns, because of time frame here, there will be more victims coming out. are you finding the possibility of that with what you're researching? >> yeah. i think the investigation is ongoing. obviously we don't know for sure, but already reports are coming out that victims have climbed to double figures. certainly, as bonnie said, people begin to heal, come to terms with what happened, people will find the courage to come out. i think you would be a fool to think it was limited to just eight boys in 15 years. jerry sandusky was traveling the country and god knows what he could have been doing as a tepttive of penn state. >> how do you explain the silence of penn state for all of these years? >> well, i mean, i think it's institutional blindness. this could have happened and has happened other places. we saw it in catholic church, boy scouts, usa swimming program in this country try to clean up a very similar problem just last year. banning -- wound up banning 36 coaches for life because of inappropriate relationships with children. i think what happened here is you've got to remember that penn state was one of of the schools that did everything the right way, at least we thought. you talk about a school that's tied with stanford, stanford university in this with stanford. graduating graduates at an 85, 90% rate. joe paterno was part of the faculty because he believed coaching was part of the teaching and you couldn't divide yourself from the academy. they did things the right way. i'm sure if they thought they saw a problem within their walls, they could handle it. unfortunately, that was the absolute wrong thing to do in this case. >> and to both of you, what happens from the ncaa going forward? >> well, now it's almost -- nca., let's remember, does not have subpoena power. so really they are waiting and seeing. a concern is that jerry sandusky for some of this time would have been the defensive coordinator at penn state. a top official. and if there is any link wage between his activities as a recruiter and the institution seeking out, what could they have done about that? those are vrelevant questions. >> kevin, sit tight as well. in a moment we're going to talk about the graduate assistant shlths now assistant coach, who allegedly saw jerry sandusky allegedly attacking a boy. how could he remain quiet for so many years? it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? this guy's amazing. combines great odor protection with a lavender scent. amazing microcapsules absorb and neutralize odor releasing scent anytime you need it. all day long. secret scent expressions deodorant/antiperspirant. also in body splashes. all right. we're going to continue the conversation that we've had all during this kmerks. i'm joined by kevin blackstone and we were talking about michael mcquery who was taken off the side lines on administrative leave because he's been getting death threats. let's hone in on what he did or did not do all those years ago when he allegedly witnessed a 10-year-old boy being sodomized. >> alex, it makes sense in our rational minds, i would go in there and physically stop him from committing a heinous crimes but there are a couple of things to take into consideration, the relationship between mcquery and sandusky. they all grew up together. he played with sandusky's kids. the way he looks at jerry sandusky is as an elder, a mentor, and with a person with an extra power. now you have a grad assistant and i wonder if there were other things that came into play under duress. >> and to what extent do you think, pablo, do you think he didn't say anything to the higher ups? >> yeah. look at the incentive system in sports. coaches are to keep things in-house. to snitch on a coach for a major offense or lesser offense would be equivalent to being black balled. obviously he want d to be on the sidelines and to be a coach. >> kevin, weigh in. >> i'm sorry. i can't give mcquery a pass on this. he witnessed a crime. we've all read the disgusting details in the report. he should have and could have done a number of things. number one starting with telling his father. >> but he did that and they went to joe paterno. >> he was not only a grad assistant. he was a 28-year-old man. >> do you think he deserves to lose his job? >> i think he certainly lose his position right now. there's no way that he can coach at penn state anymore. there's no way that he can be on the sidelines because he will be a direct reminder of a person at ground zero when this happened. the problem in that report is that he is at least one of eight people who either saw something or heard about what was seen by other people who absolutely did nothing. no one called authorities. >> last word, bonnie. >> i agree with everything that has been said here. there needs to be a cleaning of house. there was a lot of culpability. when you consider that penn state was the last great fashions of purity in college football, it's just, you know, a flat out shame. >> purity in quotes now, that's for sure. guys, thank you so much. >> thank you. coming up, we'll talk to a woman who worked at jerry sandusky's charity, a second mile. did she notice anything unusual? ♪ mama said there'd be days like this ♪ ♪ "there'll be days like this," mama said ♪ [ male announcer ] the toughest job on the planet just got a little easier. with one touch technology and even an air scrubber. the nissan quest. innovation for family. innovation for all. get up to $3,050 total savings on the 2011 nissan quest. ♪ our machines help identify early stages of cancer, 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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[ thunder rumbles ] what is the sign of a good decision? in the world of personal finance, it's massmutual. find strength and stability in a company that's owned by its policyholders. ask your advisor, or visit massmutual.com. . two hours to go before penn state's first game since the child sex abuse incident came to light. also, inside the charity founded by the man accused of abusing the eight boys. was there any red flags. a volunteer talks to me today. a new poll out on the race for 2012. is it bad that the republicans don't have a clear candidate? good morning, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." we're going to go to our top story. the penn state sex scandal. assistant coach mike mcquery will not be there. he witnessed an attack on one young boy and fired head coach joe paterno is not speaking about the scandal, on advice of his new attorney. ron mott is live. the corn huskers have arrived? >> reporter: the corn husbakers have arrived. this stadium holds about 107,000 at capacity. we don't think we'll have as many people in the stands today. it will be interesting to see what types of ceremonies they will give to the crowd before the game. of course, joe paterno will not lead his team with the traditional charge out on the field. tom broadly is the interim head coach. in talking to some of the students and alums this week, they want to play this football game. they want to come and cheer on this football game. it's senior day. it's the final home game of the season. they want to honor the seniors as they go out with their careers over penn state with a cloud hanging over them but they have earned an opportunity to play in front of the home crowd for the last time. they are hoping that they will win this crowd, obviously, but at the time they want to enjoy football that comes to a campus like this. we'll be talking about this scandal for some time to come. we need to break away from it for a few hours to have some fun, alex. >> there is a cloud in the air and certainly everyone understands that. there are fewer people at the stadium doing that whole tailgating thing that they do at this time. it may be a more muted, if not less of a crowd today. do you think that's possible? >> reporter: that is entirely possible. there was talk since the scandal broke that since people were so disgusted and disheartened about what they read that they may not attend the final game of the season. one of the players here whose son is a linebacker is trying to rally the old players to support the program. and joe paterno, they want to show some sign of support for the football tradition here, even though there are some things that are going to be uncomfortable for the entire community. so we thought we might not see 100,000 people in the stand but the students are certainly fired up about the game. they are creating what they call a blue out. they are wearing blue shirts and selling some shirts that they are going to take over and hand to a fund. there is a sense of football in the air and, as i mentioned earlier, there is sadness, too, about what we saw this week with the departures of high-level officials on the campus. >> ron mott, many thanks for the report. we're going to hear from one volunteer who worked with jerry sandusky and she's going to tell us her impression right in the middle of the abuse of this scandal. it will be later on in this hour. the gop hopefuls score off in a couple of hours. newt gingrich enjoys his recent jump in the polls and president obama enjoys a basketball game. where? the gop candidates will face each other in south carolina. this time, the focus is on foreign policy and national security. the key republicans, since 1980, the winner has gone to win the gop presidential nomination. newt gingrich is commenting on that poll tied with mitt romney at 15%. here's gingrich's take. >> i've gone from being dead in june to somebody asking me to be part of the cabinet in november. i think that's real progress. >> mitt romney weighed in on his rival's apparent bump in pop later. >> if other people do well, that's great. there's this funny thing about democracy, which is you have competition. it might be easier for me if i didn't but i do have competition and i will face other people who will do well. >> another just released poll shows romney in the lead. rick perry marched through the streets of south carolina. michele bachmann was there, too. president obama joined thousands of sailors on the deck of "uss carl vinson." the game was in on nor of veterans day and north carolina won, by the way. and where are the top gop candidates? herman cain in atlanta, newt gingrich in greenville, south carolina barbecue. rick santorum is holding similar events in south carolina. a new poll shows that with fewer than two months to the iowa caucus, the republican field is still wide open. the cbs poll shows that 72% of people have not made up their mind about who they support. holly is here. we have this debate tonight but so far the debates have not done anything to narrow the field. what's going on? >> it's narrowed the field in that one time rick perry was viewed as the chief alternative to mitt romney and now, after this horrible debate gaffe on wednesday night, he's going to struggle to get back to the top of the polls. but i think what is happening is that people are looking for an alternative to romney. it's an example of people's dissatisfaction with romneys a the nominee. >> yeah. >> and, again, it's -- there's two months -- a little less than two months to go before iowa. we're going to start seeing stuff shake out. >> this having been said, the dissatisfaction, were romney to be the eventual nominee, or anyo anyone, don't you think the gop would rally behind that person? >> ultimately, yes. there were many in the republican party who would say they would never support him but in the end they rallied against him and barack obama. i think this is what will happen again this year. >> tell me what is on tap for tonight. you have foreign policy, national security. who do you think stands to do the best? >> they've all given major foreign policy speeches. mitt romney did a few weeks ago in south carolina. no one has been talking about foreign policy and part of that is because they all basically agree. so that's what is going to be interesting about tonight. if anybody tries to distinct wish themselves. >> yeah. this cbs news poll showing newt gingrich tied for second with mitt romney, his debate style, as you know, can be contentious with the moderator. do you think this approach is working for him? is that contributing to the rise in his polls? >> i think he's looking at these polls -- at these debates and that's what is happening his campaign and he's also sort of staffing up in south carolina and in iowa. people are giving his candidacy another look. he overcomes the troubles that he's had and the controversy of how much he shopped at tiffany's and i think a lot of people are impressed by the debates. >> in a sort of, which is the lessor of two evil's question, you have rick perry's campaign suggesting that he's going to step back and not participate as much in these debates. is it better to not participate or to do poorly? >> well, i think obviously they are wishing that there wouldn't have been a wednesday night debate but now he's sort of in a pickle. if he does not show up at the debates, people are going to say he's not showing up because he's such a horrible debater. he needs these debates to prove that he can rise to this challenge. >> all right. holly bailey, as always, thank you. >> thank you. what some of the football players are saying at penn state. do they have any misgivings about playing today? also, the new poll that shows that the gop is gaining traction. plus, gone all at once. a wall street firm fires a,0 thousand workers. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." my patients, you want to hear you've done a good job. that's why i recommend a rinse like crest pro-health multi-protection. it helps you get a better dental check-up. so be ready for your next dental check-up. try any crest pro-health rinse. and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. stocks close strong, the dow up 260 points. u.s. consumer confidence is on the rise with a third consecutive month and rising groceries are sure to take stuffing out of your thanksgiving this season. regina lewis has the details. >> thanks. >> with all of these details, what do we make of the stock market in europe? >> not only did berlusconi say that he would be stepping aside, but the name being talked about is mario and the european central bank has a new head. so the hope here is confidence in a trifecta of leadership. guys who really get it when it comes to fiscal matters. according to the university of michigan, consumer confidence is on the way up. can you figure out why? >> i think we've lowered our expectations. what's happened is, it used to be a clear indicator. if i felt better, i shopped more. now what's happening is people are saying, look, i'm going to buy things for the holiday ts but make no miss stablg, that doesn't make me confident. those numbers are a little bit interesting. now, having said that, they are at a five-month high and they have been increasing for three straight months. >> but how much more is thanksgiving go to hurt our wall let's this year? >> this is interesting. the overall meal will be up 13% lead by the lead attraction, turkey, up 22%. to put that in perspective, turkey is roughly $1.30 pound which is about $4 for a 16-pound turkey. the average thanksgiving day meal is about $5 a person. about $49.20 for ten people. pretty affordable. >> that doesn't sound too bad when you think about it. we're going to talk about online shopping tips when you come back. thank you. >> you got it. movie about the career of jay edgar who have ver. is it a must see? 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[ male announcer ] don't be left behind. get it faster with 4g. at&t. ♪ snart smartphones have become a gadget used during television. 80% of people say that they text and talk while watching tv and some say they use it to browse the internet while they are watching tv. put your smartphones down being okay? that's an order. the sexual abuse scandal. in about an hour and a half, they will play their first game since the scandal. with me now is bonnie bernstein and a welcome back to pablo. do you think it would benefit penn state if he were to come out and make some sort of a statement, an explanation, anything to explain what happened? >> i sort of think the window for that has closed. paterno's son scott has come out and said, while he would like to speak, he's being advised not to. >> legally we understand he should not say a word. this is a man who all these decades has propped up this whole program. so many people would think about penn state. the first thing you think about is joe paterno. does he always owe it to the university to do something instead of leaving it in a disgrace? >> the biggest cheers in the crowd will be when joe paterno's name is uttered. >> do you expect it to be uttered? >> i don't know. how many moments of silence are appropriate? it's commensurated with the tra tragedy that happened. the guy that has been there since 1949 is not there anymore. >> the challenge in today's game is how do you respect the victims but still understand that penn state is vying for the big 10 title. they are trying to get a bid to the rose bowl. the children that we talk about in the sex abuse scandal, the other kids that we really haven't talked much about are the football players. you know, it will be such a great testament as to what these kids are like, to see how they play today. this is still a football game. big money for penn state. >> i've got to tell you, and i'm going to call out mark, our floor director. his son is a sophomore at penn state and i offered my condolences to him and the entire student body. >> you saw the vigil last night. >> the rioting did not help their cause. it was a whole series of pr blunder der. 40,000 people on all of their campuses, it's more than the .01% who may or may not have known something at this game today. >> sure. but the fallout from this, back to the student body themselves, who would possibly imagine when all of this was happening -- >> never. >> -- that these people would be victims because there's a power over their experience. their entire college career, i don't want to overdrama advertise, but this will be a chapter in it. >> and people who haven't been to state college, it's called pleasantville. it's the campus up on a hill as far as college sports goes and -- >> literally and figure tifly. and to say that these people -- if you think about their schools, the stateliest school ran by the stateliest man in history is mind blowing. >> penn state has for so long been so strongly aligned with paterno. if you look at how to define penn state, many people would say joe paterno. he has won more games than any division coach. he has up held academic standards when that's become a real issue. >> he's done so many wonderful things. >> his name is all over that campus. >> yeah, so now people have to question, how do we define penn state? they are so passionate and everything is in a state of upheaval because of this case. >> and then you can take that further and say, how do we define college sports in america. >> that's a separate story. >> don't be hating on usc. >> i will not. >> we'll take it out back if you do that. >> thank you both. should today's game have been canceled? we'll get your twitter responses next here on "weekend's with alex witt." into, like, little bite-size chunks. yeah, i mean you feel me right? i mean... yeah. uh, sir... ah... 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'cause this season, the timing couldn't be better. right now, we can get those black friday prices without fighting through all those black friday crowds, which means we can do more this year without waiting around for the season to start. ♪ more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. why wait for black friday? choose either this top load or front load washer for just 499 bucks. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." this is the home of legendary coach joe paterno. we do know that he will not be on the side lines or at the stadium. we've gotten word that a couple of students went by earlier and yelled, we love you joe pa. we saw two men get on their knees in asemblance of prayer in front of his home there. so we're going to get more about this scandal. penn state has its first game since this came out. mike mcquery will not be there. he was put on the sidelines last night. thousands are turning their focus on the young victims abused and joe paterno fired this week. he's not speaking anymore about that scandal, that on the advice of his newly hired attorney. the number of victims is incal kubl and there is a $1.14 billion. kevin tibbles is joining us. how much of that is credited to the football team? >> alex, we are talking about a lot. college football is big business in america and penn state is absolutely no he can sepexcepti. in fact, it's one of the most profitable in this country. now, let's take a look at some of the numbers. last year the department of education said that penn state football, the team, generated $72.2 million in income. and more than $53 million of that was in profit. now, when you break those numbers down, the average game day income from tickets sold had concessions and parking. the total is $6 million. penn state has a population of 42,000 people but more than doubles for games at beaver stadium. the game holds an impressive 108,000 seats. so the first big test of any kind of financial impact will come today when penn state plays nebraska at home. >> okay. and a lot of the credit for the football team success is being attributed to joe paterno. do have you have any numbers on that? >> last year joe paterno said that the team is nowhere near as profitable when he first took over. now, compare that to $72 million generated in 2010. alex? >> those are going to be interesting stats to consider, if anyone is considering civil suits at this point. kevin, many things. well, the department of education has launched its own investigation to see if the university broke any federal laws. it's an investigation that one congressman is pushing for all along and he joins me right now. republican congressman is with us. good morning. >> great to be with you. >> you are not only a pennsylvania congressman, you are a former prosecutor. do you think penn state broke laws here? >> yeah, that's why i brought it. now, the education department has to draw the conclusion. i'm no longer a prosecutor. but there was a duty to report, in my opinion, under the query act and guidelines within penn state that reports would be investigated by the campus police. i belief this happened in 2002, we wouldn't be where we are today. >> you are a long-time advocate for safety on college campuses. what do you think should have been done regarding additional uses. >> there should have been a real-time investigation by police. imagine where we would be today if an investigator talked to mike mcquery the day after the incident. imagine where we would be today if there was an opportunity to talk to that 10-year-old boy. i think under the facts, if they are true, would be in jail a decade ago. really, my interested in this cleary act is that we see the issue of date rape and others in which victims do not have the ability to appropriately report crimes and have them investigated in a real-time way so the victim is in control of the aftermath of the incident and that's where i think this is an opportunity for the nation to appreciate how much better we could do. >> what are your constituents telling you? how much anger is there out there? >> a great deal. i think people see a situation like this and they see the remarkable disparity between the industry of football and then the lives of these poor children and the comparison between the two, how helpless the children are and how big the industry is and they hold people accountable for protecting the industry at the expense of the children. >> have you been in touch with the department of education? >> yes, i have. i've spoken directly to secretary duncan and told him how much i appreciated within 24 hours they had not only turned around a letter to penn state and they will begin the investigation, sent the formal notice and it's a very comprehensive review, not only of the law -- not only of the situation under the cleary act but i understand they are going to look at civil rights issues as well. >> well, i would think that the secretary of education himself, a former collegiate athlete at harvard, i think this is something that he will not let the grass grow underneath the feet as well. do you think there will be other charges? >> yes. and this is just the beginning of an investigation and litigation and there may have been other people who would have had the responsibility. the problem is that these crimes are a decade old in some cases and people are coming forward now in other circumstances. so it's possible that there could be incidents outside of penn state, sandusky was aligned with the second mile and that's another issue of concern. he had access to all of these boys who were vulnerable because they came from broken homes and that's exactly the kind of target audience, when you understand this issue, that the predator grew these young, vulnerable boys. >> okay. thank you for joining us. appreciate that. >> thank you, alex. great to be with you. we have been asking all morning, should the game have been canceled? we've been getting lots of tweets. ken wrote, yes, they should have canceled today's game. continuing with the game just proves the point that they have made football a god. and victoria says, frankly, in light of the allegation, the rest of the season should have been canceled. >> it's a disgrace. and the god factor that joe paterno has over the student body is unbelievable. the students will always support him. keep following me at my handle. new word on president obama this morning on the hundreds and thousands of veterans without work. speaking at the "uss carl vinson" in san diego, he urges people to hire veterans. >> today 815,000 veterans remain unemployed and too many are struggling to find jobs worthy of their talents and strengths. that's not right. we asked these men and women to leave their families and their lives to risk fighting for their country. the last thing they should have to do is fight for a job when they get home. >> veterans day, he says, is a time to say thank you. let's go now to the 2012 race a republican veteran is gaining traction. newt gingrich is in second place in the marist poll. joining me now, former deputy communications director for president obama and also here, michael steele. welcome to the two of you. good morning. >> good morning. >> michael, i'm curious, do you think newt gingrich can beat president obama? >> oh, i do. i do. in fact, i think it's one of the most exciting things about that campaign is the debates between the two of them. to hear the philosophies that both of them have about policy and government i find it interesting. the events that unfolded, and for the longest time i thought romney was the tortoise in this race. it's newt gingrich who i think has very carefully stopped the leading horses and positioned himself in such a way that people pay attention to what he says. >> jen, the white house has focused its attacks on mitt romney. out of the three front-runners that we're talking about right now. >> who would white house officials most like to face? >> alex, that's my most favorite question that i get asked. what you're really asking is, who is most likely to self-come bust and today i would say that's herman cain but the front-runner keeps changing and that says a lot about the primary voters and where they are. most people would have said three months ago, two months ago that mitt romney would be running away with this race right now but he's not because people don't feel comfortable with where he is on issues. they don't know where he stands on issues. they don't know if he's going to change his position and that's an interesting issue. newt gingrich, who has a lot of experience in congress and washington, but he's not running a campaign. a couple months ago he was on a cruise in greece instead of campaigning and he's untested as well. people keep emerging in this race because the natural front runner is not somebody that republican primary voters are comfortable with. >> he has a lot of baggage. >> of course he does. just to clarify, he didn't run up hundreds and thousands of dollars at tiffany's during his campaign. let's separate that from the whole tiffany thing. i think the broader point is that someone like a newt gingrich or even a huntsman has the opportunity right now from a substance point to commit voters. here's why. voters are all over the place. now they are beginning to focus as they get closer to the vote that takes place in january and i think for someone like a newt gingrich who has positioned himself well to make the case and argument just as voters are getting serious. the problem that herman cain and certainly perry have is that voters are starting to pay attention just as they are imploding or exploding, in some cases. so i think it's going to have an impact as it settles in place for january and you may see it shift more but i think newt and huntsman and even the front-runner, mitt romney, is in a better position than you think they would be. >> i want to ask you, jen, about herman cain. let's listen to what he said yesterday. >> the fact that the super pact supports governor perry, the head of the restaurant association -- >> so you still kind of stand by this theory that it was rick perry? >> i'm saying that there are too many incidents. people that do not want me to get the nomination or become president, i don't know who these people are. it's probably a network of them, are behind this. >> okay. so, jen, this is the angle of the allegations of sexual harassment. from a communication standpoint, why doesn't cain just stop talking about the scandal? >> that's the million dollar question. he's been ill served by his advisers, clearly, he's not ready for primetime and competing at this level. most people would state that as an obvious fact. and what is also interesting is as you look at the debate, he failed to answer as did many of the candidates that were asked. he says he wants to go back to policy issues and when he's asked about things like housing and what we should do about that, when he's asked about the international global economy, he doesn't answer the question. so if he wants to go back to the policy issues, he really needs to be serious and prepared for these debates and it will be interesting to see tonight when they are all talking about foreign policy what the candidates bring to the take. >> speaking about preparation, rick perry has been joking about his debate club. do you think that sunk his campaign and, if not, what does he need to do tonight? >> well, i think that -- yeah, it's made it very difficult for perry to regain the momentum that he was losing and that was part of what that debate was supposed to do for him, was to reposition him on the field so that co-begin to move up as opposed to down in the polls. i just don't see the recovery coming there. he's got the money, though, to continue to put out good ads and have a presence in the campaign. but as i mentioned earlier, voters are focusing on -- this is the first thing that they have seriously focused down on him on and it doesn't help him at all. >> okay. michael steele and jen, thank you both so much. >> thank you. well, the rolex, especially made for james bond movies is going to be auctioned off in switzerland today. it was a principle gadget that was used in the bond movie "live and let die." bond also used the watch to unzip a woman's dress in the moch vee. it's expected to bring in as much as $450,000. so i was the guy who was never going to have the heart attack. i thought i was invincible. i'm on an aspirin regimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. 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[ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... five whole grains, 110 calories. a massive explosion at a military weapons depo in iran. it was so big it was held in a subu suburb of tehran 30 miles away. there was no link to any air strikes or any other attacks. the international atomic agency says that iran appears to be secretly working on a nuclear weapon. and the watch dog group showed satellite pictures to prove it. joining me from washington is joel. >> good morning. >> you worked for the state department during the last administration. what is your take on this last u.n. report? >> my steak that iran has developed a nuclear program before 2003. it was very serious and well structured and organized but they halted the program in 2003. since that time there have been different episodes of engagement and they should be called out for it. so the effectiveness has been very sound and it is showing that. >> what do you make of iran saying that it's lousy intelligence? >> well, this is real information. but this information is more depth of information of what we already knew. it's not new revelations. it's filling in the blanks of iran's behavior. >> angela merkel said she wants to force iran to be more transparent. but are sanctions enough? >> they are a very effective tool but they are not enough. real robust diplomacy as the administration has been pursing is key. many new conservative thinkers. in fact, many candidates will probably argue that war and military action is the only way out. that will be highly counterproductive. it would kill lots of people and we don't need that again. so we're going to have to engage and it's going to be a long fight. a long battle. >> is there ammunition in this report for the u.s. or israel to push for an attack on iran's nuclear facilities? >> there really isn't. the centrifuges that we have in iran have experienced difficulties and are decreasing their output of enriched uranium and this is the sabotaged work and they are having a real effect. a military action would certainly harm that and the pressure under way is having an effect. >> joel, it's been suggested by experts that iran is a year to two years away from having a nuclear bomb. do you agree? >> only if they engaged in a crash course. the interesting thing that we've learned is that in 2003 rkt the iranian leadership put a halt order and since that time they have not retarded it. they have not made a decision to go into a program. we have assets in place. we need more international inspections to get morrow bust and engaged to understand what they are doing but we would know and even israeli estimates say roughly a year if a decision was made to weaponize, a year is what it would take to get there. >> okay. joel, thanks. >> thank you. fans are gearing up for penn state's first football game since the sex scandal surfaced. we're going to hear from former pennsylvania governor joe sestak. this may have cost joe paterno from one of the most prestigious honors in the country. the employee of the month isss... the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! 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>>. >> there is the security that you can't see. we know there's a lot more security here. as for the reaction to the players, i think a lot of people consider them victims, if you will, in this as well. obviously nothing compared to the victims of this alleged abuse. but they say these are kids who have dedicated their college years to being a part of this team and they have been left out of all of this and this is their day. it's senior day at penn state. for the seniors here four and five years, it's their last home game. the players are not a 35r9 of that scandal. they want to make sure that they appreciate them on this day. >> jay gray, thank you. we're going to watch closely here as well. thousands of students gather for an alumni showing support for victims of the alleged sex abuse. it was an emotional time. the focus should be on healing for the young boys and their families. meanwhile, pennsylvania's two senators withdrawing their support to win the presidential medal of freedom. nominated paterno for the award in september due to sports and education. the senators say that the scandal caused them to rescind their support. the dramatic events show extreme emotion on all sides. the democrat is defending himself after saying that joe paterno did not get that. >> good to be with you, al lekts. >> you have a lot of comments on your facebook page. >> he should have resigned immediately or been removed. that's what i learned in the navy. you're accountable if you're a leader. especially if you're part of a crime and not reporting it. on the other hand, we're not like libya, where they had justice in the middle of the night. due justice. it's the way that they did it. i watched the board of trustees, after a couple of hours, in the middle of the night do a firing. they treated it more as a public relations scandal that has for decade been brewing quietly under them and flick it overboard rather than just doing swift, but deliberate justice, that makes sure that the victims are being taken care of. look, joe paterno needs to be held accountable and he was. but how we do things under our nations of law, i'm very interested in that also and that's what i learned in the navy and that was my comment. >> the department of education is launching an investigation because of this scandal. do you think the feds need to get involved in another level. >> i do to some degree. i was at the veterans parade and visited the university of pittsburgh in johnstown campus with the president who was there. that where the focus of that school, as he dedicated a veterans memorial to make sure that students understand what our veterans do is immensely impressive. i think if we begin to understand that that kind of leadership that focuses on the youth of our nation and i think that unfortunately we focus on a program that brings public relations to a university and, again, i've come back. justice had to be meted out in this case. and it was. but how we do it, not worried about not just let's protect the institution but victims in the future and let's demonstrate the right way to do things. yeah, i think we need to look at ourselves exactly how we said. >> okay. by law, joe paterno was not required to call police and it was private property on that campus. >> well, do you hold somebody accountable because they are walking down the street and not for the crime because he didn't report it to the proper authorities and follow up. publish institutions across america, from wall street and the teng cal law says i don't have to do that. and that's why i think joe should have been resigned on his own. >> thank you, joe sestak. >> thank you, alex. kristen dahlgren welker is joining us from hawaii. >> that's right. president obama was in the san diego area attending a dinner on carrier. he was somber assess now is time to reflect and think about the victims. take a listen. >> i think it's a good time to do soul searching. every institution. not just penn state. about what our priorities are and making sure that we understand that our first priority he is protecting our kids. >> now, president obama is here in honolulu which is his hometown. he's hosting an asia pacific economic summit. this is the first policy stuff of a nine-day trip and also expanding trade with the region. the white house argues that expanding trade helps to create jobs on the home front. next week he travels to australia for the military apply generals between our two countries and then heads to bali, indonesia and ends his trip and that's where he spent a few years as he was growing up. alex? >> kristen, thank you very much. let's go now to politics and tonight south carolina foreground zero. foreign policy and national security is the topic of this debate. david is national reporter -- political reporter for politico. good morning, david. >> good morning, alex. >> let's talk about rick perry after his infamous oops slipup. how much do you think the pressure is on him and in the last few days as he mitigated that error? >> you can tell the way that after he handled himself. he flooded the zones, did all of the morning talk show, did conservative radio during the day. and that's going to be the specific questions from the hot spots around the world. can rick perry be seen as commander in chief? he better be prepared tonight. >> this poll shows herman cain out in front, mitt romney sliding down to second place, in fact, tieing with newt gingrich. the sexual harassment scandal has not diminished his standings in the poll. does that surprise you? >> it is surprising being the fact that there are multiple allegations and now one woman has actually come forward in detail in an instance where she's alleging herman cain harassed her. but it's clear now that herman cain support -- the core of his support does not care about his allegations. what is going to be interesting is whether he can raise his profile. will he stumble? it will not deflect to 911 when they ask about libya or iran. the spotlight is going to be on him again as well. >> newt gingrich, do you think he has a shot of being a white house nominee and do you think the white house will welcome that? >> they love to run against newt gingrich and i still think is he a long shot. is he surging because of these debates. he does very well and he knows how to rattle the moderator and sort of chide the moderator. maybe it's because of the other problems that the candidates are having. >> david, thank you so much. >> thank you. we're going to go back to penn state and fouk kus on the charity that jerry sandusky started. who knew what and when there? also, office politics, tom brokaw talks about what happened to the american dream. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." 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(phone ringing) chase sapphire preferred, this is julie in springfield. authorities say that they are determined to find the truth behind the scandal rocking one of the largest universities and fans are gathering at penn state. there are new questions today surrounding the charity sandusky founded, second mile. what did top executives know and when did they know it. another good morning to you, michael. you found out that years before the authorities. >> reporter: sandusky founded this charity, second mile, back in 1977. every one of his victims, his eight alleged victims, he met through the second mile. but there were hundreds of kids that went through those second mile programs and i talked to one of them, troy craig, who wasn't an alleged sexual victim but did find his -- sandusky's comment quite disturbing and even in his words, creepy. here's what he had to say. >> any time we were in the car, driving anywhere, his hand -- it was a given that his hand would be on my thigh. and i just knew that that was not the way that any other adult man in my life touched me. and just feeling kind of -- no, stop it. stop that. >> reporter: now, troy craig didn't complain to anybody at the second mile program. but there are indications that the second mile officials, top officials, were aware of this 2002 incident. the executive director of the charity was told about it by one of the university officials. he says he was told there was no wrongdoing but the fact is that even with a sexual abuse allegation against sandusky, he continued to participate in the charity, continued to encounter kids, according to the grand jury report, more abuse victims. it wasn't until 2008 when a second abuse investigation was opened up that the charity finally cut him off from having interactions with the kids. >> michael, do you find anything with your investigations that suggest that -- i mean, police investigations into second mile, to what extent anyone at penn state was told about these? were there discussions? you've got to think that the police are going to investigate big picture. >> sure. well, look -- and hear the testimony in the grand jury report gets a bit murky. wendell courtney was with penn state university. he says he later became the counsel for the second mile program in 2009. so there was certainly second mile camps that were on penn state university and sandusky, according to troy craig, would take kids from the program to meet penn state players in the locker room. have them on the side lines, and there was a lot of interactions here and i have been sorting out who knew what and when and that's the prime subject of all of these multiple investigations now. >> yeah. okay. michael, many thanks. >> we're going to pause right here but still ahead, office politics. tom brokaw produces one of the most memorable exchanges in the history of presidential politics. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." 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[ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? this guy's amazing. as we approach the bottom of the hour, at the penn state stadium, just about an hour and a half ago, there you can see the penn state players arriving for their warmup. that game is set to begin against the cornhuskers. there is a record of 8-1. this is their last home game. what is important is the support that they are getting from their alumnis and boosters as well in that audience. there they are, everyone. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." kickoff is 30 minutes away against nebraska. that man, mike mcquery, will not be there. he was put on administrative leave last night. thousands of students focused on the and another vigil is being called for 4:00 this afternoon eastern time. and coach joe paterno, who was fired this week, is not speaking about that scandal. that on the advice of his newly hired high-powered d.c. attorney. police in state college pennsylvania say jerry sandusky's home has been vandalized. cops are saying that someone threw two sind der blocks through the former assistant coach's home. no one was hurt. some penn state sponsors are pulling out of their deal. pulling the commercials from upcoming football game broadcasts because of the allegations. sher win williams pulled its logo from the press conferences banner. go to msnbc.com to find more about the scandal and early signs of abuse. how to prevent kids from becoming victims. the anticipation is growing in south carolina right now. that is where the gop hopefuls are back at it again tonight. the south carolina primary is seen as key for republicans because every republican who has won that primary since 1980 has gone on to win the gop presidential nomination. a just released marist poll shows mitt romney in the lead with 23%. he's followed by newt gingrich. second place with 19% and herman cain in third place at 17. president obama is urging members of the supercommittee to work hard oncoming up with a plan to slash the deficit. if it can't, other programs will be cut and take effect. $1.2 trillion will be cut and is this a good topic for fact and fiction? the answer is yes. good morning to you. >> good morning. thank you for having me on the show again alex. >> glad you are here because we want to get back to fact or fiction questions for you. fact or fiction, republicans said that they made a major concession by offering new tax revenue. what do you think? >> i think that's a fact. this is the first time that republicans have come forward with any kind of revenue generator in this super deal. let's keep in mind, the devil is in the details. democrats point to the revenue details that they put forward. some would come from tax reform and there's a lot of the devil's in the details there. we'll see when the score comes out on that one. >> let's get to fact or fiction here with democrats saying that they might lower $1 trillion in revenue? >> yeah, that's fact again. i've heard this from some democratic aides. we're talking 950, maybe. that's their opening bargaining ploy. just slightly under that $1 trillion. the supercommittee is near an agreement on a bigger deal for up to $4 trillion in cuts? >> total fiction. they can't even come to an agreement of what is required of them, the $1.3 trillion. they are at an impasse. time is winding down. they only have until thanksgiving to come to an agreement and this is before they pitch it to the entire congress. total fiction, alex. okay. how about this? president obama told the leaders of supercommittee they have to reach a deal that contains sources of new revenue and spending cuts. >> that's fact again. president obama called members of the supercommittee yesterday and urged them to include some balance in their approach to this plan, this deficit cutting measure. they want cuts so balance right there. >> okay. it's good to see you. have you back again soon. >> thanks for having me. let's go now to part two of office politics. i sat down with ledge dare anchor man tom brokaw. he has a new book out called "the time of our lives" and what a life and career tom brokaw has led, from his role as first american anchor to interview the dalai lama in tibet to countless political debates. it was this debate that stood out most in tom brokaw's memory. >> you know, the vice president said that i was the one to ask the question that elicited to the response, you know, i have more experience than john kennedy than boyd jensen said to him, i knew john kennedy was a friend of mine. that was prit and memorable for me. >> you are running not just for vice president and if you cite the experience that you have in congress, surely you must have some plan in mind what you would do if it failed to you to become president of the united states as it has for sew many vice presidents. >> i have much experience in the congress as jack kennedy did when he south the presidency. >> i served with jack kennedy. i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> history suggests and you mentioned in your book, that america is in the worst position since the great depression. >> right. >> do you think that a few years from now american students will look back at this and it will be titled the great recession? >> i think it's already called the great recession by a lot of people. i used that phrase many my book. my editor asked me about it. i said it's being called that everywhere. it's more than an economic recession. it's a reevaluation of what this country is all about. what is prude tent and what is not. about the fundamental values of buying what you can afford, not reaching too far because there are consequences for that. developing priorities. let's get honest about entitlement programs, what we can afford and what is going to be too much. so this is a time of real reexamination. and generationally, downpeopyoue are going to have more to be counted on. it's not the bottomless basket of goods and consumer things and always a job. that's not the case anymore. >> i was told coming in here, before we got into the office, that being here is like a walk through history. that you have so many great items in this office. and i was snooping around. you love baseball, don't you? >> i do. and i have a joe dimaggio -- >> oh, okay. >> it was his idea. i've god got a ted williams and most members by the hall of final. >> i see a fabulous picture, you look to handsome, george clooney, the activist, barbara walters. you know, what's that like to be in that crowd and what does it mean to you when you look at a picture like that and understand someone like me, anybody looks at that picture and thinks, wow, tom brokaw? >> you know, i really don't think about it. i'm not being falsely immodest. i have a family and anyone who tells you doesn't take any of that seriously. they let the air out of me all the time. >> that's why it's not false, it's authentic. >> there is more to life than celebrity. sure, you get a good seat in a restaurant i've been operating at a high point for a very long time but nothing gives me greater pleasure than going into main street in big timber, montana, seeing a couple of my cowboy buddies or fishing guides talking about what the conditions are out there at the time or what is going on in the community. i've just been very, very lucky. and i think it has a lot to do with the fact that i'm surrounded by people, my immediate family and my friends, who if i begin to kind of get a big head or become a diva, they would whack me hard. so it's always there. i grew up in a family that was -- as we like to say, a test test roan family and my mother had a great, great daughter in you a lea and all of these granddaughters and it's been the most constructive experience of my life living with all of these women. it really has been. >> and the woman in tom's family is his be laughed mom jean. she passed away shortly after our interview this week. she was four days shy of her 94th birthday. our thoughts go out to tom brokaw and his entire family. progresso. it fits! fantastic! 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we don't think so. chase sapphire preferred is a card of a different color. that's because you always get two times the points on travel, from taxis to trains, airfare to hotels, and all kinds of dining... from fast food to fine dining. and that's not all you get. there are expert advisors who answer immediately, whenever you call. and absolutely no foreign transaction fees. does your card do all that? apply today and earn 50,000 ultimate rewards bonus points when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months. that's $625 toward your next trip when you redeem through ultimate rewards. so, why settle for gold when you can have so much more? chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. call the number on your screen or visit our website to apply. new tie today, a volunteer at jerry sandusky's second mile comes forward. that was founded in 1977. the organization acknowledges some incidents were brought to their attention. hoifr, the second mile released this statement earlier this week. at no time was the second mile made aware of the very serious allegations contained in the grand jury report. joining me from philadelphia is patty. she worked alongside jerry sandusky at the second mile. i'll glad you're speaking out. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> what, first of all, was your reaction when you learned that jerry sandusky had been arrested for abusing young boys? >> i was just absolutely devastated. i was sick to my stomach to think that a person that i believed in and the organization would be involved and be a very sick man. >> you worked there during some of the time that the alleged sexual abuse may have occurred. as you think back, is there anything that you can recall about sandusky and his interactions with the children, nothing to speak of at that point but now they trigger something in your mind? >> well, it was never unusual for jerry to have young children around him. now that i think back, yes, they were mostly young men. they were at social functions. they were at the golf outing, the football games. and they were very atentative. jerry, you know, took a lot of time with them. you know, was very attentive to them. but had i -- you know, i didn't see anything that was out of the realm of possibilities, especially working with at-risk children, that's -- that's what you do. >> yeah. there has been -- there have been situations described by several assaying, well, we interpret them as horseplay and one of our correspondents smoke with a young man, a young adult, who described scenes, driving in a car with sandusky where his hand would be resting on his upper thigh. making him uncomfortable and sandusky could come up behind him and rough house and felt like he was too close. it made him uncomfort taable. did you see that kind of thing and think, horseplay? >> yes, when we would go to the golf outings, the boys, like you said, a little bit of rough house. i would have been the first one to say something and i wouldn't have been quiet until something was done. >> what is jerry sandusky like? what's his personality like? >> you know, he's a very personable man and he needs to be. you know, he needs us as volunteers to get donations and solace sit people so that we can get at-risk children involved in the program. and to only know that we, as the volunteers and myself, we were only feeding into jerry's habit, which is disgusting. >> he informed second mile back in 2008 that he was under investigation. he retired in 2010. what did he say when he was retiring? >> he didn't -- he didn't say anything in regards to the investigation. what we were led to believe was that jerry may have been ill or his wife dottie, there may have been a family crisis of some sort and we all respected jerry enough that we didn't want to intrude on his privacy. we were just happy that the foundation was then put in others' hands and that we were able to continue to do the work for the at-risk children. >> give me a few adjectives, if you will, to describe, or add verbs, how you are feeling. angry, disgusting, did those two apply? >> i am angry. i am disgusted. i am sick to my stomach. i am appalled that as an adult and as a victim of child abuse, that i didn't recognize a sign and i -- you know, i obviously can't take any personal blame but i know what it's like to be a child in that situation. and i'm just sick to my stomach that and so many adults, were so involved in trying to keep the program together and do the work for the at-risk children that unfortunately it got by a lot of us adults and for that i am truly sorry. >> patty, thank you for speaking to me here on "weekends with alex witt." i appreciate it. >> you're welcome. thank you. up next, the lions kickoff is just a few minutes away. the question begs being asked, should this game be played? you're watching "weekends with alex witt." o make this season better than the last? how about making it brighter. more colorful. ♪ and putting all our helpers to work? so we can build on our favorite traditions by adding a few new ones. we've all got garlands and budgets to stretch. and this year, we can keep them both evergreen. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. here's a bright idea. trade in any light string and get up to 5 bucks off the latest christmas led's. i was just gonna say that! about this flat haircolor! [ gigi ] try nice 'n easy anti-flat, always dimensional. in one simple step, get tones and highlights built into every shade with nice 'n easy. ♪ imagine me and you, i do ♪ i think about you day and night ♪ ♪ it's only right ♪ to think about the girl you love ♪ ♪ and hold her tight ♪ so happy together [ male announcer ] when life changes, so can your insurances needs. use travelers free guide to better coverage to stay prepared. is your auto and home insurance keeping up with you? contact your local travelers agent, or call 800-my-coverage. lit's let's get the latest from penn state. they're all set to play nebraska at noon. joining me now on the phone from inside the stadium is nbc's ron moss. ron, what's happening now? what's the feeling there? >> well, i can tell you, having been to a lot of football games in the past as a sports writer, there's an excitement in the air but there's a definite sense of respect for what's happened in the campus in the past week. i wouldn't necessarily say -- [ inaudible ] the stadium has filled in quite nicely. they're introducing some of the senior members of the football team and some of the managers who work for the football team. it is senior day, final game for a lot of the seniors. a lot of family members here. a lot of former penn state players here as well showing their support for coach joe paterno who was let go on wednesday and the football program itself. most of these former players that are here are here as a sign of respect for the tradition of the football program. they ask everyone around the country, especially everyone in the community that are shocked by what's going on, they're here to support their team, they want to win this game. they want to put aside the terrible things that we have all learned here over the past week. play a football game and then go back to trying to deal with getting back to healing on this campus. i know they have a long way to go to do that. >> ron mott, we can hear the crowd cheering. so it's backing up what you're saying. thank you so much. president obama has weighed in on the penn state situation. for more, joining us now, former deputy white house communication director for president obama and national political reporter for politico. thanks for sticking around. i know, david, that you wrote about this scandal. now even the president has addressed this. how are lawmakers responding? >> you saw very quickly the state's two senators, 24 hours after joe paterno was fired, received the recommendation for one of the highest awards. but the politics got very local in pennsylvania. the congressman for that district, glenn thompson, initially did not say whether that award should be rescinded. he came out later and said it should. there are varying degrees because paterno is such a hero in that state. >> jen, you have a number of politicians who have for years supported paterno. is this something politicians need to go on record about? is it that big and that all encompassing of a story? >> i think as you heard the president say, this raises the question as to what our priorities are at schools and universities across the country. there are a lot of facts and details that we don't know that we'll learn over the next coming weeks and months. but this is an issue people are talking about at home, at their kitchen table. many of these politicians feel a need to express their concern, express their support for the students of victims in their fam less and this is a very human issue because it touches people's hearts because it's about young children and about our education system. >> i want to ask you about education secretary arne duncan who says he's extraordinary angry. the department of education is now investigating this. what do you think needs to happen, if anything, to penn state as an institution? david, i'll let you have first crack. >> penn state needs to know they're taking this seriously, and i i know there are some columnists that say this game shouldn't even be played. and the question is, you know, are people going to get the signal that they are taking it seriously and they're putting it ahead of sports and the money that surrounds sports. what you're going to see is a more cursory review. all journalist also be looking at past statements that joe paterno said. i saw something this morning about a comment he made in 2006 when one of his players was accused of sexual harassment. he sort of brushed it aside. all of this is going to come back now and penn state will have to answer for it. >> what do you think are the answers penn state needs to give, jen? >> i agree with david. these are serious allegations and a serious issue and there's a lot we don't know. right now the school has to look both internally at how their student body is dealing with this. how many people, hows of people who attend the school now are dealing with the decisions the school has made. but also they have to look externally. so them taking this seriously and laying out their plan moving forward is key. >> okay. many thanks to both of you. appreciate it. that's a wrap, everyone, of this saturday edition of "weekends with alex witt." i'll see you again tomorrow morning. stay with us. we'll keep a close eye of things at that game. have a good one. i'm just a piece of dirt stuck here in a rut. ever since that ol' broom dumped me here... oh, oh. oooh! will love ever come my way? 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