i love to be around them. but, no, i'm not sexually attracted to young boys. >> cnn's jason carroll is at penn state. so, jason, what kind of reaction is this interview getting this morning? >> not a good one. in terms of what students are saying this morning and a few last night that this interview actually made sandusky look worse. it's not like some of these students after the allegations had a high opinion of him after the allegations came out. but, clearly, from what we're hearing at least so far, kyra, after that interview, those who thought he was guilty before, their minds have not been changed and some others who were sort of dipping in and out of the story who happened to catch the interviews now say whatever they felt about him before, they now feel even worse. kyra? >> well, jason, you know, sandusky also addressed one of the key questions of this scandal. what exactly did joe paterno know and when did he know it? listen to a continuation of the interview with bob costas. >> to your knowledge, did joe paterno have any information regarding questionable activities on your report prior to that activity in 2002? >> i can't totally answer that question. my answer would be, no. >> did joe paterno at any time ever speak to you directly about your behavior? >> no. >> never? >> no. >> so, jason, sandusky dismisses all of this as just innocent goofing around. i know you had a chance to sit down with sandusky's attorney. i know you talked to him for more than an hour. how did he portray all of this to you? >> well, a couple things here, kyra. i think a lot of this is going to come under a great deal of scrutiny because back in 1998, as you know, according to the grand jury report, sandusky had showered with a boy here at penn state and that was actually brought to the attention of university police as well as police here in the community. so, it would stand within reason that the coach and some others here would know coach, meaning coach paterno would know about this situation of showering. that's one point. second point is this, again, in 1998, sandusky admits that he showered with a boy. he apologized for that. apologized to the boy's mother and promised not to do it again and then he did it again in 2000 and then again in 2002. i asked joe's, excuse me, sandusky's attorney about that. why he continued to shower with boys. want you to listen to what his explanation was. >> jerry sandusky is a big, overgrown kid. he's a jock. for anybody who's ever played sports, you get showers after you work out. i mean, when people hear he got showers with kids, oh, my goodness, you know, he got showers with kids. that makes him guilty, right? i mean, obviously, anybody who gets showers with kids who is an adult has to be guilty of something. the bottom line is, jocks do that. they kid around, they horse around. >> well, joe amendola also says that after that incident in 1998, sandusky was just trying to make things better. that's why he apologized. but he said he never thought he had done anything wrong. that's why he didn't see a problem continuing to shower with young boys. kyra? >> all right, jason carroll at penn state there, jason, thanks so much. in less than 15 minutes from now, we'll talk to a state senator from pennsylvania. he wants to beef up the legal requirements for reporting child sexual abuse. wane fontana joining me live at 9:15 eastern time. well, for the second week in a row, republicans stumbles and suffers an embarrassing memory lapse. this time, it's herman cain. the setting, a meeting with the editorial board of milwaukee herald sentinel. >> so you agree with president obama on libya or not? >> okay, libya. president obama supported the uprising, correct? president obama called for the removal of gadhafi. just want to make sure we're talking about the same thing before i say, yes, i agree. i know i didn't agree. i do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reasons. that's a different one. i have to go back and see. i have all this different stuff twirling around in my head. specifically, what are you asking me did i agree or disagree with obama on? >> deputy political paul steinhauser. herman cain is laughing this off as no big deal. what is your take on how odd this is. >> tough to watch. damaging. bad timing for herman cain because he's dropping in our brand-new poll. listen, this thing went viral last night and was the talk of twitter. the campaign put a statement out pretty quickly saying he got the answer right, just took him a while to get his bearings. cain was asked about this at an event in wisconsin. as you mentioned, here's how he answered it. >> they asked me a question about libya and i paused so i could gather my thoughts. you know, it's really complimentary when people start documenting my pauses. it's one thing to document every word. it was a pause. that's all it was. good grief. >> now, kyra, we're talking about libya here. not talking about some obscure issue, libya. story that has been in the news all year. foreign policy not herman cain's wheel house. remember a couple weeks ago one of the controversies surrounding him was whether he knew or did not know if china had a nuclear weapons program. so, remember, another debate coming up, a foreign policy debate coming up. i guess herman cain will have another chance to prove his stripes on foreign pall peace. >> our all debates and polls and all the different leaders every week. it's hard to keep track of it all sometimes, paul. where do the republican candidates stand as of right now? >> right now, seven weeks until the first vokes in the caucuses. take a look at our latest poll. independents lean towards the go. . mitt romney where he has always been at 24%. newt gingrich, here's the big story at 22%. basically all knotted up with romney. that's a big jump. 14 points in the last month for gingrich. cain, as you can see down to 14 points. he dropped 11 points. rick perry and ron paul kind of where they have been. >> paul, thanks. as paul just mentioned, you can join us one week from tonight for the first debate of the 2012 presidential election. focus exclusively on national security and foreign policy. co-sponsored by the heritage foundation and the american enterprise institute. that's next tuesday night, 8:00 eastern. wolf blitzer the moderator. our next political update in about an hour and you can always go to our website, cnnpolitics.com. lr, let's turn now to the "occupy wall street" movement. new york police went into the tent city early this morning breaking up the encampment. poppy harlow of cnn.com was actually there on the scene for the crackdown. poppy, was it mostly peaceful? >> no, it was not mostly peaceful, kyra. it was just quite a scene here. starting at about 1:00 when the protesters from zuccotti park started getting evicted. they started filling the streets here in new york. police barricades were set up for blocks and blocks around zuccotti park. a protester called me to tell me what was going on and i ran down here. even the press was not allowed anywhere near zuccotti park. we were held for three hours behind police barricades and we made it through into the park to see them finishing up the cleanup. as you can see now, kyra, the police are in the park, the protesters are not. they have not been allowed back in this park, even though they were told they would be allowed back in this morning to occupy, once again. i want you to take a listen to a man named john murdoch. he was arrested last night and he said for being a block away from the park, he was arrested, he was just released from jail and i asked him, what does this mean for the movement? are you going to stop? >> it's not about a physical space per se, it is now worldwide. the terms of the debate have changed around and the deal is now we have to evolve. this means it gets harder, but it's now more important than ever. >> and that, kyra, is a sentiment echoed across the board from all the protesters that i talked to. they are not quitting and they are not standing down. what the new york city police department tells us is that 100 protesters were arrested overnight and no injuries in terms of police officers. mayor bloomberg issuing a statement overnight and then having that press conference just saying, look, it's been two months and he said inaction was not an option at this point. we'll follow it very closely. i suspect the moment they open this park, it will be filled with protesters, kyra. >> we're monitoring a live picture from our affiliate on the other side of the screen. things looking calm at the moment. you keep us updated. it's been a long night for you. thanks, poppy. reports of new fighting and it comes a day before the country's suspension from the arab league over its violent crackdown on the opposition. zain verjee is following that for us out of london. zain, what do you know? >> i've been looking at newspapers around the world. the guardian here in the uk has a comment piece and its headline sa says losing friends. syria's expulsion from the arab league tomorrow marks a change for an organization whose more traditional posture is astride a fence. the move is largely symbolic, but symbolism matters. this is an analysis piece that says, all signs are pointing to the end of the line for the syrian regime of bashar al assad. the overwhelming majority of arab states now openly oppose the syrian leader, and even iran, is now edging its bet. on syria, rare arab west reproachment. revise to the full extent. consistent in supporting the uprising and calling upon president bashar al assad to step down. rare to be on the same page here, kyra. and a big deal have monarchs calling for one of their own to step down. king abdullah of jordan has done it and let's see who may do it next, kyra. >> we'll follow it with you, thanks. congresswoman gabrielle giffords in her own words. she smoke to diane sawyer in her first full interview since the january shooting rampage in tucson. she does hope to return to congress some day. >> she wants to get better. >> you want to get better. >> better. >> and so you think to yourself, i'll go back to congress, if i get better. >> yes, yes, yes. >> and that's where you are right now? >> yes, yes, yes. >> giffords' husband, mark kelly, said she's too tough to let this beat her. the alleged crimes at penn state could change pennsylvania law. coming up, we're talking to the lawmaker who introduced a bill dealing with child abuse in 2005. we'll ask him why it didn't pass back then and if it could have brevented this scandal. black friday. just over a week away, but this year it's turning into black thursday. retailers are opening up on thanksgiving day as billions of dollars are on the line. [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up! ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. that's good for our country'♪ energy security we're centurylink... a new kind of broadband company committed to improving lives with honest, personal service, 5-year price lock guarantees and consistently fast speeds. ♪ checking news across country now. in wisconsin, an effort to get governor scott walker removed from office. thousands of residents are upset about changes to collective bargaining rights and the state's new voter i.d. law. they started a petition to force a recall election. 500,000 signatures are needed. pop tarts and gatorade. that's what kept a north carolina girl alive for two days while she was pinned upside down in a car after an accident. her father did not survive that crash. in minnesota, three americans once jailed in iran on spy charges got a chance to personally thank the friends and strangers that supported them financially and emotionally during their time in prison. well, the scandal at penn state has changed the school's football coaching staff and administration. and it soon could change pennsylvania law. legislatures are trying to make senate bill number 886 law, asap. it would require anyone who works with kids to call police if they believe someone is abusing a child. right now the law says if you suspect child abuse, you just have to tell the person in charge. well, the idea is to bypass the boss and go right to the cops. the thing is, it's not new. wayne fontana proposed back in 2005. what were you thinking about when you heard about sandusky and what has happened and the fact that this bill was just sitting there on the sidelines? >> well, the bill was introduced in 2005, as you mentioned. it's changed numbers and actually senate bill 549 at this point. what i was thinking was that if 549 was law, that graduate assistant would have been required to report what he's seen directly to and immediately to either child protective services or law enforcement. >> so, senator, why wasn't this bill passed in 2005? >> well, there was some issues and concerns from groups. one of the issues was false reporting and another was immunity and another was confidentiality but we vented all those issues and concerns in the last few years. i would think now it's just a matter of the legislation being bogged down here in harrisburg. we need to move it. leadership needs to step up and move this bill. it already went through committee back in may. it was rereferred to appropriations committee. which i'm not sure why it's there. but at this point in time, the leadership here in harrisburg can move this bill as quickly as tomorrow, if they want to. >> well, and i'll get to that in a second, but it's a shame to hear that this could have possibly been prevented. this scandal could have been prevented if, indeed, this law was in place as you saw it should be. i'm curious what the talk is like among you and others there looking at what has happened there and the fact that you could have done something about this. >> well, there's no question that the talk here in harrisburg is, the pennsylvania law needs to be tougher. it needs to be more precise and it needs to be clear. this bill makes it clear as to what the procedure should be and reporting all child abuse. sexual, physical, it puts everybody on the same standard on the same page as to what to do, no matter who the perpetrator is, no matter what the child abuse is. you report it to child protection agencies and/or law enforcement. that's the first step. you can continue and you should continue to report it to administrators, but they're not the ones that would be required to report it to child services or law enforcement. the first person that's seen it is the one that you're reporting. >> you say that this could be passed tomorrow. what exactly are you going to do, senator, to make that happen? >> i stood on the floor of the senate yesterday and pleaded with my leadership to put it on the agenda and move it to the senate full floor and let us vote on it and hopefully they'll hear the plea and they'll move this legislation this week. >> we're talking about 549 now. let us know what happens, senator, we'd like to follow up. thank you for your time. >> thank you for inviting me. >> we'll talk more about the penn state scandal with espn writer l.z. granderson. he says it's another example of how heroes like joe paterno are human. l.z. is with us at 9:40 eastern time. coming up a mega mystery in china. satellite photos show huge structures. what the heck are they? ♪ [ female announcer ] we never forget the nearly 12 million cancer survivors in america today... and the countless lives lost. we owe it to them to protect funding for cancer research, prevention and access to care. congress, make cancer a priority and give millions of americans what they need most. gives you the lowest plan premium in the country... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. conspiracy thaurrists are working overtime on this and so is zain verjee. looking at the satellite photos over the chinese desert showing strange design, structures just laid out in the middle of no where. zain, what do ask you think? >> i'm a little worried because it's true, i've been spending a ridiculous amount of time poring over these images you can see from space, kyra. what are they? conspiracy the conspiracy thererists. you have circles here as well as these grid-like patterns and weird structures out in the middle of the desert in china. these photos on google maps. kyra, a multiple choice for you. could it have something to do with china's space program. testing nuclear military hardware here or just kind of using this environment for some kind of military target practice or the other option, kyra, are these marks from visitors from other planets? >> all i could think about is peru and the lines and you can't explain that one either, right? >> right. that's true. i mean, this is like a mile long, 3,000-feet wide. it's inexplicable. we don't really know what this is. it is happening in an area of the desert where it is known typically that china does test military space and other nuclear hardware. so, i'm hoping it was visitors from space, but it seems maybe, you know, the practical explanation will have to fly. >> all right, my dear, you just keep studying that and let me know what more develops. appreciate it. >> i will. well, black friday. the kickoff to the holiday shopping season moving up on the calendar. get this stores will open on thursday, thanksgiving. alison kosik, you'll chow down on all that turkey and get really tired and then get in the car and work it off. >> exactly, go work it off. just when you thought retailers, kyra, couldn't mess with thanksgiving day, here they go doing exactly that. in the old days the doorbuster deals met a friday 4:00 a.m. wakeup call. but target, macy's, kohl's said let's open at midnight on thanksgiving and then, of course, walmart trying to one up those retailers said we're going to open even earlier at 10:00 p.m. on thanksgiving and, of course, not to be outdone, toys "r" us said we'll open even earlier at 9:00 p.m. on thanksgiving. now, here's why these retailers are doing this. we spent almost $11 billion on black friday last year. this is the kickoff to the big holiday shopping season for retailers. and not surprisingly, some people aren't taking this sitting down. there is some backlash. in fact, petitions and boycotts on facebook and change.org with one target worker saying he's going to miss thanksgiving altogether because he has to sleep during the day just to be ready for work at 11:00 p.m. kyra? >> what kind of open are you expecting on wall street today? >> expect a second day of losses, kyra. there's a new report out of europe showing that it is growing, but lair barely and eu is on a brink of recession and also we have those continuing worries about how europe's going to get a handle on its debt crisis. we did get decent reports on retail sales and inflation and that will keep the losses in check. the opening bell is ringing in about three minutes. kyra? >> all right, alison, thanks. dire warnings over potential budget cuts. we'll go live to washington just ahead. in "showbiz" news new role for pamela anderson. can the playboy play mate become the virgin mary? mary? what are you doing here? it's megan. i'm getting new insurance. marjorie, you've had a policy with us for three years. it's been five years. five years. well, progressive gives mega