out for the first time about some shocking revelations that cremated remains of american war dead were simply dumped in landfills. i'm wolf blitzer. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com it may have been the most awkward 53 seconds of the presidential campaign so far and certainly the most widely seen. texas governor rick perry's brain freeze during last night's republican presidential debate was the most viewed video on youtube in the united states earlier today. if you haven't seen it, you're about to as we look ahead to what happens to rick perry's campaign now. jim acosta is in auburn hills, michigan. the scene of perry's monumental stumble. how does he recover from this? >> wolf, after last night's debate and rick perry's meltdown in michigan, the candidate and his campaign seem to have a new strategy. get the voters to laugh with him and not at him. >> commerce, education and the what's the third one there? let's see -- >> it could be gone in 53 seconds for rick perry. the time it took the texas governor to butcher his own talking point on which three departments of the government he would cut was a slow motion brain wreck. >> you can't name the third one? >> the third agency of government i would do away with, education, the -- commerce. and let's see. i can't. the third one, i can't. sorry. >> as soon as the debate was over, perry knew he was in trouble. he marched right into the post debate spin room to put out the flames. >> yeah, i stepped in it, man. yeah, it was embarrassing. of course it was. >> but strategists and operatives were already writing perry's obituary, comparing it to howard dean in 2004. ranking the debate performance among the worst in tv history. >> who am i? why am i here? >> right there with admiral james stockdale in 1992 and quail in 1988. >> this was chernobyl style meltdown. this wasn't a tiny little gaffe. this will live for ever in the reel of debate moments that changed politics. >> perry tried to laugh off the gaffe, asking on his website, which department do you want to forget the most? and he had a few one liners ready for the morning shows. >> we have got a debater in chief and you've got to ask how's that working out for america. >> the odd of him winning the nomination plumeted 30%. thousands of people watched the meltdown on youtube and twitter was dubbed the new fail. perry's flub gave cover to herman cain. still reeling from allegations of sexual harassment, cain had a gaffe of his own when he called former house speaker x nancy pelosi, princess nancy. and it was a new opening for other contenders vying to become the tea party alternative to mitt romney. >> we'll see that we are the alternative to as a consistent -- >> the perry campaign is still making light of what happened last night. later tonight, the texas governor is scheduled to appear on davd letterman to deliver the top ten list. you can bet the campaign war chest that list will be on a telepromter. >> all of the morning shows did a round robin interviews. he's clearly a lot better in these interviews than in a formal debate setting. do his aides explain why? >> you know, this all goes back to rick perry's days in texas, wolf. i can tell you from when i spent some time in austin before he jumped into this race, members of the texas press were saying keep in mind, he doesn't do many media availableties and he didn't even debate his democratic opponent in the last gubernatorial campaign. he tries to avoid these debates and in the last couple of weeks, he was floating the idea of not doing anymore debates. that probably would have been a good approach for him to take. that was clearly a disaster last night. >> thanks very much. rick perry's stumble may be stealing the headlines, but the hopefuls did talk extenz extens. on the issue of the european debt crisis, they agreed the united states needs to stay out. >> focus on the domestic economy or we will fail, so yes, focus on the domestic economy first. there's not a lot the united states can directly do because they have, really way beyond the point of return that we as the united states can save them. >> well, europe is able to take care of their own problems. we don't want to step in and try to bail out their banks and governments. >> you have to let it liquidate. >> let's bring in erin burnett, the most of erin burnett outfront which airs at 7:00 p.m. eastern. you were listening carefully to that debate last night. pretty much of a consensus, they don't want the u.s. involved in italy, greece, spain or portugal when it comes to spending u.s. tax pare dollars. >> that's right. and politically, wolf, there is no other answer, right? you have to have a consensus. it's a very antibailout environment out there. jim cramer was asking the question, obviously felt differently than the candidates. when you just look at it, europe just matters too much to the united states and that's a big part of the problem. we can't just not help europe. 20% of our exports go to europe and are federal reserve is already assisting europe to make sure their banks function. our banks have unlg huge exposure to europe. it would be nice if it didn't matter, but it does matter to the united states and we will help them and are helping them and hoping it doesn't get to a point where anything further is required. >> ezra klein wrote a strong piece today in which italy may be too big to fail, but in too much trouble to succeed. what's going to happen? this is the seventh largest economy in the world. >> it is. it's a huge economy and too big to bail out, but today, italy, there was a little bit of calm in italy. there was a little bit of pullback from the precipice. 42 days of paid vacation. more than eight weeks. the most this europe. italy's unemployment, just over 8%. when you look at a lot of metrics in the italian economy, it's a pretty solid economy, a robust economy and significant one. it's really about the confidence and that's what it comes down to and if you have confidence and it can function and you can deal with the reforps, you don't need a bout. >> erin's going to have a lot more on this later. thanks very much. other important news today involving penn state. the child sex abuse scandal rocking penn state, explodiningn the last 24 hours with the board firing joe paterno and the university's president. and that sparked a night of rioting. demonstrations by thousands of students. jason carroll has been at penn state for days, ever since this scandal unfolded. jason, set the scene for us. what's the very latest? >> well, wolf, things looking much different out here today. stark contrast to what we've seen out here last night. things very calm, but i have to say, even doing these reports out here, every once in a while, you'll get a student who walks by and gives you the finger or shouts an obscenity. also, today was the first time we've heard from the new interim coach here, tom bradley. he spoke with mixed emotions at a press conference. also said that he has no reservations about what he has to do and he talked about the challenges that lie ahead. >> we're obviously in a very unprecedented situation that we find ourselves in and you know, i just got to find a way to restore the confidence and to start a healing process with everybody and try to go about it. as i said earlier, it's with very mixed emotion and a heavy heart that this has occurred, that i'm going through this. >> you know, you talk -- he talks about that heavy heart and i think there are a lot of heavy hearts here, especially after witnessing what took place here last night. the thousands of students that flooded into the streets, at one point flipping a news van, breaking a window, throwing a rock at one of our trucks. spoke to some students out there last night in the heat of all as it was going down. >> they're going after the wrong guy and the justice system needs to take it for it. >> we're in support of our school, in support of joe-pa. we think it's ridiculous he got fired over this situation. >> i think some people are making the mistake of putting joe-pa in actual situation. >> tears, the second i heard it, tears were in my eyes. >> we're here to get joe-pa for our last home game. it's that simple. everyone here is for that right now and that's, we all believe it. if you guys want to hear something right now. we are -- >> penn state! >> we are! >> penn state! >> for his part, joe paterno called for calm and he called for everyone to respect the university, but last night, that simply did not happen. >> i take it that a lot of the students are upset that not enough attention has been put on jerry sandusky. he was charged with the sexual abuse of these boys. what's next in the legal part of this case? >> he's going to have another preliminary hearing on december 7th. he's out on $100,000 bail and a source close to the investigation has told me, as you know, he's charged with sexually assaulting eight boys, but a source close to the investigation tells me a tip line has received more than a dozen calls from people saying they, too, were sexually assaulted by sandusky, so this investigation, far from over. >> you're absolutely right. jason carroll on the scene at penn state. so, will the former head coach, joe paterno, face criminal charges and what about a flood of civil lawsuits against penn state? our senior legal analyst is stand i standing by. and a major league baseball catcher kidnapped. we're getting new information. ♪ ♪ ♪ when your chain of supply ♪ goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there ♪ ♪ track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that ♪ hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ [ multiple snds ng melodic tune ] ♪ [ malennounc ] at northrop grumman, makthworld a feplace. th's value performance. northr gruan. at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness, man: good job. where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer a hassle-free lifetime repair guarantee, where the repairs made on your car are guaranteed for life or they're on us. these are just two of the valuable features you can expect from liberty mutual. plus, when you insure both your home and car with us, it could save you time and money. at liberty mutual, we help you move on with your life. so get the insurance responsible drivers like you deserve. looks really good. call us at... or visit your local liberty mutual office, where an agent can help you find the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? jack cafferty's here with the "cafferty file.file." >> penn state its having its own catholic church moment. the school has been rocked by a child sex scandal that escalated because those this power either looked the other way or helped cover up what was going on in order to protect one of their own and their precious football program, which generated millions of dollars for the school every year. the legendary football coach, joe paterno, was told in 2002, that his former defensive coordinator jerry sandusky raped a young boy in a shower at the football complex. paterno told his boss, but not the police. according to grand jury testimony, sandusky allegedly fondled and had oral and anal sex with boys for at least 15 years. penn state officials could have stopped it years ago. they fired paterno and the school's president, graham spanier. paterno had wanted to coach the team's last home game of the season this saturday and then resign after the football season ended. you have to give credit to the penn state board. they said you're not resigning, you're not coaching, you're not retiring. you're fired. get out. as for the hundreds of penn state students who riots on campus last night, they ought to be kicked out of school. how dare they act like this because they like the football coach. those punks are intellectually equipped to attend an institution of higher learning. how would they feel if it was their little brother that had been raped? it's a testament to the outside role sports plays in the american society. granted, this is a sad way for the winningest coach in college football to end a storied career. joe paterno could have ended it by applying the same life lessons he preaches to himself. here's the question. how can penn state university restore its reputation? go to cnn.com/"cafferty file" and post a comment on my blog or go to our facebook page. let's go in depth of the legal issues of the scandal with jeffrey toobin. penn state's board of trustees, they fired joe paterno, graham spanier, the university president. but we're relatively early in the legal process, is that right? >> absolutely, wolf. we are much closer to the beginning than the end. as far as i'm aware, there hasn't been a single civil case filed by any of the victims against penn state. the university, against any of the officials. there is going to be a flood of litigation. lawyers will be circling everywhere and they should be because these kids who were abused, particularly who were abused after penn state had notice that they had apparently a child molester roaming the grounds, they really have a claim against the university and you can be sure they'll be lining up to file. >> civil lawsuits are one thing, but criminal charges are another. here's the question. do you think joe paterno and or graham spanier, either one of them potentially could face criminal charges? >> well, when the attorney general of pennsylvania announced the initial charges against sandusky, the alleged perpetrator and the two officialed accused of being part of the cover-up, she said that paterno would not be facing charges based on the evidence available to her at that point. but you can be sure the investigation is going on. just one example. you heard jack mention that one thing we know is that paterno had notice of the -- this horrible incident in the shower where a child was sexually assaulted. in 2002. that's the only reference in the grand jury report to notice. but is it really plausible that joe paterno, the head of this department, who was very close friends with the alleged perpetrator, is that the only time he got notice? you can be sure that the investigators are going to be pursuing it, so on the issue of whether paterno knew more and should have reported sooner, i expect the investigation will continue. >> who's responsibility is it to report an incident like this to the police as opposed to just reporting it to other school officials? >> that's really at the heart of one part of the investigation. the two officials, the former vice president and the former athletic director, those two are charged with violating the statute you're referring to. i've read it. frankly, it's a little confusing to me. it suggests that anyone who is sort of in a final decision making place of authority, that's the person who's obliged to report. but frankly, it seems to me that could be joe paterno as well. even though he was not charged, so i think again, that's going to take more investigation, more legal analysis by the prosecutors to decide how that statute applies, but we don't know all the facts and i'm sure the prosecutors don't know all the facts yet as jason carroll reported, they are getting more alleged victims reporting to them all the time. they're going to have to do investigations. there's a lot that everyone doesn't know. >> for those two university officials who were charged, out on $75,000 bail each. they were charged among other things with purgery, lying to the grand jury investigation, which is a serious charge, but not necessarily a direct charged in knowing or for example or participating in some sort of criminal behavior, trying to cover up. >> well, they are charged with two different kinds of crimes. purgery, which is a very simple crime to define. lying in the grand jury. and paterno, according to the attorney general, did not lie in the grand jury. as far as she understood, told the truth. the crime they are charged with is the failure to report crime and that's where paterno, if he has any criminal vulnerability, that's where he may be vulnerable on the issue of was his decision simply to report what he heard to the athletic director. did that fulfill his legal responsibility under the statute? so far, the attorney general says yes, my reading of the statute is a little more ambiguous. there are all sorts of rumors flying about. this investigation expanding. it is really going to be an ugly, ugly scenario that penn state's going to have to deal with. probably for several more years. >> federal government could get involved as well. >> federal department of education is one of the many investigations going on and of course, we have not yet heard how these poor kids are doing. >> certainly, absolutely right. thanks very much. michele bachmann hoped to make a splash with a major foreign policy speech, but look at this. unfortunately, protesters on the u.s.s. yorktown had a different plan. we'll explain. and kole powell endorsed president obama in 2008. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." ? 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[ woman ] wow. that's amazing. here are some of the stories we're working on for our next hour. we call them heroes, casualties of war, but the u.s. military treated their remains like garbage. also, fannie mae and freddie mac need billions and billions of taxpayer dollars to stay afloat. here's the question. why are they setting aside millions of dollars for their executives' bonuses? those executives already make significant salaries. and some debates are like watching paint dry. but not this year for the republican party. stand by. you're in "the situation room." he crossed party lines to back up barack obama, so how does the former secretary of state, general colin powell, feel about the critics who say the president hasn't been tough enough? he talked about that and much more with cnn's piers morgan. >> the argument that people have with barack obama, you support him. is that he hasn't fought back against the modern weapon, which is multimedia, the internet, he hasn't beaten his chest and behaved like you would in the battle l field. >> i think that's a fair criticism of the president. h