[Malveaux:] Three more men have come forward to accuse former Penn State Coach Jerry Sandusky of sex abuse. The men say they were abused as well in the '70s or '80s, according to our CNN contributor Sara Ganim. Now, Sandusky, he was convicted already of 45 counts of sex abuse last month. The attorney general has not said yet if there are going to be more charges filed. Good news for Citi Group, sort of. Early trading day shares were up for the world's third-largest bank, even after they reported 12 percent drop in net income. Better number than some experts predicted. Shares of Visa, MasterCard up today. Investors are reacting to Friday's news that financial firms settled an antitrust lawsuit. Retailers claim that large banks conspired to fix credit card fees. The settlement valued at $7 billion. Congressmen Jesse Jackson Jr has gotten support now from House leaders since the announcement he's being treated for what they were calling a mood disorder. The secrecy over the illness is fueling speculation and raising questions. The son of the civil rights leaders has not been on Capitol Hill since late May. "Chicago Sun-Times" editorial columnist, Mary Mitchell, says Jackson owes his constituents an explanation. Mary Mitchell joins us live. Good to see you. In your op-ed, you write that, quote, "Here, everyone is tiptoeing around the fact that his disappearance is beyond strange. It's an extreme dereliction of his duties." How is this secrecy hurting him? Do you think it's hurting his potential, his future here?
[Mary Mitchell, Editorial Columnist, Chicago Sun-times:] Well, I think that, as long as people are not clear about what is really happening with him, the situation then becomes one of speculation. Who knows? If you don't know exactly what's going on, you're saying all kinds of things. I think it's the speculation that is hurting him. His constituents can deal with if it's a mental disorder or a mood disorder or even if he just has some kind of emotional breakdown. I think his constituents can deal with that. But as long as this goes on without any clear facts, it's a matter of disregarding transparency. And if there's an expectation that people the public has a right to know what's going on with their elected official, that's what can hurt him.
[Malveaux:] You've been covering the Jackson family, Chicago politics for more than 20 years. You would know. The Jacksons and you put it in your article bask in light, they don't hide from it. So being
[Mitchell:] Here's an opportunity
[Malveaux:] Sure.
[Mitchell:] Here's an opportunity
[Malveaux:] Go ahead.
[Mitchell:] for the Jackson, Congressman Jackson and the Jackson family to show leadership on a major issue that impacts the African- American community but also just the community at large, and that is, if it is a mood disorder or mental illness, there's a stigma attached to that. Here's an opportunity for the Congressman and his family to stand up to that and say, wait a minute, you know, this is something that we need to deal with. And this is something that the public has dealt with. He could be a leader on this issue instead of hiding from it.
[Malveaux:] Do you think that the reason why he's hiding from it or the family's hiding from it potentially indicates this is worse than what the family's indicating or implying?
[Mitchell:] Well, again, we're back to speculation. It could be an indication that the family's actually plotting or planning to do something Chicago-style politics, and that is the Congressman could resign during the general election and then some other family member be put on the ballot. That's happened in the past. So we don't know. And I think that's the problem.
[Malveaux:] Is there speculation that that's actually potentially part of what's behind this?
[Mitchell:] There's speculation. There is speculation that he could resign. And there's speculation that his wife, Sandy Jackson, could be placed on the ballot. That could happen here, given the way our system works. The ward bosses could get together and decide, you know what, we're going to put somebody else's name on there. And if they put Sandy Jackson's name on it, she could end up going to the Congress without having to face an election bid this time around. That could happen. It's happened in the past.
[Malveaux:] To be clear, there's no evidence that that's happening now. It's just simply something people are talking about, right?
[Mitchell:] That's speculation. That's what people are talking. And we do have examples in Chicago of that happening. We have U.S. Representative Dan Lipinski. When he decided he was going to resign at the last minute, then his son was able to be put on the ballot. We've seen that before. That is what becomes the problem. If it's simply he's tired, he is exhausted, he's beaten down, and then he had to take a rest, that's one thing. But if there's some plan afoot to do something else politically, at the end of his rest, I think that would cause a problem.
[Malveaux:] Mary, just a timetable question quickly here. That is weeks or months away? Is there some sort of deadline that anybody's working on to sort this all out?
[Mitchell:] Well, one deadline would have been passed already, that is to put in an independent person, someone from an Independent Party on to the ballot. But if he resigns very close to the general elections, then the Democratic party would have to put somebody on that ballot, and so that deadline has not yet passed.
[Malveaux:] Mary Mitchell, thank you for your context and perspective. We appreciate it.
[Mitchell:] Thank you.
[Malveaux:] A brutal drought in our nation's heartland. More than a third of the country's crops are wilting under the heat. That could mean huge price jumps in favorite foods.