Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal; Are Berlusconi's Days Numbered?
COSTELLO: The man who once said he was the right man and the right job may soon be out of a job. Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is at risk of facing a serious revolt in the Italian parliament -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.</s>VELSHI: Welcome back. It's 30 minutes after the hour on Tuesday morning. Time for this morning's top stories: A single mother from Chicago is going public with sexual harassment cases. She claimed Cain groped her 14 years ago after she asked him for help finding job. Cain plans to counter her accusations at a news conference later today.</s>ROMANS: Legendary heavyweight champ Joe Frazier has died of liver cancer. Smokin' Joe was 67 years old. He was the first fighter to defeat Mohammed Ali, landing what maybe the most memorable left hook in boxing history. It came in the first of their three classic fights. In a statement Ali says of his longtime nemesis, the world has lost a great champion. I will always remember Joe with respect and admiration.</s>COSTELLO: Dr. Conrad Murray behind bars. He's been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on the death of Michael Jackson. The judge denying bail and ordering Murray to stay in jail until his sentencing at the end of the month. He faces four years in prison and will likely lose his medical licenses in three states. He was already suspended in California.</s>VELSHI: Now, the sex abuse scandal that's rocking the Penn State campus. Two school officials have now resigned and face criminal charges for failing to report alleged sexual abuse by former coach Jerry Sandusky. Now, he is charged with assaulting at least eight young boys. Prosecutors are calling on any unidentified victim to come forward. CNN's Jason Carroll is following the developments. He's live in State College, Pennsylvania. Good morning, Jason.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Ali. You know, late yesterday, Penn State released a statement saying that Joe Paterno would not answer any questions about the sex abuse scandal. We'll have to see what happens at that press conference later on today. Meanwhile, this all coming after two school officials posted bail late yesterday and their attorneys lashed out at the attorney general.</s>CARROLL (voice-over): Two Penn State officials charged with perjury were each released on $75,000 bail. Athletic director Timothy Curley and senior vice president, Gary Schultz, resigned in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal involving former football coach Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky is accused of sexually abusing eight boys. The attorney general says Curley and Schultz failed to report one of the incidents of sexual abuse to police and lied to grand jurors. Their attorneys say the charges are bogus.</s>CAROLINE ROBERTO, ATTORNEY FOR TIMOTHY CURLEY: It is a distraction in this case, the charge of perjury, and it is unconscionable that the attorney general's office would level such a weak case against a man of integrity like Mr. Curley.</s>THOMAS J. FARRELL, ATTORNEY FOR GARY SCHULTZ: This is disappointing, because rather than follow the law, the attorney general has fabricated a fiction.</s>CARROLL: The attorney general stands by the accusations laid out in 23-page grand jury report which alleges Sandusky used his position as a former coach and founder of an organization to help troubled youths to befriend young boys so he could sexually assault them. Sandusky maintains his innocence. Prosecutors say that Penn State official reported the allegation of abuse to police, which is required under Pennsylvania law, it would have stopped Sandusky from allegedly finding more victims. Eight boys are described in the report but prosecutors say their investigation is not over.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it would be beyond the realm of possibility that there are other victims that exist here.</s>CARROLL: Head football coach Joe Paterno is not charged in the case. In 2002, a grad student reporting seeing Sandusky sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in the shower at the university. That student reported the incident to Paterno and who in turn told his immediate supervisor Timothy Curley. Prosecutors say, in the eyes of the law, that was enough.</s>FRANK NOONAN, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE COMMISSIONER: I wouldn't characterize how I feel about Joe Paterno or another individual in this case. All the sympathy I have is directed towards the children.</s>CARROLL: Sandusky, once celebrated as a hero, he was carried off the football field during the Alamo Bowl in 1999. Now, he's out on $100,000 bail and facing life in prison if convicted on all accounts.</s>CARROLL: And Sandusky is expected in a court appearance tomorrow. As for Paterno, well, you know, he's a legend here, Ali, you know that. But there's been a growing number of students at Penn State who are calling for his resignation -- Ali.</s>VELSHI: What's a sense of how this is going? Because this is obviously a side debate and it's certainly not as important as the boys and the victims and finding out exactly what happened. But the debate surrounding it seems to be what should happen to Joe Paterno? What's likely to happen? Will that lucrative program protect him or will he resign, will he be forced out?</s>CARROLL: Well, you know, when you look at the situation with Paterno, you can look at it two ways. I mean, when you look at it from the legal aspect of what's going on here, Ali, you heard from the attorney general's office, you heard from police. They feel as though legally he did the minimum of what was required. So, that's why legally he's not facing any charges. Morally, there seems to be a question as to whether or not he did enough. You know, he knew about this allegation and there are some who are simply saying, why didn't someone here call the police? Whether it be Paterno or these other school officials -- why didn't someone reach out to the police? That is why you see a number of students here at the university and, quite frankly, throughout the community, at least on one side of this issue, who say it is in fact time for this man to step down. But having said there, there are still a number of people who support Joe Paterno, make no mistake about that -- Ali.</s>VELSHI: Thanks very much, Jason Carroll, in State College, Pennsylvania.</s>COSTELLO: Also this morning, it appears Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi's days could be numbered. As we speak, Italy is trying to get its finances under control. The Italian parliament is now debating a proposed budget plan and it's unclear whether Berlusconi can muster enough votes to pass the bill. Matthew Chance live in Italy this morning, in Rome. Matthew, bring us up to date.</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What you say, within the past few minutes that parliamentary session has apparently gone under way with the Italian government debating what should be a very mundane budget bill. But it's become much more important because there have been reported, perhaps a dozen or more defections from Silvio Berlusconi's ruling coalition. It means that, you know, the prime minister may not be able to have a majority in the parliament. And if he can't do that, the pressure is really going to be on him to step down. The newspaper is full of speculation that Silvio Berlusconi, of course, has been dogged by legal scandals, sex scandals, charges of corruption and misuse of power, will fight to the end. He's a veteran trader. He's been trying to attract these rebel parliamentarians back to his side. But, you know, things looking very touch and go for the Italian prime minister. Before the day's out, we may have perhaps a new Italian government or at least some clarity on what Silvio Berlusconi intends to do.</s>COSTELLO: Matthew Chance, live in Rome this morning -- thank you.</s>ROMANS: Mother Nature piling on in Oklahoma. The Sooner State shaken by an earthquake, a 4.7 magnitude quake centered about 17 miles from the town of Shawnee. At the same time, at least one tornado touched down in southwestern Oklahoma, near the Texas border, with reports of several more there. The twister damaged some buildings, but no reports of injuries. Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center for us. They've had quite a couple of days over there, Rob.</s>COSTELLO: Yes, poor Oklahoma.</s>ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, not to mention their record breaking heat in the summer and the cold and snow from last winter. Here's another shot at that twister. We are in severe storm season. We'll get another round in the fall, not quite as intent or as long as the spring. But you get monster twisters like this. My goodness. Look at that thing. Like a blender and a drill bit just scooting across the Oklahoma landscape. Luckily, just some structures damaged, and as you mentioned, no injuries. We have a threat for severe weather today across parts of Texas. This line of storm is moving toward Dallas. Severe thunderstorm watches or tornado watch have been allowed to expire. A lot of that rain is getting up into towards Wisconsin, will get into Chicago as well. And some of this will turn to snow in places like northern Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota. Red area here, including Louisiana, parts of Arkansas, that's where your severe weather threat is. East of there, we're in for mild and beautiful weather again. Temperatures will be in the 70s in many spots, 68 degrees in New York City and 72 degrees expected in Dallas. All right, briefly, what's going on with this thing, which is the asteroid that Ali mentioned? Yes, it is going to miss both the moon and the earth. This is a two-dimensional vision. If you were to look at it three-dimensional, actually, it will be in the different points. So, there's really no chance of it hitting either one. It's going be scooting across the atmosphere at around 6:30 tonight. And here's what it looked like yesterday with the high- powered radar telescope, 8,000 miles away. So, you know, it's not really that impressive. Nothing really worth looking at. You'd have to have a high-powered telescope to see it as well. Just something of interest.</s>VELSHI: At a time in our life, is there going to be an asteroid that actually just hits us like a big one, like the movies?</s>MARCIANO: Are you hoping for that?</s>COSTELLO: I know.</s>MARCIANO: This thing would have created --</s>VELSHI: If you told me there's zero chance then I won't get excited every time we do these stories because Christine teases that there's going to be an asteroid and it's going to be closer than the moon and thinking, oh, my do I need a well? Is anyone going to be around?</s>VELSHI: I just want to know if it's going to happen in my lifetime. My kids' lifetime?</s>MARCIANO: This could happen in your lifetime. You know, we can't keep track of all these asteroids.</s>VELSHI: What is it you're busy you're doing than keeping track of an asteroid that's going to destroy the earth -- is there something more important than the little weather pattern over Japan?</s>MARCIANO: Are you tracking that toward me.</s>VELSHI: Just a little frustrated.</s>MARCIANO: We have severe weather. We have a tornado. Who's going to man the Doppler, Ali? You? You, Romans? Costello?</s>COSTELLO: I have no part of this.</s>MARCIANO: I have a greater possibility than you can possibly fathom.</s>VELSHI: All right. You just keep your eye on that lake of moisture that's coming in from the South. Don't worry about the asteroid.</s>ROMANS: It kind of looks like a moldy pea that's been under the couch for a long time, you know?</s>VELSHI: Yes.</s>ROMANS: If it hit the earth it would be like a 7 magnitude earthquake.</s>VELSHI: Really?</s>ROMANS: If it hit the ocean, it would be like a huge tsunami. So, there you go. If it did hit, it would be --</s>VELSHI: I would have thought it'd be bigger than a 7 magnitude earthquake. Won't you? All right. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Still to come this morning, with unemployment at 9 percent and the price of college education rising, is that college degree still worth the price? Interesting data for you. Find out on the other side. Forty-two minutes after the hour.