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Confusing Twist in Battle Against Breast Cancer; President Obama Meets With Chinese Leader; Tax Man: Give And Take

Aired November 17, 2009 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. It is Tuesday, November 17th, and here are the top stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Debate is raging today over mammograms. Experts change the recommended age for breast cancer screening from 40 to 50.

Millions of Americans may be headed for a Tax Day surprise next spring. They may owe Uncle Sam even more. Blame it on the stimulus.

And Sarah Palin's book is out today. Already, "Going Rogue" is the top-selling read at Amazon.com.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We begin with a confusing new twist in the battle against breast cancer. An influential government task force now says most women under 50 do not need mammograms, and just forget about those regular self-examinations.

Let's get straight to CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Because these recommendations go against, Elizabeth, everything women have been taught about early detection, even from this very task force. So what do you make of it?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This does get confusing, so I'm going to try to break it all down here.

First, I want to say that this task force is the only big group that is saying this. There are lots of groups that disagree with it. So let's start with what the task force is saying.

This is a government task force that looks at whether certain kinds of screening for different diseases should be done. So what they're saying here is that the task force recommends against routine screening mammography in women ages 40 to 49 years.

They say, look, we looked at it. And does it catch some cancers? Yes. But they say it just doesn't catch enough to make it valid to screen an entire population of women.

Again, the American Cancer Society and other groups vehemently disagree with this. Let's read what the American Cancer Society had to say about this.

The ACS says, "With its new recommendations, the task force is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives, just not enough of them."

So, Tony, for me, as a woman in her 40s who has to make this decision, I look at it this way -- I say, all right, government task force on one hand says I don't need necessarily need a mammogram. On the other hand, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists says I should get one. The American Society for Clinical Oncology says I should get one. The American Cancer Society says I should get one.

I think you see where that decision -- how that weighs out -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. Well, have women ever considered anything this particular task force has said when considering early screening?

COHEN: You know, Tony, I think it is safe to say that until this morning, most women had no idea what the USPSTF was.

HARRIS: There you go.

COHEN: So, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force. I mean, obscure probably doesn't even begin to explain it.

But this group does have a big effect, because insurance companies listen to it. Medicare listens to it. So, if that task force says, you know, women in their 40s, it looks like maybe they don't really need a mammogram, insurance companies might say, well, gosh, why would I pay for a mammogram if this task force says that I don't need it?

HARRIS: Doesn't the task force essentially say that we could be wasting -- it won't say it in these words, but let me sort of work around it -- that we are wasting money right now on mammograms for women in their 40s? And then I would add in a system where the debate right now on health care reform is about bending this cost curve.

Is this a place for potential savings? A tough question for a guy to ask on this day, mind you.

COHEN: Right. I think what they're saying is, when you look big picture, not at each individual woman, but big picture, is it worth spending the money? Is it worth exposing women to radiation? Is it worth -- there are a couple of other things in there, but is it worth all of those things to catch what they would consider to be a relatively small number of breast cancers?

And I guess from their conclusions, what they say is, no, we don't think it is. Women in their 40s should not automatically get a mammogram. Instead, they should talk to their doctor about it.

HARRIS: And is the bottom line on this women are likely to make the same decisions they've always made, which is to consult their doctor before weighing options for early screening?

COHEN: Right, because, first of all, you get a mammogram after talking to your doctor.

HARRIS: Yes, absolutely.

COHEN: I mean, your doctor sends you to get the mammogram. You don't just walk into the mammogram center most of the time.

So, yes, women are still going to go to their doctors. I don't think they're going to take a government task force recommendation to heart. And I think that women will also see, all right, one task force from the government says this, but there's a whole lot of gynecologists and other MDs who say the complete opposite.

HARRIS: CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen for us.

Elizabeth, appreciate it. Thank you.

Let's do this -- let's check the wire now for the day's other big stories.

Two hours from now, we expect an update of several of those wounded in the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. The Army will reportedly conduct a separate internal investigation to examine whether it missed warning signs about the alleged shooter, Major Nidal Hasan. He is accused of killing 13 people in the November 5th rampage.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner faces questions from senators today. Some could be prickly.

A new report on the $85 billion AIG bailout concludes Geithner, then head of the New York Fed, was too easy on the insurance giant. The blistering assessment says Geithner should have worked harder to win creditor discounts.

President Obama is warning Iran it must show that its nuclear plants are making electricity, not bombs, or face consequences. He says China's President Hu is on board with that.

The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog is concerned Iran is hiding nuclear sites like the one revealed at Qom about two months ago now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We agreed that the Islamic Republic of Iran must provide assurances to the international community that its nuclear program is peaceful and transparent. On this point, our two nations and the rest of our P-5 plus 1 partners are unified. Iran has an opportunity to present and demonstrate its peaceful intentions, but if it fails to take this opportunity, there will be consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: The U.S. and China are promising to work together to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and combat climate change. President Obama met today with China's president. They discussed cooperation between the two countries, as well as areas of disagreement.

Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry has the latest on the president's visit to China.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Beijing's bitter cold, President Obama was all about showcasing a new warmth with China as he toured the historic Forbidden City and its Hall of Supreme Harmony.

OBAMA: It's beautiful. What a magnificent place to visit.

HENRY: By the end of this week, Mr. Obama will have visited 20 nations, the most in the first year of any American president, though he told Chinese President Hu Jintao in the ornate Great Hall of the People, their relationship may be most pivotal of all.

OBAMA: In this young century, the jobs we do, the prosperity we build, the environment we protect, the security that we seek, all these things are shared.

HENRY: It was not, however, all sweetness and light. While Mr. Obama avoided a meeting with the Dalai Lama in Washington last month to not ruffle feathers for this visit, here in Beijing, he gently but publicly pushed the Chinese to cool tensions with the Tibetan spiritual leader.

OBAMA: While we recognize that Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China, the United States supports the early resumption of dialog between the Chinese government and representatives of the Dalai Lama to resolve any concerns and differences that the two sides may have.

HENRY: And while they spoke of broad economic cooperation, Hu slapped at the U.S. for recently hitting Chinese tires and steel with new levies.

PRESIDENT HU JINTAO, CHINA (through translator): Our two countries need to oppose and reject protectionism and all its manifestations in an even stronger stand.

HENRY: But the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases vowed to work together to get concrete action on climate change at a summit next month in Copenhagen.

OBAMA: An accord that covers all of the issues in the negotiations and one that has immediate operational effect. This kind of comprehensive agreement would be an important step forward in the effort to rally the world around a solution to our climate challenge. HENRY (on camera): But the Chinese president stopped far short of endorsing tough new sanctions against Iran, those both sides are pledging cooperation to stop North Korea's nuclear program just a couple of days before Mr. Obama visits South Korea, the final stop on this long Asian journey.

Ed Henry, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, will have a one-on-one interview with President Obama in Beijing. We will have portions of that interview for you tomorrow, starting with "AMERICAN MORNING" at 6:00 a.m., and then here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Do you really need that mammogram? Government experts don't think early screening is really necessary, but the American Cancer Society says think again. That's straight ahead.

But first, take a look at the numbers. A bit of a sell-off early in the trading day. The Dow down 20.

We will follow these numbers for you throughout the day with Susan Lisovicz, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Got to tell you, many women are shocked and confused today following a big about-face in government guidelines for dissecting and detecting breast cancer. A major task force of health experts now recommending most women in their 40s should not be getting mammograms.

Let's get reaction from the American Cancer Society. Its chief medical officer, Dr. Otis Brawley, joining me live from Los Angeles.

Doctor, it's good to see you. You're a frequent guest on this program. It's good to have you back.

Help me here. Our understanding is this was strictly a risk benefit analysis concluding that in your 40s, the risk of early screening outweighed the benefits. But in your 50s, the benefits outweighed the risks.

As a strictly risk benefits analysis, what's wrong with these findings?

DR. OTIS BRAWLEY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: Well, first let me share that and say that I and all the experts that I've been talking to believe that women should continue getting a mammography every year, starting at the age of 40. The task force did find that screening women in their 40s does save lives. It reduces the relative risk of death by 15 percent.

They went on to do some calculations, calculations, which, by the way, we disagree with, and estimate that you have to screen 1,900 women in their 40s to save one life and 1,340 women in their 50s to save one life. It leads me to say, what's the number between 1,340 and 1,900 in which mammography screening is no longer beneficial and no longer useful and should not be recommended?

HARRIS: Yes.

Doctor, what do you make -- why this about-face? What are we missing here?

BRAWLEY: Well, there's a broad screening community, and there are some people who are very conservative, there are some people who are very liberal. Some people say if the test finds cancer, it ought to be done. The very conservative people believe that that is a waste of resources.

And there are some harms associated with screenings. You're going to give anxiety to people, unnecessary surgeries, unnecessary anesthesia. You may even cause some deaths.

If you do too much screening and find things that are false positives -- we call them -- they're actually false alarms -- so you have to be careful with your screening. I like to think of myself as a moderate. I do criticize people who waste resources and screen in areas where we ought not screen.

In age groups we ought not screen for diseases where the screen tests have not been proven to save lives. But this is one instance where I actually think we ought to be screening. I am convinced that we save lives for women in their 40s by screening every year.

HARRIS: Have women ever, in your experience -- I didn't know anything about this task force until this report today -- considered anything this task force has said when considering early screening?

BRAWLEY: Yes. Among those of us who specialize in screening, epidemiologists and medical oncologists, the task force is actually very important.

I have tremendous respect for the task force, but I do have difficulty, without getting into the scientific ways, I have difficulty with the methodology that they use. I actually think that women deserve far better than what we're giving them with this back and forth about what various organizations recommend.

HARRIS: Well, let me offer a bit of pushback, and you alluded to it just a moment ago. Are we wasting money on early screening for breast cancer? And in a system where we are trying to -- you know, the term of ours here has been the cost curve -- is there a place for real savings here?

BRAWLEY: There are people who have been advocating screenings for women under the age of 40. I do believe that that is a waste of money. We don't have any studies to show that it's actually beneficial. But we have clinical studies, clinical trials to show that screening women over the age of 40 decreases risk of death.

The task force agrees with the American Cancer Society that there's at least a 15 percent decrease in relative risk of death. But they chose not to recommend screening. We choose to recommend it because there is lives saved.

I don't want to make this into an economic argument. I want to make this into an argument of, do women benefit or not? And then let's let the politicians decide what we can afford to do.

HARRIS: OK. I get from your point of view that this is an influential panel here. But I'm just sort of curious, won't women do what they have always done? That's to talk to their doctors about early detection screening. And wouldn't that be what you would recommend?

BRAWLEY: Yes, I do recommend that women talk to their doctors. It's my sense that the task force has really sort of overstepped its bounds here, and I actually believe that most doctors are going to recommend that women get screened in their 40s.

I think it's important that we realize that mammography is not a perfect test. It is, in many ways, imperfect, but it is right now the best test that we have. And all of us, including the Preventative Services Task Force, agrees that it decreases relative risk of death, which translates in lay terms to it saves lives.

HARRIS: Yes. Dr. Otis Brawley, it's good to see you.

BRAWLEY: Thank you.

HARRIS: Hope to see you again when you're back here in Atlanta.

Still to come in the CNN NEWSROOM, plenty of job openings out there for federal judges. Only a handful of President Obama's nominees confirmed in the first year. Far fewer than other recent presidents.

What's the holdup?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

In Salt Lake City today, one of Elizabeth Smart's kidnappers is expected to plead guilty. Wanda Barzeee is due in federal court next hour to face charges that she helped abduct Smart with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Smart was taken from her home at knifepoint in 2002. She was found nine months later walking the streets with Barzee and her husband.

Microsoft co-founder and professional sports team owner Paul Allen has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He battled another form of cancer more than 25 years ago. Texas A&M University marking the 10th anniversary of a deadly bonfire accident. Twelve people were killed, 27 injured when a blazing tower of logs collapsed. There's a campus memorial service tonight in the basketball arena, then a candlelight vigil at the collapsed site at 2:42 a.m., the time of the accident.

Another check of your top stories in 20 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Notice a little something extra in your paycheck since the spring? Your employer is withholding less for taxes. It's part of the federal stimulus program.

Well, what the tax man giveth, the tax man can taketh away.

Let's talk with business correspondent Stephanie Elam in New York.

Stephanie, look, taxpayers may have to return part of the stimulus tax credit after all.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Some people may, Tony. I don't want to make everyone nervous out there and think that this all applies to them. But we are talking about 15.4 million tax filers who may actually be getting too much of that stimulus in their paycheck.

This would be the Making Work Pay Credit. That was the name of it. And so, they're getting more of this than they should, about more than 10 percent there, as you see in that chart there.

And this is according to a report from the Treasury Department inspector general. So, this means they're either going to get less of a refund come tax time or, which probably is worse, they're going to have to pay back some of that money come tax time in April of next year.

So, who is vulnerable? Let's take a look.

We're talking about teenagers, the young working people who are claimed as dependents. You've got people who have more than one job. And you've got households where both of the spouses work. And then, also, for some retirees this is going to be an issue as well.

Now, let me explain a little bit of the reason why this could become a problem.

The payments have been made incrementally in paychecks throughout the year, a little bit here, a little bit there. You know, just making its way through the year.

The problem is your employer is the one who is adjusting your taxes that are withheld from your paycheck. It was automatically done. The thing is, they don't know if you have a spouse that's working. They don't know if you have another job. So they don't have all that information, so, therefore, they could be adjusting it to the wrong level, and that is where the pain could come in.

I should point out that the IRS is strongly contesting the findings of this report, saying that the number of people who are going to have to pay back the IRS is highly overstated because some people were aware of this and they adjusted their tax withholdings already so that they wouldn't feel as much of a pinch come the spring.

HARRIS: Got you.

ELAM: But obviously these problems could still persist to 2010 because nothing has been done to change the way that this is going through the system.

HARRIS: OK. Stephanie, appreciate it. Thank you.

ELAM: Sure.

HARRIS: And we, as always, want to remind you to check out our special report, "America's Money Crisis." That's at CNNMoney.com.

A battle over one of President Obama's judicial nominees is coming to a head in the Senate. Democrats will vote to end the Republican filibuster of Judge David Hamilton.

Our congressional correspondent Dana Bash reports President Obama is having a tough time putting his imprint on the federal bench.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID HAMILTON, JUDICIAL NOMINEE: I can think of...

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Obama's very first judicial nominee, David Hamilton, sent to the Senate for confirmation eight months ago.

HAMILTON: In my work as a district judge...

BASH: He has bipartisan backing from his home state senators in Indiana. The Democrat and Republican enthusiastically support him as a mainstream judge. But most Republicans have been blocking Hamilton's approval to the federal Court of Appeals in Chicago.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: I think this judge is clearly a liberal activist. But we do have the responsibility to analyze and scrutinize the nominations.

BASH: That delay is one reason President Obama is poised to finish his first term in office with fewer judges confirmed than any president in recent history. The Supreme Court aside, so far only six Obama judicial nominees have been approved for the federal bench, compared to 28 judges confirmed in George W. Bush's first year in office, 27 for Bill Clinton and 42 during Ronald Reagan's first year.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: It's outrageous what is happening. BASH: Senate Democrats accuse Republicans of obstructionism. GOP strategists call it a useful tactic for the Republican minority.

RON BONJEAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: The Senate Democrats did it, too, when they were in the minority. It's just a tool the minority uses to try to get more of what they want, because they don't control the agenda. And for them, it's very hard to be heard.

BASH: But it's not just the Republicans' fault that there are 99 vacancies on the federal bench. Part of the blame lies with President Obama, who has sent fewer judicial nominations to the Senate than his resent predecessors.

That has alarmed Obama supporters eager to reverse President Bush's efforts to fill the courts with conservatives. Senate Democrats call it Obama caution.

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND: The president has been more deliberative in sending forward nominations. That's absolutely correct. But if the Senate would have confirmed those nominees that have been approved by the committees, we'd be well ahead of schedule.

BASH (on camera): By this time in President Bush's first term, he had sent 64 judicial nominees to the Senate. President Obama has sent 27. But Democrats admit that slow pace has a lot to do with vetting. The president got burned early on with some of his cabinet picks turned out to have tax issues, and now the White House is extremely cautious, both with nominations for the administration and lifetime appointments to the federal bench.

Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: So, you say you filled out hundreds of job applications with no success? One man is like many people nowadays, looking to a job placement service for help.

Could it help you?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: President Obama credits China with helping the U.S. pull itself out of the Great Recession. He talked about the economy and trade during a meeting today with the Chinese president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: As president who indicated, we discussed what's required to sustain this economic recovery so that economic growth is followed by the creation of new jobs and a lasting prosperity. So far, China's partnership has proved critical in our effort to pull ourselves out of the worst recession in generations.

Going forward we agreed to advance the pledge made at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh and pursue a strategy of balanced economic growth. A strategy where America saves more, spends less, reduces our long-term debt and where China makes adjustments across a broad range of policies to rebalance its economy and spur domestic demand. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The U.S. wants China to raise the value of its currency, China is calling on the U.S. to oppose protectionism after new levies on Chinese made tires and steel pipes.

As the saying goes, neither snow nor rain nor heat or gloom of night will stop the postal service from making its deliveries, but what about a nearly $4 billion loss? Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details on big money problems at the U.S. Post Office.

Good to see you, Susan. How tough is this?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pretty tough. You know that saying about neither snow nor gloom nor rain, all of that, that was written about 2,500 years ago by a Greek historian Herodotus, Tony, when they didn't have billion dollar shortfalls. And what the U.S. Postal Service is delivering, again, is a lot of red ink; $3.8 billion this year is the third straight annual loss. United States Postal Service says it's one of the most challenging years in its history and it's been around a long time, actually. Not 2,500 years, but more than 200 years.

So what's it going to do now? It's going to probably ask Congress to cut out the Saturday delivery. It also wants to reduce payments to the retiree health care fund, which it has already done. It's cutting 4,000 jobs, reduced overtime hours, it's really cut about $6 billion in expenses and it still ain't enough.

HARRIS: Well, looks like the government -- the government gives the Post Office money so is this a situation where you just got to pump more in?

LISOVICZ: No, and that's something very interesting. It is a government agency, but it is a self-supporting government agency. It doesn't receive any tax dollars. It relies solely on fees like postage, fees for postage and shipping and we know -- we all know firsthand they've been going up.

But what's happening is -- well, a couple things. One is that the economy stinks and people don't send out as much mail for whatever reason. They want to go electronic, send e-mail, just don't want to ship as much, maybe combine things.

HARRIS: Paperless, paperless.

LISOVICZ: That's exactly right, and a lot of environmentalists would encourage that. The problem is volume is down big time. Total mail volume, Tony, plunged by 25 million pieces last year. It's the biggest drop in history. So, you know, that's a big problem for the post service.

Fortunately, we're not seeing the biggest drop in Wall Street history. We're seeing a little bit of profit taking, but that's not surprising given the trend that we've enjoyed. The Dow has been up in the nine last sessions, but a modest, modest pullback today for the three major averages. Check it out.

HARRIS: We love your straight talk moments. We love it, everyone. Susan just said the economy stinks, we love those moments.

LISOVICZ: Yes, you know, it's not MBA talk.

HARRIS: Yes, but we love that. Keep it coming.

All right, Susan, appreciate it. See you next hour. We're going to talk jobs.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is warning the recovery will be slow and modest. So lukewarm in fact that it probably won't make a dent in the jobless rate next year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN BERNANKE, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: Jobs are likely to remain scarce for some time keeping households cautious about their spending. As the recovery becomes established, however, payroll should begin to grow again at a pace that increases over time. Nevertheless, as net gains of roughly 100,000 jobs per month are needed just to absorb new entrance in the labor force, the unemployment rate likely will decline only slowly if economic growth remains moderate, as I expect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: With the jobless rate over 10 percent and climbing, unemployment is becoming a chronic condition for many. Recently, we profiled a newly homeless Los Angeles man. Now, thanks to a CNN viewer he has hope.

Casey Wian reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When we first met Tony Briones nearly two weeks ago, he was living in his van spending mornings unsuccessfully looking for odd jobs at this Los Angeles day labor center.

TONY BRIONES, JOB SEEKER: I drive every morning and hope and pray to get some kind of work, something going on so I can make some extra money.

WIAN: The 54-year-old father of two, grandfather of five, spent 30 years as a warehouse worker and in construction.

BRIONES: I was on a ten-foot ladder drilling holes for the gas line, and the ladder went one way and I went the other way and messed up my shoulder.

WIAN: Briones says he's filled out hundreds of job applications without success. He's married with a severely disabled adult child at his former home, yet he no longer feels right living there. BRIONES: It's hard for your kids and grandkids to ask you for money and you don't got it. And your wife got it, that's not -- I mean, she's trying to do what she can but -- excuse me. But it's not right, you know? (INAUDIBLE) I want to help support my family and I can't, you know. That sucks.

Excuse me -- sorry about that.

WIAN: Today, Briones has new hope thanks to Melissa Wolfe, a CNN viewer who volunteers at Chrysalis, a nonprofit organization helping the homeless and people recently released from prison find jobs.

MELISSA WOLFE, ATTORNEY & VOLUNTEER: He's a perfect example of someone that can be assisted by Chrysalis. He's homeless, he has motivation, he really just wants to be given a chance at employment. And when I saw that piece, I really wanted to introduce him to this program.

WIAN: Wolfe helped Briones update his resume. Monday he arrived for his first day of job training classes.

BRIONES: I feel like a baby that just took his first step or little kid that's fell off the bike and got back up. That's what I feel like. I just fell off the bike and they picked me up.

WIAN: Chrysalis says the recession has boosted the number of people using its job placement services by 40 percent since last year.

MARK LORANGER, CEO, CHRYSALIS: The types of clients have changed as well. We're seeing more clients that are, what we call, underemployed. Where they may be holding multiple jobs to make ends meet or it may be that they are not getting a full 40 hours a week, so they are looking for something better.

WIAN: For Briones, any job would be better than what he's endured. Last year Chrysalis says more than 1,500 people or 80 percent of its clients found work at an average wage of nearly $10 an hour.

One man who had nearly lost hope now believes he'll be working again soon.

BRIONES: Bless you guys for what you're doing. You make my life more shiny again. The downside is over.

WIAN: Casey Wian, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Some of Bernie Madoff's prize possessions are up for auction. What's he selling and where is the money going?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on our top stories now. One in six Americans is hungry, that leads out top stories. A new report by the Department of Agriculture says a record 17 million households struggled to put food on the table last year; that's 4 million more than a year before. The USDA says poverty is the number one cause.

New guidelines on mammograms are stirring up real controversy. A government panel says most women in their 40s don't need routine mammograms and should get one every two years starting at age 50. The American Cancer Society recommends annual screenings beginning at 40.

A yacht, two smaller boats and Mercedes once owned by convicted fraudster Bernie Madoff are up for auction today. Money raised will go to help his victims.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Her book was a bestseller before it was released. Sarah Palin is back in the spotlight. What she told Oprah Winfrey about her plans for 2012.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A group of U.S. soldiers accused of gunning down four Iraqi prisoners execution style. They were convicted of premeditated murder, but at least one soldier isn't sorry about it. In a special investigation on "AC360" tonight, SIU correspondent Abbie Boudreau talks to one sergeant about his actions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The soldier we talked to was one of the last to see the men alive. He describes how his first sergeant decided not to take the four Iraqis they had just captured to a detainee center. He feared they would be released since there was not enough evidence to hold them.

I asked Joshua Hartson what happened before the men were killed.

JOSHUA HARTSON, FORMER PRIVATE FIRST CLASS: My first sergeant comes up to me and pulls me away from everybody. Then he asks me if we take them to the detainee facility, the DEHA (ph), that they're going to be right back on the streets doing the same thing in a matter of weeks. He asked if I had a problem if we took care of them and I told him no.

BOUDREAU: And what do you think he meant by that?

HARTSON: To kill them.

BOUDREAU: How could you be OK with that?

HARTSON: They were bad guys. If we were to let them go or take them in we risk the chance of them getting out and killing us, killing other people.

BOUDREAU: The four Iraqi men were lined up next to the Baghdad Canal and killed. All three sergeants were eventually convicted of premeditated murder.

We take a hard look at the Army's policy for detaining prisoners in our four-part investigation, "KILLINGS AT THE CANAL, THE ARMY TAPES" it begins tonight on "AC360."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And again, you can hear the rest of Abbie's interview tonight on "AC360," that's at 10:00 Eastern time.

Now, to Afghanistan. The president continues to listen to advisors and ambassadors about troop levels there, and we, of course, are listening to you.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: This is B.J. from Houston, and I wanted you to know that I think we need to let the president be the president, and make his decision carefully and meticulously.

CALLER: Yes, we've just got to get out. There's no way to stay. I'm going to be very disappointed if Obama increases the troops substantially, because we need to be just decreasing the troops and getting out of there. It's a total waste of our fine young people and waste of money. We need the people home, and we need the money to spend on infrastructure back here. Thank you.

CALLER: This is Scott from Illinois, and I just got back from Afghanistan, did a tour over there. And the bottom line is, is that they need more troops. They need more help. They can't do it with the numbers that are over there right now. It's common sense, the more troops you can put in the area to occupy, the safer it's going to be.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HARRIS: And, of course, we want to hear more of your comments, just give us a call at 1-877-742-5760. Let us know what you think the U.S. should do next in Afghanistan.

And here's what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, the fight over health care reform. A new poll shows Americans are divided over the bill passed by the House, and not all the opposition is coming from the right. We will have the numbers.

Women from poor villages hired as maids, then sold as sex slaves. Arwa Damon shows us how one woman's nightmare is helping other women.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So, after all the hype and buildup, Sarah Palin's book "Going Rogue" is out today, and the former VP candidate has jumped back into the spotlight. Does that mean she is running for president in 2012?

CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": Sarah Palin.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With everything but a hardy high-ho-silver, Sarah Palin is back, filling up the TV screen. She's got a best-selling book, before it was for sale, a publicity tour to keep it moving, a big-ticket interview with Oprah.

What is Sarah Palin up to?

SARAH PALIN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hey, but my dad's quote, I think, it's a -- it's sums it up better, perhaps, than I'm summing up. He says, "She's not retreating, she's reloading."

WINFREY: Reloading?

PALIN: Yes, she's able to get out there and fight for what is right.

WINFREY: Does that mean you're reloading for 2012?

PALIN: I'm concentrating on 2010 and making sure that we have issues tackled as Americans, to make sure that we're on the right road.

WINFREY: Would you even tell me if you were thinking about it?

PALIN: No, I wouldn't, not.

But 2012 -- Trig's heading into kindergarten in 2012. I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to affecting positive change between now and then. I don't know what I'm going to be doing in 2012.

CROWLEY: In 2009, she quit her job as governor of Alaska and now she's pushing a 432-page book. Chapter six is titled "The Way Forward." It is 13 pages long. Chapter four "Going Rogue," is 140 pages. It rehashes the campaign, from its heady start...

PALIN: I felt like, wow, John McCain is a maverick. He is a bold man. The choice that he just made, he's all about empowering women.

CROWLEY: ... all the way to its messy little end, as described this week to ABC's Barbara Walters.

BARBARA WALTERS, ABC ANCHOR, "20/20": Press reports quoted unnamed McCain aides calling you a diva -- you know this -- a whack job, a narcissist. Why do you think these people were trying to destroy your reputation? PALIN: For some people, this is a business. And if failure in this business was going to reflect poorly on them, they had to kind of pack their own parachutes and protect themselves.

CROWLEY: Palin's book blames the McCain staff for missteps and miscalculations, for mishandling her daughter's pregnancy news, for advising her on what to eat, how to dress, what to say, who to say it to, refusing even to let her talk on the night the election was lost.

PALIN: Disappointed too, that we didn't take one last opportunity to remind Americans that all of us, together, need to be able to move forward; united we will stand as a country. And that's what I wanted to talk about.

CROWLEY: Palin blames the media for invasive coverage of her children and sexist, distorted, unfair coverage of herself, particularly that disastrous interview with Katie Couric.

PALIN: Well, I think that her agenda was to, not necessarily show me in the best light and not allow my mistakes, my gaffes to go uncut, whereas she had just interviewed Joe Biden and he had made mistakes, but those were dismissed; they were ignored.

CROWLEY: Judging by book sales and media coverage, Palin remains a fascinating figure, a politician who has slipped into the celebrity box.

WINFREY: Should I be worried? Should I be worried, because I have heard that you're going to get your own talk show?

Yes, come on.

CROWLEY: Oprah, you are the queen of talk shows. There's nothing to ever worry about.

CROWLEY: No question that Palin is a tour de force, a celebrity politician with the emphasis now on "celebrity." The question is whether she's a force to be reckoned with when the emphasis is on "politician."

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)