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Carnival Cruise Docks in San Diego; Digging America Out of Debt; Hot Off The Political Ticker; Disabled Cruise Ship Home At Last

Aired November 11, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone.

I'm Tony Harris, in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen. Here are some of the people behind today's stories.

Thousands of travelers waiting to get on shore after being stuck at sea. A disabled cruise ship is about to come into port. We are live in San Diego, and we've got one of the passengers on the phone with us in just a couple of minutes.

Honoring America's veterans this hour. What did President Obama promise to do for the men and women who have served our country?

And a how-to book for pedophiles that was sold on Amazon.com, a big talker today. Some folks say it should not have happened.

Let's get started with our lead story. So close, yet so far.

The crippled Carnival Splendor cruise ship has finally been towed to shore in San Diego, but it will be a while before the passengers can disembark. Thousands of passengers stranded for three days on the ship of the coast of Mexico after a fire in the engine disabled it. That fire in the engine room.

Joining us on the phone right now is one of the passengers on board right now on that ship. Let's speak with Valerie Ojeda.

Valerie, are you on the line with me?

VALERIE: Yes, I am.

HARRIS: Valerie, can you describe the last hour or so, so close to shore, so close to disembarking, and yet so far?

VALERIE OJEDA, PASSENGER ON DISABLED SHIP: Yes. It's just been like the wait -- it's so exciting to see the land. Yes, it's just -- you know, everybody just started walking the halls, everybody is on their balconies, so happy to see the land.

HARRIS: So, Valerie, all right, take us through the last three days or so for us. What has this experience been like? Describe it.

OJEDA: It's been -- I mean, on our part, it's been OK. I heard some people have been experiencing their toilets not flushing, still to this day. Ours is working. We're on the balcony room, so we have plenty of light. The interior rooms, no lights at all.

We've been really making the most of it, you know, trying to stay positive. And we're praying that we were going to make it home OK, and we did. So we just have to be patient right now and just wait. I can't wait to get home.

HARRIS: Yes, I know that's true.

Hey, Valerie, you mentioned no electricity. We know that to be the story. Were there ever moments where you were a little sketchy, a little concerned about your personal safety and the safety of the folks traveling with you?

OJEDA: I was concerned once that they said the tugboats would arrive at 5:00 a.m. And then they came on and said, well, the tugboats didn't make it due to sea conditions? And it was like, really, was it sea conditions, or were we lost out of the radar somewhere? You know?

HARRIS: Yes.

OJEDA: Could they not locate us? So, I mean, I know they say what they have to say. They have a lot of people on this boat, so nobody panicked. But I'm not a dummy.

HARRIS: No, you are not. No, you are not.

So, Valerie, what did you do with your time? I mean, that's a lot of time when you don't have the amenities.

OJEDA: A lot of us -- I'm sorry. Go ahead.

HARRIS: It's a lot of time without the amenities that you expected on this luxury cruise. So what did you do with the time?

OJEDA: They had people playing the piano, people doing sing-a- longs. I don't know if you watched "Good Morning America." "Sweet Caroline" was sung all over this boat.

And that's pretty much it. A lot of singing, dancing, music, the best they can play with the instruments that were on board.

HARRIS: So I missed it, Valerie. What was the most popular song sung?

OJEDA: "Sweet Caroline."

HARRIS: "Sweet Caroline?"

OJEDA: Yes.

HARRIS: The Neil Diamond song?

OJEDA: Yes. HARRIS: Oh, that's terrific. That's terrific.

All right. So you're in good spirits.

What are they telling you on board as to how long it will be before you can disembark?

OJEDA: They said it's going to start in about an hour and a half.

HARRIS: About an hour and a half. All right.

OJEDA: Yes.

HARRIS: So you're ready. It's long past time for you to get off that thing.

OJEDA: Yes.

HARRIS: Will you take another cruise anytime soon? I think you're being offered a refund and an opportunity to take another one by Carnival. Will you do it anytime soon?

OJEDA: I don't know about anytime soon. We have until 2012 to book the next one, so I think I'll wait a little while.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes, that's probably smart.

OJEDA: But I would go on another cruise. I mean, this is just an unfortunate event that happened, and, you know, people made the best of it on the ship, and that's all we could do.

HARRIS: Hey, Valerie, you're a great sport. So, I don't know if you're planning to go back home immediately once you get on shore, but if not, let's get you in front of a camera. We'd love to see you either in the next hour or so, or maybe tomorrow. All right?

OJEDA: All right.

HARRIS: Perfect. Valerie, be well and congratulations. You've come through an ordeal and you've got your spirits in good shape here. We appreciate it and we hope to see you soon.

OJEDA: Thank you so much.

HARRIS: All right. Let's go to Paul Vercammen now. He's joining us from San Diego.

And Paul, let's be clear about what these passengers had to endure over the last few days. We're talking about no air- conditioning, no hot water for hot showers. And, in many cases, stopped-up toilets, dark cabins. And as you just heard from Valerie, she, at least, and it sounds to me that there are a lot of passengers on board, who are in pretty good spirits right now.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN SR. PRODUCER: Well, they're in good spirits, but it was really quite an ordeal, as you described, Tony.

And to help shed more light on that, we have Paul Blocker. His wife is on board, Karen, along with his 25-year-old daughter. And he describes them both as introverts.

But this has been quite a long three days for them. You were describing the fact that they happen to have a little light coming through their room, which was helpful, but one of the big issues was walking around the dark on the ship.

PAUL BLOCKER, WIFE IS ON DISABLED SHIP: Yes, it was. Luckily, everybody worked together. They were with a group of girls. They all went on a girls' cruise. So they coordinated well together. But those that had interior (ph) cabins had no light whatsoever, so I would think it was pretty tough.

VERCAMMEN: And can you describe for us based on conversations with your wife -- you talked to her just a short time ago -- what her mood is like and what the toughest part of all of this was.

BLOCKER: She's anxious. She's anxious to get off the ship. She's anxious to have a nice, hot meal and get in a temperature- controlled room. And that's obvious. But her spirits are good.

She's cruised many times before, and she knows that it was just a freak accident. I think the one thing is, she'll do it again. But for our daughter, being the first time, she talked to her and she said that she's willing to do it again. I'm sure Carnival will make it right.

VELSHI: And tell us what your strategy is. Your family is from Goodyear, Arizona.

And by the way, Tony, we were able to get Paul an IFB, so you can talk to him and ask him a question if you'd like.

HARRIS: Oh, terrific.

VERCAMMEN: What are you going to do now from here?

BLOCKER: I'm going to spend some quality with my wife and daughter, and after that we'll make our travel arrangements and we'll get back to home.

VERCAMMEN: I think, though, the idea is Carnival is going to go ahead and pay for you to stay the night here, and then, of course, you're not going to leave from Long Beach. You'll all fly or drive, or whatever the case may be.

BLOCK: Yes, from San Diego. That's true.

VERCAMMEN: Are you anxious?

BLOCKER: Yes, I'm anxious to see her, give them both a big hug, and our friends as well. VERCAMMEN: What was your initial reaction knowing that your girls were on board on the ship, and all of a sudden, you hear, Carnival cruise ship Splendor disabled, stranded off the coast of Mexico?

HARRIS: Great question.

BLOCKER: I felt -- once the fire was under control, I had all the faith in the maritime technologies that they would be safe. But once the Coast Guard was headed down there, I felt safer.

And when the Ronald Reagan was there, I mean, what can you say? I felt very comfortable that they were going to be fine, minus being uncomfortable in the situation that they're in.

VERCAMMEN: Great.

Tony, do you want to jump in?

HARRIS: Yes. No, no, I think that's terrific, Paul. You covered everything that I would ask. And we wish the best for his wife, the family and, boy, to get back on dry land as soon as possible.

It looks like that will be in the next hour or so.

Paul Vercammen for us in San Diego, waiting for those people to disembark. And he'll grab a few of them for us probably not until the next hour, in Ali Velshi's show, hosted today by T.J. Holmes.

All right. Let's do this -- let's take a quick break. We're back in a moment.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Oh, man. OK.

The "Random Moment of the Day" poses a question most fowl: Why did the turkey cross the road?

Around 100 big birds are roaming the Ocean Breeze neighborhood on New York's Staten island. And some people like them and kept them fat and happy. Some people don't like them at all. Right?

New York Wildlife workers plan a turkey survey to see what residents want to do. One official says the Thanksgiving solution is not off the table.

Enough turkey talk. Time to horse around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Smile, horsey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a horse in the car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Yes.

A car with real horsepower, and your "Random Moment of the Day."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Reducing the nation's crushing debt, it was a major theme in the midterm elections and the revolution at the polls. And it is one of the most important debates we are likely to have over the next few years.

Most of you have had to make difficult decisions about your own personal debt and finances. Now it's the country's turn.

The chairmen of the bipartisan commission appointed by the president are out with a preliminary plan. More on that in a minute.

As this debate unfolds, we are going to follow it in depth. How big is the debt, and how did we get here? Who owns the debt, and why you should care. What cuts are being proposed and what would you cut?

So let's start with the preliminary proposal by the chairmen of the bipartisan Deficit Commission. It is designed to slash $4 trillion in deficits over 10 years.

Christine Romans of our Money team has been going over the plan.

Christine, let's start here -- is this the proposal that finally gets the conversation going?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is the first move. It's the first move in a complicated political chess game that begins right now, Tony. And this will be the story -- really the story for the next few years that we will be talking about, because we have spent $14 trillion already. That is the national debt. We have to pay for that, and we have to pay for the operations of our country. And we are right now not paying for it.

So we have to figure out how to do that.

This is what's on the table. It affects every farmer, every senior citizen, every teacher, every mom, every worker in this country, everybody who drives a car. This affects you, and here's why.

First, we're talking about a 15 cent increase in the gas tax to help pay for transportation spending. That's in this proposal.

Also talking about big cuts to the military, $100 billion in cuts to the military, and closing one-third of our overseas bases. Also, when you talk about health care cost containment in here, they talk about some changes to TRICARE. That is the health care system for the military. That will be something that many people in the military are anxiously watching to see, how that would change under this proposal.

And the elimination of 10 percent of the federal work force. So, for every three people who retire or leave the federal payroll, you would only add two more back in. That's something like 200,000 workers, so that's big.

You're talking about cutting farm subsidies. You're talking about the mortgage tax deduction, which is the sacred cow of tax freebies for people.

HARRIS: That's big, yes.

ROMANS: That's big. Talking about some limits on that. Just about everything you can think of.

I talked to Mia McGinnis (ph), who is the budget analyst, who told me that this shows they're serious. This shows this commission, the two people who are running this commission, are very serious when they put raising the Social Security age by the year 2050. You wouldn't be able to get benefits until you're 69 years old.

That means if you're Generation Y, that affects you. If you are a senior citizen today, getting a Social Security check -- want to be clear -- this is not going to affect you. So don't let the fear- mongering about Social Security get to you, because you're going to start to probably hear a little bit of that here.

But big changes for everyone because -- and this is the way Mia McGinnis (ph) puts it -- it's far worse if you don't do this belt- tightening. You don't have a car to put gas in, she says. You don't have a job to work until you're 69 to retire on benefits.

This has to be done to prevent something far, far worse down the road. That's what budget analysts say.

HARRIS: Wow. So everything is on the table, and it is time to get serious about this conversation, right?

ROMANS: This is a starting point. It's a starting point, right.

HARRIS: A starting point.

ROMANS: It's time to get serious. It was time to get serious, some people would say, a long time ago. But, yes, it's time to get serious about it, but not to do it too quickly and too severely that you blunt this recovery right now.

That's the key. You've to do it in the right order, the right timing, and politics will start -- now you enter politics into the mix, and we'll see where we go from there -- Tony.

HARRIS: Well, you provided enough wiggle room in that last statement to get nothing done. But we're going to come back. We're going to come back.

(LAUGHTER) HARRIS: So let's do this -- we're going to ask a series of questions. The next one we're going to ask is, how did we get here? We will examine how the country racked up such a massive debt in the first place and who we owe.

Josh Levs is working on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: How did it get so huge? The national debt, almost $14 trillion.

Earlier in the show, just a moment ago, we heard about a new proposal to start to tackle the problem, but that left us wondering a couple of things. Where does all this debt come from and who owns it?

Josh is here to break that down for us.

And Josh, let's start here -- where does all this debt come from? How did it get here?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Tony, even though we look at this all the time, it still feels surreal to be talking about such huge figures.

You know, the big picture here is that with this figure now at $14 trillion, it's actually the sum of debts we've been facing for pretty much our entire history. I want to show you something cool here. There's this documentary, very acclaimed, called "IOUSA" that shows how long this has been building.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "IOUSA")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our war for independence created much of our earlier debt, and by March 4, 1789, the first day of our federal government, our national debt was $75 million, which was about 40 percent of our economy. This terrified our founding fathers, and they acted quickly to pay it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP, "IOUSA")

LEVS: Look at that -- 1835, folks. This is important. That is the only time in our history that we have been debt free.

When we talk to you about the debt now, we're talking all the way back since 1835. We're talking about the Civil War, the Great Depression, the world wars we've been fighting, all the wars we've been fighting. Everything that's been happening since that time -- everything -- has been contributing to that debt.

Now, that's history. A lot of what Americans want to know now is, what's been happening over the past decade? So, take a look at this. It is accurate that at the end of the Clinton administration, there actually was a surplus in the budget they had managed to create. And then take a look at this. Look at this, Tony.

So this is just the past decade. All right? 2000, our debt, $5.7 trillion. Today, boom, boom, boom, $13.7 trillion. That is a massive skyrocketing just over 10 years.

And when analysts look at this, they say how do you go from that to that in just 10 years? They point to a lot of things. They say the Iraq War, 9/11, tax policies. They say a lot about tax policies. And the sharpest increase, as you can see here, were once we got into the recession, and really the financial crisis, and the steps taken to stave off the depression, where, all of a sudden, it jumped up even higher.

But, Tony, as if that's not enough, I have one bigger figure for you. When you take our debt and you add in the unfunded mandates, Social Security and Medicare, which means the government technically, according to our law, is supposed to pay them back, the Government Accountability Office, a part of our government, takes a look at this and they say it could be as high as $76 trillion.

Honestly, when I talk about debt figures, I feel like I should do this, because it's just so preposterous to be saying $76 trillion about anything. But the reality is, when you factor in all of the mandates that we are supposed to pay out under our law, this is how huge our task is right there.

HARRIS: You look at this and you say, how could we have been so irresponsible for so long as a nation?

So, Josh, who owns this debt?

LEVS: All right. Here's the thing. You know when people talk about debt, one of the big words you hear is "China," right? Let's take a look at a political ad that was playing throughout this campaign. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING CHINESE)

TEXT: So now they work for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: So what they're saying there -- that's from Citizens Against Government Waste. You'll remember we talked about this.

They're saying how the U.S. built up all this debt and now they work for us. And it takes place in the future. I think 2030. It's playing to that fear.

Well, China does not own the majority of our debt, but when you look at foreign governments and how much they own, China owns the most of any single foreign government. Right now China owns about $868 billion of U.S. debt.

Here are a couple of other nations that own a lot of our debt. Japan owns a bunch of it, $837 billion of our debt right now. The United Kingdom owns $448 billion of our debt right now.

But I also want everyone to understand something else, that, actually, look how much is held inside the United States by a system of banks right here -- $5.3 trillion is actually being held in what's called intragovernmental holdings. This is basically the system of banks from the Federal Reserve throughout the country that holds on to the debt.

So a lot of the debt -- I mean, if you have bonds, it's quite possible that you're holding a bunch of the debt. So a lot of it's in the United States, but that does not diminish the concerns about how this changes the balance of power for the United States as more and more nations are in a position of owning our debt. Clearly, the crushing debt, Tony, a big problem for the future here.

HARRIS: That's really vivid. What an illustration there, Josh. Thank you.

I've got to tell you, the ink is barely dry, but the preliminary deficit reduction proposal is already coming under fire. Reaction ranges from cautious to completely opposed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KENT CONRAD (D), NORTH DAKOTA: To deal with this problem is going to take bold steps, and they've certainly outlined their proposal for what those bold steps might look like.

You know, to get a package, it's clearly going to take more work. It's going to take compromise. It's going to take evaluation of alternatives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. Christine Romans is back with more reaction to the plan.

So, Christine, let's start here -- remind us again, what are the main points of the proposal, and where is the pushback coming from?

ROMANS: Well, first, Social Security. When you talk about raising the age by the year 2050 for full Social Security benefits to 69, and indexing or means-testing them, as they say, meaning people who are poor or in poverty, those seniors would for sure get full benefits, but maybe higher up the income chain, you would not get everything that you paid in. That makes people very nervous, because they say that Social Security is a contract with the American people, and it should not be touched. So progressives get very upset about that.

On the right, you can look for some criticism and concern about big cutbacks in the military, anything that would smell of a tax increase. There are some investment gains that would be taxed differently -- taxes would be raised, quite frankly, even as they're simplifying the overall tax code.

We've already heard from some folks. Nancy Pelosi called this, Tony, simply unacceptable right from the get-go. And the president, I will point out, in Seoul, Korea, said, "Let's not shoot anything down yet because we have to talk about all the possibilities."

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin said, "There are things in there that I hate like the devil hates holy water."

HARRIS: Wow.

ROMANS: And I think that there are a lot of members of Congress who probably feel the same way, but the bottom line here, many budget analysts say, Tony, to solve this very big problem, these people are going to have to swallow some things they really hate. Because we have a very big, crushing debt issue that has to be -- that simply has to be addressed.

And again, it comes down to, do you take the belt-tightening now, in a proper way, or do you hurt the country further down the road? When you have debt like Josh was telling you, huge debt commitments like that, you're paying interest on that debt. At some point in the foreseeable future, you're paying more to service your debt. You're paying more to those foreign bankers and to the people who hold our debt ourselves than you are actually putting into investment in the country and investment in your people, and that's a real problem.

HARRIS: Thank you in advance, Christine, for your help on this project for us. Thank you.

ROMANS: Sure.

HARRIS: We want to hear from you about digging the country out of debt. What would you cut, honestly? What would you cut? Give us specifics.

Send me your comments. I'm on Facebook and on Twitter, @TonyHarrisCNN.

They lined the streets in Jacksonville, Florida, this morning, honoring veterans with a parade. Today, we're remembering the nation's 23 million veterans, those who have passed and those who are still with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery today, the 11th of November. Vice President Joe Biden placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. "Taps" provided the somber soundtrack.

Some 23 million men and women have worn the uniform of the United States armed forces. President Obama is marking this Veterans Day in South Korea. He stopped at a U.S. Army garrison ahead of the G-20 Summit. The president laid a wreath to honor American and South Korean troops who lost their lives in the Korean War, and he paid tribute to those troops still serving today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, real change comes slowly. Many people don't live to see the difference they've made in the lives of others. But for the men and women who have served on this peninsula, all you have to do is look around. Whether you're a veteran who landed in 1950, or one of the Yongsan troops today, the security you've provided has made possible one of the great success stories of our time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: One town suffered more losses from World War II than any other. The town of Bedford, Virginia. Congress established a national monument there.

CNN photojournalist Jeremy Moorhead brings us this amazing story of sacrifice as part of our "Veterans in Focus" series.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILLS HOBBS, WWII VETERAN: Where I look out of our house, I see mountains. Out in the front yard there, you see that post. That represents the 29th Division. I was in World War II. I was about 23- and-a-half years old then.

That little piece of shrapnel right there was taken out of my back. Not bragging, but this is some of the awards that I got.

KEVIN KYLE, VMI CADET: My name is Kevin Kyle and I go to Virginia Military Institute. Today, the freshmen from VMI come to Bedford to the DA Memorial.

HOBBS: We never knew when the next bullet was going to hit us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Hobbs, he went in on Omaha beach on D- Day.

HOBBS: If a bullet had hit me while I was landing, I would have been nothing.

APRIL CHEEK-MESSIER, EDUCATION DIRECTOR, D-DAY MEMORIAL: This is a very special place. Congress decided to place this memorial here in the town of Bedford because it sustained the highest per capita loss than any other community in our country on D-Day.

This is the next generation of men and women who are going to be serving in our military, and we want them to be able to meet these veterans.

BUSTER SHAFE, WAR VETERAN: Hello, my name is Buster Shafe.

CHEEK-MESSIER: Why they still walk among us. We want them to hear their stories.

SHAFE: I was an 18-year-old kid on D-Day. We went in to Omaha Beach.

CHEEK-MESSIER: We want them to impart their advice and what they went through. He won't say this, but he certainly is a hero in my eyes.

SHAFE: Come in closer, gentleman. I'm not a fighter anymore, I'm a lover.

We would go in behind the Bedford boys. I just looked up in the sky, and I said, Good Lord, if you take care of me, I'll be a good boy the rest of my life. And I'm so proud to be speaking here before you young people today.

You got the whole world in your hands. You got the opportunity of a lifetime. And I believe there goes that bugle and it's not Taps, Thank God, because I'd start crying. Thank you.

CHEEK-MESSIER: We need to reflect on this wonderful gift these young people and our veterans have given us, and that is the gift of just being so willing to serve this great country of ours.

HOBBS: It's my duty to make these young people realize the sacrifices some of their dads, some of their grandfathers went through to make sure they had their freedom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And you can catch more of these stories all week here in the CNN NEWSROOM, and tune in Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern for a one- hour special. You can also visit CNN.com/veterans.

In an era when the rallying cry is less government spending, why on earth does Amtrak have its hand out?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Less government spending. It is the political rallying cry we keep hearing, but Amtrak isn't listening. The government- funded railroad wants billions for an ambitious, high-speed railway project. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow rode the rails to find out more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): This is the fastest train in China. It averages 217 miles an hour. And this is the fastest train in America, Amtrak's Acela Express. It averages just 86 miles an hour.

(on camera): All right, so it is 5:45 a.m. here in New York. I'm here in Penn State and I have a 9:00 meeting in Washington, D.C. I'm going to hop on this 6 a.m. Acela train, but it's going to take me almost three hours just to get to Washington.

(voice-over): Over the next 30 years, Amtrak wants to spend more than $100 billion to dramatically speed up that trip, hitting 220 miles per hour.

AL ENGEL, V.P., HIGH SPEED RAIL, AMTRAK: If you're on the express, the first stop you're going to make is Philadelphia. That's 38 minutes later. You stop there for two or three minutes, and you'll be in Washington, D.C. in 96 minutes.

HARLOW: And while the Acela can reach 150 miles an hour, it rarely does. True high-speed rail would require brand new tracks, tunnels, stations and trains on a new route from Washington to Boston. In the heavily populated Northeast, that's going to be expensive. Really expensive.

(on camera): The cost is significant. $117 billion over the next 30 years.

ENGEL: Right, but it's a 25-year minimum construction project, so we're only talking $5 billion a year. But think about the GDP of this region. It's $3 trillion. So, if you take $117 billion as a percentage of $3 trillion, the annual GDP, it's about 2.5 percent.

HARLOW (voice-over): But it would be the most expensive engineering project undertaken in the U.S. since the 47,000-mile interstate highway system.

ENGEL: It's a project of national significance. In this region, the culture is all ready to use trains to get to work. And you look -- these trains are full of people. so the vision, the new high-speed rail system, which is happening every where else in the world, will provide an 84-minute trip time between Boston and New York.

HARLOW: But is it worth taxpayer money?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it's a lot of money. Is it worth it? Hard to say.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's time we be competitive with western Europe and their rail service. It's a big number, but if we can bail out the motor industry, we can have a rail service that's a fast-speed, a competitive high-speed rail service.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Poppy Harlow joining us now from New York. Poppy, good to see you.

Look, it's pretty basic here. With this country facing massive debt, why do we need high-speed rail?

HARLOW: It's a great question. It's one that I posed to the man you saw in the story, the head of this entire project. And he said, look, we cannot build this overnight. It has to be done over 30 years so you have to start now. And the truth is, this is really where America falls so far behind Japan, China, Europe. This is why we fall behind. Now, the Obama administration, for their part, has put $10.5 billion taxpayer money towards high-speed rail. But Tony, you saw the number on this project, $117 billion, so that's about a tenth of what's need just for one corridor between Boston and Washington. So, this is a hugely expensive project.

We should note, though, this money would be spent over 30 years. Some would come from the private sector, some investors. It has not been approved yet, and on top of that, Tony, we're talking about tens of thousands of jobs that would be created in the process.

We'll keep an eye on it for you, though. $117 billion, a pretty penny to pay. We'll tell you if it gets anywhere in Congress.

HARRIS: We used to take on as a nation - we used to take on big projects like this. Maybe it's just not the time -

HARLOW: Yes, we did.

HARRIS: We did, though, right? So --

HARLOW: That's how we built this country. Of course.

HARRIS: That's how we built it. Poppy, good to see you. Thank you.

How about this? Let's sweep the country a little bit here. Gorgeous weather in parts of the United States today. Not so nice in other places. A snapshot now across the country. A little bit of a mess in Boston yesterday, but wow! Things are looking up now.

The lunch hour. Chowder time in Bean Town today. Take a look. Live pictures from our affiliate WCBB, thank you very much, in Chicago.

Not what you would expect in mid-November, right? Boy, I'm trying to get us to Christmas pretty quickly here. Temps in the 60s in Chicago today. Pretty good time for a walk outdoors. Live pics. Looking down Michigan Avenue. Looking good, Chicago.

Rain, we understand, moving in a little later today. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: First it was Kanye West taking on President Bush, then it was Taylor Swift. We all remember that. Now Matt Lauer?

Brooke Anderson, co-host of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" on HLN joining us from Los Angeles. Brooke, great to see you. All right. So, Kanye stirring it up again. What is it about him causing a twittering frenzy?

BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Yes, Tony. You know, I get the question a lot, what's Kanye up to now? So, here's the latest incident.

Kanye West had a pretty uncomfortable conversation with Matt Lauer. The interview ran on "The Today Show" this morning, and Kanye somehow managed to turn a heartfelt apology to former George W. Bush into another controversial moment. Kanye was trying to apologize for essentially calling Bush a racist, but when the interview was being taped, Kanye apparently felt like he was being manipulated. So, he proceeded to go on another one of his trademark Twitter rants after the fact. Kanye claimed that Lauer tried to force his answers, he called the interview brutal.

Why don't we take a look now at part of their chat where Matt Lauer is trying to get Kanye to react to some video of President Bush? And as you watch, you can see that it was not an easy, relaxed conversation.

HARRIS: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT LAUER, CO-HOST, "THE TODAY SHOW": When you look at his face, what would you say to him?

KANYE WEST, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I mean, pre-looking at his face, I came here because I wanted to say something to him right after the fact. I would say -- you know, what I'm saying, it's like I only have to do the TV stuff with me (ph). This is reality, this is the real thing going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: What?

ANDERSON: So he was defensive. The whole interview is like that, Tony, with West complaining about the tape being played in the background, and sometimes he would look off camera and tell people to be quiet.

I think it's interesting to note that Kanye originally said via Twitter after that interview that he was done with the press, but he has now removed that tweet from his Twitter page. So, Tony, we're getting inconsistent messages from Kanye. But to me, what was just fantastic was, after all was said and done, the unflappable Matt Lauer said this morning that he is looking forward to seeing Kanye West the day after Thanksgiving for a live performance on the plaza. Classic.

(LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: Promote the show. Always promote the show. Save the show.

All right. Let's do this, Brooke. Let's get a little country here. There were some pretty surprising moments during the Country Music Association Awards last night, wouldn't you say?

ANDERSON: Yes. It was a lot of fun. The CMA had a lot of surprising, a lot of memorable moments last night. The biggest winners were established country stars Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, who, by the way, are a couple. They are engaged to be married. Big night for them because they took home five awards between the two of them.

There is also a lot of buzz this morning, Tony, about Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow. She got up on stage to belt out a song from her new movie "Country Strong." She got a standing ovation. And Tony, that was her first big live gig like that, so I'm sure she was really nervous. But she received a very warm welcome from Nashville.

I'm not surprised, though. That's how they do it in Nashville. Good people.

HARRIS: Didn't she have a pretty sizeable hit with Huey Lewis and the old Smokey Robinson song, "Crusin," right?

ANDERSON: Right. She's got a voice. She's established herself as an actress for sure, and now she's establishing herself as a singer. She's actually going to also be in the upcoming episode of "Glee." She's going to be singing Cee-Lo's hit song, "Forget You."

HARRIS: Oh, man.

ANDERSON: It's not "Forget You," but it's really "Expletive You."

HARRIS: Yes, yes, I saw Mr. Cee-Lo perform that last night at the Soul Train Awards.

ANDERSON: Yes.

HARRIS: Boy, that's a whole other conversation we could have, Brooke.

ANDERSON: I know, right? A whole new level.

HARRIS: Yes, good to see you. Let's talk about your big show. Good to see you, Brooke.

If you're looking for more information on everything breaking in entertainment news, look, Brooke's got it all for you this evening on "Showbiz Tonight." That's at 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on HLN.

A giant web retailer pulls a book from its virtual bookshelf. Customers outraged by "The Pedophile's Guide To Love And Pleasure."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The Obama administration talks taxes. Dana Bash, part of "The Best Political Team On Television," joining us live from the political desk in Washington to give us more on this story.

Good to see you, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You, too, Tony. That's right. Well, it's President Obama's top political adviser, David Axelrod. He is saying that promise that President Obama gave during his campaign that he would only extend tax cuts from the Bush era for the middle class Americans. Well, that that's negotiable now. Maybe on a temporary basis, the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans may be able to be extended.

And what's interesting is not necessarily that he said that, is where he said it. At least to me, Tony. He said it on "The Huffington Post," which is a liberal blog. Almost sort of making it clear to that faction of the party, who was not going to be happy, and we already know they are not happy with this statement. You know what, it's a just the political reality that Democrats are living in right now after the drubbing that they got on Tuesday.

And, second item on the ticker is one of the most fascinating political figures, I think, of this election season. She is the first Latino governor in history. Susana Martinez. She is a Republican. She was on "John King USA" last night and she was talking about one of the first things that she wants to talk to President Obama about when she gets the chance. And she, of course, talked about jobs and the economy, but also said that she's going to tell him, you must dive into the issue of illegal immigration, which, she says, is obviously a big problem in her state of New Mexico.

And one side note on Susana Martinez. I don't know if you heard this story from Jessica Yellin. She was out there interviewing Martinez and her camera crew was putting her microphone on and the -- now the governor-elect said, be careful, I'm packing heat. A very interesting -- a very interesting woman.

HARRIS: Wow! OK.

Well, Dana, look, let's talk about John Boehner. Things are really looking up for him.

BASH: They are, in a way. There is a new Gallop Poll out that's talking about his approval rating. It's at 34 percent. That might -- you might say, wait a minute, that's good?

HARRIS: Yes.

BASH: Well, actually, it is a slight uptick. It was 27 percent. But, you know what? Only four out of 10 people in this survey said that they've even heard of John Boehner. That, obviously, Tony, is going to change with his profile raising now that he is going to be the next speaker. And maybe it will be helped by the fact that he says he's going to fly commercial. He's going to be in airports --

HARRIS: OK.

BASH: Continue to be in airports. He's not going to take military planes, like the current speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has done.

HARRIS: There you go. Terrific stuff.

All right, Dana, good to see you, as always. Thank you.

BASH: Thanks. You too, Tony.

HARRIS: Your next political update coming in one hour. For the latest political news, just go to cnnpolitics.com.

And take a look at this. My understanding -- guys, put this on the big monitor if you would for me here. My understanding is we're about to see, in moments, some of the passengers disembark from that Carnival Cruise ship. We received word not that long ago that it would be maybe an hour, an hour and 15 minutes. But everything seems to be moving ahead of schedule right now.

The ship was brought into port and into dock ahead of schedule. And now it looks like those passengers will be able to get off that cruise ship after three days of real misery, right? No lights. In many cases, no working toilets and no hot water for showers, having to eat Pop Tarts and Spam for three days. But it looks like we're getting really close here to seeing some of those passengers -- what, 4,500 in all -- start to disembark from that cruise ship. We will keep an eye on these pictures for you and bring you those first pictures in minutes, it looks like, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Hey, take a look at these pictures once again. It's a story we're following from San Diego. It looks like the cruise ship Splendor is about to begin getting some of its passengers off that ship. The passengers, we understand, may be disembarking in the next few minutes here. You see them on the deck getting ready. They've got to get the gangways in place now. No electricity, so there's a different construction here that has to take place to get the passengers off that ship. But we understand they're making really good progress in a really speedy fashion here, so it looks like it may be happening sooner rather than later.

You know the story at this point. There was a fire in the engine room and the engines were dead, lost to the captain, and so you had three days with very little electricity or none at all and food supplies ran low. No working toilets for many of the passengers. And now it looks like that nightmare of a cruise is about to come to an end.

Let's take a break. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. Very quickly, before we get to the top of the hour and Ali Velshi in New York City, let's get to San Diego. And Paul Vercammen, who is standing by with us.

And, Paul, it looks like things are moving along nicely here and we may start to get some of these passengers off that cruise ship pretty soon. PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you probably just saw crossing in front of our camera, I believe this is Ken King (ph). He's waving at everybody because he's thrilled to be off. Oh, and his mom is right here. Live TV for you, Tony, as we're on our (INAUDIBLE) jump on up.

Tell us what this whole ordeal was like for you.

KEN KING, PASSENGER ABOARD THE SPLENDOR: The first part of it was OK. The food was great. The staff was great. And then after we had the issue with the engine or whatever, fire is what they're telling us now, then the food actually got worse, the toilets didn't work for about 12 hours. It was hit or miss with the water if you could wash up. And just now they actually told us there was a fire in the boat.

VERCAMMEN: You did not know that there was a fire on the boat until now?

KING: Yes.

VERCAMMEN: So what did they tell you why that the boat suddenly stopped, you know, on your excursion?

KING: They never told us what the issue was. All they told us was is there was smoke. There was lots of smoke.

VERCAMMEN: Well, we really appreciate your taking time out. Best of luck to you. Glad to see you're safe and sound.

So there you have it, Tony, Ken King aboard the Carnival Cruise and literally the passengers kept in the dark about what happened in many ways.

HARRIS: That's crazy. That is crazy.

All right, Paul, appreciate it. Thank you very much.

We are flat out of time. Let's get you to New York now. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Ali Velshi.

Ali.