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Extending Bush-Era Tax Cuts; President Pushes For Overturn of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; Starbucks to Open 500 More Locations Worldwide; Kardashian Card No More; One Step Closer to Age Reversal; CNN Equals Politics Update

Aired November 30, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Tony Harris, coming up at 11:00. Meanwhile, it's 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 9:00 a.m. out west. And here are some of the stories that had us talking this morning.

In Wisconsin, police trying to figure out why a 15-year-old boy walked into his high school classroom and took 23 classmates and a teacher hostage. A teenager eventually shot himself, those injuries said to be not life threatening. No one else was hurt.

And even as the U.S. and South Korea continue their military exercises, there is an renewed effort to ease tensions in the Korean Peninsula. You know, North Korea launched that deadly artillery barrage in the South Korean island. Government ministers from the U.S., Japan and South Korea meeting in Washington to discuss those hostilities now.

And this is police desk and video, former teen idol David Cassidy failing roadside sobriety test in Florida. Yes, the one-time star of "Partridge Family" also failed an alcohol breath test, which turned out to be nearly twice the legal limit. He now faces a DUI charge.

The balance of power and the bottom line of your taxes, they are both playing out this hour at the White House. In just 30 minutes, President Obama will meet with congressional leaders of both parties just weeks before Republicans seize control of the House. The big issue, whether to extend the Bush era tax cuts, and the big challenge, trying to thaw relations in a private meeting dubbed the Slurpee Summit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have been using an analogy across the country. Imagine them driving a car into the ditch, and Duval and me and Kerry and Mark and Frank, we have all put our boots on. We went down into the ditch, and we started pushing that car out of the ditch. And it was hot down there and muddy. And we kept on pushing, and every once in a while, we'd look up, and the Republicans were standing up there, fanning themselves, sipping on a Slurpee and we would ask, "are you going to help?," and they said, "no, that's all right, but you all should push harder.'

MICHAEL STEELE, RNC CHAIRMAN: Are the Republicans ready to sit down and cooperate, compromise, have some Slurpees with the president? Yes, I think they are. You know, look, I think that the president said that he wants to do that. I know that the Republican leadership in the House and the Senate has said from the very beginning that's something they wanted to do when talking about health care and talking about finance reform. So I fully expect that when the new leadership emerges in January, they're going to be more than willing to come down to the White House, sit at the table, have a few Slurpees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry, who grew up loving Slurpees as well. So who's going and what's on the agenda?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're going to have House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders, the speaker to be, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell in the Senate, et cetera. You know, they're going to be here in full force because this is really their first chance after the election to try to pick up the pieces and figure out what they're going to do in the lame duck session but then also moving forward into January, are they going to be able to come together on a whole range of issues.

Let's take a look at what is on the agenda. We've got tax cuts. You've mentioned those Bush tax cuts are going to be expiring on December 31st. And so the big question is - do you extend them for those in the middle class only or do you also extend the tax cuts for the rich? There's expected to be in the end some sort of a deal where maybe the rich at least get a short-term extension of a year or two. But we're far off from completion on that.

Don't ask, don't tell. The president pushing an overturn on that ban of homosexuals serving openly in the military. Also, the question of jobless benefits. You know, by Christmas, millions of Americans are going to have their unemployment benefits run out. The president hoping to extend those and then the new S.T.A.R.T. treaty. This arms reduction treaty, the president has been pushing hard to try and get that through. The Republicans have been resisting so far. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader was on the Senate floor a little while ago, giving us a little preview of what we might see coming down here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: We've heard a lot of chatter here in Washington lately about the negotiations that are expected to take place on the looming tax hike in the weeks ahead, how to prevent it. How about we start with this? The beginning and end of any negotiation shouldn't be what's good for any political party. It should be what's good for the economy and for the American people. And if we leave the politics aside, and if we look at the facts, the answer here is simple. No tax hikes on anybody. No tax hikes on anybody period.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HENRY: So you can see that the Republicans before this meeting trying to stake out very tough ground and saying, "look, extend the current tax rates for everybody. Because if you do not extend them for the rich, it's essentially a tax hike. The president wants to find some middle ground there. We'll see whether they can do that. I'm standing right now in what they call the stakeout location.

This is where we expect the Republicans leaders and we expect maybe the Democratic leaders will come in after the meeting when they come out from the West Wing right there behind me. We just learned as well that the president is going to come out and address reporters about 12:20 Eastern time. That's something new to the schedule.

So you can see, though some of the business will happen in the meeting, but the real business is probably going to happen afterwards when both sides try to come out and spin what really happened behind closed doors and moving forward what they want to see in some of these tax cut negotiations and some of the other dealings they have. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Got you. Ed Henry at the White House. Ed, thanks so much.

And happening right now, the Pentagon unveiling its long-awaited study on don't ask, don't tell. The 17-year ban on openly gay troops serving in the military. Hundreds of thousands of our warriors were surveyed on what they think about a possible repeal. And today we get the answers, answers that could eventually change the future of our military policy. Chris Lawrence is live at the Pentagon. So Chris, advanced copies of the survey were just released on Capitol Hill. Any early clues about what it says and what we're going to learn?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we were told by a source earlier, Kyra, that basically this report is going to say that the majority of troops do not have a problem serving with openly gay troops. That most of the people who were surveyed in this report, most of the troops either felt it was going to be a positive change, was going to have mixed results or really was going to have no effect at all. That it was only a minority that felt that it was going to have a vast negative effect.

I have spoken with troops in Iraq, in Afghanistan about this, you know, really informally, and some have told me, "hey, we had gay troops in our unit. Everybody knew it. We never had a problem with it." Others thought, you know, they wouldn't be comfortable. They said knowing and not knowing, there's a big difference there. And there's a split at the top as well. I mean, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen has came out publicly saying he wants 'don't ask, don't tell' repealed, while the commandant of the Marine Corps said now in the middle of two wars with troops on multiple long deployment is not the time.

I spoke with someone in a group that sports troops, military readiness sort of support group, who said she feels it is not really about reforming the military. She thinks this whole push on 'don't ask, don't tell' is really about paying off some political favors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELAINE DONNELLY, CENTER FOR MILITARY READINESS: If you take a microscope to that report, you will not find one word about how repealing the law would benefit the military, not one word, because there is no benefit to the armed forces. This is a political promise made by the president to LGBT activist groups.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: So obviously she's saying even if there is no harm to repealing 'don't ask, don't tell, she said it doesn't do anything to actually improve the fitness and the readiness of the force. Of course, people on the other side will say some, well, you know, some gay troops have been forced to lie, really, about who they are, and that sort of goes against the code of the military which values honesty and integrity. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, what does this report mean to lawmakers who actually have to cast a yes or no vote on the repeal?

LAWRENCE: Well, some of the more liberal senators, you know, they are going to vote to repeal it regardless. You know, the report is inconsequential. And the certain, you know, more conservative members on the other side, like Senator John McCain, he's probably not going to vote to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell,' no matter what's in this report.

The folks in the middle, the conservative Democrats, like Mike Pryor, the more moderate Republicans like Scott Brown, Susan Collins. They're the ones who are going to take a look at this report, and some of them, you know, have already made up their mind and just need the political cover. But others are really going to take a look and see what the report says before casting their vote.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Chris Lawrence, we'll be watching this closely. That's for sure. Thanks so much.

See if you're hearing the dripping sound? It's actually getting a little faster and a little louder. It's the latest leak of classified information from a whistle-blowing web site, WikiLeaks, revealing secret diplomatic messages from U.S. embassies now from around the world.

And here is some of the latest revelations. China appears to be losing patience with its long-time ally North Korea. Senior figures in Beijing even describe the regime as behaving like a spoiled child and one U.S. diplomat says that China is genuinely rattled by North Korea's nuclear missile test. China's envoy is quoted to say "the nuclear activity is a threat to the whole world's security."

Now before WikiLeaks exposed these secret diplomatic messages, it unleashed a similar flood of leaks from the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs. If you're wondering what the group's next target is, "Forbes" claims to have the answer.

In a rare interview, WikiLeaks founder says that a major U.S. bank will face a similar treatment. Julian Assange says that earlier next year he is going to publicize tens of thousands of internal documents that expose the seedy underside of big business, and as you might guess, he won't identify the bank.

Now, assessing that storm damage this morning after a difficult night in parts of the south last night. A storm in north central Louisiana, Winn Parish destroyed one home and heavily damaged two others. No one was seriously hurt. That tornado downtown in (INAUDIBLE) Mississippi, actually damage the city courthouse and several businesses. Then in Atlanta - sorry, at (INAUDIBLE) Mississippi, six people were hospitalized after a possible tornado struck there.

Now, the threat of tornadoes remains this morning from Mobile, Alabama, all the way to Atlanta. Jacqui Jeras is watching all that for us right now.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey Kyra, it's been real rough going since late yesterday afternoon. We have at least 10 reports of tornado touchdowns now. The National Weather Service going to assess that damage. The threat is on-going well into the afternoon hours. You can see our one watch starting to get shaved off from the New Orleans area, on up towards parts of Alabama, and now Atlanta down into Mobile is under that threat of a tornado.

We want to talk a little bit about what's been happening in Yazoo City, Mississippi where you just saw some of those pictures. This is the second time this year that Yazoo City has been hit by a tornado.

And joining us on the phone now, Lea Crager and she is the agency deputy director with the Mississippi Emergency Management. Lea, what are people waking up to this morning?

LEA CRAGER, AGENCY DEPUTY DIRECTOR, MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Well, luckily this tornado is a different path. As you mentioned there was one in April. This one is a little farther north and actually hit more of the downtown business area. We think we got about 20 businesses and a few homes that were damaged.

PHILLIPS: How extensive is the damage? Is it just, you know, some rooftops or are we talking about major damage?

CRAGER: We do have some major damage reported. Right now there are about seven teams in that area out doing some assessments, to try to get a better handle on it because we know power is still out in about 30 percent of that area. So, of course, with any storm systems that moves through at night, it's really with sunrise and daylight that you're really able to see the kind of damage we're dealing with. So we expect this morning, by noon, to know statewide how bad the damage is.

JERAS: Yes, that's what makes tornadoes this time of the year so damaging this time of year is that it does come at nighttime when people are sleeping. It was about 8:00 last night when this happened, hat about injuries? CRAGER: We do have, in some other counties, we have 11 injuries reported in Monroe County. Six injuries reported in Tala (ph) county. We don't have the extent of those yet but fortunately there were no deaths.

JERAS: OK. Also we heard some reports early this morning, perhaps, of a possible tornado near Lauerle. Do you know anything about that?

CRAGER: Not sure. I know the weather service does have their teams ready to go out today to try and see the different areas and what happened. A lot of these could be straight-line winds, the rest tornadoes. But just to reiterate to people that this time of year, it may not be a tornado but it may be straight-line winds that can cause the same type of damage that you see.

JERAS: OK. Thanks so much. Lea Crager with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. We appreciate that update. And Kyra, you know, the tornado threat will be on-going into the afternoon. And just so devastating for Yazoo City. It's thank you. The threat is going on. It was so devastating for Yazoo. It was an EF 4 tornado, you know, winds 175 miles per hour, really devastated that area in April this year.

PHILLIPS: OK. We'll keep tracking the storms. Thanks, Jacqui.

Well, video of David Cassidy's DUI arrest is released, and we're going to tell you what the former teen idol told police coming up in Showbiz.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, this is one of those stories that had a lot of us saying, hmm, the Academy announced that Ann Hathaway and James Franco will host the Oscars. Two actors that may actually take home trophies. It usually takes a comic to carry the biggest night in Hollywood, but Franco and Hathaway both got rave reviews for hosting "SNL," so how will they do come February 27th?

"Showbiz Tonight" host A.J. Hammer joining me now. What was the Academy thinking, and what's your take on this, A.J.?

A.J. HAMMER, HOST "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": I don't know why everybody is so put off by this, Kyra. I think they were thinking out of the box, and maybe I'm in the minority here but I actually think the choices are inspired. But you know, it is fair to point out, it's a very surprising move by the Academy to name these two actors, James Franco and Ann Hathaway as the co-hosts of this year's Oscars telecast.

IN their announcement the Academy made a point to note that Franco & Hathaway "personify the next generation of Hollywood icons, and you can't argue with that, and this clearly means that the Academy is making a much need, stronger effort to appeal to a younger demographic. Franco is 32, Hathaway is 28. What we can also watch for is the fact that they are both in current movies, and there is the potential that they both could be receiving awards during the ceremony that they themselves are hosting. Franco is on a lot of lists for best actor nomination for "127 Hours." He is terrific in that. Hathaway has a shot at a best actress nomination for the romance "Love and other Drugs."

The big Oscar show will happen on February 27th, so have a few months to warm up to this, and of course, we will all be there for that. But right now, I do have move on to something else, that I have to make sure you see this morning. David Cassidy's DUI arrest in Florida was all caught on at any, and the state attorneys a office in Fort Pierce just released the video. You've got to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn around like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do. However, I have a wandering eye as a child. I had surgery at 12 years old. I had deformed muscles, which is associated with farsightedness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I'm not an obstetrician. That's all right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's OK. I'm not asking you to be. You asked me about my eye. My right eye still wanders sometimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Oh, A.J.. did one of my favorite teen idols just use the wandering eye defense?

HAMMER: Yes, he did, Kyra. just after the highway patrol pulled David Cassidy over under suspicion of drunk driving on December 3rd. The trooper asked Cassidy if he has any problems with his eyes. And you heard him say listen very carefully to make it up and he responds that he has this wandering eye. He had it since he was a child and his right eye still wanders when he gets tired.

After he performs and fails a battery of field sobriety test, he is arrested. He is charged with driving under the influence. Cassidy said he was on prescription medication, and just this morning, TMZ is reporting Cassidy's lawyers were in court. They officially pled not guilty to the DUI charge on his behalf. Kyra, they will be back in court in January and so we will have to see how the wandering eye defense plays out.

PHILLIPS: I hope he gets it together. He's such a talented guy. A.J., thanks a lot.

HAMMER: For sure.

PHILLIPS: All right. If you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J. has got it every night, showbiz tonight 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on HLN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the WikiLeaks intelligence dump and the future of 'don't ask, don't tell,' the military's ban on openly gay soldiers, they are two of today's biggest talkers and stories. And they may have something in common, the linchpin is this man, 22-year-old Private First Class Bradley Manning. He is suspected of involvement in the largest intelligence leak in American history and a friend says Manning is gay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"TIM," FRIEND OF PFC. BRADLEY MANNING: In my opinion, I feel that sexuality, his own sexuality, and what had happened to him in the military coupled with the policy of the military played a significant role in the reason as to why he did what he did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, only Manning can say for certain what he's feeling, but his back story brings us to today's talker. Cnn.com's Ashley Fantz has been all over this story for months, and we have been reading all your articles and watching all the news that you have been able to develop on this. You first wrote about the fact that he was a loaner and he felt isolated. Why?

ASHLEY FANTZ, CNN.COM: He was born in a really small town in Oklahoma and he always just felt he was a little bit different. According to his friends and some other people that we have talked to and in his own writings, he was openly gay and grew up with a very, very firm sense of what he felt was justice and was quite opinionated beyond his years, often talked about politics openly and very brashly even with younger classmates.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. You also delved into his Facebook page and there were a lot of revelations from that as well.

FANTZ: He was affiliated with a lot of left wing political organizations, everything that sort of supported equal rights for gays, and he was certainly for repealing the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. According to his Facebook page.

PHILLIPS: And you also - it was interesting these instant messages, these communications that you delved more into as well with this gentleman Lemeaux. Tell us more about this.

And then I'm going to actually read some of these instant messages that we're said. How did this relationship come about.

FANTZ: Sure, let's set up who Adrian Lemeaux is.

PHILLIPS: OK.

FANTZ: He's an infamous hacker. He is based out in California. He is sort of beloved and legendary in hacking circles. So, Bradley Manning because he love computes. He would have heard about Adrian Lemeaux and so he reached out to him in instant message chats that lasted over a period of days in which, and I'm quoting Manning, saying to Lemeaux, "I can't believe what I'm confessing to you, and he goes on to say in these instant chats that he has these classified cables and reams of other confidential intel he plans on sharing with WikiLeaks.

PHILLIPS: Wow. It gets personal, too. This one instant message, you know, allegedly sent to Lemeaux, my family is nonsupportive, I'm losing my job, losing my career options. I don't have much more except for this laptops, some books and a hell of a story.

Now, you know, obviously, we have to be careful about what we're saying here, but it's interesting when you look into his background. He felt isolated. He's openly gay. He's talked about repealing "don't ask, don't tell" and now she's the suspected guy that's leaking all of this information about military correspondence and correspondence with embassies and talking about this war. It's an interesting and fascinating connection.

FANTZ: It is, and you're right. We do have to be careful. I don't know, no one really knows for sure what motivated Bradley Manning, if, indeed, he is behind his massive document dump to WikiLeaks. But, we can say that he, by his own word he says at one point to Lemeaux, "I'm self-medicating like crazy. He says that he is feeling pressure. That he doesn't seem to fit in, and, again, you can tell through the instant message chats with Lemeaux, that he kind of sees a kindred spirit in Lemeaux and he needs someone to talk with.

PHILLIPS: That's pretty fascinating. Anything before we let you go, because you have written so many of these articles, does any thing, one thing stand out to you, or something that sort of surprised you, shocked you or wanted you to write more about this or intrigued you more about this young man?

KANTZ: Well, I would certainly like to speak with his family. We were not able to do that. Bradley Manning's father was a member of the military. I would like to know what exactly motivated him to join the military, join the Army in the first place. You know, we should say that he worked as an intelligence analyst for sometime, stationed outside based out of Baghdad and in these instant messages, he explained that he was pretending to listen to Lady Ga ga's song "Telephone" as he was downloading all of the documents. That's shocking. How could someone breach that kind of security without some bells going off? Everyone's curious about that.

PHILLIPS: Well, interesting. Lady Gaga has been outspoken of 'don't ask, don't tell' and she's been in support of gay troops. Well, Ashley, you have done an amazing job. I encourage everything to go and look at your articles.

Quick break, we'll see you in the NEWSROOM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Opening bell rang about an hour ago. Let's go ahead and take a quick check of those numbers. Dow Industrials down 32 points.

Well, Starbucks is at it again, opening stores faster than you can say, give me a chocolate mocha frappuccino to go, please.

CNN business correspondent Stephanie Elam joining us from New York. Steph, is there a certain thing you like to order from Starbucks? Are you excited about all these openings -- these new openings?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I don't think we could get one even closer to where we are here in CNN New York. I don't know if you've seen it Kyra, but there is one right there, and one over there and one back there. I mean, there are three. Whichever door you walk out of, you hit a Starbucks.

PHILLIPS: And what's interesting is it wasn't that long ago they were closing a whole bunch of Starbucks. And now we're seeing a reversal in this. What's going on?

ELAM: So, here's the pattern basically. Let's go back to 2008, when the recession started. But still, that was the early part of the recession. In that year, Starbucks opened over 1,600 stores that year. Then the recession hit, so in 2009, they actually closed 45. And then in 2010, they opened 223 stores.

Now, they are saying - this is the CEO telling Bloomberg in fiscal year 2011, which for them started in this past October, they plan on opening 500 stores.

Now, before you start thinking, how could they possibly squeeze in another one mid-block between my office or my home and the train station or wherever you may be you drive by, it turns out that 400 of those stores are actually going to be in China. So, they're really going gangbusters in China, and we'll see other growth in other parts of the world. But still, Starbucks is making a comeback and planning on taking all you have your dollars when you walk by because they're just everywhere. And they're temping with their little chocolate mochachino thingies that you just said.

PHILLIPS: It is. It's very tempting, and in fact, we blew a lot of money this morning, a group of us.

Anyway, a little news on the Kardashian sisters, not some salacious reality TV moment. Imagine that.

ELAM: Imagine that. Yes, that's why people are saying, what the heck are you doing talking about it, Steph? I know.

It's a business story about the Kardashians. Let's be honest. The Kardashians are actually savvy business women. They're out there finding different ways to bring in money. There they are. We all know them. Well, here's the deal. They had a prepaid debit card that had their face on it. It was around for less than a month. Well, they are cutting their ties to the card because someone was poking around, a lot of people were poking around saying there were a lot of predatory thieves related to this card. An attorney general from Connecticut actually pointing out, saying, look at all these fees you have to pay here to have this card.

Almost $100 to own the card and then every month for this 12- month card is 8 bucks almost for that. Then to add money to the card, that's a dollar. If you want to talk to a live operator to ask a question about your card, that's $1.50 every single time. Oh, you want to go to the ATM, $1.50 there for that, every single time. And then to set up automatic bill pay, yes, that's going to be $2 for every time you want to do that.

So, with all these fees, the Kardashians pulled away. Now that they know it could violate consumer protection laws, they want nothing to do with it. They don't want to do anything with it that way. Even though it's around for less than a month, the Kardashian card is now history. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Got it. All right, yes. All of those fees, it adds up, and people got to know what they're getting into it. Thanks, Steph.

ELAM: And you know, people see people that they love, and they think, let me just get one of their cards, too. But they don't think about those fees adding up and how dangerous that could be.

PHILLIPS: Yes, especially when they think, ooh, I can spend like the Kardashians. No. Not everybody can do that.

ELAM: No, you don't have their wallet, even if you have their card. Just know that.

PHILLIPS: Let's make that clear, nor any of their money. Thanks, Steph.

All right. About 7:34 in Los Angeles, 10:34 in D.C. That's where two of our hot stories are happening now.

President Obama meeting with congressional leaders of both parties. Big issue on the table -- whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts before they expire next month. Of course, Republicans take over the House in just a few more weeks.

And moments ago, the Senate passed the Food Safety Bill. It would the FDA more power to order product recalls. The government wouldn't have to wait for the company to issue voluntary ones. And the House passed a similar bill last year.

One of every three drivers in fatal crashes test positive for drugs. That's from a new government study. Illegal drugs and also prescription and over-the-counter medicines were included in that research. A possible first step toward a fountain of youth. Scientists say they found a way to make old rodents young again. Basically, they took mice that were like 80-year-old humans, messed around with a gene and an enzyme and turned them into young adults. Now, the younger looking hairier mouse on the left is actually older than the one on the right.

Let's talk about this with the man who led the study. Dr. Ronald Depinho is from Harvard Medical School, and you say this is real age reversal, not just slowing the age down. Is that correct?

DR. ROANLD DEPINHO, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: That's correct, Kyra. It's a pleasure to be with you this morning.

So, what this study teaches us is that there's a point of return, that even very aged tissues retain a remarkable capacity to regenerate themselves, to rejuvenate themselves. If you remove the underlying cause of aging, and one of the major causes of aging is accumulating DNA damage as might occur, for example, from free radicals, and they go on to damage your DNA, particularly the tips of the chromosomes, these structures known as telomeres.

And so what we did is we engineered mice to turn an enzyme on and off that would repair the damage that's caused at the ends of the chromosomes. And in the off state, when the repair enzyme was inactive, we found that these animals aged prematurely. They had a shortened life span. They had shrunken brains, impaired cognition. They were infertile and had gray hair, as you showed in your lead.

When we flipped the switch back on, we were expecting, perhaps, a slowing of the aging process or stabilization. And we witnessed a dramatic reversal in the signs and symptoms of aging. The brains grew in size. Their cognitive ability was restored. Their coat hairs were restored to a healthy sheen, and the animals became fertile again.

Again, it teaches us that there's this remarkable capacity that even aged tissues have to be restored if you remove the underlying cause.

PHILLIPS: All right, so Dr. Depinho, reality check. We can't ditch the Oil of Olay and the Viagra just yet. There are concerns about reactivating this enzyme. It could be dangerous. Let's address that, and the fact that it's not just something that could be parlayed right into human study yet. Let's have a reality check.

DEPINHO: Yes. Well, thank you for making that point. I think it's fair to say that there's a great deal of research that needs to be done to understand how can we exploit this new knowledge to improve human health.

Telomeres, these ends of chromosomes, in fact, when they become eroded and damaged -- in fact, can cause cancer. So, the activation of this enzyme earlier in life may, in fact, prevent the development of cancer. However, in later stages of life, if you have an established malignancy, an occult cancer, the activation of this enzyme could in fact enable those cancers to take flight. So, we need to understand where we can pick our fights with respect to this particular enzyme. But I would also hasten to add that aging itself is the end result of many factors, one of which is these tips of chromosomes. But there are other factors that act collectively. They act as co-conspirators to compromise the health of the cell. So, one would really need to understand how to control all of those different processes to really have a significant and meaningful impact on a human condition, and, in fact, ultimately extend life span.

However, this particular enzyme and the tips of your chromosomes, these telomeres, do play a very important role in a healthy aging in humans. There's very good evidence, epidemiological evidence to show that if you have shorter, more damaged telomeres beyond the age of 60, you're at increased risk for Alzheimer's, cancer, diabetes, heart disease. So, if we turn this enzyme back on in a safe way, if we learn how to do that, we would be in a position to really impact on the human condition.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's fascinating and promising research. I know this is just the beginning, but it's pretty incredible what you all do there at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ronald Depinho, thank you so much for Skyping in. It's really interesting Talker. Appreciate your time so much.

DEPINHO: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Lots of questions over a jaw dropping collection of fine art from renowed artist Pablo Picasso. Previously unknown but found in a retired electrician's garage. We'll have more on that in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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PHILLIPS: Well, a treasure trove of previously unknown works from Pablo Picasso have surfaced from a retired electrician's garage. Of course, our Zain Verjee is following the price point here. He claims they have been in his garage almost 40 years and now there are questions about who the real owner is. Zain's been investigating.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have, Kyra. I know you only have one Picasso, but this guy had 271 pieces of his work in his trunk. It was there for about four decades, gathering dust, and it was in his garage on the French Rivera in his house. And then he decided, need to get these authenticated, so he went to Picasso's estate. When he got there, the family said, wait a minute, these are stolen, and they slapped him immediately with a lawsuit. The family is saying, look, there's no way that Picasso, who was generous, would give anyone 271 pieces of art. And anyway, they say, whenever he did, he dedicated it, he signed it, he dated it, and none of that is on this.

So, there's a huge controversy. About $80 million is at stake here, Kyra. PHILLIPS: All right. So, what's the real scoop behind this electrician saying, hey, these were a gift from Picasso?

VERJEE: Well, nobody really knows. It's sort of their word against his and his wife's. They say it was absolutely a gift, and it was for a job well done. What he was doing was basically fixing burglar alarms around different houses that Picasso used to own, and so he says that they're his legitimately. A lot of people are saying, why are you coming out with this now? And what they're saying is basically, we're getting old, we may pass on soon and we want to get our estate in order so our kids don't have a headache.

PHILLIPS: Hmm. So, are you going to try to get a little piece of the Picasso, Zain?

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VERJEE: Well, of course actually, Kyra. I'm trying to muscle my way in there. C'mon now.

I think the most interesting thing here is that Picasso was a pretty generous guy. He did give away a lot of his paintings, but one thing that was striking is that he also didn't like to pay for anything. So, say, he went to a restaurant or to a bar or anything. He didn't pay with money, but he said, you know what? Give me a napkin, I'll just sketch something out or a little piece of paper, and I'll draw you a Picasso. And people took the Picasso and not the cash. There are a lot of people who have really cool drawings by Picasso.

One thing, too, Kyra, is that the French police took all of the 271 art works and put them in a secret vault on the outskirts of Paris. So, I can't get my hands on it and neither can you.

PHILLIPS: Darn it. All right. Yes, I can just imagine being handed a napkin with a piece of Picasso. That'd be the best tip ever. Thanks, Zain. We'll follow the story.

VERJEE: Don't blow your nose in it.

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PHILLIPS: Exactly. No red lipstick. All right. Thanks, Zain.

Well, taxpayers getting a big break. You know that initial $700 billion price tag for the financial bailout? Well, final cost to you, about $25 billion.

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PHILLIPS: No surprise here. A couple new polls showing a split between what the public wants from its politicians and what it expects from them. Deputy political director Paul Steinhauser has more. Hey, Paul.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Kyra. Earlier this hour, you talked to our Ed Henry at the White House about the summit getting underway between the president and top Republicans and Democrats in Congress. So, do Americans think there is going to be compromise here between the president and Republicans? You just alluded to it. Check it out. A brand new poll from McClatchy and Maris, and you can see right here. More than 7 in 10 say, yes, we want to see it, want both sides to try to compromise and get things done for the country. Only a minority in this poll, 25 percent, say they should stick to their guns.

But will there be compromise? You can take a look at the next poll graphic right there from the same poll, yes, 64 percent say, no, probably not going to happen. Not going to happen, and not very optimistic, I guess. So, that's what Americans are thinking. They want to see compromise, but don't think it's going to happen.

Hey, Kyra, just nefore the break, you were alluding to the find cost of T.A.R.P, Troubled Asset Relief Program. Also known as the Wall Street bailouts. Remember, this was that $700 billion bailout started first under President Bush two years ago, continued under President Barack Obama. Bailing out some of the major banks, insurance, investment houses and the big auto companies as well.

So, the final price tag? Well, the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office now estimating the final price tag to taxpayers is $25 billion. The price tag gets lower and lower and lower.

Finally, one last thing to talk about, and I will ask Floyd Dartmouth, our cameraman, to zoom right in here to CNN Political Ticker. We can always talk about the next race for the White House. We have seen a lot of Sarah Palin lately. We know she may run for the White House. What about Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who ran last time. He's also flirting again with another run for the White House. We have not seen a lot of him lately. But Kyra, tomorrow night, he'll be on late night television, joining Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show."

So, there you go. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, oh, all right. We'll be watching. Thank you very much, Paul.

Your next political update in just about an hour. A reminder, all the latest political news, you can always go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.

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PHILLIPS: We honor the men and women in uniform who have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan for all of us. We call it "Home and Away."

And today, we are lifting up Lance Corporal Raymond Johnson from Midland, Georgia. He was killed by an IED in Helmand province, Afghanistan on October 13th of this year. His big sister wrote into us. She says, "I hope that Raymond is remembered for his sincere love of people. I want him to be remembered for wanting the world to be a better place and even willing to risk his life to make it so." Raymond's twin brother is also in the service. He was allowed to escort his brother's body back home to Georgia.

Well, if you have a loved one you would like us to honor, here's all you have to do. Just go to CNN.com/homeandaway, type in your service member's name in the upper right-hand search field, pull up the profile, send us your thoughts and pictures, and we promise to keep the memory of your hero alive.

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PHILLIPS: All right. If you are not in the holiday spirit yet, we're going to help you out. Take you "Cross Country" to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Take a look at this.

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(IREPORT FROM BOB COX)

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PHILLIPS: Bob Cox loves the holidays. And his light display is a true example. 150,000 computer-animated lights. Costs about 300 to 400 extra bucks each month on that power bill, but he says it's all worth it. Everyone in the neighborhood too always stops by.

Next stop, off the coast of St. Augustine, Florida, where the captain of a tow boat was assisting another ship. Ended up having to be rescued himself. St. John's County Fire Rescue says the tow boat was bringing in a disabled ship when the tow line actually snapped, capsizing the tow boat and sending its captain right into the water. Good thing he was wearing a life jacket. It took rescuers an hour to pull him out of that water.

Another rescue. This one with a happy ending as well. It's out of Fruita, Colorado. Twenty-seven year old horse named Pepsi somehow got stuck in a drain -- pipe drain, rather. Neighbors, volunteer firefighters, and area vet all armed with back hoe. Able to successfully pull Pepsi from his tight spot.

Thanks for joining us. We'll be back here tomorrow. If you ever get in tight spot, Tony, I'll just grab the back hoe and pull you on out.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: I live in a tight spot. Sticky situation. My middle name, "Sticky Heisman (ph) Situation." Have a great day, Kyra.

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PHILLIPS: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: That's my life.