Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Fed Loaned $9 Trillion In Crisis; Life As We Don't Know It; Soccer Shocker; House Vote on Bush Tax Cuts; Hello, Guvnahs!; Ex-cop Gets Max in Katrina Shootings; Man Googles Himself, Finds He's Wanted; John Lennon's Last Seconds; Hated Homecoming King; Push For More Weight Loss Surgery; Revolutionary Weapon in Afghanistan War

Aired December 02, 2010 - 13:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: You have a great afternoon, Tony, always a pleasure to see you, Tony Harris. All right, I'm Ali Velshi with you for the next two hours. Here's what I have on the rundown; one of the most shocking murders in American history. Getting to the truth behind the John Lennon tragedy 30 years later.

Plus, social networking for toddlers. No kidding. It's really out there and it's big enough to be today's "Big 'I'." And huge news for losers; A huge push to make weight loss surgery available to the masses. But, if you believe we're not alone in the universe, well today's a big day for you. Somewhere, some kind of living thing must exist outside our own tiny planet, right?

Well, if you think like that, then this is your day. One hour from now, NASA will make an announcement relating to the search for evidence of extra-terrestrial life. Let me say right now, we do not expect to hear that they have discovered real live aliens. Instead, we think we're going to hear about microbes from a lake in Yosemite National Park. Scientists scooped them up, took them to a lab and what happened there might rock your world.

Remember this. Look at this. All right? It's every chemical element known to mankind - the ingredients for everything that we have. Only six of them, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorous are seen as fundamental to supporting life. One of them, though, arsenic, well, there are bacteria that actually live in arsenic.

And Yosemite - that Yosemite bacteria that the scientists found, well it thrives on arsenic which is a deadly poison to the likes of most of us. You can see arsenic over there, marked -- the one that is colored in orange. Now, the deadly poison we're talking about here might sustain life. And that knowledge, alone, could greatly expand the horizons of extra-terrestrial search teams.

They have been busy, by the way. It was just last month that researchers found the first planet to come from outside our Milky Way galaxy. Here's an artist's rendition of it, you can take a look, sort of, over there. And only yesterday the "Journal Nature" posted the earth shattering news that the universe may have triple the number of stars as we first thought. The new astronomical number, 300 sextillion. I have no idea how many that is. Take a look at that, that's 300 sextillion. All right, our "Two at the Top".

I turned to our go-to expert on mind-blowing science. Bill Nye the Science Guy is with us now to talk about this. Bill, we've got two minutes to get some sense of what we're talking about, what we think is going to happen at this NASA announcement. To me, when I think of alien life I think of big green beings. That is not what we're talking about here.

BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: No, we're talking about something equally unusual. So there are bacteria that apparently have not only found a way to not get killed by arsenic, but in their DNA they have replaced phosphorous with arsenic. Now you had that "ingredients for everything" chart. I have my own here.

VELSHI: Nice.

NYE: Here's the periodic table. But, here's the thing we want you to get. Is that arsenic -- won't take but a moment. Phosphorous and arsenic are right above each other. Right vertically on the periodic table. So they're electrons, the things that cause the chemical bonds between them and other atoms are nominally the same.

So here's the big question. Does it mean that these bacteria evolved separately? Like in the big picture, is it possible that there are other living things, here on Earth that do not share a common ancestor with you and me? See, one of the striking things --

VELSHI: in other words, are there aliens among us? Really?

NYE: Yes. Exactly. Is it possible that you and I have DNA, the bacteria, everybody that infects us, all the things that make us sick; they've all got DNA, giant squids DNA, oak trees, everybody's got DNA? Is it possible this type of bacterium is from a different source or has found a way to use chemistry that we have yet - that we have not imagined yet?

VELSHI: is it possible - that this is -

NYE: So we as a planetary society, yeah this is good stuff.

VELSHI: Did this just come before us? In other words, we could be co-existing with some different kind of life?

NYE: And so then it enables us to ask different new questions about life elsewhere. If we are able to detect something in the atmosphere of one of these new -- new to us -- exoplanets, planets around other stars, perhaps we will find evidence of other types of living things. And these questions help you understand your place in space. And this I guarantee you enriches your life.

VELSHI: you did do that.

NYE: Knowing that the earth goes around the sun enriches your life.

VELSHI: You did do that in two minutes. I can't see from here, Bill, does your bow tie have the periodic table of elements on it?

NYE: yes, it does. It was a gift from the guy at the Chemical Heritage Institute. Chemical Heritage Foundation, excuse me, Chemical Heritage Foundation. They're good guys and they celebrate the passion, beauty, and joy of chemistry.

VELSHI: very good. Bill, great to see you. We'll talk to you again a little bit later. Bill Nye the science guy explains to us what we are expecting to hear a little later on. We'll stay on top of that for you.

Our "Sound Effect" today is a soccer shocker; uncharted territory for the premiere event in the world's most popular sport. You may have seen it live on CNN. The governing body of the world cup announcing where the games will be held in 2018 and 2022. Competing for the 2018 cup were Russia, Britain and the combined entities of Spain and Portugal and Belgium/Holland. The 2022 race was among Japan, Australia, south Korea, Qatar, and the united states. Here are the verdicts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEPP BLATTER, PRESIDENT, FIFA: The 2018 FIFA World Cup, 2018 FIFA world cup, ladies and gentlemen, will be organized in Russia. The winner to organize the 2022 FIFA world cup is Qatar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Russia and Qatar, neither of those two countries has hosted a World Cup before. The U.S. had had the honor back in 1994 and the president then, Bill Clinton was in Zurich to lobby for 2022. That didn't work out for the U.S. - there's always 2026.

OK, now to a blood sport; politics. House Democrats plan to tackle the future of the Bush tax cuts today; we're expecting a vote not too long from now on permanently extending the breaks for families making $250,000 or less. Republicans on the Hill call that a non- starter. They are demanding the cuts be extended for folks in all tax breaks, including the rich or they will block all senate legislation that comes up in this lame duck session.

President Obama and Vice President Biden are meeting with a select group right now. The country's 23 new governors getting handshakes and well-wishes. Just in case anyone's forgotten, though I know the president hasn't forgotten, here's how the party breaks down. 18 of the governors are Republican, 4 are Democrat and 1 independent, that's Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee.

A former New Orleans police officer has been hit with the maximum federal sentence in connection with the notorious Danziger Bridge killings. Michael Hunter pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and failure to report a crime, after fellow officers shot unarmed civilians in the days after Hurricane Katrina. Two of those die, four were wounded.

Four other former cops have also taken plea deals in the shootings and cover-up. Several others will go to trial in June. Hunter reports for his eight-year sentence in March.

Almost 60 percent of Americans Google themselves regularly to keep track of their online rep. Well, a Florida college student is really glad he did before any S.W.A.T. teams could take him down. Check out these two pictures. The guy on the right is a murder suspect. Police put out a wanted notice showing the guy on the left, our unassuming working-two-jobs student.

Turns out both are named Zachary Garcia; both were born on March 6th. Still with names one letter different and birthdays one year apart, the guy who's not wanted for murder thinks this probably could have been prevented.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZACHARY GARCIA, VICTIM OF MISIDENTIFICATION: Everybody makes mistakes and I work at Publix, you know, I might get somebody's sub wrong. But for somebody you know to get you know, that wrong, it's not a sandwich, you know, it's somebody's life you're playing with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: So far no comment from the Sheriff's department that messed up and no arrest of the wanted Zachary Garcia. It was a murder that shocked the world. Our John Roberts talks with the doctor who struggled to save John Lennon's life after he was shot nearly 30 years ago. His gripping words are coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It was a day many of us will always remember, December 8th, 1980. The day John Lennon was gunned down in front of his New York apartment building. Mark David Chapman spoke with Lennon and then shot him several times. Lennon was rushed to the emergency room of the nearby Roosevelt Hospital. CNN's John Roberts recently spoke to the doctor who tried to save Lennon's life and broke the news of his death to Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. STEPHEN LYNN, ROOSEVELT HOSPITAL, 1980: Two police officers came around the corner, one with a body over his shoulder

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over the shoulder like this?

LYNN: He was holding him just like a fireman hold. And the other one yelled, "gunshot wound, no vital signs".

ROBERTS: Dr. Steven Lynn was the Director of Emergency Services at Roosevelt Hospital.

LYNN: He was lifeless. He had no pulse. No blood pressure. He was unresponsive.

ROBERTS: Lennon was wheeled into a trauma room. Lynn opened his chest and with Lennon's heart in his hand tried to massage back a pulse. Doctors transfused massive amounts of blood but as fast as it went in it leaked back out.

LYNN: After trying for about 10, 15, 20 minutes, it was clear that nothing could be done and John Lennon was pronounced dead.

ROBERTS: 11:10 p.m. Doctor Lynn knew what had to be done next. The devastating task of telling Yoko Ono that John was gone.

SANDRA SCHOEN, ADMINISTRATOR, ROOSEVELT HOSPITAL: She was sitting in a little room right off the E.R.

ROBERTS: Hospital Administrator Sandra Schoen was with Ono. She has never spoken about that night.

SCHOEN: She was in shock and she was certainly anticipatory because at that point she was still expecting that John could be saved I'm sure.

LYNN: I probably said something like, I have very bad news. In spite of all of our efforts to save your husband we were unable to and he died.

ROBERTS: Ono was devastated.

LYNN: She was literally lying on the concrete floor of our emergency department hitting her head against the wall. I put my hands behind her head fearful that she was going to hurt herself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Wow, powerful stuff that we haven't heard before. John, great reporting in there and there will be a full special on this. This, this idea that Yoko Ono was hoping John Lennon might be saved, the nature of his wounds, those gunshots, would that be different today? Is anything different? I mean, he was -- it was in Central Park, very close to the hospital. Could he have been saved 30 years later if this had happened?

ROBERTS: Yeah, you know, medicine was very good in 1980. They got him to the hospital as quickly as they could. In fact, two police officers Herb Frauenberger and Tony Balice said we can't wait for the ambulance, we've got to get them there now. So they put him in the back of a squad car and they had him at Roosevelt Hospital probably within five or six minutes of the shooting taking place.

But as you heard from Dr. Lynn there, he was already most of the way dead, if not all the way there, by the time he got inside. And I said to Dr. Lynn, as good as medicine was in 1980, if he had today's technology and were able to apply it then, would you have been able to save his life?

And he said extent of the trauma, the extent of the injuries that he suffered, because one of the bullets - and Chapman was using hollow-point bullets, literally vaporized his aorta as it arches out of the heart. He said, we were pumping his heart, we were infusing blood into his veins, but there was just nothing to pump blood from the heart back out with. All of the major vessels were just gone. So whether it was 1980 or whether it was 2010, there was just nothing they could do to save his life.

VELSHI: John, I want to ask you this. You're a guy with a great background in music and reporting on music and covering music. The influence. John Lennon's influence still remains -- I mean he's probably one of five people or 10 people in all of music history in America, in the world, who have this kind of influence on music today. Do you still think John Lennon influences music today?

ROBERTS: Oh, he absolutely does. Yesterday on "American Morning" we ran a piece with Marc Roberge. He (ph) was the lead singer of the alt rock group OAR. Very popular in the college crowd. Very popular now among people in their 20s and 30s.

And he wrote a song a couple years ago titled "Dakota," which he wrote when he was with his wife outside the Dakotas and he just took a look at just got hit by all of these feelings and penned the song probably within about 45 minutes sitting on a park bench across the street. But he told me that he has not run into a modern day artist that isn't in some way influenced, at least in some small part, by either the Beatles or John Lennon. He was just a towering talent taken way before his time. Such a tragedy.

VELSHI: Yes. I don't doubt that's true.

John Roberts, thanks very much for this.

ROBERTS: You bet.

VELSHI: And you can see all of John's reporting on Lennon's death, exclusive recordings, rare interviews this Saturday and Sunday night starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Worth watching.

OK, I want to take you to the House of Representatives right now. Debate has begun on the extension of the Bush era tax cuts. As you know, the Democrats want to extend it for everybody who earns $250,000 or less. Families who earn $250,000 or less. Republicans want it extended for everyone. We will cover this very closely for you.

All right, listen to this. We just found out that the Federal Reserve gave tons in overnight loans to major banks and Wall Street firms during the Wall Street crisis. Just how much? Take a guess how much it gave out in overnight loans. A, $9 million, B, $9 billion, or C, $9 trillion. Think you're right? I'll tell you on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Before the break we asked you, during the financial crisis, how much money did the Federal Reserve give in overnight loans? A, $9 million, B, $9 billion, or C, $9 trillion. The answer, which surprised even me, $9 trillion in overnight loans during the financial crisis. These loans were made after the 2008 collapse of Bear Stearns. The real goal was to help the nation's bond markets trade normally.

But let's put the cost of those loans in perspective. Look behind me here. Each one of those little piggies is the equivalent of that huge $700 billion bailout. The rescue. The amount of money that the Fed gave to businesses in overnight loans is 13 times each one of those bailouts.

Who did this money go to? Well, the three biggest recipients were Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley. But foreign banks got some cash too, like Swiss bank's UBS and U.K.'s Barclay. Big companies got a share. Harley Davidson got money. McDonald's, General Electric, Caterpillar. To explain what happened here, Christine Romans, my co- host at "Your Money," joins me from New York.

Christine, we reported on this at the time. We didn't know where the money was going, but we reported a major change. For the first time ever in the history of the Federal Reserve, they had announced that they will be the banker of last resort. If companies need money and the credit markets have frozen up, because when McDonald's and GE need money, they don't walk to the local bank and ask for a loan, it has to happen in this international credit market, and that wasn't happening. So the Fed became the banker of last resort.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CO-HOST, "YOUR $$$$$": And not just the central banks of the United States, the U.S. central bank, it became the central bank to the world if you look at Barclays and UBS and some of the foreign banks on there as well. So this is a Fed more aggressive than we have ever seen. We've just never seen a central bank take on such responsibility and such power in a crisis. Supporters of the Fed would say that we averted a great depression because the Fed was moving quickly, getting an awful lot of money into the system. Detractors will say, this amounted to another big bailout of Wall Street. Wall Street executives, Ali, will point out that all of these loans are backed by collateral, have been paid back. The benefit here was the very low interest availability of money at a time when money had seized up completely.

VELSHI: Right. Right. And there were two issues. One is that it was low interest, but at that time even interest -- paying interest wasn't going to get you that money.

ROMANS: Sure.

VELSHI: We should explain overnight loans. These are loans that often banks make to each other overnight to keep everybody liquid. And those weren't happening. Even banks weren't trusting each other to loan money. So there were banks and companies that needed to get money, very short-term money. These are not big loans to build plants and things. This is operating money.

ROMANS: No. Yes, this is a low -- this is the shortest kind of term you can possibly get, these overnight loans. And when you saw those companies on that screen there, you know, they were -- the banks who were using the overnight lending facility that the Fed was putting out there, but they were using another commercial paper project.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: You might recall we talked about commercial paper suddenly here. This is where big companies, they borrow overnight to pay their bills.

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: Borrow because they know on Friday they're going to get a certain amount of money in from their customers or whatever. So that very short-term financing had frozen up and they had payroll they had to make.

VELSHI: Right.

ROMANS: In some cases you had major American corporations who had to pay their workers and suddenly couldn't find that source of money that they were going to pay them with. The Fed stepped in to make sure that main street got paid, too.

VELSHI: All right. What are we supposed to think of this now? With a little bit of hindsight, did we think this was a system that really worked or do we never want this to happen again? What's the view of how this all happened?

ROMANS: You know, it was an amazing gamble. It had never been done before. The size and scope of it is what surprises a lot of people who watches this. But, you know, Chris Isadore (ph) wrote a fantastic story on CNN Money about this. He's been going over all of these documents too. He says one of the executives of one of the Wall Street firms actually disputes the size of this and says some of these were rolling loans, so the money got counted two, three, four, five times.

VELSHI: Right. Yes.

ROMANS: So the $9 trillion is just shocking all of us. And points out again that all of this money was paid back. The system worked like it was supposed to, although on a much bigger scale than we ever thought and we never thought we'd have to test it, but we did.

VELSHI: So for people out there who don't really like the Federal Reserve, this is somewhere that it came in very handy.

Christine, great to see you, as always. Christine Romans, my co- host on "Your Money."

ROMANS: Sure.

VELSHI: You can watch that, Saturday's at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Sunday's at 3:00. Christine's also the author of a new book called "Smart Is The New Rich," available on bookshelves now.

Let me bring you up to speed with some of the top stories we're following right now at CNN.

The House is debating whether to censure veteran Congressman Charlie Rangel for multiple ethics violations. Rangel has said his actions were sloppy, even stupid, but never corrupt. He's asked for a written reprimand instead of the censure.

A U.S. soldier was sentenced to nine years in prison for taking part in a so-called sport killing of civilians in Afghanistan. Staff Sergeant Robert Stevens was allowed busted down to private, but he will be allowed to stay in the Army. He'll also cooperate with prosecutors. Stevens was the first of 12 soldiers facing charges in the case.

The defense could rest today in the trial of the man accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart. Brian Mitchell is charged with kidnapping Smart in 2002 when she was just 14 years old. Smart walked out of the courtroom yesterday during testimony about Mitchell's desire to have children with his victims. Closing arguments are expected to wrap up by the end of next week.

All right, for years he was known affectionately as King James, but I'm pretty sure they won't be rolling out the red carpet tonight in Cleveland when LeBron James trots out in a Miami Heat jersey. We're going to Cleveland next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Clevelanders have been waiting for this day for almost five months, ever since basketball king LeBron James advocated his throne, abandoned his hometown and went to play for the Miami Heat. Well, things could get heated tonight. James' first homecoming in a visitor's jersey. Remember, this is what it looked like in the hours and days after James announced he was leaving. CNN Sports Mark McKay is in Cleveland waiting anxiously like everyone else.

Mark, what's it looking like?

MARK MCKAY, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, there are snow flurries in the air outside and an air of uncertainty inside this basketball arena affectionately known as The Q as Cleveland awaits the return of LeBron James five months after he gave the city, this team and their fans the cold shoulder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCKAY (voice-over): LeBron James knew that this day would come. The day that he strolled out of the visitors' dressing room and on to his former home playing court. Once Cleveland's favorite son, James is now enemy number one, which makes returning a tricky proposition on a number of levels.

LEBRON JAMES, MIAMI HEAT FORWARD: It's going to be very emotional for myself. I've got a lot of great memories in this city. So many times from ups and downs and, you know, a lot of things that I've done in my life I give a lot of thanks to that city, a lot of thanks to those fans for giving me the opportunity to not only showcase my talent but grow from a young boy to a man.

MCKAY: When James announced that he was leaving for Miami, Cavs fans were incensed, with some even taking to the streets to burn his jersey. With LeBron now returning, wearing a jersey that he chose to change, authorities are concerned. But the Cleveland organization is confident in its game plan for security.

LEN KOMOROSKI, CAVALIERS PRESIDENT: We have probably one of the most secure buildings in sports, you know, to that regard. And this is basically measures we take, you know, relative to any event that takes place here at the Q. So we have -- we're one of the few buildings in sports that have magnetometers at all of the entrances, whether it be public or private to the Q.

MCKAY: To understand the passionate fan is a science all to itself. Dr. Lisa Doane is a psychology professor at Cleveland State University and she likens Cavs fans who are angry at LeBron to the end of a beautiful love affair.

LINDA DOANE, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY: I've been thinking of this as sort of a bad breakup. And when something like that happens, at the end you become focused at what happens just at the very end, rather than the seven great years that LeBron gave to the Cavs and this area.

MCKAY: LeBron James will receive a chilly reception upon his return here to Cleveland, from the wintry weather outside of Quicken Loans arena to the icy stares that will surely greet him inside by a Cavaliers fan base left in the cold with his move to Miami.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, let him play ball, let him get up out of here. Let him go back to Miami and lose like they've been losing. Who cares?

LEBRON JAMES, MIAMI HEAT FORWARD: I think it's going to be tough, but I'm there to win a basketball game and I understand -- I understand how passionate fans are about sports. So, you know, I'm ready for whatever response I'm going to get.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKAY: For many Clevelanders, it wasn't that LeBron James left northeast Ohio, it's the way he left. Basically, dissing Cavs fans with that national television audience, or I guess an audience, presidential-type announcement, right, Ali? Tonight, the Cavs fans have their say.

VELSHI: And LeBron says I'm ready for whatever they dish out. The fact is, this isn't just a bunch of people who are mad. They have increased security as a result of his return tonight.

MCKAY: Very much so. The NBA will add security, local authorities will be on hand. Ali, the Q, as it's known, is the only arena in the NBA that has had magnetometers at every single entrance for the past five seasons. They feel very confident in the security measures they have. We will see how it turns out tonight.

VELSHI: Mark, good to see you. We'll keep in touch with you on this. Mark McKay in Cleveland at the Q.

Losing weight is not an easy thing to do for anybody. In cases of extreme obesity, some turn to surgery to shed those pounds, but that's not an option for everyone. New rules may change that. More about that on the other side of the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Half past the hour. Latest developments in the day's major stories.

NASA is about to make a big announcement related to the likelihood of life beyond planet Earth. We've got Bill Nye "The Science Guy" on standby to boil down the news as it is beamed down from NASA.

Congressman Charlie Rangel faces his punishment for House ethics violations today. Rangel apologized for his actions and pleaded for a reprimand rather than a more serious censure. The 11 counts against him included failure to pay taxes on a vacation home.

And Soccer's World Cup won't be coming to United States any time soon. The tiny Middle East nation of Qatar beat the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and Australia to hold the world's largest sporting event in 2022. The 2018 World Cup was awarded to Russia.

Now the Food and Drug Administration is set to vote tomorrow on who is eligible for weight loss surgery. Until now, the procedures have been reserved for the most severely overweight, but that could change.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here with the details on this. Now I understand this has something to do with Lap- Band surgery that we refer to?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. There's a couple different ways to do obesity surgery, and one is you use this device called the Lap-Band that basically makes your stomach smaller so you just can't eat as much.

And there are certain guidelines as to how big you need to be in order to get this surgery. And insurance companies pay attention, if you don't fit the guidelines, they're not going to pay for it so effectively you can't get it.

VELSHI: So what do we think that the FDA is going to do, bring down those guidelines?

COHEN: Well, what Allergen, who makes the them, is they've asked them to literally bring down the guidelines.

So, for example, we'll pick a height. If you're 5'8" inches tall, right now you can get the insurance company to pay for this belt if you weigh 230 pounds or more and if you weigh less than that, it's tough to get them to approve it. But under this new proposal, you'd only have to weigh 187 pounds or more.

So it's interesting. I think we can look at those numbers and it tells you a little something about how big you need to be to use this thing.

VELSHI; You mentioned a company named Allergen. This is always an interesting thing in medicine, because sure, you can see why a company would want this to happen, right? If they bring that weight down and insurance pays for it, Allergen gets more a lot business. The stock is up today.

But somebody in the FDA, the chair of this panel that's looking at this, owns stock in the company.

COHEN: Right. Ideally, you would want the FDA folks considering this to be completely neutral, but the chairwoman owns somewhere $10,000, $25,000 worth of allergen stock. So what the FDA did is -- they knew this and they issued her a waiver and said, it's OK for you to be on the committee. Now, she's not going to vote, but you can be on the committee. And they said that they couldn't find anyone else available with the appropriate expertise, that was how they put it.

VELSHI: interesting.

OK, what do you do if you think you're a candidate for this or you are looking forward to these new regulations because it brings it down and makes you eligible to get this paid for, what should you be thinking about?

COHEN: Here's where you want to be an empowered patient, because there's more than one way to do obesity surgery.

So the first thing you want to do is, do I really want to have the Lap-Band, that's what you want to think about. It's not the most popular way for having obesity surgery. For some people, it's not the best way to have obesity surgery. So that's one of the questions you want to ask.

And actually, let's talk a little bit about the risks of getting the Lap-Band, because there are several of them. They can slip, like you put this thing on and the band can slip. It can spontaneously deflate, cause it has to be inflated with saline. And also, it can erode over time.

And so, getting back to those questions, you want to think, is this the right type of surgery for me, because there are other types of surgery.

And then, you also want to think through who's the right doctor for me, cause some doctors kind of do this as a side business. You want someone who does this all the time.

And then also you want to think through, you know, once your stomach shrinks no matter what kind of surgery you have, you have to be on a whole new diet. You cannot overeat, and if you're not good at doing that this might not be the -- VELSHI: I've always thought of this as fairly extreme, when nothing else has worked.

COHEN: It is, absolutely. When you've tried diet after diet and they haven't worked. But some people get this and they are limited to what they can eat and they have a really difficult time with it.

VELSHI: All right, we'll keep a close eye on this. This is Friday we're expecting this to happen.

COHEN: That's right.

VELSHI: OK, we'll keep a close eye on it with you. Thanks so much, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

VELSHI: All right, it's deadly and unlike any weapon of its type in history. The Army's new smart rifle now being used in Afghanistan. We're going to show you how it works in "Globe Trekking" coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It is time now to go "Globe Trekking."

The U.S. Army calls it a revolutionary weapon that makes American soldiers more lethal and safer. I'm talking about the XM-25 Smart Rifle, it's now being used for the first time on any battlefield in Afghanistan.

The Army says this shoulder-fired grenade launcher can kill an enemy hiding behind walls or other cover. It uses an array of sights, sensors and lasers that read the distance to the target, assess elements like air pressure, sends the data to a microchip embedded in the shell before it's launched. So a soldier could program a shell to explode just over an enemy hiding behind a wall, showering lethal fragmentations over the hiding area.

Just a few of these rifles are in country now, but the Pentagon plans to buy 12,000 beginning next year.

OK, now to Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's outrage over the latest WikiLeaks. In one State Department cable released by WikiLeaks, defense secretary of state -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates is quoted saying that Russian democracy has disappeared and the government was an oligarchy run by the security services.

Putin dismissed the complaint calling Gates deeply misled. Also, in an interview with CNN's Larry King, Putin says he'll make a concerted decision about whether he'll seek the presidency again in 2012.

And our last stop in "Globe Trekking" today, the Ivory Coast. Still no winner in the country's runoff presidential election, but the country remains in the grips of anger and violence. The Constitutional Council has validated the results and one electoral commission member became so outraged that he tore up the ballot.

Well, you'll likely do it and so do I, posting status updates on social media. Well now toddlers can do it, too. That's next in today's "Big I."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Well, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or all of the above social media is one of the biggest ways to stay connected. I use it all the time, as you know. And now your baby can, too. Your baby could be posting status updates online, but before you shake your head, I'm actually not talking about Facebook or twitter.

I'm talking about something called IOBR. Check this out. It's the first social media tool for toddlers. It's really more of a communication tool, but it's, yes -- kind of a keeping people updated.

Here's how it works. A child simply places one of these three blocks you'll see into a corresponding shape. All right? So, they have a triangle, a square, a circle. When it's time to eat, the child places the square red block in the square. Now, it's connected to somebody else who sees it. Some other kid. So, now the kid wants to brush their teeth. They place the little round thing with the toothbrush in the little circle. And the other kid sees it. Now the kid wants to tell the other kid that they're connected with that they're sleeping, so places the triangle into the little triangle, and other kid sees it. Each one of the blocks shows up, either a plate or a fork or a toothbrush or a bed. It represents the activity they're about to do.

The communication is nonverbal. No surprise since we're talking about toddlers. This is designed by two Finnish designers. They based it on a popular children's toy, the Brio Shape Sorting box. They say makes sense since it has a working logic that toddlers already understand. The designers have been using the device with their own children.

This graphic here, by the way, shows you basically how it works. You don't have to complicate yourself with it. Basically, there's two ends of it. There's somebody, one kid, one household at one end, and another kid in another household at the other end and basically in the middle is the Internet. A modular (ph) Web service are used to relay signals from box to box. They say it will work anywhere as long as there's Internet available.

They've had it up and running for a couple weeks now, and they say it's been a huge hit with their kids. No word yet on whether this will be made available to the general public and whether or not you're going to want your kid to learn about these status updates, so to speak at such a young age.

But you can learn more about this new device by going to my Web page, CNN.com/ali. I'll link you to it.

Both sides taking swipes at each other during debate over middle- class tax cuts take place right now in the House. They're debating whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts. Democrats want to extend the cuts for Americans making under $250,000. Republicans want to extend them for everyone. We'll keep you posted on how that debate plays out.

Also, the word today is that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may be hiding out in Great Britain. He's wanted on sex crime charges in Sweden. Here in the U.S., critics call him a terrorist for publishing top secret documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and on America's diplomatic relations.

The man convicted in the 2007 murders of a Connecticut woman and her two daughters will pay with his life. A judge says Steven Hayes wrote the sentence for himself in flames. Prosecutors say he and an accomplice raped and strangled the mother, molested one of the girls, and then set their home on fire. Only the father escaped.

On Capitol Hill, Senator John McCain says now is not the time to repeal the policy banning gays from serving openly in the military. But Pentagon chief Robert Gates disagreed during a Senate hearing today. Top brass from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines will address the committee tomorrow.

Waiting all the night for an autograph. So, who are people in Spirit Lake, Iowa, lining up for? We'll tell you in our CNN political update coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It is time now for our CNN political update. Lots to update you on. Another strategic stop for Sarah Palin's book tour. CNN chief national correspondent John King joins me from Washington not the place you would go if you were any other author not writing a political book or perhaps planning to run for president, John.

JOHN KING, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ali, good to see you.

Iowa is first in something. Let's think through. What is Iowa first in? Oh, that's right. The presidential caucuses. And that's where we find former governor Sarah Palin today of Alaska. She's selling her new book, "America By Heart." She is signing the books there, she's greeting Iowans and she's deflecting questions. Our Jim Acosta just tried to ask a few about whether she's making any progress about that big decision. Will she enter the Republican race for president in 2012? But she's certainly in a key political state.

She'll be twice in Iowa now, signing this book. She also goes on to South Carolina. One little interesting footnote: no stop scheduled, at least as yet, in New Hampshire. That, of course, the first primary state. But Iowa and South Carolina known as more favorable ground for a conservative, like Sarah Palin, so we'll keep an eye on that.

Could be a huge day of consequence here in Washington, D.C. for the veteran Democratic congressman Charlie Rangel. Once one of the most powerful men in the country. He used to be the chairman of the key tax writing committee in the United States. Now, he has been shamed by ethics allegations, and the House Ethics Committee has, of course, recommened the full House censure Charlie Rangel. That would be a firm punishment, a public embarrassment for Charlie Rangel. We're watching into the afternoon and evening hours expecting that decision later today, Ali.

And finally, a big tax debate going on in the House of Representatives. The Democrats are pushing a proposal to only extend the Bush-era tax cuts for middle-class Americans, those at $200,000 -- or $250,000 a year and below. As you know, there are negotiations going on. The administration open to an extension maybe of all the tax cuts for two years or three years.

As those negotiations play out, two leading conservative voices are saying forget about any temporary extension. Let's have new legislation to make all of the tax cuts permanent. Those two leading conservatives, Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana, Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina. Ali, I'm going to have them tonight on "JOHN KING U.S.A." and we'll ask them about that and many other big political issues a bit later.

VELSHI: Yes, that'll be a great discussion, John, because the issue here is that it's clear why some people want tax cuts and why some think it would be great for the economy. But it's hard to do that and speak out of the same mouth about reducing the deficit.

KING: Absolutely. And there's a fundamental math question. Sometimes we make politics too complicated. If you going to cut taxes, it means less money coming into Washington. Now you're going to have to make more difficult, painful cuts about spending, and you're dead right. That's one of the questions.

VELSHI: The one advantage is we start to see forecasts for economic growth for the United States for next year. I saw one today for 2.7 percent. We were thinking 2 percent. So, that could help. The one way you can cut taxes and cut deficit is if you have economic growth and unemployment drops and everybody is working. You can't bank on it.

KING: Let's pray for growth. You and I will stay out of the politics. We'll leave it to the politicians. But we can pray for growth.

VELSHI: That's right. We absolutely can. John, good to see you. As always, CNN is committed to keeping you informed on all the important political news. Your next update is just one hour away.

Coming up next, we'll tell you who announced a multimillion- dollar plan to construct a full-scale Noah's Ark. After this.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

VELSHI: We're back. All right. Well time now for "Odds and Ends." While some Americans are busy sending tweets on their iPads or talking on their BlackBerrys or Facebooking on their laptops, others, well, not quite there yet. Nearly 130 years after the telephone was invented, the small town of Iowa Hills, California is finally getting its first phone lines installed. More than 50 people have signed up for phone service. If you've got any friends there, call them in a couple of years when they get cable and remind them to watch me on CNN.

Possibly looking even further back in history, yesterday, Kentucky governor Steve Beshear announce a plan to construct a full scale Noah's Ark tourist attraction based on Biblical descriptions. The ark will be the center piece of a theme park constructed by Ark Encounter and answers in Genesis, the same team that built the Creation Museum. The announcement was met by criticism by some groups, Governor Beshear says the project will create jobs and have a multimillion-dollar impact on the economy.

And if you don't like being insulted, avoid Spokane, Washington. Check this out. An electronic crosswalk in downtown appears not to be in good holiday spirits, giving passersby what looks like the bird. The city says snow is probably hammed inside the sign, which is probably obscuring the other fingers. Doesn't look like there's any snow there; I can see that pretty clearly.

They are going to fix it. But crews say they have to clear the streets first. Until then, stay classy, Spokane.