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Tax Cut Vote; Hollywood Murder Case Solved?; FDA May Approve Weight Loss Surgery For People Who Are Simple Overweight, Not Just Morbidly Obese; House of Representatives Votes In Favor of Keeping Tax Cuts For Those Making Under $250,000; Senator McCain Comes Out Against Repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Aired December 02, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Want to continue that conversation about taxes.

Have you heard? Your taxes, my taxes, everyone's taxes are about to go up, scheduled to go up on the 1st of the new year. Now, at this late hour here, Congress is finally getting around to doing something about this. Or is it?

Take a look with me, live picture of the floor of the House of Representatives, where Democrats have just schedule a tax cut vote. By our watch, this thing should get going within the half-hour here.

But let me talk to you about what is on the table. Everyone's taxes would stay the same, except for the top 2 percent of wage- earners. Their rates would go up, as scheduled.

Now, Republicans here, they are not big fans of this idea, and their leader just recently came forward, used some we will call it colorful language about the Democrats calling for today's vote.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Trying to catch my breath, so I don't refer to this -- this maneuver going on today as chicken -- as crap, all right?

(LAUGHTER)

BOEHNER: But this is nonsense.

(LAUGHTER)

BOEHNER: All right? We're -- the election was one month ago. We're 23 months from the next election. And the political games have already started, trying to set up the next election.

We have an honest conversation at the White House about the challenges that we face to get out of here and to take care of what the American people expect of us. And -- and to roll out this vote today, it really is just -- it's -- it's what you think I was going to say anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Gloria Borger, senior political analyst, you heard that as well as I did. He called it chicken crap.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Mm-hmm.

BALDWIN: So --

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: So, let me ask you this.

BORGER: Yes.

BALDWIN: When this vote happens, what do we expect here today on the floor of the House with regard to the -- the tax cut plan?

BORGER: Well, you know, this -- this is a vote on just extending the tax cuts for the middle class, right?

BALDWIN: Right.

BORGER: And it's going pass the House. But then what's going happen -- and this is what Congressman Boehner was referring to -- it's going to head over to the Senate, where it's going to sit, be shelved, become irrelevant. OK?

This is a political point that some Democrats, particularly in the liberal caucus, in the House want to make. They are going to lose lots of those moderate and conservative Democrats, many of whom lost in this last election.

But they wanted to make this political point, drawing the line in the sand that Democrats are for the -- extending the tax cuts for the middle class, but not for the wealthy.

But, over in the Senate, they are waiting to see what happens with these negotiations. They are caucusing this afternoon. And they know that some kind of a deal is likely to be struck, so this will go on the shelf. So, in the sense that speaker-to-be Boehner was saying that this is political posturing, he has a point.

BALDWIN: Right. Political stunt is precisely what he said.

But, looking --

BORGER: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- at the calendar, if this all is all political posturing, when would reality kick in, Gloria?

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: I mean, these tax cuts -- (CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: -- are set to expire December 31, so 29 days --

BORGER: Yes. I --

BALDWIN: -- and counting until all of our taxes go up.

BORGER: You know, Congress is a crisis-activated institution. And I think reality is kicking in, Brooke.

I think what you're seeing or what we're trying to -- to get a glimpse of behind closed doors is negotiations that are going on, and, as my colleague Dana Bash has been reporting, is that they seem to be coming up or trying to come up with some kind of a deal for a temporary extension of these tax cuts across the board, two years, maybe three years.

But the big question is, what do the Democrats get in return for that, if they agree to do this? You know, do they get this extension of unemployment insurance? Does the ratification of the START treaty become a part of this --

BALDWIN: Right. And we know --

BORGER: -- grand deal? You know, we -- we just don't know.

BALDWIN: We know the Democrats are worried that the president perhaps won't fight hard enough on some of those concessions, if --

BORGER: Right.

BALDWIN: -- if they were to extend this temporarily.

But let me talk numbers with you, Gloria, but there's a lot of talk about this cutoff, this $250,000 mark, right, and -- and whether --

BORGER: Mm-hmm.

BALDWIN: -- people earning that are really rich.

So, some Democrats in the Senate have said, OK, look, fine. Let's only raise, you know, taxes on millionaires.

In fact, I want to play a sound bite. This is from last night, two sides of the aisle. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: I will offer you a deal. We will take a tax break for everyone below a million dollars. Will you accept it? That's a great compromise. Or are you going to say, oh, no, we're holding out for the millionaires?

Take it or leave it. I can't speak for my whole party, but I can speak for myself and my colleague from Missouri and many others on our side. We can solve this problem tonight: tax breaks for everybody else, but not for the millionaires.

Take it or leave it. You said you want to negotiate? Here's an offer.

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R), TENNESSEE: Most of the people whose taxes he's trying to raise live in New York. I mean, they are not in Tennessee. We're a relatively low-income state. So, I admire him for his courage on -- that's almost a tax earmark, you know, to -- to be so specific that we're going raise taxes on just a small number of people, most of whom who live on Wall Street and New York.

I mean, that -- that makes a pretty good line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Gloria, from the sounds of that, Republicans are willing to let everybody's taxes go up unless million-dollar salaries would get a break as well. Is that -- is that what you heard there?

BORGER: Well --

BALDWIN: Is that an accurate reading?

BORGER: Well, it -- you know, it -- it's kind of interesting, because what Senator Chuck Schumer of New York was really talking about was, you know, essentially redefining the middle class, which is saying, OK, anyone who earns under a million dollars a year is now part of the middle class.

There are lots of people on the left wing of the Democratic Party who don't like that. And there also a lot of Democrats -- I mean, Schumer was careful to say he didn't speak for all Democrats in the Senate --

BALDWIN: Mm-hmm.

BORGER: -- because there are moderate Democrats in the Senate who don't want to raise anyone's taxes now, even the wealthy, because, A., they don't think it's the right thing to do in the middle of a recession, you know, and -- and -- and so they -- they don't -- you know, they don't want to -- they don't want to do it.

So, you know, I think the kind of argument they are having is an argument that's going nowhere, because Chuck Schumer doesn't have the support for it. It sounds good on a bumper sticker, but -- but he doesn't -- Republicans --

BALDWIN: But perhaps not in reality.

BORGER: -- won't go for it.

BALDWIN: What about, though, Gloria --

BORGER: Well -- BALDWIN: And I want to -- I want to finish with your point which you had to alluded to before, the big word we haven't heard a lot of, compromise.

So, while all of this is happening, you have Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. He's leading these closed-door talks to try to get a bipartisan compromise. So, let's -- let's read into the political tea leaves.

What would the compromise, Gloria, what would it look like?

BORGER: Well, we really -- you know, at -- at this point, we're -- we're not sure, but our reporting on the Hill from Dana Bash and others and my own reporting shows that we're looking at some kind of a temporary extension.

Do you do it for two years? Do you do it for three years? What can we afford to do? And then the Democrats are worried, look, we don't want to be sold out by the White House here on some kind of a compromise. What will we, as Democrats, get in return? Will they get an extension, for example, of unemployment insurance in the long term, without having to pay for it right away?

Will there be some kind of a wink and a nod about, well, maybe we can ratify the START treaty and get that going. The Democrats are going to caucus later today. So, we will see what they can agree to. We will see what the White House can agree to.

It's -- it's interesting. As you know, the Senate Democrats are not always the same as the House Democrats. So, we're also going to have to see what the House and the Senate Democrats can agree to agree to among themselves.

BALDWIN: Right.

BORGER: So --

BALDWIN: We will wait and see --

BORGER: -- stay tuned.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Well, right. We will stay tuned.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: We will wait and see with the wink, wink, nod, nod, what -- what all of that leads to, I guess, on both sides.

And, of course, this is a huge story for everyone watching. We are all paying taxes. We all want to know if our taxes are going up or not.

Gloria Borger, thank you so much.

BORGER: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Want to remind --

BORGER: Sure.

BALDWIN: Want to remind all our viewers, of course, we're waiting, we're watching for this vote to happen. Basically, right now, on the -- on the floor of the House of Representatives, they're voting on some other business right now.

But, as soon as we start seeing some numbers going up on the board with regard to the vote on taxes, you know we will bring that to you live.

Also, busy day in the House, because guess what else is going on? After that vote, we're hearing that the full House of Representatives could be voting on -- on a possible censure in the case of veteran House Democrat Charlie Rangel.

So, those are two stories we're keeping a close, close eye on, could be developing at any minute here in the newsroom. And as soon as we see movement on either of those, we will bring it to you live.

Meantime, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDDIE BURKE, NEIGHBOR: All hell broke -- broke loose here in Hollywood. And the police were coming from all different angles, choppers in the air. And -- and, of course, they had surrounded the building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: What a night in Los Angeles. Has the murder of that Hollywood publicist been solved? There's been a stunning turn of events. A man commits suicide as police try to question him. We are going to have a live report for you. That's ahead.

Also, Steven Hayes speaking out in the courtroom. You know this guy. He's the man convicted of murder in that horrific Connecticut home invasion. And he is certainly raising more than a few eyebrows today at his sentencing in Connecticut.

That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want to remind you, two huge stories popping up during the show today, so stay right there.

Let's take that live picture of the House floor, guys, if we can. Let me remind you what's happening. Number one, we're waiting for this House vote on the tax cut. House Democrats today, they were calling on the House to extend the Bush tax cuts to all Americans making $250,000 or less. So, that's what we're waiting on. Then, after that, we were expecting a vote. The full House should vote on whether or not veteran Congressman Charlie Rangel should receive censure. It's basically a public rebuke in front of all of his peers there from the well of the House or whether he will get that lesser punishment, a written punishment, a reprimand. We will be hearing from him in his own defense.

So, two huge stories developing out of Capitol Hill today, we will bring him to live at any -- at any point in time here.

Meantime, I want to take a quick look at three of our top stories. The case of who killed this woman -- this was the celebrity publicity Ronni Chasen -- taking a violent turn overnight. Police went into this apartment building last night. When they approached a man described as a person of interest -- they tried to walk up to him, tried to question him -- what did he do? He pulled out a gun and took his own life.

Investigators did not say if the man actually played a role in Chasen's killing.

Our Kareen Wynter has been all over this story. She's going to join me in about 10 minutes with an update there.

Also, today is the first time we have heard from convicted killer Steven Hayes. He's now been sentenced to death by lethal injection for the 2007 murders of a mother and her two daughters during that home invasion. Hayes says -- quote -- he's been tormented, has had nightmares about what happens, and believes that death will be a welcome relief.

The judge, by the way, set an official execution date of May 27 of next year, but that date could be delayed if Hayes appeals.

Also, scientists have discovered a form of bacteria that can thrive largely on arsenic. And arsenic, if you remember from your high school chemistry class, is generally considered pretty toxic. This is poisonous stuff.

So, in nonscientific terms, this means that we can now expand our notions and our range of where possible life could be found, you know, out there in the -- the big universe. So, this will certainly impact NASA's search for extraterrestrial life. The bacterium strain was scooped from sentiment in a lake in California.

Do you ever wonder how fat you have to be before you can get, you know, that surgery to reduce your weight? Well, new information today there may be hope if you're not just really, really morbidly obese, just a little bit less heavy. We will explain just ahead.

And, again, we're just watching for the House floor for that censure vote on Representative Charlie Rangel, who was found guilty of violating 11 House ethics rules. It could happen, as we have been mentioning, any moment now. That and, of course, the vote on extending those Bush tax cuts if you're making 250,000 bucks or less.

We're going to take both those stories live as soon as it happens.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM.

Of course, we still have our eye on Washington.

Let's take you live pictures, House of Representatives, which is nearing a vote this afternoon on the tax cut plan. And, as I said, we're watching. Of course, as soon as we know what's going on, we will let you know. We will bring you those live pictures.

But, keep in mind, that's not the only thing going on today in Washington. There's another huge story involving this man, Congressman Charlie Rangel last seen before the House Ethics Committee, which found him guilty of 11 rules violations.

So, after today's tax vote, Rangel's case will go the House floor, where he faces possible censure today, this afternoon. And, of course, that would be a very bitter -- bitter pill for Rangel to swallow, and a huge stain on his 20-term career in the House.

Brianna Keilar, our congressional correspondent, question to you. Of course, I imagine we're going to be hearing from Congressman Rangel, his final defense, perhaps before this vote. And will he get a chance, I guess, to -- to -- to convince his colleagues, his peers to settle for that lesser punishment, which is reprimand, instead of censure?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We can't say definitively, but we are thinking that it's possible he may have a chance to be there on the floor of the House and try to make his case for why he should get a lesser punishment here.

But is he going to try? And, also, has he been, behind the scenes, been trying to lobby his supporters, especially members of the Congressional Black Caucus, some of whom are behind him? Yes. But I think it would be surprising to a lot of people if he was able to succeed and convince the House of Representatives that they should give him a reprimand, instead of a censure.

You know, I think even supporters, when you talk to them, supporters who say that he shouldn't get this censure, they also point to the fact that this Ethics Committee, Brooke,, 9-1 -- and it's a bipartisan committee -- recommended a censure.

So, the thinking here is that it's more likely for the full House to kind of uphold what they have already said in that committee.

BALDWIN: Huh.

Well, I know you know this story inside and out, but I want to remind our viewers essentially the -- the meat of what the Ethics Committee found wrong with regard to those 11 rules violation. So, it found that Rangel failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars of income, that he failed to pay taxes on his Dominican Republic villa, carried out improper fund-raising, and improperly used rent-controlled apartments.

Now, here's my question to you. In looking back, I guess, historically on who has received reprimand vs. who has received censure, are those the types of violations, Brianna, that -- that merit a censure?

KEILAR: Well, when you listen to Charlie Rangel, he will say, no, they don't. He's made this argument, that he's not corrupt, that he didn't do these things on purpose. And even the prosecutor in this case before the Ethics Committee said that he didn't think that Rangel was going out of his way.

In the past, censures have been handed down for a number of misdeeds. And they are pretty serious: payroll fraud, bribery, sexual misconduct with pages, selling military appointments. These are pretty big-deal things.

And while Rangel has said that he didn't that have intent, what we also heard from the prosecutor in this case -- and the Ethics Committee agreed with him -- he said, you know, the thing that really made me think that he deserves a censure is because this was the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the tax-writing committee in the House.

He wasn't paying taxes on this rental income. Furthermore, he was soliciting donations, breaking rules while doing it, for a college center that bared his name. And this was from companies that had business before his committee. And it was really those --

BALDWIN: But some of his supporters are making the point that this is not -- all of those examples, it doesn't help, you know, his personal financial gain.

And another word we keep coming up is corrupt, corruption. And -- and Rangel has made a lot of the fact that the Ethics Committee, Blake Chisam, the -- the chief, saying he's found nothing to indicate that Rangel acted corruptly.

In fact, let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAKE CHISAM, CHIEF COUNSEL, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT: I see no evidence of corruption.

I -- it's hard to answer the question personal financial benefit. I think the short answer is probably no. Do I -- do I believe, based on this record, that Congressman Rangel took steps to enrich himself based on his position in Congress? I do not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Brianna, final question. I mean, there's the chief essentially saying not -- not corrupt, just sloppy.

How much water will that hold, though, with the full House?

KEILAR: Well, you know, it's still to be determined. But I think the expectation at this point is that people would be very surprised if Rangel were not to be censured.

And that doesn't mean that there isn't going to be some major support behind him, some very vociferous support from some of the folks who just think, look, this doesn't rise up to the level of some of those other transgressions that I told you about.

BALDWIN:

KEILAR: But I think the bottom line is, the way this plays out, if he is to get a censure, Brooke, it is basically him standing there on the floor of the House and -- and getting a verbal rebuke from the speaker herself.

You might say, oh, what is that, a slap on the wrist? Well, you know, when it comes to here on -- here on the Hill, it's only happened 22 times before in the history of the House of Representatives. It's a very big deal. It's public humiliation. And this is an 80-year-old man who has an amazing career.

BALDWIN: Right.

KEILAR: And so, really, in the twilight --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Forty years on the Hill. And then the last time we saw a censure was a big 27 years ago. So, I imagine it would be a -- quite humiliating for -- for the veteran congressman.

Brianna Keilar, I thank you for your perspective.

And we just want to remind everyone we are expecting this to happen on -- on the floor of the House of Representatives within our hours. And as soon as we see that, we will bring that to you, as well the vote, the Bush tax cut vote in the House.

Meantime, more people who are overweight may qualify soon for lap-band surgery to shed some L.B.s. We are going to tell you what they are talking about over at FDA. This is developing ahead tomorrow there.

And who killed celebrity publicist Ronni Chasen? This is a -- like a real-life Hollywood whodunit, mystery that's taken quite a twist overnight. Has the case been solved those, though? Kareen Wynter, she is from Los Angeles. She's all over this investigation next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Again, want to remind you we're keeping our eye very closely on what's happening there on the floor of the House of Representatives. Right now, they are taking care of some other business. At any minute now, they are going to switch gears and talk tax cuts and presumably vote on those tax cuts.

We're told the vote should take about 15 minutes or so. We are going to have the presence, of course, on Capitol Hill with our senior congressional correspondent. That could happen, again, any moment now. So, stay tuned for that.

Meantime, some really surprising developments in that execution- style murder of famed Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen. So, back to last night, as police were closing in on this guy they considered a person of interest in this case, this man killed himself.

Kareen Wynter following all of these developments for us -- she was up all night following these developments as well. And Kareen is joining me there live from the scene.

And, Kareen, what's the latest? What can you tell me?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, you said it off the top. This is a case that's been a mystery from the beginning with the murder of Ronni Chasen. And it's remains a mystery.

This guy -- police showed up at this apartment complex located in Hollywood, a very gritty part of town, to question him. They say that, you know, he wasn't even a suspect. He was just a person of interest. And he turned the gun on himself.

Well, we're waiting to -- to hear more details on that man, but coroners have not released his identity. They are still waiting to notify family members, but they say they have identified this guy through his fingerprints.

And they say that the autopsy is expected to be completed sometime tomorrow. They will be tell exactly how he died and -- and what kind of weapon may have been used here -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Kareen, we also are hearing, I know, from some of the neighbors there in that sort of gritty part of town, as you mentioned, in Hollywood. A neighbor says this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURKE: All hell broke -- broke loose here in Hollywood. And the police were coming from all different angles, choppers in the air. And -- and, of course, they had surrounded the building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Kareen, quite a scene overnight. What more do we know about this guy?

WYNTER: And we interviewed that man this morning, who said that, you know, while he wasn't there at the time of the shooting -- by the way, this man who turned the gun on himself, he -- we know that he's a black male in his early 40s, or he was in his early 40s.

But that neighbor you heard from, so many neighbors along here who have been interviewed by the press, they say that this guy was a -- was a transient, that he actually lived here and was evicted a few months ago, came back.

And this is where it's really interesting. Again, we haven't confirmed. Police, of course, haven't been shedding any details. But, you know, people from this neighborhood, from this apartment complex, they have been speaking out and saying that this guy, that he was no stranger to trouble, that he had been in and out of prison, had served several stints in state prison, and that he -- he really got what was coming to him.

Again, we haven't been able to confirm this. But they really question his character. And we're hoping, hoping, once police reveal some more details, we will find out what his connection was, Brooke, if any. You know, if he was just a person of interest, why did this guy just turn the gun on himself?

BALDWIN: And --

WYNTER: So many questions remain --

BALDWIN: So many questions.

WYNTER: -- in this very mysterious killing.

BALDWIN: Here's another question, though, perhaps one other piece of the puzzle. There was some talk that this Chasen murder was a professional hit. And, in fact, a former homicide detective for the L.A. Sheriff's Department told ABC's "Good Morning America" even he's not -- even he, this guy on the -- the L.A. police force, not skilled enough to fire that kind of shot -- or shots that killed Chasen. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA")

GIL CARRILLO, RETIRED LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT DETECTIVE: This is something that's done, you know, with -- with some skill.

And I couldn't -- I will be honest with you. I have carried a gun, and I carried a gun for 38 years and had to qualify quarterly. I couldn't -- I don't know that I could shoot -- you know, hit that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He doesn't know if he could have done it.

So, Kareen, whoever killed Chasen was more than just a pretty good shot. Does that mean that police are zeroing in on this as a murder for hire, as a professional hit job?

WYNTER: You know, Brooke, they are not ruling anything out. In fact, you know, this is one theory of many theories that are out there. "The New York Post" recently had an article, and they quoted a source, somebody very close, a good friend of Chasen, saying -- listen to this, very eerie, if it is, in fact, true -- that, for months, she's been in fear of her life, that she's actually felt as if someone has been trailing her, following her since March, right after the Oscars, and that she confided in this friend and said, you know, I don't know who it is, but I'm -- I'm just scared, I'm terrified.

And, so, many in the industry who knew Chasen are asking, even residents in -- in Beverly Hills -- you know, that community is definitely, definitely on edge -- this is something that -- that they are not used to are wondering, was this a hit? Who would have wanted this woman dead?

And what makes it so difficult is that it is, in fact, a very complex case. Police are saying very little. We don't even know if this was targeted or just a random crime -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, so bizarre, so many questions.

Kareen Wynter live from the scene for us -- Kareen, thank you.

A dramatic bank robbery caught on surveillance tape. Wait until you see what happened. That's ahead.

Also here's a question. How fast do you have to be before you can get all the flab surgically removed? The answer, not as fat as you may think. Elizabeth Cohen standing by.

Also we're waiting, looking at pictures of the beautiful U.S. capitol. We're waiting for the tax vote. After that the Charlie Rangel vote, will he or won't he receive censure? Stay tuned. A lot of breaking stories this hour on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Weight loss surgery. You may think it's only for those who are extremely obese, but hang on a second. It may now become available to those who are well less heavy. The FDA panel will vote tomorrow about how obese a person has to be to qualify for lap-band surgery.

So right now you have to be morbidly obese, 100 pounds overweight or have serious health problems to get this. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to break down what the changes could mean. What's the deal?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If you want to get obesity surgery your doctor can give it to you no matter what your weight is. Your insurance company won't pay for it unless you're heavy enough. So lap-band is one way to do obesity surgery. Not the only way.

BALDWIN: Lap-band is when they --

COHEN: It's a device. It's a device that they put in you to make your stomach smaller. It's one way of doing the surgery. You can do it without the surgery. Your stomach gets smaller. You lose weight.

BALDWIN: Right now what do you have you have, you have to have a BMI of 40?

COHEN: Depends whether you have medical condition or not. Week break it down to height and weight. The way it works, let's say you're 5'8". Currently your insurance would give you a hard time paying for it if you weighed less than 230 pounds.

If this new proposal passes you could weigh 197 pounds and still get it. That's a big difference. We're talking like at least 30 million people who would now be able to get their insurance to pay for it pretty easily. It's a lot of people.

BALDWIN: Apparently this company, their stock has gone up today because of the news, I guess, of what could happen with the FDA. The chair of the FDA panhandle owns this company stock. So a conflict of interest here.

COHEN: Perhaps. If they are selling these lap-bands for and the chair of this FDA panel owns between $10,000 to $25,000 worth of stock. The FDA knows this. It's not a secret. They gave her a waiver. They said you can stay on the committee. She won't vote. She will stay on the cheat. They couldn't find anyone else qualified who was available to serve on the committee. She was it.

BALDWIN: So, whether I guess this passes or not, and if somebody is sitting out there and they are thinking of lap-band surgery as a possible option, what kind of advice would you have, empower patient advice?

COHEN: The empowered patient would realize there's more than one way to do this surgery. Your doctor may push the lap-band or have a financial tie to lap-band. But remember, it's not the only way to do it. Let's talk about some of the issues that lap-band has had. It's been life-saving for some people. For other people it can slip.

BALDWIN: This like a temporary thing not stomach stapling.

COHEN: This is forever. You have this thing in you forever. It can slip. It can spontaneously deflate. It can erode over time. So you want to ask yourself certain questions before you start doing -- before you would do this. You want to research other ways of doing this.

The lap-band may be the answer for you but a kind of surgery that doesn't use a device may work better four and also you want to find the right doctor. As you can imagine there's so much money to be made on this in our obese society, a lot of doctors getting involved in this. Find a good doctor. This is what they do. You don't want some guy who does this on the side.

And also what happens when your stomach gets smaller is you eat much less, and there's certain foods you really shouldn't be eating at all. Some people can't handle that and psychologically have a tough time post-surgery. You want to make sure you can handle this. You don't want to find yourself after surgery you can't do this.

BALDWIN: We'll follow up with you tomorrow. Thank so you much.

Grammy nominations they are in and rapper Eminem leads the pack with ten nominations.

I want to you take a look at this brazen bank robbery. It's caught on surveillance video. You're going to hear the 911 and watch the drama unfold on camera. That's next.

Also we're watching the floor of the House of Representatives. Any minute now we could see that vote on extending possibly those tax cuts for $250,000, folks who make that or less. We'll wait and see. And we'll also wait and see about that censure vote for Congressman Charlie Rangel.

In fact, I'm just hearing in my other, that that 15 minute vote on those tax cuts have just begun. Here are live pictures of the floor of the house. Everybody getting settled, voting. And we'll check in with senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash on this story when we come right back.

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BALDWIN: Take a look with me, live pictures of the floor of the House of Representatives. We have just received word a couple of minutes ago that the congressmen and women who started voting on extending those tax cuts and I want to bring in senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash.

To be clear, Dana, we know the Democrats called on this vote and this is specifically to extend the tax cuts just for those making $250,000 or less.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. That's the Democrats priority for some time. This would do that permanently. And they are doing this despite the fact that, that they know in their heart of hearts ultimately this is not going to go anywhere.

It's very likely, I would say even possible this will pass in the House but in terms of the United States Senate there just doesn't seem to be the votes to do this because there are some Democrats, including all 42 Republicans, who say it's not just this that they should extend, they should extend the Bush tax cuts for those making $250,000 and above.

BALDWIN: So, Dana, if this as we heard from John Boehner he called it chicken crap and is political posturing, why then are Democrats calling this vote? What's in it for the Democrats?

BASH: That's a great question. It's to get on the record. Politics, but from their perspective what they would say on the democratic side good politics because they have believed all along this is the right thing to do. It's what President Obama campaigned on, this exact piece of kind of legislation, just extending tax cuts for those making $250,000 or less.

There was a lot of talking before whether Democrats should do just this. They decided not to because it would be too political hurtful to some of those who actually ended up losing.

But they want to get it on the record. That's the answer. They want to get On the Record, especially considering the fact that they ultimately believe that the White House is going to cut deal that extends all of these tax cuts for about two years.

BALDWIN: Dana Bash, do me a favor, please. Stand by. I want to remind you to please stand by as well. I want to remind you also there's a clock tick at 10:06, 10:05. That is the time remaining in the vote. They vote electronically so they can change their vote before that clock clicks down. So we'll keep our eye on time and vote. We'll bring it back to you. CNN newsroom will be right back.

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BALDWIN: Breaking news. Take a look at this number. It's 218, that's the magic number that members of the House of Representatives, in fact, over that now, 220, that is the number they needed to extend these tax cuts to folks who were making $250,000 or less and by the looks of that number they are above that. They've done it so far.

I want to bring back in senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash. Dana, looking at the time on the tiny monitor. Six minutes to go before this vote is finished. No surprise they have done it already.

BASH: No surprise. This is something that the house Democrats in particular have overwhelmingly agreed on and really fought for, I think it's fair to say more than any other Democrats here on Capitol Hill. It does look like that number is going to continue to go up and they will have a pretty comfortable majority in voting for this.

But I think we should emphasize as we did before the break this is a vote in the House of Representatives. The United States Senate would have to do this as well. I'm told it is possible, maybe even probable that the Senate could take this up soon, maybe even as early as next week.

In terms of this particular issue, just extending the tax cuts for those making $250,000 or less permanently it doesn't look likely they will get what will need to be which is 60 votes in the Senate this.

BALDWIN: Dana, you mentioned the Senate. You spoke with Harry Reid today. What has he said about all of this?

BASH: He said on this particular issue that they are going wait and see what happens in the house. Democrats have a meeting really daily, Brooke, in the Senate, to talk about where they go from here. It's remarkable particularly in the Senate, so much discord about how to go forward on the tax cuts it's kind of stunning.

But one thing I think is important to tell our viewer is that while this is going on the House floor and Senate floor later early next week there have been discussions going on, bipartisan discussion with the White House, Democrats, and Republicans.

And they are getting pretty close on potential deal, and what I'm told is that the tax cut deal could likely be to extend all Bush era tax cuts for all income brackets for two years. What I'm being told more and more Democrats are increasingly concerned that Obama is going to cave, that he'll cave on giving them something in return.

BALDWIN: Which specifically, though, what concessions are they most worried about not getting?

BASH: I'll tell you. They say, look, if we're going to agree to extend at least temporarily the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, we want to get stuff in return. What they are talking about on their wish list is extending unemployment benefits for a pretty lengthy period of time without having to pay for it, which is something Republicans have demanded.

There are other tax rise credits that Democrats have championed, making more pay tuition, college tax credits. They're on their wish list. They are hoping to get in return for a compromise.

But, again, I've talked to several Democrats, democratic sources on both sides of the capitol who said they are concerned the White House is not going fight hard enough for those priorities as they deal with this larger tax cut issue. It's a fascinating dynamic that's playing out as everybody tries to find their bearing after the election and their positions going forward, and Republicans are going to take the House.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. And we are watching this number continue to rise. They have the most definitely done it by now with two and a half minutes left on the vote before the House.

We're going to take a quick break. And we'll bring Wolf Blitzer in to continue this discussion. This affects all of us as we all pay our taxes. Stay right there.

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BALDWIN: Looking here, we have 25 seconds before this vote is officially finished and about 231 now voting on the floor of the House. The question is, is this essentially DOA in the House. What will happen in the Senate? I want to bring in Wolf Blitzer who is in Washington. Let me ask you a logistical question. What happens next?

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Hello?

BALDWIN: Wolf, can you hear me?

BLITZER: Reporter: Now I can hear you. I wasn't hearing you before. BALDWIN: My question is this, now that the vote is officially finished, logistically speaking, what is next?

BLITZER: Well, it's a little bit of a theater, as Dana has been talking about, because it's probably not going to pass in the U.S. Senate and as a result they will have to work on a compromise that will allow the tax rates for the wealthy to go forward for two years, maybe three years. It's not going to be a permanent arrangement. They are going to kick the ball down the road a little bit.

But it will give the negotiators, the president has designated his budget director to work with the Republican leadership on the hill hoping to get a compromise.

And by all accounts, they are getting closer and closer to that compromise that would allow the tax rates to continue for everyone for the next two, maybe three years. But as I say, right now, what the Democrats have managed to do in the House of Representatives, they have on record the fact that the Democrats, by and large, they support making the tax rates -- the Bush tax rates for the middle class, those earning under $250,000 a year, permanent.

The Republicans voted against that. So they will be able to argue, well, the Republicans voted against it. The Republicans argue we voted against it because we want all of the tax rates for everyone to be made permanent. So it's a little bit of political theater going on right now. Everyone is still getting ready for the compromise that presumably will be in the works.

BALDWIN: Looking at this vote, Wolf, and at these numbers here, we still have on the floor of the House 167 nays. What do you make of that number?

BLITZER: Those are the Republicans by and large, who say, you know, they want all of the taxpayers, everybody who has to pay IRS taxes, they want all of the tax rates that were approved in 2001 and 2003 during the Bush administration to continue as is.

So it's a little bit of a debate going on, a little bit of what Republicans like to call "class warfare," differentiating between the rich and the middle class, if you will. So it's an interesting development.

But I think it still requires, if they are going to go forward in this lame-duck session, it's going to require a compromise on the part of the Democrats and the Republicans on the other on what to do with the tax rates, because if they don't pass formal legislation between now and the end of the year, everyone's tax rates will go back to what they were during the Clinton administration, which is a little bit higher than those 2001-2003 tax rates.

BALDWIN: If they don't act come December 31, all of our taxes go up. So that is one huge story that we're following out of Washington. Mr. Blitzer, the floor is yours. What else do you have on the Political Ticker? BLITZER: Well, right now the taxes are very significant, and another significant development, the hearings before the Senate armed services committee on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the policy that forbids gays from serving openly in the United States military.

And John McCain is the ranking Republican on the committee saying this is not a good time to change the policy right now. He says it's not a good time for combat personnel, those young combat soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan to be forced into changing the policy right now. He doesn't like it.

At this time he said we should be inherently cautious about making any changes that would affect our military and what changes we do make should be made with careful and deliberate consideration. Secretary Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen testified saying that it's a good time to change the policy but McCain strongly disagrees.

What will be interesting is what is going to happen tomorrow when some of the other chiefs will be testifying, including the marine core general who opposes getting rid of Don't Ask, Don't Tell right now. So that will be interesting. We know that the chairman of the armed services committee, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, supports getting rid of the policy.

One final thing that is moving on the CNN Ticker right now, CNN politics, Newt Gingrich singling that he's irritated are Michael Steele, saying that -- he's been supportive of Steele in the past. He's saying that Steele, whoever is the new chairman, especially if it's Steele, would be a very strong number two to deal with the fundraising and administrative issues. Apparently they feel Steele hasn't been that strong.

He hasn't yet announced whether he's going to seek re-election as chairman of the RNC. A lot of people think he will but he's facing stiff competition. A lot of Republican leaders are lining up to challenge him.

BALDWIN: Wolf Blitzer with what is hot off the Political Ticker. We've got to go. Hour two is coming up in just a moment. We've got a sneak a quick break in. We'll be right back.

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