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Democrats Lose Effort to Extend Tax Cuts for Middle Class Only; Landmark Trade Agreement; Assange Thought to be in Hiding After New Release of U.S. Diplomatic Cables; Tracking You Online; Rescue Reel

Aired December 04, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: As T.J. mentioned a few minutes ago, we are waiting for President Obama to make a statement on a major new trade agreement with South Korea. We'll go live to the Executive Office, which is right next door to the White House, when that happens.

Meantime, we turn to Capitol Hill where a rare Saturday session ended with no compromise in the Senate on tax cuts for the wealthy or the middle class. Let's get right to CNN senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash who's live on Capitol Hill.

So, a big defeat for the extension of either of those tax proposals?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And today, to be totally frank, was not about compromise, today was about Democrats who run the Senate, getting on record with what they believe is the right way to go in extending the Bush era tax cuts. Both were defeated.

First a vote to just extend tax cuts for those making $250,000 or less. That was defeated it got 53 votes, a majority, but not enough to break a Republican filibuster, that would have been 60. The next, a vote, also a Democratic measure, would have been only to extend those making up to a million dollars a year. Now, that also was defeated by just about the same vote.

Why do Democrats want to do that? To make the political point, Fredricka, that they believe that Republicans only want to have tax cuts for millionaires.

Why did Republicans vote against all of these? Not because they don't want to extend these tax cuts, they do, they want to extend all of them and that is the reason they say they voted against it. They say that this was a the Democrat's priority, the Democrat's goal, but Republicans believe it is the wrong thing to do to raise taxes especially in a time of recession and effectively what the Democrat's measures did was allow tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to go up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: The majority of the Senate like the majority of the country believes the middle class deserves this tax cut. The minority in the Senate believes, against all evidence to the contrary, that millionaires, billionaires, and these big CEOs who ship jobs overseas, deserve this giveaway. We disagree. That's why the founders created that body, to debate and settle those disagreements.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This debate is not about cutting taxes. This debate is whether or not we ought to increase taxes on anybody during a recession.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, to be clear, going into today's Saturday session, that is right, people shouldn't be confused about the day of the week, it is a Saturday. The Senate is working. Going to it, everybody knew this was going to be the case, but as I said, the Democrats political objective here was to get on record.

And frankly, to get on record before they know they have to move on to what will be some kind of compromise with Republicans. Otherwise everybody's tax cuts in this country -- taxes, I should say, not tax cuts, everybody's taxes will go up by the end of the year.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dana Bash on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much. We'll check back with you as news progresses on that, if any news progresses on that.

So, a new poll suggests most Americans agree with the Democratic position on tax cuts. Here is CNN deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Fred, a rare session today by senators therein to vote on those tax cut extensions. Remember, those tax cuts that were implemented during the Bush years, they expire unless Congress takes action.

So, how do Americans feel about this? Check out this poll from CBS News. It came out a few days ago, interesting numbers. Look there, right at the top. Only 26 percent of the people in this poll say that those tax cut should be extended for all Americans regardless of income. That lower is a little bit lower than in other recent polls.

Right there in the middle, you can see a slight majority, 53 percent say, you know what, extend those tax cuts, but only for families making a combined income under a quarter million dollars.

And at the bottom says, 14 percent say, you know what, let those tax cuts expire.

So, do Democrats and Republicans agree on this issue? Well, they don't here in Washington and they don't, it seems, across the country. Look at the same poll, right there, from CBS, you can you see, 46 percent of Republicans say, you know what, let the tax cuts continue for all Americans. But that number goes down to 25 percent for independent voters and only one in 10 Democrats say let the tax cuts expire -- extend the tax cuts for all Americans. So, definitely a partisan divide, here -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Paul.

All right, meantime we are waiting to hear from President Obama who is expected to make a statement, shortly, on a major new free trade deal between the U.S. and South Korea. A U.S. trade official says the tentative pact will boost U.S. exports by $1 billion. If ratified by Congress, the deal will eliminate tariffs on 95 percent of industrial and consumer goods within five years. It also calls on South Korea to reduce its tariff on American auto imports by half. That tariff is eliminated all together after five years of U.S. tariff on auto imports will remain place for five years.

All right, so, we understand now, right here, Mitch McConnell, let's listen in to what he has to say as a result of the defeat on these extensions of tax cuts.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: -- today, to make any progress on trying to resolve this very, very significant issue of whether or not we're going to raise tacks in the middle of the recession.

As you notice from the two votes, we had, downstairs, 100 percent of Republicans, and either four or five, I forget exactly which, Democrats also agree that this is not the time to be raising taxes on anybody.

In the meantime, discussions continue. I'm hopeful we'll be able to resolve this. I'm relatively confident that the end of this process will lead us to, I think, a very sensible decision not to raise taxes on anybody in the middle of a recession.

And we'll still discuss the length -- still discussing the length of that decision to not raise taxes. And I think that is a way to -- you know, I'm not admonishing all of you, but it does -- I find it a little tiresome that everybody keeps talking about tax cuts. The tax cut decisions were made a decade ago, we're not giving people anything they don't already have.

This is really a debate about tax increases, about whether it's a good idea to raise taxes on anybody in the middle of a recession. A hundred percent of Republicans think that's a bad idea, a reasonable number of Democrats think it's a bad idea. And I hope at the end of the day, that's where we end up.

I want to call on my friend and colleague, John Barrasso, for any observations he wants to make, and then we'll throw it open.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R), NEW YORK: The recent news is that the unemployment rate is now up from 9.6 to --

WHITFIELD: We'll continue to monitor the reaction there from the defeat of extending these Bush era tax cuts. Well, you heard Mitch McConnell say that the message is clear that no one, in his words, wants to see that there would be tax increases for anyone no matter what their income in the coming year and discussions on that, he says, will continue. Live look at Capitol Hill, right there.

Meantime, straight ahead, Katherine Schwarzenegger, get used to the name, you know the last name, well, she is a member of a powerful and famous family who has managed to empower herself by overcoming serious insecurities. Hard to believe that someone so lovely and from these bloodlines would have insecurities. Katherine Schwarzenegger tells me how she did it, face-to-face, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we are awaiting the president emerge, there, and he'll take the micro phones from the Executive Office at the White House to talk about a new major free trade deal between South Korea and the U.S. The president should be coming out momentarily. When he does, we'll take it live.

Meantime, severe insecurities and social anxieties, Katherine Schwarzenegger experienced al that growing up. But, unlike other young people, she had to do it in the spotlight as the daughter of two famous people, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and journalist, Maria Shriver. So Schwarzenegger emerged from those tough teen years with a healthy sense of self and a lot of information which she now shares in her book "Rock What You've Got."

In my face to face interview with the 20-year-old author I asked her why she was so insecure as a child.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So, it's "Rock what You've Got: Secrets to Loving Your Inner and Outer Beauty from Someone Who's been There and Back." I guess folks would be really perplexed to know that you've been there. Where is "there?"

KATHERINE SCHWARZENEGGER, AUTHOR: I had times of being insecurity and having doubts my appearance, like very girl does and you know, that's really what this entire book is about, it really shares all my experiences in middle school and elementary school and high school and even a little bit in college of, you know, stressing out about my appearance constantly and you know, going on every fad diet in order to be exactly like what's on the cover of a magazine. So, I really talk about everything, kind of want to let girls know they're not alone.

WHITFIELD: So, what provoked you to say, you know what, I want to put this in book form, I want to, you know, reach an audience of seven million young ladies and girls who don't feel good about themselves, who have eating disorders, in particular.

SCHWARZENEGGER: I did an internship at Dove, when they were coming out with their campaign for Real Beauty, which I thought was an amazing message, and one I had never seen anything like that before. So, I was inspired by that and I took a class at USC that talked about effects of media on young women, which I thought was interesting and really sad. And I have so many young girls in my family and young girls in my life and I know my experiences in high school of how much pressure is put on young women to be thin, to be beautiful all the time, to be over-sexualized at a young age. You can't be beautiful unless you look like what's on the cover of a magazine. And so I really wanted to kind of change that and let girls know you can be beautiful in your own beauty and your own size.

WHITFIELD: So, you mention, as early as elementary school, you started questioning your own beauty, looking in the mirror and not liking what you're seeing. You describe for me, what is it you were feeling or seeing and at what age?

SCHWARZENEGGER: I was 10, I was in 4th grade and that's how I start the book. And I was talking about a -- an instance where I had a temper tantrum with my mom and I felt like everything was terrible in my life and I was on an airplane and I wasn't doing well in school, because I wasn't doing well in math and I felt like I didn't have a lot of friends and that was the first time for me, that I noticed my body was different from another girl in my grade's body. And that really freaked me out. I didn't think I was pretty, I thought I was chubby and ugly and I think, you know, for a lot of young girls that's an age where that happened and even younger, now. So, it will continue to get younger unless we give this issue the proper attention that it needs.

WHITFIELD: So, your mom kind of read you, she saw something was wrong. Here you all were getting ready to go on a family trip, on a ski trip, everything is supposed to be happy, great, but there's something is going on with you. At what point does your mom reach over to you and try to make you rethink about the qualities about you, what you like, what you don't like.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I think I was talking to my mom about it and I was crying and I think she really realized that, you know, doing an exercise which she did with me where I write down what I like and I don't like about my life and mu body is the best way to go about this, because no matter how many times she told me I was beautiful and that I was smart, it didn't mean anything to me because I thought, as my mom she had to do that and that she was obligated to say those things as my mother.

So I think, you know, really writing everything down, in my opinion, and seeing how much longer the likes column is and the dislikes columns was a really eye-opening experience for me and one I would recommend every woman do.

WHITFIELD: Why do you suppose you didn't believe it? You would look at your mom, Maria Shriver, she's a very strong individual, she's beautiful, she's smart, and it's almost like looking in the mirror, is it not? But you were somehow looking at yourself and not seeing the same qualities that you endeared about your mom.

SCHWARZENEGGER: We, as women, we look in the mirror and we don't see what other people see. We automatically jump and only focus on the flaws, the things we wish we could change about ourselves, and I think that's really true for women of all ages. I was in 4th grade and I was doing exactly that. and I think, you know, to me, my mom wasn't Maria Shriver, the beautiful journalist, she was just my mom to me. And so, when she told me, you're beautiful, Katherine, I was like, yes, sure, whatever, you have to say that and I think that's what a lot of young girls think. And I really want young girls to know that if your mom is saying those things to you, it's important to believe it, because your mom wouldn't say you're doing a great job, you're really smart in school unless she believes it. So, I obviously didn't believe it when I was in 4th grade.

WHITFIELD: For your target audience, you're thinking about what young lady, or what young person when you were writing this book?

SCHWARZENEGGER: I was really thinking of every young girl who has ever felt insecure about their appearance and who will feel insecure about their appearance. But I think, you know, with this experience of meeting a lot of people and going to book signings and talking about this issue, I really realized that this is a book that's really a read for women of all ages. Body image is something that stays with women throughout their entire life. So a girl as young as six years old can read this book and then a woman as old as 75 can read this book, because every day you have to deal with this issue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So, only Katherine Schwarzenegger's siblings knows what it is to have the "Terminator" as dad. So, in part two of my face-to-face interview with Katherine Schwarzenegger, find out what it's like growing up with actor, bodybuilder, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as the father and how her instantly recognizable last night proved problematic in middle school. That's coming up, FACE TO FACE, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Convicted polygamist Warren Jeffs on the road. We'll tell you why he has been allowed to leave his prison cell in Utah and for where, next in our "Legal Briefs."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we're awaiting live comments coming from President Barack Obama from that podium, right there, in the Executive Office building and near the White House. He should be coming out momentarily. He's going to be talking about a major new free trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea. Major differences on tariffs, on exports of South Korean products, as well as, some interesting perks for imports of auto parts, American auto parts.

Well, there's the President, right now. Let's listen in.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today I want to speak briefly about two issues that matter most to me and matter most to the American people: Creating jobs and economic growth on which our country's prosperity depends.

Yesterday's job report showed that despite 11 consecutive months of private sector job growth, despite creating more than one million private sector jobs this year, it's not enough. We have to do more to accelerate the economic recovery and create jobs for the millions of Americans still looking for work.

And essential to that effort is opening new markets around the world to products that are made in America, because we don't simply want to be an economy that consumes other countries goods, we want to be building and exporting the good that create jobs here in America and that keeps the United States completive in the 21st century. That's why today I am very pleased that the United States and South Korea have reached agreement on a landmark trade deal between our two countries.

I'm joined this morning by my outstanding U.S. trade representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk, as well as Michael Forman (ph), who is one of our lead negotiators. As you'll remember, we did not finalize the agreement on my recent trip to South Korea and I didn't agree to it then for one simple reason, the deal wasn't good enough. It wasn't good enough for the American economy and it wasn't good enough for American workers.

As I said in Seoul, I'm not interested in signing trade agreements for the sake of signing trade agreements. I'm interested in agreements that increase jobs and exports for the American people and that also help our partners grow their economies.

So, I told Ron and our team to take time and get this right and get the best deal for America and that is what they have done. The agreement we're announcing today includes several important improvements and achieves what I believe trade deals must do, it's a win-win for both our countries.

This deal is a win for American workers, for our farmers and ranchers, it will increase exports of American agriculture products. From aerospace to electronics, it will increase our manufacturing exports to Korea, which already supports some 200,000 American jobs and many small businesses, in particular, manufacturers of American cars and trucks will have much more access to the Korean market, will encourage the development of electric cars and green technology in the United States and will continue to ensure a level playing field for American automakers, here at home.

In short, the tariff reductions in this agreement alone are expected to boost annual exports of American goods by up to $11 billion. And all told, this agreement, including the opening of the Korean services market, will support at least 70,000 American jobs. It will contribute significantly to achieving my goal of doubling U.S. exports over the next five years. In fact, it's estimated that today's deal alone will increase American economic output by more than our last nine free trade agreements combined.

This deal is also a win for our ally and friend, South Korea. They will gain greater access to our markets and make American products more affordable for Korean households and businesses, resulting in more choices for Korean consumers and more jobs for Americans. I would add that today is also a win for the strong alliance between the United States and South Korea, which for a decade says, in short, that the security that has maintained stability on the peninsula continues. It's also allowed South Korea its extraordinary rise from poverty to prosperity. At a time in which there are increasing tensions on the Korean peninsula, following the north's unprovoked attack on the South Korean people, today we are showing that the defense alliance and partnership of the United States and South Korea is stronger than ever.

I'm especially pleased this agreement includes groundbreaking protections for workers rights and for the environment. In this sense, it's an example of the kind of fair trade agreement that I will continue to work for as President, in Asia and around the world.

This agreement also shows the United States of America is determined to lead and compete in our global economy. We're going to stand up for American companies and American workers who are among the most productive and innovative in the world. We're going to compete aggressively for the jobs and markets of the 21st century.

Reaching this agreement was not easy, but I want to give special thanks to my partner, South Korean President Lee, for his commitment to a successful outcome. And again, I want to thank Ron and Mike for their outstanding work and their entire team for their tireless efforts. They were up late a lot of nights, over the last several months.

We're going to continue to work with our Korean partners to fully implement this agreement and build on our progress in other areas such as ensuring full access for U.S. beef to the Korean market. And I look forward to working with Congress and leaders in both parties to approve this pact, because if there's one thing Democrats and Republicans should be able to agree on, it should be creating jobs and opportunity for our people.

Which brings me to the other issue I want to address. Earlier today, the Senate voted on two provisions to extend tax cuts for the middle class. And I'll admit, I'm very disappointed that the Senate did not pass legislation that had already passed the House of Representatives to make middle class tax cuts permanent. Those provisions should have passed. I continue to believe that it makes no sense to hold tax cuts for the middle class hostage to permanent tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans, especially when those high income tax cuts would cost an additional $700 billion, that we don't have and would add to our deficit.

But with so much at stake, today's votes cannot be the end of the discussion. It is absolutely essential to our hardworking middle class families and to our economy to make sure that their taxes don't go up on January 1. I've spoken with the Democratic leadership in Congress, and I look forward to speaking with the Republican leadership, as well and my message to them is going to be the same -- we need to redouble our efforts to resolve this impasse in the next few days, to give the American people the peace of mind that their taxes will not go up on January 1. It will require some compromise, but I'm confident that we can get it done. And the American people should expect no less.

As we work our way through this issue, we must not forget that last week some two million Americans who lost their jobs also saw their unemployment insurance expire right in the middle of the holiday season. And that's not how we should do business here in America. I believe it is simply wrong to even consider giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans while denying relief to so many Americans who desperately need it and who have lost jobs through no fault of their own.

So we are going to continue to work on this issue through the weekend, into early next week. And I'm going to be rolling up my sleeves with the leaders of both parties in Congress. We need to get this resolved and I'm confident we can do it.

Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Mr. President --

WHITFIELD: All right, President Barack Obama there expressing his sentiments on two major issues. One he says, a win situation for Americans on the new agreement, trade agreement with South Korea. The other taking place on Capitol Hill today a defeat on the extension of tax cuts particularly as it pertains to the middle class. He's very disappointed that the middle class will not be getting a break based on the vote taking place today, something that passed in the House that did not pass in the Senate.

He's hoping that by working throughout this weekend and into next week that maybe there might be some sort of agreement that comes about. Our White House correspondent Ed Henry is joining us right now on the phone from Washington.

So let's begin with the defeat that President Obama is talking about being a big disappointment, then we'll move onto what he considers a real high point. First, on Capitol Hill, what happened?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Actually, it's really not a surprise what happened on the Hill. I've been told in private by senior Democratic officials the president and make of his top aides have been urging them to move on from largely symbolic votes, basically saying, look, let's fully extend middle class tax cuts and not worry about the cuts for the rich right now.

They know they don't have Republican votes to pass it on a bipartisan basis but they are trying to carve out an issue where they can say, look, Democrats are for middle class tax cuts and Republicans are not. They are fighting and it's not going to pass the Senate. I

think what we saw there was the president giving a deadline. I want this done, rolling up my sleeves. He's trying to show coming out of the election and the summit with Democrat and Republicans leaders that he's ready to cut some sort of deal on taxes.

What Democrats on the Hill are very nervous about is that this president may cut a deal that basically extends all tax cuts, tax cuts for the middle class and tax cuts for the rich. He's running against a deadline of December 31st where nothing passes all those Bush tax cuts will go up. They will feel like there are increases across the board. That's a big blow for the president.

Bottom line, we'll probably see a deal in the next few days likely to be extending all of the Bush tax rates both for the middle class and the rich because frankly the government doesn't have much more maneuver room right now -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Now let's talk about what he says will help boost the economy especially as it pertains to job by this new agreement with South Korea, one that he says won nailed down while in Asia. He said they had to work a little bit more in order to finally come to terms now.

HENRY: You're right. I think you could boil this whole story down to the one word used, jobs. You had the unemployment number surprisingly worse than expected bringing the unemployment rate close to 9.8 percent, dangerously close to double digits, an impressive string of consecutive months of over 9 percent unemployment, now close to double digits. It's awful for the country but awful for the president as well.

He's looking for ways to create jobs here with this South Korean trade agreement he hopes it will create tens of thousands of jobs. He feels this will turn around.

You know what, Republicans agree with him. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell put out a statement saying this deal will promote economic activity and private sector job creation. I haven't heard McConnell say that about an Obama policy at all in the last two years. Maybe not a single time. I

think the fact you've got Republican leaders behind this trade deal despite some opposition from liberals still feel it's not fair to organized labor and workers in the U.S. By and large with the business community behind it, with Republican leaders on the Hill behind it, the president is likely to put this through Congress. It still has to get through Congress. This is something it can point to a victory in the long run will create jobs for Americans pt right now given the economic situation, that's a big win for the president.

WHITFIELD: Senior correspondent Ed Henry, thanks so much working Saturday for you. We know it's a working day for you all the time. A working Saturday for the president of the United States as well members of Congress as well.

When we come back, we'll talk about nasty winter weather that's causing a few problems especially as it pertains to flight cancellations today. That's coming up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Something tells me this will be a brutal winter. It's fall and it's very much winter in a lot of places. REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It really is. You know the last couple days we've been talking about issues they've had in Buffalo, New York but now on the other side of the Great Lakes especially in places like Chicago, the snow is beginning to calm down in earnest. They're only expecting about two inches of snowfall today. However, I've got to tell you, that amount has already caused over 300 flight cancellations out of O'Hare.

Speaking of O'Hare, take a look. It's almost impossible to see because the snow is so heavy at this point. You can see the roadway there in the foreground. But in the background it's all just white. That is where O'Hare Airport, I guarantee through the snow is still there. The snow expected to continue through a good part.

Delays, do we have them? You better believe it. We mentioned the problems you're going to have in Chicago, in other places all due to the snow. You're going to have issues in Cleveland, back in Cincinnati. Snow might be a little bit of a problem in places like Salt Lake City but Salt Lake City also affected by some of the low clouds, 30 to 60 minute wait for Cleveland and Cincinnati but Chicago had cancelations, over 300, that's not exactly the way you want to start your Saturday.

WHITFIELD: That's kind of a drag.

WOLF: Just slightly, just a little bit. Should be better by Monday.

WHITFIELD: Maybe it will get better just in time to go to work, smooth sailing. All right. Reynolds. Appreciate it. Have a great rest of the weekend. I know you will.

Donald Trump has a lawsuit out there over airplane noise, apparently it's not going away quietly. Our legal guys take up that case and more next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Fresh arrest warrants out for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange but not for his web site's latest spill of classified government files but rather on rape charges out of Sweden.

Our legal guys are here to talk about this. Civil rights attorney Avery Friedman, criminal defense attorney Richard Herman, both professors here, good to see you all.

Wait a minute. Didn't Sweden try this before a few months ago, Richard and Avery and it didn't work? Now Interpol is involved. What's the difference here? Avery, you first?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: The warrant from Sweden has now been sent over to Interpol. That means they will take a look for him using other international law enforcement. I think they will get this guy and then again once he's in custody face off to the questions of the implication of these leaks which are very, very serious. WHITFIELD: Then Richard, I understand the attorney general, Eric Holder in this country is also considering are there charges they can impose on him in the U.S.? What's at issue? What's he weighing?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He's weighing the fact there are no charges they can bring against this guy. Absolutely not, Fred. Look, we had a sampling of this five months ago. Since then, the Justice Department, Congress has done nothing to enact laws for these types of behaviors.

This is unchartered area, uncharted waters in the legal industry. They cannot prosecute him intelligently and get a conviction. They have to prove he's in contact with a foreign power that he intentionally sought this information and provided these secrets to a foreign power. All he did was get it from an alleged private first class who gave this information up and posted it on a website. That's what this guy did.

WHITFIELD: Posted it to the world. Wouldn't that also be exposure to that foreign power?

FRIEDMAN: That's right. That's right. Yes --

HERMAN: It has to be a secret.

FRIEDMAN: It does not. It has to be willful, doesn't have to be secret. There's a 1917 espionage act if we can get jurisdiction. On that part I agree. The fact is once we get it, and we will, I'm satisfied that some, not all, of the materials he's disseminated constitute treason. I think Holder's doing the right thing by looking into this prosecution.

WHITFIELD: OK. Interesting enough.

Let's talk about Donald Trump now, Palm Beach, his resort and club and he says you know what, the noise from the West Palm International Airport is disturbing my members and everybody's enjoyment who takes advantage of Mar-a-Lago, so he's suing.

For what, Richard? He's asking for the city or for West Palm Beach to do what, no flying?

HERMAN: He's done that before. I think he's afraid of the wind gust moving that comb-over.

WHITFIELD: You didn't have to do that.

FRIEDMAN: I knew that was coming. We knew that was coming.

HERMAN: Had to. Had to.

FRIEDMAN: I actually think --

WHITFIELD: Go ahead, Richard.

HERMAN: I think Palm Beach, Florida is beautiful. The airport is a stone's throw away from the ocean. The breezes come of the ocean. The planes have to come in that way, out that way, for the safety of passengers.

WHITFIELD: They have been flying that way for a long time, haven't they?

FRIEDMAN: Look, this is a 62-page subprime lawsuit. You know something, who controls the airlines? The airlines and the FAA. This suit is brought in state court claiming that the airport director, listen to this, engaged in intentional battery against the Donald. The judge correctly threw the case out. Ultimately if he's serious -- yes, it was thrown out this week. Ultimately it winds up in federal court and it will again be thrown out. This is a guy with a lot of money throwing his weight around and going nowhere.

WHITFIELD: OK. Now let's talk about the biggest loser the television show. The show isn't on the defense, it's a fan of the show that says they watch religiously and they were very enticed by this product used on the show, a particular salad dressing. After doing her own research, Paige Cooperman said she found this salad dressing is not as low in fat and low in sodium as the company, the California company professes it to be. She is now launching a lawsuit.

Richard, where does this one go?

HERMAN: You have a picture of Paige, Fred? I don't know. Do they have a picture here? It's not the salad dressing. It's not the salad dressing. It's the 10 gallons of ice cream and the doughnuts, please. It will be a battle of experts. The company says they can prove it contains this amount of sodium, this amount of fat. The other side says no. Is there a lawsuit? Probably a lawsuit. It's a waste of time. Listen, stop eating, Paige, lose weight. Get on the treadmill.

WHITFIELD: Shouldn't the show be taking issue with the salad dressing company and not a fan of the show? Why wouldn't the show take the same kind of recourse as Miss Paige.

FRIEDMAN: That's a wonderful question but the show isn't responsible for how this salad dressing is being marketed. The fact is that Paige Cooperman and the class she represents are basically claiming they are battling a weight issue and they're getting fatter because of this salad dressing.

The fact is, it is a class action. It's kind of silly but there is some merit to it. If there's substantial testing to overcome it, bottom line she actually has a chance. They are suing for $5 million, Fredricka. I don't think it's going to happen. But it's truth in advertising. I know. Class action, guys.

WHITFIELD: We'll see where it goes. Avery, Richard, thanks so much. Sorry we had to cut things short a little bit, but, you know, the president when he speaks, we take.

FRIEDMAN: We understand. HERMAN: Tell him he can't interrupt us next time.

WHITFIELD: I know. Doesn't he know our schedule? We'll have to make a call. Avery, Richard --

HERMAN: I have contacts, you have contacts.

WHITFIELD: Apparently not. All right, Richard, Avery, thanks so much. Have a great one. Appreciate it.

FRIEDMAN: Take care.

WHITFIELD: All right. The government has a plan that could block websites from tracking you. The story straight ahead.

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WHITFIELD: When you surf online, companies often keep track of you. Did you know that? The government is proposing a plan that actually could stop them.

Josh Levs is with us now, the details on that.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's interesting Fred. It's from the FTC. They are calling it a do not track plan. You know it's like those do not call lists out there that block telemarketers from calling you at a certain time. The idea is could you get companies to stop following you online. They track your whereabouts and they give you ads that track that meet up where you've been.

Well, this is the name of it, do not track and take a look here. This is what it would be. It would basically be a software add on that you could then install onto your browser to block websites for collecting information about where you go. It would need Congressional approval so they can't just make it happen.

This is the pros here. First of all, it would allow consumers to control who is tracking them. You could allow someone to track you, if you want. It would put the responsibility, the burden on companies out there to make sure they are following rules. It would shift the burden that way.

These are major reasons against it. You have to think about the cost of it. Billions of dollars in commerce happen now online in this country and around the world because of the system in which their advertisers who can see where you go, advertise products you want, you then buy it. It would put a lot of dollars at risk.

Also, it would remove a major incentive for websites to be free. Right now they are free because they allow advertisers to reach you. If they don't know where you've been, advertisers would have less reason to be there, boom, it would put that at risk.

We want to know what you think about all this. We have people weighing in on Facebook and twitter at Josh Levs CNN. So that's the basic idea Fred. We have the story up there for you, too. It's interesting to see, will be interesting to see where this goes from here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Josh, thanks so much. You always make us smarter. Appreciate that so much. See you later on.

There are other major concerns about safeguarding our privacy, to find out what they are and what's being done, tune in next week for a special CNN initiative, "END OF PRIVACY."

Imagine this, you're trapped inside a skyscraper with no way out. It's frightening to think about it but an investor believes he's found a solution. Gary Tuchman has this "Edge of Discovery."

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since September 11th, 2001, Dr. Kevin Stone has been thinking about the rescue challenges of tall buildings.

DR. KEVIN STONE, DEVELOPED RESCUE REEL: Right now if you're in a disaster, fire, earthquake, your choices are to get down the stairwell or to the roof. Tall buildings will often get filled with people and the stairwells essentially become unusable.

TUCHMAN: Stone's solution is called the rescue reel. He says the small system is intuitive and easy to use.

STONE: Hook it to something that wouldn't go out the window such as the door or a desk or a hook. Get into a universal harness, clip it to the device and lower themselves to the ground. A non-trained person will be able to safely get out of the building in under 10 to 15 seconds.

TUCHMAN: Designed for buildings under 100 stories, Stone thinks rescue reels could one day be as common as fire extinguishers and sprinkler systems.

STONE: As we build taller and taller buildings, the likelihood of rescue departments getting people out of tall buildings safely is going down rather than going up.

TUCHMAN: He says a commercial version of the device should be ready in time for the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

Gary Tuchman, CNN.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Time for "CNN Equals Politics" update, keeping an eye on all the latest headlines at CNNPolitics.com Desk.

Recount results in Minnesota confirm that Democrat Mark Dayton has won the bid to be the state's next governor. The results show Dayton defeating Republican Tom Emmer by about 8700 votes. And Michigan's Sal Anuzis has picked up support for his bid to replace Michael Steele as Republican national chairman. He has been endorsed by Michigan's Republican Congressional Delegation. Saving money on holiday shopping. We've got some great tips coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM at 2:00 Eastern Time.

Then, what would it be like to be locked away with only social media as your life line to the outside world. The woman who did it tells us why she did it at 3:00 and whether they liked it.

And at 4:00 Eastern find out what new movies are worth your box office buck