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Democrats in Revolt?; WikiLeaks Founder Under Fire
Aired December 06, 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: Check this video out with me.
This is video we actually just got in. And I'm going to walk you through this wild -- this is a football tailgate, obviously some sort of melee, with the college student who shot this whole thing, the college student behind the camera. I'm going to be talking to him.
He's going to tell me how this whole thing got going, what happened with these rowdy fan, who obviously got out of control. This was the Rose Bowl. This was a couple hours before the Rose Bowl big game, USC/UCLA, right, Friday afternoon at the Rose Bowl.
This takes, you know, college rivalry to a whole new level. A couple of people were stabbed. A couple of police officers were injured. Obviously, it got ugly. We're going to go there in just a moment.
But, first, let's look at a calendar -- 25 days here, 25 days and counting. What happens in 25 days? Your taxes, my taxes, everybody's taxes going to go up.
And I have breaking news for you right now. You see the president getting off Air Force One? He's been in North Carolina talking economy, back in Washington, about to enter into this meeting with congressional Democrats, who appear to be close to a full-scale revolt over possible deal-making with the Republicans.
Brianna Keilar is breaking the news for us this afternoon.
And, Brianna, what do you know?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Three-thirty p.m. at the White House -- we're just learning this, Brooke -- President Obama is going to be meeting with the number-two -- or number-one and number-two Democrat -- Democrats in the House and the Senate, so, Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, Speaker Pelosi and Steny Hoyer.
And at this moment, you have Democrats, especially House Democrats, who are really pushing back on the White House. House Democrats, top House Democrats, have been meeting with Vice President Biden during the last hour. And I spoke with a Democratic congressional aide who told me one of the messages they're trying to impart to the White House is -- quote -- "We won't rubber-stamp a deal between you and Mitch McConnell," who is the top Republican in the Senate, "and we make it clear, don't take our support for granted." So, what is this aide talking about here? Well, right now, it seems that negotiations are leaning towards extending those Bush era tax cuts for all Americans, including wealthy Americans, and then pairing that with a sweetener for Democrats, a Democratic priority, which is extending unemployment benefits for longtime unemployed Americans.
And you have a lot of Democrats who say, great, we want that, but that's not enough. And that's what we're hearing from some of these Democrats, who are at the White House as we speak, Brooke.
BALDWIN: So, Brianna, if the Democrats who will be at the White House do not want to rubber-stamp this compromise, what are they have willing to agree to? Do we know?
KEILAR: They -- they want more. They want more tax cuts that they can say target specifically the middle class, folks who are making around $250,000 for a couple and less.
And they say extending tax cuts for everyone isn't sending that message. So, they want more than just extending unemployment benefits and extending tax cuts for everyone -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Got it. Brianna Keilar doing the digging for us from Capitol Hill -- Brianna, thank you.
And I want to hold that thought on tax cuts, again, 25 days and counting, tax discussions happening right now. But I want to let you hear from the Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke. Did you watch him last night? Did you hear what he said? He talked about the debt. Take a listen to this if you would.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "60 MINUTES")
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: -- looking at 10, 15, 20 years from now a situation where almost the entire federal budget will be spent on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest on the debt. There won't be any money left for the military or for any other services the government provides.
And we can only address those issues if we begin to think about them now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Did you hear him, Ben Bernanke? So he said, as soon as 10, 15, 20 years, we're basically toast.
Roger, let's re-rack. Play it again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "60 MINUTES")
BERNANKE: We're looking at 10, 15, 20 years from now a situation where almost the entire federal budget will be spent on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest on the debt. There won't be any money left for the military or for any other services the government provides.
And we can only address those issues if we begin to think about them now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So here's one thing everybody seems to agree on. We need to tackle the national debt.
You know the number now. It's approaching $14 trillion. That is a huge, huge number. In fact, we talked a lot about this last week. Remember, the debt commission, they met. They voted Friday. They are the ones who are calling for belt-tightening measures across the board to cut the federal debt by $3.8 trillion.
And the commissioners, they all agree it's going to be a painful process to -- to try to do that. There's the number, the $13-plus trillion just ticking up. So, here's the thing. We did some digging today on our end on the debt and on taxes.
And here's what we found. Take a look at this with me. According to the Tax Policy Center, extending the tax cut over 10 years will add -- Are you ready for this? -- $3.6 trillion to that debt.
So, let me break it down even further. That is $3 trillion just for the middle class and more than half-a-trillion dollars if the wealthiest 2 percent get their cuts as well.
So, I want to bring in Ali Velshi. Here is here with us, our anchor and also our chief business correspondent. And also from Washington, we have Stephen Moore. He's the senior economy writer for "The Wall Street Journal."
So, gentlemen, let's just get going here. You saw those numbers.
If we're concerned at all about the debt, which is, you know, fast approaching that $14 trillion number, how can we afford a tax cut for anyone?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the only way you could afford this -- I'm going to jump in just to get Stephen's blood boiling a little bit.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Go for it.
VELSHI: The only way we afford this -- you can't lower taxes and cut deficits and debt unless there is economic growth.
We don't have enough economic growth just yet to justify this. So the issue is all of those people that Stephen is about to tell you who are going to spend lots of money and create jobs if we extend the tax cuts, the tax rate for them will be exactly the same as it is today and last year and the year before and the year before that. They haven't spent the money. They haven't created the job, and nothing will change for them in January.
So, I'm not quite sure, Stephen, what --
BALDWIN: Stephen?
VELSHI: -- the argument is.
BALDWIN: Stephen, jump in. Do you agree?
STEPHEN MOORE, SENIOR ECONOMIC WRITER, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, first of all, I think it's important for your viewers to understand we're not talking about a tax cut here.
BALDWIN: Right.
MOORE: We're just talking about keeping the tax rates where they are and preventing --
BALDWIN: Extending what they are.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: Yes, preventing a big tax increase next year. That's number one.
Number two, I actually agree with you, Ali. I agree with you quite a bit that we have to get this economy moving. And if we don't get back to 3, 4, 5 percent growth in the economy, we're not going to get this deficit down, because you just don't produce enough corporate profits, enough workers paying taxes to bring the deficit down.
So, that's why I think it's so important to keep those tax reductions in place, so that we -- we have a fertile environment for investment. By the way, we -- we haven't even talked about the most important thing, though. And that is --
BALDWIN: Which is?
MOORE: -- we have to start cutting government spending. We have been on a blowout under the Bush administrations and now under the Obama administration for 10 years now. I think what the voters were saying in November is, let's stop the spending.
BALDWIN: Let me jump in, because we have another graphic, before we even talk government spending, because that's a whole other conversation.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: I want to show our viewers. We have this other graphic. So, this is what we actually took from Fareed Zakaria.
VELSHI: Mm-hmm.
BALDWIN: Each shows the effect specifically the Bush tax cuts have on our national debt.
So, walk -- Ali Velshi, walk me --
VELSHI: Yes.
BALDWIN: -- through what this is.
VELSHI: OK.
So, that whole -- that whole big chunk, that whole big belt there --
BALDWIN: That wave.
VELSHI: -- that wave is all of the deficit and how we see it increasing until -- you know, until 2019. It goes further than that, but that's what you see.
The red in the middle is the effect of the Bush era tax cuts. And as you can see right now on the left of the screen, it's a small piece of it, maybe a quarter of the deficit. Look how it increases. Look how it ends up stretching out.
BALDWIN: It gets much wider.
VELSHI: That's everybody's tax cuts, by the way. That's the middle class and the top end.
The issue is that most people in the country have agreed to extend the tax cuts for the middle class. That, we have -- we have agreed on. Some people don't think it's a good idea. The issue is that --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: The top 2 percent
VELSHI: That top 2 percent, that's very, very expensive, and we are not sure that they will all take that money that they don't pay in taxes and somehow invest it in a way that will goose the economy.
BALDWIN: Stephen Moore, what do you say? Should we -- should --
MOORE: Well --
BALDWIN: -- the country extend them to all, because some people say, look, the rich don't need a break. And others say, yes, you know, make sure you extend those to the top 2 percent. We need to keep the businesses. We need to keep the money flowing.
What do you -- well, do you agree with that?
MOORE: Also, you know, we're living in a global economy right now. Ali knows that. He covers that every day. And we're in global competition with countries from Ireland to Switzerland to Asia. And what my evidence shows very clearly is when you -- if you raise tax rates when the rest of the world is cutting them, you're going to lose capital in this country and it's going to flow to other countries.
The other point about all the money that this is going to -- quote -- "cost," it's interesting to look at the actual historical data. From 2003 to 2007, when we actually put in place those tax rate reductions, we actually got more federal tax revenues than any time over a four-year period in American history.
VELSHI: But we had a booming economy.
MOORE: That's -- that's the point.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: But those two things were connected, Ali.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: The booming economy, I think, was connected with the fact that we lowered those tax rates. That's what a lot of the advocates of the tax cut in the first place said. We will grow the economy faster. We will get more revenues. And so I don't --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: If you're right. I hope you're right.
MOORE: Go ahead.
VELSHI: If you're wrong, the problem is, what we're going to end up doing is getting -- digging this hole deeper and not goosing the economy.
You know, Stephen, how much money is sitting on the sidelines right now --
MOORE: Yes.
VELSHI: -- with American companies. Some estimates are $3 trillion that is there and ready to be deployed, and no one will deploy it because the demand is not there. We might just cause that problem.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: How is the president different, because when you look at Bill Clinton, right -- so, he raised taxes. I think this is what you're referencing. And after that, the economy took off.
But then you have, under the next president, President Bush, he cut taxes, and the economy didn't look so great. Right now, we know what the president has done so far. We had a recession quite a bit of time, but now the big concern is jobs. VELSHI: Right. And one of these things -- and Stephen will know this -- is that when you raise or lower taxes, there's a lag in the effect. So the fact is it's hard to tie a president to what happened.
It's -- there are a few things at play. So, low taxes or high taxes come into play, economic growth, how much unemployment you have. Right now, we have a perfect storm of a lot of bad stuff. And that's part of the problem. If you have a perfect storm of bad stuff and then you dig your deficit hole a little deeper, two things could happen. You extend these tax cuts -- and maybe what Stephen says is right -- people will invest. They will take that money that they're thankful to not paying to the government --
MOORE: It's also true, by the way --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Go ahead.
BALDWIN: Go ahead, Stephen.
MOORE: One other thing is, you know, if you look at that period, though, you said that, when we cut those taxes, it didn't help the economy. That's just not true.
If you look at the four-year period, again, from '03 to '07, before the real estate bubble burst, we created eight million jobs. Wouldn't that be wonderful if, over the next four years, we could create eight million jobs? That would get us out of this hole.
VELSHI: We also fed that. We also fed that with a lot of free money and a lot of cheap money, which is what we're doing now.
MOORE: Well, there -- that is true, Ali. There was a lot of -- interest rates were too low, no doubt about it.
But the good news is that it does look like this deal is going to get done. I think it's going to have a positive effect on the economy and the stock market over the course of the next few months. And I'm much more positive about the economy this week than I was a week ago because of this deal being struck.
BALDWIN: And I'm leaving it there because I like having good news. I like thinking positive.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: He's going to wear his party hat the next time he's on TV.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: I don't know Ali is so happy, but I am.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Hey, you guys agreed. How about that?
VELSHI: We do. He's a good guy.
BALDWIN: Stephen, Stephen Moore, thank you so much --
MOORE: Thank you so much.
BALDWIN: -- Ali Velshi, and also to Brianna Keilar of course on Capitol Hill for breaking that news with us.
Gentlemen, thank you.
VELSHI: All right.
BALDWIN: Also, let me get this to you now. I'm being told about breaking news. According to the BBC and Reuters, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, and his legal team, they're apparently in the process of arranging a meeting with the police in U.K.
But Assange's attorney did tell the BBC that his client has not yet been charged with anything. That is the latest we have, but, again, on the founder, Julian Assange, of WikiLeaks. We're making calls on that. And as soon as we get more information about his whereabouts and possibly an arrest, we will bring that to you.
Also, the college brawl caught on video. Look at this, fights breaking out everywhere over the weekend. In fact, at some point someone -- look at them back and forth -- at some point, someone whipped out a knife. You're going to see the video. I'm going to talk to the witness who shot this whole thing. Why did it start? That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM.
The big chill, maybe you're experiencing it. It's happening across much of the country. And I know, I know, it's December. It's supposed to be cold for a lot us, but, really, 25-degrees-below-normal cold?
Take a look with me. I'm going to show you some pictures from Upstate New York. This is near Buffalo. And that is a mobile home, or kind of was one. It's under a ton of snow. The area got about three feet over the course of a two-day stretch last week. They are obviously still digging out, recovering from this. And it looks like the roof -- look at this now no top -- could -- could collapse. The snow is apparently just heavy there. The trailer, by the way, has now been condemned.
And one of our iReporters in Buffalo good enough to -- good enough to send us in this picture.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: He's got to be kind of cold. That is him chest-deep in the snow. How do you get out of that? He says he went for a walk in the backyard, fell into a snowbank and just got stuck. And he was having fun.
Road crews, not so much. Buffalo's mayor says they are still trying to get all of the snow cleaned up. Crews were hauling out 700 dump trucks. That is quite a fleet -- 700 dump trucks full of snow by Saturday afternoon.
And here's what they have been dealing with in South Bend, Indiana. It does not look like fun. There is a lake-effect snow warning there for several counties around South Bend today, and some rural school districts got a late start this morning.
But it wasn't all too bad. There's Santa Claus, some ice skating happening. So, that's not -- not awful, way to turn things around. And also, though, in Chicago, snow there, and this time of year, look, not a huge surprise. It was only a couple of inches, good enough for a good snowman or two.
But, at O'Hare, it did slow things down a bit,. we're told. More than 300 flights were canceled over the weekend. And the National Weather Service says Chicago could get more snow on Thursday or Friday.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been meeting with her Japanese and her South -- South Korean counterparts to discuss a coordinated response to North Korea's recent aggression against South Korea. So, we are expected to hear from Secretary Clinton soon.
And will our taxes go up in the new year, or is Congress close to reaching a deal on extending the Bush era tax cuts that Ali and I were just talking about? That is what a lot of you are thinking about, talking about. Jessica Yellin, she is back off her vacation. We're bringing her back to D.C. She has the latest with the political issues of the day, starting with taxes. Jessica is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Want to take you back to this story we brought at the top of the hour. CNN's Brianna Keilar reporting for us from Capitol Hill that congressional Democrats may be revolting against the White House now, saying they will not rubber-stamp just any White House deal with the Republicans on tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
The president has just returned to the White House from a trip to North Carolina. And that meeting is supposed to happen at any moment now. We're hearing maybe 10 or so minutes from now. There he is walking on to the lawn heading into the White House, where he will be joined by a couple of top Democrats.
Now, I want to give you a quick taste of what these congressional Democrats, what they're specifically saying. This is New York Democrat Chuck Schumer speaking over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: The highest income brackets, God bless them, have done very well over the last decade. And their dollars should go to deficit reduction. That is how we feel.
The other party seems to feel that tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires is the most important thing this nation can do. And we are going to continue this fight until we achieve our goal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Key words there, no tax cut for the wealthy, and, even furthermore, Schumer is saying he won't stop fighting.
The president, on the other hand, is talking compromise with the Republicans.
I want to bring in Jessica Yellin, fresh off her weeklong vacation.
We missed this, Ms. Yellin --
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: -- national political correspondent.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: And my question, I guess, is this. Is this turning into this growing split between the White House and these congressional Democrats, Jess?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brooke, it is. It's a big split between the White House and congressional Democrats.
And here's the broad strokes. The White House needs to get this issue resolved so they can move on to other priorities before this lame-duck session ends. And, look, the president doesn't want to be accused of doing nothing and letting taxes go up on everyone.
But many, many Democrats think that this is an issue on which he should go to the mat and fight Republicans, so that they just extend tax cuts for the middle class, not the wealthy. And those Democrats are saying, look, the White House is caving too easily here and if they give in while the Democrats are still in control of the House, they're asking, how much worse will it be next year, when Republicans are in power?
BALDWIN: Huh.
So, do these congressional Democrats, do they feel like they have a winner now on the tax cut issue? Is the White House erring on bargaining with the Republicans? How are they seeing it?
YELLIN: Well, yes. The Democrats -- the congressional Democrats, many of them certainly think that they have a winning political issue by holding the line on this. They think the president should stand and fight Republicans, even if it means risking letting the tax cuts expire entirely and making it a bigger issue next year.
So, many of these critics, Democratic critics, are stupefied that the president would break a campaign promise and basically endorse George W. Bush's signature economic policy. Those Democrats think the president will suffer for it when he runs for reelection.
Obviously, the White House, which, again, wants to go to other priorities this year, they're making a different calculation, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Well, I think, obviously, the big question is, we're hearing a compromise is more or less likely. The question is how temporary. And we're hearing maybe two years, which, in two years, we know, Jessica Yellin, is 2012.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: That is presidential election time.
So let's talk timing. I mean, what's in it if they choose to extend these for two years, will that be a good thing come reelecting President Obama, or will that be a good thing for Republicans, saying, hey, we need to stop this?
YELLIN: That's the crux of the debate.
So, these -- the president's Democratic critics think, let's say make this an issue in two years. Let's fight it and object all the way and make this the key issue, one of the key issues in the reelection campaign for President Barack Obama. Obviously, it's going to be an issue, no matter what, because, if it's extended for two years, both sides are going to be talking about it when he runs for reelection.
BALDWIN: Absolutely. They will indeed.
Jessica Yellin, thank you so much.
It is one of the largest class-action lawsuits in history. Have you heard about this? Wal-Mart is at the center of this whole thing. But this decision could affect your office and whether you get a promotion. That is ahead.
Also, Attorney General Eric Holder says the founder of WikiLeaks is threatening the lives of Americans. And so he's got a new warning for that guy on the right side of that screen, Julian Assange. What is that? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Want to hit you up with a couple top stories topping the news this hour.
First, this man. Who is he? This is the head of Iran's atomic energy department. He's important because he announced a couple of hours ago that his country is now capable of producing yellow cake. What is that? That is the uranium ore that is needed to run a nuclear power plant, and what Iran has been barred from importing because of U.N. sanctions.
So, this is huge, because, if it's true, it means Iran is now self-sufficient as far as nuclear power production is concerned and can press ahead with a nuclear program. Iran has long claimed it only wants to produce electricity. But the international community has its doubts. Iranian officials sat down today with representatives from the U.S. and other nations in Geneva to discuss this yellow cake development.
And the U.S. government actively going after the Web site WikiLeaks. This is Attorney General Eric Holder today announcing he has set into motion what he is calling significant action again the site and its founder, Julian Assange.
Now, Holder was not specific about what exactly he authorized, but he did say WikiLeaks put national security at risk and he intends to hold people accountable.
The Web site has published a stack of sensitive U.S. documents. And Assange is wanted in Europe. We're still awaiting confirmation of reports that came in just a couple minutes ago, reports that Assange and his lawyers are in the process of arranging some kind of meeting with British police.
So, that's a huge development, if in fact that's the case. We're going to let you know as soon as there is something more we can report here at CNN.
And this is one of the largest class-action lawsuits in American history, and it's now reached all the way to the nation's highest court, United States Supreme Court.
This is a case that accuses retail giant Wal-Mart of discriminating against women in its pay and advancement structure. Now, that is not the issue before the justices just yet, but they're going to hear some arguments over a lower court ruling that created the enormous size of the lawsuit.
It alleges Wal-Mart paid women less and promoted women less often than male counterparts. Now, Wal-Mart says, hang on a second, that's not the case, saying the number of complaints is so big that they cannot warrant class-action treatment -- Wal-Mart, as you can probably guess, the nation's largest employer.
And have you seen this video? A man is rescued from subway tracks seconds before a train pulls in, nearly hits him. I'm going to show you the dramatic rescue. You have to wait for it. It is caught on cam. That is ahead.
And the International Criminal Court opens a probe into last month's North Korean shelling of South Korea, that island off South Korea. So, we're expecting to hear from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at any moment. She's been meeting with her Japanese and South Korean counterpart over this whole incident.
Plus, as promised, the football brawl, we're going to talk about that, talk to the guy who shot this unbelievable video ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A huge brawl caught on video, we have it. I'm going to share it with you in 60 seconds.
But first I want to keep you in the loop. We're awaiting comments from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on a developing situation that I mentioned to you out of the Korean peninsula. So there are major developments in this story today. Number one you have Admiral Mike Mullen heading to South Korea tonight. And number two, North Korea now under investigation for possible war crimes.
And the north is also stepping up rhetoric against its neighbor as both sides weigh in the next move here in this dangerous clash. We're waiting and watching for Secretary Clinton expected to speak any second. We'll turn it around and bring it to you here on CNN.
But now to the video that got our whole team talking about. Look at this. This is a fight. It broke out in the pregame tailgate in some sort of parking lot, I guess, before the USC-UCLA game Saturday. This is not exactly your average drunken sports fan smack talk, although witnesses say the drinking started bright and early, 6:30 in the morning Saturday.
Two people taken to the hospital with stab wounds after this melee. UCLA senior Kyler Richie was at the game there at the Rose Bowl over the weekend and shot the video you're seeing. He's good enough, Kyler, to join me live. Kyler walk me look -- how did this whole thing start? Tell me what you saw.
KYLER RICHIE, UCLA STUDENT: I couldn't tell you how it started. I was there tailgating with a group of veterans from USC and UCLA. And as I was walking around the parking lot, I saw a big commotion. So I ran over to it. They had already started fighting by the time I got there. So I just whipped out my phone and started trying to get the tail end of the action.
BALDWIN: So this is all from your cell phone? Amazingly enough, pretty good pictures.
RICHIE: Thank you.
BALDWIN: I'm hearing from our affiliate in L.A. apparently this started because tailgaters threw a football and hit a Mercedes from other fans. They weren't thrilled about that. This involved quite a number of people. Kyler, how did the crowd react? Was anyone trying to break it up?
RICHIE: There were a few trying to break it up. I think everybody was shocked. And then although I didn't see it when it happened, but there was a guy there with a knife. So I'm pretty sure a lot of people were pretty scared and kind of backed away after seeing that.
BALDWIN: At that point of the video did we see what appears to be a knife and now knowing that it was potentially that violent. Were you afraid at the time?
RICHIE: At the time I didn't see it. It wasn't until I reviewed the footage I saw he had a knife. But I can stay pretty calm because I am a veteran of the United States military and a student. I just -- I didn't see any threat right there at the moment. Maybe if I had seen the knife, I probably would have backed away. I wouldn't have got such close footage.
BALDWIN: Wow. I mean, it looks like a police officer maybe walking around -- maybe that was campus police. Did people appear drunk to you? Apparently they had been drinking since 6:30 that morning. Were they drunk and throwing fists?
RICHIE: I'm pretty sure alcohol was involved. I mean, it is a college football tailgate, so I'm pretty sure there was alcohol involved.
BALDWIN: It's a college football tailgate. You're a senior, aren't you, UCLA? Have you ever in your four years seen a college tailgate -- I've been to my fair share as well. Have you ever seen anything like this?
RICHIE: Not on this level, not with an attempted murder. Not with a murder. And it's kind of unfortunate because I strongly doubt a lot of the participants in the brawl were even students. And it kind of looks bad on the universities.
And there were a lot of -- I saw families there. I saw baby Bruins and baby Trojans walking around. It was unnecessary and uncalled for. I hope it doesn't happen again.
BALDWIN: Two taken to the hospital for stab wounds, two police officers injured and unfortunately for your team USC beat UCLA 28-14.
RICHIE: There's always next year.
BALDWIN: There's always next year.
RICHIE: Go Bruins.
BALDWIN: Kyler Richie, UCLA student, thank you so much.
RICHIE: Now more video. I want you to take a look at this. A camera mounted inside a taxi cab might give police -- you see this guy? Might give police just the clues they're looking for. A driver was shot over the weekend and this is the man -- get a good look -- wanted for the crime.
And should this still bother us in 2010? The image you're looking at right there. I mean, does the sight of a mushroom cloud still worry you? If not, maybe it should. I'm going to explain next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We got another piece of video. I want you to watch it very closely. You're going to see a man. Here he is. He's wanted by police in New York City for robbing and shooting a cabbie. This is Friday night in Queens. The cabbie apparently just trying to earn some extra money during the holiday season.
So he picked up this guy, this customer. A couple minutes into the ride, the passenger tells the driver to hand over his money. And that is where it got ugly. The cab driver apparently refused to do that. So the guy in the back seat pulls out a gun and shoots the cabbie several times.
That cabbie is now in serious condition and the state taxi federation is reminding their cab drivers don't be brave. Pay attention to your passenger's appearance in case you need to provide a description later on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FERNANDO MATEO, N.Y. STATE FEDERATION OF TAXI DRIVERS: Trevor, it looks like he put up a fight. When you work 10, 12 hours, you don't want to just give your money. You want to keep your money and take it home. But, you know what, it could cost you your life. So what we tell these drivers is always, if you're being robbed don't resist. Give it up. Don't fight back because he was shot seven times. And that was unnecessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So this is just one instance where a lot of people are agreeing big brother is a good thing. Hopefully they catch this guy.
And back to taxes. You heard us talking about this whole tax cut debate. The White House wants to seem to want to hammer out this deal with the Republicans so that it can move on to other issues other issues i.e., the new START treaty arms control deal with the Russians.
Have you noticed, though, no one seems to pay much attention to arms treaties anymore, which is kind of funny, because hearse something worth our attention.
I bet that got you to look up, nuclear weapons. That's what we're talking about here. We have one of the best of the best here, Ambassador Richard Burt, former arms negotiator during the Reagan administration. Mr. Ambassador, nice to have you on here.
The way I read bits and pieces of this treaty from the Russians, we're going to have from having enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world to almost enough to blow up the world. So in 30 seconds or less, tell me why we need this treaty.
RICHARD BURT, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO WEST GERMANY: I think for two very important reasons. You're right, this treaty is important to reduce the U.S. and Russian stockpiles, but both sides continue to have a lot left over. But it's only the beginning of a longer term process. I think the two sides would like to move on and seriously reduce weapon to maybe 50 percent of the existing size of their arsenals.
But more importantly, it's not just the U.S. and Russia today we have to worry about. It's the growth of the nuclear club. Countries like North Korea, Iran, and other countries that could acquire nuclear weapons in the next 10, 15 years.
And the way you begin to deal with that problem is for the existing nuclear states to show they're serious about commitments they've made to reduce nuclear arsenals.
BALDWIN: Mr. Burt, you're a Republican, right?
BURT: Right.
BALDWIN: Republican critics say this START -- the new START treaty will inhibit us from developing an effective missile defense. Are they right in that?
BURT: I think they're completely wrong. And it's not just me as a former Republican but George Shultz, the former secretary of state, Colin Powell, another Republican secretary of state, Henry Kissinger. There are no limits on this treaty on the deployment of strategic defenses. In fact, the Obama administration just negotiated a month ago an agreement on moving forward with strategic defense with our NATO allies. So this wouldn't limit any of our options in that area.
BALDWIN: And I think you alluded to the fact that, yes, this would be with the Russians but it's only perhaps the next step in a broader conversation. But the cold war is over. Communism is dead. The Russians, are they still our enemies? And if not why are we aiming nuclear missiles at them and why do they have them pointed at us?
BURT: That's a very good question. And I think a lot of it has to do bureaucratic inertia. I think there is an element of distrust still that lingers over from the cold war.
But in the last two years Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president met over 20 years. The Russians supported the United States with its efforts to put sanctions on Iran at the U.N. for their nuclear program. The Russians are helping us now in Afghanistan.
So it's time to move beyond the cold war, bring in other countries that are nuclear-armed like China and India and Britain and France in Europe, and convene a multilateral negotiation that's designed in the end to reach this goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons.
I think only a real effort like that will stop other countries from moving to acquire nuclear weapons. In 10, 15, 20 years, we could live in a world of 25 or 30 nuclear powers, and that doesn't even bring into the conversation the potential threat of nuclear terrorism. Just imagine a world in which groups like Al Qaeda could get their hands on nuclear weapons.
BALDWIN: It's frightening. And with regard to the new START treaty, of course we know we have to wait for the U.S. Senate and Russia legislature to put this thing in force to ratify it. We're going to have to wait to see if that has during the lame duck process. Richard Burt, thank you.
BURT: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Now this.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One in four youth who age out of foster care become homeless in two years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Did you hear that number? More than 400,000 children who reach the age of 18 living in foster care risk losing their entire safety net. I'm going to introduce you to a foster teen who just turned 18, was lucky enough to have another option. It's a Special Report on foster kids in America. That's next.
Plus, there is breaking news out of Celebration, Florida. That's that Disney-developed team. There's shock after its first murder, now word of an arrest. That's next.
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BALDWIN: All right. Just in to us here at CNN, you remember the shocking murder in the town of Celebration, Florida, a couple of weeks ago? This is the first murder in the Disney-developed town. People call this the "happiest neighborhood on earth."
Now police say they have arrested a homeless man in connection with this case. It's not clear yet what led police to this particular suspect but again a homeless man is now in custody for what happened there in Celebration, Florida.
Many kids who grew up in foster care cannot wait to get out on their own. But being 18 years of age without parents, no safety net, can lead to some very dark places. In a Special Report for her "In America" series our Soledad O'Brien explains how one 18-year-old following his dreams by staying in foster care.
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KWABENA MENSAH, FOSTER CHILD: Welcome to my room.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kwabena Mensah is a bright, spirited teenager who hopes to be a doctor one day.
MENSAH: I'm doing premed and I really like chemistry.
O'BRIEN: He's also a foster child, one of more than 400,000 in the United States. And today is his birthday. He's turning 18.
MENSAH: Reach for your dreams and live your life. I felt something magical was going to happen. I feel the same.
O'BRIEN: What's different is he's aged out of the foster care system that shelters children from abuse and neglect and he has a life-altering decision to make -- ask the foster system for more help or go it alone.
B.J. WALKER, COMMISSIONER GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES: I'll tell you the best option for a child who faces the prospects of aging out is to stay.
O'BRIEN (on camera): If they age out, the future for that kid has to be pretty dire, right?
WALKER: And that's why we should not keep them longer than they need to. Children should not grow up in foster care.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): At least he has the option.
KATHY COLBENSON, CEO CHRIS KIDS: We have eight group homes.
O'BRIEN: Kathy Colbenson, the CEO of the Atlanta based advocacy group says there are few prospects for foster kids who age out of the system. In the state of Georgia, that's nearly 700 children each year.
COLBENSON: One in four youth who age out of foster care become homeless within two years. And when they age out, they're 18. And so as they make mistakes, they don't have a parent to help rescue them.
O'BRIEN: Originally from Ghana, Kwabena moved to Atlanta to live with his father when he was eight years old. He says his dad was emotionally and physically abusive.
MENSAH: I've tried to commit suicide when I was living with him. I would like tie a plastic bag around my neck so I can suffocate myself.
O'BRIEN: Kwabena entered the Georgia foster care system at age 16 when his father relinquished parental rights. He was eventually placed with his foster parents. They were friends with his biological father.
KOFI ADJEI, FOSTER PARENT: I thought he needed some stability in his life.
O'BRIEN (on camera): He's 18 years old. Do you think he's ready to be on his own?
AKOSOA ADJEI, FOSTER PARENT: He's OK with making decisions. But say some stumbling block happens. Then he's going to need somebody to redirect him.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Not all foster kids who age out of the system have the support Kwabena does. Now 21, Brian Dickson remembers what happened when he left foster care at age 18.
BRIAN DIXON, FORMER FOSTER CHILD: I was scared. I was scared because I didn't have no place to go. I got into drugs. I got into prostitution. I did whatever I could do to stay alive and survive.
MENSAH: It's my whole name right here.
O'BRIEN: Kwabena has decided to sign himself back into foster care. That means he gets to keep his medical benefits, financial aid assistance for his education, and help with transportation to and from college. Even with support, he has doubts every day.
MENSAH: Like my real family didn't want me no more, so I don't know how can these people still want me. Thoughts like that come to my head. Sometimes I just want to escape.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: I want to bring in Soledad O'bBien. Soledada that took my breath away when he was describing how he tried killing himself. But as you mentioned --
O'BRIEN: And he was nine years old, nine when he did that.
BALDWIN: So he signed himself back into this system. Where -- what's he doing now?
O'BRIEN: He's got a lot going on. You heard at the end of the piece how unsure he is even with foster parents who seem absolutely wonderful and refer to him as their son. He's prepping for the SATs, planning a trip to go to Ghana to go visit his mother.
But every single day he lives with a sense of uncertainty in his life. And this a kid that turned out well. It's a good match. He's successful. It makes you think of the other kids who are not quite so lucky who are 18 and opt out of the system and truly be completely alone.
BALDWIN: Right. You said one in four youths who age out become homeless in four years. So is this story -- is this the typical foster care system story or no?
O'BRIEN: I wish I could say yes, his is a typical story, but his is not. It's not. And we'll continue to follow this story, not only this story, but update you on how he's doing as he gets ready to go to college.
You heard Brian talk about drugs and prostitution, really struggle. We'll tell you about the upcoming pieces about a young girl who's been in a dozen foster homes, 14 foster homes in a dozen years, 14 in a dozen years.
So no, it is not a typical situation, and that is what makes it so sad for the kids who don't have a good situation at 18 sort of being adrift in the world in some cases absolutely no place to go.
BALDWIN: We will check back in with you to hear these stories. Stay on this. Right with you, Soledad O'Brien, thank you.
You have heard of driving while drunk in the police breathalyzer test to determine that, right? Will soon drivers in Colorado could be tested and hauled into a police station to determine if they're intoxicated for something else? We'll tell you what that is ahead.
And speaking of police, an off-duty officer in Spain jumps on to tracks to pull a man to safety literally seconds before the train pulls in to the station. It's all caught on camera. It's a dramatic rescue. I'm going to play that for you next.
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BALDWIN: You're about to see someone save a life. Seriously, this is amazing video. Let me back up and set it up for you. So we're going to show you a subway station. This is in Madrid. You have to watch carefully. You can see this man fall from the platform. He's in the middle of the tracks, train bearing down. People on the other side of the track are yelling, waving their arms, telling him to move, trying to get the train operator's attention.
At the last second, literally, look at the train -- barely misses this guy. Turns out the rescuer is an off duty cop. He goes in and pulls it guy off of the tracks. He graduated from the police academy two months ago.
Play it again. Watch it again with me. When he was interviewed later, he was remarkably calm about the whole thing. But he said it's definitely unusual for sure. See again how closely that guy came from potentially losing his life there on the tracks. But he said police training definitely prepped him to jump in and save the day and we say he saved the day. He is a hero.
More fascinating video for you. You have your plane crashing -- crashing into that home in to this neighborhood, this is in Utah. The pilot survives. The plane is landing -- the plane's engine landing in someone's yard. We'll tell you how that happened. That is ahead.
Plus, Brianna Keilar. She's back. She is standing by with breaking news in the world of politics including more on this meeting she broke in the top of the hour between the Democrats and the president. We'll get the CNN Political Ticker with Brianna next.
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BALDWIN: CNN has all you latest political news with "The Best Political Team on Television," CNN = Politics. Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill for us. And Brianna, I know they're talking tax cuts at the White House, what, right around now?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right about now. They have top Democrats from the White House at 2:00 p.m. These house leaders spoke with Vice President Biden this hour. You have some in the Senate talking with president Obama. And they're not exactly happy, brook. In fact, one Congressional aide told me the message is we won't rubber stamp a deal between the White House and Mitch McConnell. We want to make it clear, don't take our support for granted.
Right now it appears negotiations are leaning towards an extension of all Bush-era tax cuts, that includes with all wealthiest Americans coupled with a sweetener for Democrats, which is an extension of unemployment benefits for long-time Americans. That's not enough for some Democrats. They want more.
Also on the ticker at CNNpolitics.com, this is about WikiLeaks. Attorney General Eric Holder saying he authorized significant actions in the criminal investigation against the huge document dump of all of the state department cables.
This comes on the heels of a Swiss bank closing the account of Julian Assange, one of the founders of WikiLeaks and signs that his arrest may be imminent. This is more trouble for him.
And this is a fun one on the ticker today, Brooke. For all modern presidents, who do you think would be the most popular.
BALDWIN: Modern? So that doesn't count JFK.
WikiLeaks It does -- it does. And he is it. We have a graphic to show you. This is an approval rating that so many presidents would love, 85 percent as you see there, Ronald Reagan, not too far of JFK, Clinton, 69 percent, George H.W. Bush at 64 percent, Gerald Ford at 61 percent.
But pretty interesting there, 50 years after he was assassinated, nearly 50 years after he was assassinated, JFK, by far, the most popular American president on the ticker, Brooke.
BALDWIN: I'm not surprise. Brianna Keilar, good to see you, thank you. We'll get another CNN = Politics update for you in half an hour. You can always log on to the Internet for the latest political news. Go to CNNpolitics.com. Hop on twitter at Political Ticker.
And with that, here we go, top of hour number two.
