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Obama to Hold Press Conference & Answer Questions About Extension of Tax Cuts; WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange in London Prison; Two Women Leading the Fight on Same-Sex Marriage in California; Reaction to Elizabeth Edwards' Decision to Stop Cancer Treatment; Dems Upset with Obama's 'Caving' to Republican Demands; Unemployed: True Life Of A 99er; Drug Cartels Using Kids to Kill
Aired December 07, 2010 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Don, you have a fantastic afternoon. Good to see you.
I'm Ali Velshi, with you for the next two hours.
Here's what's on the rundown: Breaking news, the White House has just announced President Obama holding a news conference in the next hour. We will bring that to you live.
He may be the world's most wanted man. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in custody now in London, fighting extradition to Sweden.
Plus, an exclusive interview with the two women leading the fight against California's ban on same-sex marriage right here on this show.
And today's big "I": outsourcing space exploration. Can business do it better than NASA? We're about to find out.
Well, that sound you're hearing out of Capitol Hill is arms being twisted, ears being bent on a deal that means money in your pocket. As we speak, Vice President Biden is trying to sell Senate Democrats on a stimulus/safety net worth as much as $900 billion.
Remember -- we've had TARP. We've had the stimulus. We are used to talking in the hundreds of billions of dollars, but this is a lot of money.
Next hour, President Obama will pitch the plan publicly for the second time in two days. This time, he'll take questions from reporters. We'll bring you his news conference live right here on CNN.
Here's the breakdown of the plan: Bush era tax cuts get extended for rich, poor, and in between, but not forever, for two years, not permanently, as Republicans had wanted.
Federal unemployment benefits get funded through the end of next year, for 13 months. While people with jobs get a one-year, 2 percentage point break in the payroll tax which funds Social Security, going from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. And a big get for the GOP: a break in the so-called death tax or the estate tax. The White House agreed to cap the tax on estates worth more than $5 million at 35 percent.
Now, most Americans pay more in Social Security tax than they do in federal income tax. If this compromise passes, the rate for 2011 will drop, as I said, from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. That's the portion that you pay on your check for Social Security.
Now, for someone earning $40,000 a year, that amounts to a raise of about $800. For someone earning $70,000, $1,400 a year.
There are tax breaks for businesses and families I haven't even mentioned, and please remember, none of this is certain. This is a proposal that still has to go through Congress. Democrats in the House in particular say they haven't agreed to anything.
Still, I want to talk about the cost of political compromise and economic bang for a borrowed buck.
Stephen Moore is the senior economics writer for "The Wall Street journal" and the founder of the free market advocacy group, Club for Growth. Chrystia Freeland is global editor-at-large for "Reuters."
Welcome to both of you.
Stephen, you and I were talking about this not 24 hours ago. You are pleased. You think this compromise is good.
STEPHEN MOORE, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yes. I'm a happy camper, Ali. The reason is I think, you know, we've tried this spending stimulus. That didn't work so well.
I think this tax cut stimulus is going to help the economy. I think because of this, Ali, we're going to have a pretty strong expansion in 2011. I would have liked to have seen those tax cuts made permanent because I think permanent tax cuts give you more bang for the buck. But this is a good start and I think it's going to -- it's going to provide some juice for the economy next year.
VELSHI: OK. Chrystia, what's the danger here?
CHRYSTIA FREELAND, GLOBAL EDITOR-AT-LARGE, THOMSON REUTERS CORP.: Well, first of all, I'm not surprised that Stephen is happy. I think this is a total victory for the Republican. And it shows something that I think a lot of us would have been surprised to assert in 2008, which is Mitch McConnell is a much better politician than Barack Obama.
In terms of the actual policy, one thing that I would really like to focus on and maybe get Stephen's response to is the estate tax. I'm shocked, Ali, that you referred to it as the death tax. That's kind of a propagandistic term for it.
Warren Buffett, who is a person whose capitalist credential I tend to trust, is really opposed to this and I think he's right. I think the whole concept, the whole American idea is about social mobility and is about people having the rights to pursue happiness, to achieve on their own, not having an aristocracy by birth. And an estate tax is a way to do that. It's a way to achieve social mobility particularly at the time when America has this huge budget deficit, which conservatives should really be worried about. I think it is really outrageous that Republicans have pushed for this.
VELSHI: I have to ask you this. This is a good point, Stephen. Conservatives are worried about the deficit and the debts in this country. There is some danger that this doesn't work.
And let me just -- let's spell this out for our viewers. You and I have been trying to do this for a long time. Businesses now, and individuals and families earning more than $250,000, will not on the face of it get a cut in their taxes, leaving alone the Social Security and all of that, their income taxes. Until now, everybody hasn't been spending like gangbuster.
So, what's to say that they're going to now? What will this investment that we have now made that will add to the deficit do to actually create jobs and juice the economy, as you said?
MOORE: Well, I think what it does, Ali, is it puts more -- it keeps more money in the coffers of businesses. And, you know, businesses are the employers in this country. If you want jobs, you have to have healthy employers. So, I think the reduction in the capital gains and dividend tax and the small business tax I think are really important.
On this issue of the death tax, you know, it's still a 35 percent rate. So, that means the federal government is still going to help itself to one-third of someone's estate when they die.
And the question is: how high should this tax be? You know, I would describe this as the American Dream tax because I think a lot -- people like my father, who is a small businessman, fairly successful, who built up his business over his lifetime, because he wanted to pass something on to his kids and grandkids. How is that contrary to the American ideal?
VELSHI: Chrystia?
FREELAND: Well, I think, Stephen, the American ideal is about you achieving things in your own right, not about you being a plutocrat because your dad was really successful. And as I mentioned, you know, I think one of the really interesting and admirable things is some of the Americans who have been the most successful, I referred to Warren Buffett, Bill Gates is another one, are really in favor of the estate tax because they say we want our kids to do it on their own. An estate tax even of 50 percent for fortunes over $5 million -- I don't know about your family, but inheriting $2.5 million, that doesn't seem so bad to me.
MOORE: Chrystia -- Chrystia -- VELSHI: Hold on a second. Hold on, Stephen, I want you to listen to something, today's sound effect. It reminds us that campaign speeches are one thing, closed-door negotiations are clearly something entirely different. What you've seen today has been an unfolding of closed-door negotiations.
Long before he was president, Barack Obama said the richest Americans should and would pay more taxes than they have for the past decade. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
BARACK OBAMA, THEN-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. And it means letting Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire. And rolling back the Bush tax cuts to the top 1 percent.
We have to roll back -- I want to roll back -- we're going to roll back -- I'm going to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthiest Americans. For the wealthiest Americans. For the wealthiest Americans. For the wealthiest Americans.
It is true that I want to roll back the Bush tax cuts on the very wealthiest Americans and go back to the rate that they paid under Bill Clinton.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
VELSHI: OK. Stephen, I cut you off, but I just pitched you one that you can hit out of the park. Did the president roll back or did he roll over?
MOORE: I think he rolled over. But, you know, I think it was a strategic thing to do.
You know, the thing, Ali, I say to my Democratic friends, is I think as a result of this compromise, and this is the first time I think in Barack Obama's presidency he's really worked with the Republicans to put forth a bipartisan package, I actually think as a result of this his chances of being re-elected in 2012 are greatly enhanced.
But don't forget, Ali, one important point -- we're going to be fighting this same fight on this show two years from now --
VELSHI: Absolutely, we are right.
MOORE: -- because these are only two-year tax cuts.
VELSHI: Absolutely right.
Chrystia, let me ask you something. You were with the "Financial Times," you were with "Reuters," you have a particularly global outlook at the world. We have created some sort of impression that we are one of the most heavily taxed people in the world. In fact, there are various fronts, including sales tax and things like that, and income tax where the U.S. is not, quite simply, the most highly taxed jurisdiction in the western world.
FREELAND: Well, that's absolutely right, Ali. And actually, Americans are relatively untaxed compared to people living in other western industrialized countries.
One point on which I would agree with Stephen and one point on which I think that this package is a good one is lowering some of the corporate taxes, lowering capital gains. I think that's great and a real stimulus to business.
But where Americans are undertaxed -- and I know that no one feels that they're undertaxed -- but if you were a person who worries about the budget deficit, which I think all sensible, sane individuals ought to be, is precisely on the areas where the president has caved. And that is on the tax on the wealthiest, particularly on the estate tax.
The other issues which it's remarkable that Americans aren't even talking about, is issues like a consumption tax, which you referred to, Ali. And, you know, that is political poison.
VELSHI: Sure.
FREELAND: But I think it's very hard for any sensible economist to see a way in which the American fiscal situation is sustainable without something like that.
VELSHI: OK. We'll continue this conversation. Thanks to both of you.
Chrystia Freeland, great to see you. Stephen Moore, come back in an hour. Let's get into it a little bit more.
Back to the here and now, don't forget, the president is going to take questions live at 2:20 p.m. Eastern, a little over an hour from now. You will see it start to finish, with analysis, right here on CNN.
OK. They're leading the fight to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage. Kris Perry and Sandy Stier talk to us about their legal battle against Proposition 8, their exclusive live interview -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Two-twenty p.m., right here on CNN, the president of the United States holding a news conference. He will take questions from reporters and you can bet that some of those questions are going to be about this deal, this backroom deal that was brokered, this negotiation and compromise on tax cuts, extending the Bush-era tax cuts in exchange for extending unemployment benefits. We will have that live right here on CNN with analysis at 2:20 p.m. This may be one of the most important press conferences that the president has held having to do with your money. You can get it all here on CNN.
Now to one of the day's other developing stories. After months of changing cities and aliases like most people change clothes, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be staying put for a while. He'll spend at least the next week in a London jail. Assange turned himself in to British police today and was promptly arrested on a Swedish warrant. Authorities there want to question him about rape allegations.
Today in court, though, Assange said he would fight extradition to Sweden. He called those allegations against him a smear campaign, part of an organized retribution for his Web site's controversial leaks.
Now, the latest round in the battle over same-sex marriage. We told you yesterday about the unique fight under way in a court of appeals in San Francisco. The outcome could have ramifications across the country. Two same-sex couples are suing to end California's ban on same-sex marriage known as Proposition 8. They argue that Prop 8 violates due process and equal protection rights of gays and lesbians under the U.S. Constitution.
One of those couples joins us from San Francisco for an exclusive interview. Kris Perry and Sandy Stier are leads plaintiffs in the case, Perry versus Schwarzenegger. They've been together for 10 years. They are the parents of four boys.
Sandy, am I saying your name properly, Stier or Styr (ph)?
SANDY STIER, PERRY VS. SCHWARZENEGGER: Yes, you are.
VELSHI: Stier. OK. Very good. Thank you for being with us.
What is your -- what a confusion issue. Do people not as deeply in it as you are, this is like watching a ping-pong match to see what has happened with gay rights to marry in California.
What is your feeling on where things stand with yesterday's hearing, this discussion about standing, the fact that you are suing the governor and the lieutenant governor and the attorney general who support the idea of gay marriage in California?
KRIS PERRY, PERRY VS. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, we understand that for most people watching this from outside, it appears to be going back and forth. But really from where we're sitting, it looks like it's moving along quite -- in a quite predictable way.
For example, our trial was completed less than a year ago and the district court ruled that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. And yesterday, only a few months after that ruling, we were able to go to the appellate court and argue that that ruling should be upheld.
VELSHI: Let me just ask you something. Aside from the obvious, that you believe that people should have the right to marry if they are gay, you have been together 10 years, you have four sons, you have a family. Why are you so deeply entrenched in this effort?
STIER: Well, Kris and I, like many Californians and many people across the country, feel like marriage is a very important thing to us. It's important to us as a couple and within our communities and within our family and we simply want equal access to that very important social institution that everybody else has.
VELSHI: How do you feel about the fact -- this is, again, tricky for people to understand because California, and many other states, do things with these referendums. The fact that the people of California voted against gay marriage and yet the legislators in California supported it. How does that work into your calculations, Kris?
PERRY: Well, here in California, we have a very interesting problem. We have a crazy quilt of different marriage laws that apply to different groups. So, for example, right now, opposite sex couples can get married. For a short time in 2008, same-sex couples could get married. Now we even recognize same-sex marriages from other states, but we're not letting same-sex couples get married today the way that Sandy and I would like to.
VELSHI: All right, let's talk about, Sandy, what happens now if the outcome of this hearing does not go your way?
STIER: Well, regardless of the outcome of this hearing, we do believe that it is headed to the Supreme Court. And so we anticipate, within the next year or two, ending up in front of the Supreme Court.
VELSHI: May I ask you, please, Kris, to tell us a little bit about your family? A gay couple, married for 10 years, with four years.
PERRY: Well, I mean, we're really fortunate that we've been able to have the family that we have and that we live in a very progressive community. But we also live in this state of California where the state is employing a discriminatory practice. It's creating a separate class for couples like us. And, frankly, you know, not having our constitutional rights has become very difficult for our family. Something that we're becoming less and less tolerant of and something that honestly is hurting everyone. For the state to sanction discrimination the way that it is today is not tolerable and it's something that's hurting everyone.
VELSHI: Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, thanks very much for being with us. We appreciate that. We will follow your story and the developments of this case very, very closely.
Well, imagine having a degree, a family, a career, when your job, your savings, and all of your jobless benefits are all gone. Why people just like you may not put a turkey on the table this holiday season. A very moving story in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: It is 1:20 p.m. on the East Coast. In one hour from now, 2:20 p.m., the president of the United States will hold a press conference at which point he will be taking questions from reporters. He'll make some statements and he'll take questions. We will go into special coverage for that at CNN to bring you all the analysis of what he's talking about. You can expect him to be talking about the deal that he made with Republicans to get these Bush tax cuts extended and to get the unemployment benefits extended.
The unemployment issue is a major, major one. A lot of Americans, as you know, have lost their jobs. More than 8 million since this rescission began. When they do, they can apply for unemployment insurance while they look for a new job. Well, a bunch of Americans have run out of that insurance. Even the extended version of that insurance. They're called 99ers. Why? Well, normally you get 26 weeks of regular benefits. Your state pays for that. Then you get 53 weeks of emergency benefits. There are four tiers in that. And then another 20 weeks of extended benefits. These are all things that have changed because of this recession.
Look at the bottom. That turns out to 99 weeks maximum. Ninety- nine weeks to get jobless benefits from the moment that you lose your job. That's why they're called 99ers. And CNN's Mary Snow looks at one 99er's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RHONDA TAYLOR, UNEMPLOYED SINCE 2008: So watch out for the heater because that's my heating source.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Forty-two-year-old Rhonda Taylor shows us what she calls a tough downgrade. Her family's third rental home in two years. A spiral from the working class neighborhood they once called home. At that time, Rhonda estimates she was earning $60,000 a year. Her partner, Kevin Wallace, was a stay at home dad, taking care of their son, now nine, who has mental disabilities, and their daughters, ages three and four. But everything changed when Rhonda lost her job in April of 2008.
SNOW (on camera): How long did you think you'd be out of work?
TAYLOR: Two weeks.
SNOW (voice-over): Rhonda worked in information technology. Before that, she was a teacher. Her search for work is made tougher in Rhode Island, which has an 11.4 percent unemployment rate. The fifth high nest the nation.
TAYLOR: I will look anywhere. Administrative. You will click on every single one that you possibly know that there will be a link.
SNOW: Recently, she found holiday work for Kevin on a delivery truck, but they're four months behind in their rent and face eviction.
KEVIN WALLACE, UNEMPLOYED: I'll scrub toilets. I'll work in a hospital scrubbing toilets. I'll get it clean. No problem. TAYLOR: Savings is gone. Our 401(k) is gone. I've sold every possession that is valuable.
SNOW: And in March, Rhonda exhausted the 99-week limit on unemployment benefits.
TAYLOR: Hi, I'm Rhonda. I'm unemployed, too. I'm a 99-weeker. I lost my benefits.
SNOW: Rhonda is now organizing with other who is call themselves 99ers.
TAYLOR: We're getting out in the streets. We're getting our voices heard because we want Congress to help us.
SNOW: Opponents say the cost of extending benefits would need to be offset by spending cuts, and there are critics who say widening the safety net will deter people from getting work. That's something Rhonda is trying to fight.
TAYLOR: Collecting didn't deter me. The problem was is there was no jobs. Nothing motivates you more, nothing, than losing everything you own. You won't be picky. You will get a job. You will take what's out there. There's nothing out there.
SNOW (on camera): And some of those critics will say, look, go work at McDonald's. What do you say to them?
TAYLOR: I've tried.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you looking for something in particular or --
TAYLOR: I have little kids.
SNOW (voice-over): With no money left, Rhonda now finds herself going to a ministry for clothes at no cost. The next step, she fears, is homelessness.
TAYLOR: We are going to be out on the street among millions of other people out there. But in Rhode Island, the shelters are full. So my kids, I can't take them to the street.
SNOW (on camera): What are you going to do?
TAYLOR: I'm going to call foster care and say, here you go. I can't be that selfish. And it hurts to say that, but I can't.
SNOW (voice-over): But Kevin says it's a choice he hopes they can avoid.
WALLACE: It does hurt. And it's male pride. But I don't want to lose my kids. None of them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: So many of you have asked me on Facebook and Twitter to tell the story of the 99ers, and that's exactly what Mary just did.
Mary, the food banks, the -- going to someplace to get clothes, the discussion of giving your kids up for unemployment, that certainly flies in the face of some of the things we've heard on TV about how unemployment keeps people -- unemployment benefits keep people from getting on with their lives and getting jobs.
SNOW: Yes, absolutely, Ali. And as devastating as this story is, Rhonda Taylor says there are so many others out there just like her and her family, and she has been trying to bring attention to the plight of so many Americans out there. And today she says she is devastated that the president's tax deal does not include help for the 99ers. She was holding out hope till the last minute that perhaps it would. And in her words, she says, it is disgraceful that so many Americans are being left out in the cold. And what she's saying is that she and others like her were the first casualties of the recession. She got laid off in 2008.
VELSHI: Literally left out in the cold.
Mary, it's cold comfort to hear that there were things that people didn't even think we're going to come out of this deal, like a cut in the amount that we pay on our checks for Social Security, that there was no groundswell movement to go for that. No extension. There is nothing on the table to help these 99ers. If you are out of unemployment insurance, for the moment, you're quite out of luck.
SNOW: Absolutely. There is nothing left. And, you know, she said she is going to continue to fight. What the 99ers want to see is, they want to see 20 weeks of extended benefits for people in these conditions, but they're also fighting for a $2,000 tax credit for small businesses who will hire these 99ers because they've been out of work for so long and they are hoping for an incentive for businesses to hire them and put them back to work.
VELSHI: Mary, thanks for bringing us an uncomfortable and devastating story that is a very important part of a discussion that's just not being had at the moment. Mary Snow and the story of Rhonda.
"YOUR MONEY" Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, Christine Romans and I will be discussing that and these issues on the show. Also, Christine Romans is the author of a new book called "Smart Is The New Rich." You can pick that up on bookshelves now.
Well, some Democrats are furious at the president for making a deal over these tax cuts. A deal you're going to hear him articulate in about 55 minutes from now. He has been trying to drum up support within the party to salvage the deal. Now the president has scheduled a news conference for the next hour. We'll go live to the White House for the stakeout and find out what we are likely to hear from the president when he speaks in the next hour. There's, Ed. He's standing by.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: All right, you're looking at a picture of inside the White House where in less than an hour we are expecting the president -- that's the White House Briefing Room, by the way -- we're expecting the president to come up there. That's where the reporters will be assembled. They will ask him questions. And you can bet that most of those questions are going to be about this deal that the president has made to extend the Bush era tax cuts in exchange for Republican support to extend unemployment benefits for many Americans.
Ed Henry is going to be inside that room, as he always is, asking the president tough questions. But right now he's outside the White House where he is for us, for the stakeout. Our senior White House correspondent.
Ed, what are you expecting to happen? First of all, this was not a planned press conference. This wasn't -- we weren't expecting this to happen.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, not at all. This is a complete surprise. Just in the last 45 minutes or so, the White House announced the president wants to come into the Briefing Room and talk to us.
So, you're right, he clearly is going to want to talk about tax cuts, probably talk for a couple of minutes at the top and expound upon what he said last night where he was basically saying, look, he thinks that some people want to have the kind of -- what he called a symbolic fight right now but he's got the duty, as commander in chief, to move forward here and deal with these tax rates that are going to expire at the end of the year, would result in tax increases for everybody if nothing was done. The poor, the middle class and the rich.
But, there are a lot of people, as you noted, in his party who think this is not a symbolic fight. This is a fight over principles, a principle, by the way, that this president held up high in the 2008 campaign about rolling back those tax cuts for the rich, using it for other purposes. It was a central point in his campaign. It's now out the window.
VELSHI: Ed, let's just talk about this so that when people are watching you in that room and the president they've got some context. This is bigger than TARP in terms of the amount of money involved. It is bigger than the stimulus bill. In fact, it's bigger than the stimulus bill which no Republican went near with a 10-foot pole.
Why are Republicans in favor of something that will add to the deficit as much as this will?
HENRY: Because there are a lot of tax cuts in there. And that's the honest truth that Republicans won't necessarily won't want to admit. I mean, they will say, look, we were all -- they were all about trying to stop the -- any tax increases from taking effect on January 1st.
But, you're right. I seem to remember in January, February of 2009 a lot of Republicans saying, look, this whole idea of an emergency for the stimulus is ridiculous. Sure we have economic problem, but this is socialism. This is government spending run amok. And that this is a bloated stimulus bill which turned out to be, by the way, about $814 billion. And they rejected the president's argument about an economic emergency.
Well now you have Republicans saying this is an economic emergency now. You know, well over a year later. And saying we've got to spend what we've got to spend and we've got to cut as many taxes as we can to try to stimulate the economy. So they have got some issues after a midterm election where they fought it out on the notion that government spending was out of control. Now they want to add $800 billion, $900 billion in deficit spending, the Republicans do.
On the president's side, just last Friday, he put out this long statement. I just posted a column about this at CNN.com that basically where he said on his deficit commission, you know, we've got to get this debt under control, we've got to do something about this, we've got to come up with the hard choices and make the tough decisions. Here we are four days later and he's embracing $800 billion, $900 billion more in deficit spending. Both parties frankly, are kicking the can down the road.
They both keep talking a good game in the midterm election and now in the post-game about getting this deficit under control. Neither side's doing it.
VELSHI: OK. And the Republicans give up on the fact that this isn't a permanent extension of the Bush-era tax cuts, it's a two-year extension.
HENRY: Sure.
VELSHI: But it does appear that the Republicans gave up less than the president has given up and he is going to face some pressure from Democrats because of that.
HENRY: He is. That's why he's facing pressure, that's why Vice President Biden is behind closed doors as we speak at the Senate Democratic Caucus luncheon. One senior Democrat told me that he was expecting it to be, to put it mildly, a lively caucus, where especially liberal Democratic senators were really going to let the vice president have it. We'll see whether that really comes from fruition.
But I think the other part that you mentioned is frustrating Democrats, as well. The fact that this is for two years. What does that mean? It means that the Bush tax rates get kicked down the road two years and they expire December 31st, 2012.
VELSHI: Right.
HENRY: So that means it's going to be re-litigated in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections. A fight that Democrats pretty much -- I think any objective measure pretty much lost in the last election when they lost all those seats in the House, lost some Senate seats. The tax fight did not work out well for them. Now they're going to re-fight this two years from now when the president's up for reelection. A lot of Democrats scratching their head right now.
VELSHI: All right, Ed. We'll stay on top of this with you. We'll see you inside that room. You'll keep us posted. Ed is a very good Tweeter, by the way. Follow him, edhenrycnn. He will bring you up to speed with what he's hearing. While you're at it, follow me @alivelshi.
There's the room. 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time. The president, a news conference. We'll bring it to you live on CNN.
It is called being human. That is Elizabeth Edwards -- those are her words discussing the news that she is ending her cancer treatment. We'll talk it over with Sanjay when we get back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Half past the hour. Here's what's happening right now. We're taking a look at the White House briefing room. That's where the president is going to be at 2:20 Eastern for a press conference. A little less than an hour away. We and all of our political big guns will be on top of that one.
He is going to face questions from reporters. And there are many questions including how he expects to get this proposal, this compromise on extending the Bush-era tax cut, along with extending unemployment benefits, through what is becoming a very angry Democratic Congress who thinks that that deal shouldn't have been made.
Now to one of the day's other developing stories. After months of changing cities and aliases like many people change clothes, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be staying put for a while. He'll spend the next week in a London jail. Assange turned himself into British police today and was promptly arrested on an outstanding Swedish warrant. Authorities in Sweden want to question him about rape allegations. Today in court Assange said he would fight extradition to Sweden. He's called those allegations against him a smear campaign, part of an organized retribution for his web site's controversial leaks.
OK, you've also been following this one. Elizabeth Edwards, the estranged wife of former senator and presidential candidate John Edwards, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. In 2007, she revealed that the cancer had spread to her bones.
Yesterday, her family put out this statement, quote, "Elizabeth has been advised by her doctors that further treatment of her cancer would be unproductive."
On her Facebook page, Elizabeth Edwards wrote this, "The days of our lives for all of us are numbered. We know that. And yes, there are certainly times when we weren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human."
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me now with more on this. This is a reminder, you know, in all of the stuff that you report about that are remarkable advances that involve cures for things we didn't have cures for five and ten years ago, this is a reminder that there are some things that her doctors say they can't treat anymore.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, it's incredibly sad. I think everyone has been struck by this because she's been talking about this since she was diagnosed seven years ago. Be you're absolutely right.
I mean, at this point when they say unproductive, Ali, what they basically mean is like in your world there's a risk/benefit analysis. I hate to sound so clinical, but try to figure out could the treatment be worse than the disease itself?
VELSHI: And that's something important to remember in cancers, and I say cancers because it's not just one monolith.
GUPTA: Sure.
VELSHI: The treatments are often damaging or very, very uncomfortable.
GUPTA: That's right. And let me give you an example. Now what people are worried about is it's spread to her liver.
VELSHI: Right.
GUPTA: The liver happens to also be a place that metabolizes a lot of medications, including some chemotherapeutic medications. Liver's already been -- has cancer in it, you give these medications, you could exacerbate the liver failure with no real hope of controlling the cancer.
So she's still being treated, and doctors will be quick to point this out. But now it's treatment for her symptoms; possible pain, possible nausea and vomiting, fluid in the lungs, trying to make her as comfortable as possible.
VELSHI: Right. And does holding back on some of the treatment mitigate some of the symptoms? Because in cancer survivors and suffers, sometimes the symptoms are because of the treatment.
GUPTA: That's a great question, you're the first person to ask that. And absolutely. That can happen. The chemotherapeutic agents can be quite toxic to people, make them not feel well.
So certainly at some point you say, look, we don't have confidence that they're going to do anything. So that's part of making them comfortable, pulling back some treatments, adding some others. And it's worth pointing out, as well, to that point that , you know, for a lot of women out there, you're right, cancer is not one disease. But, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer across the board about 88 percent, 10-year survival rate, 80 percent. VELSHI: OK.
GUPTA: So we have -- there are some good numbers.
VELSHI: And just to remind our viewers, when we talk about cancer, we don't talk about cures, we talk about five and ten-year survival rates. That's pretty high.
GUPTA: That's very high. And I think that a woman watching today who hears about this, this incredibly sad story will say, well, look, at least there's some progress we've made in how we deal with cancer and the outcomes as a result. So I think that's some good news.
VELSHI: Sanjay, what's the best take-away from this?
GUPTA: I thought about that a lot. I think Elizabeth Edwards has talked about this openly so I feel comfortable saying that she talked about the fact that after the birth of her children she did not get her mammograms for a while. Now, not to indict or malign anybody or anything, but who knows if it would have made a difference, Ali? But I think one of the lessons she hoped people take away is, you know, it's not a perfect screening test. That discussion is a whole other segment, possibly. But it's the best thing we have right now.
In her case, who knows if it would have made a difference. But it may have caught the cancer earlier. And other women out there who may say, look, I've forgotten about the last couple years. Maybe this is a good reminder of that, as well.
VELSHI: OK. Well, if some good comes out of it, that's good.
Great to see you, Sanjay. Thank you.
GUPTA: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: Sanjay Gupta.
All right. They're as young as 12-years-old and they allegedly are killers in Mexico's drug war. This disturbing story next, in Globe Trekking.
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VELSHI: OK. I want to remind you that what you're looking at right now is the White House briefing room. Everybody's milling around getting ready for this 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time expected news conference by the President of the United States.
It was a late announcement from the president. He is going out there to answer reporters' questions ostensibly about this deal that he has cut with Republicans to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two years in exchange for support in extending unemployment benefits. There are a number of other tax cuts in there, tax cuts that have some Democrats quite upset with the president feeling that he didn't have to do that. He sold out on principles. The vice president, we understand, is meeting with key Democrats to try and iron some of that out. We'll be talking more about it.
The full CNN political team, the Best Political Team on Television will be assembled here to bring you topnotch analysis of the president, the questions, and the implications for you, your money, and your politics.
Time now for "Globe Trekking." First to Mexico and the deadly drug war that is tearing that country apart. An update now on a disturbing trend that we told you about yesterday, cartel hit boys, kids, some as young as 12 years old allegedly carrying out murders ordered by the drug lords.
CNN's Rafael Romo reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In these social media pictures, they look like mercenaries posing for the camera, holding high-caliber weapons and wearing masks. Mexican authorities say they're all between the ages of 12 and 23 and are members of a drug cartel.
Six of the youths were captured in October in a town about 30 miles south of Mexico City. Authorities say graffiti found on the walls of the house where they were hiding linked the youths to a group known as the south pacific cartel.
A 14-year-old member of the cartel known as "El Ponchis" or "the cloak" got away, but was captured last week on an airport as he allegedly was planning to travel to the United States.
QUESTION (translated): How many have you killed?
EDGAR JIMENEZ LUGO, "EL PONCHIS" (translated): Four.
QUESTION: How did you execute them?
LUGO: Huh?
QUESTION: How did you execute them?
LUGO: I slit their throats.
ROMO: He told authorities he's an American citizen born in San Diego.
Drug cartels are not only recruiting younger and younger operatives, they're also seemingly invading the psyche of young Mexican children. This mother says her young son's games re-create the harsh reality around him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): When he plays, he says he wants to be a hit man. He makes drawings where you can see somebody getting killed, getting shot at.
ROMO: The Mexican government is taking steps to help at-risk youth.
ALEJANDRO POIRE, MEXICAN NATIONAL SECURITY SPOKESMAN (through translator): For the protection of these young people who are being harassed by criminals, we need to fight against their very specific programs. For example, we have awarded more than 5,000 scholarships for job training.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: OK. Rafael joins me now to talk about this. I was just chatting with Rafael about the fact that this is reminiscent the way gangs in the U.S. used to recruit kids, get them thinking about this for so long that it became obvious that when you came of age you would join the gang, except coming of age, being under the prosecutable age, is important.
ROMO: Exactly, because they're using these kids because they cannot be prosecuted.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMO: There's no law in Mexico where you can try a teenager, a minor, as an adult. And so, the cartels know this and now you see boys 14, even as young as seven that we have heard about that are being actively participating in the cartels.
VELSHI: As young as seven?
ROMO: Exactly. Exactly.
VELSHI: Rafael, you cover this very closely, and I always like to have you give me some perspective on this, because recently we've heard some commentary maybe they are making advances. In fact, you were with me last week to say that they arrested a ringleader, a leader of a cartel.
Where are the we in this war against drugs in terms of the Mexican government?
ROMO: They are making advances, yes, that is correct. The problem is that the cartels are fragmenting, so where you used to have three or four cartels, now you have a half a dozen that are fighting each other. They're going with each other against the Mexican army and also the Mexico federal police.
So in the short term, it's going to increase violence and that's the real problem. And also, it begs the question, is the strategy the right strategy, and that remains to be seen.
VELSHI: You're on top of it for us. Thanks so much, Rafael Romo. We appreciate that.
OK, I want to show you pictures again of the -- well, let me just tell you, we are about 40 minutes away -- there's the pictures -- we're about 40 minutes away from that press conference that will be held in the White House briefing room. Reporters will be present to ask the president questions.
We will assemble our entire political team, the top -- "The Best Political Team on Television" will be here to provide analysis of the president, his comments, the questions that are asked of him by reporters.
He will be called upon to explain the deal that he has made with Republicans, a deal that is coming under great criticism from members of the Democratic Party who feel that the president gave up too much to get his unemployment benefits passed in exchange for an extension of Bush-era tax cuts.
I'll tell you all about that as the show continues.
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VELSHI: In today's "Big I," a tech toy that is knocking the iPad off its throne. Apple's iPad was a bona fide hit, setting the record as the fastest ever adopted consumer electronic device. Now the Xbox Kinect is breaking that record.
I got to tell you, I tried this out. It is truly fascinating. Notice those people moving around, connected to nothing. Ironic the thing is called Kinect.
Microsoft says it's already sold more than 2.5 million units so far and if things stay on pace, it will sell 5 million before the holiday shopping season is over.
Now if you don't follow the gaming world, the Kinect is a motion- based gaming system. Basically, it's a camera that you set up with your Xbox where you can play video games without being attached to the console itself.
The Wii has been the only real player in the motion-based console market until now and then Sony came out with a handheld device, the Sony Move. And then, of course, the Xbox Kinect.
The president holding a news conference about 30 minutes from now. We're expecting him to talk about his deal with the Republicans to extend Bush-era tax cuts in exchange for the support to extend unemployment benefits. We're going to head to the Political Desk in Washington for an update in just a moment.
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VELSHI: We've got a presidential news conference scheduled for less than half an hour away from now. John King, host of "JOHN KING, USA," is at the Political Desk in D.C. The latest on what we will be hearing.
John, what have you got?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Ali, days like this when I most miss not being on the White House beat anymore. Eight and a half years on that beat, a news conference is always the best time. You know Ed Henry is getting ready over there right now.
What are we looking for? We're looking for the president to come out, number one, with an opening statement trying to sell the tax cut compromise. He brokered a deal with the Republicans last night and as you know, a lot of Democrats aren't happy. So look for the president to start with that, look for most of the questions about that.
But we haven't heard from the president on the WikiLeaks controversy, several other issues. Once he gets started, Ali, you never know. That's the charm of covering the White House, you never know which direction a news conference will go.
And why does he have to sell that plan? Well, our congressional team is all over Capitol Hill today, and here's some of what they're hearing. Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu, I'm still puzzled at the president's enthusiasm. She doesn't like the deal. Senator Frank Lautenberg calls it capitulation under pressure. Senator Patrick Leahy, again, a Democrat, what do I think of it, not much. So the president has a problem trying to sell this to members of his own party.
Last night, when the deal broke, we had Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, a progressive, a guy who is on the ballot in 2012, he was on the program right after he announced deal and he said, I'm very unhappy about it. He said it was hypocrisy when it comes to the deficit, Ali, and issue you were talking with Ed about earlier.
So we're going to bring Senator Brown back on the program tonight. He's in that meeting right now with Vice President Biden who is trying to convince the Democrats to get on board. A tough sell for the president and vice president today. We'll stay on top of this one throughout the day, Ali.
VELSHI: John, your sense of the growing -- is it growing? I'd like you to characterize for me this opposition that you just characterized from a few people in the Democratic Party. Is this enough to derail this?
KING: Probably not. If you look at most Republicans say they will support it, so they only really need -- they want to have a majority of the Democrats in both the House and the Senate. They don't really need a majority, but you certainly want that when you're a Democratic president and this is your initiative. But they're probably OK.
One of the reasons, Ali, the Democrats are so upset is not only do they not like this deal, they're afraid this deal is sort of a sign of things to come. It's a down payment on more compromise between a president and the Republicans now that the Republicans are about to take over the House.
Remember triangulation from the Clinton days when the Republicans ran the House? That's what a lot of the Democrats are worried about, that this is the beginning of something that they won't like.
VELSHI: Right, but that's kind of the outcome when you have a midterm election and one of the houses goes over to the other party.
KING: That compromise and democracy, they're kind of funny things. You know, the left of the Democratic party has been upset with the president about Afghanistan, about the health care deal in the end. They didn't think he had a big enough stimulus plan. So some of this has been simmering for a while and just boiling over again because of this deal.
But you're exactly right. The president sees the message of the electorate is maybe move to the middle a little bit, try to do business with the Republicans. The left especially in the Democratic party says no way, let's have a fight, let's have some vetoes, but at least at the moment the president is going the other direction.
VELSHI: We'll all be involved watching this and you'll be around to offer your analysis of it. John King, thanks very much.
And as I said 2:20, about 25 minutes from now, we will have presidential news conference in the White House briefing room. Everybody is getting ready for that. Our Ed Henry will be in the room asking the president questions to do with the extension of these tax cuts and unemployment benefits.
Let's take a quick break. I'll be back in a minute.
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