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WikiLeaks' Assange Leaves Jail; State Of The War In Afghanistan; Notable Gains in Afghan War; Tax Bill in Trouble; Bill Richardson in North Korea with CNN's Wolf Blitzer; FDA Panel Questions Safety of Mercury Fillings; Enzymes Possible Aid to Recycling; House Dems Stall Tax Cut Compromise Bill
Aired December 16, 2010 - 12:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Tony, thank you very much.
And there Julian Assange. He is a villain to some around the world -- to many around the world, and he's a hero to many others. Let's listen in to what he's saying.
JULIAN ASSANGE, FOUNDER, WIKILEAKS: To all the people in the world who had faith to me while I have been away, to my lawyers who have put up a brave and ultimately successful fight. Authorities and people who provided money in the face of great difficulty and diversion. And to members of the press who were not all taken in and considered to look deeper in their work.
And, I guess, I get finally, British justice system is - if justice is not always an outcome, at least, it is not dead yet.
During my time in solitary confinement in the bottom of a Victorian prison, I had time to reflect on the conditions of people who also are in solitaire confinement, also on remand in conditions that are more difficult than those faced by me. Those people, also, need your attention and support.
And with that, I hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence, in this matter, and to reveal, as we get it, which we have not yet, the evidence from these allegations. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you continue working for WikiLeaks?
VELSHI: OK. That was Julian Assange. He was ordered free on bail by a judge in London. As you know, he was ordered free on bail, and then the Swedes protested that, so he was held while that hearing was undertaken. Now, he's been released. He came out, made a few comments. There were media there. You could, also, hear supporters around cheering for him.
He has thanked everybody for their support, those who have supported him, and he thanked those in the media who had not been, as in his words, as taken in by those who had accused him of the things he's been accused of. He says he looks forward to protesting his innocence and seeing the evidence that is being brought against him in this trial. Now, as you know, he is charged with sex crimes in Sweden, unrelated to his leaking of documents that some people consider dangerous or damaging to diplomats around world. And early releases of documents that American authorities have said have endangered lives of service members - Julian Assange's story will continue.
We'll bring you more and more. For now, he's just been released from prison. We don't know where he's going or what his situation is. But he's just made those comments. We'll bring them to you again a little later on.
On some other news, 16 days until the new year, two or three days until the Congress, this lame-duck session, adjourns. And we're still in suspension over tax hikes and future federal help for unemployed. Anytime the House is due to vote on the tax and benefit compromise that sailed through the Senate this time yesterday.
Now this centers on a two-year extension on a Bush era income tax cuts for everybody. Basically, it extends for 13 months - this is the employment side of things, emergency federal jobless benefits. It doesn't mean if you had 79 or 99 weeks of benefits you get another 13 months. It extends the availability of those emergency federal benefits for another 13 months. So, if you've run out of benefits, you don't get more, as a result of it, but more people can get it, as a result of this extension. This is something the democrats want. See that 4.2 percent? This is a one-year break in the payroll tax which funds social security.
Normally, you pay 6.2 percent of your income on your paycheck. It's going to go down to 4.2 percent for the next year, that's for everybody who pays into social security. The tax on estates would be restored, but only on the big ones over there, that are worth more than $5 million. That's the major hang-up in the House, by the way. Some House Democrats want higher tax on smaller estates.
So, basically, you don't pay tax until you've passed the $5 million line in your estate. When you die, you can leave it to your spouse, but once you've both died, it's passed on to your children. If you're estate's worth more than $5 million, you pay a tax on that. Now, we can't say this enough. Unlike most of the bills lawmakers vote on, this one directly affects almost everybody.
Let me give you some numbers. Just over $140 million Americans file income tax returns. Roughly, 150 million pay social security tax. An estimated two million of the long-term unemployed face the end of federal benefit this month. And that number will, of course, grow if the window for applying for them isn't extended.
But the estate tax? Very few heirs will face the tax, whether it kicks in at $5 million or $3.5 million, as some Democrats prefer. At the higher level, by the one estimate, fewer than 4,000 families a year would be affected. The House plans a separate vote on that, and here's the rub. Any changes to any part of this Bill will send it back to the Senate or the whole thing will fall apart.
We'll keep you posted throughout the day, and night, as this develops.
Our other big story. The state of the Afghan War as seen by the US government. Coming one year after President Obama ordered a surge of 30,000 troops, a top to bottom review finds notable gains against the Taliban and Al Qaeda but warns that those gains are, again, quotes, "fragile and reversible." The President spoke to reporters a little over an hour ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARRACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to be clear. This continues to be a very difficult endeavor, but I can report that thanks to the extraordinary service of our troops and civilians on the ground, we are on track to achieve our goals. It's important to remember why we remain in Afghanistan. It was Afghanistan where Al Qaeda plotted the 9/11 attacks that murdered 3,000 innocent people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Let's get the view from Afghanistan and Pakistan as only CNN can. Our Nic Robertson joins me live from Kabul. Pentagon reporter Chris Lawrence is in Islamabad, the capitol of Pakistan. Let's start with you, Nic. Two views on this thing we call it the AfPak region - Afghanistan-Pakistan region, thought by the President to be critical to national security and the fight against terrorism, but you have been there for a long time. You've studied this for a long time. What is the situation on the ground and does it jive with what the President said?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the President is saying there is some key gains in the south part of the country, Kandahar-Helmand areas. There are - there is progress against the Taliban's momentum. But there is progress building governance. Progress building security forces here. The devil is always in the detail.
The picture is patchy in the east and north of the country. The Taliban are getting stronger, while building security here, there isn't strength in governance in Afghanistan to support that security to bring and enhance and capitalize on consolidate these security gains that are happening.
So, what the President is describing is a situation that he says is OK and on track to draw down troops next year, to begin that drawdown, but the reality here on the ground is that those troops could very well be used, perhaps, by commander in other parts of the country, to surge against the Taliban in other parts - Ali.
VELSHI: Let me ask you this, something that is, typically, used in America, or western democracies, when somebody says to voters, are you better off than you were two years ago? Four years ago? If you asked Afghan citizens that, what would they say?
ROBERTSON: It depends on where you asked them. They said, yes, great, things are better. We were in shops where people were selling cell phones. Business was brisk. But if you ask the people in the nest valley over, they're a little uncertain. They've got more US troops, they feel a little better, but if you get to the area where the Taliban still are, we can't even go and ask them questions. We can't ask them, do you feel better?
A family of 14 on the way to a wedding engagement today blown up hitting a roadside bomb. People worry about that. So, they - the verdict is out. People are very confused here about the future and they feel worried, the vast majority still - Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Nic, let's take it over to Chris in Islamabad, not too far from where you are.
Chris, this is always the more confusing part of this picture, because we've always thought of Pakistan, historically, as an ally. And over the last couple years, there's been a reason whether to question whether that's been the case. There's a porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. There's a sense that the Pakistani military taskly or overtly supports Taliban warriors in that porous border region, and the President talked about a growing relationship of trust with Pakistan. Is that true?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, sort of. He used the words, sort of cleaned it up in a way. You know, I think, the words, the way it was phrased in the report is that it's been an uneven relationship with Pakistan, and that's just another way of saying the US hasn't gotten that it's wanted out of Pakistan - they are happy with some of the things that Pakistan has done. I mean, Pakistan moved 140,000 troops to the border. That's more than American troops that are in Afghanistan right now. They've taken some pretty heavy casualties. Between one and two thousand dead soldiers in a matter of 18 months. Those statistics would be unacceptable if those were American troops, you know, in war.
But, at the same time, US officials are concerned because they have yet to go after those extremists in North Waziristan. That's an area where US officials feel that extremists are able to resupply, rest up, plan attacks, and then just come over the border into Afghanistan and fight. They would like to see some action there. On the other hand, Pakistan is saying it's already overextended between sending all those troops to other parts of the border are and dealing with the massive amount of flood relief here. So, you've got somewhat divergent interests at this point - Ali.
VELSHI: All right, guys, thanks very much. Important updates on this story. Nic and Chris, thanks for your great reporting. Nic Robertson in Kabul, and Chris in - he's in Islamabad.
All right. We've got some trouble with this tax bill I was telling you about two minutes ago. Brianna Keilar is at the capitol with some breaking news on this.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ali, this is in trouble. The democrats in the House have actually just pulled this tax issue from the floor. And it starts in, sort of, a very preliminary way. In order to have a vote - and we've been talking about this today, right? They were expecting this vote in the House on extending these Bush era tax cuts. In order to have a vote, you have to do something called voting on the rule. This is just bringing the Bill to the floor. And the way this, normally, goes down, is the minority, or Republicans, would vote against doing that, and Democrats would have to muster the support in order to bring it to the floor.
Well, it's become obvious they just don't have that support. That there's enough Democrats who are unhappy with this bill, the estate tax, as you mentioned, that they couldn't get the support. We, actually, have learned from one House Democrat leadership aide that they are whipping votes right now. Meaning they're trying to figure out, exactly, where everyone is coming down on this in the Democratic caucus, trying to see if maybe they can muster the votes. But, obviously, there's enough of a concern that they've pulled it from the floor. And that means we don't know if we're going to be seeing a vote today.
VELSHI: Brianna, let me ask you.
KEILAR: This is a wrench in the works.
VELSHI: This is not typical for them not - on a crucial vote like this not have some sense of who's in favorite and who is not, and who's around Washington and the House right now. And we were looking at some live pictures. The House doesn't look full. You would think the Democrats would have some sense of whether or not they could - they could've have gotten this through or not.
KEILAR: No, I mean, this is unexpected but we've also known there's this question mark when it comes to this Bill. That there are going to be certain things when the outcome is unclear because you have a divided Democratic caucus here. Some moderates who say, no, we want that bill that President Obama worked out with Senate Republicans, but you've got a lot of liberal Democrats who say, no, we don't, it's too much of a giveaway to the rich.
VELSHI: What's the down side here? If they don't bring that Bill - if they can't get that procedural rule, as you said, passed to be able to bring the whole debate to the House, what happens? Can it die in the House?
KEILAR: If this were to die in the House, and we're trying to get to the bottom of this, but there's a lot of moving parts as we speak. If this were to die in the House, everyone's taxes - right?
VELSHI: Right.
KEILAR: Almost everyone's taxes would go up at the end of the year. Millions of Americans having unemployment benefits expire at the end of the year, that would not be fixed.
VELSHI: Right. So, serious.
KEILAR: Completely serious. And, I think, that there's still an expectation that Congress has to deal with this. But this is a big wrench in the works. VELSHI: OK. Well, if you'll stay on top of it, you'll let us know exactly how this is developing. We'll keep our viewers informed. Brianna Keilar at Capitol Hill.
All right. To some other developments we're following for you. New Mexico Governor and former diplomat Bill Richardson is in North Korea. The country's senior nuclear negotiator, actually, suggested this rare visit. CNN's Wolf Blitzer is traveling with the Governor with just one other media outlet, the "New York Times." So, Wolf's the only TV guy along for the ride. Governor Richard told Wolf he's hoping to bring down the temperature on the Korean peninsula after weeks of threats and shells flying. We'll be getting more details and development throughout the day.
Another legal challenge over plans to reform the nation's health care system. Next, we're going to Florida to tell you who's making their case before a judge today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Foreclosures have been central to the economic collapse. They've hurt millions of Americans since the mortgage meltdown. But last month the number of foreclosure filings in the U.S. dropped. Foreclosure filings are any default notice, scheduled options or bank repossessions. It can start 90 days after you've missed your payment. So it doesn't mean houses that are given over to the bank. It means the whole process.
More than 262,000 properties had some of that action in November. That's one in every 462 housing units in the United States. That is down 14 percent from a year ago and 21 percent from the month before.
Here's how all the states have done in the past year. Take a look at this. All the green states are doing better than they were a year ago. They had fewer foreclosures filings than they had a year ago. All those reddish states are worse off than they were a year ago.
Now, here's why this is good. If you look at the green in Florida, look at the green in California, look at the green in Michigan, the states that had it -- look at the green in Arizona. These were the worst states in the nation. The worst are doing better.
What's happening is some of those states that were late to the game are now seeing that red. They're seeing situations that are worse than the previous years. But the worst ones in the nation are actually doing better.
Foreclosures in your state can affect the value of your home, obviously. Houses that banks try to sell cheap, foreclosure signs in front yards, push your home values down. But here's something that's really interesting. A huge chunk, 70 percent of all foreclosures came from only 10 states.
And, look again. You see all of those states that are problematic. You see Michigan. You see Florida. You see Arizona. You see Nevada. You see California. That's where they are. Pennsylvania and Texas are in there as well.
Out of all the states, Nevada, Utah, California posted the top foreclosure rates. Look at Utah. One in every 221 housing units had a filing. California, one in every 233. Look at Nevada, one in 99. Nevada has posted the nation's highest foreclosure rates for 47 months straight.
You'll remember, Nevada was where all of that extra building was going on. Houses were just being built one after another. Boomtown if you'd ever seen it in Las Vegas in the last 10 years. In fact, of the top 10 metro areas with the highest rates, nine out of 10 of them were in Nevada and California. All of these maps give you a better picture of who's recovering and who's still hurting. Don't get me wrong, there's still a lot of pain out there, but the map is changing and we're happy to see change.
Be sure to tune in to "Your Bottom Line" each Saturday morning at 9:30 Eastern. "Your Money" airs Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sunday's at 3:00.
Another legal challenge over plans to reform the nation's health care system. Next, we're going live to Florida to tell you who's making their case before a judge today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. We've got trouble with that tax cut compromise. That's our look at the top stories right now. You're looking at a live picture from Capitol Hill. The House has set the bill aside for now. The bill to pass that tax compromise reached between President Obama and the Republicans may not even get a vote on it today. The Senate passed it yesterday. There's a procedural hurdle that has to be passed before the House can vote on the compromise bill. But that is also in danger. And what it all means -- am I looking at the wrong camera? All right, why don't I look at this camera. What it all means is that the House -- if the House fails to act, everyone's taxes will go up January 1st, with the exception of the Bush era tax cuts. It also means that unemployment benefits won't be extended.
OK, just a short time ago we saw WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange walk out of a prison in London where he had been held in a sexual assault investigation about something relating to Sweden. London's high court granted him bail earlier in the day. Here is what Assange had to stay upon his release.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER: During my time in solitary confinement in the bottom of a Victorian prison, I had time to reflect on the conditions of those people around the world also in solitary confinement, also on remand in conditions that are more difficult than those faced by me. Those people also need your attention and support. And with that, I hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter, and to reveal, as we get it, which we have not yet, the evidence from these allegations. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: OK, here's what we've learn. Assange is going to stay in the London area. He'll wear an electronic monitoring device and has to check in with police daily. So he can't leave London pending his trial.
A lot of folks who have lost their jobs are coming to the conclusions that the jobs aren't coming back. Enter job retraining. Lots of tax dollars and people going into these kinds of programs. Poppy Harlow is going to tell us if they really work straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A lot of people who really love their careers are totally switching gears now that they've lost them. Job retraining programs are more popular and more funded -- more heavily funded than ever. But do they work? Do they get the job done? Poppy Harlow has a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): David Alperin is a long way from Wall Street.
DAVID ALPERIN, JEWELRY DESIGNER: It was a major transition in my life. I lost my job, went back to school and started this new business.
HARLOW: After Citigroup laid him off in 2009, David reassessed and completely switched gears.
ALPERIN: I started talking to my sister who had done this program for jewelry design and I realized that this was something I was always interested in.
COLLEEN GARDNER, NEW YORK STATE LABOR COMMISSIONER: I think job retraining is critical. We're seeing that employers want people with higher levels of skill.
HARLOW: About $4 billion has been appropriated for the Workforce Enforcement Act. The biggest federal job retraining program. But is retraining the answer for America's unemployment crisis? A 2008 study released by the Labor Department questioned conventional wisdom.
KEN TROSKE, CO-AUTHOR, WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT STUDY: The impact for the typical worker did not seem as if the benefits were particular large.
GARDNER: I absolutely disagree with that. We see time and time again people who have additional training, they are able to go into jobs.
HARLOW: But critics say the challenge is predicting those jobs.
TROSKE: The problem is, nobody really -- you know, I've been a labor economist for over 15 years and I don't do a very good job of predicting what the next hot new job is. I don't think we should get rid of the training program. I think we need to work on improving them so that they -- they're better targeted.
ALPERIN: These are my jewelry cases.
HARLOW: And red tape almost sabotaged David's quest for a new career. Because he was laid off from the financial industry in New York, he qualified for a national emergency grant for job retraining.
GARDNER: This was helping people who lived on main street but worked on Wall Street.
HARLOW: But going to school for jewelry design? Well, that raised some eyebrows at the Labor Department.
ALPERIN: Well they said, that's not really what we classify as an in-demand occupation.
HARLOW (on camera): Or the job of the future.
ALPERIN: Yes. And that was the part that kind of frustrated me. I said, here I am trying to do something of interest and follow a passion --
HARLOW: So you almost didn't get the money?
ALPERIN: Yes.
HARLOW (voice-over): But in the end, he did, $10,000 for tuition and expenses. And less than two years later, he sells the jewelry he designs and a friend's clothing line at his Brooklyn boutique.
ALPERIN: This is my 14 karat gold bezel ring.
HARLOW (on camera): Two years ago you were a banker.
ALPERIN: Yes.
HARLOW: And now you're running your own boutique, trying to make it, trying to turn a profit. Are you happier now?
ALPERIN: I am. I am. I work harder now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Poppy joins me now from New York.
Poppy, interesting because when we think of retaining, we think of this big semi-skilled workforce in the Midwest, in the rustbelt, working in factories, who have a training on a particular thing and then retraining them to become nurses or truck drivers or oil workers or something like that. We don't normally think about bankers. And I'm sure there's some people who are thinking, really, bankers, didn't they cause this thing?
HARLOW: Right. And that's a great point. Look, David, who you saw in the piece, got this money from the federal government. In the middle of the crisis, in 2009, he was a banker. He was making six figures working at Citigroup.
But this is the interesting twist, Ali. The reason he got this emergency grant is because every state in the crisis that had mass layoffs in one industry or another, so say automakers in Detroit or say banks here in New York, could apply for this money.
VELSHI: Right.
HARLOW: New York state got $11 million just for bankers, just for financial services people, and they helped about 1,200 of them get work. So that's about $7,000, take away the costs for each person to get jobs.
VELSHI: Right.
HARLOW: Now, that is something that we didn't know about this crisis. And the fact is, most bankers, Ali, aren't investment bankers. They're not making millions of dollars.
VELSHI: Right. Right.
HARLOW: They're making, some of them, minimum wage. Some of them a little more, like David. But that is why he got this assistance. I think the moral of the story is, if he hadn't walked into the Labor Department, asked what help was out there, he never would have gotten this money.
VELSHI: Right.
HARLOW: And he had to push very hard to get them to approve that training program in jewelry design because they didn't think that that would really be a quote/unquote job of the future.
VELSHI: Good sign, though. Good to do some research and to persevere. It's not too late. There are still people whose jobs are not going to come back. It doesn't matter if you've lost a couple of years. Look at what your options are.
Poppy, always great stories from you. Thank you so much.
You can see tons of Poppy's work, by the way, on cnnmoney.com. Just go to the site and there's video after video of fantastic interviews that she's done.
OK, mercury fillings. Do you have any of those in your mouth? They may not be as safe as you once thought. Next, who's urging the FDA to take a closer look into your mouth?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Happening now. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange walked out of a prison in London just a short time ago after being granted bail. Here's what Assange had to say upon his release. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER: During my time in solitary confinement in the bottom (ph) of a Victorian (ph) prison, I had time to reflect on the conditions of those people around the world also in solitary confinement, also on remand, in conditions that are more difficult than those faced by me. Those people also need your attention and support. And with that, I hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter and to reveal, as we get it, which we have not, the evidence from these allegations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: We'll, of course, stay on that story as soon as it develops any further.
OK, here you're looking at live pictures of Capitol Hill, of the House. The House has set the tax compromise bill aside for right now. There's a procedural hurdle that has to be passed before the House can vote on it. And if it doesn't pass that procedural hurdle, they can't even vote on the bill. And right now, that procedural hurdle may not be met. There do seem to be more people against this bill currently in the House than there are in favor of it. So we are watching that development very carefully. If that bill doesn't pass, means your taxes go up on January 1st.
President Obama meanwhile says the war in Afghanistan continues to be very difficult, but he says the U.S. is on track to achieve its goals. A White House report released today says the U.S. is still on track to bring some troops home next summer.
OK, in today's "Empowered Patient," we take a look at the safety of mercury dental fillings. They're widely used by dentists, who say that they are durable and relatively inexpensive. But now an FDA advisory panel -- this not the whole FDA, this is an advisory panel -- wants the agency to revisit last year's rulings that those fillings are not harmful.
I'm joined now by our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. Elizabeth, mercury dental fillings are what many people my age and older had.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. I got a ton of them in my mouth.
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: Open your mouth. Let's see. Yes, you...
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: You got some there.
VELSHI: Yes.
COHEN: OK. So... VELSHI: Over the years, they've started replacing them with something else, sort of tooth-colored stuff.
COHEN: Right. Most people these days are getting composite fillings...
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: ... which are not mercury. But people are still getting mercury fillings. And if you Google the dangers of mercury fillings...
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: ... you will see it being blamed for everything from cancer to kidney failure...
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: ... to everything in between.
VELSHI: And it's half mercury and half other metals.
COHEN: Right. But the mercury in it (INAUDIBLE)
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: ... because mercury's known to be toxic.
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: And you know, the dentists -- the American Dental Association has always said they're fine. Don't worry about it. And then people on the other side of this argument have said, Are you kidding? They're not fine. I want them out of my teeth.
VELSHI: And last year, the FDA said they're fine.
COHEN: Yes. Don't worry, be happy.
VELSHI: Yes.
COHEN: But now they're saying, Maybe we'll take a second look because maybe there's some new evidence that has come that maybe puts our previous decision in doubt.
VELSHI: What happens here? So this is an advisory panel, they give some sort of suggestion.
COHEN: Right.
VELSHI: To the FDA.
COHEN: Right. And then the FDA will say, OK, we agree with you, or we don't agree with you.
VELSHI: Right. And if they decide they agree with them, what does that mean, that we can't have...
COHEN: I mean, it's possible that they could -- you know, that they could say mercury fillings shouldn't be used.
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: But the way the market is going is that they're not used all that much anymore...
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: ... and I mean, they are still out there.
VELSHI: They're lower-cost? Is that why...
COHEN: They are. So -- and this is where the "Empowered Patient" message comes in, is that if mercury -- if it makes you nervous to have mercury fillings...
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: ... just don't get them.
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: You know, when you go to the dentist, say specifically, I do not want mercury.
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: And there is a price...
VELSHI: But you know what happens. You know what happens. You say this stuff, and then we go to dentists and we say, I don't want this, and then your dentist, who doesn't think there's a problem with mercury, says, You know, why are you listening to all this stuff? I'm a dentist. I've got a degree. I've been doing this for 30 years. That's where it really -- the second boost to the "Empowered Patient" is stick to your guns on it.
COHEN: Right. And you know, you say to that dentist, you say, Is there any reason why I shouldn't have the composite?
VELSHI: Right. Right.
COHEN: Give me a reason why I shouldn't have it.
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: Is there anything bad about it?
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: Is there anything that makes the mercury better? Now, in a pretty small number of cases -- a pretty small number -- mercury really might be what you need. VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: And so you want to have that discussion. But if your dentist can't give you a good reason for having that mercury...
VELSHI: Yes.
COHEN: ... then you go ahead and ask for the other stuff. It's about -- we called a couple dentists. It's about 50 bucks more...
VELSHI: Right. Right.
COHEN: ... for a medium-sized cavity. It's a little bit more...
VELSHI: But in theory, in lasts a long time. So you amortize it over the time that it's going to be in your mouth...
COHEN: Amortize, yes.
VELSHI: There you go.
COHEN: That's...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I can make anything into a business story!
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: All right, let's talk about another FDA recommendation about Avastin.
COHEN: OK, Avastin is a drug that is being used for women with advanced breast cancer...
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: ... as well as other kind of cancers. And a lot of women swear by it. I interviewed a woman who said, I'm alive today because of Avastin.
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: Today the FDA said, Uh-uh. We've taken -- we're going to tell doctors don't use this for breast cancer anymore.
VELSHI: For breast cancer. They can still use it for other things.
COHEN: They can use for -- they can use it for whatever they want.
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: I mean, once something's on the market, a doctor can do whatever they said. VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: However, the FDA says is saying, We don't think it works for breast cancer, and we think it actually maybe making women more sick, giving them heart problems and other problems. But there are women who swear by Avastin. And because, you know, everything is averages. They say, on average, it didn't help...
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: ... women live longer. But what if you're a woman on this end and...
VELSHI: Right. When you have cancer, yes...
COHEN: Yes.
VELSHI: ... it's always tough because the averages sometimes don't sound good for you, but...
COHEN: Right. Who cares about the average?
VELSHI: ... you want -- you just want -- right. Yes.
COHEN: You want to know about yourself.
VELSHI: Kind of like average gas prices, right?
COHEN: Right. Exactly.
VELSHI: The average doesn't matter. The one that matters is the gas station next to my house.
COHEN: Exactly.
VELSHI: Did I just make two of your stories...
COHEN: You did! I don't know how you do that.
VELSHI: ... into business stories?
COHEN: I don't know how you do that.
VELSHI: Elizabeth, thanks very much, the "Empowered Patient," always good advice. Take Elizabeth's advice and just stick by your guns sometimes.
All right, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson is in North Korea. Our Wolf Blitzer is the only TV guy traveling with him. What does Richardson hope to accomplish in the region?. We're going "Globe Trekking" right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right, today's "Globe Trekking" takes us to North Korea, to Pyongyang, where New Mexico governor Bill Richardson just arrived with our own Wolf Blitzer. Blitzer is the only television reporter from the U.S. traveling with Richardson on this trip. There's somebody from "The New York Times," as well.
Before they left Beijing, Wolf asked Richardson about the tension in the region. We want to bring you some of those comments right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: It's the highest I've ever seen. I've been involved with North Korea for the last 10, 15 years. We've negotiated release of prisoners, of remains of American soldiers, negotiated on the nuclear agreement. I've been an envoy officially and unofficially in a Republican and Democratic administration. I can't remember when the tension wasn't (SIC) as high as it is now. And you worry about some kind of action hastening a potential war. And we have to avoid that at all costs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: You can see Wolf's entire interview today on "THE SITUATION ROOM" at 5:00 PM Eastern time.
Now, let me give you a little background. Richardson, who will be in the region for four days, is not going as a representative of the U.S. government. He was invited privately by North Korean officials, specifically Kim Guy Guan (ph), who you see here. He's the country's senior nuclear negotiator.
With regard to the tensions, there's been tough talk from both of the Koreas in recent weeks after North Korea shelled a South Korean island last month. Four people were killed. It was the first direct artillery assault on South Korea since 1953, when an armistice between the two countries ended the fighting.
Now, South Korea just announced today it will conduct naval fire drills near the attack site. This announcement is in addition to previously announced military exercises by the government. In March, dozens of South Korean sailors were killed in the sinking of a South Korean warship. Now, this is Richardson's eighth visit to North Korea. In 2007, he spent four days in the region to bring back the remains of six U.S. troops missing since the Korean War.
We'll continue to follow the story. And again, you can see Wolf Blitzer's entire interview tonight on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Our "Big I" today is all about recycling and new technology that could change what we are able to reuse. This is really interesting. But first here's a quiz for you. How many trees' worth of paper are thrown out in the United States every year, 100 million, 250 million, 600 million or 1 billion? How many trees' worth of paper are thrown out in the U.S. every year? I'll give you the answer on the other side of the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Well, before the break, we asked you how many trees' worth of paper are thrown away in the United States every year, 100 million, 250 million, 600 million or a billion? I am surprised at this -- a billion trees' worth of paper thrown away in the United States every year.
But new technology is being used in Thailand that could change that by allowing us to recycle even more paper products -- you know, like milk or juice cartons and cigarette packets. Those used to go in the trash because of laminated plastic coatings that are used in packaging. Now, using a modified enzyme that can now break that down to separate the paper and the plaster, and both of them can be recycled.
Joining me now via Skype from Bangkok is Paijit Sangchai. He is the CEO of Flexoresearch. Thanks for joining us, Paijit.
PAIJIT SANGCHAI, CEO, FLEXORESEARCH (via telephone): Hi, Ali.
VELSHI: Tell us about...
SANGCHAI: Thank you for speaking.
VELSHI: We didn't even know -- I mean, I wasn't even clear that some of these things couldn't be recycled. I thought things that sort of generally felt and looked like paper could be recycled. What -- what does this change?
SANGCHAI: Hello?
VELSHI: Tell me about the process.
SANGCHAI: Oh, OK. We recover the paper part (ph) from the laminate, the paper waste (ph). For example, the plastic-coated (INAUDIBLE) liner of the speaker (ph).
VELSHI: OK. And you separate them. And as a result, both the plastic and the paper can be -- can be recycled?
SANGCHAI: Yes. Both plastic and paper can be separate from each other. And then we use the paper to -- the raw material to make a new paper again. And also the plastic (INAUDIBLE) clearly (ph) and then we can recycle it to be a new (INAUDIBLE)
VELSHI: All right, Paijit, thank you very much for telling us about this. I'm going to put more research about this on my blog. For more information on Flexoresearch and their plastic-eating enzymes, be sure to check out my blog, CNN.com/ali. I'll link you to the information.
OK, Let me bring you up to speed with some of the top stories we're following right now. The release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange tops our look at developing stories right now. He walked out of a prison in London, where he'd been held on a sexual assault investigation linked to incidents in Sweden. London's high court granted him bail earlier in the day.
Here's what Assange had to say upon his release. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIAN ASSANGE, FOUNDER, WIKILEAKS: I hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter and to reveal, as we get it, which we have not yet, the evidence from these allegations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Assange will stay in a home outside of London. He'll wear an electronic monitoring device and has to check in with police daily.
Also, U.S. officials say captured insurgents in Iraq are claiming al Qaeda is planning suicide attacks in the United States and Europe over the holidays. The official added the claims are being taken seriously, but there's no intelligence on a specific threat on the U.S. homeland.
Authorities say bomb-making materials and an explosive device were found inside a New Haven, Connecticut, home today. New Haven police chief said they were not believed to be related to terrorist activity. Authorities discovered the explosives after the neighbor called the fired department to report smoke coming from the apartment.
And a new milestone for former president Bill Clinton on a new map that puts Hope on a new map. Your CNN "Political Update" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Make sure to tune into Larry's final live show tonight.
Time now for a CNN "Political Update," and more potential presidential candidates now weighing in on this tax cut compromise which, by the way, as we've been reporting, might be in some trouble in the House right now.
CNN national political correspondent Jessica Yellin joins me now from Washington. Hello, Jessica.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali. That's right, there's more division among the Republican ranks over this tax cut package. And I'm talking about some of the 2012 presidential hopefuls. Coming out today with an opinion, the latest news is that former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, one of the folks who might run for president in 2012, says he is against the tax cut deal. He know it could, if they don't pass it, folks' taxes will go up next year temporarily, but he wants the next Congress to pass a permanent extension. That means he joins Sarah Palin and some others opposing the tax cut deal. Also Mitt Romney in that camp.
But another one, Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana, who also might run for president in 2012, says he supports it. Why? Because it's better than nothing right now, and they can amend the problems later, he says. Among those other Republicans who stand for the tax cut package, John Thune, a senator currently in Congress, and many others. So a lot of division on that still. And also talking 2012, Ali, some new news on when's it all going to begin? You know, maybe no one out there cares. Those of us planning our schedules for next year sure care, and so do the presidential contenders. Mitch Daniels, that guy I said is governor of Indiana and a potential hopeful, says he's not even going to decide and tell us whether he's running for president or not until April of next year. And another one, Haley Harbor, says he's not going to decide until around spring.
So we have a little while to wait and keep talking about what could be. But what's interesting here is this presidential season is starting a lot later this time around than it did for the 2008 presidential election.
And turning the page, remember a place called Hope? Yes, that was the name -- what? That was the name of the...
VELSHI: That's right.
YELLIN: The theme of...
VELSHI: Bill Clinton's place...
YELLIN: Yes.
VELSHI: ... yes, where he was from.
YELLIN: It was the theme of his convention...
VELSHI: Yes.
YELLIN: ... and that's where he was born, Hope, Arkansas.
VELSHI: Yes.
YELLIN: Well, his home town, his childhood home, is becoming a national park. That's right, the place he lived, the two-story house -- he lived there for his first four years with his mother, who was widowed, and his mom's parents, and is now going to be a national park. And there are only a few other presidents whose home -- home places -- what do you call it, place of birth...
VELSHI: Yes.
YELLIN: Home...
VELSHI: Or -- yes, yes. Early homes, whatever it was.
YELLIN: Where you were born.
VELSHI: Yes.
YELLIN: Yes. Who are they? They're George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
VELSHI: That's it? YELLIN: Now Bill Clinton. Yes. Pretty good company.
VELSHI: That's pretty -- that's pretty good.
YELLIN: Yes.
VELSHI: That's pretty impressive. All right, Jessica. Good to see you. We'll keep -- we're going to stay in touch on this business going on in the House right now to see whether this tax cut actually passes or not. Jessica Yellin in Washington. Your next "Political Update" is just an hour away.
Well, singing security guards where you'd probably least expect them. We'll check it out next in "Odds & Ends."
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VELSHI: A very merry "Odds & Ends" for you today. Now, as we all know, the TSA has gotten some flack lately for its particularly thorough airport searches. Well, in the spirit of the season, the agency is trying to touch travelers in a totally different way. Meet the LAX TSA choir, made up of 17 security officers at the Los Angeles International Airport, all of them volunteers who practice and perform on their own time. The goal is to lighten the load for harried holiday travelers, and maybe, just maybe, put a new, nicer face on the TSA.
Let's jet from LA to the United Arab Emirates now and get an eyeload of this monster Christmas tree in an Abu Dhabi hotel. Sure, it's big, but what really makes it stand out is also worth big bucks, over $11 million, actually, thanks to all of the ornaments. We're talking jewelry loaded with precious gems hung out all over this thing. The hotel's billing -- billing it as the most expensive Christmas tree ever.
And notable, fragile, reversible -- three words describing U.S. and allied gains in the Afghan war. You'll find those words in a top- to-bottom review coming one year into a surge of 30,000 U.S. troops. It also comes just months ahead of the scheduled beginning of a U.S. withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
Let's get the read-out and the fall-out as only CNN can. Our Jill Dougherty joins me from the White House. Nic Robertson is live from Kabul. Chris Lawrence is in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Let's start with Nic in -- let's start with Jill at the White House. Jill, the president came out today and said we're largely on track with this. But there are -- there are major challenges.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, the words -- if there were two words, fragile and reversible. I mean, what he's saying is, OK, we've got the strategy. We know where we're going. It is bearing some fruit. But all of this is fragile and reversible, and we just have to see ultimately how this will pan out.
They do believe that they have taken the fight to the al Qaeda leadership and that there's some progress there. But they had their two things, Ali, essentially that they're saying. Afghanistan still has a government that is not really that functional, and they need that government to stand up a lot better than it's doing. And then also, they need the Pakistanis, which is really key, to understand that the challenge, at least according to the United States, is not the challenge from India, it's really the internal challenge to the government of Pakistan from the Taliban.
VELSHI: That is a key point. Let's take you to Islamabad now, where Chris Lawrence is standing by. And Chris, this is an important thing for a lot of people to realize, that to the Pakistanis, in many cases, if you ask somebody on the street, their bigger concern, their bigger issue is India and the continuing threat of unrest with India. They don't see Islamic militants and that porous border with Afghanistan, some of them don't, as the major problem that the U.S. and the West does.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ali. I mean, you know, by all intents and purposes, I mean, Pakistan is not a very united country. The one thing that will get people united here is opposition to India, is fear of the -- of the threat, the perceived threat here from India.
You've also got a faction of the leadership here in Pakistan who feels that there are militants and extremists in other parts of the country, other parts of Pakistan, that pose a much more immediate threat to the government and to the state of Pakistan than the militants in, say, north Waziristan, who are crossing over into Afghanistan to fight -- Ali.
VELSHI: Nic Robertson joins us now from Kabul with the perspective from Afghanistan.
Nic, you've got the White House view on the one side that Jill was bringing us. You've got the view from inside Pakistan, which is very, very complex and textured. And then you've got the situation on the ground in Afghanistan.
I mean, earlier, almost a year ago, in last summer, we were talking about these surges, these increased efforts on the behalf of -- on the part of international troops to really take the lead in this battle. It doesn't seem like we've really achieved all that much here.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, General Petraeus and General McChrystal really put a lot on the line by convincing President Obama, along with others, to put in additional troops and to give this counterstrategy support and bring on board the local population in density-populated areas like Kandahar and some towns in Helmand, in the south, give that a chance to work. And we've been able to see it work, but it only works to a degree.
And part of the review here is, is that if the government here doesn't have the capacity to consolidate those security gains, then there are going to be problems. And that's what we're seeing now. You cannot free up the troops to go take on the Taliban in other areas. Plus, the surge is a limited number. No one is talking about bringing more troops in. When you're talking about scaling them down in six months' time, there are Taliban getting stronger in other parts of the country. So those are some of the sort of inconsistencies, if you will.
VELSHI: All right. And we will momentarily get another report from the pentagon. This is their response to this whole matter. We'll keep an eye on that.
Jill, Nic and Chris, thanks very much for your input on this.
