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'New Portrait of America'; Snow Freezes Europe Travel; University of Connecticut Women Shoot for NCAA Record; Rain, Snow Pummel West Coast; European Travel Nightmare; FCC Fights for Equal Web Access; Al Qaeda Plotted Poisoning U.S. Food

Aired December 21, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about the economy. Christine Romans has been going through those numbers. She joins me now live from New York.

Christine, what are you finding that's most interesting as you dig through the Census?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, finding that the growth rate, 9.7 percent over 10 years, the fact that it slowed down really not a surprise, Ali, because, look, this is an economy that has slowed down, and our birth rate has slowed a little bit, and so has immigration to this country. Still the most open country for immigration, compared to a lot of other countries in the world, but still has slowed down a little bit.

The Midwest and the Northeast grew, but much more slowly than normal. And, in fact, you saw the South and the West really getting the population growth there. Michigan actually losing some people, Ali, and then there were a lot of other states that actually slowed down their rate of growth -- Vermont, for example, is one of them.

We have a nice long list of these, of states: Rhode Island, Louisiana, Ohio, New York, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania. You can see where they've had industries that were hard hit. They also happen to have populations that did not grow quite as quickly.

Texas, something going on in Texas. I've got to tell you, we've been talking about that economy recovering and rebounding from the recession before a lot of others. Texas seeing some good population growth.

And all this has ramifications for $400 billion in federal money that gets passed out. Right? Governors really care about these sorts of numbers. We all care about it because we watch how popular our particular state is and what that's going to mean for businesses coming there and actually creating jobs.

And it means something for the seats, Ali, how they apportion all of those congressional seats. And some states will be losers. They will lose a seat. New Jersey will, Iowa will, others. Some states will pick up a seat. All together, 18 seats will be affected -- their congressional delegations will be affected by these numbers -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Christine. I know you will be parsing through this long before there are -- long after there are TV reports to be done on it, because this is the kind of stuff that you and I love doing, numbers to back us up and help us understand exactly what some of the trends are.

Thanks, Christine. Good to see you.

ROMANS: Bye, Ali.

VELSHI: For more on the 2010 Census, be sure to check out the Census Bureau's interactive map. We've pull up the link for you. Go to 2010.census.gov, and then click on "Data."

OK. About a week of heavy rain already, and the skies just won't stop dumping on southern California. We're talking especially the cluster of Los Angeles, Kern, Ventura and Orange Counties here.

Many roads are impassable. Streams and rivers are overflowing. Saturated ground just can't take any more rain.

Chunks of it are giving way along canals and cliff sides. Stretches of the Pacific Coast Highway and Highway 1 have been shut down at times. And rescue crews are working overtime trying to get drivers who have been stranded or swept away by all the water.

Then there are folks stranded by snow. Head north and inland a little bit from where all that rain is, and we're talking some record amounts in the upper Sierra Nevada.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically you can't go anywhere. The storm kept us stopped. Whiteout, can't see anything. You know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's night. What are you going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sleep in the car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was raining, and all of a sudden, it got really bad in, like, five or 10 minutes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now you are stuck also.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Now my car is over there and it's buried in the snow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have not seen it like this ever. We couldn't even see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: Let's go across the pond to London's Heathrow Airport, still frozen up by a weekend snowstorm. Thousands of people sleeping on terminal floors, many of them since Saturday. When they'll be able to get out of there is still up in the air.

Happy news though for folks traveling by other means. They're starting to get rolling again.

CNN's Jim Boulden is live from St. Pancras Train Station, home of the London-to-Paris Eurostar.

How are things looking there, Jim?

JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, of course this is a country that can't handle six inches of snow, much less six feet of snow. So, for the last three days, I would have shown you massive queues, massive lines of people trying to get on the train.

But in the last hour, the lines have completely disappeared. Thousands of people have been able to get on to the trains here in London, on their way to Paris, and all the way to Brussels. So it has changed very quickly.

Very good atmosphere here today, I have to say. Unlike the airports, there's free food, free drinks. They're giving people coffee and pizza, because in London, of course, it's very difficult when there's even a little bit of snow.

Earlier today, I did speak to one expert who's been tasked by this government to figure out why it is the U.K. can't handle the snow when it comes to transportation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID QUARMBY, TRAVEL EXPERT: I know people say, well, in Canada, and maybe in Scandinavia, it isn't like this, they know what to do. What I would say is, in countries like that, and parts of North America, the East Coast, you have a severe winter every winter. You almost know to the week when it's coming.

You know what to do. You've got the resources to do it.

We have of more much unpredictable weather in the U.K. We had a severe winter last winter and a bit of a winter the one before. But for eight years before that, hardly saw any snow at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOULDEN: So it comes down to money, Ali. The government here has to decide, are they going to spend a lot of money on more salt trucks, on snow removal equipment, with the worry that, if they do that, then we might have some very mild winters for the next couple of years? It really is a tough decision in this austere time.

VELSHI: All right, Jim. We'll stay on top of it with you. Thank you so much for that. Shifting gears now away from weather, to the merry sounds of the holidays, brought to you by none other than the big man of basketball. Shaquille O'Neal taking up the wand of the Boston Pops. Today's "Sound Effect."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Maestro Shamrock.

(APPLAUSE)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: All right. O'Neal, of course, now plays for the Boston Celtics. For a guy who's been playing hoops ever since he was a kid, we were a little surprised by a concession he made after the practice session before last night's performance, saying, "My arms are shot right now."

All right. One game away from becoming the winningest college basketball game in history. The name of that team and the magic number, coming up right up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It's a record that's endured for a generation in college sports. When the UCLA men's basketball team strung 88 straight regular-season wins together back in the early '70s, it seemed unassailable. Well, tell that to the UConn Huskies -- the UConn Lady Huskies, to be specific. Tonight they'll shoot for the 89th straight win and their very own place in NCAA history.

For details and some context here, we're joined by "USA Today" sports columnist Christine Brennan.

Christine, thanks for being here.

Look, this is a team that has dominated women's college hoops for years. It's almost as if they've been working toward this.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, SPORTS COLUMNIST, "USA TODAY": Oh, absolutely, Ali. And of course they're the "Huskies." They're not the "Lady Huskies." None of that adjective for them.

They are as dominant, obviously, as the UCLA men were in the 1970s. And if they win tonight -- and they should -- they will do something no one has ever done before, Ali, which is win 89 college basketball games in a row.

And it's that significant, it's that important. We are watching one of the great dynasties in sports. Male, female, it doesn't matter. That's how good they are.

VELSHI: Right. OK. Well, then let's talk about this.

UConn's coach is a pretty outspoken guy. He's actually spoken out on the issue of gender discrimination in college sports.

Christine?

BRENNAN: Oh, I'm sorry. I thought we were going to hear something.

VELSHI: Oh, you thought we were going to play what he said. Sorry. We didn't.

BRENNAN: Yes. I was waiting for your question.

Yes, he has spoken out about it. And I have too.

I wrote a column Thursday about that, Ali. And if this were a men's team, my goodness, every grandmother in every produce section would know about it.

VELSHI: Right.

BRENNAN: And the coverage has been sporadic, and it has not been becoming of this streak. And so, therefore, I think it's really, I think, a wake-up call for women's sports advocates. Women are playing sports -- million and millions of girls are playing sports thanks to Title IX, a wonderful law that has changed the playing fields of America. But in terms of the coverage by the mainstream, male- dominated sports media, no, it's just not there yet. And that's what we've seen with this story.

VELSHI: All right. Well, that's part of the reason we want to do it here.

Let's compare this to the UCLA '70s-era team. If they were playing each other, where would your money go?

BRENNAN: Oh, well, men and women are -- it's different. It's the game of basketball is the same, and I think that's the conversation.

To compare male athletes versus female athletes is pointless because it's just a different body shape, different size, different strength. So it's the game we're talking about. And in that context, UConn, if they win tonight, will, Ali, have the greatest streak ever.

VELSHI: Pretty impressive any way you cut it. Thanks so much, Christine. We appreciate you talking to us about this.

BRENNAN: You bet, Ali. Thank you.

VELSHI: All right. It's looking more likely that the president will get a Senate victory on the START treaty. We'll hear how he snatched this one from the jaws of defeat in "The Stakeout," coming up next

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: That is Waikiki Beach. Look what is about to pop into the shot right now. There he is, on the beach, Ed Henry.

Those are some shorts you've got on, Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You like the shorts?

VELSHI: He's in Hawaii this week. This is still "The Stakeout," but Ed is working.

You are working, just to be clear, right?

HENRY: Yes, I'm working really hard right now. I mean, look, you guys are going to tease me for the next two weeks, and that's fine. But you'll remember better than anyone that last Christmas Day, we thought I was going to be doing some goofy live shot on the beach --

VELSHI: I remember it well.

HENRY: -- where I am right now, and instead we had the underwear bomber. And that led to -- you were the anchor on standby, and you did a great job. And you and I were talking all night with all this new information. And the next thing you know, you were Emmy-nominated for live breaking news coverage.

So the bottom line is --

VELSHI: And thank to you for your help.

So the bottom line is you're there because, generally speaking, you're there because that's where the president spends his Christmas holidays. And you need to be close to the action.

He's not there yet. Why is that?

HENRY: He's not here because of what's going on back in Washington. He did get the tax cut deal late last week, as you know. He got the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" over the weekend. He's going to have that bill-signing ceremony early tomorrow morning.

And then it's looking like perhaps -- and I stress "perhaps" -- he's going to be able to get away from D.C. as early as tomorrow afternoon. They're not saying that officially. It could be Thursday. It could be Friday.

You know, Robert Gibbs today said he's going to stay as long as Congress does. But look, now, based on Dana Bash's reporting on the Hill, it's clear the president has enough Republican votes to ratify the New START treaty. If he does, there's not really that much left for him to stick around to deal with in Washington. He will have gotten really a lot of the major issues done.

VELSHI: All right, Ed. Let's talk a bit about the acceleration with which the president and Congress have done things over this sort of lame-duck Congress.

He's going to get to Hawaii. What's likely to happen once he's there, between the time he gets there and the time he goes back to Washington?

HENRY: Well, I think what he's going to very quickly do is very little, frankly. I mean, this has been a pretty difficult year for him.

If you go back to the beginning of the year, it feels like two years ago, but it was this year that he finally got the health care victory in the spring. Ant that was after a lot of tough fights.

And then you go right through the summer, into the midterm election, that became what he himself called the shellacking. And he went into this lame duck kind of limping a bit, but he's coming out of it with maybe some victories.

So I bet he's going to spend a lot of time here in Hawaii, as he did the last two years, spending time with family, celebrating the holidays, not doing a whole heck of a lot in public, because he's got to get ready for what's going to be a pretty grueling 2011. When you talk to his senior aides, they say the next year is going to be a lot about protecting what he's already done.

You know, you've got Republicans emboldened on the Hill. They're going to try to take away leftover stimulus funds, they're going to try to dismantle his health care reform bill. They're going to try, in some ways, to dismantle some of the financial regulatory reform, maybe weaken some of that.

So he's played a lot of offense the last two years, and he's going to be playing some defense in 2011.

VELSHI: All right. Let's talk a little bit about the weather. Is it clearing up over there?

HENRY: It's starting to clear up. You know, the last two years, though, there have been so many more people here on Waikiki Beach. And right now there's hardly anybody. I think everyone is trying to wait out the rain.

And I'm getting a lot of grief from my colleagues. Ever since we started doing live shots with you yesterday on "The Stakeout," all my colleagues on other networks are emailing, saying, "How in the world were you able to swing this, to get there before the president is even there?"

And as I told you yesterday -- and I hope Jim Walton (ph) and others are listening -- I was trying to save the company money because I had a plane ticket. And if I started changing that, I mean, I wouldn't want to pay the change fee and all -- I mean, I was just looking out for the company.

And so I'm here, and I'm staking things out, making sure that when the president is here, we've got wall-to-wall coverage. VELSHI: Excellent, Ed. We have counted on you in these circumstances before, so I'm not making any fun of it at all. I'm glad you're on the ground and available to us as things continue to develop, as work keeps on getting done.

Ed, excellent to see you. We'll check in with you again tomorrow.

Ed Henry, our senior White House correspondent --

HENRY: See you, Ali.

VELSHI: -- on "The Stakeout" on Waikiki Beach.

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: OK. If you've got family members traveling in Europe today, you may not see them for Christmas. "Globe Trekking" is next. We'll bring you an update on travel in Europe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: And we're looking at Atlanta right now, still waiting for some of that sun to peak out. We saw some in Miami. We're going to look for other sunny cities as well.

Happening now, the first results are in from the 2010 U.S. Census. The population of the United States has topped 308.7 million, growing 9.7 percent over the past decade. This is the slowest rate of growth since the Great Depression.

Rain continues to pummel southern California. It's causing flooding and mudslides and numerous road closures.

Meanwhile, heavy snow is falling in the Sierra Nevada. This weather system is causing -- that is causing this is supposed to move out of California toward the end of next week, spreading across the country.

It's look like there are now enough Republicans on boards, by the way, to approve a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia. At least nine Senate Republicans have announced their support for the START Treaty. There might be a test vote as early as today.

Now to "Globe Trekking" and another look at the terrible weather in Europe. It has stranded many Christmas travelers in airports and train stations.

Fred Pleitgen is in Berlin with the latest. What is it looking like out there, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's still very cold and there's a lot of snow, still causing a lot of problems. So a lot of people not enjoying their European vacation very much or a lot of people who are trying to get to America to see their loved ones over Christmas probably will not get there, because the weather is simply that bad.

Frankfurt Airport, which is, of course, the largest here in Germany, the third largest in Europe, was shut down for several hours today, Ali. People are just waiting to try to get on some flight. About 500 flights were canceled there today. They've set up about 1,000 military cots to give people a place to rest, a place to stay. They're also apparently handing out food. They're handing out drinks to try to keep people from getting very angry.

Apparently there have been some seen at Frankfurt Airport where some passengers got very rowdy throughout the past couple of days, and some of the policemen have come to help them settle down. So it's still is a very difficult situation. However, what the people in Frankfurt are telling us and in other German airports as well, is they believe it will continue to ease over the coming days, the temperatures are expected to rise.

They think more flights will get out. Also another thing that the Germans specifically have done and the British are doing, by the way, is they're easing restrictions on night flights so that more people can be flown out, especially to destinations like the U.S. overnight, not something usually done here in Europe, Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Fred, we'll stay on top of that with you and our entire team watching travel this week across the Europe and the United States. Fred Pleitgen in Germany.

Imagine the electric company charging more for power depending on the appliance you use and not the actual amount of power used. That's exactly the fight going on right now over your internet. It's about net neutrality, and I'll break it down for you after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It's looks a little sunny up by the Statue of Liberty, reflections coming up the water up in Manhattan. Right now, every web site on the internet is created equal. It's not really created equal, but you have equal access to it. You're able to see everything and read everything at equal speed basically.

Your internet provider cannot limit what you view online, as long as it's legal. You get it the same way no matter what's looking at. That's called network neutrality. The Federal Communications Commission wants to keep it that way.

Today, the FCC voted to approve the net neutrality rules. That doesn't mean that's going to happen. It just means they voted that way. Let's break it down exactly what it means. Here's how the internet works.

Web sites like Facebook, Skype, Netflix, YouTube, CNN.com, whatever you want create content. That content is funneled to an internet service provider. It might be AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, whatever the internet service provider is. The service providers then push those websites and that content out to your computer, your laptop, your mobile device. That's how the internet works right now.

Let's talk about how internet companies make money. Mostly web sites sell advertising. There's some web sites that don't. Netflix, for instance, sells subscriptions. Internet service providers sell access to the web sites via broadband. Watching movies online however, puts a bigger strain on networks than e-mails. It's got more bandwidth that it uses.

Now some of those internet service providers want to ration out internet access and split it into tiers like how cable television is split into tiers. Here's the problem with that. Some of those internet service providers produce content of their own.

I mentioned some of those, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, imagine if Comcast was able to limit Netflix' use of the being internet pipe through which this video goes. It could block or significantly slow or charge extra for Netflix so users would gravitate toward watching Comcast videos online and that provides revenue for Comcast.

That's not happening, I just want to give you an example that some people in the industry are worried that it could happen in the future. Let's take an example of a grocery store. Let's say there's one grocery store in town. That grocery sells eight different kinds of bread, eight different brands of bread, bread made by eight different bakeries.

All of a sudden they tell all the other bread makers in town, they can't sell bread anymore at the grocery store or they have to pay extra to get their bread on the shelves. The only bread that they're going to sell is going to be their own bread, anybody else's bread is going to cost more or maybe isn't going to be available at that grocery town.

And that doesn't sound too fair. Now the argument from some of internet service providers like the cable companies, phone companies is that they're footing the bill for the equipment and the maintenance to bring the internet into your home. They need to be able to ration, regulate and charge different prices for content running through their pipes.

Let's talk about how you at home and this tiered system proposed by some internet service providers would work. The internet comes to you through a pipe like this. Right now, it's a fairly good size pipe and everything that goes through that pipe is equal. So if you're tweeting, it goes through that pipe. If you're watching - if you're Skyping with somebody, it goes through that pipe.

If you're looking at pictures on Facebook, it goes through the pipe. Watching video on YouTube goes through that same pipe. If you're streaming videos from Netflix, is all goes through the pipe. Generally speaking, the pipes is pretty good, it all gets through there and through the other side.

Now here's what some people are suggesting might happen, if there's a two-tiered system there will be this big pipe if you have services that use a lot of that video, and then they'll be a smaller pipe like this one, that's for things that use less. Clearly it's a little harder to get some of that big bandwidth stuff into that little pipe.

So if I want just to surf the web and write e-mails, I probably just need this smaller pipe, but if I'm going to do what we increasingly do these days, watch more video and have richer content, I'm going to need that larger pipe, and some people say you should have to pay for that.

You get better access, so pay for it. Some say the division is censorship and will kill innovation in this country. A lot of interesting arguments on both sides of this that we haven't talked about. What about using the web on your cell phone? That also has implications.

Let's talk to CNN money writer David Goldman about this. He's been following it. David, what's the main issue that your readers and my viewers should be thinking about in this net neutrality debate? It's a bad name. It's makes it sound boring, but really this is about how you access the internet. What's the main thing I should be thinking about?

DAVID GOLDMAN, STAFF WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes, it really is a bad name because it's really confusing to consumers. People don't know what this is, but here's what it's all about. It's only trying to get you to use the internet the same way you are using it right now.

There are some people who think in the pipe analogy is a really good one that there's going to be bigger pipes for some content and smaller pipes for some other content down the road.

So for instance, if Comcast, which is buying NBC, wanted to give their content a bigger pipe, but then make a smaller pipe for Hulu or Netflix or a competing provider, then that might be something that you wouldn't want to see. That's what the FCC is trying to fix today by voting for net neutrality legislation.

VELSHI: David, it's sounds obvious. We're used to an internet where everything is accessible in the same way. There are some places in the country where you pay more. You get an internet light and you get a sort more robust when you do certain things, but we're generally used to it being largely free, but for the internet service provider and largely cheap and accessible. What's the down side to what the FCC is proposing? It sounds normal.

GOLDMAN: Right, so the people who are opposed to net neutrality are saying that there's an enormous amount of data that's going to come through those pipes that you mentioned down the road, especially with high-definition video, with large, large files like that, that the internet service providers just won't be able to handle.

So they're saying, look, we need to have control over our own networks. Now, here's the thing. What the FCC proposed was a nice compromise legislation, saying that those companies can control their networks. They just need to control -- they need to treat all content equally.

So in other words they could say Amazon can get to your computer faster than eBay, but if they're having trouble, because there's so much content, bandwidth being sucked up by Amazon or eBay, they can throttle down the speed, as long as they're both treated equally.

VELSHI: OK, so the issue here is that we don't want to necessarily restrict the internet service provider's ability to manage what goes through their pipes and make money on it so they can continue to build better infrastructure.

But we've got to make sure they don't make decisions that favor their own products or people with whom they have business relationships over those with whom they may not.

GOLDMAN: You got it. That's exactly right. It's got consumers in mind so that your internet experience will stay exactly the same, but they're also thinking about the businesses, because this is an expensive proposition to carry all that data, all that YouTube video that everyone is watching over their broadband networks.

Wireless is a little different. With wireless, because there's more competition and because it's a newer kind of technology, they can't block certain apps or certain web sites, but can treat some content differently. That may change down the road, but that's the way they've spelled out the legislation right now.

VELSHI: OK, it's worth reading up on this, because there are a lot of analogies to public utilities who say that because we had to price things a certain way we couldn't build out our infrastructure enough. It's not as black as white as it seems, but David, great job at explaining that for us. Always a great job from you folks at CNNMoney.com. Go there for all sorts of information on financial matters and technical matters like this. David, thanks very much for your help.

GOLDMAN: Thank you.

VELSHI: All right, it is 43 minutes after the hour, here are the latest developments in our top stories. More flood watches and warnings for Southern California where it's been pouring for four days now.

Forecasters expect the rain to intensify tonight and tomorrow. They're predicting another storm on Christmas night. Mudslides are already closing roads, including at least two stretches of the Pacific Coast highway.

An investigation into the release of the convicted bomber of Pan- Am flight 103 questions the prognosis used to justify his release from a Scottish prison last year. The report from New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez said the prognosis of the bomber was said the bomber would have three months to live. It was inaccurate and not supported by medical science. The release of the report coincides with the 22nd anniversary of the bombing.

And moments ago, the Senate approved a temporary spending bill that will keep the government running through March 4th. It's the third such action in a month. The House is expected to vote on the measures later today. The current funding law is set to expire at midnight.

Well, if you own any stock, you might be making a bunch of money today. We'll see what's behind this big rally coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: U.S. Capitol in Washington, the sun is shining. I asked for some sun, I'm getting some sun.

By the way, the Senate has just passed a measure authorizing government funding through March fourth. The government is not going to shut down -- well, this measure has to go to the House of Representatives. That was the Senate, hopefully, they will get things done because current government funding expires at midnight.

It looks like Wall Street is getting more confident about the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index both hit two-year highs today.

Alison Kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison, we often get December rallies, but this is -- these are highs from 2008, right after the worst of this financial crisis, so there's a lot of smart money saying things are doing well.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, if you talk to anybody on the floor, Ali, they are saying they see Wall Street on an upswing at this point. And if you think about it, there's a lot of momentum behind this rally that we're seeing.

Of course, you were just talking about Congress. You know that they went ahead and extended those Bush-era tax cuts in cutting payroll taxes as well, extending those unemployment benefits. This puts more money into consumers' pockets, that's what Wall Street really likes to hear. These are stimulative measures to get the economy going.

Also, we can't forget, the Republicans took control of the House, another thing that Wall Street views as something that is favorable.

And who can forget the Fed's decision to pump $600 billion into the economy through bond purchases. What it wound up doing really, Ali, as you know, is it wound up pushing investors from the bond market to stocks, and that's also why we're seeing stocks really getting a boost with the S&P 500 up 12 percent for the year. And as you know, our 401(k)s more so closely near are the S&P 500, that's making consumers and average people, average investors feel a little bit more confident about how much money they have, Ali.

VELSHI: Alison, good point you just made, average investors. I just got a tweet that said, once again, it's the rich fat cats making money. Everybody, anybody, anybody with a 401(k), anybody with an IRA can invest in the stock market. So there have been a lot of people, regular people who have seen themselves do better because of the strong market performance this year and last year.

KOSIK: Exactly, exactly. And if you think about it, there are lots of signs that the economy is improving.

Sure, unemployment, sure that remains stubbornly high. The housing market, still a lot of weight on the housing market. But look, the fears of that double-dip recession, those are gone. Retail sales are coming back. People are really spending this holiday seasons.

We're even seeing job gains. I mean, think about it. In seven months during this entire year, we've seen job gains. Last year, we only saw job gains for one month.

Corporate earnings, they're mostly upbeat. And we saw on the wires that , you know, that companies are now pays dividends again. These are all signs that we are moving forward.

Not to say that we're not going to take steps back, because this is one of those choppy recoveries, not to say this is a trend that we're free and clear. But, you know, things are moving forward, but we can't forget that we could still see some bad times ahead as well, Ali.

VELSHI: Always, always plays to be vigilant to the fact that markets don't go in just one direction.

Alison, great to see you. Thanks so much.

Alison Kosik at the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

OK. The START Treaty looks like it'll get approval from the Senate, but do Americans support a new deal with Russia? A new CNN/Opinion Research poll says we do. I'll give you the number across the board in our Political Update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Beautiful Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It's always cold there, so we're not going to worry about it, but at least I can see the sky.

As the vote draws near on the START Treaty, a new CNN poll says that there is support for the deal with Russia.

Paul Steinhauser is CNN's deputy political editor (sic). He's at the Political Desk in Washington.

Hello, Paul Steinhauser.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Ali. Brand new numbers, as you mentioned. It's a national poll from CNN and the Opinion research Corporation. And yes, overall, almost three out of four people approve the treaty, they say the Senate should approve it.

But take a look at this, let's break it down by party and this is fascinating. Democrats overwhelmingly, you can see there right there on the top line of this poll, Democrats overwhelmingly say the Senate should approve the treaty. Independents, about three out of four say yes, approve the treaty.

But Republicans a little more divided it seems. Fifty percent say approve the treaty, 45 percent say they should not approve the treaty. And of course, it's Republicans in the Senate which could determine which way the treaty goes, but it looks like it's going to pass. You'll hear a lot more form Dana Bash on that at the top of the hour.

Check out this next number, this is interesting as well. Do Americans trust Moscow to abide by the treaty if it is approved? And yes, 56 percent say yes, 40 percent say they do not trust Moscow to abide by the treaty.

Our polling director, Keating Holland (ph), tells me that these numbers are much more favorable towards the Russians than say 10 years ago, the last time the U.S. was dealing with a big nuclear weapons treaty with Russia.

Ali, one more thing on the CNN Political Ticker I wasn't to tell you about. Arlen Specter, his swan song today, this morning on the Senate floor. Remember the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania who used to be Republican? Well, he gave his final speech in the Senate. He was -- obviously he ran for reelection, but was ousted in the primaries.

No love today, I guess, for the top Supreme Court justice, the Supreme Court Justice Roberts, Chief Justice Roberts, and Samuel Alito, an associate justice. Specter had some tough words for them because of their votes earlier this year in decisions that overturned some existing campaign finance laws. So some interesting and tough talk from Arlen Specter today.

VELSHI: Including the big Citizens United. And he was a moderate Republican and then a moderate Democrat, but didn't win his nomination again in the primaries.

Paul, always a pleasure to see you. Thanks so much.

You can catch the next Political Update in about an hour. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time now for "The XYZ of It."

Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released 2010 population figures showing an almost 10 percent rise in the number of people living in America from just a decade ago. One of the Census's primary purposes is to obviously figure out how many people live in this country, a number now just shy of 309 million, but it's also to track population shifts within the country.

Regionally, the south and west picked up the bulk of the population increase. For instance, Texas gained more than 4 million residents, raising its population to more than 25 million people. While Nevada's number is much lower by comparison, less than 3 million, it still saw a whopping 35 percent increase from the year 2000.

While the figures paint a fascinating picture, a big reason we take a Census every 10 years is to determine which states gain or lose seats in Congress, and that has politicians in both parties salivating to redraw congressional district lines in time for the next elections. In states where one party dominates, the redistricting process could give that party an advantage, determining who controls Congress in 2012.

States will also gain or lose electoral college votes in the process, influencing the next presidential race. And with Republicans on the rebound after the recent midterm elections, President Obama may have a much tougher go at the White House the next time around.

That's my "XYZ."

I want to go right to Brian Todd in Washington. He's got news on a potential terror plot to poison Americans using buffets and salad bars.

Brian, what is this?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali, getting this information that has been in the pipeline for some time, but we're getting this information recently on this.

U.S. officials telling CNN that the same group believed responsible for the Christmas Day bombing attempt from Amsterdam to Detroit last year, the same group believed responsible for the cargo terror plot this year, that's al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula, that they contemplated spreading poison through the U.S. food supply as a possible means of attack some months ago. This is according to U.S. officials who we spoke with today.

As a potential means of doing that, they contemplated spreading some kinds of poison. They wouldn't be specific on which kinds it was, but spreading that on salad bars, in restaurant buffets and things like that.

Now, a U.S. Homeland Security official said, quote, "We are not going to comment on reports of specific terrorist planning, however the counterterrorism and homeland security communities have engaged in extensive efforts for many years to guard against all types of terrorist attacks."

They stress to us, Ali, that this is not an imminent threat, that this was information that came into the threat matrix some months ago that al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula was complementing this type of attack on the U.S. food supply.

VELSHI: All right, Brian, we'll stay on the story. Whether or not it's imminent, I know you'll get to the bottom of it and find out what the impact of that could be and what might be done about it.

Brian Todd on a potential effort to poison Americans using salad bars and buffets. We'll stay on that story.

In fact, I'm going to hand it over. That's it for me. I'm going to hand it over to Brooke Baldwin who continues with NEWSROOM -- Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Ali Velshi, thank you.

Brian Todd, don't go too far from the camera, cause I bet we're going to want to bring you back for more on that.