the boat suddenly stopped all your excursion? >> they never told us what the issue was. all ey told us was there was lots of smoke. >> we really appreciate your taking time out. best of luck to you. glad to see you're safe and sound. there you have it, tony. literally the passengers kept in the dark about what the problem was. >> that is crazy. thank you very much. we are flat out of time. let's get you to new york now. cnn newsroom continues with ali velshi. ali. >> hello, tony, my friend. i was having a big conversation with my friend christine romans about these deficits and what they mean. i got caught up and almost forgot i have a show to do. you have a great afternoon. among the big stories happening right now, by the way, and tony has been telling you about this. america is saluting the heroes this veterans day, honoring the men and the women who have served around the world. we'll check in with a commander

in chief and a medal of honor recipient. a crippled cruise ship. it limps into san diego harbor. we're greeting passengers at the dock. you heard about stopped-up toilets, cold spam, cold pop-tarts. how bad did it really get? let's find out. i come from canada where we've had cigarettes like that for years. shocking images to scare young people from cigarettes once and for all. the conversation i was just having with my young friend christine romans. this country's deficit can bring to line the comment about the weather. not since the '90s has washington done anything big and bold to get rid of our long-term debt until maybe now. a bipartisan commission that

president obama tasked with doing what politicians won't has done just that. weeks ahead of schedule -- it was supposed to be released december 1st -- it has gone public with a plan that it says would splash deficits by almost 4 trillion, with a t, dollars over the next decade. here's what the plan is going to look like. even economists have a hard time grasping these billions and trillions, so they use gdp, the total size of the economy, as a reference point. next year's deficit will likely hit -- and that's the bar on your extreme left there -- will likely hit 8% gdp. if you follow the dark red bars, it drops to under 2% of gdp by 2017 and then stays there. that's the commission scenario. so if they didn't do anything under current policy, it would be those lighter colored bars. under the projections they're making, under this proposal, look where the deficit goes in this counted. t

the pink bars with nothing but high numbers as far as the eye can see. check out the debt. what i showed you was the deficit. the debt is the accumulation of all those deficits. it's the accumulation of all our borrowing. the red line there assumes that current law in this country stays exactly where it is, in which case the debt never drops below 6 0% of gdp. that's kind of scary. let's look at the light blue line. that's the top line. that's a real world projection because law is not going to stay as it is. that assumes that the bush tax cuts are not renewed for the wealthy and you can see that that ends up with debt equalling twice the u.s. economic output by 2025. debt that is twice as big as everything we do in this economy. some people would call that bankrupt. look at the bottom line, that dark blue line. that is what the commission proposes. they say if you put in force the

things that they want based on a number of economic assumptions, the debt starts to go down, it gets a lot lower. obviously if you look at that thing, you want the bottom blue line. everything we spend money on has to be on the table. defense gets cut just like everything else. to bring military savings up to $100 billion in 2015, the panel recommends freezing pay, including non-combat pay in the ranks, cutting procurement, buying less stuff and reducing overseas bases by a third. that's the military. to cut as much from domestic spending, the panel recommends freezing government pay, cutting the government work force, and eliminating earmarks, what critics call pork. in fairness, earmarks are not a substantial part of the problem right now, but they are looking at everything they can cut. how many times have we heard that? the panel says reform and simplify. cut rates, cut income tax rates at the federal level but also

cut out deductions, credits, what the wogs call tax expenditures, and that includes the credit you get for your mortgage interest to some degree. they want to keep it in for people with not very big mortgages. members also want to jack up the gas tax 15 cents a gallon. it will cost you more to drive. i haven't even gotten to social security, and i stress, this is the draft of a proposal. the real proposal is coming out december 1st and this is light years from actually becoming law, but it is a whole lot to chew on. joining me in politics are two of the best. david gurgan and business correspondent christine romans. i'm going to start with you, christine, because i want to get to that social security part of things. the bottom line is this does include changes to social security. it means not receiving social security, increasing the retirement age. >> absolutely, up to 69 years old by the year 2050.

so seniors right now saying, wait a minute wharks does this mean for my check next year? nothing. generation why, it means big changes to you. you'll have to work longer if these proposals make it. frankly, when you ask surveys, you know the changes are come and go it may be the safety necessinet will be a little different looking for them. also changes in inflation is calculated for these benefits and also means testing may be for these benefits. that means not everybody gets them. more of an insurance program than an investment program. those are things that are problematic for the aggressives. you heard nancy pelosi and senator dick durbin coming out strongly against these plans, but the president in seoul said, let's put it on the table. don't shoot anything down yet. >> let's bring in david gurgan. that's the bottom line. i think a six-year-old can solve the deficit problems and the debt problems. the issue is we have to have the resolve as a country to make the

difficult decisions, and this panel has come guaforward with e things that will be very hard to swallow. there is no free lunch. somehow we have to pay to reduce this country's deficit. >> as you well know, ali, we've been having a party here on the money we're borrowing from the future for a long time. the same politicians putting us in this mess are objecting to ways to try to get us out of it. yesterday when this first came out, many of us looked at it, the leaders of the commission -- remember, it's just the leaders. they don't have the votes inside the commission as of this moment. but they were bold and courageous in frepresenting thi. in the cold light of the morning, as matt lauer pointed out in the blog section today, this is actually courageous but not very bold. it does not balance budget, even with all these screens. it just doesn't balance a budget until 2037. it takes us 27 years to balance

the nation's budget? come on, take a break. >> but you think there need to be tougher stuff inside. if we're going to take 27 years to balance a budget, a responsible, political answer here, the commission really ought to come up with something that votes something very much like this, but it's just a starting point. it ought to get tougher, not a lot lighter and not torn apart. we're too close, as you know, to the edge financially. you just mentioned how big the debt was compared to the gdp. it's around over 60%. it's heading to 100, which is very dangerous. >> traditionally, it would take an economist to figure out 100% debt, 100% of everything you put out there, and by the way,

citizens were. after our second world war, our average debt is around 36% gdp. we're in the 60-plus percent range right now, and that is growing increasingly dangerous. we have a choice now. either we can show that we're mature adults who can govern society spoins i believely, or we can choose to do that and just take this child straight off its ears. >> the big thing is when you have a debt the size of your economy, that means what you're. and the prosperity of -- as made her special around the world and flex her foreign policy muscle at the same time. this is an issue not just an economic issue, but it becomes an issue in terms of diplomacy, and that is a very serious thing

to think about. one thing i asked a bunch of analysts earlier today, david, was how do you sell to people that they're going to have to take some pain here in the middle class? this will make everyone react. >> if you don't do it now, there won't be a job this year. there won't ab a house to live in. we're complaining you sdroent your work deduction. that's how serious it is for some budget analysts. >> good question, and we're going to have this conversation with you detail by detail. americans fsd this is a very. david, good to do so you. we'll have a full discussion about this again, and christina, stay on this again. an american soldier about to receive the nation's highest military award talks about the night in afghanistan that changed his life and the looiiv

of his comrades again. it's a story of. p-a-d... p.a.d. isn't just poor circulation in your legs causing you pain. it more than doubles your risk of a heart attack or stroke. i was going to tell you. if you have p.a.d., plavix can help protect you from a heart attack or stroke. plavix helps keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots, the cause of most heart attacks and strokes. call the doctor about plavix -- please? i will. [ male announcer ] certain genetic factors and some medicines such as prilosec reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase. people with stomach ulcers or conditions that cause bleeding

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all right, on this veteran's day, you're looking, by the way, at live shots of the vietnam memorial in washington. president obama is calling on americans to honor the

sacrifices given by those men and women who have protected the nation by serving in the military. with the president in south korea for the g-20 summit, vice president biden took part in a wreath-laying ceremony in the tomb of the unknowns in arlington cemetary. he is paying homage to garrison. >> on this day, we honor every man or woman who has ever worn the uniform of the united states of america. we salute fallen heroes and keep in our prayers those who are still in harm's way. like the men and women serving in iraq and afghanistan. >> american servicemen and women have paid a high price fighting in the wars in iraq and afghanistan. today 5,698 americans have been

killed in those two wars. next week a veteran of the afghan war will receive the nation's highest military award, the medal of honor. his story is one that should make us all proud and humble. here's cnn's barbara starr. >> the whole time frame maybe lasted anywhere from two minutes, three minutes in five or six lifetimes. i don't know. >> reporter: but in those two or three minutes, army sergeant genta went from a self-described mediocre soldier to a hero. >> we went to find the men that sao gento worked with. that october night, gento was walking along a ridge line with other members of his unit. they were protecting other soldiers as they made their way back to their base.

>> we came to a clearing and a single shot rang out. >> it is what the military calls an l-shaped ambush, sprung by the taliban. which means taliban fighters are both to the front of the men and off to the side. >> it's not one of them, it's not two of them, it's probably more than ten and they're not that far away. >> you watch the guy pulling the trigger who is close to you. >> it's like your world. we looked and it was along our whole side, along our flank. >> every soldier that night was shot. >> i got shot run baning back a forth. >> i saw them in the trees getting closer. >> hit eight times was the man in front.

sergeant josh but he was close to his dad mike. on that ridge line, josh brennan was down serverely wounded. >> he got to the front. he killed one of my teammates. wounded another one, recovered brennan, brought him back to another area where we could secure him and start another fight. started the aid on him. for all intents and purposes, the amount of fire that was still going on, the conflict at the time, he shouldn't still be alive right now. >> six hours later, josh bren unanimous died. also killed that night was pi a

pizza -- a friend, and sao gento ran out there to save him. >> saying it out loud makes it real. i know it's real, but sometimes i can trick myself and just not think about it for a while. it's very bittersweet. it's such a huge honor. it's a great thing, but it is a great thing that has come at a personal loss to myself and so many other families. >> and that is what you want people to know. >> absolutely. >> extraordinary. and staff sergeant sao gento would want you to know part of an extraordinary group of soldiers. barbara starr, cnn, afghanistan. >> what a story. what a story of bravery. leaders of the world's biggest economies and fastest-growing economies are meeting at the g-20 summit in seoul, south korea. a lot of people don't want to talk about the g-20, but we're

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the group of g-20 is made up of the world's biggest, largest and fastest emerging economies. they represent 85% of all of the world's economic output. here are the top ten countries today by gdp, by gross domestic product, which is the biggest way you measure what a country does. you can see the u.s. is by far the biggest, $14.6 trillion. then china, japan. we're going, strangely, right to left. we're doing it japanese style. u.s., china, japan, germany,

france, u.k., italy, brazil, indonesia. you can see if you add up the european countries, the eu is actually bigger in total than the united states. if you break them out like that, that's how the countries look. output is going to change in five years. india is likely to be in the top ten in a few years. these countries face three major obstacles: rising debt, aging populations and a bigger, more competitive work force. christine romans is here with me now. what we want to talk about is what's going on at g-20. and ultimately, christine, i have this conversation every time whether it's a g-8 or g-20 or something. do they matter? are they relevant? they cost a lot of money and there's security concerns. what happens when these people get together and they can't do it by their underlings or by

skype. >> whenever you have 20 country leaders in a room together, it's a pretty big deal. this is 85% of the world's economies trying to speak with one voice, or trying to, about how to get out of this global economic problem. >> what happened if they go there and don't come to an agreement? president obama, one of the things he wanted to do was cut a deal with south korea that would really allow for more american exports of vehicles -- >> cars and beef. >> -- cars and beef, and that was sort of derailed a little bit. what's the best that can come out of this kind of summit and what's the worst? >> the best that can come out of this particular summit is the agreement from everyone we're not going to have all competitive devaluations. each country is using its courtesy to try boosting its

exports. the u.s. now. even greeg on that kind of language is very, very difficult, and this has been more contentious than we've seen in a while. even a year ago, there was this unity there. >> the world is going to hell in a hand basket a year ago, two years ago. we all need to make an effort. our central banks have to speak to each other and coordinate. now people may say, you know, that's not good for me. i'm going to do what my country wants. >> one man says it's every country to himself, and what the u.s. does for its stimulus may be good for one country and bad to another. this pegs up for watching our

currency and some currency wars. >> i'm empathetic to our viewers right now because you and i are money geeks, but most people don't sit around and think about currency. when do you think about currency? when you're making a trip. >> i went to south carolina to talk to some folks about a story there in steel town. people were asking me bm the rmv. >> they used to make furniture in south carolina, they used to make bicycles. >> they've been put out of business by insurance. >> i know there are people in this town who are very well aware that the playing field has changed, globalization is more mature. the left -- people are very uncomfortable along the way. >> china and brazil with the

have-nots. that hurts us. >> that is something that is weighing on people, where do we go from here. people who had more and have less now vote. >> i'm going to have to do a little more news, butd we are going to have to talk about this more on the weekend on your money. saturdays at 1:00 p.m. eastern, sundays at 3:00 p.m. eastern. christine is also the author of "smart is the new rich" with some very cutting edge ideas of how you can take advantage of a very changed and changing economy. i have a trivia question for you now. what year was the heinz company created? 1801, 1869, 1910 or 1957. we'll have the answer for you after the break, and the ceo of heinz is going to join us live to talk about one of the oldest companies in america, one of the

oldest brands in america, how it's lasted through the years. we're going to talk about food in the nation. a great conversation. [ woman ] when my dance company went on tour,

i took emergen-c. with 1,000 milligrams of vitamin c and energizing b vitamins, it made every performance count. emergen-c. feel the good. before the break, we asked, what year was the heinz company created? 1801, 1869, 1910 or 1957. these days with google, you can cheat and look it up. if you did, you found out it was 1869. that's when they launched heinz and noble with horses, by the way, around pittsburgh. ketchup was added to the line-up only in 1946. heinz tomato soup hit the shelves in the united kingdom.

heinz celebrated its 50th anniversary around the states with heinz 57. in 1931, heinz fought the great depression with two other items, ready-to-serve soup and baby food. it was 1946 when they acquired charlie the tuna. ore ida was added in 1965. bought weight watchers in 1978, and of course the incredible easy squeeze bottle -- can you imagine? that was all the way in 2000. heinz did more than $10 billion in sales last year. they have more than 32,000 employees worldwide. too many brands to count now, and here to give us the secrets of this great american company's success, the ceo behind the heinz company, bill johnson, joins us live from pittsburgh, the company's world headquarters. bill, good to see you. thank you for being with us. we were hoping to be in the same

place, but we're not, but we're happy to have you here. >> thanks very much. i enjoy being here. >> bill, i want to talk in a minute about your book. you've got a great new book which not really relevant to all my viewers, it's preparing ceos for success, but it's relevant because you have identified in writing this book some of the problems inherent with corporate leadership today in america. as we saw last week in our election, we have a remarkable distrust in america for washington and for politics. a lot of that distrust extends to business leadership in america. what we keep on saying is we need business leadership in america to create jobs, create investment and create factories. what is the message to america's ceos right now, to regain the trust of the american people? >> well, i think the most important message, and frankly one relevant for politicians and every other leaders, is integrity. i think integrity is the

foundation for any success and any sense of excellence, whether it be in business or in politics. and i think over the last two or three decades, maybe business and certainly politics have lost their way a bit. but once you have a foundation of integrity, that's where it all starts. >> wrz dohere does that come fr? where do we create this culture from? is it going to be ceos who read your book? is it going to be ceos you know like that? how do we get this integrity back in the system? >> that's a very good question. i think it's partly endemic of individuals. there's some parlance of function in the way we're raised and the way we're taught and the values instilled upon us. you referenced the fact this company was found in 1869 and i'm only the sixth chairman and fifth ceo in 130 years, and the value system that's been established in the heinz company is very con straining in terms of integrity and very fulfilling

in terms of the history on which we can build. so i think it's a lot of characteristics. but fundamentally, it still comes back to doing the right thing all the time. >> bill, talk to me about food. one of my favorite topics. i want to talk about trends in food, i want to talk about what christine romans has been telling us for the last couple of weeks. we've seen food inflation, we've seen the cost of food go up. some of that is the dollar, some of that is demand in other countries. tell me about the most interesting trends in food because you deal with a lot of it. >> i think one of the most interesting trends, and there are ftwo that come to mind and third emerging, kids are having dinner with friends, dinner with entertaining, but meals at home have increased in the last 10 to 20 years. the second is value.

the value is improving for the first time, and i think that's a function not only of the economy but also of the aging pop skplags the way people go about shopping. the third trend is health and wellness. decrease -- they have what they really want most which is convenience and portability in terms of value in meals at home. in terms of commodities, we are seeing a significant change in commodity prices. i think you hit on two of the reasons, which is the changing value of the dollar and obviously growing demand in the emerging markets, and i think the third is we've just had a period of volatility since the collapse of 2007 and 2008. whether or not that's going to find eke lquilibriuequilibrium,n thesperiods before and they

tend to work themselves out. >> good talking to you, bill. i want to talk more about manufacturing, i want to talk more about what it's going to take for companies to go on a hiring binge again and get a lot mofr america more americans back to work. i look forward to another conversation, hopefully when you and i are in the same place. >> look forward to it, ali. >> bill johnson is the chairman and president and ceo of the h.j. heinz company joining me from pittsburgh. this is very hard to talk about, but pictures of dead people and smoke blown into the faces of infants. we're talking about proposed warning labels on infants? who is going to want to buy a box that has labels. may be possible. in pursuit of this goal, lexus developed

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new graphic warning labels are proposed by the food and drug administration for cigarette packs. let me show you some of them. the labels are for the family smoking prevention and tobacco control act. they have larger and more extreme health warnings. look at that. a dead body. as you can see, the proposed warning labels are accompanied by colored pictures showing the negative health consequences of smoking. there is a picture of a cigarette mimicking a drug needle, one with smoke coming out of the man's tracheotomy

hole. a mother blowing smoke into her infant's face. there are also pictures of dead bodies showing the effects of smoke and ing and how they kill. surprisingly, the pictures are all bad and horribly graphic. there are three labels that show people giving up smoking. the tobacco control act doesn't want the fda to promote the pictures but it does agree that it's unhealthy. this is a huge problem for the country, but these labels aren't new. they go well beyond standard warning labels with ones much more graphic elsewhere. i know canada does that as well. if you look hard, there are signs of progress. we'll show you one thriving example in globetrekking, next.

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time now for globetrekking. our journey takes us to kabul. it's important to remember that american troops are now in the tenth year of the afghan war. so far 1,277 americans have been killed while the taliban shows no signs of throwing down their weapons my tiany time soon. there are few signs of progress. one is the embassy. >> when i left here in 2003 as a major general, jill, tlfrs nohe none of this. >> we're getting an exclusive tour inside the massive compound in kabul.

>> you'll see that train over there and that's more construction going on. >> our guide, former ambassador karl eikenberry. >> we believe this is a build-up of any missions we've had globally since the global war. >> tomorrow starts with a staff meeting of those being killed in action. >> killed by shrapnel wounds suffered during a complex attack. >> then some quick business in the halls. >> i got that report that you had on the governance, which is excellent, and you're turning that into a cable? >> yes. >> okay, good. thanks. how you doing? >> but it's not just about diplomacy. he's also a facility manager in chief. >> what's on the menu today here? >> up stairs the ambassador's

wife invites us into the residence. u.s. diplomats can't bring their families. ching eikenberry is the only spouse in kabul. >> so i'm the first woman ever living in this residence, so i decided to make it a little bit more homey. >> the walls are covered with photos and a message. >> it's black and white and it's a picture of the twin towers before the 9/11 attack. we would just like to remind people of the reason we're here. >> some living quarters are less spacious. >> i enjoy the work i do, though, so it kind of makes up for it. >> the state department's matthew kay shares this tiny room with five other men. >> we have no bathroom, we have no shower, we have to walk outside to another hooch about 100 yards away to take a shower and go to the bathroom. >> not easy. >> not easy at all.

>> so there are some compensations for working at a pretty difficult post and this is one of them. it's the coffee corner where you can get a pretty mean cappuccino. even in a war zone, some other kmfrts comforts of home like a gym and a pool. >> there is a lot of pressure here and people can predict friday will be their slow day. it's a day where they come to the pool, exercise, get a chance to just take a break and read. >> so as you can see, definitely, ali, it looks a little luxurious when you see that pool, but it really is a tough post, and the main thing is this quick, rapid buildup which makes it difficult for people to fit physically there. >> jill, thanks for that and thank you for your continuing series of stories on afghanistan. we hope to continue with them and get a better sense of what's going on in that country. jill daugherty.

animals have once guenin vad vaded. somebody will explain to me what those sheep-like things have to do with sea world.

you know, we're big fans of animals on this show. today is no exception. i can't believe i'm not in atlanta for this, though. sea world brought moran malz to

cnn and i'm not there to cover it. but my good friend chad is there to cover it. you got sheep, you got the falcon. do you have a fox in the newsroom? >> we have a fox, a red fox. he can't be here. but a little red are there wite llanas? >> yes. >> angie, it's great to see you. >> see you, hear you. >> you're on a tiny little screen above our heads. >> what are you up to? >> this is a peregrine pfalcon. >> yes, it is. >> the falcon is in danger again from oil that spilled into the gulf of mexico. >> yes. these animals made a comeback years ago. they were nearly extinct because of ddt and other pesticides that were being used. but they've made a great comeback. they're found on every continent except antarctica.

but they're testing them now to find out how much an affect that oil spill may have had on animals like this. the falcon is at the top of the bird food chain. >> so something eats the plankton, the something eats the fish, the fish gets eaten and then by the time that this guy gets something, he's -- he has all of this ingested because everybody else has ingested it as well. >> they're kind of an environmental barometer. >> what are we finding? >> it will be weeks, maybe months before we really know anything for sure. they're doing studies in sauth padre, texas, right now. they're capturing the birds, taking blood samples and releasing the birds back out into the environment. they'll analyze the blood samples to see what kind of toxicity they're finding. >> this will be fascinating to find out. the story i heard was that this falcon would rather take an injured bird as its prey than a flying bird. >> they'll go after the weak and the easier. >> and the injured bird nay very well be the oiled bird that's on the shoreline that can't fly.

>> that is correct. >> so, you know, it's survival of the fittest, but this guy is going to go for the easiest low-hanging fruit, which may be the most injured bird. >> the oil spill has left the news to some extent, but sea world has pledged their expertise, their people and everything to be there for the long haul. >> fascinating. ali? >> can i see sheep? >> you want sheep? we'll bring some sheep in for you right now, ali. >> i'm fascinated by sheep. >> this is the black-faced sheep of the family. look at this guy. we bring him in with food. >> these are blase-fack-faced s. these are not full-grown yet. they'll get about twice the size. chad, reach in there and feel deep down into their coat. >> and they've already been sheered once, ali. >> wow. >> these are adapted for cold weather. you can feel the temperature difference when you reach down deep into their fur. their coat, they'll use that

more for carpet, also for home insulation, things like that. it is so very dense. >> we have some comedians here at cnn. they come in every once in a while. pete is one of them. you'll see him on the weekend. he renamed them. sweater and socks. >> yes, he did. >> sweater and socks? >> these are from our bush gardens park in williamsburg. they'll be making their debut this christmas. but we do have one -- >> i want to see a fox. i want to see a fox. >> we have a fox for you to see. >> wow. >> all right. this is jane. we'll see if jane wants to sit on the counter. she's more of a cuddler. >> i held the -- the alligator last time, but i'm not holding the fox. >> this is a red fox. these are found pretty much throughout north america. and the great thing about them, you can see how thick her coat is. they will, you know, grow a thicker coat for the colder months and then she'll use this

big, bushy tail. >> look at this tail. look at that tail. >> they'll use that big, bushy tail to curl around them and it makes a blanket for them to stay nice and warm. >> ali, we're having a good time. >> i saw one of those this weekend, but i wouldn't go picking it up either. >> no. this is one of our ambassadors that travels with us. sea world is all about bringing people closer to animals and that's what we're doing with chad here today. >> you can't domesticate the fox. >> i'm sorry i couldn't be there with you chad and angie. thank you very much for telling us a little bit more about your cuddly friends. the 2012 race for the white house has begun. it started right after the midterms. what do potential voters really think about sarah palin as the possible front-runner? your cnn political update, up next. financing their fleet, sharing our expertise, and working with people who are changing the face of business in america. after 25 years in the aviation business, i kind of feel like if you're not having fun at what you do,

then you've got the wrong job. my landing was better than yours. no, it wasn't. yes, it was. was not. yes, it was. what do you think? take one of the big ones out? nah.

sarah palin's popularity and the tea party. both stories topping our look at the latest political news at this hour. mark preston and paul steinhauser join me now from washington. i love it. i haven't seen you guys together since before the midterms. welcome back to the -- to the duo. >> it's good to be here, but you're making us follow an animal act and that's never easy. a warning from one of the top tea party groups to mitt romney that there may be pushback from tea party activists if romney decides to run for president. amy kramer was asked during an interview -- she was second about massachusetts health care plan, which was enacted during romney's one term as governor. she said how would that play with tea party activists? she said this. absolutely not. she says you can't get away from that. so a warning, i guess, in a way

from the tea party movement to romney. i spoke with a romney spokesperson. he said the issue came up in the 2008 campaign. the governor dealt with it then. he'll deal with it again if he runs again. mark, to you. >> let's stay on 2012. ali, it's very important to have name recognition heading into the presidential race. these aren't the numbers that you want to have. sarah palin right now has a 46% favorable opinion. americans have a favorable opinion of her according to this new poll. however, 49% have an unfavorable rating. so very hard numbers. those are numbers, what we call upside-down in politics. ali? >> guys, good to see you again. paul, i'm glad you're wearing a tie. i notice mark is not wearing a tie, chad wasn't wearing a tie, david gergen wasn't wearing a tie. was there a memo that went around not to wear a tie on thursday? good to see you both. >> thanks. cnn is committed to keeping you informed on all the important political news. we'll give you another political

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try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. i'm ali velshi with you for the next hour. we are watching several big stories happening right now. america is saluting its heroes this veterans day, honoring the men and women protecting our freedom around the world. that crippled cruise ship limps into schan diego harbor. we're hearing about the experience. how bad did it really get? with gold front and center in the world economy, is it time to revisit the gold standard? that's an intriguing question that hits us right in the wallet. we'll answer it in today's "q &

a." first, quote, america cannot be great if we go broke. that's not me talking. that two guys that president obama was talking to. to make that painful, highly unpopular decision that politicians won't. well, nine months after the panel was formed, its leaders have come out with a plan to slash our deficits by almost $4 thri trillion. the deficits are how much we overrun our income. that sounds huge. it is. but i want to get to some idea of what america owes. this is the national debt. the debt is the sum total of all of the deficits. the middle line on this chart, the red line, assumes that current law stays exactly the same, in which case the debt never drops to a level below 60% of our total economic output. that's our gdp. the really scary top line, the lighter blue color, makes the real world assumptions including a renewal of the bush tax cuts for the middle class. that is going to cost us money.

i know everybody wants it, but it's going to cost us money. if we do that, the debt is twice the gdp by 2035. our debt will be double the amount of money we generate in our economy by 2035. that equals bankruptcy. the bottom line, the blue, the dark blue line, look at that. that's the one that follows the commission plan. the debt levels off. and then it starts dropping. how would that happen? well, in order to do so, everything is on the table. defense and domestic spending alike. on the pentagon, the defense side, the panel is proposing freezing pay cuts. freezing pay, cutting procurement, stuff that the pentagon buys, and reducing overseas bases by a third. domestic spending. the panel is looking at freezing government pay, cutting the workforce and eliminating earmarks. what the critics call pork. how many times have we heard that? on taxes, well, they say reform and simplify. cut tax rates but also cut

deductions. leaders want to jack up the gas tax 15 cents a gallon. i haven't even gotten to social security. i have to stress, this is a draft of a proposal that's going to come out on december 1st. what happens then is anybody's guess. it's a lot to chew on. joining me now to chew on the business and the political side of things, cristia freeman and christine romans. christine, let's start with you. one thing we didn't tackle, social security. they did tackle that. >> oh, my certainly did. they are raising the retirement age to 69 by the year 2050. if you're generation "y," you'll have to work longer for your full benefits. it means tweaking how inflation is used to grow those benefits. the cost of living allowance, the annual increase that's given in the social security. it also maybe means testing. some people would get more than they paid into the system and

others would get much less based on where you finish at the end to protect poor people. this is very, very dangerous territory because as you know, progressives -- progressives and liberals, very concerned about touching what they see as a sacred contract with the american people. >> the deal, though, with this commission is that everything had to be on the table. the fact is, without dealing with these things, we're not going to deal with the national debt and with the deficits. what do you think of the proposal? >> i think the proposals are really interesting. they're proposals made be people who don't have to worry about the politics of the proposals. i was surprised that one thing was missing, which is something we've seen all of the other western developed countries do. canada was really key to conquering the debt. that was a value-added tax, a national tax on consumption. now, that would really, really be politically controversial, but it's incredibly effective when it comes to raising money

and paying down debt. >> yeah, that's not on there. the experts are looking at that, saying that, you know, that would have been a no-flyer for some people. a budget analyst i talked to earlier today said when you look at the mortgage interest deduction, when you look at social security, when you look at a handful of other things, it shows that they're serious here. that they are serious. this is a starting point. david gergen was telling us last hour that they didn't go far enough, that they didn't cut enough. wow, was that the splendor? >> yes. that was subliminal tv. >> some kind of metaphor about moving a cruise ship, how slow -- >> here's a question for you. nancy pelosi came out, didn't like it. a lot of people don't like it. i have to say when i looked at it, it's not whether i like it or not but there are things that are necessary to be done.

david gergen actually an hour ago said it's not even enough. first of all, how are we going to deal with this politically? because it's going to hurt. if you want to cut the deficit and the debt, it's going to hurt. >> that's absolutely right. i mean, there are also two big unknowns that factor into this whole calculation. so if you think about that really excellent graph that you showed at the beginning, that assumes that we know what the size of the economy is going to be 10, 20, 30 years from now. a big question is what kind of a recovery is there going to be? if there's a really robust recovery, some of these problems go away. the other really, really big issue that nobody is talking about in this conversation is what's going to happen with inflation? and the big story last week was the fed pumping $600 billion into the economy. that's another way of dealing with the debt, right? you can inflate it away. it has some dangerous consequences, but i think those are the two sort of side conversations happening.

>> christine, you actually did research on -- when i say it's going to cost us something, it is going to cost us something. you actually have numbers. >> we're trying to figure out -- say the average family, mom, dad, 2.1 kids, a dog and a suburban, trying to figure out what this means for you. what it means for you, say you make 50 to $60,000 a year, that would be a $94 increase on income tax every year, $130 increase on your gas. anybody who drives, it's a 15-cent gas tax. look, you're probably going to see a -- fewer services. you might have to pay for more things that you don't have to pay for now. going to the county park, for example. we're already seeing a lot of these things happening, frankly, because of the cratering of the -- of the budgets of the -- of municipalities. if you are in the military, i mean, what's going to happen to tricare? this is incredibly important stuff to veterans and military

retirees. that's on the table as well. >> all right. this is going to be a long discussion. we'll have to have it many times and over and over again. we'll be discussing this again this weekend on "your money." while christine was talking to us, the picture of that splen r splendor, the cruise line, was on the screen. that cruise was anything but splendid. the crew is leaving the ship right now. we'll hear what they're saying as they step back on to dry land. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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call it the voyage of bad luck and then some. it's over at last. the disabled carnival splendor docked in san diego. an engine room fire on monday left the ship dead in the water. cnn's paul vercammen is there for us live. paul? >> ali, there's a couple here, josh and ashley. this was supposed to be their honeymoon cruise. your dream vacation along the coast of the mexican riviera turned south in a hurry. describe the conditions on the ship. >> the conditions were hectic. there was no power. no food. no bathrooms for 18 hours. we lived off of sandwiches and water. >> what was the low point for you, josh? >> low point was the electricity. knowing that there's smoke in there, there's no ventilation, no ac, nothing to blow the smoke out.

>> and so what was the ship telling you? you didn't get a firm answer that there was a fire in the engine room, did you? >> no. just that it was on -- that the -- the engine room had a lot of smoke and they were trying to blow it out. that was it. they didn't find out that there was a fire on board. nothing. everybody at home knew there was a fire but us. >> you had a room with a window, which helped. what was it like trying to navigate through the dark in the ship. >> it was like a search and rescue mission. it's hard to see. even with the light from the hallway, we kept the door open just to get a little bit of light. >> well, we appreciate your taking time out. i'm glad to see you're safe and sound. ashley actually helps people book their vacations for aaa come she says she will go on this cruise again, take carnival up on the refund. she hopes to take the same route down the coast of mexico. >> that's what i've been saying, paul. this happens so rarely. it does seem like the cruise company was trying to do its best to get everybody sorted out. i would definitely go again. i think it's very rare that

things go wrong on cruises. i hope everybody gets a chance to get the vacation they enjoyed. these people waited two years to go on vacation. they're okay with pldelay. i hope they'll have a good second honeymoon. if you go on facebook and you trash your boss, should you be fired? i'm asking an honest question. i'm not saying what the law should be. i'm saying do you think that's the right thing to do? i want to hear from you. copd doesn't just make it hard to breathe... it makes it hard to do a lot of things. and i'm a guy who likes to go exploring ... get my hands dirty... and try new things. so i asked my doctor if spiriva could help me breathe better. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd... which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva keeps my airways open... to help me breathe better for a full 24 hours. and it's not a steroid. spiriva does not replace fast acting inhalers for sudden symptoms.

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trashing your boss on facebook, a connecticut woman got fired over it. now she has the national labor

relations board on her side. what do you think about this? is it a wise thing to do? listen. >> i think that it's your right to say what you want about your employer in general on facebook or twitter, but it's in very bad taste. >> you know, if you say something slanderous, then obviously that has its consequences. >> if you have a status update that says something like my boss is an idiot or whatever, everybody can see that and hear that and know that. it's just stupid. >> it's kind of like taking a billboard out, right? mike says, if you badmouth your boss online, why wouldn't you be fired? it will cast a negative light on your boss and your company. if you were a boss and somebody badmouthed you, wouldn't you can them? rachel joins me now. she is my friend, fellow canadian. rachel, what is your title these days? >> editor at large at mediaite, amongst other things. >> good to see you. you are a social guru, social

media guru. >> i do what i can. >> i immediately thought of you. this is not really about laws. this is more about -- is it wise in this economy to be trashing your boss on facebook? >> you've hit it exactly. there is the legal point and then there is just good advice and good advice is just watch what you say on facebook, on twitter, on social networks. being sued is not fun. filing a lawsuit is not fun. and being fired and having to do all of those things is not fun. just avoid it. >> now, from your perspective as a media critic, there is something about this whole thing. somebody gets fired and then they -- they challenge it and we want to see how far we can push that envelope. should this person have had a right to criticize her boss on social media? >> well, clearly, yes, right? she won the case. i think that what -- it's an important ruling because what it says is that that is public conversation but it's in the private realm.

it's like water-cooler conversation and just like water-cooler conversation in an office, could be overheard or, you know -- >> but calling it private is a very strange distinction. >> that's my phrase. >> right. >> but just in general terms, it's interpersonalit. this was the result of a company policy. it was on a facebook wall where other employees jumped in. it was deemed to be protected workplace conversation. that doesn't mean that you're free to say my boss is an idiot, may boss is ugly, my boss is stop ud, my boss has bad hair. those are things that, you know, you -- you push the envelope a little bit. if you must criticize on facebook, and there's no reason to believe that non-unionized employees are protected, you might want to make sure you keep it to specific policy considerations. >> let's see what facebook had to say to us. we have a statement from facebook that i want to read to you. i'll read it off the screen if we've got that, michael.

there we go. okay. just as in your offline life, there are some people who want to be more open with -- there are people you want to be more open with than others chrk is why facebook gives you complete control over how you share information. people who use facebook should ensure that sharing settings are consistent with the way they conduct themselves in the real world. that's an interesting point. >> it's particularly interesting because facebook is taking the opportunity to say, like, your privacy settings are your own. you have control of your data, which has been their big big bugaboo. >> you can limit to only people that you want to see it. >> sure. you can make it private by telling somebody and not recording it out there in public to be found by google or copied and pasted on to somebody else's wall. it's just being smart about how you deploy yourself in public. >> rachel, it's a pleasure to

see you. with the price of gold hitting new highs, should we be setting a new gold standard? the fate of the world's trade could hang in the balance. richard quest joins us right after this. i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare.

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you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. quest means business and so do i. we're here together in the cnn "newsroom" around the world. hello, richard. >> hello, ali. in fact, we're both in different spots from normal today. you're in new york, i'm in a bu

dhabi in the gulf. today we're talking about the gold standard. >> that's right. nothing will stand in our way, richard. the president of the world bank flip-flopped this week on the importance of gold and its role in the international monetary system. we're going to set our own standards, richard. last week i went first so this week it's your turn. but 60 seconds on the clock for richard. >> and here we go. 60 seconds. when it comes to actually investment and what is valuable, people have always prized this, the gold stuff. people love it. people will do almost anything for it. which is why we tied this to this by making currency convertible into the gold standard. that was always the way it was meant to be. until the 1970s. and the nixon shock, which destroyed the two. since then, the money has become worthless but gold is now trading at $1,400 an ounce. not surprisingly at this record

level, everybody wants a little bit of it. so much so that now people are saying we must go back to the gold standard. it's all about gold because only by linking currency to gold people believe that it can actually have value. think about the word gold. the golden rule, the golden girls, and after all, remember, goldfinger. no, mr. bond, i expect you to die. and that's what might happen with gold. >> richard, pretty good. the problem with your theory is that that value of gold has turned into -- when it comes to money the chocolate that you cheated by using. so i'm going to bring you the real thing, the gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit, a nation's currency, is fixed against a weight of gold. that means the supply of money is strictly tied to the amount of gold that a country holds. real stuff. if people felt insecure about

the u.s. dollars that they hold, they could conceivably trade them for a weight of gold with the federal reserve. nobody uses the gold standard anymore because it restricts the ability of central banks to increase or decrease the supply of money, especially during economic downturns. the world now uses a system of fiat money, which is pegged to nothing but people's perceptions of its value. generally determined by the amount of money that's incirculation. the more money a nation prints, the less it's worth. a return to some form of gold standard would stabilize currency exchange rates against each other because governments couldn't go out and print as much money as they like whenever they feel like it. but countries like to set their own economic direction, richard, so a return to the gold standard isn't likely to happen anytime soon. get yourself some real gold. never mind that chocolate. >> hey, at least i can eat my gold. okay. time for the voice.

who will really sort us out, one from the other. and this week, the voice, what have you got for snus. >> okay, gentlemen. time to go for the gold. richard, last week you took the gold. ali took silver, which in itself is also kind of first place. first place for all the people who didn't win. this week it's a fresh start. resetting the scores to zero, gentlemen, here is your first question about gold. why is an ounce of gold called a troy ounce? it was named by helen of troy, established in troyes france, it's from the latin trey or who knows. richard quest. >> i'm going for "c," it's from the latin trey. >> i'm going for you're wrong. >> ali? >> "b," established in troyes,

france. >> exactly. it was named after troyes, france. the city was host to a large annual merchant fair. at the fair, standards for weights and measures were established for all of europe. like how to measure quantities of gold or how to calculate the incredible cross-continental time delay richard quest must endure during this segment. question number two, which of these countries is currently the world's number one producer of gold? is it south africa, canada, china, or australia? richard quest? >> it's china. >> you're correct. china. south africa had been the top producer for most of the last century, but now south africa ranks fifth behind the u.s., australia, and russia. number one, china. one last chance. it's question number three. time to calculate.

now, to be conservative, i'll set the price of gold at $1,000 an ounce. also, the voice is a little iffy with math, so multiplying by 1,000 makes it easier for me. according to the world gold council, what is the approximate value of all the gold that has ever been mined? is it about $6 billion, about $9 billion, about $20 trillion or about $5 trillion? richard quest? >> $5 trillion. >> is correct! of course, the actual totals fluctuate with the price of gold, but it stays in the same ballpark of $5 trillion. gentlemen, this time around our winner was richard quest. >> i think i got the bell before him, but i was going to give the wrong answer. i was going to say 20 trillion. so, you know what, richard, you go eat your chocolate and i'll

just keep my gold. that will do it for this week. remember, we're here each week, thursdays on "quest means business" at 1900 gmt. >> and here in the "cnn newsroom" at 2:00 p.m. eastern. keep the topics coming on our blogs at cnn.com/ali. tell us each week what you'd like to see us talk about. i wish i hadn't eaten that chocolate, ali. >> i'll see you next week, richard. you have a good one. up next, a critical issue for veterans after they leave the military. finding the right kind and right amount of insurance. some great advice and information that will help us all, coming up next. so s got ayr in her andveryin. whh on

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♪ >> i just knew it! oh, my god! as we honor our veterans today, we turn our focus to making sure our servicemen and women have the best insurance coverage once they leave the military. june is a certified financial planner. she joins me live from san antonio. june, great to see you. you're always keeping us posted on military financial matters. tell us a little about this issue. so many people, more than normal, are going to be coming back in 2010 and 2011. what do they have to think about

on the insurance front? >> yeah, well, right. and a lot of them have never thought about this before, ali, because in the military, we are given health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, at a very cheap $28 per month. now they'll have to start making decisions on their own. we have some people that are just simply transitioning out of the service after maybe a four, six, or eight-year stint. others that are retiring. the benefits are slightly different. >> all right. tell me about people who are not retiring. they're transitioning. what happens then? do they still get coverage under the military? >> okay. so we've got this great program call ed tricare. it covers all active duty and their family for free. they can get a six-month bridge of tricare free of charge once they leave the service while they're looking for civilian employment. now, beyond that if they're still unlucky and they haven't found that civilian job, they can get another 18 months to 36

months of tricare, but at sort of a hefty price of $300 for singles and $600 a month for families. so what i would suggest instead is maybe you take that active duty service, turn it into reserve or guard service because there's a program called tricare reserve select which is fairly new. and it comes at a much cheaper price of about $50 for singles and about $200 a month for families. so that may be a great way to go. in my book, ali, health insurance is non-negotiable. you've got to have it. >> let me ask you something. a lot of people who have never been involved in the military haven't heard the word tricare before. for the first time, it's become part of this discussion about cutting the deficit and the debt. until now, that's been thought of as untouchable, but there might be something on the horizon that military members need to think about.

>> well, that's right. and so, you know, it's -- there's a lot of things that are being considered to try to cut that budget and tricare is once again on the table. i'll tell you what, it's a benefit that our military deserves. you know, no one joins the military to get rich. and so, you know, we join to serve and then we enjoy wonderful benefits once we leave the service and in retirement and tricare is one of those. i will tell you that i've heard from someone that said, you know, for my entire family in retirement it only cost $500 a year for tricare. he said he'd be willing to pay more. but i'd certainly keep an eye on that and keep those prices as low as possible in retirement because these veterans deserve it. >> all right, june. good to talk to you. lieutenant colonel june wahlberg is with usaa. they do offer some services to people who are not connected to the military at all, and they have a great -- a lot of information to help you

understand financial planning. take a look at usaa's website. june, thanks very much for joining us. >> thanks, ali. okay. i want you to look at this cute dog. his name is mason. he has his own tribute for vetveve veterans day, helping vets heal. chevrolet sprang bolt by bolt, car by car, out of the very best america had to offer. ingenuity. integrity. optimism. and a belief that the finest things are the most thoughtfully made -- not the most expensive. today, the american character is no less strong. and chevrolet continues as an expression of the best of it. bringing more technology to more people than ever in our history. inventing new ways to get around our planet while preserving it at the same time. exploring new horizons of design and power. and making our vehicles amongst the safest on earth. this isn't just any car company. this is chevrolet.

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♪ [ friend ] that is so awesome. ♪ i love my car [ engine revving ] [ male announcer ] that first chevy, yea, it gets under your skin. ♪ as an organization out there called dublin dogs. they raise money to train dogs who need extra help. they're in a wheelchair or a war

veter veteran. each dog costs 20 to $25,000 the train over six to nine months. this year they focused on helping veterans returning from war. they partnered with freedom service dogs, a non-profit that does just that. we've talked to them before on this show. here with us today we have eric rudolph from denver awith his dog, mason, and jason watson who is the founder of dublin dogs. eric, you've got mason there. and i understand that mason -- you say mason saved your life a few times. >> yes, ali. that's for sure. the first four weekends that i had him, i have severe diabetes. and he was able to detect the first night that i had a low blood sugar and started to go into diabetic coma shock, and he slapped me with his paw and gave

me a bloody nose that woke me right up. >> wow. >> i thought it was just a fluke the first time i had him, and then three weekends in a row, he did that continuously. >> how did he detect that? is that part of his training? >> no, it's not something that they're trained for. there's not really a science, i think, as far as training them. some dogs have that sense. they can detect the body sweat or the body odor that is emitted when you're a diabetic and you get into that condition. >> so he's -- >> let's talk to jason watson. >> let me ask jason, what kind of training goes into this 20 to $25,000 over six to nine months? >> sure. there's a whole myriad of different factors that go into that. really a lot of it is contingent upon the specific needs of the soldier. as you mentioned, there are those soldiers that suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder as well as those soldiers that

coming back as an amputee and that is our particular soldier this year, sergeant charles burnhouser, who suffered an amputation while serving in iraq. these dogs, everything from retrieval mechanisms to support, i know for the sergeant, tux, which is the dog that we're helping to get him, will help support him when he's staying there. i know that it also will retrieve his prosthetic leg first thing in the morning for him. a lot of it is emotional, too, giving him the self-confidence he needs to regain his sense of self now that he's back in regular life. >> eric, you got diabetes. you got extra things added to your life. is the fact that you got this dog now, is that a lot more work for you or is it much more of a -- a help than a hindrance? >> well, i suffer from ptsd as well, but i didn't develop my

ptsd until ten years after my military service. and that also affects the diabetes. so the dog helps with reducing my anxiety levels, which improved my diabetes. i spent two years basically in seclusion from the -- from the symptoms and now i get out a whole lot more. in fact, the first weekend i had the dog, the freedom service staff noticed a big improvement on my face and just how much happier i was. a lot more outgoing. kind of back to my old self. >> who could not be happy with mason around you? mason looks like a fantastic friend and a great dog. mason, thanks for joining us. eric, thank you. jason watson from dublin dogs, thank you. we wish you continued success. by the way, dublin dogs continues to have a demand for volunteers to help train these dogs. obviously with the number of people coming back. if you want to know more about them, there is this army of veterans coming home.

they need these volunteers to help train the dogs. for more information, go to cnn.com/ali and i will link you to the information you need to know if you want to help train these dogs. president obama is at a stalemate in south korea on a key trade deal. it would have had a big effect on american automakers and cattle ranchers. est thing you co is cut the fuel supply... ♪ ...unlock the doors, and turn on the hazard lights. ♪ or better yet, get a car that automatically does it for you. ♪ right now, during the sign and drive event, get the all-new 2011 jetta for practically just your signature.

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♪ president obama is in south korea today for the g-20 economic summit. so is senior white house correspondent ed henry. poor guy. it's the other side of the world. it's the wrong time of the day. we woke him up again to join us

and talk on the phone. it's an important thing. he said, i wouldn't do this just for fun, just because i like getting you out of bed. but there is a key trade deal that president obama was trying to get done. it looks like it's off track a little bit. so let's talk about that. where do we stand with this trade deal? >> well, you know, the president is still projecting confidence, saying, look, we'll get this done in weeks, not months, but he may have missed a big window here. while you're in south korea, that's the time to seal the deal. he's got one more day here, but it's with g-20 business, not bilateral business back and forth with south korea. the big sticking point is what the auto industry is saying. you've got ford motor company saying get us into these other markets. they've been rebuilding. bottom line, ford is saying we're not there yet. they feel that south korea is still not opening their markets nearly enough. and that's where the -- what the

sticking point is. that's where the president is not giving in yet. on the one hand, he's got folks like ford and organized labor back home saying we're side by side here, some in business as well as organized labor saying this is not a fair enough deal. that may be good for the president short-term, but long-term he thought he was going to have a deal here. this means thousands of jobs at home created back home. he doesn't have that yet in south korea. that's a problem for this trip. >> all right. so it's nocompletely off track. what about reports that david axelrod has said that this white house is prepared to negotiate on extending the bush tax cuts for everybody beyond december 31st when they're set to expire? >> you know, you said just the right word. that maybe david axelrod is saying the president is willing to negotiate on extending tax cuts for the rich. that's the key, negotiate.

that's what the president himself said on november 3rd at that news conference. he said, look, ready to negotiate on maybe extending the tax cuts for the rich. that was news then because the president had repeatedly said i'm not going to compromise on that. that's a bit too far. day after the election, he himself said we're ready to deal here. we're ready to compromise. so it was sort of interesting. it ricochetted halfway around the world here last night in south korea. you had everybody running around. the huffington post said that david axelrod suggested that the president was caving on this now. if you read the actual story, he never says anything close to that in the story. the most important quote, i think, that white house aides are pointing to, they're trying to say, look, he's not caving. look at the last quote. but finally, we can't permane permanently extend the high income tax cuts. he says he's not giving in on the tax cuts for the rich, but the way i read it is different,

which is -- the key word is that axelrod is saying we can't permanently extend these high income tax cuts basically. what does that mean? it means we can temporarily extend tax cuts for the rich. maybe a year, maybe two years, whatever it may be. so i think it didn't really move the ball that far. the president did that the day after the election. they're not reedy to cave, but they're getting closer. >> hey, ed, because you're on the phone we have a picture of you on the screen. let's put that up for a second again. a map with seoul and then your name and a picture. the picture looks like it was taken 13 years ago. is it time for a new picture again? >> you know, first of all, i'm concerned now because your lead-in to me was dublin dogs and then you hold up my picture. i'm a little worried. >> ed, you stay safe. thank you for getting up early for us. always a pleasure. next week you tell us what that

trip was like. i want to see what you guys do and how it all works. >> we'd love to do it. >> all right. ed henry, our senior white house correspondent. they're still working on getting the count right in alaska. at stake is the final unsettled senate seat. i'm really excited. because toyota developed this software that can simulate head injuries and helps make people safer. then they shared this technology with researchers at wake forest to help reduce head injuries on the football field. so, you know, i can feel a bit better about my son playing football. [ male announcer ] how would you use toyota technology to make a better world? learn how to share your ideas at toyota.com/ideasforgood. ♪ if you have gout, high uric acid can lead to more attacks. ♪

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time now for your cnn political update. we're still watching the count in the alaska senate race. let's start with a call for fiscal action. cnn's john king joins us now from washington. john? >> ali, you're one of the guys at this network, a lot of us get

into journalism because we're not good at math. but you know how to crunch the numbers and you know there's fiscal insanity here in washington, d.c. there's a column by david walker. he was the guy who for ten years from 1998 to 2008 kept the government's books. he knows how messy they are. he writes this column in the wake of this new proposal from the president's commission on debt and deficit reduction. david walker says the country needs an open public debait on the role and the size of government, health care spending and comprehensive tax reform. he says as the country tries to debait what to do, the nation's ticking fiscal time bomb is real and must be defused. the time for action is now. it is worth reading. one of the things you'll find on cnn.com/politics. you mentioned the alaska vote count. that senate race is still unresolved because of the write-in campaign of lisa murkowski. they're counting the votes in alaska. 92,000 write-in votes need to be

counted overall. 19,203 were tallied on wednesday. 89% of those were clear votes for lisa murkowski. she's the incumbent. joe miller beat her in the republican primary. the miller campaign is challenging those votes. the miller campaign is challenging those ballots. the count is continuing. if you look at the trend, the trend has the murkowski camp very, very confident as they continue this write-in count. but let's let them finish the count and then let's see what the lawyers do. >> that's exactly right, john. by the way, david walker will be on "your money" this weekend. so will you. we'll have this conversation in greater detail about what to do about the deficit and the debt. i look forward to seeing you this weekend. thanks, john. your next political update, an hour away. coming up next, a way to honor our veterans today that could put thousands of in your pocket.

because of one word, a new generation-- a fifth generation-- of fighter aircraft has been born. because of one word, america's air dominance for the next forty years is assured. that one word... is how.

i took emergen-c. with 1,000 milligrams of vitamin c and energizing b vitamins, it made every performance count. emergen-c. feel the good. today in our odds and ends segment, a salute to our veterans and current troops. first lady michelle obama helped serve up steak dinners to servicemen and women in germany. her visit came as a surprise. the first lady's plane made a refueling stop over in germany as she heads home from her tour in asia. in new orleans, school children sat at the feet of veterans today to learn about the sacrifices they've made for the country. this huge wall with the names of veterans and current troops is another way americans are marking the day. steve rutherford of west virginia along with his grandson, alex, painted it to resemble a u.s. flag. in illinois, you can buy a scratch-off