secret talks happen all the time, and 99% of them fail. but we are rooting for the 1% chance that these finally succeed. because america needs a grand bargain to prevent our debt rising to twice the size of our economy and to prevent a recession really, really soon. today fed chief ben bernanke, the man who has twisted and turned to get interest rates to zero to try to help this country said now congress must act. i urge congress to come to agreement on that well in advance so as not to push us to the 12th hour. if no action were taken and the fiscal cliff were to kick in in its full size, i think it would be very likely that the economy would begin to contract. contract means get smaller. it means recession. and people talk a whole lot about this fiscal cliff, but sometimes, you know, it kind of blurs together. so what exactly are we talking about? to be honest, this cliff is like we re on the top of mt. everest staring down a 29,000-foot crevasse. at the end of this yea
right now. outfront next, secret talks to save america from economic disaster going on tonight. and bill clinton says i m very sorry. but does his apology add up? and reports of a growing problem with american soldiers using a drug linked to the zombie-like attack in miami. let s go outfront. i m erin burnett. outfront tonight, secret talks. secret talks in congress to save america from fiscal implosion. secret talks happen all the time, and 99% of them fail. but we are rooting for the 1% chance that these finally succeed. because america needs a grand bargain to prevent our debt rising to twice the size of our economy and to prevent a recession really, really soon. today fed chief ben bernanke, the man who has twisted and turned to get interest rates to zero to try to help this country said now congress must act. i urge congress to come to agreement on that well in advance so as not to push us to the 12th hour. if no action were taken and the fiscal cliff were to k
just came up with it. reporter: one of our producers told freeman he was an investor interested in the bath salts business. is this your unique brew? yeah. yours personally? yeah. it s mdvp. but how do you know what to brew with it with? i m a [ bleep ] chemist. i ve been around long enough. we invited andrew over to talk business. this time i was there. soon he begins to realize who i am. do you have a card? do you have one in your briefcase? what? like i said, it s a bath salt. that s what they re sold as. and that s what it is. we both know kids are snorting it. i don t know that if they are. yeah, but i can t imagine kids are going into head shops and buying this to go home and take a bubble bath. i disagree. well, andrew, there s something you need to know.
like 24-year-old andrew freeman who we met in minneapolis, minnesota. he makes his own brand of bath salts called bliss. how did you come up with the name bliss? just came up with it. reporter: one of our producers told freeman he was an investor interested in the bath salts business. is this your unique brew? yours personally? yeah. it s mdvp. straight up? well and other stuff we brewed it with. right. that s what i m saying but how do you know what to brew it with. i m a [ bleep ] mad chemist dude. reporter: a few weeks later we rented a hotel room and invited andrew over to talk business. this time i was there. soon he begins to realize who i am. do you have a card? do we have one in your briefcase? what? like i said, it s a bath salt. that s what they re sold as and that s what it is. we both know kids are snorting it. i don t know that if they are. yeah, but i can t imagine
is to get this stuff. when you hear bath salts, you think you can walk into bed, bath, and beyond and pick up a 32-ounce thing. but in fact, it comes in little containers like this and looks exactly like cocaine. it is the latest designer drug and comes under a variety of name. blizzard, ivory snow, star dust, mdvp. it s a synthetic chemical marketed under the name bath salts. and several states have banned it in florida. it s even a felony to have it. this one s called bliss. it s 500 milligrams. people have taken as little has 10 milligrams and had really bad reactions to it. hallucinations, suicidal impulses. basically took us less than two minutes to order this fake cocaine. reporter: but demand is so high, the seller calls to say it s sold out. instead, we ll get something