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Primary Races to Shape November Elections; Senate Candidate Under Fire for Claims of Military Service; New Regs to Make Credit Scores More Available; Study: High Level of BPA in Some Canned Goods
Aired May 18, 2010 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: He is back. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, you have a fantastic afternoon. It's great to be back.
HARRIS: Thank you, sir.
VELSHI: Great to see you.
All right. As Tony said, I'm Ali Velshi. I'm going to be with you for the next two hours today and every week day. I'm going to take every important topic we cover a step further, trying to give you a level of detail that will help you make decisions.
And we have got decisions to make today. It's primary day in several states. Incumbents are on the defensive, and voters are mad at hell. Today's result could shape November's election and send a strong message to the White House and to Congress. We're going to take you to the key races and tell you what to look for.
Plus, did he serve in Vietnam or not? "The New York Times" says Connecticut's attorney general, who's now running for a Senate seat, lied about serving in that war. We'll tell you what he is saying.
Also an amazing trek at the bottom of the world. A Philadelphia adventurer's record-breaking walk across the South Pole. Who is Todd Carmichael and why did he do it? He'll join us live to tell us about it.
But first, our main story. There are Senate primaries -- there are primaries for different positions, but there are Senate primaries in some key states that you need to know about today. In fact, some people are calling today Super Tuesday, the most important day before November's election.
I want to tell you about what's going on in some of those states and specifically what you need to look for, why this is important to you. And to do that I'm joined by Paul Steinhauser, who's CNN's deputy political director and Mark Preston, CNN's political editor.
Before I get to those guys, though, let me show you a little bit about what is going on today. First of all, the three big races that we're looking at are in Arkansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. Now, in Kentucky, you can see there in the middle, you've got Rand Paul, who is the son of Ron Paul. He's being backed by -- by Tea Party voters against the secretary of state, Trey Grayson, who's being backed by the Kentucky Republican establishment, including Senator Mitch McConnell.
In Arkansas, let me take you over to that, two-term incumbent senator, Blanche Lincoln, who's had a very big role in some of this financial reform discussion that's going on in the Senate is up against Arkansas -- Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter. Lincoln is calling herself the more moderate candidate against the more liberal Halter.
And in Pennsylvania a big race there. The candidate, the Democratic candidate, sitting senator is Arlen Specter. He is the longest serving U.S. senator in history from Pennsylvania, but he's never actually been in a Democratic primary race before, because he's only been a Democrat for about a year.
He's running against Joe Sestak. Very interesting story. He's a retired Navy admiral who was recruited by the Democratic Party to be their candidate before Arlen Specter decided that he was a Democrat. That will be interesting to see how that pans out.
Let's go to Paul and Mark. I never really know what these guys' titles are, because I just know them as our really smart political guys. They're joining us here today.
And Mark, let's start with -- let's start with Pennsylvania because I just saw something you wrote about that. This is just a remarkably interesting race. This is a Republican senator, a centrist who went over, became the Democrats' 60th vote in the Senate until, of course, they lost that in Massachusetts. He was the great hope for the Democrats, and now he's in a race for his political life.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: He was the great hope, and, in fact, he was the great hope for President Obama, who is fully backing Arlen Specter in this primary, which has upset some Democrats, Ali.
What has happened is that Arlen Specter, when he switched parties last year, he effectively gave the White House the 60th vote they needed, the 60th vote they needed when they passed health care, of course, just a couple of months ago. By getting the backing of the White House, Arlen Specter seemed to have a cake walk. It was going to be easy for him.
However, in the last couple weeks when you talk about the anti- incumbent mood, Ali, those winds blew right into Pennsylvania. Joe Sestak, who they had been recruiting, these Democratic leaders had been recruiting Joe Sestak, Ali. He decided to continue his battle against Arlen Specter, even though the Democrats tried to get him out of the race. And within the last couple weeks the polls have closed, and right now it's a tossup, Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Paul, let's talk about what's going on in Kentucky. You've got a candidate backed by -- by Tea Party supporters, Rand Paul. Tea Party supporters have had an active role in Ron Paul's various candidacies. And he's -- he's running against the secretary of state, who the Republicans are backing.
Is this a sign of what we're going to be seeing between now and November, generally, where Republicans, particularly conservative Republicans, are up against Tea Partiers, possibly splitting their vote for the general election?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, it's a fascinating dynamic. You know, the Tea Party movement, they're claiming a little bit of success. Just nine days ago they were saying that they were partially responsible for the ousting of longtime Republican Senator Jim -- Bob Bennett of Utah.
VELSHI: And let's just remind people. That is a sitting U.S. senator who lost his primary by a very slim margin, but he now can't run as a Republican because of this throw-the-bums-out movement.
STEINHAUSER: Exactly. It was a state party convention in Utah, and now he's out. He can't run for re-election. And the Tea Party local and national chapters were partially responsible for that. They were really targeting him.
Now here in Pennsylvania, you've got -- I mean, in Kentucky, you've got a similar dynamic here. There is no incumbent there, right, because the current senator, Republican Jim Bunning, is retiring.
But as you mentioned, Rand Paul is considered the outsider. That's how he's running. And he's become a real Tea Party favorite, whereas Trey Grayson, who really, Ali, is almost as conservative on a lot of the key issues, he's considered the insider or the establishment candidate.
And we're seeing this anti-incumbent fever. We're also seeing this anti-establishment, anti-Washington movement. It's playing out in Kentucky. And why these primaries today are important if you don't live in these states?
VELSHI: Right.
STEINHAUSER: Because a lot of these themes we're talking about could also happen elsewhere across the country and in November.
VELSHI: That's exactly right. That's why it is. Thank you for reminding us. That's why we're talking about this. Those people in their own states know about these things.
Arkansas, another state in play. Senator Blanche Lincoln has been sort of one of the leaders on some of the farther points of financial reform. And yet, she is painting herself as the more moderate candidate against -- against the lieutenant governor, who she suggests is more liberal -- Mark. PRESTON: Yes, and she is. And in fact, she's a centrist Democrat that has really riled up the left, Ali. The liberal organization such as MoveOn.org, the unions, are trying to defeat Blanche Lincoln.
Now, what we expect tonight, Ali, is that Blanche Lincoln will win when it comes to the numbers game. The question is, though, will she get the 50 plus one she needs to avoid a runoff. Right now, it doesn't look that way, which means that this contest will not be resolved tonight. It means we'll go into June with Bill Halter, the lieutenant governor who is challenging Blanche Lincoln from the left, will go against her again in January [SIC]. And if that's the case, the unions and the liberal groups such as MoveOn.org think they can then take out Blanche Lincoln.
I will tell, you, Blanche Lincoln is wearing it, though, like a patch of honor on her arm, Ali, because the fact is Arkansas is still a very conservative state, by and large. And heading into the general election, the argument from backers of Blanche Lincoln is that she'll be stronger if she's able to push back against this primary challenge from Bill Halter.
VELSHI: I'll put this to both of you. Paul, start with you. This is an interesting story in that there are three big races for Americans to watch. Each of them has a different dynamic to it.
So in Pennsylvania you've got an incumbent, although a complicated one, because he was a Republican. Now he's a Democrat. In Kentucky you have no incumbent, but you have a strong outsider and Tea Party influence versus a conservative. And in Arkansas you've got a moderate Democrat arguing that she's more conservative than her liberal opponent. I mean, which dynamic is most important for us to watch as we look toward what's going to happen in November?
STEINHAUSER: Well, I think let's talk about the anti-incumbent fever, because remember, in November you're going to have a lot of incumbents running for re-election, and there are more Democratic than Republican incumbents running this year for their seats. And if this continues, if this trend continues, it could be troubling for the Democrats. They had large majorities in the Senate and in the House, and they want to hold onto them. But this anti-incumbent fever will probably hurt them more than the Republicans, just because of the numbers, if you look at the numbers. There are more Democratic than Republican incumbents. So keep an eye on that.
The other two dynamics are interesting. They're inter-party dynamics. We'll see if everybody comes together within the parties after the primaries are over. That's crucial. And also look for turnout tonight and enthusiasm. Right now it seems the Republican voters are more energetic than Democrats when it comes to going to the ballot box. We can keep an eye on that, as well, today.
VELSHI: Mark, your thoughts on it?
PRESTON: Yes. You know, very quickly, Ali, looking in Kentucky, the Tea Party, will the Tea Party score a major win, and if so, will they be able to use it to fuel their whole movement going through the summer?
Heading into Arkansas, has the liberal base of the Democratic Party really taken control of the Democratic Party? If Blanche Lincoln is not able to dispense with Bill Halter tonight or perhaps in June?
And then heading into Pennsylvania, which is arguably the biggest headache right now for the White House. President Obama has backed Arlen Specter. President Obama backed New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, in fact went to his state the day before the election. President Obama went up to Massachusetts...
VELSHI: Right.
PRESTON: ... to try to save Martha Coakley, and you know what? He was unable to save them. He needs a win in Pennsylvania to keep his mojo going.
VELSHI: And he's not been hanging around in Pennsylvania with Arlen Specter. Guys, you are so smart.
You can follow what these guys read -- what these guys write. You can read it on CNN.com/politics. These guys are so good at this. They give you a real sense of why it matters.
Thanks to both of you for being with us.
All right. A U.S. Senate candidate holds a news conference in the next hour to discuss claims that he lied about his military record. Now, was this just a slip of the tongue, or was it a deliberate distortion? We're going to have a look into this when we come back.
And when I come back -- later in the show, actually, I'm going to tell you about how I spent my weekend. I wasn't off vacationing. I was around a whole lot of people with a whole lot of great ideas about how to change the world. I'm going it talk to you about that in my "XYZ."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A U.S. Senate candidate is scheduled to hold a news conference in less than an hour from now -- from now, and that could make or break his political future.
Richard Blumenthal is the attorney general of Connecticut. He's also a candidate in the race to succeed U.S. Senator Chris Dodd, who's not running for re-election. Now, today he is expected to respond to a "New York Times" article that says he lied about his military service record. We got this video from "The New York Times."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT SENATE CANDIDATE: We have learned something very important since the days that I served in Vietnam, and you exemplify. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it, Afghanistan or Iraq, we owe our military men and women unconditional support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: "Since the days I served in Vietnam." Now, he did serve during the Vietnam era. Was that a slip of the tongue or was it more deliberate? He served in the Marine Reserve, but he never actually served in Vietnam.
CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is standing by in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Allan, any idea of what we're expecting to hear from Blumenthal in the next hour?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: We're expecting that the Connecticut attorney general and Democratic candidate for the Senate is going to come out fighting.
A spokesperson for Mr. Blumenthal earlier today did say that this morning's "New York Times" article is, quote, "an outrageous distortion of Dick Blumenthal's record of service," and indeed Blumenthal did tell "The New York Times," well, he just misspoke when he made those comments that you just showed two years ago.
The fact is, as you said, that Blumenthal did serve in the Marine Corps Reserve but never actually in Vietnam. And in March during a debate for that Senate seat, Blumenthal was quite clear that he never had served in Vietnam. Let's have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLUMENTHAL: Serving in the United States military gave me a perspective as well, even in the reserves. Although I did not serve in Vietnam, I have seen firsthand the effects of military actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Now, he did speak earlier today with a woman who's quoted in this article, and she says that she was misquoted. That would be Jean Risely. She's the chair of the Connecticut Vietnam Veterans Memorial. And in the article it says that she investigated Blumenthal's military background and discovered that he had never served in Vietnam, but she said to me that's not true at all. She never did any investigation, and she knew quite well and Mr. Blumenthal was very clear that, indeed, he had never served in Vietnam.
But, Ali, then again you have that video you just showed before.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHERNOFF: So it is a little bit of a pickle that the attorney general is in right now.
VELSHI: All right, so he has said he didn't serve in Vietnam. What we understand from his military records is that he was in the Marines, he was in the reserves. He didn't serve in Vietnam. So it doesn't seem like we're having a dispute at this point about the fact. It's whether or not he deliberately misspoke or just accidentally misspoke.
CHERNOFF: Exactly. It's what did -- what did he say, right? Clearly, he said it once, perhaps a few other times. "The New York Times" talks about several other newspapers reporting on Mr. Blumenthal being a Vietnam veteran. Now, was that misleading by Mr. Blumenthal? Was it poor reporting by the local papers? You know, these are issues that are going to be debated right here.
VELSHI: That -- that said, this woman who you spoke to, who is quoted in "The New York Times" article, had some very specific reference. She talked about something, or at least the newspaper quoted her as talking about something very specific that she heard Blumenthal say about -- that sort of described his return from Vietnam or how he saw the world as he got back from Vietnam.
CHERNOFF: That's right. She -- she was quoted in the article as saying, "Well, I remember when we came back from Vietnam, we couldn't wear our uniforms..."
VELSHI: Right.
CHERNOFF: In other words Vietnam vets didn't get any respect back then after the war. Now, Ms. Risely said to me that Blumenthal was referring to all Vietnam vets.
VELSHI: We, as veterans, couldn't wear our uniforms.
CHERNOFF: Not -- exactly.
VELSHI: Right.
CHERNOFF: As opposed to saying, "I personally could not wear my uniform after having served in Vietnam." And she said the article gives the impression of the latter, that it was referring to him specifically.
VELSHI: All right, Allan. You'll be there. You'll bring us any information as it comes out as to what he says in his response.
Allan Chernoff is in Hartford, Connecticut, waiting to hear from Dick Blumenthal himself about what he said and setting the record straight about his service in Vietnam.
All right. If you're having trouble getting credit or getting a job, there might be something around the corner that helps you. Christine Romans has some details straight ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: She's back after a few days hiatus. Actually, it's me who's been on the hiatus. But I'm back with my buddy, Christine Romans, my co-anchor on "YOUR $$$$$," and she is following this -- this financial reform bill on Capitol Hill, which by the way, has not passed. There are all sorts of iterations of it. We may have some deal by the end of the week, but something happened last night that a lot of people are going to find very interesting.
First of all, there's a difference between your credit report and your credit score, and this has to do with your credit score. Christine, tell us what you have.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, right. The credit score is basically the number assigned to your entire credit history. You know? Think of it as a letter grade: A, B, C, D, E, or F.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: Actually, it would be a lot more -- it would be simpler that way, right? But anything above 680 is basically OK, viable. Below 680 is not. And the best interest rates for a mortgage or whatever come at 740 to 760, just so you know where we are.
VELSHI: OK.
ROMANS: Most people, according to Equifax yesterday told me, most people are around 704, in case you're wondering. And that score has been improving.
So here's what's new. The Senate has slipped a provision into reform that would give you a free copy of your credit score if you have been denied a job because of your credit history or if you've been -- if your -- a loan term has been hurt by your credit history. So this would be part of the financial reform bill. No charge for that credit score.
You already have your credit report available to you free, Ali, once a year, AnnualCreditReport.com.
VELSHI: From each of the credit bureaus, but if you go to AnnualCreditReport.com, that's where you get it. But it does not include the free score.
ROMANS: Your credit score.
VELSHI: So the report is basically your history, and the score is your snapshot. Like you said, your letter grade of how you did this term, this semester.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: That is not -- you have to pay for that usually to get that.
ROMANS: You have to pay for that. And it's 15 bucks. And some people might use those monthly credit monitoring systems so they get it all the time. And a lot of personal finance experts tell you that that is really a waste of money. You just need to once a year take a look at your credit history. Now, here is something that personal finance experts also say, Ali. Why do you care about the number? Why do you care what that number is? You want to care about what your credit history shows and make sure everything on that is accurate. You want to make sure you pay your bills on time, and you want to make sure you don't max out your credit cards.
Even if you pay your credit cards off every month but you run up to the -- almost to the balance...
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: ... you're going to look like you're maxed out, and your credit score is going to fall. So if you practice good money management, you're paying your bills on time, the credit score takes care of itself.
VELSHI: Yes. Although I have heard from people who have run into problems when they go to apply for a mortgage, and they are surprised. They pay everything on time, and they didn't know that. They might have been able to fix it over the course of several months.
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: Like school you can fix your credit score over the course of several months if you do the right things.
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: So important development.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: Christine, so great to see you.
ROMANS: Welcome back, Ali.
VELSHI; I will talk to you. You'll talk to us again all week this week. And we can always -- Christine and I are together on "YOUR $$$$$," Saturdays at 1 p.m. Eastern, Sundays at 3 p.m. Eastern.
OK. Before you go to the grocery store, take note. There might be something wrong with the canned food that you buy. Elizabeth Cohen joins me on the other side of this break with details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: So Elizabeth always tells me I have to eat more vegetables, and since I don't go to the grocery store that often, I sometimes get them in a can. But listen to this. A new report says some cans may have high levels of a chemical called BPA, and that could be toxic.
Elizabeth Cohen, our senior medical correspondent, has the latest on this.
I knew -- I knew something was wrong.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This comes under the category of "if it's not one thing, it's another."
VELSHI: Right, right, right.
COHEN: Right, exactly. Now, BPA, you all remember, you and I talked about it in baby bottles.
VELSHI: That's right.
COHEN: And it was problematic. And basically now it's easy to buy bottles without BPA in it, but it is still in the linings of cans, cans that have, you know, soup or vegetables or fruits or whatever.
So here's the deal. This was this report put out by a group called the National Work Group for Safe Markets. It's a bunch of different environmental and other groups. They bought a whole bunch of groceries and they looked at a whole bunch of groceries, a whole bunch of cans, and what they found was that about five of them had what they considered high levels of BPA.
Now, this is a little tricky because no one really knows what high is. The EPA, the FDA, they don't have standards for what's considered high. But according to this group, they say that these levels were high. And these were things like green beans, sweet peas, chicken noodle soup, cream of mushroom soup, products like that.
VELSHI: Now what happens? You've talked to one of the food companies who say that this has something that's been approved for a long time.
COHEN: That's right. Four of the companies got back to us, and Del Monte had the highest level. Their products, it was the Del Monte green beans. That's where they found the highest level.
VELSHI: Yes.
COHEN: So here's what Del Monte had to say: "For more than 40 years BPA has been approved by the FDA. Like all food companies, we rely on the FDA for guidance on food safety."
They went on to say that, even having said this, they're looking for alternatives to BPA...
VELSHI: OK.
COHEN: ... which is interesting. The other food companies said basically the same thing.
VELSHI: All right. But again, this is not something that's listed on the nutritional side of things.
COHEN: No. BPA isn't listed along with carbohydrates and sugars. No.
VELSHI: So back to basics. Now I have to go and buy my vegetables fresh now and do that.
COHEN: Right, exactly. Or start your own garden. And I should say that the folks -- the folks who wrote the study think that a lot of BPA can make you infertile...
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: ... and give you cancer, possibly, and all these horrible things. And then there are other scientists who say, "We don't really know that that's true."
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: So this is a tough one. People are really in camps about this. The studies have been done thus far on animals.
VELSHI: Yes.
COHEN: So this is definitely a -- if you're a rodent, stay away from BPA.
VELSHI: Very -- right.
COHEN: That's right.
VELSHI: All right, good. Elizabeth, thank you so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
VELSHI: The senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, always telling me about things I'm doing wrong.
All right. Right now at the South Pole -- I know you don't really check this on Weather.com very much -- it's minus 65 degrees. If you add the wind chill to that, you're at 108 below zero. Simply surviving around there for a few hours seems next to impossible, but you are about to meet a man who does not know the meaning of the word "impossible." Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I thought it couldn't be any more challenging, it got more challenging.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: His lungs in that clip are frozen. His skis are broken. His spirit is unflappable. We're talking to a world record holder about his South Pole "Mission: Impossible" after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Everyday on this show, we take you around the world in "Globe Trekking," telling you things that are happening around the world. Today, not good news. In Kabul, 18 people are dead in a suicide car bombing, including six U.S. troops, one -- I'm sorry, six troops. Five of them are American, one is a Canadian service member, and 12 civilians. 48 others are wounded.
A military and Afghan official says a man driving a Toyota minivan loaded with explosives steered directly into a NATO convoy this morning. The Taliban is taking responsibility for the attack, saying that the bomber carried over 1,600 pounds of explosives. Boy, we daily hear about people dying in Afghanistan, but this seemed to be a very concentrated effort in targeting servicemen and women.
Listen. Let's talk about things around the world that do give us a little more hope. Everyday, we also bring you a segment called "Mission Possible," about people who really do tackle the impossible. And I met this guy a few weeks ago and it knocked my socks off.
Todd Carmichael, he's a Philadelphia entrepreneur. In and of it itself, that's an interesting story. He set out on a mission to set a record walking from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole. Listen to this in his own words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD CARMICHAEL, WALKED FROM ANTARTICA COAST TO SOUTH POLE: The point of this expedition is for an American to go from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole. It's never been done by an American. Only by a Brit and a Norwegian.
A bit of bad news coming up. Getting a sense, and about a Hercules (ph) ahead of me you can see.
Got a broken binding. That's never good. I do have one repair piece. We've only done eight miles so far.
There you go. There's the rest that I have to do. Valley floor behind.
All right. The stove is going, and we're having a nice hot cup of tea. What a beautiful thing. Calories are like fuel. One of the biggest pieces of fuel that I eat is butter, big gobs of it in everything you eat. I have been on an expedition where at the end, I'm having literally tea and butter.
I have made a decision today, that even though I'm 41.61, actually, nautical miles behind the world record, I am going to try to beat the world record with no skis solo. It just seems I've come so far. I'm never going to get another shot at it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And Todd Carmichael is right here. You did beat the world record.
CARMICHAEL: I did.
VELSHI: It took you 39 days, 7 hours and 49 minutes. Your skis broke eight miles in.
CARMICHAEL: That's right. VELSHI: And you beat the world record by 104 minutes. I mean, you just barely beat it.
CARMICHAEL: If it were a 100-yard dash, it would be a human hair.
VELSHI: All right. After the first couple times that you did these 17, 18-mile days on foot, your bindings had broken, you're lugging, what, 300 pounds of stuff behind. You called your wife -- you had a satellite phone -- and said, look, "I don't think I'm going to beat the world record. I think I will get there but not beat the world record," and she says?
CARMICHAEL: She says, you put me through this, and you're not going for the world record? I mean, there was no question she wanted me to continue for it. The calculation was tough, though. At that time, the furthest anyone has ever gone on the ice is 17.1 nautical miles in 24 hours.
VELSHI: Right.
CARMICHAEL: Which is roughly 20 miles.
VELSHI: Right.
CARMICHAEL: And doing the calculations, I realized I have to do slightly more than that, but 29 of them in a row and so simply I had to set a new world record --
VELSHI: How long did that take in a day?
CARMICHAEL: About 14 to 16 hours of total marching. You got about four hours sleep and the rest of the time is just making water and preparing for the next day's travel.
VELSHI: And you're eating butter and candy bars, you're eating everything you can to put as many calories as you can and you still lost about a pound a day?
CARMICHAEL: Yeah, that's about right. I lost a little over 60 pounds. I came in -- what's unusual is you come in extremely thin and you think "m going to be ripped." It's not like that at all. You have thin, grandma arms. You're just -- you're completely spent.
VELSHI: And I imagine you're a little crazy going into this, but you're a little crazier at the end of that, after 40 days of not seeing anybody, the landscape exactly the same, you're freezing. Everything you do is about sheer survival.
CARMICHAEL: Exactly. I had to have a total sprint at the end. The sprint was 48 straight hours of trekking. About the time I had arrived I hadn't had anything to eat or slept for a couple days. And I hadn't slept for a couple of days. I was a little loopy, to say the least.
VELSHI: We're going to -- we're just showing you a map of, I mean, this is 700 miles. We have to skip over the part about how you're a business guy. I'm a business guy, so I love that part about you. But I want to get to the important part.
You don't do this for nothing. I met you at a conference where people were talking about ideas and politics, and this is sort of your personal reminder that people should actually just get out and do stuff. If they need to change the world, and you're a big believer in changing the world, just do it.
CARMICHAEL: That's right. Lee Iacocca said it best. He said, "If you don't know what to do, do something." I guess this is my something.
VELSHI: But you actually support other causes. First of all, one of the things you support is the idea of having a small carbon footprint. So you walked your way across Antarctica so you could show that you could do this without any power.
CARMICHAEL: Exactly. These type of things tend to attract attention, and that attention would be wasted on me just as a guy out in the public. So, I tried to take that attention and divert it towards the causes that I support.
VELSHI: What kind of things?
CARMICHAEL: Orangutans in born (INAUDIBLE) is an important one. It also has a lot to do with carbon because they're burning the forest and killing the orangutans, so they're creating carbon and killing animals at the same time.
VELSHI: Right.
CARMICHAEL: And then the bigger one for me, and it touches my life and heart is the children in Africa. And my wife and I do what we can in order to support several different orphanages there.
VELSHI: You are going on another trek soon.
CARMICHAEL: That's right.
VELSHI: You did the coldest part and now you're going to trek across the hottest part of the world.
CARMICHAEL: The hottest part of the world. That's right.
VELSHI: Which surprised me. It's right here in the United States.
CARMICHAEL: Exactly. You think of explorers, these guys that go on these long flights and stuff. But it turns out the most challenging desert in the planet is California.
VELSHI: So, you're going to do that. When are you going to do that?
CARMICHAEL: September. Early September. That's when its peak heat. You want to make sure you don't do it in December because then people will make fun of you.
VELSHI: That would be like cheating, you'd be a sissy to walk across Death Valley in September (sic).
All right, so in addition to this, you run a very successful coffee business in Philadelphia, but you also have a family.
CARMICHAEL: That's right. I do. I have a new family. My wife is still my same wife, but we became parents last year. We adopted three little girls, 7, 5, and 2. So, we went from this kind of dynamic couple to Cheerios on the ceiling in just a very quick piece of time. And my daughters remind me how beautiful life is and how beautiful really America is.
VELSHI: But you're still going to keep going and doing these things.
CARMICHAEL: Well, not -- Antarctica takes two months. You're alone for two months, and I just can't put the girls through that. I can barely put my wife through that. I don't think I could do it again. But small ones, adventures don't have to be over two or three months. Great adventure could be a week, ten days.
VELSHI: Now, is there a special coming out on this? I know you taped the whole thing.
CARMICHAEL: There's a person named Nancy Glass, Nancy Glass Studios. She's working on putting a documentary together, and she's got ideas to show it in Sundance and these different festivals. So, we're looking forward to that.
VELSHI: Good, because after this, I'm going to be talking to the governor of Michigan and they have a lot of struggles, obviously, with the auto industry. Sometimes a lot of struggles, whether it's politics or the economy that we all face, there's a real sense of it's not fixable, and you sort of just got a different mindset about life. I know we have to meld the two, practicality and dreams, but it's always great to have somebody who just wants to do the impossible because we've got a lot of impossible to achieve.
CARMICHAEL: We do. We do. A big road ahead of us.
VELSHI: Well, good. Good to see you! Great to have you on the show. Congratulations on your trek. We will watch very carefully to see what you're going to do in Death Valley. I would normally say I might come and film it, but I'm a little soft.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Todd Carmichael.
All right. U.S. auto sales are up, actually. The auto landscape has increased and improved so dramatically from a year ago when it looked like it was on the bring of extinction. But what does that mean for Detroit? What does it mean for the state of Michigan? I'm going to talk to governor Jennifer Granholm. Remember, by the way, there are auto plants in every state in this country, so you're going to want to hear what she thinks. Even though she has a big stake in it, so do you.
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VELSHI: A quick look at the top stories we're covering this hour at CNN.
Momentum is gaining in the race to the November elections. Four states have primaries today. Incumbents there are at risk of losing support. In Connecticut, one of the states that has a contest today, Democrat Richard Blumenthal is accused of lying about his military service in Vietnam. His campaign denies the allegation. He'll be speaking very shortly, and we'll bring you any new information we have.
The U.S., Russia, and China and a few other key nations have agreed to a strong set of sanctions against Iraq -- I'm sorry, Iran. They want to stop nuclear weapon development in Iran. That's according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who spoke before a Senate committee today. She says it sends an unmistakable message about what is expected from Iran.
And good news for construction workers. Some of the hardest hit by the economic crisis. New home construction, something called housing starts, has surged 41 percent since last April. Now, that may be thanks to a tax credit for homebuyers that expired last month.
GM made $865 million in the first quarter, the first three months of this year. Ford has been profitable now for four straight quarters, a year. Even Chrysler is narrowing its losses.
Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm is in Washington attending a summit on auto communities and the new economy. She joins me now. Governor, thank you for being with us.
GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D), MICHIGAN: You bet, Ali. Thanks for having me on.
VELSHI: As I mentioned a few moments ago, you have a bigger stake than most in the auto industry in Michigan, but the reality is that there are auto plants and suppliers all across the nation, and not to mention dealers and autoworkers all across the nation.
A year ago, we were looking like we could have no auto industry in the United States or no domestic auto industry. Tell me what's changed and what you're discussing in Washington about what the future could look like for this industry.
GRANHOLM: Well, clearly things have utterly changed since a year ago. I mean, we really were talking about bankruptcy. We weren't sure they would emerge from bankruptcy. They had already entered into bankruptcy. The auto suppliers were in freefall.
And as of this first quarter, as you mentioned, these -- all the domestic auto industry, they are seeing profits, which is very exciting. New cars coming to market, getting great reviews from Motor Trend Car of the Year and all of that, which is wonderful stuff. And the suppliers, of which there are thousands and thousands across the country, they, too, are seeing their orders pick up.
Now, all of this is fragile. We know that we haven't arrived yet. We still have a lot of work to do. But today, I'm at this summit for auto communities, and the administration gave a great gift to states across the country that have some of these old General Motors sites, and I think the biggest example of blight that there is a factory that is with lights off, and is now just sitting there idle. The administration --
VELSHI: Sure. So, what are they doing?
GRANHOLM: They're going to give -- they're going to put $800 million -- that's a residual from the bankruptcy -- into a trust to allow those of us who have these older facilities to be able to clean them up and put them back into good use. It's a great reuse of property, but it's also -- we call it the Phoenix Project where a Phoenix rises from the ashes.
It's a great way to repurpose these sites because truly in a state like Michigan, I mean, I say this to all of your viewers, anybody who is looking to site a facility in some way, we could give you a great deal now that these sites will be cleaned up. We've got hungry workforce. We've got infrastructure that's second to none. We have people who are talented. You name it.
VELSHI: I often think, and I spent so much time in Michigan, what do we do with some of these large places? But Michigan is still smack-dab in the middle of the continent. It's got roads, airports, a workforce.
At some point, though, we've seen the auto industry come back from the edge and there's excitement, as you said, in auto design and automaking again, particularly as it relates to alternative energy. But a state like Michigan and states like Ohio and other industrial states, have got to look towards something else for the future. So, what do you do in Michigan to account for all of these people who are now out of work and aren't probably going to go back to the auto industry?
GRANHOLM: Well, clearly we have to diversify, and it's been part of our strategy, Ali. There's six sectors we have targeted based upon economists. And one of the sectors, for example, is an alternative and renewable energy. We know how to make the stuff, the products that will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and foreign oil. If we get a federal energy bill, it's going to mean enormous opportunity for states like Michigan that have a manufacturing workforce, as long as we make the things that make us energy secure in this country.
So, those who used to bend steel to make autos can bend steel to make wind turbines. If you're used to installing glass in auto industry and you do that clean tech manufacturing, you can make solar panels. The auto industry is going to electric vehicles, so diversifying inside of the auto industry. The batteries that store the alternative and renewable energy, you better believe we're going to make them.
And so, it's very exciting to know we can diversify, still make things in this country to be a strong nation, and use these old sites and certainly the talent that we have inside of our borders to make it.
VELSHI: Well, the nation stands with you in trying to find a bright future for Michigan and also because we are also dependent on the auto industry, we wish you good luck. Jennifer Granholm, governor of Michigan, thank you for joining us.
All right. Just in,we're getting some pictures, brand new pictures of this oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. We're going to check them out right after this the break.
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VELSHI: We've got some new video, new to us, new to the media, of these oil plumes underneath the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico.
Chad's joining me now. He's taking a look at it to explain to us what we're looking at. What do you got?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The top of the blowout preventer, first pictures that we've seen of this. These are from Senator Ben Nelson's Web site.
VELSHI: And a blowout preventer is at the bottom of the ocean where the wellhead is.
MYERS: On the bottom of the ocean, on top of the hole that is the oil well.
VELSHI: Right. It regulates pressure.
MYERS: It was supposed to stop this, it did not. We knew it was leaking. This is not a new leak. It's the smaller of the leaks. This pipe should go all the way up to the horizon. Now t doesn't. The horizon's gone.
VELSHI: It sank, and this is what happened.
MYERS: Fell over. The crack in the kink.
VELSHI: Wow.
MYERS: Now, this is the zoom-in shot, quite a bit more impressive. This is from May 15th, so a couple days ago. What happened since then? They have put the plug in the other end to try to suck it up, so there may be more coming out here because the pressure --
VELSHI: Built up.
MYERS: Exactly. VELSHI: If they were a larger shot, you'd see oil coming up from another part of this thing. This is right at the connection, the pipe to the ocean floor.
MYERS: Yes. But if -- today, we would hope, that there's no oil coming out of that end over there. We hope that they plugged it and sucking it out.
VELSHI: We don't know if it's the same amount today or much more.
MYERS: Correct. You can look at the color. This is obviously - this is real color, but with real lights coming in on it, and you can see kind of the redness. It's the sheen, almost the same color that we're seeing at the surface as the oil's coming up.
VELSHI: There was some discussion at the hearings on Capitol Hill that BP was selecting what video, taking a lot of video but selecting the ones they had released, and a few senators wanted to know exactly what else has happened. So, this has actually come to us from Florida Senator Bill Nelson.
MYERS: Bill Nelson's site.
VELSHI: We'll keep on looking at that.
MYERS: This is the rewind. It's a fairly long thing. So, this is the top of the blowout preventer. It doesn't seem to be coming out so big on the wide shot, it doesn't look so bad. But when you zoom in, it looks a lot more ominous.
VELSHI: All right. You will be coming back to us, because there's tar balls that showed up in Key West.
MYERS: Correct.
VELSHI: And you're going to tell us -- don't tell us now, but when you look at it after looking at it, where these tar balls might be from.
All right. What do the Homeland Security Department and the Department of Defense and a helium balloon have in common? Something interesting I'll tell you about after the break.
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VELSHI: I just want to give you some information we're getting just in to CNN. Senior counterterrorism official connected to the investigation of Faisal Shahzad, the alleged Times Square bomber, has said that he had other potential targets in mind, including -- listen to this -- Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, the World Financial Center and the Connecticut helicopter manufacturer Sikorski. The source tells CNN that Shazad had gone so far as to conduct surveillance at some of the additional targets. We'll continue to work on it and bring you more information as we have it. But it does say Faisal Shahzad may have been interested in targeting Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal and the World Financial Center and helicopter manufacturer Sikorski.
All right. Everyday on the show, we have a segment called "The Big 'I'." Is all about big, new ideas and innovation that have an impact on your world. Today's "Big I" -- check this out, it's a massive airship. It's the largest airship in the world, and it was just inflated this week.
Now, I mean, it's hard to understand how big that is. Check out this time lapse video of it being inflated near here in Montgomery, Alabama in the Garrett Coliseum. And it's called the Bullet 580 Airship, built by a company E-Green Technologies. 235 feet long, 105 feet wide, 90 feet tall, 65 feet around.
Giving you a tease about this because on Friday, we're going to talk to the CEO of E-Green technology's and the pilot of the airship. Obviously, it's an airship, so there's a housing underneath in which the pilot sits sits.
The implications of this aircraft in areas of defense, homeland security, disaster relief, weather monitoring and much more. It doesn't sound like new technology but, in fact, there haven't been many developments in the airship world in the last century. This is a big one, so this Friday on "The Big 'I'." We'll tell you more about this massive, massive airship.
All right, "Crime and Consequence" coming up next. Today it's the case of an A-plus student at Harvard who allegedly majored in fraud.
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VELSHI: Okay. Every day we bring you "Crime and Consequence." This one is unbelievable.
Listen to this. Adam Wheeler, 23-year-old kid from Milton, Delaware, charged with 20 counts of larceny and identity fraud, pretending to hold a degree, et cetera, et cetera. This guy was exposed when a Harvard professor discovered he had fabricated and plagiarized his application for a Rhodes scholarship.
Now, further digging finds that this guy lied, well, just about everything on a seemingly sterling academic record. He's been coasting through on lies the entire time, according to the charge.
Let me explain the five stages of Adam Wheeler. First of all, he allegedly lied to get into Harvard, OK?
