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New Blood vs. Old Guard; College or Retirement?; Richard Blumenthal News Conference

Aired May 18, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Let me explain the five stages of Adam Wheeler.

First of all, he allegedly lied to get into Harvard. OK? Then he allegedly lied because he wanted to study under a -- he wanted to get a Rhodes scholarship, so he lied on his application for the Rhodes scholarship.

Phillips Academy Prep School -- we're going a little back in time -- which he allegedly claimed to have attended on his application to Harvard, authorities say he didn't. MIT -- this guy, he plays for keeps -- he allegedly lied about studying at MIT as well. And then Bowdoin College in Maine, this one he didn't lie about. He actually was enrolled at Bowdoin College in Maine, but he was suspended for -- are you sitting down for this? -- academic dishonesty.

All right. We've got a new hour now. I've got a new "Rundown."

Let me tell you a bit about what we've got, what we're following.

First of all, a battle at the polls. Americans are voting today in four key primaries. Many are outraged about the state of politics in General. The result of today's primaries could tell us a lot about what to expect in general elections in November.

Plus, a huge suicide car bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least five American troops are among the 18 people killed, many more injured. The Taliban claim responsibility.

We'll have a live report from the Afghan capital.

And how big prize money and keen competition can help solve some of the world's most pressing problems. I'll explain in my "XYZ."

But first, our big story today, primaries in four states right now. Three of them quite key, in fact, and a lot of people are calling this "Super Tuesday," sort of a pun on the real Super Tuesday before an election. But a lot of people are saying this is the most important day before the November elections.

I want to bring in our political analyst, Gloria Borger, to talk a little about some of the big races today. Our CNN senior political analyst, Gloria Borger, joining me from New York, where we're going to be covering this in great detail tonight.

Some big races out there, Gloria, and they're big for different reasons. We're going to talk about Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Arkansas.

First of all, Pennsylvania --

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

VELSHI: -- Arlen Specter suffering the anti-incumbent feeling that so many people are suffering across the country. But his story is more complicated than just not liking the guy in office.

BORGER: Yes, right. You know, if there could be a worse time for a five-time incumbent who decided to switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party to run for re-election, I don't know what it is.

Arlen Specter's just right now the wrong man at the wrong time. I mean, here's somebody who's running on his insider experience. What does the public want? They want outsiders.

They don't want somebody who's been a product of Washington. They don't believe that somebody who switched from one party to the other party is anything but an opportunist. And his opponent, Joe Sestak, is calling him exactly that, saying that he's recently converted to the Democratic Party, that he doesn't really believe in what the Democrats believe.

And he's running a lot of ads showing Arlen Specter with George W. Bush in the state of Pennsylvania. When you're trying to appeal to Democrats to come out and vote, that's not really good for Arlen Specter. It's not.

VELSHI: Yes. And for people in these three states, they may know about what some of these details are, but they have major implications. Let me just run our viewers through some of these contests.

In Kentucky, it's the Republican primary that we're looking at. Rand Paul is the candidate there. He's the son of Ron Paul, and he's running against Trey Grayson, who is the secretary of state. Now, Ron Paul -- Rand Paul is being backed by the Tea Party. He's got a big lead there.

BORGER: Right.

VELSHI: But Trey Grayson is being backed by the traditional, the sort of GOP establishment.

BORGER: Right, establishment.

VELSHI: Including the senator, Mitch McConnell.

BORGER: You know, Rand Paul is the exact opposite of Arlen Specter. OK? Rand Paul is the outsider opthamologist -- yes, son of Ron Paul, but not a lot of political experience here -- who comes in and says, you know, he's a member of the Tea Party movement, I want to shake up Washington, I want to do things differently. And Trey Grayson was somebody handpicked by the Washington establishment. And that's not exactly what you want right now, you know, backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and that's not what you want this time. So Rand Paul --

VELSHI: So even though there's no incumbent in this race, Rand Paul is still benefiting from the anti-incumbent feeling because he's able to somehow associate Trey Grayson with the establishment.

BORGER: Tea Party. Exactly. Just because they like him, not because he's of the establishment. But he's also Ron Paul's son, so there's a name recognition there, too.

VELSHI: Right.

Let's talk about the Arkansas race.

So, two-term incumbent Blanche Lincoln -- this is a Democratic primary -- she is the Democratic senator. She's had a lot to do with the recent discussions on financial reform, a bill that will come to the House this week. She's running against Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter, and she is painting herself, though a Democrat, as the more moderate, the more centrist Democrat, versus Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter, who she is painting as more liberal.

BORGER: You know, imagine a moderate Democrat in the state of Arkansas being in trouble. There was one, you'll recall, who got elected president of the United States. And this woman is getting it from both sides.

So, she's getting it from the left because they think she gave up on the public option on health care reform. She's getting it from the right, in the party, because they don't like what she's doing on financial reform.

So, you know, this is a -- you know, this is a politician who used to be able to sort of think, OK, I'm from the state of Arkansas, centrist Democrats have always done very well. And Halter is coming at her from the left. And she's got a real problem there.

Her problem is that she's got to get 50 percent of the vote, or else she has to face a runoff. And it looks like she might not get that 50 percent, in which case her pain could be prolonged. You know, this is just not a good year for her.

VELSHI: Three big stories, different things. In Pennsylvania, you've got the incumbent issue.

BORGER: Right. Yes.

VELSHI: In Kentucky, you've got the Tea Party influence. In Arkansas you've got whether or not organizers from the Democratic Party are going to be able to get their candidate in versus the Democratic incumbent.

BORGER: Right. Right.

VELSHI: Let's go back to Pennsylvania for a second. This is interesting.

Joe Sestak, who's running against Arlen Specter, was the guy who was recruited to run against Arlen Specter by the Democrats back when Arlen Specter was still a Republican. And when Arlen Specter switched, Sestak stayed in the race, and he's come out fighting.

BORGER: Right. He's come out fighting. And, again, you know, the establishment, including the governor of the state of Pennsylvania, including President Barack Obama, including the vice president, nobody wanted Joe Sestak to stay in this race. Arlen Specter was their guy once he switched. But that's the kiss of death right now, Ali, right?

VELSHI: Yes.

BORGER: I mean, if you're endorsed by the establishment, even if it's the establishment of the Democratic Party, it's very tough. And, you know, folks thought that Specter was a shoo-in 18 months ago, and now look at this, dead heat.

So, we really can't predict this one, but he shouldn't even be in this position. As I said, wrong man, wrong time.

VELSHI: Yes. A tough and complicated time in politics.

Gloria, good to see you. Thanks so much.

BORGER: Sure.

VELSHI: You'll be on this story all day. Our best political team that's on television will be on top of this all evening.

BORGER: Absolutely.

VELSHI: Gloria Borer, our senior political analyst, in New York.

All right. Paying or planning? Do you pay for your kids' education, or do you plan for your retirement? This is a tough choice that many families have to make. Do you pay to send your kid to college, or do you put that money into your retirement? (AUDIO GAP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: A big gathering here in Atlanta right now of African- American business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. They're gathering here for the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, a great conference.

One of the main goals of it is to help black business owners survive during tough economic times and to provide for their families. And, of course, for parents, one of the main concerns is figuring out how to pay for college for your kid. That's why some people are in business, trying to guarantee a better situation for their kids.

Alfred Edmond, Jr. is the editor-in-chief of BlackEnterprise.com. He's a good friend of mine.

And we can talk about a million things --

ALFRED EDMOND, JR., EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, BLACKENTERPRISE.COM: No doubt.

VELSHI: -- which we have. But I wanted to focus on one thing. Because you and I were at a forum sometime in the last year where a woman asked, you know, "I want to send my kid to college. My daughter will be the first person in my family to go to college. Don't have enough money to deal with college and retirement. So which one do I do?"

And this is not a -- while you know about this, this has got nothing to do with being black, although you did say that there was something about African-Americans and college that would make this particularly an interesting question.

EDMOND: Well, absolutely. Part of the challenge in terms of cultural issues related to this question is that for African- Americans, we know that education has been probably the key driver to most of our advancement over the last half a century.

VELSHI: Right. Or, the flip side of that is the key thing that is held back from advancement.

EDMOND: Well, absolutely, the lack of it. So, there's a strong ethic that says one of your responsibilities as a parent is to ensure your child gets educated.

VELSHI: Right.

EDMOND: And obviously, the more education, the better. And also, we know in this competitive economy, a college education is almost like what a high school degree was 30 years ago.

VELSHI: Right. Right.

EDMOND: Which is all a great thing.

But the key thing we have to remind our audience at BlackEnterprise.com, and at Black Enterprise, is that you can't borrow for your retirement. There are no loans and grants for your retirement.

And so, while the cultural instinct for African-Americans and many other cultures in America is, I have to pay for my child's education, really your retirement must come first. And here's why, Ali.

People don't understand that often what will do is they'll have a negative boomerang on their kids, meaning they send their kids to college, but they have not financed their education. And what happens? Their kids are taking care of their own kids and they're trying to figure out what to do with you, because you can't support yourself in retirement.

VELSHI: Right. So you want your kids to be in a good position, but there are options for them in terms of scholarships, in terms of work, and in terms of loans, which have become a little better in the last year.

EDMOND: They've become better. But even when they weren't better --

VELSHI: Yes. The priority is still --

EDMOND: -- I think to communicate with your children as early as possible. One is the connection between academic performance and the ability to have money to pay for college. And you want them to get good grades. You want to make that connection as early as possible, because the better your grades are, the easier to get scholarships and grants down the road, one.

Two, you want to stress that it's their education and ultimately their responsibility to get a college degree. And, of course, as parents we want to say, well, we want to help them, we want to help them.

VELSHI: Sure.

EDMOND: A wise woman once told me, "You can lean on me, but you can't lay on me. I have to be able to support myself and you have an obligation to get a college education."

VELSHI: Well, we had some comments on my Facebook page. And by the way, I'm happy to get more comments from you about how you feel about this.

We had some comments not from African-Americans, who also said they came from cultures where it felt like it was the parents' responsibility. One person actually said, "I feel like I would have done more with it if I knew I had to pay for it." If it had been on me to pay for it, meaning the student, I might have paid more attention to it while I was doing it. It wasn't a gift, I was working for it.

EDMOND: Well, it's funny you say that. I taught briefly in the Journalism Department at Rutgers, my alma mater -- love to Rutgers. And one of the things I remembered was I had two students who were young adults who were paying. She was a waitress -- one was a waitress at night, and she paid for her schooling during the day. She got straight As.

VELSHI: Right.

EDMOND: It was serious for her. Unfortunately, sometimes when someone else is paying for it, you can kind of take it for granted.

VELSHI: It's an interesting topic. Now, you're also here, by the way, talking to people. A lot of it is entrepreneurs and business. And Black Enterprise and BlackEnterprise.com are great because it's got great ideas and you're dealing with entrepreneurship.

Thi9ngs are a lot better and different than they were a year ago. Are they better enough? Are people you're talking to feeling like there's a chance if you're a small business and an entrepreneur to get back on your feet and make a go of it in this economic climate?

EDMOND: Well, it's better in a couple ways.

One, obviously, the economy, while it's not everything we want to it be, it's certainly much better than it's been the last couple years, so people feel a little better.

Two, what the economy did and other recessions in the past have done is push people to their passions. And they're finally saying, OK --

VELSHI: Right. You are forced to do it.

EDMOND: -- I have no choice but doing it. And so I think you're seeing a lot of optimism now, and we're seeing it at the conference today.

VELSHI: I'm going to come by to the conference after work --

EDMOND: Looking forward to it.

VELSHI: -- to say hello to everybody.

Alfred Edmond, Jr. is editor-in-chief of BlackEnterprise.com.

Let's go to West Hartford, Connecticut, where Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is about to speak. This is in response to allegations that he lied about whether or not he served in Vietnam.

Allan Chernoff was bringing us that story earlier today. That's Dick Blumenthal on the right of your screen. He's being introduced right now. We are expecting him to say that "The New York Times" story alleging that he lied about his service in Vietnam is incorrect.

Let's listen in.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could see where that poll could have been misread. I only talk a few times throughout the year to represent the Marine Corps lead (ph). Dick toured (ph) dozens upon dozens of times.

And saying being in Vietnam, the word was "during." As a Marine Corps veteran during Vietnam, he wants the message to go out there that the veterans do not get treated as the Vietnam veterans got treated when they came home. He wants us all, in solidarity, to stick together and honor and support our veterans here today, yesterday, and in the future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Semper fi.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to say that he has always stood by us, and we are proud to stand with him.

Dick Blumenthal, we love you.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to now again be -- microphones -- to a friend of mine, Jean Risley, who actually brought the Vietnam War to Coventry, and has helped us, a lot of guys here on this podium, to bring the Vietnam War to Rentschler Field, October, 2008 -- Jean.

(APPLAUSE)

JEAN RISLEY, CHAIRPERSON, CONNECTICUT VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL: I'm Jean Risley. I'm from Coventry. I'm chairperson for the Connecticut Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I am also the sister of a combat medic, Robert Tilquist (ph), who died in Vietnam in 1965.

I've known Dick Blumenthal for many, many years. I've attended many functions that he has attended and has been a speaker. We've gone to homecomings. We've gone to send-offs.

We've been at memorial services. We've been at funerals. He has supported me through the creation of the Connecticut Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

I've heard him speak many times of his service in the Marine Reserves. And in all that time, I never once heard him say that he was in Vietnam.

I did hear him say how passionately he felt about our veterans and how we had to honor them and never let happen again what happened to our Vietnam veterans when they returned home.

(AUDIO GAP) done. There isn't a nicer, more honorable, more responsive advocate for our Vietnam veterans, our veterans in general, than Dick Blumenthal.

(APPLAUSE)

RISLEY: Thank you.

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, ATTORNEY GENERAL, CONNECTICUT: Thank you, Jean. And thank you, Peter. And thank you to my brothers and sisters who are here today, and many who are with us off the stage. I couldn't be prouder than to be with you today, as I am always to be with you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're proud of you, Dick. BLUMENTHAL: I volunteered to join the United States Marine Corps Reserves 40 years ago. I left my job working for Pat Moynihan at the White House.

At midnight, I got on a bus. I went to boot camp at Paris Island.

You want to know how I got into the United States Marine Corps Reserves? I looked them up in a phone book. No special help. No special privileges.

I joined the Reserves by picking up the phone and signing up.

Unlike many of my peers, I chose to join the military and serve my country.

(APPLAUSE)

I was -- as I joined the United States Marine Corps Reserves, I was stationed at Paris Island, and then I served a six-year commitment in the Reserves. I reached the rank of sergeant, and I was honorably discharged.

I am proud of my service in the United States Marine Corps.

(APPLAUSE)

And I am prouder still that my oldest son, Matthew, is now serving in the United States Marine Corps Reserves.

(APPLAUSE)

I am just one of thousands of people across Connecticut and across the country who served in the National Guard or the Reserves or on active duty. In fact, thousands of members of the National Guard and our United States Marine Corps Reserve, and the reserves of other services, are now serving and sacrificing abroad in Iraq and Afghanistan as we speak. And throughout my time in public service, I have been proud to stand up for our veterans of all branches of the military. I'm proud of the veterans who are standing with me today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Semper fi.

BLUMENTHAL: They know that I attend dozens of military and veterans events every year. They know that I routinely describe my pride in having served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves during the Vietnam era.

(APPLAUSE)

And they know that I always honor those who did far more than I did, men and women who never came back, those who returned only to be ignored by the government that sent them there.

The veterans with me today also know that I believe our nation must do better to keep faith with our veterans, and they have heard me again and again and again stand up for justice and fairness to our veterans and for a program known as No Veteran Left Behind.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, on a few occasions I have misspoken about my service, and I regret that, and I take full responsibility. But I will not allow --

(APPLAUSE)

I will not allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service to our country.

(APPLAUSE)

I served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, and I am proud of it.

Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are, too.

(APPLAUSE)

BLUMENTHAL: I'm happy to take questions.

QUESTION: Mr. Blumenthal, you've been accused of having lied, essentially. How do you address the charge that you lied?

BLUMENTHAL: I may have misspoken -- I did misspeak -- on a few occasions out of hundreds that I have attended, whether events or ceremonies. And I will not allow anyone to take a few of those misplaced words and impugn my record of service.

I regret that I misspoke on those occasions. I take full responsibility for it. But I am going to continue to fight for veterans, because they have been disrespected and dishonored when they served in Vietnam and then returned to this country. And I will continue to fight for that cause, because they are individuals who have given so much, asked for so little, and deserve so much more.

QUESTION: Dick, how were you able to get into the Reserves in the 1970s simply by looking up a number in the phone book? That was a time when obviously there were a lot of people who were facing the draft and being sent to Vietnam. Was it really that easy, that you just called them up to get into the Reserves?

BLUMENTHAL: Well, let me tell you, Mark (ph), there were waiting lists for the Navy and the Army and a number of other branches in the Washington, D.C., area. The Marine Corps recruiter told me he could put me on a bus virtually the next week.

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: Did he know where you were calling from or did he have --

BLUMENTHAL: No. QUESTION: -- any indication that you were at the White House?

BLUMENTHAL: He had no idea.

There were no special favors, no privileges involved in going to Paris Island through basic training in the United States Marine Corps or enlisting in the United States Marine Corps Reserves.

QUESTION: When you were in the Marine Corps Reserves --

(CROSSTALK)

BLUMENTHAL: No.

QUESTION: When you went into the Marine Corps Reserves, did you know that you wouldn't be deployed to Vietnam, or was that still an open question?

BLUMENTHAL: There was no knowing with certainty where anyone would be deployed at that time. It was during the Vietnam period. As it happened, some years later, in fact, within a very few years, the United States made different decisions about Vietnam.

QUESTION: When you say you misspoke, what do you mean by that? Was it intentional misspeaking, or what does misspeaking mean?

BLUMENTHAL: Absolutely unintentional. A few misplaced words -- "in" instead of "during." Totally unintentional.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) What went through your mind at that time?

BLUMENTHAL: I was unaware of those misplaced words when they were spoken. In fact, I was unaware of anyone taking note of them. And only when they were brought to my attention very recently did I become aware of them.

QUESTION: There's been a number of articles written besides "The New York Times" article where the reporter said that you had served in Vietnam. With all these articles out there (INAUDIBLE) you served in Vietnam, why didn't you correct the record until today?

BLUMENTHAL: There were a few articles, not many. I am responsible for my own statements and for any of my misplaced words any time that I misspeak.

I can't be responsible for all the articles. I may not even have seen them. And I know that I am not speaking about anyone in this room, but sometimes journalists do make mistakes.

I'm responsible for my mistakes. I can't be held responsible for all the mistakes in all the articles, thousands of them, that are written about me.

QUESTION: Dick, you said you take full responsibility, but do you think you owe people an apology for having misspoken?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

BLUMENTHAL: I regret that I misspoke, and I take full responsibility.

QUESTION: Is that the same thing as apologizing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

(APPLAUSE)

BLUMENTHAL: David?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

He says he began noticing you discuss serving in Vietnam. He said at the time -- this is years ago -- he says he assumed that you had done legal work in Vietnam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just used the word "service" in Vietnam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just used the word "assume."

BLUMENTHAL: I think I understand your question.

In recent years --

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BLUMENTHAL: I can't speak for --

QUESTION: In any case, he says that he was troubled by this, and that, more recently, you used (ph) this word even more. How do you answer (INAUDIBLE)?

BLUMENTHAL: Whatever his impressions may have been, I can tell you that I speak routinely about my service during the Vietnam era to highlight that we dishonored and disrespected our military men and women and our veterans during that period. And we must do better now.

We have learned an important lesson since those years, and it's the lesson that I highlight again and again and again, and mention my own service as a means of doing it, that we owe our military men and women unconditional support when they are in the service and when they come back to civilian life.

And I have mentioned my own military service with that message in mind, and it's a message that has become all the more important because of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, because wounded warriors are returning to this country without the health care that they deserve, because our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from those wars are coming back without job opportunities and training.

So, I'm very adamant on this topic. And I've become more and more unhappy about the way this country deals with its veterans, and I continue to be, and will always be, an advocate for those veterans.

(APPLAUSE)

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) -- "The New York Times" article this morning as an outrageous distortion. Can you please characterize in your own words how exactly would you describe the front-page article in "The New York Times"?

BLUMENTHAL: Well, three points, I think, among others are worth emphasizing. First of all, there is virtually no mention in that article of the six years that I spent in the reserves.

Second, the article denigrates service in the reserves.

And, third, it really implies that there was some kind of special favors or treatment involved in my entering the reserves, which is, in fact, completely untrue.

QUESTION: It implies that you were lying. What is your response (OFF-MIKE)?

BLUMENTHAL: I think I responded to your question.

QUESTION: A question here. In terms of the number of the programs, is that unusual for someone to (OFF-MIKE)?

BLUMENTHAL: You know, if you know the way draft boards work, generally the person under review may not even be aware of the number of deferments. I don't know whether it's unusual or not, but I will tell you this. In my view, my choices were the result of opportunities available. I notified the draft board of every change in circumstance, whether it was Harvard College or the Fisk Fellowship and then working in the White House and then, of course, enlisting. And what they did to defer me, how many they granted, was really their decision to make.

QUESTION: Would you comment on the McMahon campaign role in all this?

BLUMENTHAL: No.

QUESTION: Why not?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BLUMENTHAL: I think the timing speaks for itself and the acknowledgement by her campaign as to its role. I'm not going to say anything more. I'll leave it to you to do the reporting and make the judgment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more question.

QUESTION: What was the impetus to joining the reserves when you did?

BLUMENTHAL: You know, a lot of people were making different choices during that period. Some people decided not to serve. I could have continued in the White House with a deferment. I wanted to move on with my life. I wanted to serve the country, and I'm proud of the fact that I made that I made that decision and served and reached the rank of sergeant in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

(APPLAUSE)

***1430

VELSHI: All right, that's Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal commenting on a story that was -- a front-page story in "The New York Times" today that was written about him. It suggested that -- well, said that he did not serve in Vietnam and quoted times when he has said that he has served in Vietnam. In fact, we ran audio of him saying that he had served in Vietnam a little earlier today.

Quite remarkably, Dick Blumenthal said this a few moments ago in response to it. He said, "On a few occasions I have misspoken about my service but I will not allow him to impugn my integrity." He keeps talking about misspoken, having misspoken or misplaced words, and he said, I was unaware of those misplaced words when they were spoken. Very, very hard to make sense of what that means. I was unaware of those misplaced words when they were spoken.

He says that he feels that veterans have been disrespected and he said in response to this article right here on the front page of "The New York Times" today, he said, sometimes journalists make mistakes, even though he was not able to counter the fact that he had said that he had misspoken or he said that he had served in Vietnam. Now, saying I was unaware of those misplaced words when they were spoken.

Quite remarkable. Dick Blumenthal is the attorney general in Connecticut. He is running for a Senate seat vacated by Senator Chris -- Chris Dodd.

All right, we're going to continue our discussions about other things on the show. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll tell you about what's going on in the world.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. Every day we bring you "Globe Trekking," some days the stories are good around the world, some days they are not. This is one of them where they're not a good one. Let me take you to Kabul, Afghanistan, this is quite a sad story. A suicide bomber, according to officials, has killed 18 people, six of them troops, five of them American, one Canadian; at least 48 others are wounded. It happened during the morning rush hour.

Our person in Kabul, is Atia Abawi. She's joins us now to tell us a bit more about what's going on. Atia, what do you know? ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ali, what I can tell you around 8:10 this morning when the capital Kabul was rocked by the suicide car bomber, when I spoke to the Taliban spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid, who actually called me to tell me exactly what happened, he said a car laden with 750 kilograms of explosives, that about 15,000 pounds of explosives, actually targeted this U.S. convoy. It was a convoy of actually armored SUVs, and he got his target. Usually when the Taliban targets convoys they miss and they kill more civilians. This time getting both civilians as well as U.S. and Canadian forces. Many more injured, you just mentioned six international forces killed including five U.S. service members and 12 civilians. We do expect that casualty number to actually rise -- Ali.

VELSHI: In the last few months we've been focusing on international force efforts elsewhere in the country, in the south in Helmand Province. What does this mean with this kind of attack in Kabul? We've seen others like this recently. Does this -- does this indicate some kind of a trend that's developing?

ABAWI: Well, it is very significant that the Taliban are able to infiltrate the capital of Kabul, Kabul considered the safest part of Afghanistan. The last major attack in Kabul was in January.

Last week, the Taliban had announced their own operation, "Operation al-Fatah" where they said they were going to target coalition forces throughout Afghanistan. And the last week alone we've been hearing from the Taliban attacking various parts of Afghanistan, different provinces. Today, able to make it into the capital.

And they are threatening there could be 200 Taliban would-be suicide bombers here in the capital of Kabul, an area where the government prides themselves on being able to secure, unlike the rest of the country, particularly in the south and the east, where we do expect an operation in Kandahar this summer.

Obviously this showing to date, proof that the challenge ahead is very, very tough, and the Taliban are not backing down.

VELSHI: Wow.

ABAWI: Ali?

VELSHI: In the face of -- in the face of an increased offensive, international offensive, this is them really showing their teeth.

Atia, thank you for joining us. Atia Abawi in Kabul.

All right, they're angry, they're fed up with the guys on Capitol Hill and today they are voting in key primaries across the country. We'll tell you what to watch for in today's primaries when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It's almost Ed Henry time, but first let me give you a check on our top stories.

Voters are headed to the polls in Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon and Pennsylvania today. The primary elections have incumbents sweating the results, five-term incumbent and former republican Senator Arlen Specter who is running for the first time as a democrat is fighting for his Senate seat in Pennsylvania.

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan returns to Capitol Hill to lay the groundwork for her upcoming confirmation hearings. Kagan is slated to meet with four democratic and two republican senators today. Democrats say she's be a fair independent member of the high court, Republicans point to the fact that she's never served as a judge.

It's the second day of hearings on the gulf oil spill. Lawmakers are assessing the response to the ruptured oil well. Yesterday, BP officials said they are making progress in capping the massive oil spill, but the Obama administration says it's far from over.

All right, when we come back -- quick break. When we come back, there he is, Ed Henry. He's our chief White House correspondent. He's going to talk to us about President Obama. He's going to talk to us about the primaries, where the president is, and we're going to talk a little baseball.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. This news just in that Beau Biden, the president's son, has been released from hospital. Let's go straight to Ed Henry who's got the latest on this -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ali, you know, Vice President Biden's son, Beau, he's the attorney general in Delaware, we've just confirmed from his office he's been released from the hospital. His doctor is saying most importantly that while he did have a minor stroke about a week ago, that neurologically he's in perfect condition, according to his doctor. That basically motor skills, speech all there.

Good news obviously for Beau Biden and his family. Everyone was quite worried last week. A young, healthy man all of a sudden having this minor stroke. He's now been released from the hospital. He's going to have some rest, but back to work shortly, Ali.

VELSHI: Good news.

Listen, primary day today. This wasn't a surprise to the administration, so is it a little strange that the president is doing his White House-to-Main Street tour in Youngstown, Ohio, which, by the way, is a stone's throw, spitting distance, to Pennsylvania where Arlen Specter is in a tough race for his own primary seat?

HENRY: No accident that the president decided not to go to see Specter and push for him. He's been publicly been for him months ago, but they're going to leave it at that, because I can tell you advisers very close to this president have told me flatly that they think Arlen Specter will lose in the primary. We will see the results obviously, but that's the thinking inside the White House, number one.

Number two, they also believe that Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas will survive but will probably go to a runoff, that's the thinking amongst some of the president's advisers I've spoken to. So that would mean her and the lieutenant governor, Bill Halter (ph), going on and you know, having to fight again if that happens and then the ultimate winner would have to go to the election. If you do have three layers like that, it will sap some energy, sap some money. Very difficult.

In terms of the White House-Main Street tour, I don't think it's an accident, frankly. I remember when Scott Brown, the big race in January, everybody was watching that. The president was out of town I recall that day as well because they want him to be far from the politics of it all and saying they don't want us all overanalyzing in their eyes the pundits saying this or that. He could have done this. He wants to go out there, talk about jobs, talk about the economy and say, look, I'm doing my job, leave it to the pundits to talk about the politics. This is by design, not by accident.

VELSHI: Let's talk about the oil spill. There's a lot of pressure on the administration to form an independent commission because they're saying, you know, even the Coast Guard or, you know, the Minerals and Management Service, they can't really investigate because they've had their own role in this whole thing.

HENRY: That's right. And that's why I'm being told by White House officials that the president, when he issues this executive order to come up with this sort of outside, blue-ribbon panel, a commission to investigate what went wrong here, it's not going to include current government officials. They're seen as too cozy the regulators, with the industry people they are supposed to be overseeing. It's going to be some gray beards, some former government officials.

We've seen some of these type of panels before. Some of them have been quite productive, others wind up with reports that sit on the shelf. But what White House aides say is that they want to model this after the commissions that were formed in '79 after the Three- Mile Island nuclear disaster in '86, after the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster.

What's significant about that to me is those were pretty big deals obviously and this suggests that this White House is now putting this disaster in the same league as Challenger, as Three-Mile Island. And as Ken Salazar, the interior secretary, was saying today on the Hill, after Three-Mile Island, that essentially shutdown new nuclear plants in this country for years and years, decades. And that's what some in the oil industry are fearing, you know, major, major ramifications.

VELSHI: Yes, OK. I wasn't going to put too fine a point on this. But the seats you sat in on Yankee Stadium on Sunday were not actually my seats, right? You know that my seats were occupied. I swapped them out for some other seats. HENRY: You did tell me that, but I didn't quite understand it. So you're saying that these seats which were in another borough like Staten Island or something, I want to -- cause on Twitter, after I posted pictures where I was sitting, I don't want to sound ungrateful, I appreciate you giving the tickets to me and my family -- maybe this does sound ungrateful.

But people were saying on Twitter, looks like you won't get sunburned from there, cause we weren't in the sun, we were in the shade. Get binoculars, somebody tweeted. @breakingnewsgal tweeted, Google Earth, question mark, as if I was going to watch the game from Google Earth. My favorite, though, was somebody who tweeted, quote, "My sister has better seats than that and she's just a schoolteacher."

(LAUGHTER)

HENRY: They were kind of ranking on you, Ali, I probably should have defended you better. Look, there's nothing wrong with schoolteachers. They're great people --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: I saw the pictures, those were pretty far.

HENRY: I think people think you should have better seats than schoolteachers, the Twitterverse.

VELSHI: I'm a regular guy.

HENRY: You're not just a regular guy, you're a muckety-muck. The way you dress, the vest.

VELSHI: Did you have a nice time?

HENRY: I want to thank you, in all seriousness. I had a great time, I want to thank you. I brought my dad, I brought my son, I brought my nephew, Frankie (ph). They were so excited to be -- the first time we went to the new Yankee Stadium together, it was a thrill to be there and we owe it to you.

VELSHI: I'm glad you had a nice time, and sometimes it's nice to watch the game from another zip code.

Ed Henry from "The Ed Henry Segment" here. You have a good one, Ed.

Words matter, even in TV. So straight ahead we play with a word in the news and we all get a little bit smarter after the break.

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VELSHI: Time for "Wordplay." Every day we take a word or a phrase from a big news story and show you why it's in the news.

Case in point today, insurgent. Not a new word to you. Traditionally, it's a military term. Merriam-Webster says, it's a person who revolts against authority or established government.

Well, nowadays it also reflects the scorched-earth nature of politics. Perfect example, insurgent Rand Paul backed by the Tea Party is expected to defeat the establishment candidate in today's republican Senate primary in Kentucky.

By the way, it's not just conservatives liberals has been insurgents, too, consider Bill Halter, the progressive lieutenant governor who is trying to topple the incumbent Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas.

Well, stick with the best political team on television tonight to see whether the insurgents or the establishment win the primaries.

All right, seeking to find solutions to some of the world's major problems, one way to deal with that is to combine big prize money with competition among very smart people. That's my "X-Y-Z" and it's straight ahead.

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VELSHI: Time now for "The X-Y-Z of It."

I've been away for a few days. I was in San Francisco to emcee a benefit for the X-Prize Foundation. You might have heard about the X- Prize, it's modeled on earlier aviation prizes, including the $25,000 prize which prompted aviator Charles Lindbergh back in 1927 to become the first pilot to fly nonstop either direction between New York and Paris.

Similarly the X-Prize, back in 2004, awarded a $10 million prize to the first nongovernment team to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. Well, that prize spurred 26 teams to invest more than $100 million in pursuit of victory. That $100 million created a much larger private flight industry -- space flight industry, one that will lead us to new discoveries and create new jobs.

Well, the idea between the X-Prize is something called incentivized competition, based on the idea that humankind is instinctively competitive. By offering prizes to solve problems, human inventiveness combined with our quest for excellence comes up with solutions that we might not otherwise arrive at.

And this isn't just about space, by the way. Since its inception in 1996 and the awarding of the first $10 million X-Prize, the foundation has teamed up with Google to offer $30 million to send a robot to the moon to travel 500 meters and transmit some video and data back to Earth. There's a prize sponsored by Progressive Insurance with the X-Prize to produce a clean production-capable car that exceeds 100 miles per gallon or the equivalent of that.

And this past weekend we talked about prizes to create artificial intelligence medical diagnosis for remote areas of the world using cell phones, about developing bionic legs to give full motion and ability to paraplegics. It's not just science though, we talked about creating a competition between African universities, companies and venture capitalists to create countries in Africa. The winner would be the team of entrepreneurs who employ the largest number of Africans over a five-year period.

This is a great concept using competitions to get the best solutions to the biggest things that humanity faces. It's the best of entrepreneurship, government, science and the private sector. In a world and at a time when it seems easier to complain about what's wrong and what's not being done, it was refreshing to be around a group of people who don't talk about the future. They just push forward into it.

Time to talk to a guy pushing forward into the future of TV, Rick Sanchez and "RICK'S LIST."

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks, Ali.