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Judge Blocks Federal Funding of Stem Cell Research; Heated Elections in Five States Today; Update on 33 Chilean Miners; Uranium Seized in Moldova; The Big "I": An Airbag You Can Wear
Aired August 24, 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: Let's pick it up and move it forward now. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Tony, great interview with Shirley Sherrod earlier. We're going to be talking about that. You have a great afternoon.
I'm Ali Velshi. I'm going to be with you for the next two hours today and every weekday, taking every important decision that we cover a step further. I'm going to try and give you a legal of detail that will help you put your world into context. And there's a lot of world to put into context today.
So let's get started. Here's what I've got on the rundown.
We were hoping and praying for some sign of recovery in the battered housing market. Well, today we found out we're not getting it. Home sales plunge. I'll tell what you it means and what's around the corner.
Plus, Jimmy Carter is about to head to a hostile nation on a rescue mission. I'll tell you where he's going and who he's planning to save.
And it's stylish, it's durable, and it could save your life. I'll show you an air bag you can actually wear. We've got a live demo right here.
But first, big decision that you need to know about, about stem cell research. A federal judge has issued an injunction in a court case which basically puts an end to most stem cell research that's going on in the country right now. Embryonic stem cell research, in particular.
Let me tell you a little bit about this. This was a U.S. district judge in Washington.
Now, embryonic stem cells, as you know, are controversial, because in order to research embryonic stem cells, you have to destroy the embryos. Now, some of those embryos were destined to be destroyed anyway, but stem cell research -- some pictures of it here. It's science to most of us. Stem cell research is the Holy Grail to a lot of people, because those stem cells can grow into any kind of cell, and can be used to treat so many diseases, used to learn how to treat and cure so many diseases and illnesses and maladies that affect us.
Now, if you don't use embryonic stem cells, you can use adult stem cells. They may not have the same promise that embryonic stem cells do.
So here's the background. Let me just back you up and tell you how this all worked out. In 1996, Congress passed a law called the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which bars federal funding for research that creates or destroys human embryos. It is tacked on to the Health and Human Services spending bill every year.
In 2001, President Bush allowed federal funding of 21 embryonic stem cell lines that were in existence before this 1996 ruling took effect. Basically, a grandfather clause for those stem cell lines, 21 of them, that were already under way and already being researched.
In March of 2009, last year, President Obama allowed federal funding on stem cell lines in addition to the 21 that President Bush allowed. Those that had been donated, usually by fertility labs, and destined to have been destroyed, in any case. So he allowed research on those stem cell lines. I don't know how many it ended up being, but there are some estimates that there are hundreds of stem cell lines now being researched across the country.
Well, today, all federally-funded embryonic stem cell research is in limbo, because of this bombshell injunction. So really, the science here is easier to understand than -- than the politics and the law of this. And that's why we brought in our expert, Jeffrey Toobin, for two minutes now, but we'll talk more later. But two minutes now on what the implications are of this -- Jeff.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the short answer is, all federal funding of stem cell research is certainly illegal going forward, and the question left open by Judge Royce Lamberth's decision yesterday is whether even existing stem cell research can continue, given his ruling.
VELSHI: What's the complication here? Because we've heard quotes from people at federally-funded labs, at the National Institutes of Health, saying we don't know if tomorrow morning -- I read one in the "New York Times" that said we can't even feed our stem cells at this point. They're all looking over this and the Department of Justice is looking over what the implications are right now.
TOOBIN: Well, for a complicated decision, this was only 15 pages written by Judge Royce Lamberth, and he doesn't really explain what the -- how -- ongoing research should be treated. He said the status quo should be preserved, but the implication of his decision is that any kind of funding of stem cell -- embryonic stem cell research is against the 1996 law.
So certainly, the Obama administration will appeal this ruling, hoping to get it overturned. But in the meantime, while its pending, the question is, what's allowed right now? And I don't think anyone knows the answer. VELSHI: Jeff, most people will look at this and think this is a principled, perhaps even religious or political debate. But, in fact, this particular ruling has to do with money. The people who brought the suit against the government that the judge ruled on were in the business of selling adult embryos and felt that, if this continues, their business gets affected.
TOOBIN: Their business would be hurt. There were actually two sets of plaintiffs. There was that one that was concerned about losing business. There was also a conservative anti-abortion group.
And I think, you know, whenever you talk about stem cells, the issue of abortion politics is never far behind, because fundamentally, the group that is opposed to using stem cells are the groups that are opposed to abortion, because they believe that these embryos, which usually have been left behind, in the course of fertility clinics, are human life. And to destroy them is to destroy a human life.
The opponents say these are not human lives, the research is enormously important, and these embryos would be destroyed anyway, so it would be awful. It would be a terrible waste to let them be destroyed and not used in this very promising research.
VELSHI: All right. We're unclear as to what the implications are as you said, Jeff. But we'll follow it closely. Jeffrey Toobin is CNN senior legal analyst joining me from New York.
All right. They forced her out. It was a knee-jerk reaction to a manufactured racial controversy. Two days later, Shirley Sherrod's boss at the Department of Agriculture apologized. So did the White House. They asked her back in a new higher-profile position, fighting discrimination.
Today Shirley Sherrod declined. Her explanation and the secretary's reaction are our "Sound Effect" this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHIRLEY SHERROD, FORMER DIRECTOR OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT, USDA: The secretary did push really, really hard for me to stay and work from the inside in the position. It is a new position. I, you know -- look at what happened now. And I know he's apologized, and I accept that. I just -- and a new process is in place, and I hope that it works. I don't want to be the one to test it.
TOM VILSACK, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: This was my responsibility. And I had to take full responsibility for it. And I continue to take full responsibility for it. I will take it for as long as I live. This was you -- you know -- I pride myself on the work that I do. I know that I -- I disappointed the president. I disappointed this administration. I disappointed the country. I disappointed Shirley. I have to live with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Sherrod did say she looked forward to some type of future relationship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Secretary Vilsack has asked her to consult with the agency on discrimination issues.
Now, we were just talking about embryonic stem cells. When it comes to embryonic stem cells, you can talk about the science or you can talk about the politics. Guess which one is more complicated? I'm going to talk about all of it with Jeff Toobin again after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Embryonic stem cell research in the news today after a judge struck down federal funding for further research. Let's talk to Jeff Toobin, our senior legal analyst in New York a little bit more about this.
Jeff, this first became something that was a contentious legal issue in 1996 when Congress said you can't fund the destruction of embryos and the research out of that.
Then President Bush said federal funding is available for existing stem cell lines that didn't fall under the 1996 law because they were in existence before that.
And then President Obama broadened that out, so now we have hundreds of lines that are being researched, lines that come from embryos, and now this judge has struck down federal funding once again.
I want to talk to you in a minute about the distinction that the judge said that the administration didn't fairly make.
But if the administration feels so strongly about this, and this has been going on for so long, why didn't we do this through legislative means? Why don't we have Congress try and change this law?
TOOBIN: Well, that would certainly take care of the legal issue, because the whole issue here is whether the 1996 law has been violated. So you ask, why don't they just change the law?
The answer seems to be, they don't have the votes. Because, as we remember, from the very end of the health-care debate, abortion politics affects a lot of different kinds of legislation. And you have conservative Democrats as well as the vast, vast majority of the Republican Party, which is opposed to abortion, and this issue -- embryonic stem cell research, is like a proxy. It's like a symbol of abortion politics.
So that, if you support the use of embryonic stem cells, that is essentially equivalent to being pro choice in the abortion battle, and there are not 60 votes in the Senate for that, and there might not be even a majority in the House.
VELSHI: Let me ask you this. The judge said that the distinction that the Obama administration made in their way of writing the law that allowed this to happen or the order that allowed this to happen in 2009 made a distinction that wasn't legally valid. Do you understand what he was talking about?
TOOBIN: Well, as usual with lawyers, a lot of it came down to the parsing of specific words. And the question, the issue that Judge Lamberth had was about the issue of the word "research." The -- what Judge Lamberth said was, any kind of research where an embryo had been destroyed, was a -- was prohibited by the 1996 law.
The Obama administration drew a more narrow definition of what the -- of what the word "research" meant. The Obama administration, when they -- issued this order in March of 2009, they were well aware of this -- of the law. So they wrote the law intentionally trying to get around it. But, at least according to this judge, it didn't work.
VELSHI: What is likely to happen next? We know on the scientific and research side, there's a lot of alarm going through America, where there are projects and studies and research under way that could come to a dead halt immediately. Politically and legally, what's likely to happen next?
TOOBIN: Well, legally, I think the Obama administration, at the moment, is struggling with the decision, do you go back to Judge Lamberth, seek some sort of clarification for his order, or do you directly appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is often called the second most important circuit in the country.
Complicating the issue for the Obama administration, is that this case on a procedural issue already went to the D.C. circuit. And in that case, the three judges who got the case are three of the most conservative judges on that court. And if they get it again, as is likely under the procedures of the court, that means they are probably likely to uphold Judge Lamberth's ruling, rejecting stem-cell research.
So the Obama administration may be hoping just to get this thing to the United States Supreme Court as soon as they can.
VELSHI: You have a lot of knowledge in that head of yours, just waiting to come out. I just love these facts that you just know.
TOOBIN: But I sure don't know much about stem cell research. You said -- you said earlier that the science is easier to understand. I can do the law. I can't do the science.
VELSHI: I think the science might be easier to understand. But we're going to talk about that, too. Jeff, good to see you as always. Our senior legal analyst.
TOOBIN: Way over my head.
VELSHI: Jeff Toobin. We'll talk about the science with somebody else. How's that?
We've got some big numbers on the housing market today. There's some big, bad numbers. I'm going to tell you what it means for the price of your home and this economy, when I come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Housing sales numbers were released today for July. They're always on a bit of a delay, and the numbers are kind of shocking. Stephanie Elam joins me from New York to talk about this.
Stephanie, we were all expecting the numbers to be bad. They were a little worse -- a lot worse than some people expected them to be.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think a lot worse is a good way to put it, Ali. I mean, this was a huge drop-off. We saw sales of existing homes plunge more than 27 percent last month. That's nearly twice as much of a drop as analysts were expecting.
Also, if you take a look at it just on its own, it's the biggest monthly decline ever, so we're talking about an annual rate of 3.83 million homes, and that is the lowest level in 15 years.
We saw sales, they were plunging in all four regions of the country. If you take a look at the Midwest, that's where we actually saw the biggest decline. And the reason for the decline is -- has to do with a couple of things. But one big issue, Ali, that we have to take a look at is the federal tax credit for first time home buyers.
VELSHI: Right.
ELAM: Remember, that was going to give families, like, up to $8,000. They had to have the deal in the works by April. It had to be done with the deal in June. Well, because of all that, people who were thinking about doing any buying, well they did it before that was expiring. And now they've done it, so now we're seeing a drop-off of people getting out of the market, Ali.
VELSHI: I have to wonder, and we've got a -- we've got a graphic here we can show our viewers of where that dip took place. This is not home prices. This is home sales. Michael, if you can just take that existing home sales graphic.
Sales really dipped after that credit that you were just talking about expired. Here's the fascinating part to me, Stephanie. That $8,000, while I'm not going to poo-poo $8,000, the reality is we have mortgage rates that are lower than they have been in recorded history. Why is that not stimulating the market?
I mean, we have -- the Fed has put a great deal of effort into keeping these interest rates really low, simply to stimulate home buying, and this indicates that's not working.
ELAM: Well, I mean, come on, Ali. If you don't have a job or if you're not sure you're going to be able to keep a job, are you really going to go and take on a house? Maybe you think you're going to have to move to get another job. You don't want to take on a home at that point, either. These are all reasons that people are staying on the sideline. We know that jobs are still a huge issue out there. And then people say because of that, that there are so many foreclosures on the market, if that is the case, then they're pushing prices down in these neighborhoods.
And people are like, "Look, I don't want to get any part of this," because for most people, their home is their biggest investment.
VELSHI: Yes.
ELAM: And if that's the case, they don't want to take the loss of all that money. And on top of it, Realtytrac is saying that banks are probably going to seize 1 million more homes by the end of the year.
VELSHI: Right.
ELAM: That's this year. So if you take a look at those numbers there, people are saying, "Listen, my job is not as secure as it once was. And there's more foreclosures, which are bringing prices down. My investment is not as safe so I'm staying on the sidelines."
VELSHI: Let's take a look at this -- this what you were talking about in terms of how it's across the country. Kind of interesting. While the Midwest had a bigger drop in sales than the rest of the country, it's not like any quadrant of the country is actually doing particularly well. It was down everywhere. Here's the interesting thing. These are existing homes, right? Stephanie?
ELAM: Right.
VELSHI: These are the used homes, I like to call them.
ELAM: Someone has already lived in them.
VELSHI: Someone has already lived in them before. But the prices are not down, compared to last year. They're up marginally, about 7/10 percent. Certainly not, you know, nothing to sneeze at. But it's not a lot. Why, if these sales are down, are we not seeing it? Is it because of a lag?
ELAM: We do have a little bit of a lag here. You're going to take a look at prices overall. And you will see this small blip that we're seeing here. But I don't think that it's going to be anything that makes people think, like, ooh, great.
But overall, I would say it's a buyers' market when you look at the fact that this is -- the situation. If you have the money, if you have a bigger chunk of change to put down now, this is a better situation for you.
The other thing that I was thinking about, Ali, that I need to point out to you, too, is when you talk about housing and why we care so much about it, I know a lot of people are like, OK, you guys talk about housing all the time.
VELSHI: Right.
ELAM: We talk about gross domestic product. We talk about what the country is just churning out. Well, housing is actually 15 percent of that and that means they're only second to health care. So when you look at that, that can really drag down the economy here, and that's why it's so important. I know we talk about the stuff.
VELSHI: Right.
ELAM: And it's not the sexiest thing that people want to hear, but it's so important. Even if you're not trying to buy a house right now.
VELSHI: Yes. It also provokes spending, because if you buy a house, that means you're buying things to fix it up with and you're buying appliances and you're -- you know, you've got costs that are going into it. If you have a more temporary outlook about where you live, you just don't -- you don't put roots down; you don't spend as much. It all is tied together.
Stephanie, thanks very much for this. I assume we'll be talking lots.
ELAM: Sounds good. Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: Stephanie Elam in New York.
All right. If you want to talk more about money, we do it every single week. Saturdays at 1 p.m. Eastern, and Sundays at 3 p.m. Eastern. We take all the big money topics of the week, and we chat about them.
On this show, we talk about all sorts of things, and we've got a lot of stories that we're following right now at CNN. Let me bring you up to speed on them.
The White House says it's reviewing a judge's preliminary injunction, stopping federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. A spokesman says they are exploring all the possibilities to allow the research to continue. In yesterday's ruling, the judge said the stem- cell research under President Obama's blueprint goes against the will of Congress.
Shirley Sherrod, the Agriculture Department official fired last month, today rejected an offer to return to the Agriculture Department. She met with the secretary, Tom Vilsack. Sherrod was forced out after a conservative blogger posted misleading and incomplete video of a speech in March in which she appeared to make racist marks. Both Vilsack and President Obama later personally apologized.
In Northeast China, at least 47 people have been rescued from a plane that crashed today. The jet burst into flames after it overshot the runway. More than 90 people were on board the plane. No word yet on casualties.
Well, an American is in big trouble in North Korea, and his plight has Jimmy Carter planning an international rescue mission. I'll bring you details on that right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Want to bring you up to speed. Sources are telling CNN that Jimmy Carter is headed to North Korea, sometime today, to release the -- to win the release of an American who is facing years of hard labor for having crossed the border into North Korea. Two senior administration officials say this is a private humanitarian mission. No U.S. governments will make the trip or are involved. While Carter has been in contact with President Obama about the mission, the officials say that he will not be carrying any message on behalf of the U.S. government.
So who's the man in the middle of this tug of war, and how did he get into all this trouble? His name is Ajalon Gomes. He previously worked as an English teacher in South Korea. He's originally from Boston. He's described as a devout Christian and a human rights activist who's upset over the harsh conditions the people -- the people of North Korea are facing under Kim Jong-Il.
The picture you see here -- Mark, take a look at hat -- is from a January protest in South Korea. He's holding a photo of what appears to be a starving child.
Now Gomes was arrested in January, January 25, for crossing into the country illegally from China. He's accused of an unspecified, quote, unquote, "hostile act."
There's speculation that he may have been inspired by American missionary Robert Park, who was arrested for entering the country on Christmas day to draw attention to the plight of North Koreans. Park was freed after 43 days.
Gomes was sentenced to eight years of hard labor back in May, and he was fined the equivalent of 700,000 U.S. dollars.
North Korea state media reported last month that Gomes tried to commit suicide. The State Department says it sent a team to Pyongyang earlier this month
to try and win his release, but they came back empty-handed. We'll keep you posted on President Carter's attempt and his visit.
OK. Big primaries -- you know about this -- for both political parties across the country today. Some candidates with big money could play a pivotal role. We're going to highlight the critical races when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Political futures are on the line today. Lots of important political primaries across the country. And some big names in some tight races.
CNN political director Paul Steinhauser joins us now from Washington on what is going to be a very, very busy day for a guy who's always pretty busy.
Paul, my friend, good to see you again. Before I get into the primaries, John Boehner today came out and asked for some sweeping changes in the administration. I think we got the sound of that, Michael. Can we just play that?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: As budget director and as chief economist, I have moved on to where they're about to. Clearly, they see the writing on the wall, and the president should, too.
President Obama should ask for and accept the resignations of the remaining members of his economic team, starting with Secretary Geithner and Larry Summers, the head of the National Economic Council.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right. What do you make of that, Paul? Is this the kind of thing you say when you're in primary season? Is it the kind of thing that is about politics? Or is there a movement that existed at the beginning of this administration's term to get rid of Geithner and other members of the team?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: A lot of this, Ali, is about politics. John Boehner is the House minority leader. If Republicans win control of the House on November 2nd, he becomes the Speaker of the House.
And part of the Republicans' theme, Ali, this whole season has been to make these elections referendum on Barack Obama and his economic policy. And they say it's failed and today he's calling for those resignations - that the president should call for them, was one of five things he listed.
The vice president, by the way, fought back and fought back tough with some comments today pushing back against Boehner and Republicans saying, listen, same old message. We've heard that before. They were the ones that started this. They were the ones that, you know, should get the blame for starting this economic downturn.
So a lot of politics here, Ali.
VELSHI: All right. We'll be looking into that later in the show. Let's talk about these primaries around the country. For a lot of people, it comes down to Florida.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. Great races today in Florida. You've got -- and the theme here is the very wealthy outsiders who were spending big bucks. First the insiders. And let's start with the Democratic Senate nomination down there. You've got a guy named Meek, Congressman Meek from south Florida. He was basically - he had the whole Democratic nomination to himself until April when a guy called Jeff Greene jumped into the race.
There's Jeff Greene on the right. Ali, a billionaire real estate investor. Spent about $25 million so far on the primary. But guess what? He made a lot of his money by supposedly really betting against the housing boom. He also has links to Mike Tyson, Heidi Fleiss and Lindsay Lohan, so this has become a very nasty, bitter primary.
Same in on the republican side in the gubernatorial battle where you've got a guy called Bill McCollum. He's the attorney general down there and former Congressman. A party insider versus a party outsider, a guy called Rick Scotts, a businessman who has spent about $50 million of his own money, Ali. So you've got the outsiders with the big bucks, party insiders.
VELSHI: Take it to the other side of the continent for me. Let's go to Alaska. What's going on there?
STEINHAUSER: Great race there. Lisa Murkowski, the incumbent Republican senator, she's facing a primary challenge from a guy called Joe Miller. Why should we care? Because Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, is backing miller, helping him out. And the Tea Party Express, one of those national organizations, has sunk half a million dollars into miller's campaign. Getting ugly up in Alaska, Ali.
VELSHI: Take it right down south for me to Arizona, where Senator McCain is being challenged.
STEINHAUSER: John McCain facing his toughest primary challenge probably in 20 years. This guy was the GOP presidential nominee just two years ago. Now, J.D. Hayworth, a former congressman and former conservative radio talk show host battling him. You know what? McCain has taken this seriously. He's spent $20 million on his reelect, and I guess you could say it's fair to say he's moved a little bit to the right on some crucial issues.
VELSHI: How's it looking for him right now?
STEINHAUSER: The polls indicate that McCain is up and that he is the favorite to win tonight. But he has taken this very seriously. J.D. Hayworth says, you know what, John McCain? You are not conservative enough for the Republican Party.
VELSHI: Stay in Arizona and talk about Jan Brewer.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, Jan Brewer, the governor there. Remember she was named to the position a year ago, when Napolitano became Homeland Security?
Well she was in a very tough primary challenge until April when she signed that immigration law. Two of her opponents dropped out. She is the overwhelming favorite now to win the Republican gubernatorial nomination tonight. Signing that law has definitely helped her political fortune, Ali.
VELSHI: I'm trying to think of examples of people who come in and fill seats in the middle of a term who have that much of an impact on the jurisdiction as Jan Brewer. I mean, I know there are examples of it and they're not coming to me in history, but that's got to be pretty remarkable. This was somebody who was not a national name a year ago.
STEINHAUSER: Not a national name, not even that big a name in Arizona. And you're right, a lot of these people who are named to these seats often have trouble when it comes to running on their own. But Jan Brewer, after she signed that controversial Arizona immigration law, her political fortunes have soared, Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Paul, as always, pleasure to see you, my friend.
Paul Steinhauser is going to be busy the rest of the day. We'll be following these races very closely and we'll talk to you about it more tomorrow.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks.
VELSHI: All right. Paul Steinhauser.
I want to bring you up to speed with another story we're following. Gunmen storm a hotel and open fire. It's the second attack on tourists and others in as many days. This I this is Somalia.
We're Globe Trekking after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Time now for Globe Trekking. Let's go Somalia. At least two armed men wearing military uniforms stormed a hotel in Mogadishu today, and opened fire, killing at least 33 people. Six of the victims were members of parliament. The attack is believed to be part of a bigger offensive that was launched yesterday by Somali insurgents. Dozens of people have been killed in the past few days.
CNN's David McKenzie joins us from Nairobi, Kenya. David brings us up to date on the situation.
David, good to see you again.
This is not something that we always know what's going on about, so set the stage for us. Tell us what the issues are now in Somalia and how this all fits into it.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Ali, good to see you or talk to you again.
Certainly, this is the work of al Shabaab. It's an al Qaeda- linked militant group. It's on the U.S. government terror watch list, as well as many other government's terrorist lists. This group is trying to take over the government of southern Somalia, particularly. They control huge parts of the south. They are certainly a haven for terrorists and a number of foreign fighters, including Americans in the past have been part of al Shabaab's ranks.
Today they attacked this hotel, the Muna Hotel. It's no accident they targeted this hotel. It had a number of members of parliament, of the transitional federal government staying there. They killed six of them, injured three, and at least 30 people killed.
It seems what happened, Ali, is they came in there with guns, and then at some point they detonated a suicide vest or belts that killed further people. So certainly a bloody day in Mogadishu and it's all part of an offensive that al Shabaab seems to keep waging against that weak government in Somalia.
VELSHI: All right. David McKenzie for us in Nairobi. Thanks very much.
I want to take you now to northern Chile. Take a look at this. This is that story of the miners we were telling you about, those trapped miners. They've been trapped for 18 days, and all of a sudden, we got news that they're alive.
Let me show you. I think we've got a graphic here that we can show you about this. These miners are trapped. They're in a place in northern Chile that you can see there. I want to actually show you the graphic of the map. Here we go. Take a look at this. There is the mine entrance on the top, OK? Those are the paths that the miners used to get down.
On August 5, you can see where the collapse took place. About 2/3, almost 3/4 of the way down at about 2,300 feet. The rescuers had attempted to get in there and rescue them but the mine was too unstable so they went back up. The miners made it down to a bottom. They're in a place that might be the size of a small apartment or a living room -- 33 of them. And there's a six-inch hole. You can so see that straight line down. That is where they have been sending notes and probes down.
And when they sent a probe down, it came up with a note that said, we're alive, we're here, all 33 of us. So what they're trying to do now is drill a second hole and that's the one to the right of it. That little hole is only six inches wide. They can't do anything with it. They can send some water down, that's about all they can do.
They're drilling that second hole on the right, which will be big enough to send a capsule down in which they can put a person, and get these 33 men out. The problem is, that could take months. Some estimates, four months, to get to them.
So right now, these men are 2,500 feet down, about a half a mile, and they're trying to give them enough stuff to survive. It's a shelter area. They're sending liquid, food, and medicine down that hole until they can rescue the guys from that hole. Fascinating story. We'll keep on top of it. But right now, Karl Penhaul is there and he can tell us a little bit more about what's going on right now, whether there is an effort under way at the moment.
Karl?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I've just been talking to the Chilean health minister, in fact, Ali, and he's been describing the pain staking efforts they're going through to keep these 33 men in optimum physical and in optimum mental shape.
What they've also done, they've contacted experts from NASA, from the North American Space Agency, also talked to experts at the U.S. State Department, and they've also called in experts from their own Chilean Navy, submarine experts, all because they're hoping that both submarine technology and also NASA's know-how with the astronauts will help to keep these men alive.
And what they're going to be doing, for at least the next five days, is sending down proteins and vitamins in liquid form down this hole to the men. First of all they're going to give them a little quantity, a few calories and build it up day by day, because they say if they feed them thoroughly, heavily, straight off the bat, then they're going to get sick, they're going to get diarrhea.
Now, they say in over all terms, the men are healthy. They say the diagnosis is good. They say some of them did suffer minor injuries during the mine collapse. And all of them have got irritated eyes, they said, because although the air is breathable, it's not particularly good, and that there is a lot of dust in the air.
Also, the mental issue. They say that is going to be key, to keep the men mentally alert. And so in the coming days, as well, they're going to be sending them a small exercise routine, a small work routine, as well, keeping them active in it body and hoping that keeps them active in mind, as well, Ali.
VELSHI: I can't imagine, Karl, the spirit that you would have to have, knowing that you've been found and it may mean months you're down there in terms of the stress and anxiety that puts on them.
For the air quality issue, what can they do? Can they do anything with that little six-inch hole? I mean, how does fresh air get into the shelter?
PENHAUL: There is some air circulating in the mine. What they're also doing for those who periodically in the course of day feel a little bit overcome with the bad air, they've dropped some oxygen canisters down that bore hole, and so somebody will take a few hits on that oxygen canister.
In the next couple of days, they're hoping to drill another bore hole, and then they might pipe some compressed air down there, too, at the time. But all indications are that these men are in excellent spirits. Through one of those bore holes late yesterday, they dropped a microphone, and the men, instead of sending messages to their family, all spontaneously broke into a chorus of the Chilean national anthem. And that really has given -- lifted the spirits of the rescue workers here because they say in spite of all they suffered, in spite of the very little that they've had to eat, and we know they have only had a few spoonfuls of tuna or mackerel and also a can of peaches to share.
But in spite of that hardship, they know now that these men are in good spirits and they are ready to fight, to hold on. The key also today, the health minister has said that nobody explicitly has yet told the miners how long they may still have to be underground, although the health minister did say they're miners, they're experienced guys, they must surely know. But nobody has told them explicitly they may be in the bowels of the earth until Christmas, Ali.
VELSHI: Wow. Wow. All right. Well, we'll definitely stay on this Matthew, thanks very much, Karl, for keeping us up to date on what's going on.
I want to talk to Matthew Chance now, he is joining me on the phone from Moscow. The -- we've got a report that the Moldovan government has seized 1.8 kilograms of uranium and arrested five people in connection with that seizure.
To understand what this means, what that uranium could be used for, is it weapons grade and who might have been buying or selling it, Matthew Chance is on the phone.
Matthew, what do you know about this?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, well, the details are very sketchy, obviously, Ali, at this early stage, but we have had a statement from the Moldovan Interior Ministry, and they've confirmed that they seized that 1.8 kilograms of uranium.
It's uranium 238, which is a certain type of isotope of uranium that is naturally occurring, it's the most commonly found type of uranium and it's not the kind of material that is used to make a dirty bomb or indeed a nuclear weapon. And so in that sense, it's relatively harmless. Although it is still radioactive. It's described for me by one nuclear expert as being not the kind of material you necessarily you want to carry around in your pocket. So there are certainly dangers attached to it, Ali.
VELSHI: Matthew, do we have some reason why someone would be attempting to buy this?
CHANCE: No. I mean, the initial fear, isn't it, that it could be some kind of -- you know, terrorism plot. But, I mean, that seems to be the -- we don't have any indication of that at the moment.
A lot of these things take place around the world. Every year, there are illegal activities involving radioactive materials. And it's usually this black market, it's usually by financial motives.
I mean, there's every possibility, Ali, that the criminal gang who has been broken up and arrested dealing in this material may not have known what it was they had in their hands, they may not have known the true value of it, they may not have known it was pretty worthless. They were asking $11 million for this 1.8 kilos of material.
VELSHI: All right, Matthew, thanks for that. Stay on top of that and if anything develops, we'll check back in with you.
Matthew Chance on the uranium discovery.
How much recovery can you buy for $100 billion? Vice President Joe Biden came out and crunched some numbers. We'll double-check his work with Josh Levs when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Let me have a look at the top stories we're covering now on CNN.
The government is continuing to investigate that massive egg recall that is apparently now sickened about 1,300 Americans. Over half a billion eggs are in question. Inspections are continuing, they're not issuing any further recalls, though. We don't know if more will come.
Meantime, a lawyer for some of the victims says if tougher federal regulations had gone into place earlier, the recall could have been prevented.
And another recall you need to know with about, deli meat. About 380,000 pounds of deli meat products could be contaminated with listeria. The meat was distributed at Wal-Marts across the nation.
And housing sales took a dip in July. A report out today shows that existing home sales, that's homes that people already lived in, plunged to a 15-year low. Much of the drop is blamed on the expiration of the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit.
All right, I have a great story for you now that I want to talk about. And it's -- I'm a motorcycle rider, and one always worries when you're on a motorcycle about your personal safety because you often -- if you get into an accident on a motorcycle, you have a very good chance of being the loser in that situation.
So I've got with me Dave Barboza, he's the vice president of marketing at a company called Armored Air Products. And when my producer, Christina (ph), told me about this, I thought, this is fascinating. It's an airbag in a jacket.
DAVE BARBOZA, ARMORED AIR PRODUCTS: Yes.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: For yourself.
VELSHI: For yourself, that's right, which I think is neat.
MYERS: Dave, welcome. BARBOZA: Thank you very much.
VELSHI: I'm going to try one of these out.
BARBOZA: Absolutely.
MYERS: Does it come in a vest or something like that so he can wear it on the air in case we crash the show?
BARBOZA: Well, this is about as close to a vest as you're going to get.
VELSHI: Tell us how this all works out. It is a vest. Dave, tell us the story here.
BARBOZA: What it is, is there's an airbag that's inside the jacket, that's in between the outer layer and an inner liner.
I actually have to go on this side, sorry.
MYERS: Looks good on you.
BARBOZA: Yes, very stylish.
Now, this is the anchoring cable that goes around the frame of your bike. And I understand you ride.
VELSHI: Yes.
BARBOZA: What kind of bike do you have?
VELSHI: I have a Suzuki Intruder 1400.
BARBOZA: 1400, so you would find a place on the right side of your bike towards the rear that this goes onto the frame.
VELSHI: So it's like on a water ski or something -- a jet ski you've got --
BARBOZA: Absolutely, a tether.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: We don't want to call it a kill switch.
VELSHI: No, no. Call it a tether.
MYERS: This is an unkill switch.
BARBOZA: Now, this is the piece that goes around the anchoring cable. It attaches to this. And as you can see --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: OK. What's going to make that detach? BARBOZA: You. When you want to get off your bike -- when you want to get off your bike to do what you need to do, you just detach it from your bike.
VELSHI: Right. If I don't unplug this and I get off that bike, i.e. by force, in other words, if I'm forced off the bike, what happens?
BARBOZA: Well, if you're forced off the bike due to an accident or whatever, the lanyard here is connected to a CO2 cartridge. The CO2 cartridge is activated, deploys the airbag system and as well this portion of the cable stays with the bike and detaches from the separation block so that the bike's not being pulled to you or worse -- (CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Right, right. If I go flying, this CO2 cable is going to activate and then this is going to do what?
BARBOZA: It just deploys, it comes up in the back of your neck --
MYERS: Are you ready?
VELSHI: Are you going to do it?
BARBOZA: Yes, let's do it, let's do it.
VELSHI: Do I need to take my glasses off for this or is it going to be all right?
BARBOZA: No, no. It should be fine.
Are you ready to go?
VELSHI: Ready.
Wow.
MYERS: And you float.
VELSHI: Oh, my god. That's crazy.
BARBOZA: So as you can see, it comes up on the back of your neck --
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: That's awesome for the neck.
BARBOZA: Keeps your neck still.
VELSHI: That's incredible. Yes, that's really firm.
BARBOZA: And it also comes down the back.
VELSHI: So this is really --
BARBOZA: Oh, yes. It's very stiff. As you can see, it's very stiff. It's made for the initial impact. It helps you on initial impact and keeps you all together.
MYERS: Did it hurt? Did it hurt to go off?
VELSHI: No, no, but you really can feel it. You can feel that it's solid. It's not like a little pillow inflating. There you go.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BARBOZA: That's the automatic feature.
VELSHI: Is this approved? Are there people that have tested it and --
BARBOZA: Yes, there is a company, Intertech, they have taken the jacket, they've tested it, they've done a variety of different tests to mimic different situations that may occur.
VELSHI: And this is a group that's tested other things to do with safety, right?
BARBOZA: Yes, they also test --
MYERS: Don't we have video? Do we have video of this actually working?
Control room, do you know where this is? We're going to watch a guy fall off a bike?
VELSHI: Let's take a look at that.
MYERS: OK, this is the one, then there'll be the other one. Here you go.
Here's the guy. It's coming. We hear it's coming. As he rides. He's going to zip it up and ride.
VELSHI: This guy's going to fly off the bike?
BARBOZA: Eventually.
MYERS: Oh no, here it is. I think this is it. Right this is the tape? Oh, we never had it.
VELSHI: It's showing what happened to me.
MYERS: Demonstration.
VELSHI: Are these on the market?
BARBOZA: Yes, they are. They are on the market. This particular jacket -- this vest, I should say, retails for $250. There is also an armored air leather jacket that retails for $595.
VELSHI: Very interesting. All right, well, we look forward to seeing this hopefully reduces the injuries people have when they are riding around.
MYERS: Thank you, Dave.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Thank you, Chad.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: Get something for my legs and I'll be all right, cause that's what I hurt --
VELSHI: That's right. Eventually let's just have a whole suit.
BARBOZA: I'll have the request in for you.
VELSHI: All right, to read up on the motorcycle airbags, go to my blog, CNN.com/Ali.
All right, when we come back, we're going to talk about the Recovery Act, the stimulus bill. How much recovery did $100 billion buy? Vice President Joe Biden came out and crunched some numbers, we'll double-check his work with Josh Levs.
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