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GOP Makes Pledge to America; Polls Looking Good for GOP; Nicaraguan Diplomat Found Dead; Virginia to Execute Woman; U.N. Pushing to End Poverty; China and Japan Conflicted over Islands in East China Sea; Radical Breakthroughs for Humanity; Car Gets 100 Miles Per Gallon; Mikulski is Biden's Number One Fantasy Football Pick

Aired September 23, 2010 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Don Lemon. That is it for me. Up next, Ali Velshi in New York. Take it away, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you, my friend. Thanks very much.

I'm Ali Velshi, as Don said. For the next two hours today and every weekday I'm going to guide you through the maze of information coming your way. Boy, there's lots of it.

Today we're going to learn what's going on at home and around the world. You're going to get access to folks who can best explain what it means today and the impact beyond today. I'm also going to showcase some ideas and innovation, philanthropy and public education. My mission is to help you figure out how what's going on around you fits into your life.

Let's get started. Here's what I've got on the rundown.

She's got less than eight hours to live. Teresa Lewis is scheduled to be the first woman executed in the United States in five years. She spoke to CNN. You'll hear what she said.

Plus, we'll take a bigger look at women on Death Row.

Also, CNN founder Ted Turner, he's been a leader in the global war on poverty. He says we're on track to win that war. And he'll tell us why and what he's doing about it.

And we've got a big announcement this hour. You've been telling us who your heroes are, thousands of you. Now we'll reveal our top ten CNN Heroes of the Year for the first time right here this hour on CNN.

First, if you want to make a Republican smile, mention the year 1994. That year's midterm elections coming halfway through the first term of a Democratic president, Bill Clinton. Republicans picked up 54 House seats and 8 Senate seats, more than enough to win control of both houses of Congress.

Sixteen years later, we are halfway through the first term of a Democratic president, a different one now, with the Democratic majority in Congress. And Republicans aren't the only ones making comparisons and predictions and promises.

This morning, the House Republican leadership rolled out its Pledge to America, a longer and less specific version of 1994's Contract with America. The setting was a lumber company in northern Virginia.

The key points are these. A halt to any stimulus spending that hasn't gone out yet. And a rollback of overall spending to pre- stimulus, pre-bailout levels. Repeal of the health-care reform law. Permanent extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for everybody, along with new tax breaks for small businesses. A freeze in non-security-related federal hiring. And a requirement that all new legislation pass a Constitution check.

Those last two points are a nod to the Tea Party, which by the way, handed several Republican candidates their hats in last -- in this year's primaries.

Some brand-new polling is boosting Republican hopes in the November Senate races with one big exception. Our CNN senior political editor, Mark Preston, joins me from D.C. with the stories behind these numbers.

Mark, let me just get started with the numbers. Then I want to hear what you've got to say about it. In Pennsylvania, former Republican Congressman Pat Toomey leads the Democratic Congress -- leads Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak 49 to 44. Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson leads three-term incumbent Russ Feingold, 51 to 45. In Colorado, Republican and Tea Party candidate Ken Buck leads first-term incumbent Michael Bennet 49-44.

But look at Delaware. Tea Party darling Christine O'Donnell runs far behind the Democrat, Chris Coons. That is a 16-point gap.

Let's go to Mark. Mark, what do you make of all of this?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know, Ali, what the common thread is between all of those polls you cited is that they are all Democratically-held seats, and Republicans have a good shot at picking them up, except for right now that Delaware seat.

Republicans had hoped for -- many Republicans had hopes that Mike Castle, the Republican establishment candidate, the Congressman here in Washington, D.C., would have won that Republican primary last week. Had he won, our polls showed that he would be up 18 points right now over the Democrat, Coons, in Delaware. However, we're seeing a double-digit deficit right now for Christine O'Donnell.

However, by and large, Ali, as you said, very good numbers for Republicans. They have the opportunity for knocking off an incumbent, Russ Feingold, first elected in 1992. That would be a huge win up in Wisconsin.

They also have the opportunity of picking up that Colorado seat which seemed to be turning Democrat. And they also had the opportunity, of course, to pick up that Pennsylvania seat. That was Arlen Specter's seat, the Republican who turned Democrat.

All in all, Ali, pretty good news this morning for Republicans looking at those polls.

VELSHI: Let me ask you something. Let's talk about Delaware for a second. In case our viewers may have missed the context here, Christine O'Donnell beat another Republican who was polling higher than the Democrat in that state. So this is a change in tide. This isn't just the Democrat leading the Republican candidate. This is a shift in the sentiment for the party in Delaware.

PRESTON: Yes, and look -- and let me break it down, make it very simple. Christine O'Donnell, the Tea Party candidate, she came out of nowhere. She was aided in the final weeks of that primary campaign and was able to push it over the finish line to win.

Mike Castle, the Congressman who was expected to win, he was a former two-term governor, Ali. He's a moderate, a centrist. Especially in a state like Delaware, that would have played very well.

Let's don't forget: this Senate seat we're talking about, Joe Biden held that seat since 1973 until he actually had to give it up to become the vice president. So Democrats now are breathing a sigh of relief, or at least they think they're breathing a sigh of relief, because they have an opportunity to hold onto that seat. At least today they do -- Ali.

VELSHI: Tell me real quick about the governor's race in Colorado.

PRESTON: Sure. And let's just shift back out west. Dan Maes, he is the candidate for -- the Republican gubernatorial nominee out in Colorado. That's another seat that Republicans thought that they could pick up. Their nominee, Scott McGinnis, tripped up. His past was revealed, a bunch of things happened. However, Maes won. Turns out that Maes wasn't as truthful himself.

Now the Republican Party in Colorado is in shambles. Basically, Republicans have given up hope, Ali, of winning that seat out in Colorado. It looks like it's going to go Democrat.

VELSHI: Mark, we'll talk to you again in this show.

Mark Preston is our CNN senior political editor. He's in the CNN.com/PoliticsCenter. Go there for all your latest news and the ticker. We'll bring you an update again very shortly.

Listen, when you're the president of the United States you may be in a suburban backyard one day, a global arena the next. That's what President Obama has been doing. A day after chatting up ordinary folks about health care, he took center stage at the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly on the topic of Mideast peace.

As you may know, Israelis and Palestinians restarted serious talks three weeks ago, but the prospects continue to be uncertain at best. Our "Sound Effect" is Mr. Obama's argument for pressing on. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If an agreement is not reached, Palestinians will never know the pride and dignity that comes with their own state. Israelis will never know the certainty and security that comes with sovereign and stable neighbors who are committed to co-existence. The hard realities of demography will take hold. More blood will be shed. This holy land will remain a symbol of our differences instead of our common humanity.

I refuse to accept that future. And we all have a choice to make. Each of us must choose the path of peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Well, we're all waiting to see what happens on Sunday. That is the end of Israel's self-imposed freeze on expanding Jewish settlements in the West Banks. And Palestinians have made it clear they will not continue to keep talking if Israelis resume building. We'll stay on top of that for you.

All right. She's got about eight hours left on earth. Hear the voice of a condemned woman straight from Death Row and the controversy over her case, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: We are following some breaking news right here in New York. Obviously, we've been telling you about the U.N. General Assembly. Lots of diplomats in town. A Nicaraguan diplomat has been found dead in his Bronx apartment. Susan Candiotti is following it for us. She has more on this now.

What do we know, Susan?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in a violent death, to be sure. Sadly, the New York City Police Department tells us that this diplomat is 34 years old. He was found in his apartment this morning by his driver, his chauffeur. Thirty-four years old. We don't know, again, whether he was married, had children, was living there by himself.

The driver discovered him. The front door was left open, was left ajar. Police did find a knife and have recovered that from the scene.

We don't know at this time, for sure, whether the driver was picking him up to take him to meet with his delegation, of course, for the U.N. General Assembly, which is meeting this week in New York. To the circumstances are still very murky at this time.

VELSHI: Right.

CANDIOTTI: The police are not yet classifying this death as a homicide, as a suicide. We don't know. It's just too early.

VELSHI: All right.

CANDIOTTI: It's the beginning stages of the investigation but certainly a shocking development.

VELSHI: And do we know that he -- if he's a diplomat stationed here? Because right now in this city there are diplomats who are stationed here for the U.N., and then there are those who are here visiting for the U.N. Assembly.

CANDIOTTI: That's a good point. Yes, he is identified by the police as the consul --

VELSHI: OK.

CANDIOTTI: -- which would make him the top man at the embassy here, more likely than not, according to the police.

VELSHI: Right.

CANDIOTTI: And so, of course, he would be second in rank only to the ambassador --

VELSHI: OK.

CANDIOTTI: -- from Nicaragua.

VELSHI: All right. Well, I know you're on the story. And if you get anything else, please let us know. Susan Candiotti on the story of this Nicaraguan diplomat who's been found dead in his apartment in the Bronx.

Talking about a story I was telling you about earlier. Virginia has the second busiest death chamber in the country. And it is preparing to execute another prisoner.

Teresa Lewis is scheduled to die by lethal injection in less than eight hours. She would be the first woman put to death in America in five years. She admitted hiring hit men to kill her husband and stepson. All her legal appeals have now been exhausted.

Still, there are people around the world fighting to save her life on a couple of different grounds. I'll have more on that in a moment. But first, let's look, big picture, at condemned women in this country.

Right now, there are 61 women on Death Row in America. California has the most. Sixteen of them are there. Texas has 10. At least 40 women have been executed in the past 100 years, 11 of those since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.

The last woman put to death was Francis Newton in Texas in 2005. She was convicted of killing her husband and two sons.

OK. That gives us some sense of woman on Death Row in this country. Back to the case specifically of Teresa Lewis, which has sparked more than an outcry -- more of an outcry than that of many other condemned prisoners.

CNN's Brian Todd tells us why and talks to Teresa Lewis herself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From Virginia's Death Row, Teresa Lewis sings for divine intervention.

TERESA LEWIS, DEATH ROW INMATE (singing): I need a miracle.

TODD: But no miracles come her way. Virginia governor Bob McDonald refuses to issue a stay of execution. The Supreme Court denies her appeal. On Thursday, Teresa Lewis will likely become the first woman put to death in Virginia in nearly a century. I spoke with Lewis just before the governor's ruling.

(on camera) Because of the sensitivity of the case at this point, the questions are limited to just a couple of predetermined questions for Teresa Lewis. We're also not allowed to bring cameras into the facility where she's being held. So we're speaking to her on the phone from her unit on Death Row in Virginia.

If you could say anything to the governor at this point, what would you tell him?

LEWIS (via phone): I would tell the governor, if I speak to him one-on-one, how sorry I really am, for allowing this to happen to two people I love very much, and I wish I could take it back. And I'm sorry for all the people that I've hurt in the process.

TODD (voice-over): Lewis pleaded guilty in the 2002 murders of her husband, Julian Lewis, and her stepson, C.J., in their mobile home in southern Virginia.

(on camera) But this was a crime of conspiracy, and Lewis herself didn't fire the shots. The two men who did, including lead trigger man, Matthew Shallenberger, only got life sentences.

(voice-over) The judge called Teresa Lewis the head of the serpent. But her attorneys say her I.Q. is in the low 70s, near the level of retardation. And they say Lewis has dependent personality disorder, making her vulnerable to coercion by others.

(on camera) Is it your basic contention that she was manipulated into this crime?

JAMES ROCAP, TERESA LEWIS' ATTORNEY: Yes, Shallenberger has stated and the experts who have examined her agree, that she -- she was being used by Shallenberger, not the other way around.

TODD (voice-over): Shallenberger had had an affair with Teresa Lewis before the killings. Her attorneys cite a prison letter from Shallenberger to another woman, saying the only reason he slept with Lewis was "so she would give me the insurance money she inherited after the murders." Matthew Shallenberger later committed suicide in prison. On the idea that Lewis was manipulated, prosecutor David Grimes says this.

DAVID GRIMES, PROSECUTOR: I can frankly say that Teresa Lewis is as evil a person as I've ever met.

TODD: Grimes says his investigation showed Lewis herself took an active role in the plot, that she connived, manipulated everyone from her late husband, to her lover, to her children. And he says tests his side conducted contradict those which indicated she's near retardation.

GRIMES: Her functioning ability is way beyond that.

TODD (on camera): You think she was faking?

GRIMES: Well, she certainly wasn't, as one of the experts said in the habeas proceeding, she certainly wasn't motivated to score accurately and high on those tests.

TODD (voice-over): Lewis' attorney says the contention that she's faking a low I.Q. is silly. He says one expert specifically tested to see if she was faking that and found she wasn't.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: OK, Brian Todd is going to join us live, by the way, next hour from Jarrett, Virginia, the place where Teresa Lewis is scheduled to die.

I want to bring Susan Candiotti in again on the story of the Nicaraguan diplomat who's been found dead in his apartment in the Bronx.

You've got more information.

CANDIOTTI: We understand now that the family of the diplomat has been notified, so therefore, we are able to release his name. His name is Cesar Mercado. He has been the consul at the embassy for eight years here in New York. He worked as the consul during that entire time.

He was found, as we said earlier, by a colleague this morning. The front door left ajar. The diplomat's throat was slashed.

VELSHI: Wow.

CANDIOTTI: A knife has been recovered, and police are investigating.

Now, according to the minister consular, he says, "We have no idea what would be the reason for such a horrendous act" or even murder, he added, if it turns out to be the case. But remember, police have not yet classified --

VELSHI: Right. CANDIOTTI: -- his death at this time.

VELSHI: OK. Thanks, Susan. We'll stay on top of this. Susan Candiotti on top of this very unusual development.

This is, of course, interesting to us in particular this week because of all of the diplomats in town for the U.N. General Assembly. There's a lot going on at the U.N. In fact, the U.N. says it's going to cut global poverty in half by 2015.

And two game changers say we are on the way there. I sit down with Ted Turner, founder of CNN, along with a former senator, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Welcome back to our show. Every day at this time we talk about "Your $$$$$." In some ways today I'm going to do something a little different. I'm going to talk about someone else's money but how it can affect you and the world you live in.

I'm joined now by Ted Turner, the founder and chairman of the United Nations Foundation and, of course, the founder of CNN. I'm also joined by former U.S. Senator Timothy Wirth. He is the president of the U.N. Foundation.

Gentlemen, thank you for joining us. It's a pleasure to have you here. It's a big week at the United Nations. And one of the things that our viewership has been very interested in, because it's hard to connect to all the fancy, important meetings that are going on. But the U.N.'s millennium development goals, those goals that were set a decade ago. We have five more years to achieve them, eight different goals. We'll put them up on the wall here so our viewers can see them.

Where, Ted Turner, is the world in terms of the achievement of some of these goals or most of them? Where do you think we're actually going to succeed and what are you worried about?

TED TURNER, FOUNDER/CHAIRMAN, UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION: One of the things that was holding real progress back -- and there has been a lot of significant progress -- was some of the countries that made pledges had not funded them. And this meeting in New York that there's been a -- another look taken at it, and most of those countries are committing to bring their -- get paid up and meet their commitment. And that will go a long way towards eliminating more poverty, which will go a long way towards solving the terrorism problem and -- and just make us feel better.

VELSHI: Ted Turner, the economy has been a contributing factor to some countries not fulfilling their obligations to these goals or to the United Nations. Obviously, that's what actually drove you first to get involved with the U.N. You were very disappointed with the U.N. -- the United States not paying its bills to the U.N.

Are we better off today than we were than when you first started this foundation?

TURNER: Yes. Yes. We're certainly -- certainly better off. For instance, the United States, which is the largest member by size of the economy, we're up to date pretty much on our dues and our obligations. And the rest of the world is, too. So the U.N. can meet its bills.

And I think the enthusiasm of this meeting with the millennium development goals, good things are happening. The START treaty, the Senate Armed Services Committee has overwhelmingly approved it. That's got to go to the full Senate. God knows we sure need to get -- need to get that through. So any viewers out there, write your senators and tell them to approve the START treaty.

VELSHI: Do senators read these things when people write to them?

TIMOTHY WIRTH, PRESIDENT, U.N. FOUNDATION: Sure they do. Senators are up for election at some point. And, you know, they're very sensitive to their constituents. And, you know, there's still a hard-core set of group opponents, you know, who want us to build more nuclear weapons in this day and age. The whole idea is to draw them down.

Ted's been right -- deeply involved in that with the nuclear threat initiative. And former senator, Sam Nunn, who heads that up, with Henry Kissinger and George Shultz and Bill Perry and others, a real who's who of the establishment saying we have to draw down our numbers of nuclear weapons. We don't want to make a mistake.

So, you know, there are still some people out there who are, I would call, a little bit antediluvian about this. They're sort of looking at this in the 1950s. It's the 21st century, and we don't need these nuclear weapons. There's no question about it. That's progress.

The Obama administration, I think, gets some real kudos for pushing that. There's an establishment that doesn't want it to happen. But that's always true when you're trying to make change. There's always somebody who doesn't want to make that change.

VELSHI: Senator Wirth, thank you for joining us.

Ted Turner, pleasure to always have you back at CNN, the company that you founded, and thanks for your good work.

TURNER: Good to be here. Thank you.

WIRTH: Thank you very much, Ali.

VELSHI: We'll be back with more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Can you believe, this is the fourth year already of our CNN Heroes Initiative? And once again, you guys came through. We got 10,000 nominations from CNN viewers in more than 100 countries telling us who your heroes are. Each week, we've introduced you to one of these extraordinary people. And today we reveal the top ten CNN Heroes of 2010 as selected by our blue ribbon panel.

Each honoree will get $25,000 and a shot at the top honor, CNN Hero of the Year, which you get to decide. But first here's Anderson Cooper to introduce the top ten.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Anderson Cooper. All year we've been introducing you to our CNN Heroes, every-day people changing the world. Well, today we're announcing the top ten CNN heroes for 2010.

The honorees are --

(voice-over) -- in alphabetical order, Guadalupe Arizpe de la Vega. She's providing quality health care in increasingly violent Juarez, Mexico.

Susan Burton. Her reentry program helps female ex-convicts get back on their feet.

Linda Fondren. She's brought her community together to shed pounds.

Anuradha Koirala rescues and rehabilitates Nepali girls from sex trafficking.

Narayanan Krishnan serves three meals a day to India's homeless by hand.

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow feeds more than 400,000 kids every day.

Harmon Parker builds bridges connecting Kenyans with life- changing resources.

Aki Ra restores safety by finding and defusing land mines planted by the Khmer Rouge.

Evan Wadongo is lighting the way to prosperity for rural Kenyans with his solar-powered lanterns.

And Dan Wallrath, who builds custom homes for wounded veterans returning from service.

(on camera) Congratulations. The top ten CNN Heroes of 2010. Which one inspires you the most? Go to CNNHeroes.com right now to vote for CNN Hero of the Year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Now, the top ten will be honored Thanksgiving night at our fourth annual all-star tribute, but only one will be named CNN Hero of the Year. That person will awarded an additional $100,000, and as always, you get to decide who it will be. Our voting site is live as of today, so head over to CNNHeroes.com. We've got our top ten there, and you can click on them to refresh your memory about who everybody is and the incredible things that they are doing. Once you're set, hit the "vote now" button and choose the person who inspires you the most.

You can cast ballots as often as you'd like for your favorite hero or more than one of them. The last full day to vote, November 17. We'll tally those up for "CNN's HEROES ALL STAR TRIBUTE," hosted by Anderson Cooper. Again, that's live, Thanksgiving night, November 25.

It's a high stakes dispute and it could affect products like the Toyota Prius, wind turbines and guided missiles. China plays hardball with Japan. We've it covered in a live Globe Trekking report, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: Time for "Globe Trekking."

Our top story, several tiny uninhabited islands in the East China Sea are at the heart of an escalating dispute between China and Japan. It is a dispute, however, with worldwide ramifications, which could seriously impact the production of such products as hybrid cars, wind turbines, and even guided missiles. Can you even imagine what those three things have in common?

At issue is the question of just who has sovereignty over the islands named Diaoyu. Jill will correct me on my pronunciation. That's what it's called by China. It's called Senkaku by Japan. These islands are controlled by Japan but long claimed by China and Taiwan, two different countries. There are possible oil and gas deposits in the waters off the islands.

Now, the dispute erupted earlier this month when Japan detained a Chinese fishing boat and its crew that was operating in the area. All but the captain have been released and China is demanding that he be returned. In response, China has blocked vital exports to Japan. OK, if you've followed me this long, you're going to want to hear a little more about this.

Joining me now for more on this is our foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty. Jill, the Chinese and the Japanese prime ministers, both at the U.N. right now.

Are they talking about this and what's likely to come of it?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: You know, this has happened actually before. They've been fighting about this for a long time, these islands. They're volcanoes, essentially. Old, dead volcanoes.

What's happening now is China is not stepping back and trying to make nice. And so the United States right now is in the middle with two very important countries in Asia, trying to find some way of bringing them together and resolving this. But it's a very serious issue. It's serious because in Asia, I worked in Hong Kong for a while with CNN, and definitely in Asia, there is such concern by many countries about the growth and the size of China. So this is all part of that bigger story, as well.

VELSHI: Now, this is obviously important because Japan and China are two of the top three economies in the world. Fastest growing economies. Let's talk -- or the largest economies.

Let's talk about something else. I talked about wind turbines and Toyota Priuses. There are also minerals here.

DOUGHERTY: Exactly. They're called rare earth minerals.

VELSHI: Right.

DOUGHERTY: And accord together research that I've done, China controls 97 percent of rare earth oxide and almost 100 percent of the production of this. Why is important? Because, as you mentioned, it's used in a lot of consumer products, consumer electronics products, missiles. And all this green technology for energy efficient machines and things like that.

VELSHI: Right.

DOUGHERTY: Those are crucial components. So now the Chinese have cut off -- there's a moratorium on shipping that or exporting it to Japan.

VELSHI: Right.

DOUGHERTY: It's a major problem for Japan and it's a major problem potentially for the United States, which gets - as well. And does not produce it for the most part, except for (INAUDIBLE).

VELSHI: It's a secret that many people don't know. Some of the stuff that gets us energy or somehow allows to us use energy more efficiently uses these rare earth minerals. It never comes to our attention.

DOUGHERTY: Exactly.

VELSHI: But the fact is, we do need those and then can have clean energy. But it stands in the way. This is a very interesting discussion.

DOUGHERTY: Yes. We should follow it.

VELSHI: Thank you for introducing it to us because I think it's something we're talk about a lot more.

Jill, great to see you. Thank you.

DOUGHERTY: Yes. Thanks, Ali.

VELSHI: From space travel to extremely fuel efficient cars, to improving health and education, the X PRIZE Foundation, you've heard me talk about it before, it is changing the world one huge solution at a time. Not small ideas. Big ideas. Today's Big I coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: An important ruling from the food and drug administration regarding the drug Avandia came out just a short time ago.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is in Atlanta, with an update on this.

Elizabeth, what's the ruling and what are the impacts?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ali, before I get into that I want to back up a little bit because I think a lot of people haven't heard about this story in a while.

When Avandia came out 11 years ago, it was supposed to be a wonder drug for diabetes. And then studies showed the people who took it had a higher chance of having a heart attack or a stroke compared to people who took other drugs.

So what the FDA has done today is they've said to doctors, look, if you want to continue to prescribe this drug, you're going to have to document for each and every patient why they should be taking it and why they can't take anything else. That is a huge onus to put on doctors. Chances are there will be a lot of doctors who are not going to want to do this. The doctors I've been talking to said subscriptions for Avandia will be plummeting very soon.

We reached out to GlaxoSmithKline who makes this drug. Here's what they had to say.

"The company continues to believe that Avandia is an important treatment for patients with Type 2 diabetes." -- Ali.

VELSHI: Now, this restriction, this ruling by the FDA, is that it -- people who can't be treated with something else can still get Avandia.

COHEN: They can. And I'll tell you, Ali, I've talked to many doctors about this and they say, look, we think pretty much 99 percent of the patients out there can be treated with something else. They don't really see a reason why you'd want to use Avandia.

Now some patients have said to the FDA, don't take away our Avandia, we love it. But a lot of doctors say there's no reason for anybody to be taking this drug at this point. In fact, in Europe, they are moving towards taking it off the market very soon.

VELSHI: Wow. OK, Elizabeth, thanks for clearing that up. I know there were a lot of our viewers who wanted to know what this story was about, you see the headlines.

Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta, our senior medical correspondent. Our "Big 'I'" is the X PRIZE Foundation today, a nonprofit organization committed to inspiring radical breakthroughs for humanity. The foundation creates and manages prizes for innovators to solve some of the greatest problems facing the world today. The X PRIZE foundation thinks big.

There are four categories of X PRIZES -- exploration of space, the ocean and other unexplored frontiers in order to improve and extend life. Next is the life sciences category, to improve health and decrease suffering worldwide. The energy and environment X PRIZE generates breakthroughs in climate change, water resource management, energy distribution and storage, clean energy and energy efficiency. And finally, the education and global development X PRIZE is pushing for major development in agriculture, capital education and health and water.

I want to introduce my guest, Peter Diamandis, he is the CEO, he's the head of the X PRIZE -- the CEO of the X PRIZE, a friend of mine. He's been on our show before because when we talk about our "Big 'I'," I think of people like Peter because this guy thinks bigger than most people I have ever met.

Peter, thank you for joining us.

PETER DIAMANDIS, CEO, X PRIZE FOUNDATION: Ali, a pleasure. Great to see you, my friend.

VELSHI: I want to talk about this X PRIZE that -- let's talk about, first of all, how you got started on this idea with respect to the X PRIZE.

DIAMANDIS: I wanted to be an astronaut since my childhood and found out my chances of becoming an astronaut through NASA were really one in a thousand. So I was reading about Lindberg, that he crossed the Atlantic in 1927 to win a $25,000 prize and that prize drove nine teams to spend $400,000 and they only paid the winner. Now how great is that?

I said, wow, if I can create a prize for private spaceflight, that could be my ticket to space. We had a $10 million X PRIZE, drove 26 teams, spent $100 million. And today we have Virgin Galactic and John Carmack and Space Adventures. And that started, so it's been a great success.

VELSHI: There's a little bit of math who goes into this, in addition to the people doing the engineering. When I talk about the X PRIZE that we're going to talk about momentarily to get extensive -- actually, I was talking about the Google Lunar X PRIZE and someone said to me, how do you -- it would cost way more money than that prize to create a vehicle that goes to the moon and does what you want.

So first of all, tell me about the Google Lunar X PRIZE and then explain this business about how it's not that you're doing it just to get this prize money, but it has this multiplier effect.

DIAMANDIS: Sure. So the Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million cash purse that Google's put up for the first team. And all you have to, Ali, is build a robot, land it on the surface of the moon, send back photos and videos, rove a half a kilometer, send back more photos and videos. We have 22 teams now who are entered into the competition.

It turns out recently that NASA has put up another 30 million in contracts, a great public/private partnership. But teams really think they can do it for $30 million, maybe it's $40 million but when we constrain them to do it for less money, they really have to innovate and drive breakthroughs and that's where the breakthroughs come from. Where teams that come up with brand new ideas that large corporations or governments would never try because they're risky. But by definition, that's a breakthrough.

VELSHI: So what do you -- when somebody asks me how can that prize pay for that thing, you're attracting people who otherwise might have been working on this or want to benefit from the idea that if they win this prize, it then attracts other investment into whatever problem you're trying to solve?

DIAMANDIS: Exactly.

So we design the prize as a back-end business model. We're really trying to bring entrepreneurs from around the world who come with a different way of thinking about this challenge. And they say, you know, I'm going to solve it this way.

You know, Burt Rutan thought he could fly to space originally for the $10 million purse. He ended up spending $26 million of Paul Allen's money. But on the back end of this was a multibillion dollar industry of private spaceflight and now Virgin Galactic is off and selling tickets.

So that's really the model. It's we get the entrepreneur, they spend their hard-earned cash, other people's investments, they take large risks. And if they do it, there's this giant increase in publicity, markets are created, capital flows in and we drive a new industry.

VELSHI: God, you are such a big thinker. We love having you on the show and we love the work you do. I've seen you in action. I've seen you motivate people to do things that changes the world. The thing I want to talk to you about, we'll have to do it another time cause I want to actually talk about one of the X PRIZEs next that you were influential in creating.

But one of these things I want to talk to you about is you don't stop at anything. You want to solve some of the big problems that the world faces, big problems that some of us can't get our heads around.

Peter, always a pleasure for being with us.

DIAMANDIS: Because we can. My pleasure.

VELSHI: Because we can, I love the attitude. That's what we do. Peter Diamandis is CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation.

How many miles per gallon does your car get? Twenty? Thirty? Thirty-five? Imagine getting 100 miles per gallon. It has been done. It's our "Big 'I'." I'll give you a hint, it's connected to the X PRIZE and I'm going to introduce it to you next.

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VELSHI: We were just talking about the X PRIZE. There's been a new X PRIZE that's just been completed. It's the Progressive Auto X PRIZE. The prize was funded in part by Progressive, the insurance company, and I want to tell you a little about the winner.

First, let me tell you what it was about. It was awarded last week. There were three winners. The major focus is on efficiency, safety, affordability and the environment. The participants had come up with a car that got the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon of gas. It could be powered by anything, but it had to get that equivalent of fuel efficiency.

The first prize winner went to Edison2. Oliver Kuttner is joining me now, he's the winner, he's the CEO of the company with the winning vehicle.

Oliver, tell me about your car and how you did it.

OLIVER KUTTNER, WINNER, PROGRESSIVE AUTO X PRIZE: Good afternoon.

It's called the Very Light Car because it's very light. We felt you cannot get around the principles of physics, so low mass and low aerodynamic drag are the only real ways to do it. And you know, it opens a whole new set of challenges. When you have a car that doesn't weigh much, you have to make it a safe car and it -- it just becomes a problem.

We have reinvented the car by completely changing the architecture, the underpinnings of the car. It's a fundamentally different car from any car that's ever been built. And we found ourselves in a long series of positive feedback loops. Safety was of absolutely paramount priority. And we held on to the low mass by basically having different architecture.

VELSHI: Tell me how the car is powered, first of all. We're looking at pictures of it. How is it powered?

KUTTNER: It's a gasoline-powered car. Gasoline is -- you know, you can charge it up in five minutes at every street corner and it's just a wonderful system.

But our car, if it's electric, it will be a more efficient electric car. It really doesn't matter what kind of propulsion you put in it. We just changed the car. It takes less energy to push it, 3.5 horsepower propels it at 50 miles an hour and it just uses less energy. VELSHI: How practical can this get? So the idea is that the X PRIZE wants -- the aim is to break through in technology, solve problems and then hopefully, scale it up so it doesn't just run around a track.

How scalable is this? Can this be worked into some kind of a production car? Can it carry more than -- more people in it?

KUTTNER: It's a four-seater right now. It's a method of building a car. You just notice the Volkswagen Jetta really struggling to keep up with it. It handles wonderfully.

The method has huge potential. You just had a commercial of a company that spent 34 years refining a wonderful automobile. Give us five years, but in five years time we have a very powerful car or a car that can outperform -- handling-wise, outperform most cars.

Safety is going to be very good in certain accidents, challenged in others. It's an opportunity for some public/private partnership, but it has huge implications.

VELSHI: That's the point of the X PRIZE. All right, tell you what. We'll give you five years, but every year in between, will you come back and give me an update on what's going on?

KUTTNER: I'll come and give you an update and we'll give you some test drives and you'll really like it.

VELSHI: Love it. Perfect. You have a deal.

Oliver, thank you very much for doing that. Congratulations to you and your team and congratulations to all the teams that participated, including the winners of the Progressive Auto X PRIZE.

KUTTNER: All, there's one thing I'd really like to say.

I really want to thank the Department of Energy of having supported this, because it motivated probably 1,000 people to think. It's a very powerful statement of money well spent, pushing the X PRIZE. Thank you very much.

VELSHI: Very good point. Very good point. Thanks, Oliver.

Oliver Kuttner is the winner of the Progressive Auto X PRIZE, the CEO of Edison2.

To participate in the X PRIZE or just read up on the innovations -- and I really, really encourage you to do so, it's really brilliant -- head to my blog, CNN.com/Ali, and we will give you all the information and links that you need. Read up on it, because there are a lot of cynics out there, but putting stuff on my Facebook page, it really does work.

OK, New York by the numbers. A pair of polls on the governor's race are telling very different stories. Your "CNN Equals Politics" update coming up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: For those of you political junkies, it is the most wonderful time of the hour. It's time for "CNN Equals Politics" update. Right now, CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger at the CNNPolitics.com desk in Washington, which is apparently the place to be.

Gloria, what is going on right now?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Ali, it's the place to be and I'm so glad you're here with us today, right now.

VELSHI: Thank you.

BORGER: It's an increasingly nasty race for governor of New York, as you know. We got a couple of polls out today that are giving us some confusing numbers here.

One poll today shows Democrat Andrew Cuomo ahead of the republican, Carl Paladino, by 33 percent. That's a really big lead. But another poll, Ali, shows him only ahead by 6 percent.

VELSHI: Wow.

BORGER: So what's the difference here? And this is what's really important to know, the closer you get to an election, the poll that shows 33 percent just is of registered voters, but the poll that shows it closer is of likely voters and that tells the whole story of the enthusiasm gap we're seeing in this election, that likely voters are now more likely to vote republican.

And that brings us to our second topic, because that is something that President Obama spoke about specifically at a democratic fundraiser last night in New York. He said the single biggest threat to the party is apathy and he said there are people feeling, quote, "we only got 80 percent of what we want, so we're going to sit on our hands."

If that's the case, Ali, the Democrats could well lose control of the House and maybe even the Senate. So that's not exactly what the president wants.

And last, but of course not least, there's something from the annals of Biden-speak today. Not too bad, sort of fun. When you see Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, football probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind, but today he called her his number one pick in fantasy football. I think it was just his way of calling her indispensable.

She, of course, pointed out she's the only one in the Senate who gets to call him Biden and se still does, Velshi, because she likes him.

VELSHI: And, Gloria --

BORGER: And look who's here. Look who's here. Oh, my god.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: It was just two weeks ago where Gloria came on during one of these when I was talking and gave me a hug. I want people to know, I repay my debt.

VELSHI: Nice.

PRESTON: I've got to give my girl a hug right here.

VELSHI: Not only "The Best Political Team on Television," but the friendliest. Good to see you both. And, Mark, we'll see you in about an hour.

BORGER: Come to Washington. Come visit us.

VELSHI: I will definitely do that. Good to see you both.

And, of course, be sure to stay with CNN for complete coverage of the key races and key issues heading into these midterm elections, these critical midterm elections. Mark will be with us for our next "CNN Equals Politics" update just an hour away.

We'll be right back.

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