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Countdown to Election Day; Cholera Outbreak Hits Haiti; Afghanistan to Ban Private Security; A Driveway to Space, The Final Frontier
Aired October 22, 2010 - 12:59 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. As he said, in for Ali Velshi today. Thanks for joining us, everyone. Here's what we've got on the Rundown for you.
Months after that devastating earthquake in Haiti, now another emergency. This time it is a deadly outbreak that's moving fast and has sick people lined up outside of hospitals. We'll tell you about that.
And fired by one news organization, then offered a lucrative deal from another one. Must be lucky. Must be nice in some ways. We're delving into the fallout behind NPR's ouster of Juan Williams.
Plus, launching the next front in space tourism. A new runway is being dedicated today that will allow you to travel beyond the stars.
So, hello, everyone, let's go with this.
You're we're starting with politics today because it is the countdown to Election Day. The calendar and the big wall behind me, they both say there are 11 days left. There you see it. It is crunch time for the campaigns, which you already know if you've gotten any of the thousands of robo calls from candidates. I certainly have.
You know, it's also time to break out the big guns to come lend a helping hand on the campaign trail. And that's where we start today in Washington. Helping lead us through this top political headline of the day are senior political editor Mr. Mark Preston and senior deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. They're both at the CNN Politics desk in Washington rearing to go.
So, Mark, the president is sending the first part -- spending the first part of the day in California, home of the two higher profile races here. Where do they stand?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Look, he's out in California right now, Don. We have a competitive Senate race with Carly Fiorina, the Republican, challenging Barbara Boxer, the Democrat incumbent.
We also have a governor's race out there where Meg Whitman, a Republican, is dipping into her own personal fortune. At the end of the day, we expect $150 million to try win the governor's race. Jerry Brown, the Democrat some people will remember, he was once the governor of California back in the late '70s and early '80s.
So, President Obama out there trying to save that governor's seat for Democrats, try to make sure that Barbara Boxer gets re-elected.
And then after that, he gets on his airplane. He heads to Las Vegas for perhaps highest profile Senate rate, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the fight for his life out in Nevada. We have president Obama in Nevada raising money tonight, Don, and also holding a rally in that state.
And this comes, Don, as the Democratic National Committee is spending $1 million on a Hispanic outreach effort, running ads on Univision all across the country. And, of course, for Nevada and California, very important, Don.
LEMON: Yes, and as they say, Paul Steinhauser, you know, the president is going to how's he's playing in Peoria. How is the president playing with voters?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. Take a look at this, Don, our brand new numbers we've just compiled in CNN poll of polls on the presidential approval rating. And look that, Americans appeared divided, 47 percent give him a thumbs up, saying they approve of how he's doing with his duties in the White House, 48 percent saying they disapprove.
Now, people ask, wait a minute, Barack Obama is not on the ballot in November. So, why does this matter? Here's why it matters: because Republicans are trying to use these elections as a referendum on Barack Obama, what he's done in office, especially what he's done on the economy, which is the top issue.
That's why we look at that approval rating. Quite often, it's an important number in these midterm battles, Don.
LEMON: OK. Listen, so, Mark, while the Democrats have the big guns out crisscrossing the country. We have seen the former president out. We've seen the first lady out. Who are the Republicans counting on as national campaigners right now?
PRESTON: Well, 24 hours from now, we'll see Sarah Palin holding her second major rally in Florida. She'll be there with Michael Steele. It's a Republican National Committee rally. They're in Orlando.
The whole idea: the Republicans now are keeping this enthusiasm gap up. So, we'll see Sarah Palin tomorrow in Florida. We've also seen the likes of Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Bobby Jindal, Haley Barbour, John Thune, Tim Pawlenty, all big name Republicans and all Republicans, Don, that are seriously looking at running for president in 2012.
LEMON: All right. Paul, I understand you have a new CNN congressional poll of polls. What does it show?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, this is the generic ballot. This is the standard question we at CNN and other organizations ask. And it basically says, would you vote for the generic Democrat or Republican in your congressional district? Well, look at the number at CNN poll of polls: Republicans 50 percent, 42 percent say they would vote for the generic Democrat. That's an eight--point advantage obviously for the Republicans. That's up from a seven-point advantage in our last poll of polls which we just compiled a few days ago. It was six points last week. So, it seems -- it seems -- the poll numbers suggest to be going towards the Republicans, Don.
LEMON: I have to ask you. Either one of you guys can answer this. I remember being here for the last midterms and I don't remember this much anticipation and anything being this close. How do you -- what do you make of this, all of, you know, these, like, sudden-death, down-to-the-wire elections and poll numbers?
STEINHAUSER: Well, you know, we look at these poll numbers every day. I cannot tell you how many poll numbers come in, and we average them out with the polls of polls, to try to give us a pulse of what Americans are thinking. But you're right. There is so much anticipation in this election. So much at stake with the battle for Congress, Don.
LEMON: Yes. And as you said, as we said at the top of this, only 11 days left. Can you believe? We'll be following it.
Thank you, Mark. And thank you, Paul, as well.
And, you know, we have been pouring over some big political numbers as well and we wanted to share with you right here on CNN. You know, they aren't polls, but they influence the polls. It's campaign spending what I'm talking about.
As much at $3 billion will be spent on ads alone -- but take a look at this breakdown, will you? Here are the most expensive Senate races. Florida tops the list at $38 million. But remember, there are three candidates running here: Republican Marco Rubio leads that race by the way.
After that, it's the Pennsylvania and California races we are just talking about. Then it is -- then it is the $29 million battle between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle. That's a lot of money being spent on these races.
But, now, check out the money being spent on the big gubernatorial races, Jerry Brown versus Meg Whitman tops the list at 155 million bucks, $102 million of that is from Whitman alone. Only about 30 million is coming directly from the Brown campaign.
Big numbers there, a lot of money being spent.
You know, it is the last thing that Haiti needs -- a fast-moving cholera outbreak has still scores of people. An infectious disease expert joins us live to talk about the situation there. It is dire -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: All righty. In Haiti, still, they're struggling to recover from a deadly earthquake this year. It's reeling from another serious blow. Hospitals are overflowing with people sickened by a deadly cholera outbreak. At least 138 people have died, more than 1,500 are ill.
You know, it is being described as a deadliest health problem to hit Haiti since last January's earthquake. The outbreak began Tuesday and it centered north of the capital of Port-au-Prince in a rural area which is home to thousands who move there after the earthquake.
Haiti's prime minister says officials are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in an effort to bring it under control.
Cholera is a bacterial infection of the intestine. It's spread through water and food contaminated with bacteria. Symptoms include severe diarrhea and vomiting. Cholera can lead to dehydration and death within hours.
Joining us now from Nashville with more on this to talk about is Dr. William Schaffner. He's an infectious disease expert and chairs the Department of Preventative Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
So, Doctor, thank you so much for being here today. We got to ask you this: based on the reports from -- that are coming out of Haiti, this outbreak is spreading very, very quickly. Is that, you know, the usual way that cholera works? Does it spread that fast?
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, Cholera can suddenly take a burst and create a whole lot of illness. What apparently happened is these people are using river water for their sources of water, and the cholera bacteria probably grew up in this river water and now, it affects a whole lot of people. And, of course, once it's in the water, it can also get into the food.
LEMON: And there wasn't -- Dr. Schaffner, there wasn't a big problem in Haiti with cholera before these earthquakes, right?
SCHAFFNER: That's correct. But cholera can abate and kind of go away when the environmental conditions are right. This is a bacteria that actually is in the environment. It's in brackish water in the river. It can be in seacoasts.
And if the environmental conditions are not right, the cholera bacteria can grow up and then anyone who ingests that water or food that comes from that water or food that's prepared with that water can get ill.
And as your piece said, this is the disease that can cause more severe hydration faster than any other.
LEMON: A hundred and thirty-eight people have died, more than 1,500 are ill from this. So, what is the worst-case scenario here, Doctor?
SCHAFFNER: Well, the worst-case scenario, obviously, is that we're going to have more cases. What the CDC will be interested in doing is first of all, doing their epidemiology to pinpoint the source and then also getting good treatment underway. Fortunately, a lot of people can be treated just with fluid, and fluid with the appropriate kind of chemicals into it to restore the body's balance.
LEMON: Is that what doctors and medical officials should be doing now in Haiti?
SCHAFFNER: Exactly right. And they're giving it orally when they can, reserving the more complicated intravenous therapy for only the very sickest patients. And antibiotics help. But the main thing to do is fluid replacement because it's like turning on a faucet.
LEMON: OK. So, we -- you gave me the worst-case scenario, but does this get worse before it gets better? Are we going to start seeing more cases and then once they start to get it under control, it's going to start to reduce?
SCHAFFNER: I think it's likely that in the next several days, we are going to see more cases before they can pinpoint the source and get all the control measures in place, yes.
LEMON: William Schaffner -- go ahead.
SCHAFFNER: What we don't want is for it to be spread more widely.
LEMON: Yes. The last thing that Haiti needs. Unbelievable. It just seem to be one blow after another.
SCHAFFNER: Exactly.
LEMON: Thank you, Dr. William Schaffner. We appreciate it.
SCHAFFNER: All right, Don.
LEMON: You know, times are tough with millions of people out of work and many struggling -- businesses struggling are right now. But that doesn't mean raises are out of the door. You can still get a raise, really? Which sectors are leading the pack?
We'll tell you -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
LEMON: I feel like I should be marching with that music, right?
For millions of Americans, though, the struggle is right just finding a job. But there are some jobs where things are strong enough that workers can probably expect a raise this year. What? Really?
Christine Romans, co-host of "YOUR $$$$$." She joins me now from New York.
You can get a raise this time of year? I thought times were so tough. Everybody is cutting back. Not a good year to ask for a raise. It's -- we're in a downturn.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CO-HOST, "YOUR $$$$$": Well, look, this is a survey from Robert Half International. It's an employment/employer firm.
And this is what they found, that information technology, I.T. professionals can expect a raise next year. And a raise on average of more than maybe 3 percent, especially for those people who work in in- demand fields like applications and web development, data security, and something called enterprise resource planning.
You know who you are, ERP people. You can expect a raise this year.
Let me show you what we're talk about here. Business analysts, according to Robert Half International, you can expect a 5 percent raise next year. Remember, it has been -- it's been a drought out there for raises for a lot of different fields. But in a lot of these professions, you're going to see demand is up and so are the raises for these people.
Accounting and finance, also raises here, 3.1 percent. Look, if companies are having a hard time or they're concerned about their clients, their concerned about their demand, they certainly want to have people who are working on the books, right, accounting and finance?
Technology professionals are up 3.4 percent. Again, anything in data security, web and applications development -- those people are having some good raises
Also, it points out, Don, that I.T. professionals are needed in health care, and the health care field is hiring aggressively I.T. professionals to assist with the conversion to electronic medical records, and simply just to satisfy the demand of the growing health care field.
So, there you go. It's not very often I can sit here and tell you good news about your paycheck.
LEMON: Yes.
ROMANS: But if you're an I.T. professional or in accounting or finance, hopefully this means you.
LEMON: Yes, you chose the right job profession either recently or years ago, whenever your decided.
ROMANS: Yes.
LEMON: So, is it just in that sector. The specific jobs, as you mentioned, if you were in a particular category. It's not like if you're an algorithm reader. It's not that specific, is it?
ROMANS: No. Some of these get darn specific, too. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to --
LEMON: And the amount and how much they're going to get. (CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Oh, and the amounts -- the amounts are amazing. OK. So, base compensation for these ERP technical developers, that's the enterprise resource planning, $79,000 to $109,000.
LEMON: Wow.
ROMANS: These are good-paying jobs. They also have pretty low unemployment rate in this area. So, a lot of these -- a lot of these -- it's the Robert Half technology salary guide 2011. And I'm going to tweet a link to it. I'll put it on Facebook. I'll send it to you, too, Don, so all the people who follow you can see it as well.
If you happen to be one of those I.T. professionals or if you send your kid to college and you want to make sure that you're putting them in the right area, there you go.
LEMON: And you just want to, you know, maybe pick up a second career. As I say, one never knows, do one, right? I know that's a bad answer (ph).
ROMANS: That's right.
LEMON: Thank you, Christine Romans. We appreciate it.
"YOUR $$$$$" airs Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Christine Romans is the author of "Smart is the New Rich." It's on bookshelves now. Go get it, it's a great book.
Checking your top stories right now on CNN.
President Barack Obama is headed west on a big campaign swing aimed at a Democratic base. He's spending the first half of the day in California for a fundraiser and a rally. And then he's heading to Las Vegas for more of the same, a fundraiser and a rally.
The Pentagon wanted and got "don't ask, don't tell" reinstated -- well, at least for now. But because it's still in legal limbo, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is making it harder for gay troops to be dismissed. Effective immediately, none can be sacked without personal approval, the personal approval of the Army, Navy, or Air Force secretary and several other top brass.
And another couple of days of nail-biting for many baseball fans. Both league championship series will go to a sixth game for the first time in six years. Let's not add another six to that. That would not be good.
In the A.L, the Rangers will try to knock out the Yankees for good tonight. In the N.L., the Giants get another crack at the Phillies tomorrow afternoon. It should be very interesting.
OK. Let's talk now bout the story that you're talking. We call these water cooler stories, right? NPR analyst Juan Williams fired for comments about Muslims, and he is firing back right now. More on the debate on whether his ouster amounts to free speech or simply: is this an H.R. issue? What is it? We're going to talk about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's talk about this. I've heard this nonstop on the radio and television, even the newspapers. I'll show a couple in just a second here. The firestorm of controversy surrounding the firing of an NPR analyst isn't dying down at all. The question is whether these words spoken by Juan Williams on national television just a few nights ago are worth being fired over.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I think, look, political correctness can lead to some kind of paralyzes where you don't address reality. I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books, I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they're identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And Williams spoke out today. There's new stuff on "Good Morning America."
CNN's Josh Levs has been following that part of the story for us.
Josh, before --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: -- I just walked up and grabbed papers out of the newsroom, on business today, there he is, "One comment, Two Takes at NPR and FOX." And then it's on "USA Today," "NPR Firing Spurs Debate on Profiling." And newspapers all across the country and that's all -- they're talking about on radio.
So, what gives you -- what was his explanation this morning on "GMA"?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And you know, there's been a lot of talk about -- by the way, I'll take care of disclosure at the top. I used to report for NPR, you know that. A lot of people know this.
LEMON: Yes.
LEVS: But what he did was he talked about it again this morning and he said, look, that he believed that NPR is being incredibly unfair to him. And what he did is he looked back on the comment that said on the dispute. He said that really he's been painted unfairly as a result of them. Listen to what he said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: This is something that I would have said on NPR. It's not something -- it's not like I'm catering to a FOX audience as opposed to an NPR audience. I expressed a genuine feeling that I have if I'm in that situation. I'm able to discern exactly what a feeling is as opposed to what is a -- you know, a public position and ability to report and to hear what others are saying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: He also lashed out at his bosses back at NPR, calling them vindictive, antagonistic, and vicious.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I was surprised that he actually went that far to talk about his bosses. You say you don't -- you say, you know, I made the mistake. This is different, though.
LEVS: This is very different in a lot of ways. Now, there's a couple of reasons for that. One is obviously he's really upset. He said he feels that he's being portrayed as a bigot as a result of the original comment. He said, look, I have a body of work behind me. I have a career behind me. Nothing I've done should lead anyone to believe that I'm a bigot.
And what he was trying to say there was that he was acknowledging a thought process that he goes through, that might disturb people. But he e also says that he believes it's sort of NPR that made this personal because, as you know, Vivian Schiller, the CEO of NPR made a comment she later apologized for
LEMON: The psychiatrist.
LEVS: -- saying he should talk to a psychiatrist and his publicist.
But she also, she's been in Atlanta yesterday where she was talking about. She also laid out what NPR's position is. Take a look what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIVIAN SCHILLER, CEO, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: If you want to be a political activist, you may not also be a reporter or news analyst for NPR. This is very well understood by the lion's share of our staff and by journalists all over country and all over the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: So, you can see what she's saying there, that this is NPR's position and that they felt that what he was doing playing that role conflicted with their values.
LEMON: Yes. So, listen, here's -- Juan Williams is saying -- he goes basically, he said, "I was fired for telling the truth." That's what he said. "I was fired for telling the truth."
Whether you agree with Juan Williams or not, or you think he's fired for telling the truth, there has certainly been a lot of talk, Josh, about the right to free speech. That was one of the principles upon which this country was founded.
So, why can't Juan Williams say what he wants to say if it's his personal opinion?
LEVS: It's interesting. And, you know, I think this is good, because I also think it's good for people in our industry to talk open about situations like this. The trick is, I mean, no one is technically questioning his actual freedom of speech, right? I mean, he has every right to stand everywhere he wants in the public park, in soapbox, and say what he wants.
What people are talking about really is the value, right, the value of what freedom of speech is when we think about it. And what you have here is an agency, NPR, saying that they're not comfortable with someone playing that role on another show when they have this role in NPR. So, really, I think the key term here is judgment. His judgment, NPR's judgment, and our judgment of what they all did.
LEMON: But even they admit, though, that they handled it poorly.
LEVS: Well, here's what they have. There's an NPR ombudsman who works inside NPR. And her job, it's interesting what she does, her job is kind of to criticize NPR. She looks at NPR's activities and this is her job. And back when I was there, they had an ombudsman as well.
And she said, you see the quote there, she felt it was handled poorly. It's poorly handled. And she goes on to say, she says this isn't about race. It's not about freedom of speech. But she says, it centers on a collision of values. NPR emphasizing fact-based, objective journalism versus the tendency in some parts of news media, notably FOX News, to promote only one side of the ideological spectrum.
So, she is one of the people criticizing the way it was handled on the inside.
LEMON: And the fallout, the feedback -- they haven't seen anything like this ever, have they?
LEVS: No. In fact, they shut down their contact form at the Web site for a while. The vast majority of people are criticizing NPR, and very upset that he was fired over this.
LEMON: And funding, some people say, hey, we should look into the -- the government should look into the funding of NPR and whether it should be, because they deem it to be a liberal organization.
LEVS: Yes.
LEMON: And then -- LEVS: And you hear that sometimes. I mean, that's not a brand-new argument, but it's resurfacing now.
LEMON: Yes. And others are talking about, oh, sponsors pulling out and all those things. We've seen this before, but usually, it's a converse. Usually, someone says something, and people get so outraged and they call. Never has it been for someone getting fired.
LEVS: Right. That's right.
LEMON: This is -- this is quite different.
LEVS: What you're saying is usually, it's fire that person or I'll demand that you lose your funding.
LEMON: Yes.
LEVS: Now, it's what are you thinking, you should lose your funding.
LEMON: What do you mean? Why did you fire that person? Yes.
LEVS: I will mention that they have also gotten hundreds of calls from people who were upset about original comments, and some, before he was fired, saying you better fire this guy. This did exist. But the vast majority on the other side.
I also mention what NPR says about this 2 percent of -- I took this straight from NPR report. NPR receives roughly 2 percent of its annual income from federal sources such as CPB, Center for Public Broadcasting --
LEMON: OK.
LEVS: But we'll also mention that hey, he got something else.
LEMON: That's what I was going to say. I don't know, even George Stephanopoulos in that interview said, I don't know if I should congratulate you or say I'm sorry that you lost your job.
LEVS: Right.
LEMON: Don't cry for him, a $2 million deal.
LEVS: And not only that, but it's very interesting the way this conversation buttons up here.
LEMON: With FOX News.
LEVS: Right. So, FOX News has extended him, in the three-year contract. "L.A. Times" reporting it's $2 million. I know the words are kind of hard to see.
But look what Roger Ailes said in his statement. He said that basically FOX News, he said, "Juan has been a staunch defender of liberal viewpoints since his tenure began in 1997. He's an honest man whose freedom of speech is protected by FOX News on a daily basis." You have him talking about freedom of speech and protecting the liberal view point and then you also have, you know, NPR getting some criticism all over the place.
In the end, everyone has the opportunity to judge all the players, what they said, what they did. Make your own choices about what you think is right.
LEMON: You know, I say this is almost like walking off the stage of "The View" because you stop the conversation when you -- sometimes when you need to have an honest conversation, you give people a little bit of leeway without castigating them to have a broader conversation about a topic and to learn something.
LEVS: Meanwhile, the panel on "The View" said that they think that he shouldn't have been fired.
LEMON: Yes.
LEVS: That's interesting.
LEMON: There you go. Josh Levs, appreciate it. Nice job. Thank you, sir.
LEVS: Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you very much.
We're going to move on now and talk about a former mob banker or is it a serial liar? If you listen to the rhetoric, that is a choice in the Illinois Senate race. And we're going to get to the bottom of all these allegations -- coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: President Barack Obama will be in Chicago next weekend for a campaign stop in his old stomping grounds. It's actually for the race to fill his old Senate seat. The race has been one of the nastier battles we have seen with mud and accusations flying from both sides really. CNN's Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar has been covering this story for us from Chicago --
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, it really goes to show you just how tough of an election cycle this is for a Democrat. We're here in Illinois, this Democratic-leaning state. A Republican has a chance at this Senate seat and this is a race that has become a downright dirty fight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): The race for the Illinois Senate seat once held by President Obama is getting nasty. Illinois' young State Treasurer, Alexus Junelius, the Democratic candidate, had been billed by Republicans as a quote "mob banker".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He'd make Tony Soprano proud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR (voice-over): They point to years Junelius spent as an executive in his family's bank, which lent money to a convicted bookie and was seized by the government in April. Junelius is hitting back against allegations of wrong-doing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXUS JUNELIUS, STATE TREASURER, ILLINOIS: I say that's offensive, hurtful, wrong, inaccurate, and shameful. No one has ever, ever even suggested the bank has ever done anything illegal, illicit, or improper, and I'm very, very proud of the business that my father started, the community bank that my father started 30 years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR (voice-over): The Republican in the race, five-term Congressman Mark Kirk has his own Achilles heel. Multiple misstatements about his military service as an Intelligence Officer in the Navy Reserves, service he highlights on his official website.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mark Kirk lied about serving in Iraq and a lot else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Kirk said he was shot at in Iraq, that he served in the Gulf War, and that he won the Navy's intelligence officer of the year award, all of which are not true. Were you careless in your remarks?
REP. MARK KIRK, (R), ILLINOIS: Absolutely, and you correct that. That's right, and I misstated parts of my military record, but in the Navy we're trained to take responsibility and be accountable - for your people, for your unit and for your mission. I am accountable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Here's what makes this contest in Illinois really worth watching. It's one of three Senate seats where whoever wins here will take their seat not when the new Congress comes in in January, but shortly after the November 2nd election. They're replacing someone who was appointed to fill a vacancy, and that means the winner here could have an immediate impact on President Obama's agenda. Don --
LEMON: Alright, Brianna, thank you very much. We're going to talk about news overseas now.
The Afghan government's ban on private security guards is having a serious impact on U.S. funded development groups. So serious that some may pull out of the country...a live report in Globe Trekking. It's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Time know to go Globe Trekking, destination Afghanistan. Troubles brewing for U.S. backed development groups there. Some say they may be forced to pull out because of the Afghan government's decision to ban private security guards. Now you'll recall that these security outfits are similar to the ones that triggered so much controversy in Iraq. U.S. officials even say the ban could be a setback to the counterinsurgency strategy. CNN's Barbara Starr joins me live from Kabul. Barbara, what's prompted this ban? --
STARR: Well, you know Don, the government of Hamid Karzai had, in fact, already banned some private security contractors in the coming weeks. They made some exceptions. There can be private contractors for security for embassies, for military installations, U.S. And NATO military sites, but no other exceptions. A government spokesman says private security contractors for development and eight companies and agencies will be banned by the end of the year. That is a huge problem here, if that goes through. These people do work that is so vital to Afghan civilians building roads, schools, clinics, hospitals, all sorts of things across the country in some very tough areas. So the bottom line is NATO and U.S. government officials are talking to the Afghan government about what might happen, how to resolve all of this. But already, Don, we've seen the first development company announce it's going to pull out. Our Jill Dougherty is told by Development Alternatives, Inc, a company in Bethesda, Maryland, they are packing up some 300 projects. They're getting ready to pull out and it's going to be the Afghan civilians that may feel the brunt of the lack of development now.
LEMON: Barbara, that leads me to the question - you said that, done by the end of the year. So is that the deadline, then, when the security guards have to get out? Is that - by the end of the year? Or is there a later deadline for everyone to be out?
STARR: Yeah, by next month the Karzai government is really looking to stick to its policy and have private security contractors largely withdrawn from this country. And you know, what you said before really is the -- one of the central points here. They have looked at the Iraq situation, and they didn't like what they saw. They believe that private security contractors are a risk to security here - running around with their weapons - and a risk to Afghan national sovereignty. They want this type of security to be provided by Afghan forces, but there is a lot of skepticism that Afghan forces can really do that job for these firms, Don.
LEMON: We know a big part of the mission there is redevelopment, so have any, you know, developmental projects or whatever, development projects stopped because of this ban?
STARR: Well we have now, as I mentioned, seen the first company announce it's going to go. One of the problems is these companies may have a lot of trouble getting liability insurance and being able to send their employees here. No matter how much in their heart they want to come and help Afghanistan, they simply may not be able to continue to do the work and get the protection that they need. So if in the next few days this cannot be resolved - and let me tell you, there's a lots of talk behind the scenes here in Kabul. If it can't be resolved, nobody can really predict what might happen next. Don.
LEMON: Barbara Starr in Kabul - thank you, Barbara, we appreciate it. We've heard this..."Space...The final frontier". Travel there just hit a major milestone, though, and you don't have to be an astronaut for it to affect you. It is the focus of our big eye coming up.
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LEMON: Today's "Big I" is all about space travel. Since the beginning of time humanity has been obsessed with the heavens. What's out there? We have seen different kinds of spacecraft out into space, over the years. And these are pictures that, of just a few, a little bit of what we found right there. But the spacecraft of the future needs a big driveway to get into space. A big driveway? Well today we hit a major milestone in this country for commercial space travel. Virgin Galactic commemorated the completion of the main runway at the SpacePort America. It's in New Mexico. These are some of the drawings of what the completed spaceport is expected to look like. Amazing. The VSS Enterprise spacecraft just did a fly-by above the two-mile long runway in honor of the completion. This is a brand-new video of the spacecraft. Take a look at it. It will carry paying customers into sub orbital space by as early as 2012. The founder of Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson says, you know, they're even considering a hotel in space. Imagine that.
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RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER, VIRGIN GALACTIC: Initially, we're going to be doing suborbital flights. There people can have the experience of going up into space and experiencing spaceship travel. In time, we'll go to orbital flight and you know one day, obviously, it's important to dream, we hope to build a hotel in space. And we're also thinking about intercontinental travel at a fraction of the time that it currently takes to go from, you know, say America to Australia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Right, Sir Richard Branson, another big development in space travel is something called a light sail. It's a spacecraft that uses the sun to sail into space.
It may sound like science fiction, but it's actually working and is being highlighted in the huge USA Science and Engineering Festival this weekend on the National Mall in Washington. And a side note, the entire festival is free and it's open to the public.
And here to talk about light sail is Bill Nye "The Science Guy." Hi, Bill. You have a whole lot going on where you are. So explain to me, what is this sail?
BILL NYE, "THE SCIENCE GUY": So this is a replica of our spacecraft. It's a quarter-sized model. And this is being paid for privately by the Planetary Society. I've been a member for many years now, and I'm the executive director.
Anyway, we're being included in the USA Science and Engineering Festival in the National Mall. And this thing is so low mass -- How low mass is it? -- that it will be pushed through space by photons.
LEMON: I like you answer your own questions, Bill.
NYE: Well, I'm trying to be funny. And I know what you're thinking, looks aren't everything.
But the idea is you would think that solar -- the solar wind pushes things, but that's not what this is. Light has a momentum, and it's a consequence of relativity. So this idea has been around for almost a century, but we are going to try to pull it off by building what we call Light Sail One.
The spacecraft is finished, we're hoping to get a ride, as we say, to get a rocket into space, and it's the world's largest nongovernmental space organization, the Planetary Society. So we're going to give it a shot.
LEMON: So, Bill, you said it's been around how long? For almost a century? Is that what you said?
NYE: Well since relativity was discovered.
LEMON: So then why -- what took so long? Are we just -- is technology just catching up that we can try to do this?
NYE: Well, kind of, yes. People were proposed a solar sail mission during the Comet Holly flyby. Now Comet Holly is what we used to call Haley's Comet. And that mission was abandoned. It was a cool idea.
Now, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency has deployed a solar sail on its way to Venus, but ours will be the first one maneuverable enough to go into Earth orbit and we're very hopeful we'll have an object so shiny you'll be able to see it from the Earth, everybody will be able to see it. It's a very cool idea.
And you know, I'm a mechanical engineer and I go way back with this stuff. And so, it's very cool, it's very exciting to be part of the Science and Engineering Festival.
You know, on Monday, earlier this week, I was at the White House Science Fair, and I shook hands with the president.
LEMON: That's what I hear.
NYE: Very cool. And he's very supportive of science and science education. This is part of it.
LEMON: Hey, let me in here, because I want to ask this. I mean, it looks like -- what do you call it? -- Mylar, it's looks like aluminum foil, right? Kind of like the same -- remember the balloon boy? Is that the same stuff?
NYE: It's the same stuff. It is Mylar. This stuff is only 4.5 microns thick. Typical human hair is about 100.
LEMON: So tell me then, what does this mean for the future of space travel? Is this a big deal? Will this influence space travel? If so, how much?
NYE: Well, space travel indeed, this is the only way to go to another star system is with a solar sail. But more importantly probably for us, this is really the ideal technology, the ideal propulsion system to keep an eye on the sun. Solar weather, as we call it -- this would be Coron (ph), discharge big magnetic field storms. They could have a very bad effect on our telecommunications, all our electronic everything.
You know, in the 1800s this wasn't really a problem. Now with all the electronics running the whole world, we need to watch the sun.
LEMON: Bill Nye, whenever I have you on, the people on Twitter say, you rock. Thank you.
NYE: Well, thank you. It's great to see you, Don.
LEMON: It's good to see you. Have a good day.
We've covered so much in "The Big I" today. Virgin Galactic, USS enterprise, light sail and the planetary society. I have all the information and the links up on my blog if you want more information. Just go to information. Go to CNN.com/don.
All right. Former president Bill Clinton tailgating for votes? You're CNN political update, next.
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LEMON: All right. Man, it is getting close. The election is gaining on us. Eleven days left until the midterm elections. And we want to get you up to date on the developing stories from the campaign trail, of course. CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser, part of The Best Political Team on Television. Of course, joins us now from the CNN Politics Desk in Washington.
PAUL STEINHASUER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I do.
LEMON: That's a lot of politics. Best Political Team, deputy political -- politics. Politics. What's crossing.
STEINHAUSER: Well, first of all, you were supposed to get the dig on Wolf Blitzer, but he had to pretape an interview which you can see a little bit later on "THE SITUATION ROOM." So you got me out of the bullpen.
And before we talk about what's on the ticker, we have a busy weekend ahead. That's Steve Rusk, our coverage manager. He's working with (INAUDIBLE) spells. They're planning a big weekend, Don.
OK. Enough of that. Let's talk about what you were teasing earlier. Former president Bill Clinton. Where's he's going to be Sunday night. Minnesota. What's he going to be doing? Tailgating and watching the Vikings/Packers game, which is a big deal up there.
Why is he doing this? He'll be teaming up with a state lawmaker up there. Her name is Tarryl Clark. She's the Democratic House nominee going up against Representative Michele Bachmann, who is known across the country, a Tea Party favorite. Big race up there. So, maybe football and politics will merge. We'll see.
Also, one other thing on the ticker we just found out also. The president is going to Kentucky the day before the election to try to help the Democratic Senate nominee there. So, a lot of Bill Clinton. But there's another former president, and my friend Mark Preston knows all about that.
LEMON: Oh, there he is! There's Mark Preston. Mark, are you going to tell us about these Bush memoirs? This is cool stuff.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: This is cool stuff. November 9, mark your calendar. That's when George W. Bush publishes his memoir "Decision Points." Apparently, Don, he's going to talk about the 2000 election, the September 11 terrorist attacks, his decision to go to war in Iraq and of course, his response which he was very much criticized for to Hurricane Katrina.
He has a three-minute video up that he has posted where he's basically trying to sell his book. If you go to CNN political ticker, we have a story written by one of our authors right behind us, Alex Mooney. He has a link that you can go to see the video. So, I suspect now it's going to be a bestseller and will have a whole lot of new information that we probably never knew about.
LEMON: Mark, you were hiding back there. I didn't even know you were there. Usually you're, like, out front trying to hog the camera.
PRESTON: Watch this. If I go down and go down and go down and go down then you're not going to see me anymore.
LEMON: OK. That may not be so bad. But we like having you, so stay around.
PRESTON: Hey!
LEMON: Hey, listen. That's what you have guy did with my Altus Bell. Say hi to Altus. She's usually here in Atlanta and she's a buddy of mine. And she's sitting right there next to you.
STEINHAUSER: Altus Bell. We do love her.
LEMON: There she is. Hey, Alta, wave to the camera. Hi, there.
STEINHAUSER: Altus, wave to Don.
LEMON: All right, guys. Thank you. We appreciate it. We'll see you in just a little bit with more coverage.
Make sure you stay with CNN for complete coverage of the key races and issues heading into the critical midterm elections. Your next CNN political update just one hour away.
But first, we want to check some top stories on CNN. Tropical Storm Richard has triggered a tropical storm warning and hurricane watch for the coast of Honduras. Richard was slowly shifting to the west this morning after being nearly stationary in the southwestern Caribbean. Top winds around 40 miles an hour. The storm could hit Honduras by Saturday evening.
The French Senate today passed a series of amendments on a pension reform measure that would raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. This clears the way for the final vote on that proposal. It's triggered days of violent protests and strikes across the country. The government says it's a necessary move to save money and to pay its debt. The final vote could come today, so stay tuned.
A California judge has ordered Lindsay Lohan back to rehab until January of next year. The judge warned her that if she violates probation again, she'll be sent to jail for 180 days. Lohan says she is working hard -- that's a quote -- to overcome a substance abuse problem.
OK. Dogs are man's best friend, right? They're also a useful tool in the fight against drugs. But it's not exactly what you might be thinking. We'll explain. That is after the break.
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LEMON: In today's "Odds & Ends," we'll show you video you really just can't miss.
So, let's start with this huge fight in - look at that! This happened in an Ontario football conference amateur league football game between the St. Leonard cougars and the Hamilton Hurricanes. Toward the end of the game, the Cougars rushed the stands and got into a huge brawl with the spectators. One fan was flattened with a plastic milk crate and another was knocked out cold.
They don't mess around in Canada, right? When it comes to that.
Most of us really love our dogs, big dog and little dogs as well. Some dogs lay around, and other dogs have a purpose. How about being able to hire a dog to check your home for drugs.? It's a new tool offered to parents in Maryland who want to stop their kids from doing drugs. This nonprofit group is called Dogs Finding Drugs. But while it's a nonprofit, it's going to cost you about $200 an hour. That's a lot of cash. The program will not confiscate any drugs found, and the group won't notify police. There you go.
Finally, a Shaq statue. Sort of. All right. So, the real basketball player Shaquille O'Neal spent some time yesterday afternoon at Harvard square where he posed silently for photographers. Thirty-eight-year- old NBA veteran spent about an hour at the photo shoot while hundreds looked on and many snapped pics with the big man. While Shaq never said a word, he couldn't help but smile at some of the fan comments.
A Shaq statue. All right.
