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Real Women of Afghanistan; Russian Intelligence Officer Betrayed Spies; Politician Compares Immigrants to Rats; The Killings in Connecticut; Slashing the Deficit; Supreme Court Orders DADT to Stay For Now; One in 10 Kids Have ADHD; Alaska Senate Spelling Bee; McCain versus McCain on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; Michigan Republican Going After RNC Chair; President Bush on CNN's "State of the Union"; Notepads to Change the World

Aired November 12, 2010 - 13:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi. For the next two hours today and every weekday, I guide you through the maze of information coming your way. Together we'll learn what's going on at home and around the world. I'll give you access to the folks who can best explain what it means today and the impact beyond today.

We'll showcase the best ideas in innovation, philanthropy and public education, because my mission is to help you figure out how what is going on around you fits into your life. Let's get started right now. Here's what I've got on a rundown.

A staggering statistic - nearly one in every ten kids in this country diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, A.D.H.D., that's up 22 percent in just four years. We'll look beyond the numbers and find out what's going on. We'll get a rare and fascinating look at what life is really like for women in Afghanistan, dealing with new freedom, as well as ongoing oppression.

And we'll look in on Alaska's up in the air write-in senate race. We haven't seen this much ballot challenging since the days of the Hanging Chad. But we start with a little international intrigue; James Bond type of stuff. The name is Shcherbakov. Colonel Shcherbakov. That's the name the main Russian newspaper is now using for the guy who supposedly tipped off the U.S. about undercover Russian spies who were living in the United States.

You probably remember this summer's headlines and of course, Anna Chapman. She's the fiery redhead spy, who caught all of our attention when she was picked up. She's since become a bit of a celebrity with a scantily clad spread in Maxim magazine, Chapman was one of several spies picked up but later swapped for Russian prisoners.

Well, this guy, Colonel Shcherbakov, was a bigwig in Russian intelligence circles, and guess what? He is nowhere to be found. It seems he slipped out of the Russia at about the same time the lid was blown off the spy ring. The paper says he was at the interrogation in the United States of one of those captured spies, but the U.S. intelligence community has no comment.

Needless to say Russian lawmakers, including President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, would like to talk to him about this massive embarrassment. But don't get any ideas from what you see here, that's just a picture of Putin on a recent hunting trip.

Meanwhile, another Russian lawmaker is calling for a special investigation. CNN Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance watching developments in Moscow right now, he joins us now for two at the top. Matthew, what do you know?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, just that they say, this newspaper, a very respected daily business paper in fact, in Russia called Komasanta (ph), launched this very extensive investigation. At the end of it they said they had spoke to a number of unnamed sources in the Russian foreign intelligence agencies.

And they said they've named this character Colonel Scherbekov, as the double agent, they guy who had given all the names to the U.S. authorities of the ten agents that were working undercover, including Anna Chapman of course, in the United States.

He was obviously a central figure in the SVR, which is the Russian overseas intelligence agency, the equivalent of the CIA. He fled Russia three days before President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia went on a state visit to the United States back in June earlier this years, hasn't been seen anything of since.

There's been very chilling commitments from these unnamed sources being quoted by Komasanta (ph), this newspaper, saying we know who he is, we know where he is, and that he can expect some kind of retribution, possibly they are hinting at assassination in the future, Ali.

VELSHI: Matthew, what of this talk that I've heard about him possibly having defected to the United States or the West? Do you know anything about that?

CHANCE: Well, that's the implication from this investigation that's been done by this Russian newspaper, that at some point -- it's not clear when or why, he changed sides. He was in charge, in fact, of deploying these moles, these agents, like Anna Chapman, to the United States, and at some point he switched sides.

It's not clear whether he did that for financial reasons or he was blackmailed in some way, which is sometimes, you know, sometimes happens. But he did it and he gave the names of these ten agents to the U.S. authorities, and now he's -- I think it's fair to say in the bad books of Russian intelligence services.

VELSHI: Matthew thanks very much for that. Matthew Chance in Moscow, very intriguing story, no doubt. We'll continue to follow it for you. A Tennessee lawmaker is under fire for comparing illegal immigrant women to rats that multiply. State Representative Curry Todd made the remark after asking prenatal health care officials if patients have to show proof of citizenship before getting state-funded help. That's today's Sound Effect --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not permitted to determine citizenship, because the child, once born, is a U.S. citizen.

REP. CURRY TODD (R), TENNESSEE: Well we can go out there like rats and multiply then, I guess.

KASAR ABOULLA, TENNESSEE IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE RIGHTS COALITION: It showed that him, as an elected official, that he doesn't care about the immigrant community, that he doesn't value them as human beings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Todd apologized for what he called a poor choice of words, but he says he stands by his point. The crimes are so shocking that even the jurors have night mares. A family in Connecticut had it all. Until two career criminals picked their house to invade. Now one man is sentenced death, another is waiting for trial. I'm going to take you inside the story like you've never been before, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: This week a jury in Connecticut decided a career criminal should die for the nightmarish murders of a nurse and her two daughters back in 2007. Only Dr. William Petit survived the hours of brutality, the torture, terror, and finally arson that cost him his home and family.

When Steven Hayes went on trial in September for murder and kidnapping, Petit testified against him. Weeks later when jurors came back with the death penalty, Petit was there too, and afterward he spoke on the courthouse steps.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. WILLIAM PETIT, HOME INVASION VICTIM: You know the way I've imagined it straight through, it's a hole with jagged edges, and over time the edges may smooth out a little bit. But the hole in your heart and the hole in your soul is still there. So there is never closure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: In just a few months Dr. Petit will again have to relive those horrors at the trial of Stephen Hayes' alleged accomplice. From all indications that man was actually the instigator and his trial could be even more wrenching if that's possible. CNN's Randi Kaye has covered the story from the beginning. She put together a special report airing this weekend "Pure Evil; The Killings in Connecticut." I want you to see a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the Petit family in this quiet Connecticut suburb, there was never any hint of the violence that was to come.

BETH KARAS, TRU TV "IN SESSION" CORRESPONDENT: The epitome of the All-American family, a beautiful mother and two beautiful daughters.

KAYE: Never any clue their vibrant home on Sorghum Mill Drive in the town of Cheshire, would soon become a house of horrors. Their last day together as a family was a classic summer Sunday. Dr. Women Petit, a prominent Connecticut doctor, a leading expert in the field of diabetes played golf with his dad. Earlier that day his wife of 22 years, Jennifer Hawk-Petit, and her daughter Michaela, 11, had gone grocery shopping at this Stop and Shop supermarket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The younger daughter, Michaela, was going to make a special dinner for her family, and so she and Mrs. Petit went to the Stop and Shop here in town.

The older daughter, Hayley, 17, had just graduated from Miss Porter's school, a prestigious prep school. She wanted to be a doctor like her dad. As Jennifer Hawk-Petit, a pediatric nurse, drove back from the supermarket, she had no idea she was being watched. Watched, police say, by two career criminals paroled from prison just weeks before. Within hours, their worlds would collide.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: "Pure Evil, The Killings in Connecticut" airs at 10:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow, and 10:30 Eastern on Sunday right here on CNN. Well, are we ready to cut military spending, change social security and even give up that treasured mortgage deduction? All to bring down the deficit? We'll hear from someone in a moment who thinks that's only a start and that's just how dire things are.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: One of the big political head-turners this week was the preliminary report from President Obama's deficit commission. Why did it send the Democrats and the Republicans into their ideological bunkers? Because the commission suggested cutting everything from military spending, to social programs, even a change in the country's tax structure in order to get the deficit under control.

So, no surprise we've got a pretty good discussion going on in this week's "Your Money" and heard that maybe this commission didn't go far enough.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Diane Swonk, Chief Economist with Mesirow Financial, Diane, we have a few issues here. We want to make sure that this commission doesn't end up like the 9-11 commission where nobody does anything, but that danger really does exist. They were told do what you have to do to figure out an answer to this debt and deficit question. Did they overreach to a point that, as John suggests, it might just be dead on arrival?

DIANE SWONK, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MESEREAU FINANCIAL: You know, I think no matter what they did was going to be dead on arrival, and I think John points out something important - is what the American people think they want and the reality of what that actually means for their lives are two different things and the gap and bridging that is very difficult.

And in fact, I agree with David. I mean I still think the commission fell short, in terms of what they could have done. They sort of didn't want to overkill and sort of go where they thought they really needed to go to deal with the real structural deficit out there. This really doesn't have much on entitlements over the longer haul.

But on the other side of it, they were trying not to go so far that they wouldn't get any negotiation. At the end of the day, the background research on this by Pew and Peterson research says, you know, that we need to have new budget accords, we need to have new rules that Congress has to act.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

SWONK: And that's what we -- is lacking in all this. You know, we can have all the commissions in the world, employ all the commissions to advise us, but if we don't have rules in which we have to get Congress to actually be disciplined to have a discussion, they're going to continue to act like children. I'm ready kind of ready to give the whole Congress a time-out at this point in time.

CHRISTINE ROMANS: A time-out, but if you could somehow, so that when they overspent have automatic tax increases, right, Diane? So you automatically have triggers that when we were --

SWONK: Or spending freezes, absolutely.

ROMANS: And so that they had to --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Way to go, Christine.

ROMANS: That would also give them the political cover as well. They could say to their constituents, look, these are the rules. You know, this is the way -- because nobody wants to take the blame at the voting booth for actually doing the things that the people at the voting booth say they want done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And it was a good conversation. You can see the rest of it, including lots more, plus Richard Quest on whether anything worthwhile came out of the G-20 Summit in South Korea. Catch me with my co-host Christine Romans on "Your Money," Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. Remember, Christine is also the author of "Smart Is The New Rich," which has a great chapter on tackling debt. It's called "Debt Free in Three." How you get rid of your debt in three years.

OK, let me get you up to speed with what's going on in the news. Now that the 4,500 passengers and crew aboard the Carnival Splendor are safely back on dry land, serious questions are being asked about how the ship lost power. The company says a fire in the engine room cut off electricity to other equipment, including engines and the air conditioning. The cause of that fire is still not clear. A full investigation is now being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Coast Guard and officials from Panama, which is where the boat is registered.

Nissan recalling more than 600,000 cars and SUVs. More of them here in the United States. More than half a million Frontier and Xterra SUVs need to have part of the steering column replaced, while thousands more Sentra sedans need battery cable terminals replaced. The cars involved were made between 2002 and 2004.

And we're hearing about a big media merger today. "Newsweek," the 77- year-old magazine, is joining the website, "The Daily Beast." The new entity will be called Newsweek Daily Beast Company. You might remember that stereo equipment billionaire Sidney Harman, of Harman Kardon fame, bought "Newsweek" from "The Washington Post" back in August for $1. He'll now co-own the new company with "Daily Beast" parent owner Interactive Corporation's Barry Diller.

The hidden victims of war and a brutal male dominated society. A rare look inside the lives of Afghan women and their struggle to survive. That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: So much of what you see or hear about Afghanistan is, well, about the war. It's U.S. troops, it's the Taliban, it's suicide bombs. But behind that are real Afghans who are trying to live their lives in a country that's been at war almost constantly since the 1980s. So just take a minute and watch what I'm going to show you. I'm not going to talk. We're not going to play music or anything like that. Just take a look at these photographs. These images that capture a slice of life inside Afghanistan. And then I'm going to talk to the woman who took these photos and got to know these women of Afghanistan. Look at this.

Lynsey Addario is a photojournalist and MacArthur Fellowship recipient. Her photos are featured in the December issue of "National Geographic." Lynsey joins me now from New Delhi.

Lynsey, it's a real honor to have you here on this show with us. You went out of your way. You -- over the course of a year, you visited Afghanistan and had unprecedented access to the women who you photographed. Tell me the stories behind those photographs and the stories of these women.

LYNSEY ADDARIO, PHOTOJOURNALIST: Thank you so much for having me.

I've been working in Afghanistan for the past 10 years, actually. I started going in 2000 when it was under Taliban rule. So I'm quite familiar with women in Afghanistan and how they've developed over the years since the fall of the Taliban. So this project basically enabled me to go really deep into the lives.

The difficult is, of course, photographing them, because photography is quite sensitive in Afghanistan. But I tried to create a real broad spectrum of what Afghan women's lives are like, from more modern women, to more conservative women.

VELSHI: What is that range like, because one of the issues that we deal with all the time, Lynsey, that I said in our intro is that so much of the coverage and so many of the images we see from Afghanistan are war-related. And women -- we have an impression of what women in Afghanistan are like. And yet your pictures are showing us women doing a far broader range of things. What is the range of activity and sentiment that women experience?

ADDARIO: It really depends on where you are in the country. For example, Kabul is much more open than the rest of the country, so you'll find a women boxing team, you'll find more women who are educated, graduating from the university, you'll find women doctors, you'll find things that are harder to find in the south of the country, for example, where the Taliban is more present and more women are staying at home and generally are not educated past the age of puberty. So it depends on where you are in the country.

That said, women who are more modern also face a hard time within the society being modern. One of the women that I spent a lot of time with, Trina (ph). She's an actress. And I went driving with her one day through Kabul and cars were veering off the road. I mean men were just totally in awe of watching her drive. And she was listening to loud music and singing as she would drive. As she was driving, much like you would see any high school student in America. But to see it in Afghanistan, cars were almost crashing because they were watching her in complete awe.

VELSHI: So on one leave you've got that. You've got the challenges of modernity and how some women in Afghanistan are trying to deal with that. On the other side, and I want to show some photographs here. I have to warn our viewers, these photographs that we're about to show are quite graphic and they speak to a trend that is taking place in Afghanistan about self-immolation, setting one's self on fire, a form of suicide, that you've seen Afghan women participating in. Tell me about this.

ADDARIO: I first went -- first of all, I saw this trend when I was working on the National Geographic story, and I've seen it for many years since I started working there and since I was working in Pakistan and in the region. But I really wanted to do a story that got the voices of the women themselves. What do they do this? What gets them to the point where they're so desperate that they will actually douse themselves in petrol and set themselves on fire.

This is a different -- I wanted it in their voice. I didn't want to necessarily create a series of photographs that were shocking without any explanation as to why. There's an incredible level of violence against women in Afghanistan. This is not something that has come because of the Taliban. This was happening before the Taliban, during the Taliban and now it's happening. It's happening with the highest number of NATO troops in the country. It happens. It's all across the country. And women in Afghanistan have no escape from this violence.

Many women are beaten several times a day, every day. I would say that of the 200 to 300 women that I interviewed for this story, 90 to 95 percent of them expressed that they were beaten almost daily.

VELSHI: Lynsey, you've been covering this since 2000 in Afghanistan. How will real change come to this country given what you've just told me?

ADDARIO: I think the only way that change can come to Afghanistan is from the Afghans themselves and from men in Afghanistan. It's the men who enable their women to go get educated. It's the men who let the women leave the house. I mean this is a country where women have to ask permission to leave the house. This is something that, for westerners, we have no concept of that principle that a woman actually has to get permission to leave the house.

So it -- the change will have to come from Afghan men. It will come from men who say, look, I want my wife to be educated. I want my daughter to be educated. I want her to make something of her life. This is -- you know, President Karzai himself, no one has ever seen his wife. I mean his wife is an educated woman. She doesn't go in public. She could be a wonderful role model for women across Afghanistan, but she's invisible in the country. That's a perfect example.

And the country needs role models. Women, female role model. And there are some. There's Habiba Sarabi, who is the governor of Bamyan. There are women parliamentarians. There are educated women. There are women who are trying to break the stereotype and get out there and do something with their lives. But the change really has to come from the men and the women of Afghanistan, not from the outside.

VELSHI: Thank you for giving us images of a real Afghanistan that goes beyond the images of war that we always see. And thanks for using your camera to tell a very important story about the future of Afghanistan while looking at the past.

Lynsey Addario, a pleasure to have you on the show. Thanks for joining us.

ADDARIO: Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

VELSHI: All right.

The rate of ADHD in this country is on an alarming rise. Now you look around, one of every 10 kids you see has been diagnosed. We're going to break it down with a study's author coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Got some breaking news for you on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The Supreme Court has ordered the policy to remain in effect for now. Let's go to CNN producer Bill Mears who is on the phone with us with more on this. Bill --

BILL MEARS, CNN SUPREME COURT PRODUCER (via telephone): That's right, Ali, the court just moments ago issued an order keeping this controversial "Don't Ask/Don't Tell" policy in place with the case is working its way to the lower courts.

A homosexual rights group called the "Log Cabin Republicans" asked the Supreme Court to step in and issue emergency rulings that basically would suspend the policy. Courts have been back and forth whether the policy should remain in effect while the case is being decided. It may not reach the Supreme Court for a couple years, so this is an important development about whether the policy will continue to be enforced.

VELSHI: Right, and it's been tough, Bill, because there's been a lot of back and forth with instructions and interpretations. Does this settle things for a while given that the Supreme Court has said they've got to enforce this until it changes?

MEARS: It does. On the legal end it adds stability to it. The case is still being heard by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. They will continue to debate the case for the next several months or so.

It could go next to the Supreme Court, but there's the other track, the legislative track, and there are efforts by Congress and the administration to unilaterally overturn the policy and that would pretty much nullify whatever the court is doing. So we're working on two different tracks here.

VELSHI: All right. Bill, thanks very much for that. We'll continue to follow this story and get further implications. Bill Mears in D.C.

We saw some startling numbers released this week on the prevalence of ADHD in America, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Let's take a look.

The current study from the CDC shows that nearly 5.5 million kids in America have been diagnosed with the disorder. That's almost 1 out of every 10 children between the ages of 4 and 17 years old. That's just how many have been diagnosed.

What may be even more shocking to you, the numbers have gone up more than 20 percent in the last four years, boys are twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. ADHD is what's called a neurobehavioral disorder that normally strikes in childhood, but persists into adulthood.

It's one of the most commonly diagnosed of the neurobehavioral disorders treatable with drugs and behavioral therapy, but these new survey numbers suggests only two thirds of kids currently diagnosed with ADHD are on some form of medication.

Joining me now from Atlanta to talk about the significance of these numbers is Susanna Visser, the study's lead author at the CDC. Susanna, thanks very much for being with us.

SUSANNA VISSER, NATIONAL CENTER ON BIRTH DEFECTS AND DEVELOPMENT DISABILITIES: Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

VELSHI: Let's address some of the stuff that I heard after we first read this report that it was first reported on the news, with a whole bunch of people saying is ADHD real for everybody who's diagnosed or are there a core of people who really suffer from this neurobehavioral disorder and a whole bunch of people on the margins who are diagnosed so that their teachers don't have to deal with them or their parents don't have to deal with their behavior?

VISSER: That's a great question, very common question. I hear it a lot and the families of children who are coping with ADHD in America are certainly sensitive to that issue.

I think for the vast majority of those who are diagnosed with ADHD, we know they have behavioral problems that cause impairment in dealing with family, friends and definitely their schoolwork.

You know, we can't tell from the study to what degree the children were diagnosed in a way that indicates they had a full evaluation that leads to a really concrete diagnosis of ADHD.

We also know that it's a developmental disorder. That means the symptoms change over time. So it's unclear what percentage of these 9.5 percent of American kids 4 to 17 truly are dealing with a disorder that, you know, presents ongoing challenges for them and probably will still be there as adults.

VELSHI: Now, when you talk about the fact that people can - that it changes, can one of those changes be adaptation? I mean, clearly there were people that had ADHD 25 years ago, but we didn't have that diagnosis for them, and some of those people became more highly functioning.

That's the wrong word, but they were ability to adapt that to their careers or the way they do work. Is medication the leading way to deal with this or do we also find that people sort of adapt and change their behavior?

VISSER: Well, members of multiple academies suggest that the best way to deal with this in terms of treatment is through a combination of medication and behavioral therapies. So there are a number of behavioral therapies that can really improve functioning.

Those include parent training for the parents, supportive school services for the child, learning how to have better peer skills with their friends. Those can all really help. Medication is the single- most effective means of controlling the symptoms of ADHD.

As you indicated earlier, we do see a remission or a decrease in hyperactive symptoms over time, as children age, but the inattentive symptoms and the emotional problems that we see in these kids tend to persist into the teen years, and we are seeing from other studies reports that rates of ADHD among adults are also increasing.

VELSHI: All right, so the inattentive, we can definitely get or head around, but what are the other symptoms that persist into adulthood that create problems?

VISSER: Well, hyperactivity and impulsivity manifest themselves in different ways as adults. So impulsivity in terms of reacting to their spouses and their friends, they may say things that they wish they hadn't. That impulsiveness remains. It just, you know, exhibits itself in very different ways as adults. VELSHI: What's with the increase in diagnosis? The 20 percent rise in diagnosis over four years, have we gotten better at diagnosing or are we freer in diagnosing? Or do we think there are really 20 percent higher number of people with ADHD?

VISSER: I think the consensus among experts is that there's probably not a decrease in the base rate of ADHD out there, but we are getting better at conducting behavioral screenings that identify behavioral problems.

And we're also doing much better about really getting the information out to parents that, if they see something that's is problematic in their child's behavior that's consistent with hyperactivity, inattention, sensory processing problems, behavioral problems of any kind, they should talk to their doctors.

More parents bringing those issues to their doctors should result in greater diagnosis.

VELSHI: Susanna, thanks very much. This is a complicated topic, a very interesting one though, and I'm glad you were here to give us a little clarity on this. And thanks for the study.

VISSER: Always happy to be here. Thank you.

VELSHI: Susanna Visser is a lead epidemiologist in the Child Development Studies team at the CDC.

All right, she's a fighter for democracy, feared by Myanmar's military leaders, are years of detention about to end for Aung San Suu Kyi? A live report is next in Globe Trekking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time now for Globe Trekking. Destination, Myanmar, excitement and tension high this hour amid the possibility that military government will release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, probably who's been under house arrest.

Hundreds of her supporters gathered near her home today. Her latest term of detention is due to expire tomorrow. Rumors swirled for the capital of Yangon that military officials had already signed the release papers.

Suu Kyi has been under detention for 15 of the past 21 years, her party overwhelmingly won the country's first election in 1990, but the military annulled the results and has always violently cracked down on pro-democracy seeker.

Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace price in 1991 for her tireless effort to restore democracy to the country. Her father led the struggle for independence from Britain and was the country's first prime minister.

Myanmar's military government has refused to allow CNN or other organizations into the country. Joining us now on the phone from Myanmar is an unnamed correspondent. What do we know about this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): Well, Ali, we know that there were rumors that swirling around here in Yangon that she might be released today. Then, however, as the evening hours came, it appeared as though this was going to happen on Saturday.

But I can tell you, there's a lot of people here who came out on the streets and also came to the headquarters of her political party called the National League for Democracy. There are about 500 to 800 people there and I think we have to explain to our viewers in America that this place is to repressive.

Is that people here are afraid to say anything political. They're afraid to talk to people like us, to westerners, and people like that come out here with t-shirts bearing her likeness on it that really shows how significant a political leader she is here for the opposition, how much hope the people of this repressed country put in Aung San Suu Kyi, Ali.

VELSHI: Tell us about the elections that took place on Sunday that western governments are now saying were neither free nor fair. If released, what role would she have, if any, in the government?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, one of the things that these elections did is they divided the opposition here in this country. Of course, Aung San Suu Kyi and her party called for these elections, which many are calling as a sham to be boycotted.

However, there were smaller opposition parties that did take part so there is some (inaudible) risk. However, these opposition parties we've been talking to them, and they said basically their political novices, they never knew how to run a campaign. They had massive hurdles put on them by the junta.

We've also heard from other people that apparently, there was vote (leaking) going on as well. One of the things that people hope is that even after this election has been lost now, that Aung San Suu Kyi could come out. She could revitalize the opposition.

She could lead them together again and really have there be a stronger opposition, and ultimately maybe foster some sort of change in this country, but it is something that is a monumental task being here, you can really see under what tight a grip by the military rulers this place really is.

And I could tell you, now that her release is possibly coming closer, there are riot police who are around that compound and more of them, of course, coming in all the time, Ali.

VELSHI: All right, we will keep on top of this situation. Thanks for joining us on this, and obviously because we are not allowed to be in the country, we do not want to risk anybody's safety. That's why our correspondent will remain unnamed.

A big political story in the spelling fight in the Alaska Senate race. How exactly do you spell Lisa Murkowski's name and why does it matter? Some write-in ballots are being contested even if the name is spelled correctly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's an all-out spelling bee going on right now in Alaska. I'm Ali Velshi, the spelling bee is all over the name Murkowski.

VELSHI: Hold on, big guy. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Ali Velshi. Republican Senate candidate Lisa Murkowski trying to get elected by --

VELSHI: Yes, I'll take it from here. I'll take it from here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

VELSHI: Republican Senate candidate Lisa Murkowski trying to get elected by the 92,000 write-in ballots submitted November 2nd. She could actually beat her opponent Joe Miller.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm --

VELSHI: Here to talk to us a bit about this is Pete Dominick --

PETE DOMINICK, ANCHOR, WHAT THE WEEK: This is where I stand to talk to Ali Velshi?

VELSHI: Who apparently has been in my closet.

DOMINICK: Well, I've been in somebody's father's closet because this suit doesn't exactly work and these are prescription glasses, not nearly as classy as yours, Ali Velshi. I think these are like from the gap or something, but I'm going to go with them.

VELSHI: That is quite a like, Pete. I must say -- you are a man -- I've never seen you in anything other than, you know, stuff that looks like you're about to clean out your car or paints your house. Nice. You look good in the real duds.

DOMINICK: Thank you very much, sir.

VELSHI: This is about Lisa Murkowski.

DOMINICK: Well, it's hard to spell, apparently. There are many ways you could spell it. So here's what I want to try to do with you. Use the word in a sentence --

VELSHI: Murkowski?

DOMINICK: Yes, and I'll be able to spell it better. Like a spelling bee.

VELSHI: OK, Murkowski. I just came back from the polling place where I cast a ballot for Lisa Murkowski.

DOMINICK: Murkowski m-u-r-k-o-s-k-e-e. Murkowski. VELSHI: No.

VELSHI: What is the root of the word? Former Senator from Alaska.

DOMINICK: Do they not know who I'm voting for? Am I going to mess up Miller, Murkowski? Come on, Ali Velshi.

VELSHI: Yes, I'm looking at those. They all seem to be indicating a vote for her. What's the problem?

DOMINICK: Is it a problem? I mean, what's the confusion here? Is someone faking a spelling? Can you spell Lisa wrong, by the way? Is that a possibility? L-e-e-s-a? I don't know.

VELSHI: The Miller campaign is actually contesting not only the things that might be wrong spellings. They're actually also contesting correct spellings. Tell me about that.

DOMINICK: Well, I don't know. I can tell you only about when you know you've lost, when you know it's time to give up, when you're talking about the spelling of a name, I mean, people went a long way -- this will be the first time I think somebody wins on a write-in, especially in the Senate.

I mean, it looks bad for his campaign to be contesting the spelling. You know, we've seen these types of things in elections before, but contesting a letter here or there, handwriting? Remember the hanging Chad, now it's the hanging "s-k-I" apparently.

VELSHI: Yes, it's very straight. I think Strom Thurmond was once elected as a write-in candidate. Do we know - I mean, she's still in the lead in the count at this point.

DOMINICK: Yes, she's definitely in the lead, but what if you put on the "I" you know how some people put the big bubble instead of a dot on the "I" who is that a vote for? You know, what if the "l" isn't capitalized. Who wins in that election? Who's representing in Alaska in that Senate race?

VELSHI: I know my producers are getting mad me for asking you this, but I saw something on TV with you and sheep?

DOMINICK: Yes, I was - I'm walking a sheep. You can see on my new show "What The Week" 10:30 Saturday, tomorrow night. My sheep, socks and sweaters, there they are. That's their names, socks and sweater and I did it all for my kids, Ali. All for my kids.

VELSHI: That's what it's all about my friend. Pete, I love the way you look and let me give you some dates that I'm not going to be around because I think you could do a fantastic job. Why don't you take us to break?

DOMINICK: I'm CNN's Ali Velshi and former President George W. Bush is getting ready for another state of the union. Your CNN political update is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time for a CNN Political Update and House divided on a key issue in American politics. CNN senior political editor, Mark Preston joins me now from Washington. Hello, Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Ali. How are you? I don't know how to follow you and Pete Dominick, but I will try. It won't be as good and I don't wear glasses yet.

But as you say, a House divided on the issue of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which is the policy of the military that requires gay members of the military to not talk about it, not discuss it.

Well, John McCain who is a senior senator, of course, in the Senate and heads up the Armed Services Committee for Republicans, he does not agree with the policy, however, his wife is now part of a video where she is taking an opposite view.

In fact, she's joining the likes of Gene Simmons of Kiss, David Navarro, the other musician, Denise Richards, Slash, Dr. Drew, in this anti-bullying video for the LGBT Teens.

Of course, this all has to do with the suicides and bullying we've seen of recent weeks. In fact, this is what Cindy McCain has to say. Our political and religious leaders tell LGBT youth that they have no future. They can't serve our country openly.

Of course, now Cindy McCain is at odds with her husband on that issue. Let's talk a little bit about Michael Steele. Ali, we talk about him a little bit at least once a week anyway. He's the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Will he or won't he run again for another term to head that large GOP organization?

Well, we don't know what he's going to do. We know he's privately making some telephone calls and contemplating what he's going to do, but we did learn today that he will have a challenger if he does run. Gentleman's name is Saul Anuzis, he's a Republican out of Michigan.

In fact, Saul ran against Michael Steele back in 2009. He placed third in that race to head the RNC. Michael Steele came out on top. Let's talk a little bit about Candy Crowley's interview on Sunday with the Bush brothers.

She's going to sit down with President Bush and his brother, Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida. Of course, President Bush has that new book out "Decision Points." It should be a really interesting interview.

It's not just talking to the president about his book, but talking to his brother, as well. So they will all be together down in Miami and that will air at 8:00 on Sunday evening, Ali.

VELSHI: Mark, always a pleasure to see you. You have yourself a fantastic weekend and look forward to seeing you in person here. You're know Pete Dominick, but I like you all the same.

PRESTON: I appreciate it, Ali. Thanks.

VELSHI: Right now an estimated 150 million kids in India live in homes without electricity. A 100 million go to school without electricity, 100 million kids. These same kids may soon have access to one of the world's most advanced electronic notepad. Today's big I coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Imagine living in a home without electricity and sending your kids to schools without electricity. Today's Big I, which we do every day is a solution that jumps ahead of the problem. It actually puts electronic notepads in the hands of those kids who don't have electricity.

And here to show us how an electronic notepad works without electricity is Krishna Palem. He joins us from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston.

He's the director of the Rice-Nanyang Technological University's Institute on Sustainable and Applied Infodynamics. That is a mouthful, but apparently that mouthful has produced electronic tablet computers for these kids in India. I don't even know where to start on this. Tell me about it.

KRISHNA PALEM, DIRECTOR, RICE-NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE ON SUSTAINABLE AND APPLIED INFODYNAMICS: First, thanks for inviting me, Ali. The tablet itself that you're describing tackles two problems that these students are facing.

One, what you described, which is lack of electricity, and the other is a real shortage of human teachers. So there are two ideas behind this technology and as you currently described, it's an institute that has two legs, one at Rice and the other at NTU in Singapore where the Rice side and the NTU side are really in a sense joined at the hip.

So the idea is that the technology tackles the electricity problem and there's a particular idea called learning by doing, which helps take care of the shortage of human teachers. These lessons are taught as if you're doing a video game, so that keeps the kids engaged.

And then pie playing the game, they actually learn in this case fourth and fifth grade arithmetic, math at a really young age.

VELSHI: Tell me a little bit about how these things work. They run off of some power. What's the technology here?

PALEM: Good question. So, you see your laptop, for example, which you charge and plug in your wall socket, it has a battery that's been charged and it stores the energy from the electric socket.

Now, it turns out that the lower the consumption, the easier it is in a sense to power it. We're pushing for a target that is so low, this it should be able to run off solar cells.

So these places have lots and lots of sunlight so basic idea is to be able to sit and you hold this pad in your hand like this and because of the sunlight coming in, like the calculators we used to have many, many years ago, that's enough to be able to power it.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Well, that's a great analogy --

PALEM: So that's the basic idea.

VELSHI: -- because that explains the whole thing. I was able to use a calculator without a battery 15 years ago, so good to know that that's how it works.

And I guess that concluded that interview.