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Russia Paper: Intel Officer Betrayed Spies; Future Soldiers May Wear Iron Man Suits; Walking While Paralyzed
Aired November 12, 2010 - 14:00 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. It's 2::00 on the East. I'm here with you for the next hour. Here's what I have got "On the Rundown."
Life imitating the movies. Real-life iron men in robotic super suits coming to a battlefield near you soon. We'll try one on for size.
Also, supermodels like Heidi Klum and Cindy Crawford giving up their dresses to help power developing nations. A clash of fashion and philanthropy in today's "Mission Possible."
And the Chevy Volt and the Nissan LEAF leading the charge in the electric car market. We're going to take you along on a test drive.
But we start with a little international intrigue, James Bond-type stuff. The name is Scherbakov --- Colonel Scherbakov. 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 living here in the United States.
Now, 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 back home with a scantily-clad spread in "Maxim" magazine. Chapman was one of several spies picked up and later swapped for Russian prisoners.
Well, this guy, Colonel Scherbakov, he was a bigwig in Russian intelligence circles. Guess what? He's nowhere to be found.
It seems he slipped out of Russia at about the same time the lid was blown off the spy ring. The paper says he was at the interrogation in the U.S. of one of those captured spies, but U.S. intelligence 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. Don't get any ideas from what you see here, by the way. That's just a picture of Putin on a recent hunting trip, but we thought it looked suitably menacing.
Meanwhile, another Russian lawmaker is calling for a special investigation.
CNN International Correspondent Mathew Chance watching developments in Moscow right now. He joins us for "Two at the Top."
Where is he and what is the story all about, Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the assumption, Ali, is that he is in the United States, in the protective custody of the CIA. Of course, the equivalent agency to the Russian SVR, which is where he was a central figure, a colonel, in fact, in charge of deploying the kind of undercover agents like those 10 arrested, including Anna Chapman, in the United states.
And so it seems that those 10, including Anna Chapman, were essentially betrayed by their boss. And, of course, the consequences of that could be very dire.
In an investigation conducted by a leading Russian daily newspaper called "Kommersant" here, they've talked to their sources inside the SVR, the equivalent of the CIA here in Russia, and they said that there's going to be retribution. There's even been indications that they could send a team of assassins -- or at least a single assassin -- over there to extract their revenge -- Ali.
VELSHI: Matthew, you say he's in probably -- the assumption is that he's in the custody of the CIA. Do we think he's defected?
CHANCE: Yes, that seems to be the implication from the kind of reporting that's come out on this, particularly from "Kommersant." What's not clear is why he would have defected.
Now, of course in the Cold War, it was usually for ideological reasons, often for ideological reasons. But that's not the case anymore.
There's suggestions he could have done it for money, other suggestions that he may have had something compromising that had been found on him and he was being blackmailed. But it's certainly true that his daughter and, to some extent, we believe, his son, as well, were already living in the United States for several years. And so perhaps he's been a double agent for some time. But neither security agency, neither the CIA, or the SVR, here in Russia, are giving us any further detail.
VELSHI: This is just a story that keeps on giving, isn't it, Matthew?
Good to see you. Thanks, as always.
Matthew Chance following the story. I suspect we'll be revisiting it again at some point in the future.
A Tennessee lawmaker under fire for comparing illegal immigrant women to rats that multiply. State representative Curry Todd made the remark after asking pre-natal health care officials if patients have to show proof of citizenship before getting state-funded help. It'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.
CURRY TODD, TENNESSEE STATE REPRESENTATIVE: So we can go out there like rats and multiply then, I guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KASAR ABDULLA, 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 says he's sticking by his point.
OK. He's not Tony Stark, but our own Iron Man, Chris Lawrence, suiting up to show us what future U.S. troops could be wearing on the battlefield.
That's up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: American troops may be closer than ever to wearing real-life Iron Man armor. A defense contractor is developing a wearable robotic suit that can help regular people perform superhuman feats.
Our own Chris Lawrence got a chance to try it on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rex Jameson. It's got a Tony Stark's Iron Man sort of ring to it. Stark runs a defense contracting company; Jameson just works for one. But Raytheon's test engineer is no playboy billionaire.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR., ACTOR, "IRON MAN": I have successfully privatized world peace.
LAWRENCE: Married, three kids, but just maybe wearing the prototype for future soldiers.
REX JAMESON, TEST ENGINEER: It doesn't fly. That's seems to be the big thing that Iron Man does.
LAWRENCE: If you're Tony Stark, I mean where's -- where's the sports cars? Where's the scantily-clad women, the penthouse, all that?
SMITH: I roll -- I roll in a minivan. It reacts to the force of your feet. So you wouldn't want it to react immediately.
LAWRENCE: Granted, the XOS-2 is dead weight until it's juiced by outside power. Then the hydraulic fluid starts pumping. Steel and aluminum arms make everything lighter. (on camera): So to you, this 200 pounds feels like...
SMITH: Less than 20 pounds. The weight of my arms does most of the work. You don't have this immense feeling of strength; just when you go to do something you couldn't do without it. Then that's when you notice it.
LAWRENCE: So this is probably three inches of (INAUDIBLE), enough to hold up the second story of a house.
I'm not even going to tell you how much that hurt.
Show-off!
(voice-over): Well, here is where fictional meets functional. Iron Man can Fly and shoot repulsor rays out of his hands. This suit is still tethered to its power source, and mobile batteries like lithium ion either don't last long enough or can't be strapped to a soldier's body.
SMITH: They are breached, they aren't gentle in the way they explode.
LAWRENCE (on camera): So, for safety, liability reasons they can't power up the seat with me in it. But I've at least got to feel what it's like inside.
Without the hydraulics, the first thing you notice is how heavy this is. I mean, it's tough to take a step forward, but I still feel like I've got my dexterity, the range of motion. That's important to supply units where being tethered to a power source wouldn't matter.
SMITH: Logistics personnel in the military typically move 16,000 pounds a day, which is an awful lot of load.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): And the suit can keeps lifting for hours.
SMITH: Things that would just destroy your back, this thing picks it up; no problem.
LAWRENCE: Today's troops are carrying up to 150 pounds in Afghanistan, but the suit can make armor and equipment feel 17 times lighter.
SMITH: That means that you exert one pound, and it exerts 17. That's a major amplification of strength, and that's all load that the person doesn't have to carry himself.
LAWRENCE: Chris Lawrence, CNN, Salt Lake City, Utah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: And the company hopes the suits will be in use by 2015.
Naturally, this story, this next story, brought to mind some amazing machinery we showed you in our "Big i" segment on Wednesday. If you saw it, you're never going to forget it. A paralyzed woman walked -- really walked -- all around our Atlanta studio in a way she never thought possible. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Amanda Boxtel is with me right now, and Eythor Bender. He's the CEO of the company that we're about to talk about, eLEGS. Amanda is wearing the eLEGS.
Amanda, you have been paralyzed for how long?
AMANDA BOXTEL, TEST PILOT, eLEGS: I've been paralyzed for 18 years. It was a freak skiing accident that rendered me a paraplegic. And just in a split second, I shattered four vertebrae and I felt an electric current that zapped through my legs. And then there was nothing, no muscle power, no movement, no sensation.
VELSHI: And that's it? And you have been confined to a wheelchair or some sort of device to get you around. You lost your mobility?
BOXTEL: Well, yes. I lost my mobility instantaneously, and life changed for me. And I had to look at the world from four foot tall, to look up all the time. And now that's not the case.
VELSHI: Amanda, 18 years in a wheelchair.
BOXTEL: Shall we go for it?
VELSHI: Let's do it.
BOXTEL: OK. Here we go.
Now, keep in mind this is to be used in a completely safe medical situation for someone to learn how to walk. But now there's no excuses, Ali, for a doctor to ever say again you will never walk again, because we've got bionic technology right in front of us.
VELSHI: Did you ever think you'd walk again?
BOXTEL: You know, I never believed in my lifetime that I would be able to walk and here I am, walking with you, side by side, eye to eye. And it's the most beautiful thing that, you know -- it just triggers emotion in me to this day. And it's a natural step because I'm bending my knee in the most natural step that I've had in 18 years.
VELSHI: How does it know? I hear some hydraulics or something, a motor happening. How does it know what you're trying to do?
BOXTEL: Oh. I think it's -- I'm not the technology expert. I'm a test pilot. Do you want to answer that question?
BENDER: Yes. Basically, what you do is that you are moving your crutch forward and with simply the arm gesture you send the signal to the device to make the walk.
VELSHI: And you've got some sensors on here.
BENDER: Yes.
VELSHI: And that's how it's sensing it. I mean, I can just see the joy in your face. You see a whole new life in front of you.
BOXTEL: Absolutely.
VELSHI: What are the things you're going to do when you're able to use this on your own and freely? What does this mean for your life?
BOXTEL: When this is available for in-home use, I see myself using this every day as a rehabilitative device --
VELSHI: Let's, by the way, walk and talk because not many people have said that to you in the last couple of decades, right?
BOXTEL: Let's walk and talk. I can do that!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: That was an amazing story.
You'll meet one of our Top Ten Heroes, another amazing story, who is feeding hungry children around the world. See how a day at the pub changed his life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: We're counting down to our big event on Thanksgiving night when we honor our Top Ten CNN Heroes. One of them is Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow. His mission, to feed hungry children in impoverished nations around the world. .
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAGNUS MACFARLANE-BARROW, CNN TOP TEN HERO: I'm Magnus MacFarlane- Barrow. I gave up my job and I sold my house to try to help the people in Bosnia. Out of that has grown the organization which today feeds around 412,000 children every day in 15 different countries. We buy the food locally, and then we ask that the local community to take responsibility for the daily cooking and the serving of the food.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow joins me now via Skype from Argyll, Scotland.
Magnus, in my tease to the story, I talked about a day at the pub changing your life. Tell me what that means?
MACFARLANE-BARROW: Well, back in 1992, my brother and I were having a pint in our local pub here in Scotland, and we just hatched a plan to try and help the people who were suffering in Bosnia at that time. And that was simply about collecting food and clothing and medicines to refugees in Bosnia at that time. It was never meant to be anything more than one little act of goodwill, but it grew into this organization, Mary's Meals.
VELSHI: All right. I think we are having some trouble with Magnus' audio, but he did from that begin Mary's Meals, named after the Virgin Mary, which now sends food to, as he said, many hundreds of thousands of people, providing daily meals to children all over the world.
Be sure to watch "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" on Thanksgiving night, right here on CNN at 8:00 Eastern.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
VELSHI: She is a fighter for democracy feared by Myanmar's military leaders. Now years of detention may finally be ending for Aung San Suu Kyi. A live report in "Globe Trekking" coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Time now for "Globe Trekking." Destination: Myanmar. You might know it as Burma.
Tensions high this hour amid the possibility the military government will soon release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. Hundreds of supporters gathered near her home today. Her latest term of detention is due to expire tomorrow.
Rumors swirled throughout the day 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, as always, violently cracked down on pro-democracy protesters. Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her tireless effort to restore democracy to the country. Her father led the struggle for independence from Britain, and he was the country's first prime minister.
Myanmar's military government has refused to allow CNN or other news organizations into the country. A short while ago, I spoke with a correspondent who is there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Ali, what we know is that there were rumors swirling around here in Yangon that she might even 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 so repressive, that people here are afraid to say anything political. They're afraid to talk to people like us, to westerners. And if 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 and how much hope the people of this repressed country put in Aung San Suu Kyi -- Ali.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: We are not naming the correspondent who filed that report for security reasons.
All right. What does haute couture have to do with health clinics in Haiti? If you asked me that yesterday, I wouldn't have had the faintest idea, but I now know what the connection is. And when we come back, you will, too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSH: What could you do with one frickin day? By the way, I a second, you'll find out why my arm is out like this. Probably a lot more than you think. That's the idea behind a new organization called One Frickin Day. We call it "Mission Possible."
A single day of our lives or a single day's pay put to incredible use. The charity was founded by Elettra Wiedemann. You're going to meet her in a second, because I'm sitting next to a superstar model, happens to be the daughter of Isabella Rossellini. She's with me here in New York to talk about a project launching on this frickin day called Model Behavior.
I am for first time in life, Elettra, sort of a mannequin holder.
ELETTRA WIEDEMANN, CO-FOUNDER, ONE FRICKIN DAY: Well, you're doing a good job.
VELSHI: Yes, it's all right, right?
WIEDEMANN: And it's good color for you.
VELSHI: Yes, we've been trying to get this on a mannequin but we have some technical difficulties. So, I figured, I wanted to show you this because this is sort of material to our conversation.
So, welcome, first of all.
WIEDEMANN: Thank you.
VELSHI: Tell me what One Frickin Day is.
WIEDEMANN: One Frickin Day is a charity that we started where we focus on projects where the needs were great but the goals were achievable.
VELSHI: OK. WIEDEMANN: And what we ask from everybody is one frickin day.
VELSHI: And who you're asking this from?
WIEDEMANN: Asking from everybody.
VELSHI: OK.
WIEDEMANN: Whether it's one frickin' day of your annual salary or even one day of your time or one service.
VELSHI: Right.
WIEDEMANN: Our idea is that big things can be achieved collectively.
VELSHI: And what were you trying to do with what you raise?
WIEDEMANN: What we're doing -- sorry -- what we're doing is we're solar electrifying clinics in Haiti and Rwanda.
VELSHI: Right.
WIEDEMANN: That's our initiative right now. We're focused on that until 2011.
VELSHI: A good practical achievable goal, but one that's very, very necessary. Explain to me why I'm holding this.
WIEDEMANN: You're holding this because our new initiative, One Frickin Day, (INAUDIBLE) is model behavior.
VELSHI: OK.
WIEDEMANN: And we've asked about 30 top models to dominate one frickin' dress they've worn on the red carpet.
VELSHI: OK.
WIEDEMANN: And the one that you're holding right now --
VELSHI: Brooke Shields wore this.
WIEDEMANN: This is Brooke Shields' dress.
VELSHI: She wore it on a red carpet somewhere?
WIEDEMANN: She wore it to the costume institute --
VELSHI: Oh, there you go. There it is on TV.
WIEDEMANN: And it's the
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I was going to pick you up and show you -- it's quite yes, we got the whole thing. We've got the train. My producer is yelling in my ear, that's a train, that's a train. Why -- do you think is the first time I've ever been around women's clothes?
WIEDEMANN: So, this is just one of about 30 dresses we have. We have them from Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Christie Turlington --
VELSHI: And you're auctioning them.
WIEDEMANN: We're auctioning them and all of the proceeds go towards solar electrifying the clinics.
VELSHI: And when is the auction going to be held?
WIEDEMANN: The auction is live right now.
VELSHI: OK.
WIEDEMANN: And how you can get to it is at OneFrickinDay.org. Frickin is spelled F-R-I-C-K-I-N.
VELSHI: OK.
WIEDEMANN: And you just click on "Model Behavior" and it will take you straight to the auction page.
VELSHI: How many things you have up there.
WIEDEMANN: We had about 27 dresses from top models and some of them are one of a kind vintage pieces, some are more couture, some of them are more cocktail attire, and we also have some really amazing experiences like tickets to fashion shows, a weekend in New York at an amazing hotels, spa treatments, a makeover with me and a Lancome make- up artist and $1,000 shopping spree at Lancome.
So, we have some really cool things up there.
VELSHI: And you name the models that you have got contributing to this. This is part of the -- this Model Behavior, they're donating this. But you've got models also participating in the One Frickin Day --
WIEDEMANN: This is their One Frickin Day.
VELSHI: This is it?
WIEDEMANN: So, by donating one frickin dress, they have done their one frickin day. And that really communicate what we're trying to say. It doesn't have to be money with us. It can be just one frickin thing that's going to be great for us -- one frickin day of time, one service -- you're doing your one frickin' day right now by having us on the show.
VELSHI: And holding up the dress.
WIEDEMANN: So, you're done with your day.
VELSHI: This is more lift than I do in an entire week. WIEDEMANN: There you go.
VELSHI: What a pleasure to have you here. Thanks so much for doing this.
WIEDEMANN: Thank you so much for having me.
VELSHI: And we'll follow very closely the projects that you got going because we enjoy that type of things, too, taking sort of appropriate technology and helping as many as people as you can.
WIEDEMANN: We're trying. We're trying. Thank you.
VELSHI: Elettra Wiedemann is a model and she's the co-founder of One Frickin Day. You can go to the Web site. We'll link to the blog as well, as we always do. Go to my blog at CNN.com/Ali and we'll give you the information you need.
All right. We're going on the road with the president in Asia where it is anything but fun and games, or is it? Ed Henry joins us as he always does -- right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: This is the part of the show where we normally check in with our buddy, Ed Henry. He's traveling with the president in Asia. In the last few days, we've actually woke him up from a sound sleep to talk with us on the phone. He begged us to let him sleep in today. It's Saturday in Seoul, but something seemed fishy to me. So, we sent one of our cameras to find him and here is what we found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So, I know Ali wanted us for stakeout to take you sort of behind-the-scenes on what we do. Here we are in Seoul, just about to wrap up the G-20 Summit.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is where we do all our work right now.
HENRY: Apparently, Dan Lothian is here as well. And you can see the TVs and the work space. This is sort of what we do. It's like a traveling road show. We go from hotel to hotel. We don't really see much of the city. It's a lot of work.
LOTHIAN: That's right. It's been like that since we came to Asia, starting out with two stops in India and then going on to Indonesia, coming here to South Korea. And it's basically a mobile office where you set up these tables, we put our computers in.
HENRY: Very little sleep. But, you know, the good news is it's just about over because we're about to go Japan for the last stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about Velshi?
HENRY: And we're not doing a live shot with Velshi today because I think I got a couple more --
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: -- "AMERICAN MORNING."
Dan just got back from the news conference.
LOTHIAN: Have to pack.
HENRY: We're going to pack and we're going to go. So, no live shot today because we're pretty busy.
LOTHIAN: That's right. I got to go.
HENRY: Let's go.
Oh, I didn't know you were here, Mark. I guess we have to do the Velshi segment after all.
LOTHIAN: We got caught.
HENRY: You know, it's funny because golf just fits right in to the theme of the day which is tax cuts for the rich. And the president was insisting today that contrary to what was in "Huffington Post" yesterday, David Axelrod may be or may be not suggesting the president is ready to cave in to Republicans on extending the tax cuts.
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: You asked him about it.
LOTHIAN: Yes. I was trying to pin him down on that, Ed, you know, the president is saying that, you know, he's not going to negotiate (INAUDIBLE). He's going to doing that back in Washington.
So, yes, clearly -- I mean, the president wants to make a compromise here, but not willing to say what that is.
HENRY: Yes, he believes -- he doesn't have a lot of negotiating power right now because if he wants the middle class tax cuts to be extended, he's probably going to have to give in on the tax cuts for the rich. The other thing you asked him about was s whether he's lost any cloud on the international stage here because of those bruising, the shellacking in the midterm elections.
LOTHIAN: That's right.
HENRY: He had an interesting answer.
LOTHIAN: He said no. It was as simple as that. He said no. Yes, he's very blunt.
But he also pointed out that as he's been traveling around Asia, that the leaders have been dealing with him on issues such as the economy and terrorism. And so, he feels like, you know, he can back that up. He has a lot of juice still. HENRY: He thinks he has a lot of drive.
LOTHIAN: That's right.
HENRY: So I'm going to hit this drive. Watch this drive.
See you, Ali, back in -- back in the States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: That's nice. A little bit of golf and the boys talk a little politics like they always do and it feels like a working day for them. Good, though -- it's a good shot, I must say.
And Ed we don't have on as much, I've traveled with him. And he spends a lot of time in the gym. He works out a fair amount.
It's good to see those guys letting loose a little bit.
Time now for your CNN political update. How many people -- or how are people really feeling about the midterm election results?
CNN senior political editor Mark Preston joins us now from Washington. He's at work -- unlike some other people.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Can you believe that? I wish I was traveling overseas, Ali. How come Ed gets all those really fun assignments?
VELSHI: Yes, although it does seem -- do I feel bad for him for all that -- you know, this business about how they're constantly packing up and setting up office and doing that kind stuff. They don't -- they don't get a lot of down time. But he does travel a lot.
PRESTON: Yes, but let's face it, we have great colleagues that put that whole operation together, all the behind the scenes players. But let's let Ed have his fun time overseas, Ali, while you and I carry the burden here.
VELSHI: That's it.
PRESTON: But you talk about this new poll, right? You know, are Americans happy with the elections?
Well, this new Pew Poll shows that less than half of all Americans are happy about what happened in the midterm elections. In fact, 48 percent say they are happy that the Republicans won control of the House, only -- while 34 percent say they're unhappy, 18 percent didn't know or didn't respond. I wonder what happened to the 18 percent.
But what these numbers really do go to show you is that even though Republicans picked up 60 seats or at least 60 seats in the House, six seats in the Senate, this wasn't about Republicans coming to Washington and turning things around. This election was very much about how Americans were very unhappy with how Democrats were doing things here in Washington. So, of course, we'll see what happens over the next year and a half, two years, as we head into the presidential year and the next election. But it would be a lot of fun here in Washington to see if Democrats and Republicans can get it together.
You know, Sarah Palin is somebody we seem to talk about just about every hour here and everybody seems to be fascinated about what's going on with her life. But there are so many tentacles to it. She has that new reality show coming out, people talking about her marriage.
Well, just today, what has happened is that the e-mail hacker who broke into her e-mail, was able to get into her e-mail addresses and to read her content, Ali, was sentenced today to one year and one day either in prison or a halfway house. And, of course, officials -- the judge will decide where this young man does his time. But he was a student at the University of Texas at the time. This gentleman's name was David Kernell. So, amazing that he was able to get into Palin's e-mail account, but he is paying the price as we speak.
And, you know, Ali, speaking of Palin, she's going on the road. She's hitting the road. She's going to be selling her new book.
She did so well with "Going Rogue." Her new book is called "America by Heart." She's going to be heading on a tour for 13 states in 11 days. Two of those states, Ali, are Alaska and South Carolina, of course, which is fueling the whole idea will she be running for president.
Now, Ali, when you wrote your book, right, which got great reviews --
VELSHI: Yes?
PRESTON: -- did you go to South Carolina, New Hampshire, Iowa?
VELSHI: No.
PRESTON: You didn't? If you had, perhaps right now, I'd be sitting on this other end of the camera talking about how Ali Velshi might be running for president or at least --
VELSHI: That's right.
PRESTON: -- contemplating running for president.
VELSHI: That's right. I'm not nearly as careful about my agendas and where I go. They seem a little more happenstance with me.
Speaking about Alaska and Sarah Palin, what -- where are we in this recount? Not the recount -- the count.
PRESTON: Yes, the count. It's still on going between Lisa Murkowski, who is the Republican who lost -- the incumbent Republican who lost to Joe Miller, the Republican nominee for that Senate race up there.
Lisa Murkowski decided to launch this write-in bid. Lisa Murkowski right now, Ali, the write-in votes are going 98 percent of her way. And if you were to follow these numbers, it looks like Joe Miller, the Republican nominee, the Tea Party favorite who was not embraced by the national party, but was then embraced by the national party, looks like he's on the way to losing.
So, Lisa Murkowski looks like she'll be coming back here to Washington very, very soon -- Ali.
VELSHI: Get some sense how this one gets worked out?
PRESTON: Yes, I think it's going to be over the weekend and there's all these court challenges. And you know, anything could happen in these, but I think just by looking at the numbers, it could be wrapped up quicker.
VELSHI: All right, Mark, good to see you as always. You have yourself a great weekend. I'll talk to you next.
PRESTON: You, too. Thanks, Ali. Will do.
VELSHI: CNN is committed to giving you all the important political news. Your next update is just an hour away.
All right. Just today we learned the General Electric is jumping on the electric car bandwagon. G.E. has made a commitment to buy 25,000 electric cars for its fleet by 2015. G.E. says it's the largest ever electric vehicle commitment by a company or organization.
The plan includes buying 12,000 Chevy Volts which General Motors will start selling by the end of this year. The Volt runs on an electric battery but switches over to a gas engine when it runs out of juice.
And just so you know, G.E. has a leg in this race. G.E. makes an electric car charger called the Watt Station. That's it there.
What about the Volt and its competitor the Nissan Leaf? How do they stack up next to each other?
We got a car expert to give you the pros and cons right after the break.
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VELSHI: Electric cars are the future -- or at least that's what some in the auto industry are banking on. And, in fact, the future is almost here.
Nissan is expected to sell 200,000 of its Leaf electric cars in this country by 2013. They think electric cars will make up about 10 percent of all cars sold by 2020.
The Obama administration is helping the cause by offering a $7,500 tax credit to buyers.
Is it really worth it? The price is high. It takes a long time to charge. You often can't go that far. Here to give me the skinny on electric cars, senior writer for CNNMoney.com, our resident car guy, my good friend Peter Valdes- Dapena. We spend a lot of time talking about cars and enjoying them.
You get to test them all out. You got the Volt and the Leaf coming out.
PETER VALDES-DAPENA, SENIOR WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes.
VELSHI: Nissan Leaf, the Chevy Volt, you've had a chance to drive them. Let's talk about that first, the experience. As a guy who loves cars, do you think there is a future for these cars?
VALDES-DAPENA: There is. I mean, actually, the surprising thing is I think it's surprising to a lot people, is that they're fun to drive. I mean, the Nissan Leaf is a fun peppy little car to drive around town. The torque, the pulling power of the electric motor at low speeds is very high and these cars, of course, are very light because you're trying to maximize your range. So, it's actually a peppy, fun driving experience.
VELSHI: All right. You got a sense of both of them, the Leaf and the Volt. What are the differences?
VALDES-DAPENA: Well, the big difference is that the Volt -- some people even say it's not really an electric car. I would say it is. It has an electric -- has gasoline engine on board that can generate electricity for you --
VELSHI: This is you, by the way, driving this Volt.
VALDES-DAPENA: Yes. If you want to drive further than about 40 miles -- and 40 miles, by the way, is more than most people drive in a typical day.
VELSHI: OK.
VALDES-DAPENA: So, they're feeling is, hey, 40 miles is fine for a typical day. People could drive every day to work, go back home, charge up, go weeks without using gasoline. If you decide you want to visit your cousin in the next state one day, no problem. You start driving, at some point, the gasoline engine will kick in and keep generating electricity so you don't have to worry about running out of range. That's the main benefit of that car.
VELSHI: With that Leaf, it's just an electric car. So, after 100 mile, you got to charge it.
VALDES-DAPENA: Right. You have about 100 miles of range roughly. That could vary. If you drive it the right way, you might squeeze out a little bit more. If you use the air conditioner a lot or drive on a highway a lot, it might be less. But they computer technology on board to keep you informed of how far you have to go. So, you don't at least get caught by surprise when you run out.
VELSHI: Let's talk about where these cars are going to -- you know, what role they're going to play? How big they're going to get? We talk about electric cars is the future, but none of the carmakers are thinking that they're going to be anything more than some small percentage of all cars bought.
VALDES-DAPENA: Well, right now -- I mean, the JD Power estimates is maybe we're talking in 10 years, a couple percent -- a couple of percent of all cars. You know, electric cars, some electric cars fans will have you thinking that we're all going to be driving these things in 10 years. That's probably not the case. It's going to take a lot longer than that.
One of the reasons is that normal gasoline-powered cars keep getting more fuel efficient all the time.
VELSHI: Right.
VALDES-DAPENA: And that's taking away some of the incentives. GM just released information on this new Chevy Cruze that gets 42 miles a gallon on the highway. So a lot of people are going to say, hey, when I'm using that little gasoline anyway, why am I bothering with all this charging business and government incentives, you know, it's not worth it when I can --
VELSHI: For people who want to be green, there's something to be said for this -- except that what's the calculation of all the electricity you use versus gasoline?
VALDES-DAPENA: Well, the fact of the matter is that running a car on electricity is much, much more efficient than running a car on gasoline. The typical gasoline engine, about 30 percent of the engine -- of the energy in gasoline actually goes towards the car. Most is lost as heat, friction, other stuff.
VELSHI: Got it.
VALDES-DAPENA: It doesn't actually move the car.
With an electric -- with a battery, almost 100 percent of the power in that battery actually goes to move the car. And generating electricity at a power plant is much more efficient than running an internal combustion engine.
So, overall, it is a more efficient way to drive a car. The downside has to do with something called energy density -- the amount of energy that you can pack into gasoline is just massive. The amount of energy in that tank of gasoline that's roughly the same size of the battery pack?
VELSHI: Yes?
VALDES-DAPENA: Think about that -- only 30 percent goes to drive the car, but you can get from here all the way to, you know, Philadelphia and back on one tank. A battery of that size gets you about 100 miles.
So, that's the hang-up. It's the amount of energy you can pack into the same amount of space in the car is the hang-up that batteries have to get over before they can really, really start to compete with a gasoline powered car on things like range and convenience.
VELSHI: Yes, you know a lot about this stuff. I love it.
Chad Myers is with us right now -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we had a question earlier about how much potential pollution is coming out of these electric power plants, Ali, because you're burning coal to make electricity. Now, do I really have a coal-burning car, is it really that much better?
VELSHI: What do you think? I mean, you're using more electricity -- ultimately, you're calling for more coal to be burned.
VALDES-DAPENA: Well, not necessarily. Remember, a lot of the power in this country does not come from coal, OK? A lot of it comes from nuclear. We're getting more renewable energy. And a lot of those coal plants are cleaner.
And also, as I said -- generating electricity is more efficient than running an internal combustion engine. So, even when you have a dirty source, a lot of people would say, even when you have a dirty source like coal, because of the efficiency inherent in generating electricity and using electric motors, you're still benefiting from the electric car, especially when not all of the energy you're getting is from coal.
MYERS: Could you imagine, Ali, when the local car is a solar panel and you drive in the sun and you never have to gas up and you never have to charge up because solar generation will get so much better in the future.
Hey, the reason why you sent me here is because of the snow in Amarillo, and I want to know what an electric car is going to do in this. He said it's really light. It probably means that it's probably not a lot of traction.
Look at some of the pictures coming out of our affiliates in Amarillo. The snow came down today so fast people couldn't literally get out of the way. Doesn't snow a lot in Amarillo, doesn't get that cold very often. Cars didn't start.
I don't see too many electric ones there, but you know what? At least you never have to worry about the car with the battery -- unless the battery is dead -- not starting in the cold weather. It should start, right?
VELSHI: How do they work in a lot of snow and things like that?
VALDES-DAPENA: Well, they have -- I know that GM and Nissan have both tested their cars in colder climate. It's not ideal. You normally do lose some range. But temperature control with these batteries is an important thing. And so, they don't -- they don't lose a whole ton of energy. It's not ideal. It's one of the downsides for electric cars. You do have things like temperature that can affect your range somewhat. Obviously, that's an advantage that GM has with the Volt because, hey, you lose a little range, so what? You're not going to get stuck.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Where do you plug them in? You just a regular, for both of these cars, you just need a regular socket?
VALDES-DAPENA: You can use a regular socket. It's faster if you use a charger. You can charge in less time. With the Nissan Leaf, for example, if you have a fast charger, you can get up to 80 percent of battery power from empty in just 20 minutes.
VELSHI: Wow.
All right, Peter, you'll be with me on Thursday afternoon, by the way. Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan, will be here also with the Left. So, we'll spend a little more time taking on that.
Chad, my friend, that is quite something in Amarillo. And we should drive some cars around Atlanta as well. Chad Myers in Atlanta.
President Obama and Republicans are both promising to keep those middle class tax cuts in place. So, most of us are in the clear, right? Not by a long shot. Hold on to your wallet. My "XYZ" is next.
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VELSHI: Time now for the "XYZ" of it. Let's talk taxes for just a moment.
President Obama declared today that his number one priority will be preserving tax cuts for America's middle class. Republicans are onboard with that, but they insist those tax cuts need to be preserved for the wealthy, as well. Both sides agree that government needs to bring down skyrocketing budget deficits.
There are only two ways to close a budget gap: you cut spending or you raise revenue. In other words, increase taxes.
So, how do Washington politicians square a circle? They can't.
But they may want to start by taking a look at President Obama's fiscal commission's proposal for changing the tax code. One option is to just simplify the tax code, reducing or eliminating hundreds of tax deductions, credits and exemptions in the tax code. That's a tough call for politicians to make because tax breaks benefit so many powerful special interests and a lot of working Americans.
Another option would to be repeal or reduce all sorts of deductions, including the popular mortgage interest rate deduction that so many homeowners count on right now, as well as state and local tax deductions and other itemized deductions. Both of those ideas raise government revenues according and help bring budget deficits under control, according to the fiscal commission, because getting rid of all those tax breaks right now could add to government revenues by more than $1 trillion a year.
Either way, Americans would end up paying higher taxes under both proposals. And no one likes to pay more. But with the deficits skyrocketing the way they are, Americans are likely to pay higher taxes in the future no matter what the politicians tell you.
So, if we're going to pay more, wouldn't it be better to do so under simpler and smarter rules? Something to think about. Something we'll talk about more.
That's my "XYZ." My friend Brooke Baldwin takes it from here.
