Transcripts For CNNW Smerconish 20150321

Towards that fundamental goal. Though important gaps remain. Irans president Hassan Rouhani hold reporters today a deal with the u. S. Is within reach and achievable. But what will bibby do . After all, it was the iran janish shoe that caused Prime Minister netanyahu to address congress. This deal is at heart of the broken relationship between the u. S. And israel and the question that will be raised in the event of an greemt is whether Prime Minister netanyahu might try trito scuttle it by working with the Republicancontrolled Congress . Were covering every angle of this story. Lets get right to a journalist in israel right now also a Foreign Policy analyst. Secretary kerry speaks of the p5 1 but theres an important voice not in that group, Prime Minister netanyahu. How might he respond . Reporter he will try to respond it by speaking again against it and trying to rally the Republican Party. We know that john boehner will be in israel soon. They will be absolutely talking about this. There will be pressure on apack and Many Organizations so they can pressure but its too late. If the iranian deal is a done deal, thats a huge victory for the iran huge diplomatic victory for the United States and absolutely will further push the relationship between the Obama Administration and Bibi Netanyahu far away from each other. Im reminded of the address that Prime Minister netanyahu just delivered to the congress. Toward the end of that speech and i know youll remember he said words to the effect of the days of israeli passivity are over. Israel will stand alone if necessary. I interpreted that as a somewhat thinly veiled threat to launch a first strike against a nuclear capability. Of course i might be reading too much into it. How did you interpret that part of his speech . He was campaigning. He was absolutely campaigning. And remember when he came back to israel and in israel hes the Prime Minister still the Prime Minister and he has to deal with his security apparatus, meaning that the army have to agree on this and the secret services the mossad former mossad head of mossad together with former head of the internal secret services of israel both sides said if netanyahu would have went along and attacked iran they would have resigned themselves. He can break the relationship with administration but he cant break his own relationship with his security apparatus, the mossad shin bait and he will have to have the army behind him. I dont think a military option is on the table. However, an overt operations will carry on. Remember all of these dead scientists in iran some Nuclear Facility were blown up. I think israel is behind that and will continue doing so. You know that here in the United States theres great debate over the statements that he made on the eve of the election seemingly renouncing a twostate solution. In israel were those words dealt with by surprise or confirmation of previously held beliefs . Reporter i think israelis and the palestinians both sides are absolutely not delusional about the situation. The good thing for the americans and for the International Public opinion, the mosque are off. All the mosques dropped off. And its clear. Its not whatx bibiis doing. Its what hes been saying for last 20 years in politics. What hes doing is opposite of what he endorses, a twostate solution. Now hes saying he doesnt want it but he created facts on the ground that are irreversible. 200 settlements and 350 settlers already living in the west bank. Its de facto in one state. I want to share with you, and ill put on the screen for our viewer something that tom friedman published in the New York Times on wednesday that i think encapsulates the point you were just making. Said friedman now if there are not going to be two states for two peoples in the area between the jordan river and mediterranean then there is only going to be one state and that one state will either be a jewish democracy that systematically denies the Voting Rights of about onethird of its people or it will be a democracy and systematically erode the jewish character of israel. Thats what youre addressing. Reporter i dont know when the last time tom friedman has been visiting the settlements, but i would invite him to go and see whats happening here because its already de facto in one state with separate sets of rights. So you have to jewish majority around 6 Million People who have certain rights and the jewish people who are living in the occupied territories with their own roads, meaning roads they can run on by themselves. They live in the occupied areas and jerusalem and the west bank. Its already one state. For the palestinians if its bad for the israelis because hes been campaigning against them and obviously his victory is an open season against Arab Israelis in congress and in the streets, for palestinians in the west bank and occupied territories, its hell because they live without rights. We have an apartheid state on one hand and we have i would Say Something else other than a democracy. Aaron david miller is a distinguished scholar at the aaron Wilson Center and former adviser to six secretaries of state on the arab israeli peace process. Pick up on the last part of what rula had to say commenting on the tom friedman piece and the reality of what a onestate might mean. I think were really getting ahead of ourselves, michael. First of all, the one state is not a solution. Perhaps it would be an historic outcome years and years as a consequence of israels retention of the territories, no effective palestinian governance there. Events on the ground for a comprehensive israeli withdrawal as well as israelis from the west bank impossible. But were getting a head of ourselves here. If double reports that defive are john kerrys 14month effort to create the parameters for a twostate solution Prime Minister of israel despite his public walkaway, which he is now walking back parentally has made some farreaching concessions on the issue of israeli withdrawal based on the june 67 borders with various land swaps. Whether youd get back to that brokered mediated process i dont know. Were talking more in terps of the future than the present. Im not going to jump off the cliff assuming everything is lost and there is no chance at some point of a goeshged twostate solution. Aaron frankly that would be unwise for everyone. On the front page of todays New York Times relative between the relationship between the United States and israel, this administration you say in a way the administration has already won. What did you mean by that comment . Kerrys comments today and rouhanis reflect reality, although theyve made these statements before that in effect youre getting closer to a Framework Agreement that at some point would produce a slower smaller, more transparent reduce the risk. Slow smaller, more transparent and easily monitored Iranian Nuclear program to buy time and to decelerate irans punitive Nuclear Weapons aspirations, then the administration i call it a historic breakthrough the administration would have pulled off quite an enterprise. I mean in opposition to a Republicancontrolled Congress and over the objections of the israeli, not just the israeli, the emiratis the saudis. Theres a lot of concern about our iran central policy. Be that as it may, the administration would actual lily have achieved i think the president s most important objective in this region which would have been to slow and constrain constrain irans potential to secure a deliverable nuclear weapon. In that sense i think the administration has won. The real problem for the u. S. israeli relationship and ive watched and analyzed carter bush 41 netanyahu and clinton in their first incarnation incarnation, i was a part of, that you have even in that dysfunctional those dysfunctional duos you had production. You literally had significant accomplishments. Here you have dysfunction without production. You have a public feud. And the question that remains, are we talking meltdown further or are we talking dialdown . Thats the real central fe kwr both the Prime Minister of israel and the president of the United States. I know your expertise is in the policy realm, but i also know you to be a very asuit political observer. Do you believe that the duo of netanyahu and boehner, Speaker Boehner and Prime Minister netanyahu, this the political ability, should they seek to use it to scuttle this deal . I think we will not see during the life of the Republicancontrolled Congress the lifting of the banking and Oil Sanctions which are critically important to iran. I do not think a Republicancontrolled Congress given their perception of this president is going to do that. But the president by executive authority can, in fact suspend some sanctions. Whether or not bob corker and others can find a way to pass legislation that compels the administration to submit the agreement to review, and congress does deserve some role in this enterprise. I worked for the state department for 24 years. I dont want the state department running their Foreign Policy either. Its a struggle between the two and the white house to try to figure out the wisest and most prudent policy for the United States. I have a graeme concerns about the risks and uncertainties involved in this deal. I think, though, that, you know youre not going to make it perfect. The deal is coming. Congress wont be happy about it. Theyll try to constrain it. One more point. Im not running a peer operation for Benjamin Netanyahu here but lets be clear, hes pushing on an open door. Hes pushing on a congress that is looking for a way to define its own Foreign Policy a Republican Congress no doubt. As he approach the president ial elections and you have to keep that in mind. Aaron david miller as always thank you so much. Thank you, michael. Coming up we have more great guests. He is one of the most outspoken sport commentators on television but this time hes making waves on race and politics. Espns steven a. Smith joins me to explain why he thinks every black person in america should vote republican. Plus fraternities are under fire after a wave of scandals at campuses across the country. Feminist icon naomi wolf joins me to talk about the future of fraternities. And nba legend Kareem Abduljabbar explains why he thinks starbucks stepped into the brew this week. It tastes better when you grow it. It tastes even better when you share it. Its not hard, its doable. Its growable. Get going with groables. Miraclegro. Life starts here. When the moments spontaneous, why pause to take a pill . Or stop to find a bathroom . Cialis for daily use is approved to treat both erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in Blood Pressure. 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Youre looking for a place for your life to happen. Zillow welcome back. Espn host stephen a. Smith is not one to mince words. Hes often sparked twroefrs his brash commentary on hotbutton issues. This week he did it again. He said that every black person in america should vote republican for at least one election. Stephen a. Smith joins me now. Who are you trying to send a message to republicans, demontagnacs africanamericans, all of the above . Id go with all of the above. That sounds about right. But specifically the Democratic Party from the stand point that i definitely believe that the black vote has been taken for granted and primarily the black community is at fault in my estimation in that regard simply because on one hand were giving one party our vote because theyve successfully gone about the business of convincing our community that the other party, the Republican Party, is completely against the interest of the black community, and as a result weve been very transparent in our support. Weve bought it hook line and sinker. We look at the Republican Party im not talking about every single one of us of course but the vast majority of black americans look at the Republican Party as the enemy and the Democratic Party as our support. Because of our support for them they have a license to take us for granted. The Republican Party has a license to summarily dismiss us because they believe theyll never get our vote anyway and we find ourselves devoid of any representation whatsoever because nobody is really competing to garner our vote and our support. So i said what i said because i wanted folks in my community to stand up and recognize that if you go to a house or you go buy a car or whatever the case may be you dont just see something you want and say i want that tell me what the price is and ill pay for it. Somebody has to flatter you in order to garner your dollars and your support. I think the same should apply to politicians who represent us. Let me put this in the context of 2016 because i think given the monolithic nature of the africanamerican vote, a lot of republicans dont even make the ask. Rand paul right. Is making the ask. Is there anything he can say that you think can change this equation . Well first of all, he can highlight some of the inconsistencies and discrepancies the opposing party might be throwing in our direction, things that we may not know. Thats number one. Number two, one of the things that you need to do as a republican particularly if youre running for the presidency you have to surround yourself with a bunch of folks that look like us and not just you, that look like hispanics and not just you. Lets take the Hispanic Community into consideration, michael. Right now, it says that africanamericans are approximately 12. 3 of the population that its dissipated from 14. 8 . Okay. Now, we can debate till the cows come home what the reason for that was, but what is unmistakable and undeniable is when you look at the Hispanic Community, theyve risen up to over 17 whereas we have 40 million africanamericans in this country, theyve got 54 billion and 54 Million People and what have we been hearing add nauseam for years and years . Immigration reform. You know why . Because whoever successfully goes about the business of dealing with this matter Immigration Reform successfully in a fashion that the Hispanic Community deems favorably to them youre going to get their vote. Therefore youre going to lock up a voting bloc. Youll be in office. And youll have that kind of power. Guess what the Hispanic Community is doing . Theyre saying flatter us. What are you going to do . This is what we need. Because youre not getting our vote. Yeah you might vote for you might go the liberal route but in florida you may not. Im all for increasing participation. What bothers me about the way you pitch this is its as if youre saying what are you going to do for us, what are you giving to us in terms of benny diminishes. Why would that bother you . Because i dont think we want to be rewarding particular socioeconomic groups economic groups racial groups. I dont like the balkanization of our politics. I like whats in the countrys best interests, not whats in the best interests of africanamericans versus whites versus hispanics. Thats what makes me uncomfortable. Well well well let me say to you that i can respect the fact that you are uncomfortable, but my retort would be is that i am a black man from a black community, and ive watched us suffer religiously, whether its with unemployment where were constantly in drinls, sdouble digits the incarceration, whatever the case may be. There are so many thing, so many problems. I love everybody. I dont hate anybody. I think the interest of the country is paramount and should usurp all other interests, but if youre talking to me about my community, im going to speak on whats affecting us and how we can alleviate those concerns. Im not saying im not concerned about the country. But im saying i could speak more directly to the experiences of myself and others from my community that we have. Im not trying to balkanize anything. Let me respond one time this way. Sure. I certainly respect the historical differences between, you know us and people who look like us but you sure wouldnt want me going into a ballot booth and making a determination as to whats in the interest of the white community. No. But i do expect you to go into the ballot booth and make the decision about whats in the best interest of you. And so what im saying to you is that when im talking to black folks and im thinking about whats in the best interest of the black community, its because you are suffering. The country could be prospering but if black folks have nothing to show for it and im not saying that to be the case but if black folks are suffering and we have been suffering for decades upon decades and weve tried something, one thing after another, its the same thing over and over and over again, and its not reaping any results, then what do you expect somebody to do . Youre going to address it with the fervor and the directness and candor that it deserves. Thats what i did hear. All im trying to say im not trying to encourage anybody to vote republican. Im not trying to encourage anybody to vote demontagnac. Im simply saying lets not be so transparent in our support for one party over another when that does not appear to be working for us. Force people to flatter us. White folks do it. Jewish folks do it. Hispanic folks are doing it. Why cant black folks do it . I want to ask you a question about a related subject. The president spoke in cleveland this week to the city club and raised the idea that maybe, maybe we should go the way of countries like australia where voting is mandatory. Whats your reaction to that . According to the reports that i read he was speaking relatively tongueincheek and just, you know articulating that this wouldnt be such a bad idea. But in this country that we live in, part of free speech is having the freedom not to speak or not to make their voice heard if you so choose to do so as opposed to being force and compelled to do so. So the president knows that everybody else knows that and i think we need to follow those lines unless there are laws put in place constitutionally speaking i might add, that obviously deviate from that and show something that supports what position he was taking. Stephen a. Smith. Next time youre here, dont hold back. Tell us what you really think, okay . Ill try my best. I have to take a quick break. When i come back headlines from a slew of outrageous behaviors at fraternities feminist icon naomi wolf joins me to talk about the future of greek life. Beats ] i wish. Please, please, please, please, please. [ male announcer ] the wish we wish above all. Is health. So we quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. Expanded minuteclinic for walkin medical care. 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Or choose 300 in free gifts with stearns foster. The triple choice sale ends soon at sleep train. You guys up for a toga party . Toga toga toga toga toga toga toga yeah yeah a clip from the american classic National Lampoons animal house. I lived in a fraternity in college for three years which probably explains why ive loved that movie all 14 times ive seen it. Recently life has imitated art. There have been many recent reports of bad behavior leaving some to question a classic part of collegiate life. Naomi wolf is a feminist author and political activist and joins me to talk about this. I wouldnt dispute there have been a number of highprofile incidents of fraternity members, but are they necessarily being driven by their Fraternity Membership . No. I dont think so. You know the interesting thing about whats going on on College Campuses now with these examples of really bad behavior is that theyre nothing new. Ive been going to campuses for a couple decades and theres always been these horrible stories of terrible racism Sexual Assault, you know, ritualized sadism in fraternities but theyve always been hushed up. Whats happening now is theres more transparency more people are tweeting or leaking to whistleblowers or, you know blogging or posting or investigating. So its more scrutiny. I dont think anything has necessarily changed in how perverse some of these organizations can be. I know that you were in a secret society at yale not a sorority. Im not even sure what that is by the way, except im sure they wouldnt let me in. How do you see the future of greek life . Well thats a really good question. I mean there is still something very serious happening, which is again, i wouldnt say a problem with the organization of, you know the greek system. Its a problem with coverups on College Campuses michael. And you know about this obviously if you were in a fraternity. When youve got College Campuses youve got police that are loyal to College Campuses. Theyre like weirdly, you know, Campus Police which is such a bizarre system. And so when theres a Sexual Assault or some, you know crime on campus and the university doesnt want it to get known, doesnt want donors to get upset, doesnt want wealthy, you know parents to get upset, legacies, theyll cover it up. And so a really terrible thing thats happening which should be investigated and should be exposed is there are bubbles of impunity like legal impunity on College Campuses where especially with Sexual Assault, if women are, you know, young men who have been assaulted complain to grievance board its supposed to be impartial, but its often and i exposed this in new York Magazine in 2005 jail which covered up for 20 years Sexual Assaults its actually a way for the universitys lawyers to protect university from exposure of these criminal investigations. So i say if a crime takes place on campus whether its in a fraternity or anywhere else, you know lets obey the law, lets have the jurisdiction of the local Police Investigate and hold these people accountable. I would never defend what we all saw take place on that bus at the university of oklahoma nor that which is coming to light via facebook at Penn State University but when i look at those incidents i wonder if they represent a failure to manage alcohol then exacerbate it or light shone on them by social media. I think we need to demystify booze. Im an advocate for lessening the drinking age. What do you mean by demystifying booze . How would you do that with young people . I think whats taken place largely because of liability concerns is that colleges across the country, theyve all clamped down on drinking underwage drinking. I recognize theyre trying to respect the law that was imposed by the feds. But what theyve done is theyve driven it underground. I lived in a house where beer was plentiful. We were constantly on tap. There was no pregaming or binge drinking you could drink whef you wanted to and if you could drink whenever you wanted to you werent inclined to be a shutin and get hammer on a fifth of jack. A lot of truth to what youre seeing. Europe has a lower drinking age and less stigmatizing of 16 17yearolds going into a pub and i think theres less drinking on College Campuses and less crazy assault, crazy sex abuse that im aware of. I hear this from young women. I heard it on campus in upstate new york cha ta what happens with the greek system which isnt so great is for some reason which i dont fully understand men control the liquor so fraternities have like access to alcohol and sororities for some mysterious reason dont so, the young women do definitely complain. You wouldnt think this is at the top of the list but i can see how it lead to a lot of terrible situations that in order to have a party if youre under 21 you have to go to the frat house. Young men have access to all the alcohol so young women do feel sexually pressured and at a disadvantage. Its not the same as being coerced or forced into a Sexual Assault situation, but they do feel that they have no equality in sexual negotiations that they have to go along with whatever is i completely understand. Its an access issue. The way that youve defined it. Why dont sororities have their own alcohol . How is this feminism . I dont get it. Im all for giving it to them okay . Of course. If the boys can drink, why cant the girls . Naomi, thanks for being here. My pleasure. Dartmouth college is one of a number of schools making changes to curb bad frat boy behavior. The biggest change banning hard liquor on campus. But one of dartmouths student leaders says the schools crackdown may not work. Joining me is the editor of the dartmouth review, the schools staunchly conservative newspaper. Hes also a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Nick i lived in a fraternity in the era that is epitomized by animal house. We were on tap 24 7. But i have to tell you, there was no binge drinking and there was no pregaming and it makes me wonder, is there an oldschool solution to what ails fraternities today . I think so. Theres certainly no doubt that there are problems with greek life on campus in this day and age. Its my belief however, i think there is more in the way of solutions twn greek system within the greek systems history as well that can be brought to the fore as a potential way forward for social solutions on campus at large. What do you think the impact is going to be at dartmouth with the crackdown on hard alcohol . Hard alcohol wasnt a part of what we had going on. It was all about beer. And my thinking is that because of liability concerns because of the crackdown against fraternities theyve tried to rid the entire campus of booze and theyre not going to be able to do it. I agree. I certainly think that hard alcohol has made an enormous resurgence socially at dartmouth in particular but on College Campuses across the country more broadly. I dont think a ban is going to have the desired effects for safety of students and for the overall campus atmosphere. What weve seen in the past there was a isnt the reason for the spike in the appeal of hard liquor the fact that there has been such a crackdown and it has driven students behind clowed door where is they want to get hammered in a hurry so that they can then go back out to a party where they otherwise could not drink . Im not sure its quite as causal or as tidy as that. I definitely imagine theres a correlation. What we are seeing though, is a lot of people who are bringing hard alcohol into dorm rooms having parties secretly behind closed doors for no other reason than hard alcohol is more efficient, also easier to hide and store than a keg or a case of beer. So i imagine thats not going to change. It may even get worse if with the hard alcohol ban where you have people in their dorm rooms in sort of closed atmospheres drinking hard alcohol in ways that are less than safe. Is the answer to reduce the drinking age to 18 . In my opinion, i think that would be a really really positive step. I think 18 may be too low, personally. I think 19 would be ideal, simply because if you have 18yearolds at College Parties chances are the freshmen or high school parties, the freshmen at the same High School Party will be able to access the party as well. I think 19 would be a better age in terms of the specifics, but the political atmosphere behind i think a fight like that would be rather difficult. Nick let me ask you as someone who is living a greek existence right now on a campus with a very rich tradition of greek life, do you worry about the sentiment in the country today that these bad actors and i would never ask you to defend them because who could but do you worry that the blowback from some of these highprofile incidents will be the shuttering of fraternities across the country . I think longer term were starting to see a trend in that direction, which is my concern. I think the greek system has been value to believe me value to believe any number of my friends at dartmouth, but i think when you have incidences like this penn state fiasco, o. U. Fiasco you cant help but wonder what the future of the greek system will be when those high publicity events start a trend and make people think about when they think of greek life. Those are not representative of the totality of the greek experience and for all the bad publicity thats come out recently this is so much more good that happens behind closed doors, which is not adequately discussed or given voice to. So for the benefit of those who have never lived in a fraternity, have never been fraternity broth efforts, what are those attributes to what you refer . What is the experience that you think has been critical to your dartmouth undergraduate training you take from living in a house . Sure. I mean for me personally, i think the biggest has been the network of friends that i have through my greek experience. As someone who writes for the newspaper, does a lot on campus im not the most active in my greek house, the foirts admit, but when i have some free time between what im doing on campus or studying abroad programs or internships, its a fantastic home to come home to at a college like dartmouth. To have your friends, a space you can call your own, to have sort of that traditional quality of people coming together and sharing economic and social experiences, that is very difficult to replace. I think thats why the greek system is so popular nationally and at dartmouth. It serves a need i think nothing else can. To talk about shuttering and closing it down i think is to miss the point and i think is to run the risk of getting rid of something good and throwing the baby out with the bath water so to speak. Nick thanks so much. Thank you. Coming up starbucks brewed major backlash this week with its plan to talk race in america. Nba great Kareem Abduljabbar thinks its a bad idea. Youll want to hear what he has to say when he joins me next. Across america, people are taking charge of their type 2 diabetes. With noninsulin victoza. For a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar but it didnt get me to my goal. So i asked my doctor about victoza. 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Nba legend Kareem Abduljabbar is one of them. This weeks Ceo Howard Schultz asked his baristas to write account race race together on coffee cups. In a column for Time Magazine ka rheem says he was in shock and awe over what he says is a flawed plan. Kareem abduljabbar joins me now. By the way hes just written a new book called stealing the game. You say you were in awe of his chutzpah and you were shocked that he thinks itll work. Why wont it work . Well i think that you cant get into a serious indepth conversation in a coffee shop amongst strangers. I mean its a good idea certainly to plant the idea that we need to talk about these things but i think, you know, to get into a meaningful conversation you need more time and more intimate circumstances for some change to come about from it. 56 of africanamericans believe that theres a lot of discrimination in our country. Only 16 of whites say the same thing. Theres a great example. Black americans have to deal with a lot more discrimination because they are seen as part of the problem, whereas white americans do not get discriminated against in the same way that black americans do. And until they see it live and in color, like with the rodney king tape until that happen white americans were disinclined to believe cops could be that violent and, you know, carefree about beating people. It took Something Like that to change peoples minds. Heres what i was thinking. I share your concern that theres a premarket activity cat reality. The baristas at my starbucks, they are so darn busy they wouldnt have an opportunity for a conversation about race. But on my Radio Program this week we also role played. Its very hard to start a conversation about race. So ive got a cup of coffee for you. I dont know if you can see this. It has your name on it. Im ready to serve it to you. If we were to begin a dialogue about race how would we broach the subject . I think we would broach the subject by just understanding of the history of our country, the fact that violence against black americans and all different types of attempts to exploit them financially have made for a very miserable time for most black americans here in america and we could point out the historical examples of how that came to pass and how it continued to perpetuate itself. Is it a conversation thats necessary or something more than a conversation . I think its a conversation because we can point to specific historical examples and say that these things keep happening. You saw what happened just recently the report from the Justice Department about what was going on in ferguson. Thats been going on for decades. And most americans would not believe that a municipal government would exploit people in such a wanton and cynical way as whats happening to black americans in the st. Louis area. But finally the Justice Department report really cheered that up and showed why there was so much anger there and why it was so hard to deal with that type of resentment because these people were being victimized on a regular basis, exploited for their money. And finally, kareem when the president s legacy the written relative to this issue, what will it be . Well i think, you know, the president has stayed away from this issue because he does not want to be seen as being biased and just being the president for black americans. Hes a president for all americans and he has to take a certain pace and a certain stance just to be fairminded. Kareem abduljabbar thank you so much for being here. Nice talking to you, michael. Coming up potholes they not only do damage to your car but also your wallet. And i should know. I spent five hour on the side of the road last week after running over one of them. My take on the politics of potholes is next. Bring us your baffling. Bring us your audacious. We want your sticky notes, sketchbooks, and scribbles. Lets pin em to the wall. Kick em around. Kick em around, see what happens. Because were in the howdoigetthisstartup offtheground business. The takingyourbusiness globalbusiness. Were in the problemsolving business. 400,000 people ready to help you solve problems while theyre still called opportunities. From figuring it out to getting it done were here to help. Progressive insurance here and im a box who thrives on the unexpected. Haha shall we dine . [ chuckle ] you wouldnt expect an Insurance Company to show you their rates and their competitors rates but thats precisely what we do. Going up nope, coming down. And if you switch to progressive today you could save an average of over 500 bucks. Stop it. So call me today at the number below. Or is it above . Dismount oh, and he sticks the landing last saturday driving back to philadelphia after this cnn show my car was eaten by the godzilla of american potholes. Just after i exited the verrazano bridge in staten island. Im not unique. Aaa calculates 50 of motorists have experienced damage to their vehicles as a result of potholes in the last five years. In my case i sat on the road for five hours. Plenty of time for me to google the word infrastructure. I learned that once every four years the American Society of civil engineers, asce gives letter grades to our nations infrastructure in 16 different categories. In 2013 the overall assessment warranted a dplus. In the category of roads, we received a d for poor. The remainder of the report card has grades that would make any parent wince. Take a look at these airports d, hazardous waste, d, levees dminus. All horrible. According to andy herman the past president of the organization 32 of americas ray major roads are in poor or mediocre condition and that costs u. S. Motorists about 324 per person. Aaa midatlantic told me that the annual cost to motorists of potholes alone is 6. 4 billion, which might be exceeded this year tu to weather. Mr. Herman faults our Political Leadership for not addressing the infrastructure issues. Well ed rendell might be the exception. In the late 1990s, he was the chair of an Organization Called rebuild america, an interest that continued while he was governor of pennsylvania and included his founding of building americas future. He told me infrastructure is important first and foremost to our public safety. We see what happens when bridge chance or pipelines burst. Its important to our quality of life. Its important to our economic competitiveness, the ability to move goods swiftly is crucial particularly in the Global Economy and lastly its the best producer of quality middleclass jobs that pay 60,000, 70,000, 80,000 a year and you dont have to have a college degree. Rendell knows a thing or two about winning elections. He amassed a career record of 122. So i asked him, what would happen to a 2016 congressional, senatorial or president ial candidate who premises their campaign on addressing infrastructure . He told me that if such a candidate talked about the cost of doing nothing compared to the little cost of raising a tax to help pay for infrastructure theyd do very well. I for one and ready to test rendells hypothesis. Now all we need are candidates to champion the cause. Ill be right back. Mayo . Corn dogs . You are so outta here aah [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of greattasting ensure. 24 vitamins and Minerals Antioxidants and 9 grams of protein. 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Care that never quits. Appointments available now. Boy once upon a time, there was a nice house that lived with a family. One day, it started to rain and rain. Water got inside and ruined everybodys everythings. The house thought she let the family down. But the family just didnt think a flood could ever happen. The reality is floods do happen. Protect what matters. Get flood insurance. Visit floodsmart. Gov flood to learn more. Thank you so much for joining me. You can follow me on twitter if you can spell smerconish. See you next week. 7 00 eastern. Youre in the cnn newsroom. Im poppy harlow in new york. We begin this evening with a terrifying machete attack on tsa agents at the new orleans airport. It happened late last night. And we have now learned that the 63yearold suspect, richard white, has died in just the past few hours. He was shot three times by police during that incident. This all started when white allegedly was spraying bug spray and swinging a machete in the security area. Police also said he had a bag with him that contained six molotov cocktails. They also found oth