McCain, Money & Primary Battles
MALVEAUX: Here in THE SITUATION ROOM, happening now, an unbelievable drama is playing out thousands of feet below the ground in Chile. Dozens of trapped miners describe the precarious situation while officials are scrambling to save the men's lives and sanity. A live report from the rescue site is coming up. Plus, disturbing undercover video of conditions at an egg farm that are linked to the company at the center of a salmonella outbreak. We're going to have the latest on that investigation. Wolf Blitzer is off today, I'm Suzanne Malveaux and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM. There is another round of primary tests today in the lead up to the volatile midterm elections. Now five states are holding a variety of contests, but only a handful of races are likely going to offer some clues about the final battle in November. I want to talk about two states that are under the brightest glare right now. Our senior political editor Mark Preston is in Florida and our national political correspondent Jessica Yellin is in Arizona. We're going to bounce back and forth to both of you, but, Jessica, I want to start with you first. Senator John McCain faces a primary challenge today. Most believe that McCain doesn't have much reason to worry, but that wasn't always the case. Where do we stand tonight?</s>JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Suzanne. After months of facing a fierce primary challenge from J.D. Hayworth that had them almost nearly tied, Suzanne, now John McCain has a healthy lead on his opponent and heads into today with some confidence. But I'll tell you, he seems to be a bit wary. Right now he's been saying things to reporters like, I take nothing for granted, it's not over until it's over. And in another sign he is being extremely cautious after a very fierce primary, he wouldn't take reporters' questions. He came out and spoke to the media today after voting. His challenger has been accusing him of planning to move far to the left if he's reelected, so I tried to ask him about that. Watch.</s>MCCAIN: Great day. A little warm, but I'm sure we'll have a great turnout.</s>YELLIN: Senator, your opponent said, if elected, you'll move to the left.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, guys. Thanks, guys.</s>YELLIN: Senator, your opponent said, if elected, you'll move --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, Jessica. Thanks, Jessica.</s>YELLIN: He won't answer any other questions?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.</s>YELLIN: He is running for U.S. Senate. He is not going to answer any questions?</s>YELLIN: So a man of few words today, Suzanne. Obviously, doesn't want to take any risks.</s>MALVEAUX: Wow, Jessica, you really tried though. You tried really hard to get him to at least acknowledge and answer some questions. Very good point. He is running for the U.S. Senate, he should take some questions. He is far from being the maverick that he painted himself to be, very much a Washington insider. What do we think the primary race says about the state of incumbents? Is it as bad as previously believed?</s>YELLIN: Well, you'll see in this state clearly the incumbent John McCain is ahead. I'll leave Florida to Mark Preston who is also here but there the establishment candidates seem to be doing well and in Alaska the same is true. One of the things we've seen, Suzanne, is that earlier in the cycle some of the insiders, the incumbents, were beaten handily and were sort of canaries in the coal mine, a warning, cautionary tales to these later candidates who had the benefit of seeing what happened to the other guys and they have realized they can take nothing for granted. So for example here John McCain has spent more than $20 million in a primary broken a record there with his spending because he knew it's a fierce campaign and it's a tough year for incumbents. They might do well today but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good year in general.</s>MALVEAUX: Mark jump in. And tell us about what's taking place in Florida on the Democratic side.</s>MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, Suzanne, basically two pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place. Marco Rubio will be the Republican nominee and the Republican turned independent Governor Charlie Crist will run as an independent. He was the front runner, Suzanne. Tonight we will find out who the Democratic nominee is. We have a billionaire real estate investor who has come out of nowhere, has dumped more than $20 million into this race in a few months. We have Kendrick Meek who is the establishment candidate, the son of a former Congresswoman. He took her seat. He has clung to a very precarious lead, jumped back and forth. Right now polls showed that he is up. What this comes down to is we are coming down to the wire here in Florida and for Democrats across the country right now things do not look very good. However, here in Florida Democrats might have a shot at winning this race. If Kendrick Meek or Jeff Greene, the Democratic nominees, do not win in November, perhaps it will be Charlie Crist. And if it's Charlie Crist he will caucus with the Democrats. So Democrats have a pick up opportunity here in Florida. Republicans hope to hold on to the seat with perhaps one of the biggest stars, one of the biggest rising stars in the party Marco Rubio.</s>MALVEAUX: You had a chance to talk to Jeff Greene as well.</s>PRESTON: I did. And, you know, he is an interesting fellow. He is a billionaire. I mean, not very often thaw get to sit down and talk to a billionaire. I asked him why, Suzanne, why did you get into this race? He said that he felt he had to get into the race. However, there has been this huge cloud of controversy around him. He has been linked to Lindsay Lohan, to Mike Tyson, to wild parties on a yacht. He says that he, in fact is conservative, not conservative in his politics. He says he is a conservative family man that has a 10- month-old. He really has a tough fight tonight, though, Suzanne. As much money as he has poured into this race polling shows Kendrick Meek heading into the poll closing tonight at 7:00 has a lead. We'll have results hopefully around 8:00 or 9:00 tonight.</s>MALVEAUX: Excellent. Mark, Jessica, thank you very much. Obviously very exciting races to watch this afternoon and evening and we'll be keeping a close eye on that. Thanks again. Stay with CNN throughout the night for vote results and updates in all of the key races. Join John King and the best political team on television for our coverage. It is hard to imagine what it's liked for trapped miners in Chile right now. We'll get a better understanding of how these cramped and scared and desperate they are feeling right now, those miners. Could a former police officer have been stopped before he took a bus load of tourists hostage and opened fire? And a new clue about where all that oil spewed into the gulf has gone.