Nasty Senate Race in Nevada
VELSHI: Nineteen days until the election. Highly charged race in Nevada. Senator Harry Reid and his challenger, the Tea Party- backed Sharron Angle. CNN's national political correspondent Jessica Yellin in Las Vegas for us. Jessica, what's it looking like there?</s>JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is an incredibly close race here, Ali. And, as you can imagine, all eyes are on Nevada because this is where the Senate Majority Leader, the man who leads the Democrats in the Senate, is facing off and could lose his seat. This race is tied in all major national polls. And Ali, it is one of the nastiest races you can imagine. He has accused his opponent Sharron Angle, essentially the campaign says she's crazy, basically, not fit to be a senator. Their adds accuse her of things like not supporting mammograms, not believing in autism, wanting to privatize Social Security. On the other hand, she's going just as angry accusing Harry Reid, saying that her supporters are motivated by hatred of Harry Reid, saying that he wants Viagra for sex offenders. And watching TV here is like continuous political ad interrupted by occasional TV programming, Ali.</s>VELSHI: Tell me a little bit about how -- what can happen in this race in the next two and a half weeks that could have a major impact?</s>YELLIN: Well, first of all, tonight is a big day. They will have their one and only debate. Of course, this is the Senate Majority Leader, who is very skilled at speaking publicly. He's an unusual fellow but he does know to speak publicly. He makes occasional gaffes. And has been making very frequent gaffes on the trail. So it will be interesting to see what happens tonight. She rarely speaks to the press. I happened to get a rare interview with her yesterday and one of the big fights back and forth between them, that Harry Reid says she's irresponsible, that she would try, as I say, to privatize Social Security or once supported that. She says that's mischaracterizing her position. Here's a little taste of what we can expect between the two of them.</s>SEN. HARRY REID (D), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I also think it's important for the people of Nevada to understand long standing positions of my opponent. Phasing out Social Security. Killing Social Security. She believes that Medicare is unconstitutional. Remember, it was passed in 1964.</s>SHARRON ANGLE (R), NEVADA SENATE CANDIDATE: I didn't change my position. What I have had is more information on that position. I used to think that Social Security and retirement privatization was the only way that we could have personalized accounts. But, as you know, Harry Reid and many of his staff and government employees have what we call a "thrift savings plan," which is a personalized retirement account. So it occurs both in the public and private sector.</s>YELLIN: So, some moving positions. They will debate the specifics. And Ali, early voting here begins Saturday. So tonight's debate could really tip things one way or the other.</s>VELSHI: All right. Jessica, we will be watching closely. Good to see you again, as always. Thanks for being on the show with us. Jessica Yellin, our national political correspondent. OK. An American shot and killed while jet-skiing. The lead investigator beheaded. Are they victims of a Mexican drug war? We'll tell you the latest in Globe Trekking.