Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Afghanistan Forms 'Peace Council'; Charter Schools: Solution or Problem?; From Rooftop to Tabletop; Mayor of Moscow Fired; "CNN Equals Politics" Update; Grand Ole Opry to Reopen

Aired September 28, 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: A new "Rundown" for a new hour.

Just this week President Obama said we need more charter schools, and he put taxpayer money where his mouth is. We're going to take a closer look at charter schools, whether we actually need them, more of them, whether we can keep them from clashing with the broader public education system from which charter schools take money.

Plus, imagine flooding a perfectly good home on purpose. We're going to take you to a place where they do just that. You might learn something that could one day save your home.

And if you want to talk about bouncing back from a flood, check out the Grand Ole Opry House. The water is gone, the music is back. We're marking the occasion with country superstar Dierks Bentley, live this hour.

But first, we're very near the ninth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, a war aimed at toppling the Taliban regime, which it did, and preventing the Taliban from posing a future threat, which it clearly has not. At the moment, almost 120,000 highly-trained troops from 47 nations are fighting and dying to keep the Taliban at bay with no end in sight, only goals for potential drawdowns of troops.

Look at the map. Afghanistan, a patchwork of areas controlled at least on paper by troops from various countries. Now we get word from Kabul of a "High Peace Council" assembled by the Afghan government, assembled apparently with the blessing of the United States.

Village elders, former warlords, 70 Afghans in all -- 10 of them, by the way, are women -- called to begin -- and I quote -- "serious, substantive dialogue with the armed opposition." That, by the way, is the Taliban. No less than the senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, is on the record saying high-level contacts are already well under way, but Afghan leaders insist the process is at best in its infancy.

What does this mean, negotiating with the enemy, negotiating quite possibly with the worst enemy you've ever had?

CNN's Ivan Watson is following these developments and more in the Afghan capital. Ivan, this is a substantially more complicated thing than it would appear from the outside. From the outside, it appears that this is sleeping with the enemy. Tell us more about this council and the state of the negotiations.

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, as you mentioned, General David Petraeus, the U.S. military commander here, Ali, saying that the way you end insurgencies -- and this is in comments to "The New York Times" -- is to negotiate. And he said that, " There are very high-level Taliban leaders who have sought to reach out to the highest levels of the Afghan government."

Well, we asked the spokesman for the Afghan president whether or not this was taking place. Take a listen to how he responded to that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAHEED OMAR, AFGHAN PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN: There is no substantive negotiations or substantive discussions or dialogue with the armed opposition, and we hope that by -- after establishment of the Peace Council, which was established today, we will enter into a serious, substantive dialogue with the armed opposition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, it's really important to know here that, Ali, the Afghan government has been trying to convince Taliban leaders to give up their fight against the government and against NATO forces since 2005. They have had something called a Reconciliation Department that has largely failed in convincing militants to put down their weapons.

This is an attempt to reboot that process, but it's already coming under criticism. A prominent human rights group saying how come some of the 68 people named to this "High Peace Council" include some very infamous warlords from the days of Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s? People accused of all sorts of war crimes and atrocities. How come they would be included in this High Peace Council?

Ali.

VELSHI: Ivan, now, Hamid Karzai, let's talk about the frustration that he apparently is feeling. Many Afghans think he's responsible or at least has a part in the corruption which might be driving some people to support a deal with the Taliban, but Karzai himself appears very frustrated by it.

WATSON: Yes. We saw a very emotional outpouring taking place today in what was supposed to be a celebratory gathering, Afghans coming together to celebrate International Literacy Day. And they're on stage in front of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, in front of teachers and foreign ambassadors. The Afghan president lamented that there's some 10 million Afghans currently illiterate, and very clearly worried about the direction he is going in and the country is going in.

Listen to him express those fears to the audience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAMID KARZAI, AFGHAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I have pain in my heart. Please understand me.

(APPLAUSE)

I'm afraid, my countrymen. Please understand me.

I'm afraid my son, my own son, would become a refugee run day. Please, I don't want my son and your son to be a foreign citizen. I want him to grow up here, and I want him to go to school here. I want him to be taught by an Afghan teacher.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, Ali, the Afghan president, his credibility really is at an all-time low here in Afghanistan, in large part because of last year's presidential elections, which were widely viewed as flawed, and a lot of fraud in favor of reelecting President Karzai. But the interesting thing is I saw men wiping tears from their eyes in the crowd there. And after speaking to some Afghans at dinner -- we were sitting on the floor eating rice -- some of them told me, "Listen, I do not support this man, but he expressed my fears about the direction that this country is currently going in" -- Ali.

VELSHI: Ivan, thanks very much for that report.

Ivan Watson in Kabul, Afghanistan. Obviously a story we will continue to follow very closely, the talk that there might be peace talks developing between the U.S.-supported Afghan government and the Taliban.

An ugly moment in Arizona when a protester tried to get in Senator John McCain's face. She ended up on the ground, and that is today's "Sound Effect."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: John McCain, he has to go!

Johnny, you've got to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John McCain has got to go!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: John McCain has got to go!

John McCain -- this is how peace activists get treated. And the warmonger, John McCain, gets to walk out.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VELSHI: This happened as McCain was leaving a televised debate against his Democratic challenger, Rodney Glassman, Sunday night. Maybe you noticed the woman's T-shirt. It says, "Do I look undocumented?" And that's a reference to Arizona's controversial immigration law.

Some people say they are the answer to America's education problems. Others say they're only making things worse. We're talking a closer look at charter schools.

"Chalk Talk" coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: In today's "Chalk Talk," charter schools. Are they solution to fixing our schools, or are they just another problem?

There's been a lot of debate about boosting the number of charter schools to try to boost student performance. President Obama mentioned just yesterday that education reform calls for more charter schools, and he's backing that up with money. The Department of Education just awarded $3.5 million in charter school leadership grants.

But before we get into that, let's talk about what charter schools are.

They were created in the 1990s. They were designed to be the happy medium between private and public schools. They're funded with public money, much like public schools, but the difference is that a private group, even a for-profit company, can apply and get approval for a charter to run their own school.

Charter schools do not have to follow some of the same rules and regulations that public schools have to. In exchange for that freedom, charter schools are expected to achieve specific results within a certain period of time, typically three to five years, or their charters can be revoked. Right now there are at least a million students enrolled in 3,500 charter schools nationwide.

Joining me now if Frank San Felice. He works with the Center for Education Innovation and Public Education Association, which one a grant from the Department of Education yesterday. His group also received two grants from the Teacher Incentive Fund last week.

Frank, good to see you. Thank you for being with us.

FRANK SAN FELICE, CO-DIRECTOR, PICCS: A pleasure being here.

VELSHI: All right. You heard my description of charter schools. Roughly right?

SAN FELICE: Yes.

VELSHI: OK. There's a tension between charter schools and the traditional public school system because as they work, money is redirected from the traditional public school system. So what you've got is some schools that do seem to be working and less emphasis than going toward traditional public schools.

So, in my mind, unless everybody's in the charter school system, we've now created a two-tier public school system.

SAN FELICE: Well, I don't know if I actually agree with that, and it's unfortunate that there is this tension, and I understand it is a financial matter. But what charter schools provide, charter schools provide parents with choice, simply choice.

So now a parent has a choice of either sending their child to a traditional public school, or a charter school, which is also a public school. And I think that is healthy for the system as a whole. And over time I hope we can overcome the tension between the two parts of the system and work together for the benefit of children.

VELSHI: But when you say choice, how do kids get into the charter school system?

SAN FELICE: Well, assuming that a charter opens, a parent would come and fill out an application indicating their interest in enrolling their child. Unfortunately, there are many more applicants for fewer and fewer seats in charter schools.

Consequently, we have a lottery. And the lottery process is fair, but the process itself, when you watch what happens at an actual lottery, when families are not selected, they feel like they lost and they're not happy. And in many cases, they're sad and crying and so forth. And that's really an indication that somehow or other the system is broke.

VELSHI: So what's the end goal? Because the end goal can't be to have too few seats in charter schools where all these people are unhappy. The end goal theoretically should be that all public schools are employing some of the methodology that works in charter schools.

What do we know works, first of all, in charter schools? Because not everything has been proven to work. So what generally is better about them than traditional public schools?

SAN FELICE: Well, you know, first let me say that charter schools have problems. Many have the same problem that traditional public schools have.

However, in working with charter schools over a number of years, I find that many, with respect to the leadership and the staff that works there, they seem to internalize the mission of the charter school. And charter schools are typically distinct from one another.

They represent a community. In many cases they are very, very close to the community.

In New York City, if you noticed recently, we've had a number of charter schools that are secular but related to faith-based organizations, protecting, you know, the First Amendment issues and so forth. So they clearly represent the community.

I don't know if that's the case in many of the traditional public schools. And I'm not saying that they don't, but what I can say is that there is a real emphasis on the community that is being served.

Now, in many charter schools you're going to find longer school days and longer school years. And I applaud President Obama's recommendation yesterday, because I'm a firm believer in the fact that the school year should be extended, and perhaps the school day should be extended. But that alone is not going to resolve the issue, because if we're doing things poorly, we don't want to do it longer, so we want to make sure that there's reform in the system itself.

So a combination of reforming practice and at the same time extending the school year and the school day -- and I believe that's what many charter schools have done -- will result in better outcomes for students.

VELSHI: It's still, though, a bunch of different projects, right?

SAN FELICE: Absolutely.

VELSHI: There's nobody who said here are the best practices at charter schools, so now let's try and implement those across the board.

SAN FELICE: We're beginning to accumulate best practices. And I think that goes for not only charters, but for the traditional educational community, so that we know when there is a better use of information of data. And when data helps to influence instructional decisions, as well as administrative decisions, there seems to be an uptick in the outcomes for students.

VELSHI: OK. Well, great discussion. We can have this forever because we enjoy talking about it on this show, so I hope you'll come back and you'll talk to us a little more. I'd like to talk about the data and the metrics and what those best practices can be, but we'll leave that for another time.

SAN FELICE: OK.

VELSHI: Frank, great to see you.

Frank San Felice is the co-director of Partnerships in Innovation and Compensation for Charter Schools.

Well, from the rooftop to the tabletop -- I love this story -- we're introducing you to a chef who gets his vegetables from the roof of this restaurant and puts it right on your table, no middleman needed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: This week on CNN we're focusing on food. We're taking a cross-country food journey with reporting teams all across the country. We're hoping to get fresh answers about how our food is grown, how the choices we make impact our health, our state of mind, our budgets, and the pure joy of eating.

Today we want to introduce you to a chef who's using his rooftop garden to feed his tabletop restaurant. Here's Richard Roth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): How many times a day do you have to do this?

JOHN MOONEY, CHEF, BELL BOOK & CANDLE RESTAURANT: At least a couple.

ROTH: Really?

(voice-over): I walked up six flights of stairs with New York chef John Mooney to see what's given root to his new restaurant, Bell Book & Candle.

MOONEY: Here we are.

ROTH: It's a rooftop farm where he will grow almost all the produce used at his 80-seat restaurant below.

(on camera): What are you growing up here? Give me a list. What do you got here?

MOONEY: We have basil here, tomato, bib lettuce, eggplant, romaine lettuce.

ROTH (voice-over): He plucks the food from vertical towers that soar with the Manhattan skyline.

MOONEY: So, those are all the roots attached. Stays living the whole time. We harvest early in the morning. The vegetables are the strongest.

ROTH: Mooney doesn't have to worry about getting his hands dirty, because there is no dirt. Nutrient-rich water has replaced soil in this advanced hydroponics system.

MOONEY: Aeroponics is the vertical tower that floods it with oxygen, nutrients, and sun. Gives rapid growth. So, the benefit of growing vertically is not only space management, but the way it's set up helps the vegetables to grow quicker and get everything they need easily.

ROTH: And how does it make it to the basement kitchen?

MOONEY: The pulley system goes out over the back, is lowered right to the back door.

ROTH (on camera): Is this all worth it? To do -- why not just open a regular restaurant? MOONEY: Actually, because it is all worth it. We can control everything. We actually touch everything every day and care for it, harvest it. One of the benefits of harvesting it yourself, for tomatoes, for example, I don't -- they'll never see a refrigerator. So they're not going to be gassed, they're not going to be treated in any way for transport. And I just pluck them from right here. Straight from the vine. It makes a difference.

ROTH (voice-over): Mooney says he can grow food ten months out of the year, and will preserve food before the coldest winter months set in.

MOONEY: There's a heating element inside that heats the solution to 68 degrees, preventing frost from affecting it at all.

ROTH: He says that this farming method will branch out beyond the rooftop.

MOONEY: I believe, especially in an urban setting, that this is the wave of the future, for home or commercial use. Like, for our restaurant, we're producing. But in a home setting, you can also supplement your family's diet caring for the things and growing nutritious foods right in your home.

Fresh leaves just picked off the tree.

ROTH: But for now, the taste of the future is at Mooney's roof- to-table restaurant.

Richard Roth, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: And our special series, "Eatocracy: Mind, Body and Wallet," continues online. Just head to CNN.com/eatocracy.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: What do you think your house would look like if it was flooded one time? I went to a house in Tampa that's been flooded 15.

Here's the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS: So we come to a nondescript warehouse outside of Tampa, straight out of a Clive Cussler novel, where there's a building inside of a building and we're going to flood it.

All right, Chris. Describe this house. CHRIS HULSEY, INSTRUCTOR, STANLEY STEEMER UNIVERSITY: Well, you've got an 1,800 square foot, two bedroom, one bath house, and it's built entirely to code. You've got real drywall. You've got real wood casing. You've got real hardwood floors.

MYERS: Yes, I see it.

(voice-over): I'm here with Chris Hulsey. He's an instructor for the school that trains employers of Stanley Steemer the carpet cleaner to deal with floods. But this house could be yours, and we're going to see what happens.

(on camera): All right, I guess we're ready. We've got our boots.

Come on, Chris. Show us what happens here. They've got a big water switch on the wall right here. I don't have this on my house.

Go. Do it!

HULSEY: I don't have it either.

Master valve, we're going to open it. Let's flood this baby.

MYERS: Well, the water is coming out. And the first thing I notice, it's getting humid in here, which -- what would happen if the water was coming in from the outside.

What are some of the things now you can do quickly if you know water is coming in and you have an hour to get out? You can take your drapes, get them off the ground, because they're going to get wet. What is this going to cost you? It could save you a couple hundred bucks by just getting them off the ground and shoving them up here.

Something else you don't even think about, you don't even think about this -- if you have furniture and you have legs, especially wooden legs, get something under the leg and get it off the ground.

All right. This house now fully getting wet. What we should have done here earlier -- didn't see this, but there's the fuse box right there, the breaker panel. Before the water started coming in, we should have had the power off in this house and we wouldn't be risking electrocution.

(voice-over): Don't forget to sandbag those doors. It helps keep the water outside.

(on camera): Obviously water is still coming in, but you try to get rid of it as fast as you can. It might stop a little bit of extra damage.

The problem is and the big story is, it's not the water you can see that hurts your house, it's the water you can't see. That's under your rug. You're not going to get that out with a Shop-Vac.

(voice-over): But the floods keep coming, and it's time to wait and let them fill up this house.

(on camera): All right, the flood is over. You're fairly overwhelmed. The house is trashed, and you realize you need to get this water out of the house before things start to grow.

(voice-over): It's time to bring in the pros. Flooding could happen to any of us, so keep these tips in mind.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS: You think you can do it yourself, but believe it or not, that is Stanley Steemer University. That house has been flooded 15 times. It still looks fine because they know what to do to get the water out. And they have even saved the drywall all the times by getting these big, giant dehumidifiers the size of refrigerators to get that water and that humidity and all that stuff out of your house.

VELSHI: What -- I know you know a lot about flooding and rain and weather. What did you not know? Is there anything that surprised you there?

MYERS: There are three different classifications of floods: 1, 2, 3, or A, B, C. An A, or an easy A, a freshwater flood, means your sink overflowed, all that water was clean. A 2 flood, which means maybe some river water or outside water came in, there are things in that water.

3, when you have bacteria from sewers that get into your carpet and get into your drywall, then you're in a completely different cleanup mode because you have to stay clean. All of a sudden, your house is a hazardous place, and you want to be covered in gloves. And don't get your hands anywhere near your face, because there's a lot of stuff that could get you sick.

VELSHI: Good advice. Chad, good to se you, my friend. Thanks very much for that. I'll see you tomorrow in Atlanta. OK?

MYERS: You're welcome.

VELSHI: All right. If you're the long-time powerful mayor of Moscow, you better watch your step and your back. The mayor has been booted out of office. The messy details and what it says about Russia's president and powerful prime minister and the country when we go "Globe Trekking."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It's time now for "Globe Trekking." A show of power from President Dmitry Medvedev. Today, he fired the long serving mayor of Moscow. The two had been feuding for quite some time. And another key player apparently also at his hand in this power play, Vladimir Putin.

Joining us at the State Department is Jill Dougherty. She's our foreign affairs correspondent and former CNN Moscow bureau chief. Jill, what does this mean? The curiosity for me here is we talk about all these countries that are growing really fast with great economies. Russia is the R in bricks when we talk about Brazil, Russia, India and China. What's going on when the mayor gets ousted by the head honchos in the country?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, it doesn't get any bigger than this, Ali, in terms of Russian politics. Because Mayor Luzhkov was like Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago on steroids. This is a guy who had enormous power, economic power, political power. He was a real king maker.

And so when you have this clash of titans, Luzhkov against Medvedev, criticizing Medvedev, the president, for being basically a weakling. There was a case they wanted to build a road, big highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg. The environmentalists said it's a bad idea.

And in the old days, and Luzhkov said let's build it, forget about them. You had Medvedev saying no, let's put it on hold. Maybe we ought to think about this. So, you had the mayor of Moscow saying the president is weak and it would be better when we had Putin. Let's go back to Putin.

You couldn't have that if Dmitry Medvedev as president of Russia was going to survive and be influential. It was really a showdown, and he had to win it. There was no guarantee that he would, but he did. So, now I think you'd have to say it's score a big point for Dmitry Medvedev, who could run in 2012 for president again. And then, also you had president -- I should say Prime Minister Putin tacitly saying, OK, that's all right, fire the mayor. And so, the tandem continues, Putin-Medvedev.

VELSHI: Any effect likely with the U.S. in terms of relations between these two countries? Obviously, it doesn't seem like the kind of thing the U.S. would be too fond of.

DOUGHERTY: No, but these all have international implications. And I think Medvedev, because he has been part of this reset button with the United States, if something supports him and strengthens him, that would be good for the relationship. So, at that point, that's about what you can say. But I'll tell you, Ali, there's a lot going on politically behind the scenes and in front of the scenes in Moscow right now.

VELSHI: OK. Important for people to know because this, as we say, thought of as one of the world's great emerging economies. It's already an economic and military power, but it's definitely thought of as one of these countries that's going to lead us out of the recession that we're in. So, when things like this happen, it's worth some pause and to look at it.

Jill, good to see you, as always. Thanks very much.

DOUGHERTY: Thanks.

VELSHI: Jill Dougherty in Washington.

What do you do when a symbol of your city literally goes underwater? It happened to the famous Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. We've got country music superstar Dirks Bentley here to talk about it. "Mission Possible" on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: "Mission Possible" now. Back in May, record floods filled Nashville, including the famous Grand Ole Opry House that's been hosting country music's best since 1925.

Okay, take a look on the right side of your screen. You'll see what the floods did to the place. Water rose a few feet above the historic stage. They have been working on repairs for about five months now. Look at that, the whole place was underwater.

The left side shows how far they have come with this venerable venue. Today is the day the Grand Ole Opry House reopens. We've got country music superstar Dierks Bentley, who lives in Nashville now with his wife and his dogs. One of the guys on the rebuilding project, Mark Gerald. They're both inside the Grand Ole Opry House.

Guys, good to see you. It is hard to believe what it looked like five months ago and what it looks like now. What is it feel like?

DIERKS BENTLEY, COUNTRY MUSIC SUPERSTAR: Man, for me it's crazy. I saw the footage. My house sustained some water damage, too, but it didn't strike home until I saw the footage of the damage here. And yesterday was my first day to come back. Today is my first day to meet Mark. And I just can't believe how quickly they turned it around. Because it wasn't just a little water damage, it was like a boat being sunk underwater, there was so much water. I can't believe they have turned this place around and made it actually better than it was before, to be honest.

VELSHI: Yes, Mark, this would be a mess no matter where it happened. But now you're in a place which is a shrine to country music, and it's that far underwater. I mean, how did you and your team even start dealing with this?

MARK JARELL, R.C. MATTHEWS CONTRACTING: Well, we started doing -- I've never approached a job site by boat, but the first time I approached it was by boat. I got the phone call Sunday night of the flood, and they said get ready. So, we got ready and started mobilizing the Tuesday after the flood. And of course, we were just, like, in shock because in 2004 we did the addition to the Opry. And so, we knew what it was. And seeing what it then was and now seeing what it is today, it's just such an improvement and a blessing, really.

VELSHI: Dierks, tonight, big concert tonight. What a concert it's going to be. You've got Trace Adkins, Martina McBride, Keith Urban, Charlie Daniels Dand. This is going to be a big sort of almost -- it's like a spiritual regeneration of the place. BENTLEY: Yes, it really is. I've been a member of the Opry the last five years and such a fan of the Opry and of country music in general. I know so much of the history of the Opry and of country music, and there's always pictures you look back on, like the ones behind us on the wall. And tonight will be one of those moments that people will look back on for years.

And there's a lot of people in town trying to be on the show tonight because it's going to be one of the most historic Opry shows ever. Watching them put the circle of wood back in the center of the stage and kind of reopening the Opry House. It's a big signal for country music and for Nashville to be back on its feet, and there's lots of country music fans across the world that will be excited about tuning in and checking out the show tonight.

JARELL: Absolutely.

VELSHI: Hey Mark, our guy Chad Myers was showing us what happens when things flood, and what you're supposed to do about it. When you get that kind of water, you're going to get things growing, you're going to get mold, a lot of -- you could get some structural damage. What was the worst part about it?

JARELL: You know, actually -- it's kind of interesting because we were totally removing all the memorabilia from tapes -- that were original tapes to a lot of the original photographs and loading up these artifacts into refrigeration trucks. And then while that was being done, we were surrounding ourselves with people that just had the Opry in their heart.

And it was such a blessing because everybody worked together, you know, from electricians were helping carpenters, carpenters helping electricians. Everybody was --Gaylord and the construction team, we all worked as one rebuilding this.

But it's interesting. When the flood happens, you've got to remediate everything after the demolition is complete. And we can't build back until we get a clean bill of health. So, once that was done, obviously, you know, we hit the ground running and we were ready to go.

VELSHI: Guys, congratulations. Really, really happy to see this. By the way, Dierks, good luck. You're up for album of the year. Hope that works out for you.

But great to see both of you. Great to see the Grand Ole Opry House opening up again today and we wish you the best of luck.

JARELL: Thank you.

BENTLEY: Thanks, Ali.

VELSHI: By the way, this just really is a symbol of triumph. A flood-ravaged city rising up again because of teamwork and a whole lot of faith. More information on Dierks and the Grand Ole Opry reopening. Go to my blog, CNN.com/ali. And now, coming up after the break, my favorite country music fan, Ed Henry, right there. He's going to be talking about Rahm Emanuel, by the way, who's running for mayor of Chicago -- all but running for mayor of Chicago, let me put it that way.

If that happens, who is the next White House chief of staff? Ed Henry has some ideas, and he'll tell us his favorite country music when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Hey, this just in. I want to tell you about Arizona attorney general, Terry Goddard, has announced the indictment and arrest of the mayor of Nogales, Arizona. A gentleman named Octavio Garcia Von Borstel. He's 29 years old. He's been charged with bribery, theft, fraud, and money laundering. He's a Democrat. He was arrested at his office at Nogales City Hall. There were search warrants executed at his home, business and city hall office.

His father, Octavio Suarez Garcia, who's 59 years old, also of Nogales, has also been indicted and arrested today on charges that include fraud, theft and money laundering. FBI agents, according to the press release issued by the attorney general's office, began investigating Octavio Garcia Von Borstel five months ago. Determined that he was soliciting a Nogales business to hire him as a business consultant. At least one business admitted to the FBI that it was paying the mayor to use his official position to obtain business contracts, and specifically to obtain new city of Nogales contracts circumventing open bidding or proper application processes.

So, the mayor of Nogales, Arizona, 29-year-old named Octavio Garcia Von Borstel, has been arrested, indicted and arrested. More on that when we get it.

Let's go to Ed Henry at "The Stakeout." At the White House, our senior White House correspondent. He's been telling us for some time -- the whole world is treating it like it's brand new news, that Rahm Emanuel is planning on leaving the White House, leaving his job as chief of staff and running for mayor of Chicago.

Old news to Ed Henry. By the way, you're at the bureau, I guess. You're not at the White House?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I'm here - yes, in our Washington bureau today; the president is traveling.

You're right. I mean, look, we reported last week, as you know, on this program that Rahm Emanuel is likely to leave the White House in October at some point and that Pete Rouse, who is a top White House aide and really goes far back with this president. He was chief of staff to then-Senator Barack Obama. Pete Rouse also goes back far with Tom Daschle, he had been chief of staff there. So, he's very well known, sort of behind the scenes. Not really a big public figure.

But he's expected to be sort of the interim chief of staff when Rahm Emanuel leaves. It could happen as early as Friday, by the way, because Rahm Emanuel is really up against some big deadlines here. He's got November 22, where you've got to get the signatures to basically get on the ballot. Then you've got a February 22 primary. There are a lot of other Democrats looking at this race.

And so while, you know, here in Washington there's this expectation that Rahm Emanuel is this giant political figure and maybe this is going to be a slam dunk, this is going to be difficult. And I remember a few weeks back when all of this -- when Mayor Daley first announced he was going to retire, I think it was the president himself in an interview with ABC suggested, look, we'll deal with all of this after the midterm elections. And I think that's a symbol that people inside the White House, including the president, were really caught off guard by how rapidly this is going to happen, because if Rahm Emanuel is going to get serious about this, he's got to get going.

VELSHI: Ed, now you're talking about Rouse as a short-term plan.

HENRY: Yes.

VELSHI: Is it clear that that's not the long-term plan? And if so, what might the long-term plan be for chief of staff?

HENRY: I've talked to some senior Democrats outside the White House who were pretty plugged in who say there's a chance that Pete Rouse will end up getting this job in the end. He's that close to the president. He has the president's trust, et cetera.

But there are others close to Pete Rouse who frankly say, look, he doesn't want the limelight, and frankly, Rahm Emanuel sort of turned this position into an even bigger one in a way because he came from Congress, was not just a rank-and-file member but was a leader up there, brought a lot of wattage to this position. And Pete Rouse has not really been known as somebody who would go on "STATE OF THE UNION" or go on "JOHN KING USA" and deliver the president's message. He's a much more behind-the-scenes player. So, the expectation is he'll do this temporarily and then move on. But there's an outside chance he'll get it.

Some of the other big names, Tom Donilon, who is the deputy national security advisor right now, as well as you see there Ron Klain. He's the chief of staff to Vice President Biden, and should note was a top aide in the Clinton White House. So, he's been around the block.

Then you see those other two names, sort of the grizzled veterans, if you will. John Podesta and Leon Panetta. People close to them have suggested, look, they don't want any part of this. They're very happy where they are right now. But the significance is Podesta and Panetta, both chief of staffs in the Clinton White House after Republicans took over Congress. They could be very well suited to come in and help the Obama White House if dealing with a Republican Congress.

So, a lot of this is going to depend on, frankly, what happens in these elections. Whether the president has really got to get somebody who can deal with a Republican Congress or not, depending on what happens in the elections. And that's why Pete Rouse is seen as sort of the bridge to those elections.

VELSHI: Ed, always a pleasure to see you, my friend. I will see you from my normal post in Atlanta tomorrow.

Ed Henry, our senior White House correspondent with "The Stakeout."

Time for "CNN Equals Politics" update. Let's check in with senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash. Dana, what's crossing the ticker right now?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, you know, Congress is getting ready to get out of dodge, meaning leave the session in order to go home and campaign for the election. Before they do, some conservative senators are trying to make sure that nothing gets passed that's controversial without a debate or a reported vote. It's a little known fact before Congress leaves, they do tend to pass a whole lot of things very fast by voice vote. Well, senators Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint and others are saying they want senators to give them a heads-up by tonight on what they want passed. Because according to Coburn, he told me in the hallway, "Crap gets out of here that nobody knows what's in it." And DeMint even said they're trying to make sure they have stuff they can read before people are already heading to the airports. Very interesting going on there.

Second, this is another item that is about to be posted on the Ticker from our team here on the Hill, and that is having to do with Michelle Obama and poor children getting caught between Michelle Obama and Democrats here on the Hill. How's that for a teaser for you?

What's going on is that Michelle Pbama, as everybody knows has been pushing a healthy food initiative. She's trying to get healthy food in schools for low-income children. That initiative is being stalled. The reason is because House Democrats are not happy that the way it is being paid for is by taking at least $2 billion, at least in part, from the food stamp program.

So Michelle Obama, Ali, she's been working the phones, getting a little political trying to call House Democrats and say please, let this through. But at this point, it doesn't look like it may get through before the election because of the difference in how to pay for it.

And last, I've got to ask you. Ali, did you watch "Dancing With The Stars" last night? Did you watch Bristol Palin?

VELSHI: I didn't. How was it?

BASH: All right. Drew said he didn't watch it, either; you didn't watch it. I will fully admit I did watch it. She's pretty good. She's a little stiff, but she's pretty good.

But this is an item on the ticker not about her but about her mother, the former governor from Alaska, Sarah Palin. There was booing going on. And there was a question of whether or not Sarah Palin, who was in the audience, was being booed. Unclear why there was booing going on, who was being booed but the executive producer, Conrad Green, told the executive - "The Washington Post," rather, that he's not sure why the booing was going on. He didn't think it was for Sarah Palin.

VELSHI: People should cut people a break when they're dancing.

BASH: Exactly. A lot of controversy, even on a fun show like "Dancing With the Stars." She was pretty good.

VELSHI: No controversy on this fun show. Dana, good to see you as always. Thanks very much. Dana Bash.

Your next "CNN Equals Politics" update just an hour away.

Hey, "Wordplay" is up next. Chew on this. We're going to look at an acronym that ties in nicely with our special Eatocracy coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time for "Wordplay" now. We've actually got an acronym for you. CSA. This ties into our special Eatocracy coverage this week, food coverage.

OK, CSA stands for community-supported agriculture. CSA programs directly link local residents and farmers, no middle man. What happens is the residents commit in advance to financially supporting the farmers' operations in return for some of his crop. Basically, they become shareholders, benefiting from bumper crops and suffering through small harvests, just like the farmer.

This is an idea that originated overseas back in the '60s. The first CSA program here in the U.S. started in 1985 at a farm in western Massachusetts. The department of Agriculture did a survey in 2007. More than 12,500 farms reported marketing products through a CSA setup. Pretty interesting stuff.

Don't know much about religion? Well, a new poll says that's the case with a lot of Americans. I'm going to ask some tough questions about this and give you some food for thought in my "XYZ," coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time now for the "XYZ" of it.

Hardly of a day goes by in this country that religion doesn't make it into the show. Now, the platform is often politics. Just one example, the question some Obama critics keep raising, is President Obama a Christian? His answer is always yes. As far as I'm concerned, it's a ridiculous issue and one that needs to be put to rest.

A much more relevant issue, Americans' knowledge of religion. Many, if not most Americans consider themselves to be religious or see themselves as having faith in their brand of religion. But they are also deeply ignorant about religion, theirs and others. So says a new poll by the Pew Forum.

This raises a couple of interesting questions. Do or should Americans know a lot about the facts of religion? If your answer is yes, then the next question is, how do they get this knowledge? Learning about religion or religions in this country might not be as easy as it would seem. Religion is not freely taught in public schools. One question many people missed in the 32 questions in the Pew poll was whether teachers may use the Bible as a teaching tool if they focus on the literature of the Bible. They can.

A lot of you responded on my Facebook page, by the way to this discussion. Elizabeth writes, "Maybe we should know even less about religion because of wars fought in the name of religion." Karen suggests people get educated about religion before joining. And my colleague, Christine Romans, quotes her discussion with British religion author Karen Armstrong, saying, "America's emphasis on freedom of religion translates into Americans' daily lives into freedom from religion, which is unique compared to other countries."

To be sure, there have been perceived threats from other people's religions here in the U.S., usually expressed in racial terms. Not specifically religious terms.

So, is a lack of religious knowledge dangerous? Well, it could be if it leads to misunderstanding, which in turn could induce fear of religions other than your own. Look, this is just food for thought. You probably thought a lot about it already.

That's it for me. That's it for my "XYZ." Time now for "RICK'S LIST."