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Being Your Own Boss; Voters Still Want Change; Changing the Lesson Plan in Texas

Aired May 19, 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: All right. Let me tell you a little bit about what's going on in the news right now, some of the top stories we're covering.

Three races for Senate primaries and three clear messages -- get ready for change or get out of office. That's what established politicians and -- have been hearing loud and clear. It's a sentiment that could sweep the country just months down the line.

Plus, insurgents in Afghanistan set their sights big. The target? The main U.S. military base. We're live in Kabul.

Also, he calls it a food revolution, and he's bringing it to the inner city. Will Allen is an urban farmer, but he's growing more than crops. He's building communities. You've got to meet this guy.

Our top story, though, those Senate primaries last night.

There were four states with primaries. Three of them were particularly important. Three very different scenarios.

We talked to Gloria Borger about this yesterday. Three very, very similar messages.

Let me tell you a bit about each of those three.

First of all, in Pennsylvania, this was a remarkable, remarkable story. Senator Arlen Specter, the longest U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, was a Republican, he became a Democrat. He ran in his first primary as a Democrat.

He was challenged by the man, Joe Sestak, who was going to run against him back when he was still a Republican. And guess what? When Arlen Specter became a Democrat, the administration, the Democratic Party supported Arlen Specter.

Joe Sestak decided he was running anyway, and he won. Arlen Specter cannot run as a Democrat for the Senate seat in Pennsylvania. He's been in there for a long time, but he can't do it anymore.

OK. Let's take you over to Kentucky. Another very different story here.

In Kentucky, you had Rand Paul, the son of Ron Paul, Congressman Ron Paul, presidential candidate, running against Trey Grayson. Rand Paul had the support of the Tea Party movement. This was a Republican primary. Look at the trouncing there -- 59-34.

And let's take you to Arkansas. Sitting Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln -- this is a Democratic primary as well -- she was portraying herself as the more moderate of the candidates against her opponent. She did not win a majority. In Arkansas, you've got to get 50 percent or more in order to be the candidate. She didn't get that, so she gets to participate in a runoff now.

And bottom line, though, three states, three different cases, and the same message.

Let's go to Gloria Borger, our senior political analyst, in Washington, to discuss this a little more.

Gloria, I've been hinting about the fact that there was a clear message here.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

VELSHI: What was the clear message?

BORGER: Well, the clear message is that if you live in Washington, people probably don't like you very much, and that, you know, it's not just anti-incumbent sentiment, it's an anti-Washington sentiment.

You know, "change" was the buzzword in the 2008 campaign, but it was kind of more genteel, just like Barack Obama. This is angrier. This is going to get very nasty.

And I think what we have in store for us, Ali, are very nasty campaigns coming up, because you have incumbents who are going to be fighting for their lives and a much more partisan Congress, if you can believe it or not, because those incumbents are going to want to stake out positions that they know are going to be popular at home. So, I would think this makes it very difficult for this president to get through the rest of his agenda, unless he has a united Democratic Party. I don't know if he will.

VELSHI: I want to play you two things that were said last night by victors, both of them victors. If you did not know who they were, I think you'd have a hard time guessing who they represent.

Let's play the first one. This is from Rand Paul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY SENATE NOMINEE: Washington is horribly broken. I think we stand on a precipice. We are encountering a day of reckoning, and this movement, this Tea Party movement, is a message to Washington that we're unhappy and that we want things done differently.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP) VELSHI: All right. And let's something that Joe Sestak said last night. He's the Democrat in Pennsylvania running against Arlen Specter, defeating Arlen Specter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SESTAK (D), PENNSYLVANIA SENATE CANDIDATE: I think we know that we're in pretty tough times. But we know that we can go forward. We know that we must go forward.

But to do so, we need a public servant, not a politician. We need someone who's there out of core convictions and core beliefs and has the courage of his convictions to do what's right for the working families of Pennsylvania.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Gloria, hard to know who's talking about whom. They're both talking about being of the people, against the establishment. Very interesting. The theme that won last night was very consistent.

BORGER: You know, it's interesting, because it's one of those moments in American politics when, actually, the left wing of the Democratic Party --

VELSHI: Right.

BORGER: -- and the right wing of the Republican Party have exactly the same message, which is we need change, Washington isn't working, it's broken. By the way, Ali, we heard that in 2008 also, except now the public is really, really angry about it. And so it's this message of discontent.

And the question is right now -- the Democrats have about six months to deal with this, unless they're really going to get throttled in the election. And what do they do? And there's a debate going in the Democratic Party.

You know, President Obama has had a very broad agenda, as you know, on everything from health care reform, which he got done, spent a lot of time on, to financial reform, to immigration reform, to energy policy. And there are lots of Democrats who say, you know what? Time to focus on jobs.

VELSHI: Yes.

BORGER: Time to focus on the economy. Time to let people understand that we made things a little better for them.

VELSHI: I know you're very plugged in to what goes on in Washington.

BORGER: Right. VELSHI: So I want to ask you what you think about this. When asked about it last night, the White House's comment were about the general election in the 12th district in Pennsylvania.

BORGER: Exactly.

VELSHI: Jack Murtha's seat --

BORGER: Right.

VELSHI: -- where it would have been an opportunity. A socially conservative area, it would have been an opportunity for a Republican pickup, but the Democrat won. Mark Critz beat Tim Burns to keep that seat. And by the way, that wasn't a party primary. That wasn't for party members, that was for everybody.

BORGER: You know, I'm glad you mentioned it, because that was actually a real election, OK, where two people were running against each other. The Democrat who won was actually Jack Murtha's chief of staff. Republicans tried to tie him to Jack Murtha and to, you know, the Democratic control of Washington. It didn't work.

They say that's because lots of folks were voting in the Democratic primary in the Arlen Specter race, so more Democrats came out to vote. But if the Republicans want to really take over the House of Representatives, they should be able to win that kind of a district, because while it's been Democratic for many years, it's a very socially conservative district, pro-gun, anti-abortion rights. And they weren't able to do it.

So, you know, that was the kind of good news for the White House. What the Democrats have to do is take a look at that campaign and see if they can replicate it in close races all around the country.

VELSHI: Yes.

BORGER: And, you know, they're going to have a lot of them. And the question is, do you focus on the fact that they're creating jobs, even though unemployment is still lurking dangerously close to 10 percent? Do you start to say, look, the economy is better than it would have been if we hadn't done that stimulus package, or bailed out the banks, or do you continue with a broad agenda? And what I think you're going to see is this president really pivot very forcefully --

VELSHI: Yes.

BORGER: -- to talking about jobs.

VELSHI: Yes. We'll pay attention for it.

Gloria, thanks so much. Great coverage last night.

BORGER: We will, sure.

VELSHI: Gloria Borger, our senior political analyst. All right. Remember the Alamo? Well, your kids might remember it differently if Texas rewrites its educational curriculum. It could change what students learn about the rolls of government, gun rights, even God. And those lessons could bleed way beyond the Lone Star State.

More on it when I come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: This is "Chalk Talk." We bring you "Chalk Talk" every day, talking about public education.

Even if you're not from Texas, you care what Texas puts in its textbooks, because it's the biggest textbook market in the country. And every 10 years Texas has to update its textbooks and its social studies curriculum. They're holding hearings on that right now.

Let me tell you about some of the changes that the very conservative Texas school board wants to implement.

First of all, the United States will be referred to as a constitutional republic. The ideas of Jefferson -- the ideas that were put into Jefferson Davis' inauguration speech are going to be laid side to side with Abraham Lincoln's. Confederate General Stonewall Jackson is going to be listed as a role model for effective leadership.

Country and western music will be added to the list of cultural movements. Hip-hop will be removed.

Hey, that's just for starters.

Take a look at this one. Thomas Jefferson, they're going to downplay the role of Thomas Jefferson among the founding fathers. He's not well liked by some conservatives, by the way, because he coined the term "separation of church and state," something that the Texas school board is not in favor of.

Ronald Reagan, they're going to play up more about Reaganomics and peace through strength, downplaying some of Barack Obama. Under the new rules, he's not going to be listed as the president of the United States, he will be described as a candidate for the presidency.

There's going to be more about communism. They're going to play up the Red Scare, claiming that the U.S. government was infiltrated by communists during the Cold War.

And there will be hearings on this, by the way. Two hundred and six people have signed up to testify in those hearings. The board is going to consider the final list of amendments tomorrow, and on Friday, they're going to have a final vote on this.

It's a 15-member board. They're pretty optimistic that they're going to get the changes they want through because they're the majority of the board. And that will mean changes for the next 10 years.

Here's the part that matters to you if you don't live in Texas. There are 4.7 million public school students in Texas. There are 55.2 million students across the United States in public schools. But the bottom line is, Texas orders the most Texas books, which means what Texas wants, Texas gets, and you may get the extra textbooks that they printed for Texas in your own state.

Now, let's take this out to New Mexico. Sun -- a lot of sun in New Mexico -- it's fueling power and jobs. We're going to tell you about those jobs when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: New Mexico has got a whole lot of sunshine. They're using it to bandage up a broken economy as more solar energy companies flock to the state. Well, that means more money, more power, and more jobs rolling in.

Tom Foreman is on the CNN Express.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali, I know you spent some time out West, and you noticed what everybody who lives here already knows -- the weather can be absolutely magnificent. But that's more than something nice to live with. Many people here are beginning to realize it can be a way to make a living.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): With easily more than 300 days of sunshine each year, New Mexico is one of the sunniest states in the country. And there's a wave of solar energy companies coming to set up shop. One of the biggest, Schott Solar.

(on camera): And ever since this German-owned company opened this massive complex on the south side of Albuquerque, they have been energizing the local jobs market.

(voice-over): Amid the whir of robots in this 175,000-square- foot plant, workers are turning out solar cells and related technology as fast as they can. And their products are going out the door just as quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a growing technology and there's a demand for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We basically sell everything that we produce.

FOREMAN: You feel good about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Personally, I see a future here.

FOREMAN: It's no accident. Up in the capital, Santa Fe, another fellow believes he can see the future, too. GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: Am I always right or what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FOREMAN: Governor Bill Richardson is pushing his state hard to recruit more and more solar companies.

RICHARDSON: I just concentrated like a laser on saying any solar entity, please come to New Mexico. We will do everything we can to recruit you. And it's working.

FOREMAN: The governor's philosophy is simple. His state has long been home to some of the federal government's most advanced scientific and military labs, a great deal of technical expertise is already here. Combine that with new companies on the leading edge of a green revolution, and the result -- 2,500 new jobs already this year as more companies follow Schott Solar's lead.

JIM STEIN, SCHOTT SOLAR: Well, Governor Richardson and his cabinet rolled out the welcome mat in a lot of ways. They provided all manner of incentives for us. They provided tax incentives on the property, training incentives.

FOREMAN: What is your best hope for all of this? What do you hope people say 20 years from now about this idea?

RICHARDSON: That New Mexico, despite its small size, became the solar capital of America. That's my goal. And I think we're on our way.

FOREMAN: Solar is still a tiny sliver of the U.S. energy market. But this state is intent on grabbing a big share of that, convinced it will mean a lot of jobs, money, and bright days ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: This really is important to them out here right now, Ali, because the recession that hit the rest of the country sort of lagged here. So over the past year, they've seen a lot of the job losses and problems that the rest of the country saw maybe the year before. They think solar is one of those buffers they have against that, and one that's just getting better and stronger -- Ali.

VELSHI: Tom, enjoy the trip on the CNN Express.

Let me check some headlines just in to CNN.

Golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez and his wife were robbed at their home in Puerto Rico. Police say three armed men stole about $500,000 worth of stuff, including his wife's wedding ring. Robbers tied the 74- year-old Rodriguez up, but he and his wife were not hurt.

Just hours ago, President Obama joined Mexican President Felipe Calderon to speak out about some hot issues: immigration, drugs, weapons and cash. President Obama criticized Arizona's tough new immigration law as misdirected. Calderon also opposes the law. The leaders agreed to work toward a U.S./Mexican border that is modern, secure and efficient.

In Bangkok, buildings are on fire as the Thai army tries to force anti-government protesters to surrender. The protesters have been trying to oust the prime minister for months now. It's gotten so bad, there's now a nighttime curfew. Today alone, the clashes have killed at least six and wounded dozens more.

And that oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico shows no end. The scientists are worried about where the currents will take the oil next and how big the impact is going to be. Some tar balls that were found on the Florida coast are not from the leak, by the way.

We were telling you about the loop current that threatens to pull the oil spill over to Florida and up the East Coast. We're tracking that, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: All right. Let's go "Off the Radar" for a minute. I want to talk to you about tar balls and oil balls and oil showing up on shore. It's not all the same thing.

We had reports of tar balls that had shown up on the coast of Florida, and they went for testing. And what happened?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And they found out it was not. This was not that type of oil.

VELSHI: So, it was not the oil from the oil spill. They are actual tar balls.

MYERS: Well, of course. Tar balls. This is out near Key West, Ft. Zachary Taylor. This is where I actually had the end of my marriage. We were there, and the sunset was there. And it's a beautiful park and all that kind of stuff.

And clearly, they went and the people were looking around for these tar balls, and that's what they found, right there, Fort Zachary Taylor.

VELSHI: OK.

MYERS: They said --

VELSHI: So, it's oil and junk.

MYERS: It's junk, but this is also right at the shipping channel, right at the shipping lane, too. So this oil probably came out of some boat somewhere.

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: It congealed. Although oil leaks out of the Gulf of Mexico all the time. VELSHI: All the time, right. There's rusty pipes, there's all sorts of things going on -- broken pipes.

MYERS: Sure. And it comes out of the ground.

We talked about the loop current potentially taking the oil down into Key West and through the Keys, and that certainly -- certainly is the case. Eventually, this oil gets into the loop current and takes it down there.

VELSHI: And then does it come around Florida and go up the East Coast?

MYERS: Sure, it can. It absolutely can.

VELSHI: Is it going to be dissipated enough though by the time it gets there?

MYERS: We hope that the evaporation process will make it into tar balls.

Did you see those tar balls? Those -- you can pick that up, right?

VELSHI: Yes.

MYERS: They don't kill people. They don't kill birds (INAUDIBLE) garbage can. That's what it would love to be, like that, just like that.

But the ones that they're finding up in Mississippi and Alabama are a little bit more gooey. And if you step in them -- you know, this is crude oil. And just -- I guess --

VELSHI: It's toxic on its own.

MYERS: It is toxic.

VELSHI: I mean, it has the effect of feeling like it burns your skin.

MYERS: Correct. And if you have little kids running up and down the beaches, you can't see it. It's still there, but you can't see it because the sheen washed up.

All of a sudden, the kids have this stuff on the bottom of their feet. They don't know it. They go to bed, they've got burns by tomorrow morning.

VELSHI: Yes.

MYERS: So, if you're going to the shore, going to the beaches, you absolutely make sure that those kids wash their feet and wash -- basically take a shower before they go to bed so that this oil isn't on their body all night long. VELSHI: All right. We'll keep an eye on this loop current you've been telling us about. Thanks, Chad. And we'll keep an eye on those tornadoes to see what happens with those.

All right. We're going to take a break. We'll be right back in just a minute.

I'm going to tell you about what's going on in Afghanistan. Quite a dramatic development there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. We're "Globe Trekking" right now. We're going to Afghanistan.

You have heard about Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. This is the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan. Quite a dramatic development in Bagram. Let's tell you about it.

A target -- the target was the Bagram Air Base, but a bunch of suicide bombers came together and ended up killing a whole bunch of people, attacking the base. They were actually repelled yesterday. They had killed six servicemen in a convoy that was headed there. Let's go to Kabul where Paula Hancocks is there to tell us about what happened at Bagram -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Ali.

Well, it was a pretty brazen attack by suspected Taliban fighters. We know that it all happened pre-dawn Wednesday morning. We know that there were around 30 insurgents according to a U.S. military spokesman. He said that they were trying to infiltrate to the base itself. There was a gun fire -- a gunfight that ensued. That went on for a few hours, and many of the personnel within the base were down in the bunkers during this time.

And at the end, the U.S. say that they had killed almost a dozen of those insurgents. There were four of them who were wearing suicide vests. That they hadn't detonated their explosives. Also one U.S. man was killed and also nine service members were injured.

It's a very different story, though, the one we hear from the Taliban spokesman. He says that the four suicide bombers did detonate their explosives, and they were able to infiltrate into the base itself. But the U.S. and the NATO spokesmen say there was no infiltration, they managed to repel this attack -- Ali.

VELSHI: Paula, tell us a bit about Bagram. I mean, this is a heavily fortified -- this is the biggest U.S. base there. This is not something that would be easily penetrated by people even with explosives.

HANCOCKS: Absolutely. It is -- it is a huge base. I mean, there's tens of thousands of people inside. It's almost a city within its own right. It has very heavy fortification around the outside. Very high walls and razor wire, everything. And once you get through the first gate, you're not into the center of Bagram Air Base. You've then got a long walk to get to the next gate to walk in.

So, obviously, this is for security reasons. And it's not a surprise that this has been a attacked. It is a very brazen attack, but it has been attacked in the past. And today they used rockets. There was small arms fire. There were grenades being used. But in the past there have been many rockets that have been fired at this base.

Obviously the Taliban and other insurgents feeling that this was the easiest way to try to get some ordnance and some casualties up, which is obviously what they want -- Ali.

VELSHI: Paula, is there some -- what's being discussed in Afghanistan after yesterday's attack and then today's attack? Is there some sense that the Taliban has some new energy to them? What's the discussion?

HANCOCKS: Well, certainly from the U.S. point of view, they are trying to downplay what happened today, saying they didn't infiltrate the perimeter, they didn't get in, so we did well. But the fact is, these are two attacks, back to back, day after -- one the day after the other, and they are both very high-profile attacks in the capital of Afghanistan, right in the heart of Kabul.

And not only that, they are targeting the NATO troops and U.S. troops. On Tuesday, this large car bomb which killed 18 people, including five Americans and one Canadian who were in a NATO convoy at the time, were killed. This was targeting NATO.

So, really, what the Taliban is doing is showing that they can still go for the big targets and they can still hit the big targets. And just one week ago they said that they were going to start what was really their spring offensive, if you like.

They called it "al-Fatah," Arabic for "victory." And they said they were going to go after the NATO troops and anybody who was trying to support them -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. Paula, thanks very much. Paula Hancocks is in Afghanistan. We'll talk to you again on developments there.

OK. Out with the fast food, in with the fresh food. That's the goal of one urban farmer. He has turned a few acres in Milwaukee into a fresh food oasis, with enough produce to feed thousands of people. We're going to meet him in today's "Mission Possible" coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Every day we bring you "Mission Possible," somebody who's doing something to change the way they live or you live. This one is interesting. Turning a food desert into an oasis. A guy named Will Allen took a little plot of land in urban Milwaukee, and he's growing enough food there to feed 10,000 people. Let's talk to Will Allen. He joins us now from D.C. Will, you're talking about solving the problem of what you refer to as "food deserts." Tell me what you mean by that?

(AUDIO GAP)

WILL ALLEN, FOUNDER & CEO, GROWING POWER: ... has been defined as an area where there's no retail grocery stores for several miles. And the only thing in those areas are fast food restaurants and corner stores, where there's no good food. And to fill that void, one of the solutions could be farmers' markets or having folks grow their own food in their backyards, side-yards, very intensively.

And our farm in Milwaukee is located in an area that used to be a historic farming area years ago. And I was able to purchase 18 years ago the last remaining farm of that era.

VELSHI: And so what's the point here? You're growing food, you sell it, and it's available to people who, like you said, are in an area where largely their choices just wouldn't be as healthy.

ALLEN: Yes. And what we've established is a very integrated food and farming system, so people not only can purchase food from our retail store there, but they also can come there and get training in how to grow food, not only in their backyards but also establishing commercial farms. And folks come from all over the country and all over the world to be able to get that training to be able to do this.

VELSHI: Interesting that you think the next generation of farmers are actually going to be people from the city. You mean that they're actually going to be doing this, they're going to be farming on small plots of land, growing their own vegetables?

ALLEN: Oh, yes. We have plans for a vertical farm, a five-story vertical farm. It will be probably the first one of its type anywhere in the world, where we'll be growing food on five different stories in a very integrated way, growing fish as well as vegetables and herbs and so forth.

But the next generation of farmers will definitely be coming from our universities and our schools and our -- the thousands of youth programs around the country that have been established. So our farmers will look a lot different. It will be done in a very communal way.

VELSHI: Right.

ALLEN: It won't be done like the old days where you're out doing row cropping by yourself on a tractor.

VELSHI: Does it make -- I mean, I certainly see this whole food desert idea. I mean, I think we would all eat fresher, better food if we had better access to it. And you've identified that there are places that simply don't.

Is it sustainable in a larger way? I mean, should we be farming in cities where there's high-cost land, or should we be eliminating food deserts?

ALLEN: Well, we should be doing some of both. We should be trying to get these retail grocery stores back into these communities. They once were, but they've been pulled out. And part of the work that we do is also dismantling racism around food to make sure that these companies are not red-lining certain areas around our country.

VELSHI: Right.

ALLEN: So, that's part of our work around our growing food and justice initiative that involves over 500 individuals and organizations, non-profits, around the country to do this. But this movement that I think now has grown into what I call the "good food revolution" is really moving forward and gaining momentum.

And now we have many top-down operators, politicos, universities, corporate companies, joining. A movement that was started at the grassroots, which is highly unusual. And it's really a non-political thing because...

VELSHI: Sure.

ALLEN: ... that's the one thing we have in common, we all have to eat food.

VELSHI: Right.

ALLEN: And we want to make sure that everybody has access to the same -- same type of good food, not different categories of food for different economic areas and so forth.

VELSHI: Well, it could be the new macho, Will, we can all be -- we can all think of ourselves as farmers even if we live in the city. Good to talk to you. What a great idea. I like that, the good food revolution. Will Allen is an urban farmer. He is the CEO and founder of Growing Power. Continued good luck on that, Will. Thank you.

ALLEN: Thank you very much, Ali.

VELSHI: OK. And let me give you a check of the top stories that we're following here at CNN. Mexican President Felipe Calderon complained about Arizona's new immigration law today during a meeting with President Obama. He said the law could encourage discrimination against Hispanics. At a joint news conference, President Obama called the new law misdirected.

Thailand says it has regained control of a Bangkok park where anti-government protesters have been holding out. More deaths are reported in ongoing clashes today. Bangkok is being described as a war zone. Although some protest leaders told followers to turn themselves in to avoid further bloodshed, some protesters did remain in the park.

Elena Kagan's Supreme Court confirmation hearings will begin June 28th, despite the objections of the Senate Republicans. Republicans wanted the hearings put off until after the Fourth of July Recess, but Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy says it's no reason for a delay.

All right. When we come back, Ed Henry is at the White House. We're going to talk to him about this meeting between President Felipe Calderon of Mexico and President Obama. They were talking about guns, drugs, trade, and, of course, immigration. We want to get the back- story on that. Ed is going to give it to us when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. Time for Ed Henry, as we go to him every day, he's our senior White House correspondent. Always a busy day for him, particularly busy today because the president of Mexico was at the White House. Felipe Calderon was there meeting with President Obama. There is going to be a big state dinner tonight.

Interesting conversation that they were having about immigration.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No doubt about it. You knew that the new law in the state of Arizona was going to be front and center here. President Calderon, when he first arrived, this is a big state visit, so they rolled out the red carpet, all the pomp and circumstance, he immediately said that this opens to the door to discrimination in his eyes. He threw it out there right away.

And when there was a joint news conference in the Rose Garden, President Obama also said -- I think he was more measured. He is trying to make sure and let this play out a little bit, but was saying he has got deep concerns and he thinks it's a misguided law. We've heard that before.

And the president also said he's keeping a close eye on it, and he's going to have his Justice Department there doing a report right now. And they're going to give the president that final report in coming days to figure out whether or not they want to launch a legal challenge.

They've got -- I've seen people already on Twitter saying, though, how can the White House be taking a close look at this law when Attorney General Eric Holder has already told Congress last week he hasn't read the law yet.

He said at a congressional hearing, when asked about it, that he hasn't read the 16-page law. The administration has already taken some heat for that, that they've been out there criticizing this law without maybe knowing all of the details -- Ali.

VELSHI: Ed, by the way, what was going on there for a second? Was your camera operator on the ground or something? It was a very interesting shot of you.

HENRY: Yes, Khalil (ph) was on the ground, he's a great guy and we were talking during the break. And he is trying to find just the right angle.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: And he thought making you look like a superhero, shooting you from the ground, was the right angle.

HENRY: He did. He was trying to make me look like a giant. He thought that if he shot at a certain angle, you know, you look more powerful. But I can't quite look. I mean, especially with the -- you've an array of patterns and designs. I was looking on the flat screen down in our booth downstairs, I was trying to keep -- I mean, you have got a whole array of designs and things going on there. I can only try to just throw a little handkerchief in here.

VELSHI: You do look -- you look powerful, my friend, you look powerful.

Hey, the first lady, I just saw her in that video we were showing. She was with the president and the president. But then she was off at a school in Maryland and having her own conversation about immigration.

HENRY: This is almost like a tale of two events. I was telling you about in the Rose Garden what was going on about the Arizona state law, and President Obama at one point said, look, despite the perceptions out there, illegal immigration right now is down, not up, despite what people think.

But there was sort of a different message perhaps being sent at this school in Silver Spring where the two first ladies from the U.S. and Mexico went. I think we have that sound. Take a listen to this exchange between Mrs. Obama and a second grade girl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mom said that -- I think that she said that Barack Obama is taking everybody away that doesn't have papers.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: Yes, well, that's something that we have to work on, right? To make sure that people can be here with the right kind of papers, right? That's exactly right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

M. OBAMA: Yes, well, we have to work on that. We have to fix that. And that everybody has got to work together in Congress to make sure that that happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So, you heard the girl basically saying in that exchange that her mom told her Barack Obama is taking everybody away that doesn't have papers. The first lady says, look, we've got to make people have paper -- the right papers. And the girl, but my mom doesn't have any.

So it's murky. We don't know, obviously, we don't want to pick on the second grade girl. She is in the middle of this system that is very confusing. As the president himself in the Rose Garden said, he said, it's broken right now. But here you have the first lady meeting a second grader who says, my mom is worried, essentially, that the government is going to take her away. She doesn't have papers.

So just a few miles from the White House, here, as they're talking about illegal immigration being down, maybe a different story in the Maryland suburbs.

VELSHI: Wow. OK. And obviously it has got to be playing out at the White House today, despite all of the pomp and circumstance, this issue of the primaries last night. Three very important state primaries, four of them, one was sort of a predetermined outcome, but three of them with a very clear anti-establishment message, and the White House getting caught in those cross-fires.

HENRY: Yes, well, as you know, we talked about yesterday, the president has been trying to stay away from doing too much campaigning. That limits his liability in these races. Interesting that this morning the race that people at the White House, all they want to talk about and I heard you earlier talking to Gloria about it, Pennsylvania 12, that special election for the late John Murtha, his former staffer Mark Critz wins it.

What's significant about it and the reason why Democrats are really harping on this is the other battles were all primary battles, as you noted. This was the only real sort of general election...

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Right. You don't have to be a member of a party to vote in that one. You could just go and vote if you lived in the district.

HENRY: Right. And the winner of this does not just now have a nomination, the winner of this goes and serves in the House of Representatives and will be a vote for or against President Obama's agenda.

Important to note that that district in Pennsylvania is a swing district. Went for John Kerry at one point, '04. Went for John McCain in 2008. So the point here, bottom line is, Democrats are saying, despite all of the storm out there, the anti-incumbent feeling, this is the kind of district that should flip for Republicans.

Republicans put attention, money into that race and they didn't win. And so maybe Democrats are going to lose a bunch of seats. That's the way the cycle normally goes...

VELSHI: Well, what do you make of the argument that...

HENRY: But maybe it's not a tsunami. Maybe it's not a huge...

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: What do you make of the argument that Democrats were out voting yesterday because they had a primary in Pennsylvania? They were out in bigger numbers than Republicans?

HENRY: Well, yes, but I mean, the Republicans had a primary as well. Pat Toomey won. It was cakewalk. You're right. It was maybe a more -- a bigger challenge on the Democratic side between Specter and Sestak. Maybe there will be more energy to pick sides there. Pat Toomey won much easier on the Republican side. It was -- we knew he was going to win.

But Republicans were on the ballot as well. And so, sure, people are going to make that argument. But I think at the end of the day, this was a race that Republicans wanted badly and they didn't get it.

Of course, the White House is going to read what they want to read into any election results, but that was a seat the Republicans wanted bad, they didn't get it. It might suggest that, look, Democrats might take it on the chin. They know that. They know how these cycles go for a new president, but maybe it's not going to be the storm like we saw the tsunami in 1994.

VELSHI: Pat Toomey, interesting candidate, he was a former head for the Club of Growth, a low-tax organization that would work very well with the tea party movement because they support a lot of the same low-tax, small-government initiatives.

You look remarkably powerful in that shot, by the way, Ed. I have to tell you.

HENRY: You know, Khalil decided to give me that shot. We call it the superhero shot here now.

VELSHI: Yes, you look like a superhero. The "Ed-inator (ph)." Hey, listen, you guys have got to follow us on Twitter, Ed Henry, CNN, or @alivelshi. We need to get back into the contest.

Ed, good to see you, my friend.

HENRY: Well, you were kind of behind, so you need to catch up, I guess.

VELSHI: The "Ed-inator." Maybe we should change the segment name.

HENRY: The "Ed-inator," maybe I'll use that on Twitter.

VELSHI: I like that, the "Ed-inator."

All right. Listen, ISAF, what does this stand for literally and figuratively? That's coming up in "Wordplay."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. Every day at this time we do "Wordplay" because sometimes pictures don't tell the whole story. We take a word or phrase from the headlines and show you why it's worth your attention. Today's word is actually an acronym, but "acronym play" is a lousy title for a segment. So I want to talk to you about ISAF, I- S-A-F. It stands for International Security Assistance Force, which most of think of as NATO in Afghanistan. But it is actually more than that, 100,000-plus troops come from 46 nations, not just NATO, NATO has 28 members. That's the North Atlantic alliance. ISAF took shape in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion in late 2001, the invasion of Afghanistan. NATO took control of it in 2003. In 2006, ISAF took control of all of Afghanistan from the United States.

In 2010, contributions from those contributing nations vary widely. The U.S. is far and away the biggest source of troops in Afghanistan, more than 62,000 troops in-country. Austria, at last check, was the smallest, it has three. "Wordplay" today, ISAF.

All right. I pay my bills. I raise my kids right. So, why am I trailing when my neighbors -- why am I trailing my neighbors when it comes to our accumulated wealth? Well, that's what a lot of African- American families are asking themselves today. I'll share some thoughts and some solutions in my "XYZ."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Earlier on the program we heard about the wealth gap. A new study from Brandeis University says the average white family accumulates $95,000 in wealth, compared to just $20,000 for the average African-American family. Not talking about income, I'm talking about wealth. That's the money and property you acquire minus what you owe, and it's really what allows people to buy homes, start businesses, and send their kids to college.

The study compared the wealth accumulated by white families with the wealth accumulated by black families and found that the wealth gap has increased over the last quarter century four times. How big is that gap? Big enough to pay full college tuition for two children plus tuition at a public medical school. That's opportunity denied, and the report's authors say it guarantees racial, economic inequality for another generation.

These are families that are doing everything right, working hard, providing for their children, contributing to society, but still they're finding themselves getting set back. And the problem is not going away, it's getting worse.

So, how do we break the cycle? Professor Tom Shapiro, who helped write the report, says there are a number of remedies, but let's face it, this wealth gap didn't just create itself. Shapiro says the growing gap could reflect ongoing government policies that benefit only the richest Americans.

Some of Shapiro's proposed solutions include the creation of children's savings account that make it easier to save money for college. They also include a consumer financial protection agency that will protect African-Americans from predatory loans, like the loans at the center of the mortgage crisis.

But before any of this can be achieved, we as a society have got to realize that discrimination against one segment negatively affects all segments. I'm not talking about handouts here, I'm talking about equal access to the American dream for everyone.

That's my "XYZ." Time now for "Rick's List."