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Waiting to Wed; Turning Greener Bricks Into Schools; Wheat Prices Surge; Car Bomb Explodes in Colombia; Pakistan Indus River Cresting Again; Mission Possible: Empowering Her Community; New Polls on President; Ben Quayle Criticizes President Obama; Wordplay: "Eight" in the Headlines; XYZ: The Economy Wants You & Needs You!
Aired August 12, 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. It's a new hour. It's a new "Rundown."
Opponents of gay marriage and supporters of gay marriage all keeping a very, very close eye right now on California, where we could see an historic ruling on Proposition 8 any moment now.
Plus, tens of thousands of people in the nation's Capitol and in the nation's heartland are losing power, losing land, probably losing their tempers, too. They're seeing extreme weather like they've never seen before.
And you know Richard Quest. He's always been my good buddy until now. Thing are changing today. We're rolling out our new segment, "Q & A." We're going head to head. The battle about to begin.
It's been eight days since a federal judge in California struck down that state's Proposition 8, which prohibited same-sex marriage. It was voted upon by residents of California. The same people who were celebrating that being struck down. Well, they're on the edge of their seats today. That's because the same judge that struck it down is about to decide whether to live the stay that he put on his own watershed ruling, allowing marriage licenses to once again be issued to same-sex couples before all the appeals in this case can be heard. And trust me, those appeals are going to go on for years.
CNN correspondent Dan Simon is in the U.S. District Court House in San Francisco awaiting Judge Vaughn Walker's decision. He's on the phone with us right now.
It's our "Two at the Top."
Dan, any word yet?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No word yet, Ali. It could come down in any second. I can't even tell you how many times I've hit the refresh button on my computer.
We're waiting here for hard copy of the ruling, also checking the computers. We know that it's going to be posted on the court's Web site as soon as it comes down. We were told that the judge would issue this ruling before 3:00 Eastern Time. So we're looking at a window now of one hour. As you said, just so much anticipation here.
Let's just review briefly how we got to this point, Ali.
Proposition 8, this was a voter-led initiative to define marriage between a man and a woman. It passed by a narrow majority of voters in November, 2008, 52 percent to 48 percent. Same-sex marriage supporters rushed to the courthouse to try to get this overturned.
The trial took place all the way back in January, a two-and-a- half-week trial. Then you got to just last week, where the judge issued his ruling, striking down Proposition 8, calling it unconstitutional.
The judge put a stay on his own ruling, really just until today to decide whether or not he will allow marriages to resume. We know that there are plenty of same-sex couples gathering at city halls and courthouses all across the country trying to get married, literally today, in event the judge lifts his own stay. And again, that's what we're waiting for the judge to decide -- Ali.
VELSHI: Dan, there are protesters out there, both sides. What's the mood?
SIMON: Well, here at the courthouse it's mainly just a bunch of reporters just waiting for this ruling. But at City Hall, predominantly same-sex couples waiting in line, essentially, trying to go to the clerk's office and fill out the paperwork to apply for a marriage license. We know that there are a handful of opponents out there, but overwhelmingly, mainly same-sex couples.
VELSHI: All right. Dan Simon, we'll continue to follow this very closely. You're there. If you get news, you let us know. We'll bring it to our viewers immediately.
Dan Simon at the courthouse.
In a few minutes I'll talk to Jeffrey Toobin about the implications of this case, whichever way it ends up going.
Listen, on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve said the economy was sputtering, things are not OK. Investors took that message to heart. Things got ugly on the stock market.
Listen to our "Sound Effect." It's the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange.
(BELL RINGING)
VELSHI: Stocks have been down two days in a row. They're down again today, down 78 points on the Dow. It's about three-quarters of a percentage point. That is not nearly what it looked like yesterday at this time, but we'll keep a close eye on it, as we always do, to see where it goes. And always, we'll bring you explanations about what's happening and why it matters to you.
OK. A week and a day after that monumental court ruling in California, as Dan said, we're ready to find out whether it will actually go into effect, whether those same-sex couples lined up outside of City Hall in San Francisco are actually going to be able to get married.
Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, on the case. We're going to ask him about it when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. We're back to San Francisco. Well, we're not going there, but I want to keep on this story, because sometime this hour we've been told that the judge in this case on Proposition 8 is going to issue a ruling on the ruling he issued a week ago yesterday.
As we've been reporting, Judge Vaughn Walker is deciding whether to lift a stay on his landmark decision to overturn California's Proposition 8. Proposition 8 sought to outlaw same-sex marriages. It was a vote that was supposed -- the supporters of Proposition 8 want the ruling to remain on hold while they appeal it. Same-sex marriage advocates don't want it to be on hold.
All of this brings me to CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin, many miles away from San Francisco. He is in Anchorage, Alaska.
Jeff, good to see you. It looked like you were wrestling a bear or something since the last time we talked. You know, I think if you turn that camera around, you can probably see downtown Anchorage.
Jeff, let's talk about this.
This judge ruled on Proposition 8. And I want to read to my viewers what he said in his ruling.
He says, "Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for the denial of marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same-sex couples."
So, my non-legal mind tells me this judge thought that Proposition 8 doesn't make sense, not constitutional, shouldn't be the law. And then right after striking it down, he puts a stay on his own ruling.
Explain that to me.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, this is a big deal, this case. And Judge Walker knows that. And it would be very significant if same-sex couples started to get married.
He also knows that this case is going to be appealed, probably all the way to the United States Supreme Court. And he knows that he may well be overturned.
So, the question he had is, should I allow this ruling to go forward, should I allow couples to start getting married, even though those marriages may later be challenged as illegal? That's a tough legal question, and that's what he's wrestling with on this issue of the stay. And we'll know within the hour which way he's going to go.
VELSHI: So what has he been doing since he put that stay on? Is he consulting? Is he thinking about it? Obviously, he put that stay into effect because he thought there was some reason to do so.
What's he chewing on?
TOOBIN: He's thinking about two questions, for the most part. One is what the lawyers call likelihood of success on the merits. Does he really think there's a good chance his own ruling will be overturned?
That's a hard thing for judges to think about, because obviously he thought he was correct in the first place. But it is a question that judges have to wrestle with.
The other question, and perhaps the most interesting question he's wrestling with, is would there be irreparable harm if hi allowed these marriages to go forward? We often think of irreparable harm in terms of the loss of money, the potential danger, loss of life. Allowing marriages to go forward is not a conventional example of irreparable harm.
What opponents of Proposition 8 have said is look, there was a period not so long ago when same-sex couples were allowed to get married. Those marriages have been allowed to stand. Even if this ruling is later overturned, the fact that some more gay couples got to get married, that's not irreparable harm, there's nothing wrong with that.
The supporters of Proposition 8 who are opponents of gay marriage say it is irreparable harm. The voters have spoken, the country. The state has an official policy against gay marriage to allow just on your say-so, without any appellate review, same-sex couples to get married is a bad idea, it should be impermissible.
Those are the arguments he's dealing with right now.
VELSHI: What happens if he lifts the stay, people -- we know outside of City Hall right now in San Francisco, people are waiting to get married. They obviously have more faith in their city halls than a lot of people in America, that they can turn it around that quickly if this judge rules.
But what happens to them if this thing comes back on appeal? If you get married in California and the law changes, what happens to your marriage?
TOOBIN: Well, California dealt with precisely that question. The California Supreme Court, there was this period two years ago when same-sex marriages were briefly legal. They were declared illegal once again. And the question arose, what happens to those people who got married? Are their marriages still valid?
And the California Supreme Court said yes, their marriages are valid. They were legal at the time they were made.
And I think these people who get married today, assuming the stay is lifted, I don't think they have to worry that their marriages will later be declared invalid. Since there is exactly this question decided by the California Supreme Court, I don't think there's much chance those marriages will be legally overturned sometime down the road, even if Prop 8 is ultimately upheld.
VELSHI: Jeff, you make this stuff so easy to understand. I'm sorry to take you away from wrestling that bear, or whatever it is you were doing moments ago in Anchorage, but I'll let you get back to it.
TOOBIN: Yes. Well, you know, I have reindeer, I have bears, I have all sorts of Alaskan delicacies here.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Our outdoorsman and senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin.
TOOBIN: That's right.
VELSHI: We may be needing to come back to you when this ruling comes out.
TOOBIN: You know what I learned, Ali? Ali, you know what I learned? That the best part of the halibut to eat is the cheeks.
VELSHI: I didn't even know halibuts had cheeks.
TOOBIN: Who knew, right? I didn't know that. But that's an Alaskan fact.
VELSHI: That's what we like to do here at CNN, bring you a piece of information we were certain you didn't already know.
Jeff, thank you very much for that.
TOOBIN: Just trying to provide that service. OK, Ali.
VELSHI: Let me show you -- by the way, I want to just show you this map that I've got on the wall which are the states that allow same-sex couples to wed: Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, and all the way in the middle there is Iowa.
These are states -- on the left there, those are the states that have some sort of spousal benefit to unmarried couples: California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington. New Jersey allows civil unions.
And remember, the best part of the halibut are the cheeks.
All right. Two-and-a-half inches of rain in half an hour? Yes, you're going to have some flooding.
Storms dump on the D.C. area, causing all kinds of problems. Reynolds Wolf tells me it is not over yet.
We've got some crazy weather in this country. We're going to tell you about it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
In today's "One Simple Thing," a better brick. It's the key to building much-needed schools faster while saving trees and electricity, and it's happening in Madagascar.
Here's Ben Wedeman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may look like just another brick in the wall, but these are bricks with a difference. They're being used to build a classroom for a rural school outside Madagascar's capital of Antananarivo, a project run by the U.N. Children's Fund, UNICEF, and Madagascar's Ministry of Education.
The local community lends a hand, hauling the bricks, doing the hard work, sharing advice and suggestions with the contractors, because their children need a new classroom. Indeed, a new school. The old one is rundown and crowded and a bit cool up here in the highlands.
So what is so special about these bricks?
(on camera): This is a traditional Madagascar brick, baked in a kiln, fired by wood from the country's disappearing forests. These bricks, on the other hand, are pressed and dried in the air. They require almost no concrete in construction, and building a classroom like this will cost $1,000 less than using those old bricks.
(voice-over): Tiana Vatosoa (ph) is the UNICEF engineer overseeing the work here. He says there's another benefit to these bricks, all of this which are standard size and shape, a lot like heavy duty Lego blocks.
"If we compare to the old bricks," he says, "it took around three months or more to do this work. But now we can make a classroom in just two months."
The machines that make these bricks were designed and manufactured in Madagascar. And they run on elbow grease alone. A definite plus in a country where electricity has yet to reach many villages.
With a bit of muscle, two people can turn out around 400 bricks a day. UNICEF's Margarita Focas-Licht says this new technology is starting to catch on. MARGARITA FOCAS-LICHT, UNICEF: Well, I think it is, because the more we provide a market for creating these bricks, the more producers there are and the more interest there is for using these bricks. So there are other buildings being built also with these bricks, and I think it's coming. We've seen progress over the last few years of more producers, and so I think there's a market being created.
WEDEMAN: Most importantly, though, cash-strapped Madagascar has to build around 2,000 classrooms a year to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population of schoolchildren who do need an education.
Ben Wedeman, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: What a great story.
Hey, listen, weather all over this country doing crazy things. In the Washington, D.C., area, a lot of people out of power.
(WEATHER REPORT)
VELSHI: All right. It is time to rumble. My old pal Richard Quest, who may not be my old pal in the next few minutes, joins me straight ahead for our brand-new segment called "Q&A." We might not be pals when this is over.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS," and so does Ali Griffin.
Good evening, my good friend Ali.
VELSHI: And good afternoon to you in London, Richard.
Each week on Thursday, Richard and I will be coming to you around the world to talk business, travel, innovation, pop culture.
Nothing is off limits.
QUEST: That's right. You just go to our blogs at CNN.com/QMB -- that's for mine -- CNN.com/Ali - that's for his -- and give us your topics.
VELSHI: And today, for our worldwide debut, we are tackling wheat and its surging price.
People know -- it must be a good topic, Richard, when a whole bunch of people have been asking me, "Why are you talking about wheat?"
Well, Richard, you've got 60 seconds to impress the worldwide CNN audience.
QUEST: And that 60 seconds starts now. Here we go, the big question about wheat, Ali.
There are at least 30 types, different types of wheat. The most common, of course, in the U.S. is the Durum, the Common and the Club.
There are some exotic types of wheat. How about the Einkorn, Vienna (ph), or the Shpelt (ph)? But the important thing to really realize about wheat is it's a true global market.
More than 60 percent of the world uses wheat as part of its staple diet. So, for example, in Russia, one of the world's largest exporters, the drought, the current wildfires has led to a decimation of the crop. The country's banned exports, and that's going to push up prices.
But I told you, it's a global market. So, in the United States, the issue is, should farmers grow more wheat to take advantage of this in the winter months?
And then there's countries like Egypt, the world's largest importer. You've got the financial markets.
(BUZZER)
QUEST: Oh, no, Ali, when it comes to wheat, there is no more than just bread alone.
VELSHI: You didn't quite make it in the 60 seconds. You named a whole bunch of wheat, but you missed a few different varieties.
I've got this kind here, the kind that just grows. But you missed two very important varieties of wheat, Richard, "Cream of" and "Shredded." This is not just a staple that goes into food and into bread, it's stuff we eat every day.
Now, let me just tell you, you ended with Egypt, let me start with Egypt.
The United States has lots of wheat. We grow more than we need here. But there are countries like Egypt which are net importers of wheat. So, they're going around the world right now while Russia and the Ukraine and Kazakhstan are not exporting wheat, they've banned exports of wheat until December. A lot of these countries that have to import it are going to whoever's got extra wheat.
And you know what happens when demand starts to outstrip supply. So, you haven't seen it yet, which is why nobody understands why we're talking about wheat today, but you will see price increases in wheat.
And by the way, as a basic grain, once you start seeing supply underneath demand, you will start to see people turning to alternative grains, things like corn. So, you could actually see prices for things that have no relation to wheat going up in the next few months.
And that's what we're going to do here on "Q&A." We're going to tackle things before they become problems -- Richard.
(BUZZER)
QUEST: All right. Good try there, Ali. Good try with your props for today.
VELSHI: It's real wheat, Richard. But let's separate the men from the boys right now. Let's find out who really knows more about wheat.
Let us introduce the voice for the quiz.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, gentlemen. I sure hope you ate your Wheaties today, because you're going to need it.
Let's start with an easy one for the both of you.
What two countries are the top two producers of wheat: A, India and Russia; B, the U.S. and Russia; C, China and Russia; or D, China and India?
Ali?
VELSHI: United States and Russia?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're wrong.
Richard?
(BUZZER)
QUEST: That's what I was going to go -- United States and --
VELSHI: Maybe you're wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're wrong as well, Richard.
(BUZZER)
QUEST: United States and Canada.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, the both of you need your wheat.
VELSHI: China and India?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
VELSHI: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now let's get to a tougher question.
VELSHI: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are thousands of varieties of wheat, but only this many classes: A, four; B, six; C, eight; or D, 16?
Ali? VELSHI: All right, I'm going to say four. And I'm going to say why. Because he mentioned Durum. I've got this kind, cream of, and shredded. Four kinds of wheat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry. Not even close, Ali. But nice try.
Richard, you want to ring in?
QUEST: I would say 16, and it's --
(BUZZER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Richard, you were so close. I'm sorry.
The correct answer is six. And in case you were curious, as I know you are, they are hard red winter, hard red spring, soft red winter, hard white, soft white and Durum.
VELSHI: I got the Durum. I got Durum right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry, but --
QUEST: I got the six. I got the six. We should each get a point for that.
VELSHI: Half a point each.
Voice, what do you say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I disagree. Not a very auspicious beginning for the both of you.
Let's see if you can redeem yourselves with a third and final question, please.
Which of the --
VELSHI: Hello Voice? Say that again. We lost you there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I'm sorry. Can you hear me now?
VELSHI: Yes, we got you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Which of the following does not contain wheat: A, bourbon; B, Yorkshire pudding; C, Tamari soy sauce; or D, mayonnaise?
Richard?
QUEST: I'm going to regret this -- mayonnaise.
(BUZZER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you will regret it, because that's wrong. Ali, would you care to ring in? Go ahead.
VELSHI: Tamari soy sauce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're exactly right. One for Ali.
(APPLAUSE)
VELSHI: Oh! First point scored in the match.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While commercial soy sauce does contain wheat, Tamari is brewed without wheat.
Ali, you narrowly won this round 1-0. But remember, boys, the battle has just begun.
VELSHI: All right.
QUEST: That will do it for this week.
Remember, we're here each week Thursdays, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS." It is at 18:00 GMT, 20:00 in Europe.
VELSHI: And in the CNN NEWSROOM, 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
Remember to send us your topics. All you have to do is tweet us or go to our blogs.
See you next week, Richard.
QUEST: See you next week, Ali. Have a good one.
VELSHI: Well, in honor of being on CNN International, we're going to go "Globe Trekking" in a moment.
A car bomb goes off this morning in Colombia. It didn't cause a lot of injuries. It did, however, send a clear message.
I'll tell you what it was when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: As I promised you, every day we're going "Globe Trekking" for a moment.
I want to go to South America, to Colombia. There was a car bombing Colombia early this morning, 5:30 their time, 6:30 Eastern time in the United States. A little early for business to be done.
Nine people were wounded in the car bombing. It caused damage to a radio station, headquarters of a radio station, and some nearby buildings. Some windows were blown out, as you see there. There was some damage to some street-level store fronts.
As you can imagine, though, a car bomb going off in a major city even before rush hour, well, the intentions are a little unclear. Here's Karl Penhaul with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Very difficult at this stage to say what the target was. In the past, both the rural (ph) organizations and drug trafficking organizations have targeted media groups, and so there is right now a fair amount of speculation, both by journalists and the authorities themselves, that the intended target of this attack could have been Caracol radio station, which is on the seventh and eighth floor of the building.
In fact, they were on air at the time of the explosion. And the director of news there said the windows were blown out and also part of the ceiling of the newsroom was also blown down.
But also, of course, a bank. I wouldn't expect that a bank here was a major target, though, given that only three blocks away there are much bigger financial targets since three blocks away is the main financial center of Colombia where banks are both headquartered, as well as the stock exchange as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: And radio Caracol is the radio station that -- where the damage was done.
OK, I want to take you over to Pakistan. We've been talking about Pakistan every single day. For the last week it hasn't been the normal conversation about Pakistan and its role in the fighting that's going on in Afghanistan, it's been the floods.
Let's take a new look at what's going on in Pakistan. First of all, Asif Ali Zardari, who you can see there in the middle, the president of the country, has returned from his trip overseas and was touring the area, speaking to people.
He and the government have come under a lot of criticism for his trip to England and France as his crisis was unfolding. He defends it saying that he needed to drum up economic support for Afghanistan.
However, let me give you a sense of what's going on right now. I want to bring up a Google map of the Indus River, which runs all the way through Pakistan from the north to the south. You can see there that that is the crest that's expected to happen on Friday; second crest is moving through and expected to hit on Saturday.
Further down, you can see this river goes all the way down to the bottom of the screen there is Karachi. It's a port city. I mean, this flooding is going all the way down to the south of Pakistan.
Let me give you some sense of the scope of this, of how big this is. So let's put up this map. That's the Mississippi River. You're quite familiar with the Mississippi River -- 2,320 miles. Take it over to the left. The Indus River is just 300 miles shorter, it's 2,000 miles. Imagine this flooding is the same as going all the way from the top of -- let's say from Iowa to the Mississippi Delta and then expand out ten miles on the Mississippi River all the way from the top to the bottom. That is how serious the flooding is.
The difficulty getting aid to the people who need it is underscored by the fact that many people are only getting aid from organizations that are affiliated with the Taliban, and thereby possibly strengthening Taliban support in the minds of a critical ally on the other side of a world.
OK, a breast cancer survivor empowering her community to take charge of their health. She's bringing the doctors right to them. You'll meet her in our "Mission Possible" coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right, "Mission Possible" -- a breast cancer survivor using her experience to help a community that doesn't always get the help it needs.
And we are doing this today with Elizabeth Cohen. She's been doing it with us all week. She's our senior medical correspondent and she's got a new book that's out. It's called "The Empowered Patient," and this book is full of exactly what that title promises. It's a fantastic easy read. You can read it in a few hours. The money you'll save, the better health care you'll get. Because that's the issue, you've got to be a better patient.
And you've got someone who's going to join us and tell us about this today?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This woman, Venus Gines, is so inspirational. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, and she realized that she wasn't getting the help that she needed. That the medical community just wasn't really doing much at that time for the Latina community. There were language barriers, cultural barriers.
So instead of just complaining, she went and founded a group called Dia de la Mujer Latina. She's now the CEO and she's done incredible things for the Latina community for women facing breast cancers, and actually for Latinas facing all sorts of diseases. And we have her here with us.
Venus Gines, welcome to the show. Good to see you here.
VENUS GINES, BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR/EMPOWERED PATIENT: It's a pleasure to be here.
COHEN: Great.
You had -- you have these "Health Fiestas," where you open them up to the community and anyone can come in and you offer breast cancer screenings. And tell me about one you did recently. GINES: Absolutely. In Houston, we had over 1,500 people that showed up just for breast cancer screening. And because we are a health fair, our health fiestas, we actually register the patient. We were not able to take care of all of them this one day, so we scheduled mini-clinics for three weeks after that, and we were able to serve 814 women; this is for breast and cervical.
Now mind you, out of that 814 women, we were able to follow up through the use of our wonderful Promotores de Salud, 84 of them, just for masses.
COHEN: So when 1,500 women show up for a free breast cancer screening and in one screening you know that there's a need. And 84 of them, you said, needed some follow up, so it sounds like you really helped those women.
And tell us a little bit about these Promotoras. These are not doctors, not nurses, but just people in the community who are paid to help people navigate the system when they get sick.
GINES: Promotoras are trusted members of the community. They are men and women, some of them have experience with some of the system and cultural barriers.
And these are people that are -- they actually -- there are four ways that they're bridging the gap. First with the education. They're able to educate people and understand about health literacy.
And also the second, of course, is access to care and patient navigation.
Another area, the third area is medical mistrust. They are eliminating medical mistrust, which is a huge barrier, especially in clinical research.
And speaking of clinical research, they're going to be our clinical trial navigators as well.
VELSHI: Venus, how did you get involved in this? What got you started?
GINES: I was going to be a lawyer, believe it or not, and it was just -- my breast cancer was found because of a slip and a fall. And instead of going to law school, I went to graduate school when I discovered there was very little data own Latinas with breast cancer and I wanted to do my research on Latinas and breast cancer.
And I saw some of the psychosocial barriers to these issues. And being in Atlanta, being the envoy to Mexico during the Olympic Games, I became very friendly with the Mexican consulate and we decided to have our first health fiesta where we had everything at the health fiesta that you could imagine -- the food, the atmosphere.
But so many people came for the festivities and at that time, I was able to get them screened. A few of them got screened that day. But over the next 13 years, we've screened over 54,000 women. VELSHI: Wow. What a great story. Venus, thank you so much for being with us.
COHEN: And I should note she was honored by Michelle Obama at the White House.
VELSHI: That's right.
COHEN: Because the programs that she does, they actually have done studied to show they actually help people. When you have someone navigating the health care system with you, you do better.
VELSHI: I love the health fiesta idea.
COHEN: Isn't that a great feeling?
VELSHI: Yes, it just puts it in such a positive light.
COHEN: Well, because you go, you have food, you have fun and you get screened for breast cancer.
VELSHI: Love it.
COHEN: So there you go.
VELSHI: Listen, thanks so much for the continued great work you do and this book . Remember, "The Empowered Patient" you can get anywhere that books are sold. Great, great idea.
By the way, don't miss Elizabeth's special "The Empowered Patient" September 25th. Write this down or TiVo it, so whatever you have to do because you want to see this. An entire hour of "The Empowered Patient" 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
And, of course, Elizabeth will always be us to help us out doing these things.
COHEN: Every day. Thanks.
VELSHI: Thank you so much, Elizabeth.
All right, a campaign ad by the son of a former vice president bashes President Obama calling him the worst president in history. The White House is firing back and as always, Ed Henry on "The Stakeout" coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It's a little bit of an awkward moment for me right now. It's time for "Stakeout" with Ed Henry who is at the White House, and I get the feeling there's some unspoken stuff.
There's some stuff we got to get out there, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (British accent): Well, hello, Ali, how are you? (LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: I take it you saw the launch of "Q&A"?
HENRY: Yes, I did. I was wondering -- I mean, if Richard can do my segment, why don't I do the whole Richard thing, you know?
VELSHI: No, you were good. That was actually -- I knew exactly what you were getting at when you did the imitation. If ever Richard is not around, maybe we can get you to do "Q&A."
HENRY: I could do Richard's voice. But I want to know -- I know this is a tightly-held secret, but who's the voice that does that -- or whatever -- ?
VELSHI: It's the voice. It's just the voice, that's all you need know.
HENRY: It's just the voice? I feel like there's a person -- next time I'm in Atlanta, I'm going into the control room to see who the voice is.
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: I think "Stakeout" viewers want to know.
VELSHI: They do. They also want to know what people think of the president right now.
HENRY: When you look at the latest CNN polling, we just put it out in the last couple hours, his approval rating down at 47 percent, disapproval at 51 percent. Obviously we've known this for some time that things are not going well, largely because of the economy.
When you dig into the numbers, NBC/"Wall Street Journal" has a new poll out today basically saying that six in ten Americans say they're somewhat or not confident the president has the right policies to sort of pull us out of this so-called Great Recession.
And most alarming, I think, when you really dig within the numbers, 83 percent of Independents are saying that, that basically they're either just somewhat or not confident about his handling of the economy.
You know, how they push back here, in part, is they say, look, when you look at just what happened this week on Tuesday night in Colorado, you add democratic primary, the Senate primary there, the president got behind the incumbent, Michael Bennett and made the case at a tele-town hall for him, he did some fundraising. Basically said, look, the economy is not perfect, but with the stimulus and other steps, it's getting better slowly. But don't go backwards to the way the Republicans ran it, let's try to keep moving forward. That's at least the president's case. It worked in Colorado for Michael Bennett. They think, here in the White House, it can work in other states. But I think maybe the quote of the day goes to Peter Hart, the democratic pollster who is involved in the NBC/"The Wall Street Journal" poll, who said he thinks this is the "JetBlue election," everyone is sort of screaming and they're trying to run for the emergency exits right now. That's not good for the party in power.
VELSHI: Well, I must say, and I'm going to talk about it again in my "XYZ," but there's definitely been an uptick in the number of people coming to ask me what's up with the economy, what's going on. We seem to have been on a roll for a little while and something's going on that's got people nervous.
HENRY: You know, last -- just last week, I mean, the Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, had this op-ed in "The New York Times." The headline was "Welcome to the Recovery" and Republicans panned that right away. And the Treasury Department insisted look, they didn't write the headline, it was "The New York Times" that did it.
But the story, the op-ed in there that Secretary Geithner wrote, was suggesting that the recovery is at least here or close. It was laying out where this White House sees some positive signs.
And they're calling this "Recovery Summer," by the way. These poll numbers are suggesting at the very least people who are asking you about the economy out on the streets are not feeling a recovery. Even if it's starting, they're not feeling it.
VELSHI: And with those jobless numbers where they are on these new first-time unemployment benefits.
Hey, listen, this story's been buzzing around. Ben Quayle, what's the story?
HENRY: How about this? Ben Quayle, son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, 33 years old, running for a House seat, U.S. House seat out in Arizona. He's got an ad on YouTube. I think we've got a little clip of it. Take a listen to what he says about President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, QUAYLEFORCONGRESS.YOUTUBE.COM)
BEN QUAYLE (R), ARIZONA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Barack Obama is the worst president in history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: As you can imagine, they're not taking that too well here at the White House.
I just spoke to Brad Woodhouse, who is a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, who said, quote, "the son of the worst vice president ever may think he has some wisdom on the job performance of political leaders, but if he thinks a president whose actions have saved the country from a second Great Depression, reformed our broken healthcare system..." and Brad goes on to list a whole bunch of other things he think the president's accomplished. He says finally of Ben Quayle, "His analysis is only slightly less ridiculous than his candidacy for public office is."
So here we are, as many years later, the vice presidency of Dan Quayle, which drew some laughter at certain times, still resounding and still having repercussions here in Washington.
VELSHI: Hey, Ed, I want to offer you an olive branch about the whole "Q&A" thing. But olive branch is an old expression because there aren't really a lot of olive branches around, so I would like to offer you a wheat thing.
HENRY: I'll consider that.
VELSHI: I got my wheat thing, how about that?
HENRY: The wheat thing?
VELSHI: Did you see them on TV? What do you call these?
HENRY: I don't have a monitor here. I didn't really want to watch that other segment, but I'll consider it.
VELSHI: Don't think of it as cheating or anything like that.
HENRY: It's a little awkward, I've got to say.
VELSHI: We made it through. We made it through this one. Tomorrow is a new day.
HENRY: I love Richard, it's all right.
VELSHI: Ed Henry and "The Stakeout." As always, good to see you, my friend. I'll see you tomorrow same time as we always do with Ed.
Just about time for "Wordplay," except today it's not "Wordplay." It's number play. And yes, it's between 1 and 10. Chew on that, I'll be back in a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK, today's "Wordplay" is a little bit different than usual. We're looking at the number 8 and its role in two of today's top stories.
First up, Proposition 8. Appropriately enough, we've been hearing about this since 2008. That's when the ballot proposition was passed by California voters.
It's fewer than 50 words long but the 14 that you need to know are "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Simply put, a ban on gay marriage.
A judge overturned Prop 8 last week. Any minute, he is expected to announce whether folks can start saying their vows or whether he's going to stay or put that on hold, the ruling, until the appeals process is exhausted and that could take years. OK, the other story, Section 8. Formally, it is the Department of Housing and Urban Development's housing choice voucher program. The vouchers are meant to help low income families, the elderly and the disabled afford a place to live in the private housing market. In other words, they don't limit you to living in public housing projects.
Section 8 is in the news because of a huge melee just a few miles from here in an Atlanta suburb. Thirty thousand people turned out for applications for the voucher program. Not for vouchers, you understand, just for the chance to get them.
Clearly, these are desperate times for a lot of people and things deinvolved into chaos; 62 people were injured.
OK, "XYZ' is next. My thoughts on this economy. No surprise, but when it comes to building a real recovery, it's actually your thoughts that matter. I'll tell you what I mean when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Time now for "The XYZ of It."
We spend a lot of time on this show and this network talking about your money. Nearly three years after the start of worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, you think we would be further ahead than we are. But the sluggishness of the recovery, European debt, a slowing economy in China now has people worried about a double-dip recession.
The Federal Reserve says this economy is as bad now as it's been in the last year. The massive stimulus bill did create jobs, but we're not on a clear path to job creation.
Because of that, many of you are saving and paying down debt, but that means there isn't enough new demand for goods and services. So companies don't expand and hire more people.
This kind of holding pattern is not good for the economy. But what about your situation? Well, home prices are a little higher than they were a year ago. A 30-year fixed rate mortgage costs 4.5 percent -- that's a record low. In fact, housing prices would be higher if not for continued foreclosures.
And the market, well, after a good run earlier this year, we've had a setback. A dollar invested in a major index like the Dow or the S&P 500 is worth less today than it was on the first of January.
And most importantly, jobs. An unemployment rate of 9.5 percent and last week, 484,000 people applied for first time unemployment benefits. That's the highest number it's been in months.
Now, I'm a glass half full kind of guy. I don't see how the world's leading economy pulsing with the creativity and inventiveness of more than 300 million people can't work its way out of this. But this economy is built on the confidence and participation of people. And until those people, you, feel secure that you have a job and a roof over your head, you are not going to participate fully.
You'll have to make some decisions when you go to the polls in about three months. Some of those decisions will be based on how you feel about government involvement in your life, about taxes and about debts and deficits. But some will be based on how you are feeling. How economically secure you're feeling.
I'll try and give you what you need to make the right decision for yourself. And I'll have more to say about this in a moment on "RICK'S LIST."
