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Candidates Labor for Votes; Black Teachers Needed; Pennsylvania's Political Pessimism; Tropical Storm Approaching Land; Pakistan Flood Victims Die for Animals; Martina Takes on Breast Cancer

Aired September 06, 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: OK, a new hour, new rundown, we need more black teachers in America and we need them now. An urgent call from educators across the United States. I'm going to share with you some startling numbers.

But people in Northern Mexico and Southern Texas are bracing for flash floods right now. Tropical Storm Hermine is getting stronger. It's on the way.

Also she's never met an opponent she couldn't beat. Cancer is no exception. Martina Navratillova shares her inspiring story.

Well, I want to start with those and it's Labor Day and that means in addition to barbecues and parades, it is also a day off and the day before school starts for many people.

It is also the unofficial start of the campaign season, the kickoff to the midterm elections, 57 days until the midterm elections. Let me show you what is up for grabs, in Congress, 37 seats in the Senate are up for grabs, 435 in the House of Representatives.

Obviously every seat in the House is up for grabs, 37 governorships are also up for grabs. Now what do the Republicans need? They need to pick up 39 House seats in order to take the House, ten seats in the Senate to get a majority there. Lots of new CNN polling for you.

When asked registered voters who their choice would be for Congress, without reference to a specific constituency, 52 percent responded that they would choose Republicans to 45 percent Democrats. Giving the Republicans a 7-point edge in that.

About the state of the economy, our respondents said 18 percent of them said the economy is good, 81 percent said it is poor. And who is responsible for the mess that we are in economically? According to the CNN Opinion Research Corporation, 44 percent say the Republicans are to blame, 35 percent blame the Democrats, 16 percent blame both equally.

And finally, by voting in this election, are you voting for the best representation you can get in your district or are you sending a message to the president about his performance?

Twenty percent say they are voting to support President Obama, 24 percent say they're voting to oppose President Obama, 54 percent say they are not sending a message at all in their vote.

Let's go to Pittsburgh, the CNN Election Express is hitting the road in the lead up to the midterm elections and none other than T.J. Holmes, my friend and colleague is there in Pittsburgh.

He's been there for a little while talking to people and getting a feel for, well, how they're feeling about Labor Day and the opening to the midterm elections - T.J.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you've got two different groups of folks gathered today. Don't you, Ali? You've got folks some out there actually complaining they have to work today. Some people happy they have a day off.

And then you have another group that we all need to be thinking about today who would love to be working on this Labor Day. Some 15 million people in this country would like to have a job right now and don't.

That's something we need to keep that in mind on this Labor Day. Certainly, they're going to keep it in mind down the road as we get closer toward the elections. Now we talked about how many seats are up in the House.

Yes, elections matter and depending on who's there in the House, it depends on what kind of legislation might get passed. So every election is important.

One of the most important that will be nationally watched is here in western Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania third district where you are a freshman Democrat in a Republican district. That is one of those districts that Republicans are eyeing and think they can make some headway.

They would have to pick up some 39, 40 seats to actually turn the House that's a big task there, but still believe that they can do it. This, Ali, just our first stop, already I have met some folks. I have met a guy who has worked 1,500 straight days.

He won't take a day off. He doesn't want to hire anybody to pick up some of the slack in this tough economy. He says, he has to save every penny he can.

We've also met a dairy farmer, been doing it his whole life some 50 years. Year after year, he wonders if it's going to be his last year because he just can't afford to stay in business.

That's just a couple of the people we have met. So many more we're going to meet. Election Express bus right here to my right, you're going to be seeing it, John King, Jessica Yellin on board, Gloria Borger, Dana Bash.

You're going to be seeing all that reporting throughout the rest of the day and throughout the week. This is just stop one, Ali. So we are just getting started.

VELSHI: All right, T.J., you know what? You spoke to a small business owner who won't take a day off. He doesn't want to add to his expenses.

The fact is that's the same thing that a lot of big businesses are doing. They're not hiring people just yet. They're controlling expenses and that's part of why we have these 15 million people looking for work. That's part of why we have 9.6 percent unemployment rate.

HOLMES: You know, it's -- you're absolutely right about big businesses not doing that. That could help us bring the unemployment rate down.

But what could actually help the people of Pittsburgh is that guy, that small business owner up the street, if he would hire and employ more people than just him, his wife, his grandmother and his niece.

That's what he is doing on a much smaller scale absolutely, but that one job, if he were to hire someone to make a difference here in this community.

But you're absolutely right, these mom-and-pop shops on every corner you see here in Pittsburgh, if they're not hiring, the big businesses aren't hiring either. They have same result.

VELSHI: And those mom-and-pop shops are generally speaking more responsible for hiring in this economy. We don't think about it that way. We think it's going to be big business, but the fact is the engine of job growth in this country has always been small businesses.

One of the things I find when I'm out on the Election Express is a lot of small businesses still having trouble getting loans from the bank. They don't have big deals they can make.

They can't go to investment banks. They actually have to go to their local bank to get a loan and they're still saying it's hard for them to do that even if they wanted to expand.

HOLMES: You know you are hitting it. You can tall. You've been on the road. You've been on this bus before. You've just hit on another woman we talked to, another small business owner, owns a shop that sells accessory for pets actually.

That's exactly the point she hit on. I wish they make it easier for me to survive and to get a loan. I can't get a loan to stay in business even.

You hear some of those same themes. We're going to be sharing those with you, Ali, all week. We're going to try to cut down on how many politicians you hear from when I report to you and we're going to try to let you and hopefully the folks in Washington hear what some of the folks out here are saying.

VELSHI: T.J., have a good time out there. Thanks very much and give my regards to the folks in Pittsburgh. T.J. Holmes on the CNN Election Express in Pittsburgh, part of the best political team on television. OK, only 2 percent of the teachers in America are black or they're black men actually, 2 percent. One group is working to get those numbers up. We're fixing our schools next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Here on this show, we are committed to bringing you solutions to big problems, schools, in particular, public schools.

Right now, only 2 percent of teachers in America are black men. Let's dissect these numbers a little bit. First, let's start with the number of black students in America, 17 percent of students in public schools in America are black, about half of them are boys, half of them are girls, about 9 percent of students are black.

These figures are all from the U.S. Department of Education. Now, there are only 7 percent -- so 9 percent are black males. About 7 percent of teachers in schools are black and only 2 percent of those are men.

One organization is trying to get those number numbers up. It's called "Stratagenius." The president, Orpheus Crutchfield joins me live from San Francisco.

Now, Orphneus, thanks for being with us on the show. Let me start with the premise. Why is it important -- do we need everybody's teachers to be the same as them? Why is it important that we have more black male teachers?

ORPHEUS CRUTCHFIELD, PRESIDENT, STRATAGENIUS: Well, it's absolutely important to have an array of teachers to have as diverse a pool as we can because first of all, for students of color, including African- American kids, they need to be able to see themselves.

They need to be able to see other groups perhaps African-American, seeing a Latino teacher and feeling like, wow, that person that culture really has something that I can learn from.

For white students, it's also extremely important for them to have leaders in front of them -- people that they can look up to and feel like, I respect this person. I really learned something from this person and I'll never forget that.

VELSHI: Right.

CRUTCHFIELD: So it's important for everyone to see everybody.

VELSHI: So generally in an economy, we should have, you know, representation that reflects what the population is out there. Why is there such an underrepresentation of black male teachers?

CRUTCHFIELD: Well, we should give it a historical context first. I'm not sure if everyone is aware, but teaching as well as becoming a doctor, teaching was the number one occupation for African-Americans before Brown versus board of education. Now we have a shortage of teachers globally that's coming up because the baby-boomers are retiring and so we just want to put that in context. Now we have a shortage.

Maybe we should look back at the reasons why African-Americans took up teaching in the first place before Brown, which is that there was honor. They were respected in the community.

And now in our country, people who come from other countries find that teaching is respected in their countries and it's not respected in the same way in our country.

VELSHI: And I get that argument. Why would that disproportionately hit African-American men?

I think what that does is it sort of affects that shortage that you're talking about generally, that a lot of teachers feel they're going to get it in the neck by becoming a teacher.

If I'm going to study, why don't I study something else that's going to get me a good pay and the whole world is not going to be blaming me for the education problems?

CRUTCHFIELD: Well, it's very interesting because in the African- American community, giving back is a big, big honor and goal, particularly for African-American men.

And so -- but I think the reality is that, again, in this country, we still have African-Americans who are the first in their family to go to college. I run into people all the time.

So what happens is that their families are really riding on their success to pull up the whole community, really, not just the family. And so they think, well, I'm going to have to go into business. I'm going to have to go into law.

They have gone into other -- and also, though, a lot of people create their own businesses, like I did. I was formerly a teacher, but I created my own business.

And I think that what we need to do is really encourage African- American males, but really people of color, period, to get into teaching --

VELSHI: And how do you do that? How specifically -

CRUTCHFIELD: -- society though needs to honor.

VELSHI: Right, so how do we do that? Because going to be a long time changing society's Moors. What specifically can be done to get more people of color, more African-Americans and generally more teachers into the game?

CRUTCHFIELD: Well, first and foremost, the society needs to honor teaching, generally and we have -- we can't just talk a good game. We have to actually show that we do honor teachers. Secondly, we do need to raise their salaries. Right now, you can come out of school and be making in the low 40s getting into teaching and that's better than it used to be, but it could be better.

We also need to advertise the benefits of teaching because there are very, very many. For instance, you will come out of school starting, as long as there is a job, you will start in the 40s, but that's also eight months of the year that's not a full 12 months.

So there are a lot of benefits that are both intrinsic and extrinsic within teaching that people don't realize because that four months of the year that you're not working is really about quality of life.

VELSHI: Orpheus, what a great conversation. Thank you very much for bringing a very specific problem within the larger education issues that we're dealing with to life.

Orpheus Crutchfield is the president of "Stratagenuis" joining us from San Francisco. Thanks, Orpheus.

And to read up on "Stratagenuis" and - just head to my blog, cnn.com/ali for links to his web site.

Pennsylvania Democrats have their work cut out for them. The fast- approaching midterm election, we're going to check in with Gloria Borger on the CNN Election Express in Pittsburgh when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: As you know, CNN equals politics. Time for an update. CNN's Gloria Borger is traveling on the CNN Election Express. She is with the team in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is just a remarkably interesting place to start because there are endless stories having to do with this midterm election in Pennsylvania.

It is also a city that is -- a state that is urban and rural. It's successful in some parts and really hurting in others. It's right in the rust belt, but it's an east coast state.

You can't encapsulate more than you can in Pennsylvania. Tell me what's going on.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, it's Labor Day, Ali. So, of course, there was a Labor Day parade here in Pittsburgh. We spent a lot of time there.

We got a bunch of us here from CNN. We went to the parade. Of course, as you might expect, this being Labor Day, there were a lot of Democrats there, steel workers, SEIU, employee unions, all kinds of things.

And so we spoke to some Democrats who were still pretty loyal to Barack Obama, but then we went a mile down the road, we went to a coffee shop and we got a very different kind of view. Take a listen to a couple of sound bites we've got for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD DIFIORE, PITTSBURGH COFFEE SHOP OWNER: I'm worried about my grandkids. I have three beautiful little -- two grandsons and one granddaughter. I worry where this country is going to be for them in the future. It doesn't look bright. If we keep the path we're on right now.

MEGAN BRUNO, PITTSBURGH TEACHER: I know there are a lot of people who are very unhappy with the state of the situation. But, again, I think it took us a long time to get here. It's going to take us a while to get back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORGER: You know, Ali, so you get very different points of view. People are disappointed in the president. A lot of pessimism around here about the economy.

But some people who really say, look, the president was handed a terrible situation and he's trying to do the best with what he's got. But you have to give him a little bit more time.

VELSHI: You and I have talked about this a long time. How is this pessimism going to affect the Democrats in the midterm election?

BORGER: You know, the pessimism is the real problem they've got, not only are Republicans pessimistic, but lots of Democrats are kind of not enthusiastic.

So what they've got to do in this midterm election is get their voters out. So here you have a state like Pennsylvania, which Barack Obama won easily. Right now, his popularity in this state is 37 percent.

And there are polls in the state of Pennsylvania which show that only a third of those voters who came out to vote for Barack Obama in 2008 are actually going to turn out and vote in the midterm elections.

That's why you have a very neck-and-neck Senate race here. It's why you have a very neck-and-neck governor's race and a lot of really tight House races.

What the Democrats have to do is spend their money to make sure that their voters understand that the stakes are very high in this election. Republicans already seem to understand it. Now Democrats have to get that, too.

VELSHI: So the election machine, the voter turnout machine is going to be important as well as we get closer to this. Gloria, thanks very much.

BORGER: Lots of money. Lots of money on that.

VELSHI: Well, let me just ask you something else before I let you go then because it is - I guess, it does coming on, you and I have talked about the fact that they don't want that conversation to be about the economy. Democrats were hoping it wouldn't be. They were hoping this would be recovery summer, but it just caught my attention because you were talking about getting the vote out. Can they win on strategy as opposed to policy and content?

BORGER: You know, it's very difficult right now, Ali. Some of the campaign committees have more money than the Republicans. But it's very hard to trump natural enthusiasm among voters.

You know, the Democrats were on the other side of this in 2008. Their voters came out. Now they see what's going on in 2010. They've got to try and stop a tidal wave, which is what they're feeling.

They may be able to do it in some House races because they've got better, more experienced candidates than the Republicans do. But overall, they're worried that a lot of their candidates are just going to be swept out with a wave.

VELSHI: All right, Gloria, thanks very much. We'll stay on top of this. All week, we'll be talking to you actually. Probably for the next two months. Always a pleasure. Gloria Borger in Pittsburgh actually not Philadelphia, beautiful city of Pittsburgh and a great vantage point.

BORGER: Beautiful Pittsburgh.

VELSHI: It really is a very nice city.

All right, CNN has learned that more NATO troops may be headed for Afghanistan. Sources say 2,000 troops could go under a plan backed by General David Petraeus. A NATO official says it's likely some of them will be Americans.

Sources also say a suspected U.S. drone attack has killed five militants in Pakistan. Intelligence officials tell CNN that missiles hit a vehicle carrying the suspected militants in a village in North Waziristan on the Afghan border. The attacks have sparked a lot of controversy in Pakistan where critics say they tend to kill more civilians than militants.

And the online classified service Craigslist has blocked people from using its adult services section. Attorneys general from 17 states urged the site to discontinue the service saying it promoted prostitution.

It's unclear if the adult section has been permanently shut down. Craigslist says it will release a statement at a later time.

A new tropical storm is expected to soak parts of Texas over the next few days. We're taking you to our Hurricane Center on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right, we're following Tropical Storm Hermine?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hermine.

VELSHI: Is that it? Tell us what's going with this?

JERAS: It's been getting stronger throughout the day, Ali. You know this thing was kind of a little disturbance down here in the lower gulf for a couple of days over the holiday weekend and then boom it just got into those favorable conditions and intensified. Look at the winds now up to 60 miles per hour.

So we only go up 14 to get to a hurricane. That's why they've issued some watches and warnings now that include the Texas coast. Here's the track of the storm and there you can see it is expected to be making landfall late night.

That's Brownsville. It's going to be just south of there. Keep in mind, this is the dirty side of the storm. They're going to get some coastal flooding, tropical storm-force winds, probably going to see that already in the next couple of hours.

So watch for the biggest threat, heavy rain. We're talking about a considerable flood threat across parts of south Texas for the next a couple of days. The winds are already starting to kick in.

This is a live picture from our affiliate in Galveston, Texas. You need a little Dramamine there. The winds are gusting up to 36 miles per hour right now and so those are just going to increase in some of these outer bands or squalls are starting to get into the region.

Here are the hurricane watches. OK, that's from the border here extending up towards Baston Bay and then we have the tropical storm warnings, which extend all the way up towards Port O'Connor and that means tropical storm conditions expected in less than 24 hours in this area. All right, there's a big picture of the radar.

VELSHI: So you're getting - you're getting into Houston?

JERAS: Yes, almost over to New Orleans and that's all from the storm. I wanted to show you a quick look. Magic wall is doing strange things. I think it's your show. Chad's had problems with it on your show.

These are some pictures of the outer bands over Houston from the air. The things you look for are the higher cloud tops. When you start seeing that those are thunderstorms that are built, you know, the higher the tops, the stronger the thunderstorms.

As those storms roll through those areas, we'll watch for the winds to increase to go along with that as well. We'll show you where we expect the worst of the flooding. Flood watches in effect even north of Austin now stretching all the way down here, 2 to 5 inches wide spread up into Hill Country.

Get down towards the coast, we could be talking about the potential, as much as 10 inches of rain. This is all going to happen over two days or so. As you saw that track, even though we're making landfall down here, we're going to do one of these. All that rain is going to spread inland and a lot of the rivers are likely to rise. In fact, major floodings could be expected as we head into Wednesday.

VELSHI: Is this all wet? Is this part of the same system?

JERAS: Yes, this is all part of the same system. This is all forecast rainfall over just the next 48-hour period.

VELSHI: It's not ultimately that powerful but it's big?

JERAS: Right. It's a big storm and it's a wet storm. There's so much moisture and it's been kind of try across parts of Texas. And this time of year, they pretty much look to tropical systems to bring them any need rainfall.

If you take a look at Alex and you take a look at our tropical depression that moved on through here, that was pretty much the bulk of the rain that Texas has seen since about June.

VELSHI: Well, the Hill Country always gets very beautiful after a nice, big rain.

JERAS: It does.

VELSHI: It will look nice in a few days. All right, Jacqui, thanks for that. We'll keep an eye on Hermine. Not a common name so I'll just keep reminding myself, Tropical Storm Hermine.

All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to bring you back to those miners. There's another plan to rescue the miners in Chile who have been deep underground for more than a month now. We'll tell you about it when we go Globe Trekking on the other side. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Allow me to take you "Globe Trekking" now to Pakistan where the death toll for more than a month of flooding has risen again to 1,752.

CNN's Sara Sidner gives us the tragic tale behind one of those deaths -- an elderly farmer who died trying to save his livestock.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lashker Khan Jatoi stares out at the flooded Indus River, the current is still as swift as when it swallowed his father a few days ago. Seventy-year-old Lalbach (ph) had escaped the floodwaters rushing towards his patch of land in rural Sindh Province. But when the river sucked one of his animals under, he dove in to save its life.

(on camera): Knowing how fast-flowing the flooded river, why did your father risk his life for one animal? One buffalo? (voice-over): "The livestock is worth more than even our own lives because it's the only way we make a living," he says. We are making our entire living and feeding our families off of these animals.

Navy diver Zamarad Moin says he pulled the man's body from the river just 100 yards downstream. Moin says people are so desperate to save their livestock that they even try to bring them on small rescue boats.

"When we cannot take their animals in our boats, people sometimes refuse to be rescued."

(on camera): This must really add to the difficulties for the rescue effort because people are trying to save their animals.

ZAMARAD MOIN, PAKISTAN NAVY DIVER: Yes.

SIDNER (voice-over): The United Nations estimates the floods have killed some 200,000 animals, a devastating toll in a country where nearly half the people live off the land and livestock are the key to survival.

(on camera): In the villages, people learn at a very early age how important animals are. Kudar (ph) here is 9 years old and he helps his family make a living by using his donkey to take feeds to the buffalo.

(voice-over): Buffalo are prized possessions. They provide milk and farm labor, even their dung is useful as fertilizer and dried and burned as fuel for cooking fires. The animals cost about $1,000 each, a fortune for those who earn about $1 per day.

People pay handsomely to have them carted on a truck to safety as the flood waters approach. Not everyone can afford such an expense.

Farmer Naveed Dahani suffered a long and exhausting trek to get his herd out of harm's way.

(on camera): How did you get your animals out when the floods came?

(voice-over): "We herded our livestock and walked three or four days to bring them here," he says.

In Sindh province alone, 1.7 million acres of farmland has been flooded. The U.N. is asking for millions of dollars to help livestock survive because even if they escape the deluge, much of their pasture has vanished in the swirling waters.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Yare Dero, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: That situation continues to get worse.

"Globe Trekking" now to Chile where 33 miners have been trapped below ground for more than a month. Family members are angry because the government has been censoring their letters to their loved ones. The government says it is only delivering positive letters because negative messages could add to the miner's stress.

Meantime, the government has unveiled a new option for rescuing the miners, bringing the total number of options to three. Let me look at them for you.

First of all, the current approach -- uses a traditional drill to get down directly above the shelter. So they're digging straight down about 2,300 feet. It's currently advancing at a rate of about 45 feet per day.

Plan B involves a drill that is normally used for boring waterholes. It's never been used in a mine rescue before. It arrived on the site on Friday. Now, it would drill at an 80-degree angle into the shaft, about 2,034 feet, fewer feet, fewer -- shorter distance basically, potentially quicker than plan A.

New plan, plan C, a drill normally used for digging oil wells -- drilling oil wells. And this would drill about 1,968 feet. It would be the quickest process once the drilling starts. But the drill has to be brought in from northern Chile and then installed first. That could take another 10 days.

All three plans can be tried simultaneously because they're starting at different places. Bottom line is this: none of the plans is likely to reach the miners until November or early December.

Martina Navratilova takes on the biggest opponent of her life, her fight against breast cancer is today's "Mission Possible." She'll tell us all about it -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Let me tell you about some of the top stories we're covering right now on CNN.

President Obama is focusing on the economy this Labor Day. He's in Milwaukee this hour to lay out plans for a new transportation infrastructure. His plan calls for rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads, along with constructing and maintaining 4,000 miles of railways and 150 miles of airport runways.

A hurricane watch is up for parts of Texas and Mexico as Tropical Storm Hermine approaches. Forecasters say it might reach hurricane strength before making landfall late today or early tomorrow. Now, the top sustained winds are around 60, 65 miles an hour right now. Stay with CNN, your hurricane headquarters. We'll bring you updates regularly.

And one of the miners of the so-called Little Rock Nine has died. Jefferson Thomas was one of the nine students who integrated Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. He was 15 years old at the time. The students defied segregationist mobs to integrate the all white school under military protection. They were awarded congressional gold medals in 1999. Jefferson Thomas died of cancer. He was 67 years old.

And today's "Mission Possible," Martina Navratilova has won Wimbledon nine times. She has 18 grand slam singles titles and a total of 41 grand slam women's and mixed doubles titles.

But the biggest victory of her life came this year against breast cancer. She fought the disease like the champion she is, inspiring other women along the way and continuing to play tennis in between treatments. Her battle was the subject of a CNN documentary this weekend.

She talked about her diagnosis and recovery with our own Fredricka Whitfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Give me an idea what that period was like between diagnosis and lumpectomy.

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA, TENNIS PLAYER: Well, I went ahead like three weeks in between the diagnosis. I went to see the doctor the next day. I was supposed to play in this exhibition in Palm Springs, an Indian Wells tournament for -- to raise money for Haiti. And my first thought was, I can't -- I can't play tennis in front of 12,000 people. I need to just sort of settle down and take care of myself.

And I thought, wait a minute, tennis is what always gets me through everything. So I decided to play. I got ready and three days after that hit for Haiti where I played with Steffi Graf and Justine Henin and Lindsey Davenport, in the same court with them. Three days later, I had a surgery. And then three weeks later, I was playing Lindsey Davenport at an event in Minneapolis. So, I had something to look forward always.

And then when I had the radiation, I went -- I went and played at the French Open, worked for Tennis Channel, worked -- played at the French Open and Wimbledon. And tennis sort of got me through all those tough times.

So, I am very fortunate that I had that in my life. And, of course, positive attitude always helps get you through stuff. So I had both.

And -- so, it was difficult, no doubt about it. And it was really difficult once I went public actually. That was -- the first most exhausting or difficult thing was when I found out I was positive. Second most difficult was the day I went public and I did all these interviews and had to talk about. I'm still talking about it. So, that took the most out of me, actually.

WHITFIELD: And difficult because you felt --

NAVRATILOVA: I'm glad that I did that.

WHITFIELD: And difficult because you felt you had to constantly answer questions or difficult, too, because this would ordinarily be a private battle and this was something that you now had to open up -- even as a public person, you had to open up and kind of explain away, reveal publicly?

NAVRATILOVA: Just because you have to -- I think if I could just do it once, you know, and be done with it, that would be great. But the repetition of it is difficult. And now, it comes up with every interview. And people when they meet you say, are you OK? I'm like, yes, I'm great. Are you really OK? I'm like, yes, I'm fantastic. Thank you.

So, you know, I still have my hair. I didn't have to do chemo. I feel like I dodged a bullet. But people still think, you know, they're looking at me and say, you look great. I'm like, thank you, it's makeup. But --

WHITFIELD: Thanks for asking, but at the same time, stop it already.

NAVRATILOVA: Yes, exactly. I mean, I've been cancer-free since March. But the radiation really took a lot out of me. But, again, that was in June and I'm done with it. And, you know, my breasts are still a little sore, but, you know, nothing to worry about. And I'm as good as new, and hopefully will be better.

WHITFIELD: So, back to while you were playing, while, you know, Jana Novotna, your doubles partner, she knew, she was there at your side during much of this. How about some of the other players? Did they have any idea at the time of you continuing to play even before radiation that you were going through this?

NAVRATILOVA: Well, they did. I mean, I went public sort of in April and so everybody knew. The players were very supportive. Even the guys, Jimmy Connors and Jim Courier, they were sending me notes or calling. And, of course, most of the women that I played with, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Pam Shriver, many players that I haven't heard from, that's where Facebook comes in handy. I got messages from people that I haven't seen or heard from like in 30 years.

So, very touching, a lot of fans. I'm still getting a lot of support. And most of all, after I went public, I got a lot of letters and notes on Facebook and otherwise from women who either had gone through the same thing and were giving me the encouragement, or were thanking me for reminding them to go to the doctor and a few that something was found and they nipped it in the bud. So -- and those are people that I know about. So, I felt very empowered and humbled, but very happy that I did this because I know that I helped some women, you know, detect what they had earlier. So, that's why I did it.

Initially I went to Robin Roberts, you know, what she went through. And she said, I'm so glad you're doing this. And I'll see you next week and let's go save some lives.

That's when it hit me. I'm like, oh, my God, you know, I can -- I can really make a difference in somebody's life. So, you don't walk away from that.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VELSHI: Navratilova says a mammogram detected her cancer. She caught it fairly early even though she had skipped mammograms for several years. She is urging other women not to make that same mistake.

Now, Labor Day is no holiday for political candidates. We'll get CNN equals politics, an update -- straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It is time now for a CNN equals politics update.

Labor Day may be a day for you to rest, not a day for candidates. In this year's midterms, which are if you're counting, are 57 days away.

CNN's Jessica Yellin, part of the best political team on television today -- she is with the CNN Election Express in Pittsburgh.

Jessica, you are watching the hottest races everywhere. We've talked earlier with some of your colleagues about what's going on in Pennsylvania. I want to take you over to Nevada because that is really one of the hottest races going on, the Senate race in Nevada.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Ali. That is Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, versus Sharron Angle, a Tea Party favorite. And the headline there is, the press-shy Sharron Angle who rarely talks to the media is speaking.

She spoke to CNN today and gave us her remarks. In the past, she has said that she only wants to talk to the press when they'll ask her questions she wants to answer. Well, our own Jim Acosta caught up with her and asked her about Harry Reid's accusation that she's simply too outside the mainstream to represent Nevadans well.

She insists, actually, she is a mainstream candidate and she says past comments have been taken out of context. She's talking about things like comments saying she would like to phase out Social Security, that she's like to abolish the Departments of Energy, Education and the EPA.

We asked the Reid campaign about that. And Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, says, it's kind of hard to be taken out of context when you're saying you want to phase out Social Security -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. But this is -- this is an issue with the Tea Party, the Tea Party Movement, because they deliberately want to attract people from the outside. And when you're from the outside of the political system, you believe that you should say what you actually believe and this is going to be an issue because a lot of these people, some of these people might get elected. And then they're going to have to square what they said and what they believe with what's happening.

In fact, Jessica, some use that as a criticism of Barack Obama, saying he promised all sorts of things. And once in office, he can't deliver them.

So, I wonder where that comes in to all of this discussion about outsiders coming into the system.

YELLIN: Well, it's sort of an unknown this year because we have so many Tea Party activists. If they do get elected to Congress, there will be a new reality in Washington. They hold very certain positions that are very unique to this movement right now.

VELSHI: Right.

YELLIN: And we will have to see if they stick to it. Will they really try to abolish Social Security, individuals like Sharron Angle? Who knows?

VELSHI: Right.

YELLIN: Probably will go very far, but we'll see if they get in office, that's something they can stand for, Ali.

VELSHI: Well, as a business guy, I'd like them to fix it a little bit.

Let's talk about South Carolina. That is a wacky, bizarre race down there. What's the latest?

YELLIN: The weird race there just got weirder, if that's a word.

Greg Snoad, a high school social studies teachers, he says, why not him? We already have Jim DeMint running as a Republican and then, of course, Alvin Greene, the guy no one had ever heard of until he won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Again, remember, he faces a felony pornography charge. He's been indicted on that.

And so, this guy, Greg Snoad says, hey, if you don't want to vote for either of those guys, why don't you write me in? He says voting for him would be a vote for civil discourse. He says our discussions in politics have gotten too hostile. Let's be civil.

He also acknowledges there's pretty much no chance he's going to win. He just wants to give people a civilized, reasonable option if they don't like the other guy.

VELSHI: Well, the folks in South Carolina can't say that --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: They can't say they don't have choice.

Jessica Yellin, thanks very much for joining us. We'll be talking to you lots and lots. I hope. Always a pleasure to have you on the show. Jessica Yellin is our CNN national political correspondent.

Hey, time for "Wordplay." Today's "Wordplay" comes from our calendar. It's the reason most of you had the day off. Stay with me, I'll tell you about it on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: Today's "Wordplay" comes from the calendar: Labor Day. We choose labor not the third trimester kind but the kind where you put people back to work. And, boy, do we need that right now?

"Webster" defines labor as "the expenditure of physical or mental effort." But today, we're using "Webster's" fourth definition: workers employed in an establishment. That is the president's goal, to get more of you into that group. We're also going to get some numbers in today's "Wordplay."

I want to -- I want to tell you about the number 7.6 million. Even with more than 700,000 jobs added so far this year, total employment is 7.6 million jobs lower than where it stood at the start of the recession. Experts say it will take years to get all of those people back to work.

Now, when it comes to labor, there's a whole lot more to say. I'm going to say it after the break in my "XYZ."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time now for the "XYZ" of it. It's Labor Day and some people clearly are working today.

Let me take a minute to talk about Labor Day. The first observance of Labor Day appears to have been a parade on September 5th, 1882 in New York City. By 1893, more than half the States were observing a Labor Day of sorts. A year later, Congress passed a bill making the first Monday in September Labor Day.

Now, other than being the last real day of summer, at least for school kids, the beginning of the campaign season and the last day you can wear white and play (ph) soccer in some parts of the country. What does it stand for today?

Let's start with the obvious. We're celebrating labor. Let me give you stats about our labor force. By the numbers, 150 million, the approximate number of people in America between the ages of 16 and 65 who are actively working or seeking work.

Eighty-three, the percentage of full-time workers who get health insurance through their jobs. Seventy-eight, the percentage of workers in private industry who get paid vacation. One hundred, the percentage of government workers who get paid vacation.

Seven-point-six million, I just told you about that, the number of workers who hold down more than one job. Moonlighters actually make up 5 percent of the working population. Two hundred and eighty-four thousand, the number of people who actually hold down two full-time jobs.

Four-point-one, the median number of years workers have been with their current employer, about 10 percent of U.S. workers, by the way, have been with their employer for 20 years or longer.

Sixteen million, the number of labor union members nationwide. About 12 percent of wage and salary workers belong to a union with Alaska, Hawaii and New York having among the highest rates of any state. North Carolina, by the way, has one of the lowest rates, 3 percent.

Five-point-nine million, the number of people who work from home. And finally, while we come along way from the first Labor Day, we still have some distance to travel. My last two numbers: $46,000, the median earnings for a full-time year-round male worker in America. The earnings for women? About $36,000? A bit of a gap there.

That's my "XYZ." Time now for "RICK'S LIST." Rick is in New York.