Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Big Victories for Tea Party Candidates Continue; Denzel Washington Helps Launch "Be Great, Graduate" Program; Medal of Honor Awarded to Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta;

Aired September 15, 2010 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get back to the top of the rundown here. New hour, new rundown.

Hello, you all. T.J. Holmes sitting in today for my friend Ali Velshi.

Coming up this hour, the first living medal of honor winner since the Vietnam war. You're going to hear from him. We'll tell you what he did to make history.

Also the first ever Twitter celebrity auction for Haiti launched just last hour. It has 150 celebrities on board and it's getting millions of hits and you'll meet the man behind it, Shaun King. He made his mission very possible.

Also Reggie Bush gives up his Heisman trophy? How do you feel about that? I'll tell you how I feel about it coming up in my "XYZ"

But first for a tiny state of New Hampshire cast a mighty big shadow on politics right now, so we shouldn't be surprised necessarily that it's still our lead story one of day after a slate of primaries in seven states and the District of Columbia.

Just minutes ago the New Hampshire secretary of state has certified that Kelly Ayotte, a former state attorney general, the winner of New Hampshire's Republican Senate primary. However, the second place finisher a man named Ovide Lamontagne, he has about three more hours to contest that certification or forever hold his peace.

Now Lamontagne is backed by the Tea Party and the state's biggest newspaper while Ayotte is backed by national Republicans as well as Sarah Palin. Let's check out some of the other big winners.

Delaware, talking about some tiny states today making the big headlines. Delaware, the Tea Party darling Christine O'Donnell captures the Republican Senate race. In New York City Democratic Congressman Charlie Rangel easily fends off five opponents to win the right to seek a 21st term.

Normally that wouldn't be a big story. He has been winning for 40 years now. But he is facing an ethics trial back in Washington. And in Washington as well the City Council chairman Vincent Gray upset the incumbent Adrian Fenty in the Democratic mayoral race. Also Carl Paladino the millionaire from Buffalo. He scores again for Tea Party. Defeating the establishment candidate in the New York Republican race for governor.

The Delaware race, that was the one a lot of people were keeping an eye on as the marquee matchup. O'Donnell backed by money and Sarah Palin's blessing easily turned away the nine-term Congressman Mike Castle for the right to seek the Senate seat that was once held by Joe Biden. He held it for 36 some years.

Republican party leaders backed Castle in a major way and until just a short time ago it seemed they still weren't going to be backing O'Donnell. A top GOP official told CNN -- and I'm quoting here - "Until she demonstrates some viability in the polls, we are not going to have any money for her." Strong language there.

But later came this statement from the Republican Senator John Cornyn. He says and I'm quoting as well, "The National Republican Senatorial Committee and I as the committee's chairman strongly stand by all of our Republican nominees, including Christine O'Donnell in Delaware, whose support includes a check for $42,000, the maximum allowable donation that we have provided to all of our nominees which the NRSC will send to her campaign today".

That is just getting us started. Now, Paul Steinhauser, get up off that desk. I know you had a long night. I know you've been working hard.

I know, man. You deserved to take a little seat there. Just giving you a hard time. But Paul Steinhauser our deputy political director of course has been up all night following the races. Can we start with New Hampshire even though it seems like we have some kind of a resolution now? Not necessarily.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. Close, but no cigar yet.

Here's the deal. The New Hampshire secretary of state's office say they've counted all the votes according to their official results. She's ahead. She's won. Right they haven't-so as she's ahead by 1, 667 votes, she being Kelly Ayotte the former state Attorney General out there and as you mentioned the establishment candidate, who is also endorsed by Sarah Palin interestingly.

But the guy in second place, Ovide Lamontagne, he still has until 5:00 to contest this, call for a new count. So stay tuned. This one is not over yet.

HOLMES: It wouldn't be an election season on or election day if it didn't have it go into overtime would it, Paul?

Let's tell us--Tea Party certainly looking at last night as a victory for them. But can this really translate down the road in November? Because of course they're still all Republicans, Tea Party or Republican party or whatever, still Republicans. And-you know it's easier to do in the primary when you're appealing to fellow Republicans and conservatives.

STEINHAUSER : Oh, no doubt. You know, the Tea Party movement pretty new, less than two years old and they have become a real power player in these Republican primaries. Some big victories last night. Some big victories throughout this primary season. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Republican senator ousted by Tea Party candidate. Bob Bennett Republican Senator in Utah also lost in the primary process, due to support from the Tea Party.

So they have become big players in the primaries but as you mentioned the big question what happens on November 2nd. T.J. Democrats are almost rejoicing about this. Last night right after O'Donnell won in Delaware, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey who's the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee put out this statement saying.

Tonight Mike Castle became the eighth Republican establishment candidate to be upset by a party in complete turmoil. Instead Delaware Republicans chose an ultra right extremist who is out of step with Delaware voters.

That's what Democrats are going to try to do here. They're going try to paint these candidates, who have been backed by the Tea Party too extreme, too out of the mainstream for those moderate and independent voters. Those in the middle who often determine how elections are decided T.J..

HOLMES: Sounds like Democrats were excited to see what was happening in the Republican primaries. Paul, we appreciate you as always, buddy. Way to keep going strong. Know it's been a long night for you. Thanks so much.

One minute a normal quiet day, the next a huge explosion triggers a raging inferno. At first there was total confusion for firefighters who were rushing to last week's natural gas fueled blaze in San Bruno, California, that's right outside San Francisco. They had no idea what they were facing. And it's our sound effect today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call for a fourth alarm for this. Look, it appears that we have a plane down in the neighborhood. Multiple structures on fire. And we have a fireball still coming out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop that engine. We have no water in this hydrant!. We need them to lay into us!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE : We think we've got a broken water main down here so they need to lay in from the corner of San Bruno avenue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is north branch on 31, go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does not appear that this is an aircraft down. It appears that this is some sort of natural gas explosion.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Well some quick thinking helped fire fighters overcome the destroyed water mains in the area. They improvised. They stretched their hose lines from another water grid. In all 400 first responders battled that fire. Four people were killed, three still missing. 37 homes were destroyed.

Coming up, Denzel Washington is going back to school. But this time he's going to help at risk kids graduate. You're going to hear from him. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, in "Chalk Talk" today, there's a new initiative to help stop the number of high school dropouts and actor Denzel Washington is the face of it. It's the latest effort launched by the Boys and Girls Club to help fix our schools. It's called "Be Great, Graduate." And they identify at risk kids of dropping out and help them stay in school. Check out some of the numbers.

Thirty percent of students in this country do not graduate from high school and the number is even more startling for black men, 53 percent; a little more than half of black male students don't get high school their diplomas. A huge problem.

So that's why a huge Hollywood star is stepping up to help. Denzel Washington is a spokesman for the Boys and Girls Club and he's in Washington today to help launch this new program. He spoke to CNN's Tony Harris a short time ago about the program and his own childhood struggles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENZEL WASHINGTON, SPOKESMAN, BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: in the Boys & Girls Club. I talked about it earlier today, when one of the mentors there, one of the volunteers there, talked to me about the smarts he thought I had.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

WASHINGTON: Evidently, I was a good actor even then.

(LAUGHTER)

WASHINGTON: But he just said to me that, you know, "You can go as far as you want to go. You can do anything you want to do." And that's what the Boys & Girls Club is all about. Not just, as they say, swim and gym, but the volunteers and the workers that instill these positives in the lives and in the minds of young people.

You know, they talk about role models and they talk about athletes or actors, or all of that, but in my community, in my town, the role models were the people that I could see every day and see how they operate, and I would emulate the way that they functioned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: About 90 percent of the kids who have been through the Boys and girls Club have high school diplomas.

Coming up, he is the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam war. I'll introduce you to him and tell you how he made history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The medal of honor. It celebrates valor on the battlefield. It's the highest honor for American troops. And now another American service member is getting that honor. His name Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta. He'll receive the honor for bravery in Afghanistan. He'll be the first living recipient since the Vietnam war.

Sergeant Giunta spoke about the honor for the first time a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. SALVATORE GIUNTA, U.S. ARMY: As far as emotions after finding out about -- that I'm going to receive the Medal of Honor, it's very -- it's bittersweet because it's such a huge, huge honor. And right now the 173rd is deployed and they're doing the same thing they did, everything that's asked for them in Afghanistan all over again, and that's where a lot of my friends are right now.

So for me to fully accept this, I have to have everyone who has been by me every time I needed them, and that's really my brothers in arms. And some of them are out of the Army now and some of them are in Afghanistan now.

It's emotional and it's great. All of this is great, but it does break back then-you know a lot of memories of all the people that I would love to share this moment with. And I'm just not going to have that opportunity because they're no longer with us and they gave everything for their country. And in doing that, we're not going to be able to enjoy this together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Giunta was a specialist at the time in 2007 when his squad was ambushed by Taliban fighters. He helped get several of his wounded brothers out of harm's way while being hit twice himself. The sergeant, though, says it was nothing heroic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIUNTA: There was no fear in my mind. The fear was the same. Everyone's getting shot at. Everyone is in the same boat. No sense leaving five people there. I'll just keep on going. I'm running anyway. I'm out of grenades. Might as well just run. And the direction was forward but that was the direction we were all going.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Now, you see there his wife Jenny is there with him. She talked about the moment the two of them got the call from President Obama, letting them know about the honor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNY GIUNTA, WIFE OF SALVATORE GIUNTA: When the call came through, I was really, really proud. I was proud to know Sal and proud to be with him and proud to be his wife, and proud of what he went through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The date of the ceremony hasn't been scheduled just yet. Giunta is stationed in Italy right now. He'll be the fourth Medal of Honor recipient from the war in Afghanistan. There were also four honored in Iraq.

Overall 3,446 service members have received the Medal of Honor since it was established in the early 1860s. Near half of the recipients come from the Civil War. There are only 87 living recipients from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and now Afghanistan.

Taking a look now as couple of the stories making headlines.

Delaware's Christine O'Donnell leads the list of winners in the final big round of primaries last night. O'Donnell got a boost from the Tea Party movement to defeat Republican veteran Mike Castle.

Also of note, Congressman Charlie Rangel defeated five challengers in his primary even though he is facing ethics charges in the house.

Also a bittersweet homecoming for one family. That San Bruno neighborhood devastated by a natural gas explosion last week, they tell CNN affiliate KRON that their house wasn't damaged in the fires, but had been broken into while they were evacuated. Jewelry, gift cards, passports and a checkbook all missing. Police looking into this now.

Also, researchers believe they found some of the Deepwater Horizon oil on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. They say it's about two inches thick in some places. The oil was found as far as 80 miles from the now capped well. The oil still has to be tested to see if it really did come from the BP well.

Some of Hollywood's best and brightest once secretly filmed nuclear bombs for the U.S. government. We've got the pictures to prove it. We're going to show them to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. A lot of storms out there got a lot of names don't they Chad?. Are they going to be a problem, though.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well if you are in the Yucatan Peninsula, yes. Maybe over toward the Tampico area for Karl. That's only a tropical storm. 55 miles per hour. OK not a big deal. I can deal with the 55-mile-per-hour wind. The problem is here is Igor and Julia. Julia up to a category four, that's a four storm. I wanted to draw a five but never got there. Four storm overnight and also Igor at category four. They are both forecast to turn up to the right.

Remember what happened to Earl though?. Remember when it didn't turn, didn't turn, didn't turn and we waited and waited and waited? could it happen again? sure. The models aren't perfect out here. What happens is there's a big high pressure center called the Bermuda High supposed to be over Bermuda. Well it's kind of east of Bermuda, and that allows when the high pressure spins this way. When it's going this way, that allows the storms to travel along, along, along. When the high pressure ends, then all of the sudden there's a gap in it, then it turns up to the north.

HOLMES: So am I hearing right Earl was forecasted to do the same thing and then, then it didn't?

MYERS: Here's earl's forecast by the computers. (INAUDIBLE) There and then there and then there and then, oh, you missed it. And then finally, it just barely brushed, didn't come on shore obviously North Carolina and then on toward the cape. So for days we watched this thing not turn, not turn, not turn. And so that's why we're so cautious this year whether these computer models are doing a very good job with this non turning event. But so far so good. All of them have -- the big storms have not hit any land.

HOLMES: But that's why they still bear watching right now

MYERS: Well that's why we don't believe in garbage in, garbage out models sometimes do we? When the models are perfect then we'll all be perfect. Right now we are not.

Yucatan Peninsula right there. This would be Chetumal, this would be Cancun. Here is Belize coming onshore here. Not a very populated area across the Yucatan Peninsula plus only 55 miles per hour. Not a big threat to here. And this is what Igor looks like. This model -- this map continues to do this. There you go. Igor continues to turn to the right, turn to the right, turn to the right. The only problem is, see that little dot right there? That's Bermuda. It goes right over the top of Bermuda at about 105 miles per hour. So we will have to watch for those people there. Basically get off the island if you can now especially if you're not from there, you want to batten down the hatches. If you live there great. But if you're a tourist no reason to stay much longer. Probably two more days of good weather anyway.

HOLMES: All right. That's on the radar? Are we going off the radar?

MYERS: We're going-we're going off the planet almost.

HOLMES: OK.

MYERS: Nuclear weapons. HOLMES: What was that again nuke what?

MYERS: No seriously nuclear. Is that how he said it? Nuclear weapons. And also all the atomic bomb blasts that happened in Nevada, Mercury the site.

Remember some of the video you'd see? Like things getting blown apart? We only saw a tiny fraction of what was actually made. There was 650 motion pictures made. Of course, all classified. We only saw just a few. Now at least 100 of them declassified and available online. You can watch them online.

There was a film studio five minutes from Hollywood that did all of this work. All of this work was in a secret facility up in the hills, 2.5 acres. They made 6,500 motion pictures in the time that they were there. Now it's a private residence now. It's all been knocked down. No indication that this film studio was ever there. But it was the largest motion picture self-contained film studio in Hollywood for 20 years while they were blowing all these things up and making motion pictures of all these things getting blown up.

HOLMES: Now why are we just seeing them now?

MYERS: Because now they're declassified.

HOLMES: Now declassified. What took so long?

MYERS: One hundred of the 65 -- well, there's 6,400 that are still classified. I guess they don't want to see thing -- you seeing things getting blown up. These are patriots. These men and women that were photographers are patriots and I think all but one are dead, mostly from cancer. Guess why. Right because they were four miles away from these explosions filming it for the Department of Defense filming it for obviously the benefit of the country. And so patriot trot doesn't even begin to say what these men and women went through.

HOLMES: No. It's amazing. I was reading about this the other day, that in fact they were so closed they were getting blown back away from their cameras they were so close to these things. Chad, good stuff today. You have still play that song? Still working?

MYERS: I'll keep practicing.

HOLMES: Appreciate you as always buddy.

All right we're going to take a quick break coming up but going to tell you after the break about a war that seldom grabs huge headlines but African peacekeepers in Somalia on an all-out battle with Al Qaeda-linked militants. We have an exclusive report from the combat zone, when we go "Globe Trekking."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Time for us now to go "Globe Trekking."

Outside of Africa, it's a war few people know about. You could argue few even care about it. But for Americans, it has all the makings of another Iraq or Afghanistan.

Pictures we're showing you here of militants linked to Al Qaeda controlling most of Somalia. Arab fighters from places like Yemen and Pakistan and Afghanistan and caught in the middle African peacekeepers who often find themselves in the thick of the fight.

Our Jane Ferguson joined a dangerous patrol and here now is her exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE FERGUSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): Peacekeepers literally hit the ground running in Mogadishu. It's so dangerous here that when these African union soldiers land they have to run for cover because of the threat of mortar fire and the airport is someone of the few areas that's supposed to be firmly in control of the government and AU forces.

The threat from Islamist insurgents Al-Shabaab, a group with links to al Qaeda that controls much of central Somalia. The government only controls a section of Mogadishu and the AU troops known as AMISOM are here to protect it.

They are not in reality peacekeepers but protectors. Across Mogadishu this summer, the fighting has been fiercer than ever. During the holy month of Ramadan, Al-Shahbab increased attacks. And in turn despite heavy sniper fire, AU forces have advanced into Al- Shabaab held territory, house by house by knocking holes through the walls of each home. It is a brutal slog to take the high ground.

MAJ. ANTHONY LUKWAGO MBUSI, AMISOM (via translator): To make it a mop up (PH) operation within the buildings here. And there after they have moved into that tall building there, AMISOM forces will move into those buildings so that we continue pushing these people out, rushing them out of near reach.

FERGUSON (voice-over): The AU, largely made up of Ugandan troops, shell Al-Shabaab positions. Backra Market in the distance is an Al- Shabaab stronghold and commercial center. Locals say the Red Mosque close to it is the scene of executions and torture.

(on camera): Here at the new position that the African Union forces have taken further into Mogadishu, Bakra market is farbehind me. In between, there, we have Al-Shabaab fighters. The African Union right now are trying to clean them out of the area so they can continue to move deeper into the city.

(voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) mandate is to defend the government. But in Mogadishu, the line between defense and offense is rarely clear, and the two sides are often just meters apart.

Al-Shabaab fights back with roadside bombs, suicide attacks and mortars. It's also declared that it will take the fight to the home countries of the African troops deployed there, and recently claimed responsibility for devastating bomb attacks in Uganda. Al-Shabaab have also been known to recruit child soldiers. Shortly after I arrived in the city, reports circulated that up to 100 boys had been brought to Mogadishu from the south and forced to fight. The AU soldiers say they have no choice but to shoot them.

CAPT. KEITH KATURIGI, AMISOM: It's unfortunate but we have no choice.

FERGUSON: Are they very scared?

KATURIGI: Very much. Emaciated. They look so weak, so weak.

FERGUSON: And there are constant reports of foreign fighters joining Al-Shabaab from Yemen across the Gulf of Aden but also from North America and elsewhere.

KATURIGI: We do see them and even when we kill them, we see them. Yes.

FERGUSON: And what -- how many foreign fighters have you killed since July?

KATURIGI: I can't be certain, because we have had several encounters. At least -- in each encounter, at least we do kill them. We kill them. Because we get information. We get intelligence. Mostly Arabs, though we have also some Africans, some from Kenya, Uganda, Arabs from Yemen, Afghanistan, and Chechnya.

FERGUSON: Chechnya?

(voice-over): The AMISOM force has opened three new (INAUDIBLE) to better protect the presidential palace from attacks. Soldiers took me to what they call the dead zone where they pointed out Al-Shabaab positions. They said foreigners were often in charge of local fighters running posts and buildings just behind the line of fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a beauty. That is the Noloponio (ph) market. And they, that's where you find foreigner. When we are fighting here, the foreigners are a little bit in their rear.

FERGUSON: This summer, the AU's modest gains have taken them up to the ancient seaport overlooked by the once grand Aruba Hotel. There's often talk of a new offensive against Al-Shabaab, and Uganda has pledged more troops to AMSOM. But this is a war of attrition, fought right in the ruins of a once grateful city where victory is as unlikely as surrender.

Jane Ferguson for CNN, Mogadishu, Somalia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: We're going to turn back to politics. Lining up on Christine O'Donnell's side, another top Republican throws his support behind a Tea Party upstart. Your "CNN Equals Politics" update is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, you can do just about anything else on Facebook, but what about preach to a congregation? Well, not quite. But I've got the Facebook pastor in here right now for our "Mission Possible." Shaun King is his name. Here with me, we're going to explain exactly what you're up to today, but you have found a way now -- this auction is going on and you're using celebrities right now for a Twitter auction to raise money for Haiti. Now, help folks -- maybe particularly those who are not so Twitter- and Facebook-inclined, understand how that's supposed to work.

SHAUN KING, PASTOR, THE COURAGEOUS CHURCH: Well, the big thing we're trying to do is just keep the light and keep attention on Haiti. And so, while the news cycle might not include it so much, we're trying to really use technology to keep people understanding how big the needs are.

And so on Twitter, you can se what celebrities and entertainers and actors are doing. And on Twitter, people kind of, in 140 letters, tell you what's going on in their life. So, one of the things that everybody wants and never says they want, everybody wants to be followed by somebody famous. And it's like a dirty little secret, you know.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: Everybody wishes that Shaq or Diddy or Kim Kardashian would follow them or tweet them.

HOLMES: You're tapping into that?

KING: Yes. And so what we have tried to do is connect with those celebrities, and fans are going to get a chance to bid to have Eva Longoria or Shaquille O'Neal or Kim Kardashian or follow them or mention them on Twitter.

HOLMES: Now, how did you get all of them on board?

KING: It really wasn't me. We started doing some great stuff in Haiti right after the earthquake, and Eva Longoria saw the work that we were doing. She was going to start a Web site for a project. So, she called some friends of hers at Microsoft, and they told her to work with us. And a lot of my friends tease me about working with Eva Longoria. But as a tech guy, I was excited about Microsoft.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: And so, I don't really watch "Desperate Housewives." So when she told us that Microsoft said work with this group, we were over the moon.

HOLMES: Well, just in case you're not clear, let me just let you know, she's kind of a big deal. Ok?

(LAUGHTER) HOLMES: She's kind of a big deal. How much money can you possibly raise like this? How many celebrities, first of all, do you have?

KING: We have almost 150 celebrities on board, from all around the world. Not just the United States. I mean, every day we're having like one-and-a-half to two million people go to our Web site. And we have no idea what it will raise. We need to raise almost a million dollars for the project that we're working on. But we're trying to lower our expectations and just get surprised if it's a success.

HOLMES: And they come - do they need -- I want to make sure people understand how to do it. They need to go to your Web site first to do the bidding.

KING: Yes. They can go to twitchange.com.

HOLMES: We have it up right behind you, and Eva Longoria featured prominently on front.

KING: Yes. So, she has a video on there and kind of breaks down what we're doing. And you can bid and 100 percent of your donation goes to charity. Ebay donated their services, and it's going to be a great thing.

HOLMES: Now, explain to people one more time here what exactly you're hoping to do. Your mission necessarily in Haiti. We know the needs are still great, even though as you said it's not in the headlines every day. What is your mission, and you're going to direct your money and all your efforts towards?

KING: Yes. I pastor a church here in Atlanta and our church is helping to build the largest home and orphanage and school for severely disabled children in Haiti. And so, I've been to Haiti several times since the earthquake. And all of these donations are going to go to building that home.

And right now in Haiti, children with severe disabilities are most regularly orphans. And we have over 100 orphaned children that are going to be living in this home. And it's going to be great. We're really excited to be able to do something permanent for them.

HOLMES: How much did you say you needed?

KING: Need about a million dollars. And we'll see what the auction does. We'll keep on pushing.

HOLMES: All right. The Facebook pastor, Shaun King. You know, that says a lot about how tech savvy you are. More excited about Microsoft than Eva Longoria.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: No, that's impressive. Great work, and clearly got the attention of a lot of people. KING: I appreciate it, man.

HOLMES: Thanks for coming in. Good to have you here in Atlanta with us.

To get more information on Shaun King and his effort to help Haiti, you can go to our blog. We have it up for you right now. CNN.com/tj. All the information you need. Want to make sure you're able to hook up with Pastor King.

Christine O'Donnell, you've been hearing that name. If her name wasn't necessarily that well known before, you'll certainty going to know it now. Even the next coming days and weeks. The White House is weighing in on the Republican candidate who won without the support of the GOP establishment. Our Ed Henry on "The Stakeout" for us today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, time now for the "CNN Equals Politics" update. CNN senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash is on the Hill. Dana, what's crossing?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What's crossing is the reverberation still from the election last night in Delaware.

First up, the head of the committee, the Senate committee to elect Republicans who backed the nominee's opponent, Mike Castle -- he is now sounding upbeat, really changing his tune about Christine O'Donnell saying that they are going to support any Republican nominee. And I also interviewed him. This is coming up on the Ticker. In addition, momentarily, he said he understands he doesn't necessarily have the greatest track record but says what is important is going to be his track record in November, getting Republicans elected to beat Democrats.

Up next on this same issue, Jim DeMint. He, of course, the conservative South Carolina Republican who has been backing these conservative candidates, much to the chagrin of the GOP establishment. That includes Christine O'Donnell. Many Republicans still say she can't win in Delaware. I asked him that question in an interview in his office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JIM DEMINT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: It will be tougher, but Americans who live in Delaware love their country, and they're not stupid. They know we're at the edge of a cliff of financial disaster in our country. And I think the terms of moderate or conservative really trivialize something that the stakes are too high to use those terms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: He also said that it's clear that Americans don't want mushy candidates. And he really dispelled the idea that Republicans still can't win the majority despite the fact that Christine O'Donnell and other conservative candidates are now running against Democrats in bluer-purple states.

Up last, another big story that's going on here, T.J., on the Hill. And that's the question of whether what kind of tax cut extension Democrats are going to push. The House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, signaled to reporters today that he thinks it's possible they could discuss alternatives besides what they and the president really wants, which is just to extend tax cuts for the middle class and to let those for the wealthier Americans expire. That is something that some Democrats who are in tough reelection campaigns do not like. So, he said maybe there's word for compromise.

HOLMES: Wow, compromise on the ticker today! That is the big news. All right, Dana, we appreciate you as always.

Let me turn from Dana Bash to Ed Henry for "The Stakeout." Now, Ed, buddy, good to see you as always.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, T.J.

HOLMES: We've heard Christine O'Donnell's name just about everywhere. We're hearing it at the White House too?

HENRY: Oh, big time, because they're saying in private that they believe that bottom line is that Democrats have now taken back control of the Senate seat. Now, it hasn't happened yet, but they think they've -- it's in their sights because basically if Mike Castle, the moderate, had won the Republican primary -- Democrats had all but given up that seat and realized that Joe Biden's old seat from Delaware would go into Republican hands. Now, they have a fighting chance with their candidate because they just believe that Christine O'Donnell is going to be too extreme and is not really going to have the backing of the Republican party establishment when you have people like Karl Rove criticizing her, saying she's not a great candidate, probably not going to win. That's pretty deflating for the Republicans.

I have to tell you , though, I did speak to one senior adviser to the president this morning who said that maybe some of this is getting a little ahead of itself and some Democrats are a little too optimistic. You have to be careful for Democrats because Christine O'Donnell, maybe she won't have all the money in the world, not going to have all the party establishment backing, but you know what? That's not necessarily a bad thing in this political season right now because it's the people in both parties who are tied to the establishment, tied to Washington who are not doing well. She may get a lot of money and support from Tea Party folks who may want to show the establishment -- send them a second message after this primary, T.J.

HOLMES: Yes, and what a difference a day and an election makes. They had all but given up in Delaware, and now, Democrats just seem to be grinning from ear to ear today.

Are we expecting to hear from the president? He was going to speak to us at 4:30. What does he have to say? HENRY: We weren't expecting that until a short time ago. He going to have a cabinet meeting that's going on just a few minutes from now. He hasn't had one in a few months. A chance, maybe, for the last time before the election to get all his folks together, talk about the agenda and what not. And then come out to the Rose Garden about 4:30 Eastern time.

What we're being told is he'll talk more about the economy and jobs. And this is another outgrowth in part of what we saw in Delaware yesterday. What people inside the White House is saying is, look, what this shows -- when you have somebody with Tea Party backing who wins in Delaware, knocks off someone like Mike Castle who is all but assured to win for Republicans and take that seat out of Democratic hands, they think this shows more than anything that there's a real stark choice that the parties are offering voters in November. And they think it's crystal clear from Delaware.

They say, look, the president you've heard him on the stump now for weeks, saying the same thing about it's a choice. The policies of the past the Republicans want to give you how he frames it, or the policies of the future trying to pull us out of this economic slump. They think the Delaware thing is a gift. Not just tactically, but message-wise, it makes the same point the president has been making, and you can expect him to make it in a short time from now about the economic slump and what his administration is doing to try to fix it. T.J.

HOLMES: And again, 4:30 Eastern time. We'll certainly cover it live. We expect the president just to make a statement. Not expected to take any questions?

HENRY: Not expected to take questions. That's right.

HOLMES: Not expected to take questions, but Ed, tell me, what question rough going to shout at the president as he turns and tries to walk out?

HENRY: Well, you know, something I asked Robert Gibbs a little while ago in the briefing is the fact that "The Washington Post" reported about a week ago that as we're talking about tax cuts and tax debates; we're talking about deficits and trying to get the government more money, there are about 41 White House aides, according to tax records, who have back taxes that they have unpaid taxes totaling over $800,000 -- almost a million dollars in back taxes from White House aides. I asked Robert Gibbs whether they're going to pay it, what's the deal? He basically said he's got to get more information on it.

So, we're going to stay on that. We're going to keep asking him about it because bottom line is, we keep hearing in Washington both parties you have to deal with the deficit, people have to pay their taxes, everyone has to pay their fair share. You have folks in the White House who apparently owe some back taxes. That's something we'll press them about.

HOLMES: Forty-one of them divided among the $800,000 -- that's a lot of money per person. HENRY: It's a chunk of money. And look, there's not that many White House aides, we should also note. Forty-one is a pretty significant percentage of a few hundred White House aides. Now, in fairness -- that's part of the reason why we asked for the list. We asked are people going to pay it? Who owes the taxes. Someone may owe $10 in back taxes. Who knows?

We don't want to say all 41 owe a ton of money but you're right. When it adds up to $800,000, that's significant money in back taxes. "The Washington Post" is reporting there's a lot of people on Capitol Hill, staffers in both parties, who also owe back taxes. So, you can bet this is something that will get attention.

HOLMES: All right. You're current, right? You're in good standing with the IRS.

HENRY: Yes, I've paid. I realize I'm fair game, too. I pay my taxes.

HOLMES: All right. Ed, buddy, good to see you as always. I guess we'll wait to see what question you shout at the president at 4:30. We'll take him live, the president making some comments about the economy later.

Ed, buddy, good to see you as always.

"Wordplay" is coming up next. We'll look at an endangered specie out in the wild. Maybe even in Washington too. That's coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's time for today's "Wordplay." And actually, we're working with an acronym that's masquerading as a mammal. Talking about a RINO. R-I-N-O. Don't bother digging out your dictionary for this one. You won't find it, with our spelling, at least. You won't find one in the wild, either. This RINO we're talking about stands for Republican In Name Only. You might have heard this thrown around a bit out there.

For some folks tagged as RINOs, you're probably not going to find them in the running come November. RINO a slam that cropped up in 1998 but has really taken off of late as the gloves have come off in Washington. It refers to a member of the Republican party, of the conservatives feel has committed a party foul who haven't nailed every plank of the GOP party platform.

Take Mike Castle here, who just lost Delaware's Republican Senate primary after a Republican dubbed him King RINO.

So, we have a first in the history of the Heisman Trophy. A recipient sends it back with a tracking number. I tell you how I feel about that. That's coming your way in my "XYZ."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: The Heisman trophy. It is the most prestigious award in all of sports. Only 75 have been handed out since 1935. If you were one of the lucky ones in this fraternity of winners, can you imagine if somebody actually tried to take it from you? You'd imagine you'd adopt the Charlton Heston attitude about it. You can have this Heisman back when you take it out of my cold dead hand.

Well, Reggie Bush, he didn't adopt the Charlton Heston attitude. Rather, Reggie Bush is voluntarily giving his Heisman back. Thee first time that has ever happened.

After an amazing 2005 year at USC, Bush won the highest percentage of first-place Heisman votes ever. Bush, who is now with the New Orleans Saints, says he's forfeiting the award because of media speculation regarding allegations dating back to his years at USC.

If you're not up on this story here, not aware of what's going on, an NCAA investigation found that bush and his family got hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits from agents while he was in school. But before they were able to possibly strip Reggie of the award, he beat them to the punch and he forfeits it.

Now, one of the few criteria for getting the Heisman trophy is you have to be in compliance with NCAA rules to be eligible for the award. So, technically he wasn't in compliance with the rules, so technically he wasn't eligible to play. So, technically he wasn't even on the field in 2005.

But you and I know he was. You can't erase how he electrified college football that year. Clearly the best player in the country. Some are now arguing, though, that he shouldn't give it back. And they're arguing that they shouldn't take it away. Part of the argument here is whatever rule he violated, it didn't enhance his performance on the field. For example, like a, you know, pro baseball player who possibly took performance-enhancing drugs. Sure, maybe their record should be wiped away because they did something illegal that affected them on the field. But not Reggie Bush.

But on the other hand here, should Reggie Bush receive the most prestigious award in sports after actually violating NCAA rules? Where's the punishment in that? Some will argue out there that the shame of losing the Heisman trophy is punishment enough. Well, since leaving college, Bush has become an NFL superstar, a multimillionaire. He's won a Super Bowl ring and he got to date Kim Kardashian. Poor guy.

That's my "XYZ" for today. Now time for the "LIST." It belongs to Rick.