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Key Vote Under Way on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'; Little Entrepreneurs; 9 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghanistan

Aired September 21, 2010 - 14:02   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Right now on CNN we are just minutes away from a vote in the U.S. Senate that could decide the fate of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." So let me set the stage for you.

Back in 1993, President Bill Clinton, he signed that compromise measure which allows gays to serve in all branches of the U.S. military as long as they don't reveal their sexual orientation. Republicans have filibustered a new measure that would authorize a repeal, and it's not clear if supporters can round up the 60 votes that they need to press on.

We're going to be watching that. But a mighty force is leading the charge for change.

At the top, President Barack Obama. He campaigned against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but says it is really up to Congress to end it. Defense Secretary Gates asked Congress back in February to let gays serve openly. He was joined by the Joint Chiefs chairman, Mike Mullen.

Now Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rallied his members to follow the lead of the House, which voted for repeal in May of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

And today, Senator Lieberman, well, he echoed that call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: It has denied almost 14,000 members of our military who are in the military the right to continue to serve, to put their lives on the line to protect our security and freedom. And why were they kicked out of the military? Not because they were bad members of the military, not because they violated the military code of conduct in their personal behavior, but because of their private sexual orientation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And also today, General James Amos, who is poised to become the new Marine Corps commandant, came out in support of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that policy.

And Arizona Senator John McCain, top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, well, he fiercely opposed repealing it before a military review. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I continue to urge my colleagues to reject this effort to short-circuit the process endorsed by Department of Defense leaders, not by the service chiefs, a process that was supposed to inform us with one that merely ratifies a politically-driven decision. We all look forward to hearing your thoughts about whether the comprehensive review should be allowed to run its course in this fashion and what you feel about the effect it could have on the United States Marine Corps.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So the Senate is preparing to take this issue up today.

Why don't we go to our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, in Washington.

Dana, you have been watching this story for a very long time. Mike Mullen is in support of it. Secretary Gates in support of it. But is that going to make a bit of difference to the politicians in Washington today when they vote on it?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Will it make a difference on this vote? You know, more and more it's seeming like the answer is no, Don. You could sort of feel everything deflating as the day has gone on with respect to supporters of a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal, as they have seen that this particular provision, this language in this defense bill, looks like it is not going to get on to the Senate floor in this critical vote in the next half an hour unless we are surprised.

But we should note nothing is ever simple or straightforward in the Senate. This is no exception.

What this language actually says is that it allows the Pentagon to repeal -- allows for repeal, I should say, after the Pentagon is finished with its yearlong review and after the president and military leaders sign off on it. So that is the language.

But why is it not happening? Well, some of the Republicans who -- supporters of the repeal have been targeting, namely Susan Collins of Maine, she is simply making clear that she's going to stick with her party. She is going to vote to block this bill from coming to the floor. She argues, along with her party, that the Democratic leaders are simply not giving Republicans ultimately enough chance to amend or change this bill once it gets to the floor.

LEMON: Hey, Dana, let me ask you this. How much of this has to do with the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy itself, or something that has been attached to this bill that has to do with immigration? Is that playing a bigger role, or is it really the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" part that people are opposed to here? BASH: Both of those issues are playing a big role. The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" language is already in this bill. And with regard to immigration, what Democrats have already signaled is that they want to put an amendment if this gets to the floor -- an amendment that on this bill that has to do with immigration, the so-called the Dream Act. Both of those are inflaming this.

Look, you have heard and we have heard as the day goes on even more, both sides accusing each other of playing politics. I know that's not a surprise to people, to hear parties say that, and especially this close to an election. But I just have to tell you, Don, I was talking to our team here, and I just wanted to gauge, is it just me? You can really feel the animosity in a big, big way, more than even before.

I mean, there's certainly been partisan politics before, but you can cut it with a knife here in Congress right now. People are just itching, and they are angry and they're aggravated at each other, and they are really feeling the pressure from the voters, especially the Democrats, who obviously are on the hot seat right now with their majority in question.

LEMON: All right, Dana. That vote expected to get started. Don't know if it will be finished -- what time it's going to be finished. Expected to get started just a few minutes here on CNN. We're going to check back in on Capitol Hill to see exactly what's going on.

So, Dana Bash, stand by. We appreciate you reporting right now.

We're going to talk about teaching kids how to be business owners -- at age 10? That's what's going on at a school in Jersey. And this school is named after Dionne Warwick. Dionne Warwick the singer, that's right.

Make sense? It will after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. It's time for "Chalk Talk." And in "Chalk Talk" today, we talk about ways that we fix our schools and highlight those schools that are doing something right.

Today we're going to East Orange, New Jersey, where elementary school kids are learning how to be entrepreneurs. Elementary school, wow. All right.

So they say it's never too early. We're going to ask that question.

We're talking about a school that's called the Dionne Warwick Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship. The school was renamed for the singer in 1966 when it was changed into a more business-themed public school.

Of course Warwick attended this same school back in the 1940s, and thanks to a generous gift from the five-time Grammy winner, the school now has a state-of-the-art technology lab equipped with new high-end computers for them to use. About 425 students attend this school, and nearly all the students are either black or Hispanic, and most of them are from poor households.

So joining me now, Sharon Giles. She is the economics and entrepreneurship teacher at the Warwick school.

It's so good to have you here. Thank you so much for joining us.

So here's my question. Congratulations on the gift. But how do you get elementary schools -- elementary school students to learn about entrepreneurship? Is that not too early?

SHARON GILES, ECONOMICS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP TEACHER: It's never too early, Don. What we find is that the more we expose our children to, the more opportunities they're able to have.

So we find that we give them the skills to select a product, to make it, to sell it at what we call Market Day, and get that money in their hands. We let them know how to make it and how to use it, how to spend it wisely.

LEMON: Yes. As I understand, you said it's going to be used for their school projects, but they'll be able to, as you just referenced, use it for their own benefit and to make money starting early on.

GILES: Yes.

LEMON: Listen, the reviews are mixed on whether or not supplying students with this sort of technology, newer technology, if it really affects test scores at all. Is that your concern? Are you concerned about test scores, or are you concerned about preparing these kids for the real world?

GILES: Right. I'm more concerned with preparing them for the real world. With this donation, we have state-of-the-art computers that have Microsoft Office software, and that's pretty much what you find in offices throughout the country. So if our students get the opportunity to start working with this now, the presentations, the PowerPoint, they'll have a very comfortable feeling as they go forward, and they'll have real workplace readiness skills.

LEMON: Hey, Sharon, can you share any success stories with us?

GILES: Well, we do have a few right now. As you mentioned, our students are very young, but we find that as they continue to go through our school system, that many of them are continuing their entrepreneurial efforts. And they've also come back to say that in their new schools, in high school, that their teachers were surprised that they knew so many things about profit, about a business plan, and all these types of things that we teach them, because you don't usually find it in such young students.

LEMON: And here's a perfect example of when you don't know, you really just don't know. When you don't have opportunities, you don't rise to the occasion.

Many of the students with the old computers that were just shut down or just stopped working for no particular reason, they thought the old computers were just fine and that's just the way computers worked. Now that they have these new computers, Sharon?

GILES: Now that they have these new computers, they can really see how quickly the Internet comes into your life, how much research that they can do, how many wonderful graphics are available, and really how easy it is.

LEMON: And they're focused -- I read that all you can hear in the room was just the clicking of the keyboards and the clicking of the mouse. And before, kids would get distracted because it would be so slow, the Internet connection, that they would become distracted.

GILES: Absolutely. So now we have their complete attention. They are so excited, they're ready to learn.

LEMON: Sharon Giles from the Warwick school in New Jersey.

Hey, best of luck to you. Thanks for coming on CNN and telling your story. OK? And say hi to the kids.

GILES: Thank you. I will. Thanks so much.

LEMON: All right.

Coming up here on CNN, what do the Israeli minister of defense, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Laura Bush and Ashton Kutcher have in common? Well, they and many others are taking part in the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative under way in New York City.

After a break, we'll hear from the guy in charge. Of course he's the former president of the United States, Bill Clinton. He is speaking to CNN's very own Wolf Blitzer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Our meteorologist Bonnie Schneider joins us now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: And from Bonnie Schneider we're going to turn to a sadder story. We've been talking about a deadly day for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. They've become the victim of a helicopter crash.

We want to know, was the Taliban behind it? But in our "Globe Trekking" segment we're going to dig deeper. A live report coming up from Kabul after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It's time now for "Globe Trekking," which is essentially what you would think it means. We go on the other side of the globe or somewhere on the globe, and we try to break down a story that's happening right now. And this one is in Afghanistan, where nine American troops were killed today in a helicopter crash.

Our Ivan Watson is on the ground there.

Ivan, you know, the president wants to start pulling troops out of Afghanistan in a year. And when you hear things like this, and all of this violence heating up, you wonder if we'll be able to start doing that.

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, I've got to apologize. I'm having some trouble hearing you down the line.

But this has been a grim line for U.S. and NATO forces here in Afghanistan, this helicopter crashing in a southern turbulent province called Zabul. And a western defense source telling CNN's own Atia Abawi that nine U.S. service men killed on board.

And what that does is it brings the number of casualties, as you mentioned, to the deadliest year yet in this nine-year conflict. And as you look from year to year, just -- the casualties do go up from 295 total coalition dead, 155 U.S. dead in 2008, to 313 U.S. service men and women killed in 2009, and now 350 in this year. And the year is not through yet.

And just to bring home how serious and how the conflict has been escalating, one ISAF NATO serviceman, the nationality not identified, was killed today in southern Afghanistan by a roadside bomb. Yesterday, another serviceman or woman, again, nationality not identified because they don't like to tell the nationality until the family has been informed of this, killed yesterday in a Taliban attack -- Don.

LEMON: And Ivan spoke to someone about what's going on in Afghanistan just a short time ago. Let's listen and then we'll get back to Ivan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDACE RONDEAU, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: The violence in this country has risen exponentially, and it's really affected Afghans, obviously, in the biggest way. Obviously, there's also been a lot of casualties on the U.S. and NATO side but, I mean, you've got thousands this time of civilian casualties, and it keeps going up. I mean, there's some 30 percent increase in violence in this last little while in civilian casualties, and that's really significant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And Ivan, a big surge in violence after Saturday's parliamentary election. So, listen, the Taliban is saying -- claiming responsibility for this, but officially we don't really know.

What are officials saying?

WATSON: Well, they're saying that they did not see initially signs of hostile fire, that the cause of the crash is being investigated. And we have seen helicopters go down with tragic results in the past either as a result of equipment malfunctions, bad weather, or coming under hostile fire.

The weather was good, we're told by locals on the ground in this case. We have gotten some reports from some Taliban spokesmen claiming responsibility, but very difficult to know. There is a propaganda war going on here right now.

But just to bring home the scale of this conflict which has been escalating, large parts of this country that I used to be able to travel around, Don, I cannot move around. One province northwest of Kabul that I could have easily driven openly five years ago, we're told that earlier today five Afghan construction workers were killed by a roadside bomb there, and that's a province to the northwest neighboring the Afghan capital. Don.

LEMON: Ivan Watson in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ivan, thank you very much.

She is out to end global poverty, and she's a full-time soccer mom. "Mission Possible," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Something we do every day on this particular program. We profile people who are really making a difference. Today, we have a soccer mom who is tackling global poverty and still getting dinner on the table by 6:00. Imagine doing that.

What's on her plate is really staggering, though. One in every three people on the planet lives on less than a dollar a day. That's about 2 billion people. To make matters even worse, HIV and AIDS is rampant among that impoverished community.

Here's what the U.N. estimates. Estimates more than 33 million suffer from HIV and AIDS. Two million are kids. And sadly, there are a lot more statistics just like these.

But our "Mission Possible" today is really out to fight them and to change this, to lower all of those statistics. This woman thinks that every person can make a difference. I want to read a quote from her. She says, "I'm only one woman. I live in one town. I go to one church, and I have one voice. But I've come to believe that all our ones add up."

All right. Joining us up is Shayne Moore, a global soccer mom. She joins us now from Chicago.

Good to see you. How do you do all of this? First of all, how did you come up with this idea?

SHAYNE MOORE, CAMPAIGNS TO END GLOBAL POVERTY AND AIDS: Well, I got involved in 2002 right at the inception of the One campaign. So, I really am a stay-at-home mom. I have three children. I live outside of Chicago, and I just realized I need to educate myself and educate others and it doesn't take a lot to make a difference. That's what I want to tell my friends and my family, that you can make a difference right from your own homes, from your own kitchens. LEMON: Shayne, how do you reach people? I mean, it's enough to go to work everyday. You go to the dry cleaners, you got to get groceries, you got to pick your kids up. You have to do all of those things and get dinner on the table, and then to try to help change the world. How do you even get people interested in what you're selling?

MOORE: Well, there's a lot of people behind this movement. When One started, it was a grassroots movement. Now there's 2.5 million members of the One campaign. One is really cool because they do a lot of the work for you. So, you get newsletters and action alerts. And it's make this phone call or sign this petition. It's stuff you can do in five minutes as you fill a backpack, click, do the laundry, click. So, you know --

LEMON: You're very organized.

MOORE: It's very doable.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: You're very organized.

MOORE: I don't know. Organized chaos.

But it does make a difference. That's one of the things that I've learned as I've journeyed this is that. My world leaders and the politicians in D.C., they pay attention. And they pay attention when a soccer mom cares and gets politically organized and politically active.

So, it's really been a fascinating journey for me to watch, that I really can make a difference. But I don't do it by myself. It's together.

LEMON: Yes. When I hear stories -- like people like you talk about it and about volunteering or about doing something that comes from the heart that you feel you should be doing-- and many times, as we've saying here, people feel they don't have the time. But once you do it, I think people start to feel invigorated and want to continue doing more and they want to inspire other people. Have you found that with this?

MOORE: Absolutely. I think that once you really become informed, and I believe that about Americans. I believe America has the best to offer when it comes to having a compassionate heart for the world. When you really start educating yourself about the reality of the statistics that you mentioned, or on the show yesterday, the mother and her daughter Florida who is alive today because she got life-saving medication. When you really start engaging your heart, time really -- you find the time to be a voice for those who have no voice.

The only reason that I'm a mother and I have three healthy children and I live on more than a dollar a day is just because of where I happened to be born. It's not a cliche to say the world is getting smaller. And we can do it. We can be a voice for people to really mobilize around this.

And the U.N. summit is coming up in New York next week. And they're going to focus on the Millennium Development Goals, and they're going to focus on No Child Born With HIV by 2015.

And I'm a mom and I live in the suburbs. But I can put pressure on my world leaders to say this is important to me. I care about other moms and other families just like my own.

LEMON: Shayne Moore is a global soccer mom. Shayne, you're amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your time with us. All right?

MOORE: Thanks.

LEMON: Make sure you check out Shayne's book. It's called "Global Soccer Mom." It's hitting stores in January. For more information on her mission, just head to my blog. It's at CNN.com/don.

OK, listen, as the spotlight swings after the primaries, Ed Henry, there he is, is asking voters a question. What happened to the president's mojo? Did you find it, Ed? Head shake. Yes, no. Not sure. All right. We don't hear you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Ali Velshi. You know, pretty soon it's going to be like Brad or Angelina. I don't know, what do you think? Ali, or just Velshi? I think Velshi. Velshi.

Velshi's in a new movie. CNN anchor and chief business correspondent.

(WHISPERING) Superstar.

Movie star. He appears in Oliver Stone's sequel to "Wall Street," which had its big premiere last night. Look at it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) financial system.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (acting): This is a financial crisis, and anyone one who doesn't admit that is just kidding themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ali, I disagree --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, guess what he played? He played a reporter/anchor. It's a stretch.

"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" takes up the story of disgraced financial titan Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas as he gets out of prison 20 years later and we caught up with Velshi on the red carpet and asked him about Stone's portrayal of the economic crash of 2008.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: It's not something we want to relive, but if you want to be reminded of how tough that three-week period was in September and October of 2008, Oliver has captured it very, very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was Velshi on the red carpet. You can check out Ali's performance on the big screen when the film opens nationwide this week.

Ed Henry is here. Ed, this is how Ali is going to appear on television. You're going to have to see him in glasses only because he is now money. Big money, super movie star.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And he's only like -- it's one name. It's like Cher, Madonna.

LEMON: Velshi. Velshi.

HENRY: Just Velshi. I'm going to start doing that everyday now. I love that. I love that you're getting in his face a little bit while he's not here. You're kind of getting in his grill a little bit. I mean, I actually think it is a little bit of a stretch for him to play a reporter/anchor, don't you think?

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: I think so too. I think I'm going to hear about these glasses. I'm sure an e-mail from on high is coming down now.

Hey, so listen. Very serious subject here. We saw the Medal of Honor ceremony, and the president just left that. And the president really got the heat yesterday at a town hall meeting. What's the president to do? People are going, has he lost his mojo? Really.

HENRY: Yes. Let's start with the Medal of Honor ceremony. This is Chief Master Sergeant Richard Etchberger. He passed away many years ago, in 1968, died in a secret mission near the Vietnamese border. Basically, his family was initially told it was a helicopter crash because they had to keep secret he had gone into Laos on a secret mission. And the U.S. was not supposed to be there during the war, using it for those purposes.

So, 42 years in the making that he got the Medal of Honor. President Obama basically said today, look. You have to right the wrong, no matter how long it takes. This is only the second Medal of Honor that he's awarded as president so far. I remember last year profiling Sergeant Paul Monte from Massachusetts, who died in Afghanistan.

And this is one of the heavy burdens of being commander in chief. You talk about the town hall meeting, and the president getting some heat yesterday on the economy. We still have 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 100,000 in Afghanistan. So, in some ways, the pressures of the economy might be small compared to the life-and-death situations that people are still going through every day.

LEMON: And Ed, you know, speaking about that what the people in the down hall said, it took a lot of courage to stand up to the commander in chief and go, hey, listen, you're not delivering. What happened to the American dream? And you took a trip to Virginia recently, and you have been asking voters about why they think the president, at least - I don't know -- in some ways, has lost his mojo. Really?

HENRY: Yes. We spent a couple of days, just the last couple of days in southeastern Virginia. We went there because we remember President Obama won Virginia. For the first time a Democrat won since 1964. And it was in part because of all of these Obama-Cans, these Republicans who switched over, supported then-candidate Obama.

And when I was down there, you could see over the last couple of days, there are Republicans, independents who voted for Barack Obama who are now having at least some second thoughts. There are Democrats also, as you saw, supporters of his, even at that town hall meeting yesterday that CNBC broadcast, who are disagreeing with him. Respectfully, we should add. And I saw that.

You know, we've done a lot about the angry voter out there. The last couple of days I spent in rural Virginia, people were really not getting in the president's grill; they weren't attacking him. Some of the Republican voters I spoke to said, look, I think he's a good man, I think his heart is in the right place. One said he has some new ideas, and we need those to deal with the crises.

But what I heard across the board - Democrats, Republicans, independents -- was that they feel he just took on too much too fast in the first 20 months or so. And it's jut been too hard for everyone to digest and figure out. I think that's adding -- when you add that to all the economic anxiety that's already out there, it's making this a very volatile election about.

LEMON: So then what's a president to do then, Ed?

HENRY: Well, you know, aides here are saying over the next few weeks, we'll see him barnstorming a lot. We have seen him taking these sort of quick trips, little fundraisers and what not. But over the next few weeks, we're going to see him hitting the road a lot more, spending days at a time, hitting several states. And I think, you know, all the money is on the line now. He needs to -- you were asking about did he lose his mojo. Democrats need him now more than ever to sort of restore some of that magic that he had in 2008.

But I've got to tell you that the race I was looking at -- there's a House race down there in southeast Virginia. And Congressman Nye, he's a freshman Democrat. He rode the Obama wave in 2008 and has since distanced himself from President Obama. He voted against health care reform. He appeared with then-candidate Obama four times in 2008 in his district. This time, he doesn't want to really appear with the president. So, that's another challenge. He's hitting the road, but he's got some Democrats, maybe because he lost mojo, don't want to appear with him, Don.

LEMON: Thank you, Ed Henry. Enjoy your day, OK.

HENRY: OK. Say hi to Velshi.

LEMON: I will. Velshi!

Thank you, sir.

You know, big buck donation for the Tea Party. That's just one of the stories coming up in our "CNN Equals Politics" update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is a "CNN Equals Politics" story. A watchdog group accusing Delaware GOP Senate candidate, primary winner there Christine O'Donnell of embezzling past campaign money for herpersonal use.

Brian Todd is in Wilmington, Delaware, and he has been doing some digging. Brian, what have you found out?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, a lot of punching and counter-punching on this story right now. As you mentioned, Christine O'Donnell's critics, including this group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, are getting information from a former O'Donnell campaign official alleging she spent about $20,000 of money from her 2008 Senate campaign on personal expenses. Things like gas, food, even a bowling outing, and that she did it at a time last year and early this year when she didn't even have a campaign.

I asked Christine O'Donnell about that at a campaign event. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Ms. O'Donnell, would you be able to talk about the specific question on the $20,000?

CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), DELAWARE SENATORIAL CADIDATE: No truth to it. I'll release a statement. I'll release a statement. No truth to it, though, I assure you, Brian.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: We have since gotten some more specifics from Christine O'Donnell's new campaign counsel. I spoke with Cleata Mitchell not too long ago today. Ms. Mitchell said, look, she had a campaign at that time that these expenses were proper, that she didn't do anything wrong, and that they're looking into all of these charges. They're going to come out with specific counter arguments later, but essentially denying these central charges that she misused campaign money, Don. LEMON: So, Brian, this group is called CRU, this watchdog group. They aren't kidding around. They're asking for a federal prosecutor to open a criminal investigation, and then they want the FEC, the Federal Election Commission, to audit O'Donnell's expenses. Is this just finger pointing or something bigger?

TODD: Well, that's going to come out in the wash. It takes a long time to figure out whether campaign money was misused for these purposes. Anybody who knows about this stuff will tell you that election laws are so complex, that the finance laws are so complex, that to determine whether someone did something wrong and knowingly did that, it takes a long time.

A lot of this could be political posturing. Certainly, Cleta Mitchell, Ms. O'Donnell's campaign attorney, is accusing CRU of that, of being kind of a left-leaning group and only going after conservative groups. CRU vehemently denies that, saying they've gone after Charlie Rangel, Maxine Waters and other Democrats. They say that they're not partisan, that they really do detect some malfeasance here. But again, proving that and getting all this out legally and doing it before the campaign comes to a close probably going to be difficult to do.

LEMON: I'm wondering, since we've been doing so much talking about Christine O'Donnell, about her past and her comments -- she was television pundit for a long time, and there's lots of tape of her -- and now this. So, her campaign, I wonder if they're -- how they're feeling about this since you've been talking to them, Brian, whether they think she's just being targeted, or if they think this is just politics as usual.

TODD: They really believe she's being targeted. They think that because she was such an insurgent in the primary campaign, beating Mike Castle coming from nowhere to beat him when everybody thought she was going to lose that race, that there are people who are very resentful of that.

Certainly, that campaign for the primary was a very bitter one against Mike Castle. Her staff (AUDIO GAP) when you talk about politics as usual, her staff is not a group of people who are used to politics as usual. She has about 10 or 12 campaign staffers. Most of them are young people. Not used to races of this kind of magnitude that have this kind of profile. They're just hiring (AUDIO GAP) staff booted up.

So, what they're saying is look, we were not ready for this. We're running kind of an insurgent campaign that has a lot of grassroot support, and this is just kind of political bitterness that's being directed right now at O'Donnell.

LEMON: Interesting character. Interesting character. Out of nowhere, and then all of this. Brian Todd in Delaware. Thank you, Brian.

It's time now for another "CNN Equals Politics" update. CNN's political director Paul Steinhauser in Washington. Paul, what's crossing right now?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Don. You were just talking about campaign cash with Brian Todd. Let's talk a little bit more about some big bucks.

Let's start with the Tea Party Patriots. They're one of those major national Tea Party organizations. New on the Ticker this afternoon, they announced they are going to get $1 million and pump it into the midterm elections within the next few weeks. They say they got the money, the $1 million, from an anonymous donor. And say they're going to get it out as soon as possible to local Tea Party groups across the country in the next few weeks to help them get the message out and of course support Republican candidates in midterm elections.

Check this out. Jay McMichael, if I can ask you to take a look at this right here. This is an article I did a little earlier today. Listen, "Governors Battle in Maryland," a great story. And today, the Republican Governors Association decided to jump into that race, and they've put up an ad for former governor Robert Ehrlich. He lost his reelection bid in 2006 to the current guy, Martin O'Malley, the Democrat.

Now, O'Malley has a lot more money, probably a 2-to-1 advantage in campaign cash. When the RGA, the Republican Governors Association announced they're going up with ads and going to help out they turned this race into a really exciting battle. We want to keep our eyes on this. Maryland usually a pretty reliably safe Democratic state, but not always. We're going to keep a close eye on this contest.

And finally, hey, it's six weeks today until the midterm election, but is the next battle for the White House the 2012 election, already underway? Well, I learned today Tim Pawlenty, the Minnesota governor, is going to New Hampshire next week to help campaign with the New Hampshire gubernatorial nominee. And guess what? Mitt Romney is doing it this Saturday as well and Haley Barbour on Monday. All three are going to be there separately to help this guy out.

What do all three of those gentlemen have in common? They may, may want to run for the White House for the Republican presidential nomination in 2010. Don, 2012 is not that far away, is it?

LEMON: No, it certainly isn't. It certainly isn't. So coming fast and furious. For the very latest, make sure you watch us, because we'll have an update every hour. And also, you can check out CNNpolitics.com. Thank you, Paul Steinhauer.

The American dream. It's more than a house, more than a job and 2.5 kids. Much, much more than that. I'll give you my take on the American dream in my "XYZ."

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LEMON: For "XYZ" today, I want to talk about the American dream and whether it is still attainable. As you know, that was a very good question asked of the president yesterday at a town hall meeting in Washington. It was a very good question.

Now I have a question for you. What is the American dream? Ever look it up? I did. The definition includes words like freedom, equality, opportunity. But mostly, the American dream is defined as material comfort, prosperity, home ownership, and money. And many of us with a lot less money in the bank and in our wallets in one way or another are wondering what's happening with the American dream, just like that gentleman yesterday.

The truth is, the American dream is still attainable for some people like the Wall Street fat cats, right? Or innovators like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey, the Facebook creators, Twitter founders, on and on. You see what I'm saying? So, though the bar may be higher through no fault of our own, the dream is still attainable.

Now, I'm not letting the president nor any of our politicians or bad bankers off the hook, but the American dream is way bigger than them. It's way bigger than a job or house or car or bank account. So, maybe the American dream is evolving, as well it should. Doesn't everything evolve?

Perhaps this tough time in our history is a catalyst to redefine exactly what the American dream is. For me, especially lately it's not a big house, a fancy car, the brass ring, money in the bank. Some of those things are important, but they're more about comfort, ego and how we've been programmed to think. To me, the American dream is a dream in progress, one whose reality has more to do with living in your means, in the moment, and with all the people around you, not just Americans.

And that's my "XYZ." Time now for my friend Rick Sanchez and "RICK'S LIST." Hey, Rick.