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President Obama Presents Family With Medal of Honor; New Taliban Attacks on Convoys; Bridging the Gap in Kenya
Aired October 06, 2010 - 13:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Here's the president of the United States getting ready to present the Medal of Honor.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- and myself, welcome to the White House. And thank you, General Carver, for that beautiful invocation.
We are a nation of more than 300 million Americans. Of these, less than 1 percent wears the uniform of our Armed Services. And of these, just a small fraction has earned the badges of our Special Operations Forces.
In the finest military the world has ever known, these warriors are the best of the best. In an era that prizes celebrity and status, they are quiet professionals, never seeking the spotlight.
In a time of war, they have borne a burden far beyond their small numbers. Training foreign militaries to stand on their own, bringing schools and medicine to remote villages, and taking to the terrorists and insurgents who plot against us.
Few Americans ever see their service, but all Americans are safer because of it and our hearts swell with pride just hearing their names, including the legendary Green Berets.
Today, it is my privilege to present our nation's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, to one of these remarkable soldiers, Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller.
To do so, we are joined by Vice President Biden and from the Millers' family home state of Florida, a leader who helped make this day possible, Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas.
We're joined by leaders from across my administration including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and leaders from our Armed Forces, including Army Secretary John McCue and Chief of Staff General George Casey, as well as Commander of Special Operations Command Admiral Eric Olson.
We are honored to be joined by Rob's fellow soldiers in whose ranks he served, his teammates from Alpha Company 3rd Battalion 3rd Special Forces group from Fort Bragg, and those who now welcome him into the ranks, members of the Medal of Honor Society.
Most of all, we welcome more than 100 of Rob's friends and family, especially his father Phil, his mother Maureen, and his many brothers and sisters.
It has been said that courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point. For Rob Miller, the testing point came nearly three years ago deep in a snowy Afghan valley, but the courage he displayed that day reflects every virtue that defined his life.
Rob was wise beyond his years. Growing up in Wheaton, Illinois, outside of Chicago, he was the boy in school who penned a poem about American GIs in World War II, men like the soldier Rob would become himself who he said fought day and night fighting for what they thought was right.
Rob was born to lead. The high school gymnast who trained so hard his coach had to kick him out at night so they could close the gym. He was the Army recruit who pushed himself to his limits both physically and mentally to earn the title Green Beret. He was the Special Forces soldier who, on his first tour in Afghanistan, earned two Army commendation medals for his valor.
Devotion to duty, abiding sense of honor, a profound love of country, these were the virtues that found their ultimate expression when Rob, just 24 years old and on his second tour met his testing point on January 25th, 2008.
Rob and his team were in the remote northwest of Afghanistan. Their mission, clear a valley of insurgents who had been attacking Afghan forces and terrorizing villagers. So when they came across an insurgent compound, Rob and his men made their move, unleashing their fire and calling in air strikes.
Now, they were on foot heading over to that destroyed compound to assess the damage and gather intelligence. It was still dark, just before dawn. It was freezing cold and silent except for the crackle of the radios and the crunch of snow under their boots. Like so many times before, Rob was up front, leading a patrol of two dozen Afghans and Americans on a narrow trail along the valley floor, the steep mountains towering over them.
At first, it was just a single insurgent jumping out from behind a boulder, then the whole valley seemed to explode with gunfire. Within seconds, Rob and his patrol were pinned down with almost no cover, bullets and rocket-propelled grenades raining down from every direction. And when enemy reinforcements poured in, the odds were overwhelming. Rob's small patrol of two dozen men was nearly surrounded by almost 150 insurgents.
With the enemy just feets away, some so close he could see their faces, Rob held his ground. Despite the chaos around him, he radioed back enemy positions. As the only Pashtun speaker on his team, he organized the Afghan soldiers around him. But the incoming fire, in the words of one soldier, was simply astounding. Rob made a decision. He called for his team to fall back, and then he did something extraordinary. Rob moved in the other direction toward the enemy, drawing their guns away from his team and bringing the fire of all those insurgents down upon himself.
The fighting was ferocious. Rob seemed to disappear into clouds of dust and debris, but his team could hear him on the radio still calling the enemy's position and they could hear his weapon still firing as he provided cover for his men.
And then, over the radio, they heard his voice. He had been hit, but still he kept calling out enemy positions. Still he kept firing. Still he kept throwing his grenades. And then they heard it, Rob's weapon fell silent.
This is the story of what one American soldier did for his team, but it's also a story of what they did for him. Two of his teammates braved the bullets and rushed to Rob's aid. In those final moments, they were there at his side, American soldiers there for each other.
The relentless fire forced them back, but they refused to leave their fallen comrade. When reinforcements arrived, these Americans went in again, risking their lives, taking more casualties, determined to bring Rob Miller out of that valley. And finally, after fighting that raged for hours, they did it.
When the dust settled and the smoke cleared, there was no doubt, Rob Miller and his team had struck a major blow against the local insurgency. Five members of his patrol had been wounded, but his team had survived. And one of his teammates surely spoke for all of them when he said of Rob, "I would not be alive today if not for his ultimate sacrifice."
This is the valor that America honors today. To Rob's family and friends, I know that no words can ease the ache in your hearts. But I also know this -- Rob's life and legacy endures.
Rob endures in the pride of his parents.
Phil and Maureen, you raised a remarkable son. Today and in the years to come, may you find some comfort in knowing that Rob gave his life doing what he loved, protecting his friends and defending his country. You gave your oldest son to America, and America is forever in your debt.
Rob endures in the love of his brothers and sisters, all seven of whom join us today.
Your brother has laid down his life so you could live yours in security and freedom. You honor him by living your lives to the fullest, and I suspect Rob would be especially proud of his younger brother Tom, who, inspired by his big brother, is now training to be a Green Beret himself.
Rob endures in the Afghans that he trained and he befriended. In valleys and villages half a world away, they remember him, the American who spoke their language, who respected their culture, and who helped them defend their country.
They welcomed him into their homes and invited him to their weddings. And in a sign of their lasting gratitude, they presented Rob's parents with a beautiful Afghan rug which hangs today in the Miller home, a symbol of the partnership between the people of America and Afghanistan.
Rob Miller endures in the service of his teammates, his brothers in arms who served with him, bled with him, and fought to bring him home. These soldiers embody the spirit that guides our troops in Afghanistan every day -- the courage, the resolve, the relentless focus on their mission to break the momentum of the Taliban insurgency and to build the capacity of Afghans to defend themselves, and to make sure that Afghanistan is never again a safe haven for terrorists who would attack our country.
That is their mission. That is our mission. And that is what we will do.
And I would ask Rob's team who were with him that day to please stand and be recognized.
(APPLAUSE)
Finally, Rob Miller and all those who give their lives in our name endure in each of us. Every American is safer because of their service and every American has a duty to remember and honor their sacrifice. If we do, if we keep their legacy alive, if we keep faith with the freedoms they died to defend, then we can imagine a day decades from now when another child sits down at his desk, ponders the true meaning of heroism, and finds inspiration in the story of a soldier, Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller, and a generation that fought day and night, fighting for what they thought was right.
That is the meaning of this medal, and that is our summons today as a proud and grateful nation. So please join me in welcoming Phil and Maureen Miller for the reading of the citation.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States of America, authorized by an act of Congress March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of the Congress the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.
Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism while serving as the weapons sergeant in Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 3312, Special Operations Task Force 33, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan during combat operations against an armed enemy in Kunar province, Afghanistan, on January 25, 2008.
While conducting a combat reconnaissance patrol through the Gowardesh Valley, Staff Sergeant Miller his small element of U.S. and Afghan National Army soldiers engaged a force of 15 to 20 insurgents occupying prepared fighting positions. Staff Sergeant Miller initiated the assault by engaging the enemy positions with his vehicle's turret-mounted Mk 19 .40 millimeter automatic grenade launcher while simultaneously providing detailed descriptions of the enemy positions to his command, enabling effective, accurate, close air support.
Following the engagement, Staff Sergeant Miller led a small squad forward to conduct a battle damage assessment. As the group neared the small steep narrow valley that the enemy had inhabited, a large, well-coordinated insurgent force initiated the near-ambush, assaulting from elevated positions with ample cover.
Exposed, and with little available cover, the patrol was totally vulnerable to enemy rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons fire. As point man, Staff Sergeant Miller was at the fronts of the patrol, cut off from supporting elements and less than 20 meters from enemy forces. Nonetheless, with total disregard for his own safety, he called for his men to quickly move back to cover positions as he charged the enemy over exposed ground and under overwhelming enemy fire in order to provide protected fire for his team.
While maneuvering to engage the enemy, Staff Sergeant Miller was shot in the upper torso. Ignoring the wound, he continued to push the fight, moving to draw fire from over 100 enemy fighters upon himself.
He then again charged forward through an open area in order to allow his teammates to safely reach cover. After killing at least 10 insurgents, wounding dozens more, and repeatedly exposing himself to withering enemy fire while moving from position to position, Staff Sergeant Miller was mortally wounded by enemy fire.
His extraordinary valor ultimately saved the lives of seven members of his own team and 15 Afghan National Army soldiers. Staff Sergeant Miller's heroism and selflessness, above and beyond the call of duty and at the cost of his own life, are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Join me in prayer, for today's ceremony has given us a vivid glimpse at the true source of our nation's greatness. It's founded in the heart and soul of dedicated men and women of our armed services like Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller, an American soldier. May Rob's legacy of selfless and sacrificial service displayed in battle never be forgotten in the annals of American history. And may as we as citizens of this great land never cease to live our lives worthy of such noble patriots as Rob Miller.
May we remain forever grateful for members of our armed services both past and present whose courage and commitment have kept our nation the land of the free and home of the brave. Now may your divine favor and eternal wisdom rest upon our president and upon all our national leaders as they lead and serve our great country. Bless our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and guardians, especially those who stand in harm's way at this moment. Bless the families who serve alongside them, especially those who have lost loved ones in battle.
And God, finally, we ask your continued blessings on the United States of America. We pray this in your holy name, amen.
OBAMA: Thank you, everyone.
VELSHI: And President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stepping into the crowd now and exchanging some greetings with the family of Staff Sergeant Rob Miller, who was killed in action January 25, 2008, when he was 24 years old, in the middle of a firefight in Afghanistan, in a valley.
He drew fire away from his group, enabling everyone else in the group to survive. He was wounded. He continued firing, continued throwing grenades.
And he has been awarded the Medal of Honor now as a result of his bravery.
We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, I'll continue with some news that is just developing.
Stay with us.
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VELSHI: All right. I want to bring you some news about a plane crash that we're hearing about.
It's a small plane, a Piper 32. This is in Naperville, Illinois. It's a community just outside of Chicago.
We have unconfirmed reports at the moment. We've got some video of this.
It does appear that a plane has gone into the roof of an XSport Fitness Center in Naperville. You're looking at live pictures right now.
We're led to understand there may have been two people on board. We don't know who was in the building at the time.
But there you can see the pictures of the XSport Fitness Center in Naperville, Illinois. A Piper 32, a small plane, appears to have gone into the building. Fire and emergency crews are on scene.
As we get more information about that or injuries related to it, we will bring that to you.
OK. Tomorrow marks the ninth anniversary of the start of the war in Afghanistan. And to this day, the Taliban are far from defeated. There's no end in sight for this war. In fact, for the past several years, the Taliban have actually grown in strength and expanded their control over vast areas of the country.
Maps we have here for you tell a big part of the story. Let me show what you it looked like in 1987.
This red area is what the Taliban controlled. It's described as a heavy Taliban presence.
It included about 54 percent of the country. Thirty-eight percent of the country is an area of -- let's call it substantial Taliban control. The blue area is areas lightly controlled by the Taliban, or maybe controlled by somebody else.
Take a look. This is 2007. Let's move to 2008.
Fifty-four percent has now grown to 72 percent. They've added this year and this area under substantial Taliban control. Twenty-one percent is now under some Taliban influence, and seven percent lightly influenced by the Taliban.
Let's take it ahead to 2009 now. This is the most recent one we've got available.
We've now grown to 80 percent of the country under substantial Taliban control, including this area around here. Seventeen percent with some Taliban influence. Only three percent of the country here, here and here with very light Taliban influence.
Ivan Watson joins us now from Afghanistan, from the capital. He's in Kabul, and he has some new news in.
For the last several days you know we've been reporting to you that there have been attacks on these convoys of fuel and supplies going into Afghanistan because the Pakistanis have blocked that supply route from going in. Ivan has got brand new information on this.
Ivan, what have you got?
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. By our count now, this is going to be the sixth convoy of tanker trucks headed to NATO international forces here in Afghanistan torched just across the border, on the Pakistani side of the border.
Pakistani police telling us that unknown assailants attacked these oil tankers using rockets and machine guns. Further down south along that border, another convoy of trucks was attacked earlier today. The Taliban, on the Pakistani side of the border, claimed responsibility, and one person was killed, while about 20 tanker trucks were torched in that attack -- Ali.
VELSHI: Ivan, what is this all about? Why have these attacks been taking place over the last six days? What is Pakistan doing to deal with this? WATSON: Well, it could be linked to an incident last week where U.S. helicopters crossed the border into Pakistan from Afghanistan -- they say in pursuit of fighters -- and opened fire and killed two Pakistani border guards.
Pakistan was furious at this. We have just gotten within the last hour or so a joint report from Pakistan and NATO forces saying that what they think actually happened was the Pakistani border guards fired warning shots to the U.S. attack helicopters, and they mistook them for fighters, opened fire, and killed two border guards, wounded four more.
Within the last hour, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan has apologized for this incident to the families as well, and saying that both countries, both militaries, need to communicate bet they are the future. That could be part of the issue here. In retaliation, Pakistan shut one of its border crossings to Afghanistan.
VELSHI: OK. The issue, though, is that in doing so, they've made sitting ducks out of these tankers and these supply trucks.
WATSON: Yes. And there's another issue here.
The U.S. has dramatically stepped up CIA drone attacks on suspected Taliban targets on the Pakistani side of the border in those wild border provinces up in the mountains, really carrying out scores of attacks over the course of this year. And in the Taliban statement to CNN, to our Islamabad bureau, a Taliban spokesman said, we're torching those tanker trucks in retaliation for the "innocent Pakistani civilians that you are killing with those drone strikes."
And the Taliban spokesman promised to step up attacks with special service squads, strike squads to target U.S. and NATO interests inside Pakistan. So we'll probably see more of the same in the weeks and months to come -- Ali.
VELSHI: OK, Ivan. We'll discuss this more with you tomorrow, about the ninth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan and where we really stand with this.
Ivan Watson in Kabul with new information about another attack on a NATO convoy.
OK. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, a ticket in 2012? A lot of buzz about that prospect. We'll tell you what Mrs. Clinton has to say about it when we come back.
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(NEWSBREAK)
VELSHI: All right. CNN's Anderson Cooper and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres both using their shows this week to fight bullying in light of recent suicides involving gay children and young adults, or those perceived to be gay.
Last night Ellen made a special appearance on "AC 360" to talk about the kind of behavior that can push someone over the edge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": Do you find it surprising that people still tell gay jokes, that people still use the F-word, that people still use that term, "Oh, that's so gay"? I mean, I think I mentioned this to you. I went to a movie theater this weekend, and in a preview for a new movie, a Vince Vaughan movie, in the preview he uses the term.
And it just shocked me that not only would they would put this in the movie, but that they would put this in the preview, that they didn't even think this might offend some people. And I think it should offend a lot of people.
ELLEN DEGENERES, TALK SHOW HOST: I think it's so like, you know -- it's -- that message has been going on for so long, and no one has stood up to it, that it just is subconscious. It's just subliminal.
And I think that is what is dangerous, because, you know, kids see this. And whether adults are saying something like that, or kids are saying it in the schoolyard, when you hear it, you're just like, well, that's acceptable to say.
And it also means -- it's not a compliment. It doesn't sound like, "That's so gay." It's not like going up, "That's so gay."
So if we changed it, maybe, "That's so gay!" Maybe we change the inflection and we can turn the whole thing around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: That's a good way to put it. She frames things nicely.
Today Anderson is going to make a special guest appearance on Ellen's show, where they'll continue their conversation on bullying and the need for compassion.
And then this Friday, at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, "AC 360" will holds a town hall, "Bullying: No Escape," in conjunction with "People" magazine and the Cartoon Network.
Be sure to tune in.
Also, I'm having a great discussion on my Facebook page, Facebook.com/AliVelshiCNN. Your opinions on bullying and what can be done about it.
OK. Saving lives one bridge at a time in Kenya. I'll introduce you to one of our "Top Ten CNN Heroes of the Year" who helped save countless people from raging crocodile-filled rivers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A lots of things I love about CNN, including a fairly regular paycheck. But one of the things I like a lot about CNN over the last few years is our heroes program. It really is a remarkable opportunity to pick some of the best people in the world for some of the things that they've been doing and not honored elsewhere for.
And our hero today is someone named Harmon Parker. He is helping save lives by building bridges across rivers in Kenya, rivers that otherwise would have -- you know, the absence of those rivers would have meant that people would be drowning.
But bridges do something else. They don't just help people cross rivers. They help people do more with their lives.
It connects people. It allows people to go to school. They allow people to access markets with the goods that they want to sell.
Harmon Parker joins me on the phone right now. He went to Kenya in 1989 as a young missionary with a few masonry skills, and so far he's built 40 bridges.
Harmon, welcome. Thank you for being with us.
HARMON PARKER, CNN HERO: Thank you, Ali. It's great to be on your show. Thanks for calling.
VELSHI: Congratulations on being one of the Top Ten Heroes of the Year.
PARKER: Thank you.
VELSHI: I have to tell you, this is a little counterintuitive. I didn't know that people even did what you did.
I thought governments built bridges. I thought cities built bridges. I didn't know regular people go out and build bridges, or that they'd even know that bridges needed to be built.
Tell me how you got involved in this.
PARKER: Well, it happened very quickly. I had an invitation by a community to help them build a bridge, and they knew that I was a builder. I was doing other type of development work.
And they asked me and a partner if we could do it, and we took it on and said, yes, we'll give it a go. And that was in 1997. And 45 --
VELSHI: Harmon, you still there?
All right. I don't hear Harmon. Well, I hear that little noise that says that we don't have Harmon.
We're going to try to get him back on the line. I figure a guy who can build bridges probably can redial us. So we'll talk to him in just a couple of minutes.
The Top Ten Heroes will be honored on Thanksgiving night, by the way. You've got to see this. If you have not made a habit of watching Heroes or going to the Web site, this is the year to do it. It's our fourth annual all-star tribute.
To vote on your favorite hero, all you do is head over to CNNHeroes.com. I just want to remind you, these are people you have chosen, your votes, your nominations. And now you can vote on who the winner will be. The last full day to vote is November 17th.
We're going to try to get Harmon back on the line, because he's actually got a really, really great story.
Meanwhile, we're following some other breaking weather news. Tornadoes have caused major damage near Flagstaff, Arizona. We've got some pictures. They have just come in, quite phenomenal. I'll show them to you when we come back in just a minute.
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VELSHI: I got Harmon back on the line. Harmon Parker, you're originally from Kentucky, buy you're not talking to me from Kentucky right now. You're in the bush in Kenya, right?
PARKER: I'm in the middle of the bush, and it's amazing that we can even speak at the moment. I'm working on a brand new bridge project for the CNN crew, actually, who will be coming next week to the filming for the tribute show in Los Angeles in November. And very excited about it.
VELSHI: Harmon, for people who don't sort of get it, because you figure bridges are where they're supposed to be and if they isn't one, you go somewhere where there is one -- what does building a bridge do for the communities?
PARKER: Well, number one, it saves lives. The bridge site I'm working at now, four people drowned earlier this year. Poor, marginalized people. And it shouldn't happen. There's thousands and thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of footbridge needed in this earth, in this world right now. And not many people are doing anything to address it and we are. , We're about saving lives, number one. Number two, we want to be able to provide access for education, health and commerce as you said earlier.
VELSHI: Harmon, what is the prize -- either the nomination as a Top Ten Hero or the money associated with it, what has it enabled you to do?
PARKER: It will enable us to become better. It will enable us to introduce new bridge designs. It will enable us to build more bridges for saving lives and transforming communities.
VELSHI: Harmon, we congratulate you for the work that you've done. Unsung for so long. We wish you the best of luck.
Harmon Parker is one of our top ten heroes for the CNN Heroes program this year, joining us from Kenya. Thanks, Harmon.
Okay. Back to our breaking news now. Tornadoes have struck Arizona, northern Arizona. They are still under a tornado watch. Chad, you've been paying attention to this. You talked to the mayor of a county earlier today. Now we have fascinating pictures. There's some real damage that came out of this thing.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Obviously. Yes.
And we always talk about how tornadoes hit mobile homes. It's just that mobile homes -- in this case, trailers - literally, recreational vehicle trailers -- are so light and they're so fragile get more damage than a real house would get, a structural stick-built house would get automatically.
Let's just go to this picture because some of the things I'm even seeing here live coming in at this point in time - this from Black Knight Projections. We had these come in earlier. This is very close to I-40. This was an RV trailer sales area. So, no one in the RVs, not camping. This was in an area along O-40.
And I-40 was shut down for a while. Obviously, a couple of semis turned over. Flipped over. When that happens you can't do anything. Brand new stuff right here. There it is.
VELSHI: And from was a train that -- I don't understand this train thing. There was a freight train going through, and they stopped because they knew there was a tornado coming through.
MYERS: Right.
VELSHI: Then it derails a whole bunch of cars -- 28 cars.
MYERS: Probably -- it takes a long time to stop a train. You just can't say, like, okay, stop. Takes miles and miles. So, they had this thing. They said, OK, stop the train because the tornado is coming, and stopped it right in the right place -- or the wrong place, clearly because the tornado knocked over the train. 28 train cars.
And here's some new video now coming in. I'm going to take a chance and put this up. But there is the train. I can't tell what is off. This could go to black, this could go bars, this could go to something I don't want to show on TV. So, I'm just going to put it over there. You never know sometimes.
We still have tornado warnings coming in. One very close to Sedona --
VELSHI: What is the box differences?
MYERS: Orange box means severe thunderstorm warning, which means you can get wind to 55 miles per hour and hail. When you get a pink box, that means something is spinning. If something is spinning, you can get a tornado. And I can show you here. I made the towns a little bit bigger. The roadway you may not be able to see, but Flagstaff, Arizona here. The first tornado and where the train is over is over here near Belmont, Arizona. And if you draw a big, long line all the way down, you can get to Phoenix and Scottsdale down that way. This is the storm right now spinning. You look for colors going one way, colors going the other way.
I know this is a raw map, but I love showing it because this is what I do all day. People -- what do you do at work? I look for reds next to greens. When reds are next to greens, we know there's spinning. That means wind is going one way in the storm and it's going can the other way not far from it. So, if it's going like this, somthing's spinning. And there could be a tornado there. And that's why that pink box is right --
VELSHI: What time is that watch till?
MYERS: This is warning.
VELSHI: A warning. OK.
MYERS: A warning means it's happening or at least indicated by Doppler radar. That's another 30 minutes. The watch, which means it could happen in any of these storms, may spin at some point - not yet, but may -- until 5:00 p.m. local.
VELSHI: All right. You're staying on top of it very closely. Thank you. We'll let you know anything we get on.
All right. He's already in the Ivy League and should be coasting through his senior year, but today's "Mission Possible" guest is trying to get other kids into college. This is a great story coming up.
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VELSHI: Unless you have been living under a rock, you know college is expensive. And it is totally, totally out of the reach - out of financial reach for most families. For many families. Getting into college can be expensive, too, by the way. Some of the college board prep courses can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, but we know they make a difference. What if you can't afford it?
Well, that doesn't close the achievement gap that exists in this country if people can't get the help they need just to get into college. Check out these statistics. Low-income students score an average 300 points lower on their S.A.T.s than higher income families. Students from families with higher incomes. Thirty-seven percent of low income ends up going to college versus 81 percent of their higher income peers. That may have to do with the testing.
It may have things to do with other aspects of their life, but it is something that Jason Shah found out as a teenager after doing some research. And that led him to try to level the playing field a little bit by launching a free online S.A.T. prep site with one of the best names on the Internet. INeedAPencil.com. There he is. There's the man. Jason is now a senior at Harvard. He joins us from Boston, and he still has the site INeedAPencil.com. Crazy name, Jason, but what does it do? Because you're not giving pencils out.
JASON SHAH, FOUNDER, INEEDAPENCIL.COM : No. No pencils on this Web site. Basically Ineedapencil.com is a completely free online S.A.T. prep program where students can read through 60 lessons in math, reading and writing and take over 800 practice questions across the three subjects in order to prepare for the test.
VELSHI: You have 60 lessons on it, you've got more than 800 practice questions. I was just on it again a few minutes ago, checking it out again. It's got advice. It's got prep -- test prep information, information on applications and admissions. Why did you do this?
SHAH: Well, when I was a junior in high school, I went to visit my sister the month that I took my S.A.T. She was teaching in an urban middle school in west Philly. I had never seen how far some students are -- how far behind their own peers in the suburbs, like I was lucky enough to grow up in.
And so, since I was taking the S.A.T. that month, I thought, what are these students going to have to do when they take the S.A.T. and how are they going to compete with other students with way more resources? And so, that got the ball moving. I started tutoring, and before long I realized I couldn't really scale my tutoring so I had an idea to start a Web site.
VELSHI: OK. Let's think about this. Kids get access to your site. How do they learn about it, and what happens to them when they get to it and they start using it?
SHAH: So, usually we partner with schools and after-school programs to really target the students we're reaching out to. And that's usually how students find out about us. And then once they come to the Web site they'll sign up to make an account, and then they'll read through most of the lessons I mentioned earlier to really understand the material and learn it before they do practice questions.
And then from there, we actually have students transition into the question section where they actually answer simulated S.A.T. Questions. And before and after this entire process, they take a full-length practice S.A.T. And they take one afterward as well to see where they landed.
VELSHI: What's the difference in the score?
SHAH: Usually, we see about a 202-point score increase among our students.
VELSHI: Wow, 202 score point increase because somebody went to your site. Now, do they pay anything to do that?
SHAH: No. It's completely free for students.
VELSHI: How do you pay for it? who pays for this?
SHAH: So, colleges and scholarship programs have partnered with INeedApencil.com to help us promote to students. So, we promote for colleges and scholarship programs and in exchange we're able to support and grow the program.
VELSHI: So, anybody can use this?
SHAH: Technically it's open to anybody to register for just because if we put in provide your tax forms or anything like that, it would jut create more barriers for the students we're trying to help.
VELSHI: Right.
SHAH: But we try to do as much targeting as we possibly can. We follow the analytics on our Web site to make sure we're really hitting the neighborhoods where we're needed the most.
VELSHI: Jason, what a great thing. I mean, you see a problem as a student, and you don't figure you're going to fix it later in life. You fix it right away. This is incredible. Helping students get an improvement, an average improvement of 202 points on their S.A.T. scores by being able to access the free site with questions and test preparation advice and application advice.
Jason, congratulations for that. Great to talk to you.
SHAH: Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.
VELSHI: Jason Shah, the founder of INeedAPencil.com. Really, it's worth checking this site out. What a great advantage to kids who haven't otherwise haven't been able to get test prep because they can't afford it. We've linked Jason's site to my blog over at CNN.com/ali. Go to CNN.com/ali to get more information on INeedaPencil.com.
OK. Rumors are swirling over a possible job swap between Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. Today Hillary Clinton responds to all the talk. Our buddy Ed Henry will bring us the latest on the 2012 ticket. Who's going to be on it for the Democrats? When we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. Let's go to the White House. "The Stakeout" with my good friend Ed Henry. Right there - Ed, I don't want to get too far into this, but I saw you tweeting about somebody else and telling people to watch somebody else's show. I think it's called "What's Up With That" or something?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, I tweeted about Brooke Baldwin coming on after you. What's wrong with that? You tweet with Richard Quest and all kinds of people.
VELSHI: What about Pete Dominick? You're tweeting about Pete Dominick's show?
HENRY: Yes. He has a big show this weekend apparently. Pete's all of a sudden the man of the moment. People are talking about him. He's in D.C. sometimes, and in New York. "Pete on the Street" on JK USA and he's got a weekend show now. So, I'm going to check it out --
VELSHI: Yes, I'm on to your tricks. Tweeting about other people's shows and how you're on other people's shows --
HENRY: I don't know why you're so jealous. You're in a movie. The guy's in a show. It's like a pilot. You're in a movie. You're like a rock star.
VELSHI: I feel better now.
HENRY: So, I don't know what you're worried about.
VELSHI: Thanks, thanks Ed. I was fishing for a compliment in there.
HENRY: You're in that social media movie, right?
VELSHI: No, I'm in "Wall Street."
HENRY: Oh, sorry.
VELSHI: Ed. Hey, listen.
Who's running in 2012? We've got an election in 21 days, and all of a sudden everybody worried about who is running in 2012 on the presidential ticket.
HENRY: Call this Exhibit A and why the Obama administration sometimes can't stand the media. Bob Woodward was on last night. Wasn't CNN's fault. He was on "JK USA" and told John King that he thinks on the table in 2012 is the possibility of Hillary Clinton jumping on the ticket with President Obama kicking Joe Biden out of the way. Sort of kicking him not to the curb but to the State Department if you will as secretary of state.
Now, there's -- Bob Woodward is saying there's some Clinton advisers who think it would be a good idea, she'd be a good vice president and then president maybe in 2016. I think bottom line is we're getting a little ahead of ourselves.
VELSHI: Yes.
HENRY: We're still a few weeks from the 2010 election, let alone 2012, 2016.
And while, sure, on one hand Joe Biden previously said he'd love to be secretary of state just like Rahm Emanuel said he'd like to be mayor of Chicago -- and he ran out of here pretty fast, you'll note. Joe Biden since he said he wanted to be secretary of state is vice president. And I think it would be seen as major step down, no matter how you slice it. I've been talking to various senior Democrats around town today. They say you can't get around the fact it would look like a huge step down for him, even though secretary of state is a big job. He's shown no signs of wanting to leave. So they expect, and Robert Gibbs made clear today, the president thinks one of the best moves was picking Joe Biden, and they plan to have him on the ticket in 2012.
VELSHI: That's going to make for some good "Saturday Night Live" fodder. By the way, I said the election is 21 days. Twenty-seven days away. It's 21 days until 6 days away from the election.
By the way, look, people are leaving all over the place. And I know you have contact with the people leaving. I know you've met Rahm Emanuel, but you're tight with Robert Gibbs. And I've heard rumors he's looking for something.
HENRY: It's funny. Politico reported over the weekend Robert gibbs may be -- some of his friends or allies may be angling to make him the next chairman of the Democratic national Committee. Interesting, Robert tweeted about on Saturday and sort of downplayed it, but never actually denied it. Said he hadn't had conversations about it.
People pressed him again today, fellow reporters, is he going to get in or not? And he again said I haven't had conversations, but didn't really shoot it down. And Peter Baker of "The New York Times" says, look, you shot down the Secretary Clinton for VP thing harder than you shot down the Robert Gibbs for the DNC thing. Even Robert sort of laughed as did the rest of the press corps because it's true. He kind of didn't really knock it down.
So, I think bottom line is Robert Gibbs is keeping his options open right. He's made it clear at some point he wants to step down from the podium. Maybe not right away. And if the DNC came calling, he's very close to this president. He might be a very forceful advocate for him on the outside.
VELSHI: Hey, Ed and Ali on the off hours. Yesterday we were talking about you teaching me how to swim, and first we would buy some board shorts together because as you mentioned, they're more forgiving, I think you said?
Now, I'm thinking maybe we can go sing together. I understand you're a karaoke guy.
HENRY: Yes. I got roped into it for charity tonight here in Washington where I'm going to sing a song, and I picked Tao Cruz's "Dynamite." And I've been practicing.
But I thought this was, like, 20 people, and just a fun little thing for charity. Now, I've got colleagues here in the White House, saying "Hey, I'm going to see you tonight, what song are you singing"? And people are talking trash. Other reporters who are competing. And this has become -- I'm starting to worry. I think I'm coming down with a cold. I might back out of this.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: All right. Well, we can practice. I like karaoke. We'll do that together.
HENRY: It's not going to be on YouTube, right? I'm sure it's not going to be on YouTube.
VELSHI: Someday when there's not a lot of stuff going on on the show, we can do a little karaoke right here.
Ed, good to see you, my friend. Senior White House correspondent Ed henry at the White House on "The Stakeout." We'll check in with him tomorrow.
Midterm elections are in fact, 27 days away not 21. I'm just anxious! That's what it is!
It's time for a CNNpolitics.com update. Right now, CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar, watching developments at the CNNpolitics.com desk in Washington. Hello, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Ali.
And on the ticker today, we're looking at the first CNN poll of polls. Ahead of the midterm election. The battle for the control of Congress. What it shows is that likely supporters favoring Republicans over Democrats. Fifty percent of likely voters said they would pick the Republican; 44 percent they would choose the Democrat. And there's a whole lot of details about this you can check out at CNNpolitics.com.
We're also looking at a couple of polls that specifically talk about the Delaware Senate race. What it shows is that in this seat, of course, vacated by vice president Joe Biden that the Democratic Senate candidate, Chris Coons, well ahead of Republican candidate, Christine O'Donnell. We'll break that down further.
And also, take a look at this. My personal favorite story-- if we can get it going here. Todd Palin, did he turn down "Dancing With the Stars"? On the Ticker right now, a story by our political producer Peter Hamby. It turns out, according to his wife, Sarah Palin, it really sounds like this is what it happened. She let it slip that the show's producers wanted him on the show. And of course, Ali, her daughter Bristol Palin is on the show. She sort of really just squeezed by last night getting to the next round of competition, the fourth rounds.
VELSHI: Everybody is on that show these days. It's like, not even a special thing anymore. I mean, said no to them.
KEILAR: Did you? Really? That would have been great.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: Your dance is what? Your dance is what, Ali?
VELSHI: Yeah, no, I don't have the dance.
KEILAR: The cha-cha?
VELSHI: The cha-cha! We could try that.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Brianna, good to see you.
KEILAR: Good to see you.
VELSHI: Brianna Keilar.
We're 27 days away from the elections. They keep making me say that because I said 21. So now I've got to tell you 20 times that it's 27 days. Twenty-seven days away before the midterm elections.
President Obama is the face of the Democratic party. Is he living up to the billing to carry his party through? On CNN's "PARKER SPITZER," noted film director Oliver Stone talked about how the president has done until now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLIVER STONE, MOVIE DIRECTOR: There was that hope that he would breathe a new spirit and take on the corporations and take on the oligarchies that run America and say, look, new way of doing things. He would have had the people behind him. I think he could have gotten out of Afghanistan and Iraq and been quicker about it and attacked the Wall Street issue faster, so forth.
ELIOT SPITZER, CNN HOST, "PARKER SPITZER": And so I sense more than some minimal disappointment --
STONE: Yes.
SPITZER: -- the sense he pulled his punches as it were.
STONE: That's not surprising. On the other hand, I'm still rooting for him. It's either him or McCain and -- or Palin or bush. You know, I don't think there's a choice.
KATHLEEN PARKER, CNN HOST, "PARKER SPITZER": Could you see making a movie about Sarah Palin? Is she movie fodder? I would she's --
STONE: I think it's a bad idea because I think you're already empowering her. She's a moron in my opinion, and she doesn't say anything, and she's very colorful. But give her more and more power, like Father Coughlin in the 1930s. Or -- she's an Andy Griffith character.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And you can watch "PARKER SPITZER" nightly, 8 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. As the Dow rises and falls, so do emotions all around the world. What is this number 11,000 everybody is talking about on the Dow? What does it mean and where does it stand? What's happening? I'll tackle that question in my "XYZ."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Time now for the "XYZ" of it.
A lot of people asked me today what I think of the Dow again coming close to 11,000. What does that number mean? Is it important? And if not, is it psychologically important?
It is neither financially nor psychologically important. It is simply a round number, and we like that sort of thing. Basically, a big round number. That's an interesting opportunity to examine how we got there. This is not a particularly significant milestone. The Dow has crossed back and forth across the 11,000 line several times. Most recently on May 3rd just before that flash crash you all remember. The Dow closed yesterday at its highest level since May 4th, so a move above 11,000 won't change that comparison.
Of more significance, perhaps the end of this week. October 9th marks the third anniversary of the record highs of both the Dow and the S&P 500. The Dow closed back in 2007 on that day at 14,164. Right now, it is about 10, 952. This is worth noting.
The Dow is up 5 percent for this year so in the unlikely event the market ends where it is right now, investors will have chalked up small gains after some very volatile trading.
Having said, that I'm most intrigued by who these investors are and who they are not. Since the start of the great recession at the end of 2007, millions of small investors have pulled their money out of the market, either by necessity because they needed the money or because of panic. Not only have they not gone back, they are still running for cover.
As I mentioned last hour, more than $30 billion has come out of mutual funds so far this year. So, why are stock prices rising? Because big investors are investing big. Big corporations are making money. They're using that money to buy other companies. And that's a sure sign of faith in the economy.
Now, your investment decisions are your business. But it's my business to give you the facts about the economy and about everything else that affects your world. My team and I do that for you every weekday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
That's it for me. NEWSROOM continues now with Brooke Baldwin.
