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Miners' Rescue May Only be Hours Away; Faking it to Foreclosure; Legalizing Pot; Chilean Miners Rescue to Start Soon; Michelle Obama to Campaign for Key Democratic Races; CNN Equals Politics Update

Aired October 12, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Frank, if I could do it all over again, I'd make it my goal to somehow get to work there one day. Thank you. Congratulations for 25 great years.

And our thanks and gratitude to the folks at the MIT Media Lab who invent things that make our life better. We'll check in with you on a regular basis.

Frank Moss is the executive director of the MIT Media Lab.

To check out all the research be conducted at the Media Lab -- and I really, really encourage you to do this -- go to my blog at CNN.com/Ali. We've also posted the top 25 ideas and products that have been put out by the Media Lab's research over the last 25 years.

OK. It's a brand new hour and a new "Rundown."

Foreclosures are under the microscope right now. The latest disturbing question, did lenders simply make up certain details so they could shortcut the system and foreclose on people more quickly? We'll investigate that.

Plus, the polls say she's got a high approval rating. People just like her. That's why the White House is putting Michelle Obama on the campaign trail.

We're in Chicago ahead of her visit to that city.

And Google is searching for wind. It's launching a massive new energy project aimed at harnessing wind power and meeting the energy needs of nearly two million American homes.

I've got the details, and I'm going to share them with you.

But first, it's our big story. It is exciting that we're actually here.

The first -- the rescue of those 33 miners trapped in northern Chile for more than two months now is about to begin. Just a short while ago, the minister of mines said the first trapped miner could be back above ground around 11:00 p.m. Eastern. He said the rescue operation could get under way three hours before that, around 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Beside me here is a basic model of the capsule that will be used to hoist the miners from the rock cavern where they've survived about a half a mile underground. Let me show you this graphic. This will show you what happened when the cave-in trapped the miners on August 5th.

They were trapped over there on the left where that rock pile was. They tried to get out and they couldn't get out. So they went back down and got themselves into a shelter about the size of a living room. Since then, they've received food, water, medicine and other supplies through a narrow four-inch shaft that was drilled down to them.

Now, if everything goes according to the plan, the capsule like the one that you see here is going to lower a rescuer down to the miners to start the process of bringing them up to the surface one by one. Now, right now officials are testing the capsule, lowering it down the rescue shaft, pulling it back up, making sure it's not getting stuck.

Officials say previous tests were conducted without problems. But the minister of mines stressed that the operation is not going to start until they're sure that everything is working properly.

Now, let me show you what that should look like. Here's an animation showing a miner in that tube, in the capsule called Phoenix, by the way -- it's called Phoenix -- going up to the top.

That ride took about three seconds. In real life it's going to take 10 to 15 minutes to go to the top. Lowering it is going to take about 25 minutes.

Going up, it gets pulled up by winch. It's mechanical. Going down, it's gravity, so it's going to take longer.

Here's a mock-up that our great folks here at CNN have designed. The actual one is about 900 pounds, but these are the proportions. And I just want to just -- let's just move this around so we can get the door here.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And the front is kind of a chicken wire. It's a mesh.

VELSHI: In the real one, right.

MYERS: In the real one. So it doesn't feel quite as claustrophobic if you can look through it.

VELSHI: Right. So the problem though is that they're going into a tunnel which is about three inches bigger than this thing is going to be. This is 22 inches.

They've been giving these guys food to thin them down a little bit. They've been giving them physical activities because they don't want them too big as they get in. Chad, why did it have to be this narrow? Close this up and let's see what it feels like.

MYERS: Well, the entire borehole was 28 inches around. And so they wanted this thing to have wheels on the outside for a smooth ride up because it is going to be crooked.

VELSHI: It's going to be -- but it's not going straight. It's going to at an angle.

MYERS: It's going to be 11 degrees, catywampus.

VELSHI: Why didn't they just drill a bigger hole? What was the 28 inches thing? Is that because that's how big the drill bits are?

MYERS: That's how big the drill bits are. This was the 130. You can go and you can take a look at -- you can Google the size.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: They traded off the fact that they can drill this hole fast with this size a bit. A bigger thing would have had more danger involved, longer drill time.

MYERS: Yes. Already the second one down. The first one down was only about a foot. They couldn't do anything with that one, but that was the guide -- to me, I find this 3,000 -- what, 2,500 feet down, they found the room with the first bit, without missing it the first time.

VELSHI: Yes.

MYERS: And then they used that as a guide to get this --

VELSHI: To open it up.

MYERS: Now, of course they could probably get a bigger, larger bit and make it 30, but what's the point?

VELSHI: It could take longer.

MYERS: This could take another two months.

VELSHI: This will get these guys out.

Now, listen, here's what happens when the operations begin. One rescuer gets into this thing at the surface and goes down. Then he gets off, a miner gets inside, and it's pulled up.

This happens two more times. So there will be three rescuers -- look, this is a fluid situation. It keeps changing. But at this point there will be three rescuers down there, the three miners will have gone up, and then they start moving the miners up one at a time.

The first miner to go up is going to be the most technically experienced guy so that if this thing gets stuck in between, he knows enough about this, he's going to try and do that. They're going to send a few of the experts up.

MYERS: Yes.

VELSHI: After that, though, it starts to become the weaker in the group.

MYERS: There are men with diabetes, there are men with other problems. There are men with skin infections.

It has been a warm, damp -- and it's not good for your skin to never see the sunshine. Obviously, Vitamin D deficiencies. There are other things that Dr. Gupta has talked about, where these men -- they're not as physically strong as they were.

VELSHI: Sure. So they're the guys who are going up. Other than the technical smart guy, the first couple of guys, then they're sending these guys up so they can get treatment fast.

MYERS: Yes. And then could you imagine being the last guy out? I mean, OK, I know a captain goes down with the ship and all that, and then he's the last guy to get off the boat. But let me tell you -- and this is going to be the guy, we think -- there has been some leaks from the family members -- the man who took over and said -- and everybody said, you're in charge. He's --

VELSHI: So he's the captain.

MYERS: He's the last one out.

VELSHI: Now, these guys are said to be in good shape, but considering what they've been through, they've received CDs of their favorite music, photos, videos of their loved ones. They've had clean clothes.

Take a look at this green outfit that they're going to be wearing. It's a coverall. This, by the way, could take up to 48 hours from the time it starts.

They're going to be wearing these green overalls embroidered with their names. And that's what they're going to look like.

The outfits are made of a material to resist moisture. They're going to wear a special belt that will monitor their vital signs. They'll also have a communication -- way of communicating -- they'll have a headset basically.

MYERS: Correct. It goes up one mile per hour. And in emergencies, because they will be monitoring all the blood pressure and everything -- at least the heart rate and breathing. They will be monitoring that. If it has to, it can go up three miles per hour, but that's still a long ride up.

VELSHI: Hey, I want to show you -- we just got a signal from the government of Chile now as preparations for this rescue begin. Let's put it up here and show our viewers what we're looking at.

That will come up in a second. Our control room is working on putting that up.

There we go. There's the picture.

This is the official picture now. They are going to monitor, as you said earlier -- we're not going to have free access with hundreds of television crews crowding around the hole. The government is going to decide what we're seeing and how we're seeing it. We don't know what that is going to be.

I don't have bad words for the Chilean government right now. I think they've handled the situation very well.

MYERS: Yes, absolutely. And a reunion with the family, a private time.

VELSHI: Now, what we have been hearing -- and again, it just keeps changing, but we were told that that signal that we're looking at right here would go up about seven hours before the rescue is set to begin. So -- which means we're moving ahead of schedule at the moment.

They continue to caution us to say things could go wrong. Things haven't gone wrong, which is great, other than that mine collapse.

Six hours before it starts, miners are going to switch to a diet of just liquids and vitamins and minerals. Doctors are trying to mitigate the feelings of dizziness that they're going to have.

Now, let's just explain this for a second. This isn't going up like this, as you said. It's going up like that.

MYERS: On its side, bouncing along on its side in a non-perfect hole.

VELSHI: Right. So it's going to be jarring.

MYERS: They did not case it all the way down.

VELSHI: Right. They cased 250 feet.

MYERS: Right. They didn't metal all the way down.

They though this could take 10 days. Plus, at some point there is a little kink. There's a kink in where the thing was drilling, and so they didn't think that they could get that casing in properly.

They didn't want to jam the hole. Hey, we just made the hole. Let's not jam it up. So they stopped.

VELSHI: Right. OK.

So, this thing is going to rotate. The guys are going to get dizzy. They're giving them medication for that. They're giving them anxiety medication.

They've all been evaluated. So hopefully this is all going to work smoothly.

We'll be on top of this. Chad will be on top of this.

Stay with us.

I am going to be glued to it. I am going to be watching these guys get out. I'm going to be cheering for every last one of them. And I would be surprised if I had dry eyes when I watch it happen.

Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: Sure.

VELSHI: It's nice to have a good story to report on every now and then.

OK. Faking documents to speed up the foreclosure process. Believe it or not, in a CNN exclusive, Allan Chernoff tracks down the banks allegedly breaking the law to put people on the street faster.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Foreclosures have already been under great scrutiny. Several large lenders have frozen foreclosures or foreclosure sales, the sales of the home on which they foreclosed while they sort this all out.

Now a CNN exclusive reveals another problem with the mortgage industry's foreclosure process. Not only are the signatures on legal documents in question, in many cases some of the details in those documents have allegedly been made up to kick people out of their homes faster.

CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff is investigating.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPLIQUE D'AMELIO, FIGHTING FORECLOSURE: Oh, man.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Replique D'Amelio bought her dream home in Wappingers Falls, New York four years ago. Hard times hit, and she fell into default on her mortgage.

This summer, D'Amelio declared bankruptcy, hoping to head off foreclosure.

CHERNOFF (on camera): How important is it to you to hold onto this home?

D'AMELIO: Outside of my children and my family, there's nothing more important.

CHERNOFF (voice-over): The threat of a foreclosure looms from CitiMortgage, a division of Citigroup. Even though the company doesn't own Replique D'Amelio's mortgage, Fannie Mae owns it, along with millions of other home loans. Yet Fannie Mae's name is nowhere to be found on the assignment of (ph) mortgage document CitiMortgage produced in the D'Amelio bankruptcy case. Instead, the document states the mortgage was assigned to CitiMortgage. D'Amelio's lawyer says the bankers are not following proper legal procedure.

LINDA TIRELLI, ATTORNEY FOR D'AMELIO: This is an improper assignment of mortgage that's meant to shortcut the system. It's less about the truth and more about how fast can we get this property foreclosed on?

D'AMELIO: What did you get wrong?

CHERNOFF: CitiMortgage, which collected D'Amelio's monthly payments as the servicer of the loan, says there's no foul play here. It's normal procedure. And Fannie Mae agrees, pointing out this is how it operates all the time.

CHERNOFF (on camera): In fact, CitiMortgage owned the D'Amelio loan very briefly, for only a couple of months back in 2006. The original lender, Home Loan Center, sold the mortgage to CitiMortgage on November 3rd, 2006, the very day Replique D'Amelio borrowed the money. Less than two months later, CitiMortgage turned around and sold that loan as an investment to Fannie Mae on January 1st, 2007.

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Yet the assignment of mortgage document stating CitiMortgage still owned D'Amelio's loan is dated June 24th, 2010. That information on the document comes from a Virginia company owned by CitiMortgage, Fannie Mae, and other big mortgage players - MERS, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems.

When banks sell mortgages, they use MERS as an electronic repository to keep track of the real owners. MERS has 64 million loans in its database. If a bank wants to foreclose, it simply turns to MERS for the necessary documentation, much faster and cheaper than retrieving local title records.

But the MERS papers, like those for Replique D'Amelio's home, sometimes don't reflect the true status of the mortgage.

PAULA A. FRANZESE, SETON HALL REAL ESTATE LAW PROFESSOR: We're seeing forgeries. We're seeing back datings. We're seeing post datings. Largely because lenders are scrambling to come up with a chain of title that MERS was ill-equipped from its inception to provide.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: And Allan joins us now from New York -- Allan.

CHERNOFF: That's right, Ali.

Well, MERS does tell us that they're providing clarity, transparency, efficiency to the home finance systems. And they say they're being very, very helpful. And indeed, CitiMortgage says it relies on the MERS database here in order to take action against people who are in default. But as we point out, lawyers for homeowners increasingly are attacking the way that MERS does business.

VELSHI: The woman you just spoke to in that story says MERS was ill-equipped from the beginning to handle this. Why is that? Because we didn't expect -- it wasn't expecting to a repository for all of these foreclosures?

CHERNOFF: What they're saying is that MERS serves as an electronic database. This allowed the banks to very rapidly trade mortgages. They all become securitized. Eventually, Fannie Mae will buy into them.

So they want to be able to do that without going through the painstaking effort of visiting each county office, filling out the forms, paying the county fee, et cetera, et cetera. They just -- as soon as the mortgage is made, they throw it into the black box that is MERS, and then when they need a document at the time of foreclosure or sale, then they have the document produced. And the critics are saying, hey, the mortgage system never got legislative authority to do that.

VELSHI: Interesting story. All right.

Allan, thanks very much.

Allan Chernoff in New York.

Hey, could legalizing and taxing marijuana help pull California out of its budget crisis, or could it open the door to more crime, greater addiction, and safety issues?

We're talking politics, money and marijuana, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Three weeks to Election Day, 21 days. One of the hottest issues on any state ballot is California's Proposition 19. It would legalize marijuana for recreational use.

Now, legal sales of marijuana for medical use are already a proven moneymaker in the state. Supporters say recreational sales would only send state tax revenues higher.

CNN's Ted Rowlands reports from Oakland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you looking for something particular?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Oakland's Harborside Medical Marijuana Dispensary is the largest in California, grossing more than $21 million in sales last year. STEVE DEANGELO, HARBORSIDE HEALTH CENTER: Our total tax payments last year were close to $3 million. That would include California sales tax, California income tax, U.S. federal income tax, and the city of Oakland cannabis tax.

ROWLANDS: The city of Oakland has completely embraced the sale of medical marijuana, with few in any problems according to officials.

MCPHERSON: Because of our partnership with them, and trying to work with them instead of fighting them and looking at it, we look at this as an opportunity not only for people who had medical problems and a need, but also an industry that has something to offer to us, not only financially but to our community in providing jobs.

ROWLANDS (on camera): Last year, the city of Oakland made $60,000 in just permits for the four dispensaries. They also have a 1.8 percent tax.

Add to that regular sales tax, and the city pulled in about $800,000 in revenue over the sale of medical marijuana. But when you consider the overall budget in the city of Oakland is more than $400 million, it's not a lot of money.

BEAU KILMER, RAND DRUG POLICY RESEARCH CTR: When you buy cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine or marijuana, part of what you're doing is compensating the drug dealer and everyone else along the supply chain for their risk of arrest and risk of incarceration. That goes away with legalization. We calculated that after legalization, we would expect the pre-tax price to drop by more than 80 percent.

ROWLANDS (voice-over): The city of Oakland still thinks it will make good money.

MCPHERSON: The medicinal side right now is about 20 percent of the total business out there. If the adult usage is 80 percent of that, that's about $80 million. So there's potential for significant financial growth for the city and for this community.

ARTURO SANCHEZ, SPECIAL BUSINESS PERMIT DIVISION: I do think that we have the right pieces in place to allow us to be, you know, a barrier breaking city. We're in the poll (ph) position is what I could say. We're ahead of the pack.

ROWLANDS: While nobody knows what legalizing pot will do to California, it's a good bet that if it's legal, it will be for sale in Oakland.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Oakland, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: OK. Google has a new project, bringing power to the East Coast through wind. And it's huge. We're going "Off the Radar" to tell you about it on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: The whole world is watching those miners who are about to get rescued in about five-and-a-half hours. Rescuers are likely to start pulling those Chilean miners from the underground chamber they have lived in for more than two months.

We have the latest for you right now -- well, right after a break. I'll bring you the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. Time now for "Globe Trekking." Our destination, northern Chile.

After more than two-and-a-half months being trapped a half a mile underground, those 33 miners might be just a few hours away from the beginning of their rescue.

Take a look at this feed that the Chilean government has provided for us. This is it right here. This is going to be their official feed because they don't want everybody crowding all around the site during this rescue.

Karl Penhaul is at the mine site.

Karl, we were saying they're a few hours from the likely beginning of the rescue. That could mean what, 36, 48 hours from the completion of this rescue? This thing is going to take time.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is going to take time. Incidentally, that signal that you just pointed out to viewers, the government said they would put that up six hours before the rescue started. So, looking at that, we could be looking at a rescue starting about 9:30 local time.

But it is going to be a process. Each miner will take about one hour in total to get the cage down to him, get him in the cage and get him out. We could be talking about 33 hours for the whole process, but the mines minister said that he believes the first miner will be back here on the surface by midnight tonight -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. Karl, at this point things have gone very well for them. The plan is that they are going to bring out the first -- they're going to send some rescuers down. So we're going to see about three rescuers go down as they're bringing people up?

PENHAUL: They've been changing the numbers around. The latest they've told us is they're going to send five rescuers down. That will include at least two paramedics. It will be them who then go down, give the miners a medical check, and see which of the 33 comes up first, Ali.

VELSHI: And those determinations will be made in large part -- they want to after they get sort of people with some technical expertise up to make sure this thing doesn't get stuck halfway up, they're going to start sending up the man most likely in need of medical attention up first?

PENHAUL: Yes. Well, no. Absolutely. They're going to send up -- the first five are going to be the fittest men that also have technical knowledge, giving them feedback on how this Phoenix rescue capsule is working, and also giving them feedback on any problems down in the mine.

Then will come another group of ten that we know have got minor medical problems, some more serious than others. One has diabetes. One has silocosis, or black lung. Others have problem with high blood pressure or fungal infections. And then after that, the fittest of the fit will come.

My money is on the last man out of that hole being Louis Urzua, the shift foreman at the time. He likens his role to captain on a sinking ship. He wants to make sure his men are out of the hole.

But something I was going to mention to you in terms of, you know, once the miners are out here, of course, the world is expecting to hear from them. But in the last few moments, I've seen a letter from one of the miners to his family member, and he says very firmly that those 33 miners have taken a vow of silence. They will never go fully into the details of what went on in that mine, Ali. I'm not sure what it's about. But sounds a little bit sinister to me.

VELSHI: Does sound - well, maybe they just haven't seen the offers that they're going to get for the movie or the book rights or something.

Look, once they're out, we'll have lots of time to debate what they're going to do, what they're going to say, and what they're going to talk about. Does sound interesting, though. Karl, what a great thing it's going to be for you to be witnessing this as it happens. What a great ending to such a frightening story.

Karl Penhaul in northern Chile. We will stay with this story until the very end.

OK, I'm going to talk to you about -- I'm going to introduce you to a mayor with unique insight and innovative idea to reach out to immigrants in her community. We'll meet her next. It's today's "Mission Possible."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Let me bring you up to speed on some of the top stories we're following here at CNN.

The Obama administration is moving toward lifting its moratorium on deepwater oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The moratorium was imposed after the Gulf Coast oil spill. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he's decided that deepwater drilling should resume, but details have to be worked out before the ban is officially lifted.

In Hungary, crews are racing to complete three new emergency dams before toxic red sludge begins flowing again. A wall surrounding an industrial reservoir is failing. A leak last week killed eight people. Officials say it's only a matter of time before another leak opens up.

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the USS Cole attack. Seventeen sailors died when a suicide bomber attacked the USS Cole destroyer as it refueled in Yemen. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack, which came about one year before the 9/11 attacks. A memorial ceremony was conducted this morning at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia.

OK. It's time for "Mission Possible." Everyday we do this. We try to highlight an innovative person or idea making a difference in the world, doing something that you could do in your community.

Today's guest is trying to make a difference in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Don't know if you're familiar with Fitchburg. It's in the north central part of the state, closer to the New Hampshire border than to Boston. It's an old mill town. The population, about 41,000 these days. And at least 10 percent of resident are foreign bone -- born. Language other than English is spoken in more than a quarter of all the city's households, and the city's diversity both enriches it and costs it.

Many immigrants feel disconnected from their community. They avoid the mechanisms of government. They're not counted in the census. And that costs Fitchburg federal funds. They don't know or anticipate -- they don't know or participate in services that save the city money. For instance, recycling programs.

So, Fitchburg's mayor, Lisa Wong joins us. She recently launched an all-volunteer program that aims to engage some of these folks in civic life.

Mayor Wong, thank you for joining us. You have recruited some deputy mayors. I guess that's the best way to put what you've done. Tell us viewers what you have done differently in Fitchburg.

LISA WONG, MAYOR, FITCHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS: Sure. Well, you had some statistics, and I know those statistics have changed. The 2000 census was really what created a sense of urgency. Knowing that the figures that you stated have probably doubled in the last ten years, we wanted to make sure we had a city government that was ready for the population that we serve.

So, we came up with a program that was essentially invitation for people to join hands with city government and knew we couldn't do it as a formal program. We couldn't just hang up a sign and tell people to come into city hall. We need to create trust. In order to create trust in city government, we need to create mayors on the street. People who are living in the neighborhoods who know what's happening 24/7, and invite them to talk to us about a pothole or talk to us about more serious issues such as the lack of ESL classes available to families.

So, the program is really just an invitation, and through that it really has grown because the demand is there.

VELSHI: So, how do you become -- what do you become the mayor of? I mean, is that kind of like being your street representative or block representative? What does this involve?

WONG: Well, being the mayor of a city, that's obviously the most visible government official. And I basically say that there are three main things that I have. And you can have that power too, so if you can trust what I do and I can trust what you do. That's that I have information, and if I can share that information, then people can feel empowered.

I also have access. I have access to city departments, city resources, and I invite people to have access to that, too. And a third piece is action. And whatever action compels you. Each mayor might come in with different opportunities, different issues, different things that they feel are important, and so do individual representative of their street or household or neighborhoods. We invite them to do the same.

VELSHI: OK. The issue -- and the reason why this is interesting to us is because what we're going through on a national level is a remarkable increase in distrust or mistrust of government. The fact is, people don't trust their governments. They don't go out, even in municipal elections, where things that happen in municipal government affect people so directly, voter turnout is very low.

Are you finding some degree of new engagement from your citizens as a result of this program?

WONG: We are. Actually, we see some numbers of voter turnout that are higher for municipal elections where there is no state or federal races on the ticket than we do for, let's say, the gubernatorial election that's coming up. Or even a presidential election.

VELSHI: Wow.

WONG: I think that highlights the amount of grassroot work that we have done. And you have to invite people. I mean, they want to see you eye to eye. They want to shake your hand. They want to know that you're there, and you're telling them in person that you're inviting them to be a part of city government --

VELSHI: What a great idea.

WONG: And elections only come -- elections come every year. So we said there's 364 other days. How do we invite people 365 days of the year? And you know what? It could be inviting them to talk about a street light or a pothole or something that's happening in their school. And that then gets the trust in government such that they'll come out and they'll vote.

VELSHI: What a great idea. Mayor Lisa Wong, thank you very much for joining us. Lisa Wong is the mayor of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. If you want to find out more about Fitchburg or its mayor program, we've got some links on my blog, CNN.com/ali.

All right. When we come back, he's our mayor of the White House. White House correspondent -- senior White House correspondent Ed Henry. He's not there, though, today. He's in Chicago because the city is expecting a very special guest. "The Stakeout" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Our senior White House correspondent joins us every day at this time to talk about what's really going on with politics. What's really going on at the White House. Today, as you can see he is not at the White House. He is in Chicago, which means somebody must be rolling into town, someone important.

Hello, Ed. Other than you. I mean, clearly you're already there.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, now that I've come into town.

But no, the first lady Michelle Obama will be here tomorrow, coming home if you have will. It's kind of a big deal because this is her launching her first real sustained campaign swing here. As you've been noting, three weeks out from the critical midterm elections. She is going to be here campaigning and fundraising for Alexi Giannoulias, for example, who is the Democrat running in the open Senate seat, her husband's old Senate seat. Democrats very worried they might lose that and it would be pretty bad symbolically to lose Barack Obama's former Senate seat.

She'll also be in Wisconsin tomorrow, fighting for Russ Feingold, another Democratic candidate. An incumbent who is in deep trouble in Wisconsin. And then on to Colorado. She'll eventually in the next few weeks be going to California for Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray in Washington state.

So, a lot of female candidates because of her appeal with female voters. But this is a big deal. It's her first real foray out there in the rough-and-tumble world of campaigning.

VELSHI: Ed, let's talk a little about what she's like as a campaigner. She's been a reluctant campaigner. She's popular. She's right now more popular than the president, but she's been a reluctant campaigner in the past.

HENRY: You're right. She's the most popular Obama, if you will. Our polling has her at about 65 percent approval rating; her husband in the mid 40s depending on which poll you look at. In part, look, I saw the same thing play out when I was covering then-President Bush and went on the road in 2006 with first lady Laura Bush. She was 20, 25 points above her husband.

And what she told me at the time was, look, everyone beats up on George about this, but the fact of the matter is he's got all the responsibility. I've got these high approval ratings because people look at the first lady as this very popular official --

VELSHI: As somebody who largely stays out of controversial politics. Right? Whenever the first lady is on something it's getting kids to eat better and grow vegetables and read more books. All the stuff that we can all agree on. She has largely stayed out of controversy.

HENRY: You are right. And that's why there's a risk here politically that as she gets down into the muckiness a little bit of politics, the hand-to-hand combat, if you will, that maybe her numbers will come down. Frankly, I don't think she cares if her numbers come down a little bit because she's going to come out here because she wants to fight for her husband and his agenda.

And by the way, people close to her say she's not going to be into the hand-to-hand combat. She's not going to be delivering partisan speeches. She's going to be, obviously as Laura Bush was, a very positive message, defending her husband, no doubt. But still talking about the initiatives you mentioned like healthy eating. She's had a big initiative on standing up for military families, both spouses and children who have had fathers, mothers who have been in the battlefield, Iraq and Afghanistan, for a long time.

But as you mentioned, she's been reluctant before. 2004 Senate campaign here, she was not into the campaigning. In 2008 early on, she wasn't. She eventually got there. And she's getting in now, and people close to her say that's largely for family. Not that she didn't necessarily want to help out her husband, but let's remember they still have two small daughters. Back in the Senate campaign, they were especially young. She's been trying to find that balance. And the last thing she's wanted to do previously was be out on the campaign trail full-time and leave her kids back here in Chicago when it was the Senate and a presidential run.

Now they're in the White House. Her mom is there helping out. Nevertheless, her people say that she'll only go out for basically a day, day and a half, only be out one night away from her kids because even though there's support structure there the last thing she wants to do is be campaigning four or five days. That whole balance that she's worked hard for would be thrown out of whack.

VELSHI: Hey, Ed, I'm sad you're not at the White House because I interviewed a young woman, 17-year-old girl a little earlier who must be meeting with the president now. She won an entrepreneurship contest because she started her own little business. And the business was that she made organic vegan cookies. And I thought who better than you to have tried an organic vegan cookie? She says they're quite tasty.

HENRY: I would love to try a vegan cookie. I thought you were about to say she grew green peppers. I remember the segment on "Mission Possible" several weeks ago that I followed a girl that grew, like, a 40-pound bell pepper. I thought that was a great segment, by the way. (CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: It was 75 pound. It was a cabbage. It was a cabbage. By the way --

HENRY: By the way, I was here --

VELSHI: Go ahead.

HENRY: I was in Chicago a couple weeks ago, and Don Lemon was filling in for you. And we were talking about what a great city this is.

VELSHI: It is great.

HENRY: And people here ask about you when they see me. They say "How's Ali?". Apparently you're a big visitor here to Chicago.

VELSHI: I love Chicago. I love Chicago. I go for my birthday every year.

HENRY: When is your birthday?

VELSHI: Funny you should ask. October 29th. Thanks for asking.

HENRY: Oh, all right! I just wanted to make sure. It's coming up right before the election. We'll have to make sure that's a special day.

VELSHI: We'll make that a special "Stakeout."

Ed, good to see you. Have one in one of my favorite cities in the entire world, and we'll check in with you tomorrow. Ed Henry on "The Stakeout." This is how dedicated he is. It doesn't even matter where he is. He joins us for "The Stakeout" from Chicago. He's done this from all over the world, by the way.

Twenty-one days left until these midterm elections. That's what we're talking about. So, it's time for a look at the latest campaign developments, including a brand-new CNN poll. CNN senior political editor Mark Preston and deputy political director Paul Steinhauser, two of our closest friends and part of The Best Political Team on television here now.

Guys, what's the latest?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, Ali, let's take it away. You and Ed were talking about the first lady, Michelle Obama. Let's talk about Barack Obama. We got brand-new poll numbers out this afternoon from CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national survey.

Check this out. It's interesting because we asked do you think that president Barack Obama has the personal qualities a president should have? And you see right here a majority 59 percent say yes, he does. Only 4 in 10 say no. That's a pretty positive number for the president.

But let's go to the next board because this is really fascinating. We also asked do you agree with Obama on the issues that matter to you the most? Forty-two percent say yes they agree, 55 percent no. That's the number that could hurt.

Now, why does it matter? Because wait, Ali, Barack Obama is not on the ballot November 2nd. Here's why. As you know, the Republicans are trying to make these elections a referendum on Barack Obama and they're trying to tie Democrats in Congress to the president. So, these numbers could be troubling for Democrats as they run for re- election.

That's what I've got. Mr. Preston, to you.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Let's talk about a good number for a Democrat down in Florida. Alex Sink, Rick Scott. They are running for governor. Rick Scott, of course, is the Republican. He's the health care executive who spent a lot of money to win that nomination, beat back the Republican establishment candidate. Alex Sink is the chief financial officer of the state. She is the Democrat.

Well, polling had showed that Sink was losing to Scott, except until today. This new poll from Quinnipiac University shows that it is a dead heat now, Ali. Just about two weeks ago, Scott this a six- point lead on Alex Sink.

And where is she getting these votes, Ali? She's getting them from independent voters. We talk over and over again about the midterm elections. These elections are won by which party can get the independents to support them. Democrats will go for Democrats, Republicans for Republicans. It's the independent voters. So, good news for the Democrats. Good news for Alex Sink, at least 21 days before the election day. But of course, a lot can happen, Ali. Paul?

STEINHAUSER: Ali, this one is brand new for you. In fact, we haven't even finished writing it for the CNN Political Ticker. So, you get it first.

Let's talk about the Tea Party Express. On Monday, they start up their fourth cross country tour. Of course, they'll be attacking and targeting Democrats and trying to support Republican candidates. But the Tea Party organization is telling us today that they are also now going to add Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts to their target list. They're going to have a rally, not in his district but nearby in Worcester, Massachusetts, on November 1st, and say they'll target Frank.

We reached out. I spoke to Frank's spokesman. And they're going to get back to us, and I'm sure we'll get a colorful response from Barney Frank. That's what we have.

VELSHI: Guys, you are fantastic as always. You keep it real, keep it interesting. Mark and Paul, good to see you.

Hey, the next political update comes in about one hour right here on CNN, the home of The Best Political Team on Television.

Straight ahead, I've got "Wordplay." It started as the base, but it became so much more. I'll tell you what I'm talking about after this very quick break.

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VELSHI: Time now for "Wordplay." Today marks ten years since the deadliest al Qaeda attack on American interests before 9/11.

So, our term today is al Qaeda. Literally translated from Arabic, al Qaeda means the base. It was formed by Osama bin Laden between 1988 and '89 to fight the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Of course, it became a lot more than that.

Among the attacks that cemented al Qaeda as America's deadliest terrorist foe was the suicide bombing of the USS Cole destroyer in Yemen on October 12th, 2000. Ten years ago. Seventeen American sailors were killed.

Again, this was the deadliest al Qaeda attack on U.S. interests until September 11, 2001. The attack that changed America forever. Nineteen al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four planes, crashing two of them into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and another into a Pennsylvania field, killing nearly 3,000 people. Al Qaeda was blamed just days after the attack. Osama bin Laden became the world's most wanted man, and the U.S. launched the war on terror starting with the invasion of Afghanistan.

OK. Remember those tough new tarmac delay rules that went into effect in this year? Boy, are they having an impact. Being the frequent flier I am, I have a lot more to say about it in my "XYZ," coming up.

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VELSHI: Time now for the "XYZ" of it.

Anyone who watches this show knows I'm a frequent flier, a very frequent flier. Sometimes I spend more time in airports and on airplanes than I spend with my family. And I have this weird relationship with the nation's airlines, especially with their increased fees and excuses for poor service.

You also know I give credit where credit is due, and today is due. It looks like the tarmac delay rules imposed in April are having an effect. The U.S. Department of Transportation says there was only one delay that topped three hours in the entire month of August. Now, this is the tarmac delay. Last year, 66 flights sat on the runway or tarmac for at least three hours in August. What a difference!

Now, you might recall when the government was about to impose these rules and the hefty fines that go with them, the airlines protested. They said the rules would lead to an overabundance of caution on their part, leading them to cancel flights if there was any chance of them being off schedule. Back then I said enough with the excuses. An airline's top priority is get us there safely and at least relatively on time. And considering the latest delay numbers, I'm glad I said it, and I'm glad the airlines buckled down and focused on their priority.

By the way, guess what? According to the Department of Transportation, the new rules have had no impact on cancellation rates in August with the rate of one percent unchanged from last year. Hats off to you hard working men and women of the airlines at all levels, from baggage handlers to ticket counter workers to flight attendants to pilots to administrators. This is proof that you can focus on efficient business and on the bottom line and on your consumers. The results truly pay off.

Airlines, you are running better. Passengers, you're running on time. Can anybody say win/win?

That's my "XYZ." NEWSROOM continues with Brooke Baldwin.