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Interview With Fort Worth Councilman Joel Burns About Bullying; XYZ: Serving Proudly, Serving Openly

Aired October 15, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: As we start our second hour, we're going to do something very special and very different. We're also keeping you up to date on the latest headlines.

We're going to get to the bottom line of this foreclosure freeze. If your home is being foreclosed on, this freeze is only temporary relief. Chances are, you're still going to lose your home. We'll tell you why.

Plus, it has been one of the deadliest weeks for coalition forces in Afghanistan in a month and a half. The Taliban are reportedly getting stronger and gaining more recruits. So why is a top general saying we're on the right track? And why are we reportedly reaching out to the enemy?

We'll go "Globe Trekking" and tell you.

And it is one of the most high-stake races of the upcoming midterm elections, Nevada's Senate race. If Harry Reid lose, he would be the first sitting Senate majority leader to lose an election in more than half a century.

We'll look ahead and look back on last night's debate between Reid and his rival, Sharron Angle.

Well, politics is important to CNN because, like it or not, politics is important to you. We like to say here that "CNN Equals Politics," but to many people, politics equals something less than noble.

Almost every day, especially in election years, you can tune in or log on and here acrimony, sanctimony, personal attack and counterattack. And almost every day, real problems that cry out for honest attention are ignored.

Not today. Today on this program we're showing you a side of politics that you may have forgotten still exists.

A public official speaking from the heart about a matter of life and death, truly a matter of life and death. You may have heard about this on the Internet. It's gone viral. You may have seen clips on a newscast, but I promise you, what I'm going to bring you in the next 20 minutes, you're not likely to see anywhere else. You won't see it anywhere else. It's going to take me about 20 minutes to get through it, and that's more time than some of you have. But stick with me. I ask you to do that, because what you'll hear are words that may change your life and they may save a life.

You'll meet Joel Burns shortly, a city councilman in Fort Worth, Texas, in his first network TV interview. And you'll hear the incredibly personal and courageous remarks that he made to his fellow council members and to the public on Tuesday night.

He spoke out on a subject that hits a lot of nerves and stirs up debates among generally well-meaning people. But it all comes down to the right of children and teenagers not to be persecuted, not to be beaten up and driven to suicide merely for being who they are.

Now, some of the language you're about to here is coarser than we ordinarily bring you in this broadcast, but we've made a decision to air these remarks unedited. We'll pause for a break about halfway through. It's long, and you need to digest it.

Afterward, Joel will tell us exclusively about his life and his cause, a cause that you may see differently after you hear his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOEL BURNS, FORT WORTH, TEXAS, COUNCILMAN: Tonight, I ask my colleagues' indulgence in allowing me to use my announcement time to talk briefly about another issue that pulls at my heart.

Ron, would go ahead and run the -- the parents of Asher Brown, who you can see above, complained to school officials in the Cypress- Fairbanks ISD, outside of Houston, that their son was being bully and harassed in school. The bullies called him "faggot" and "queer." They shoved him. They punched him.

And in spite of his parents' calls to counselors and principals, the harassment, intimidation and threats continued. For years, it continued.

A couple of weeks ago, after being bullied at school, Asher went home, found his father's gun, and shot himself in the head. His father found Asher dead when he came home from work. Asher was 13 years old.

I'd like for you to look at his face. Unlike Asher, Indiana teen Billy Lucas never self-identified as gay, but was perceived to be by bullies who harassed him daily at the Greenberg Community High School. Three weeks ago, he hung himself in his grandparents' barn. He was 15 years old.

Minnesota 15-year-old Justin Aaberg came out to friends at age 13 after which the harassment and the bullying began. It grew as he moved from middle school to high school. When he found the harassment more than he could bear, he hung himself in his room and was found by his mother. Classmates started teasing and name-calling Seth Walsh in the fourth grade. It continued through his middle school years, where other students told him the world didn't need another queer and that he should "go hang himself."

On September 18th, after being threatened by a group of older teens, he went home, threw a noose around a tree branch, and he did just that. He hung himself in his back yard.

His mother saw him, pulled him down. Seth survived on life support for nine days before dying a couple of weeks ago. He was 13 years old.

Teen bullying and suicide has reached an epidemic in our country, especially among gay and lesbian youth, those perceived to be gay, or kids who are just different.

In recent weeks, New Jersey teen Tyler Clementi jumped off a bridge to his death after his roommate outed him on the Internet. Rhode Island teen Raymond Chase hung himself in his dorm room. And we learned just yesterday of Oklahoma teen Zach Harrington, who killed himself after attending a city council meeting in Norman, Oklahoma, where speakers made disparaging anti-gay remarks.

There is a conversation for the adults watching in this room and those watching to have, and we will have it. But this bullying and harassment in our schools must stop. And our schools must be a safe place to learn and to grow.

It is never acceptable for us to be the cause of any child to feel unloved or worthless. And I am committed to being a part of that conversation.

But tonight I would like to talk to the 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17-year-olds at Paskel (ph) and at Arlington Heights, and at Trimble Tech High Schools, or at Daggett and Rosemont Middle Schools, or any school in Fort Worth, or anywhere across the country, for that matter.

I know that life can seem unbearable. I know that the people in your household or in your school may not understand you, and that they may even physically harm you. But I want you to know that it gets better.

When I was 13, I was a skinny, lanky, awkward teen who had grown too tall, too fast, who would stumble over my own feet. I was the son of a Methodist church pianist named Jeanette (ph) and a cowboy named, fittingly, Butch in Crowley, Texas.

As their son and as a kid in a small town, there was a certain image of who I thought I was supposed to be. And as I entered adolescence, I started having feelings that I didn't understand, I couldn't explain. But I knew they didn't mesh with the image of what I thought I was supposed to be.

I was a sensitive kid, but friendly. I was a band dork. I played basketball, but not very well. I was teased like all kids, but I was fairly confident and I didn't let it bother me much.

One day when I was in the 9th grade, just starting Crowley High School, I was cornered after school by some older kids who roughed me up. They said that I was a "faggot" and that I should die and go to hell where I belonged.

That erupted the fear that I had kept pushed down, that what I was beginning to feel on the inside must somehow be showing on the outside. Ashamed, humiliated, and confused, I went home. There must be something very wrong with me, I thought. Something I could never let my family or anyone else know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Catch our breath.

BURNS: I think I'm going to have too hard a time with the next couple of sentences that I wrote. And also, I don't want my mother and father to bear the pain of having to hear me say them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: As I told you, we'd take a break.

When we come back, Councilman Burns is going to tell us more of the story that he's never told anyone before.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: We're breaking our normal format today to bring you an extraordinary act by a local politician in Texas. This week, Joel Burns, a city councilman in Fort Worth, made a highly personal appeal for simple civility, humanity toward the youngest and the most vulnerable among us.

We just aired the first half of his remarks from a city council meeting on Tuesday night. We're going to run the rest now, and I want you to stay with us afterward for an interview that you won't see anywhere else.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNS: I have never told this story to anyone before tonight, not my family, not my husband, not anyone. But the numerous suicides in recent days have upset me so much, and have just torn at my heart.

And even though there may be some political repercussions for telling my story, this story is not just for the adults who might choose or not choose to support me. This story is for the young people who might be holding that gun tonight, or the rope, or the pill bottle.

You need to know that the story doesn't end where I didn't tell it, on that unfortunate day. There is so, so, so much more. Yes, high school was difficult. Coming out was painful, but life got so much better for me. And I want to tell any teen who might see this, give yourself a chance to see just how much life -- how much better life will get.

To those who are feeling very alone tonight, please know that I understand how you feel, that things will get easier. Please stick around to make those happy memories for yourself. It may not seem like it tonight, but they will. And the attitudes of society will change.

Please, live long enough to be there to see it.

And to the adults, the bullying and the harassment has to stop. We cannot look aside as life after life is tragically lost.

If you need resources, please check out the TrevorProject.org online, and you can call me and I will get you whatever resources you need. My number is (DELETED).

I want to thank those in this room for allowing me this time.

And to J.D. and the rest of my family, I am sorry for you learning of this painful personal story in this public way for this first time. But know that I am able to tell it because of your love for me.

And mom and dad, I'm alive today because you loved me.

Again, attitudes will change. Life will get better. You will have a lifetime of happy memories, if you just allow yourself and give yourself the time to make them.

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: A well deserved standing ovation. When we come back, my exclusive interview with Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: We just aired something that you wouldn't expect to see on a national cable newscast, roughly 13 minutes of unedited remarks from a local city council meeting in Texas.

We did it because of the honesty and the passion of the speaker and the life-and-death nature of the subject. Joel Burns, in public, for the first time, shared his heart-rendering experience as the target of bullies who attacked him because he's gay. He now knows that he's among the lucky who survived to lead rich and productive lives, and he wants other gay teens and other bullied teens to survive, too.

He joined us last hour for his first national interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) VELSHI: Joel, you took your ear piece out. I didn't live your experience, and it was hard for me to watch both times I've seen it. You took your ear piece out while we were watching this. It's hard for you to listen to your own words.

BURNS: It's true. It's actually the first time I had heard it without seeing it, and the part about my dad and, really, about my parents in general is still the toughest part for me, as you could see from the video from Tuesday night.

VELSHI: But that's part of the important part. That's the part that you want people to remember, that as hard as it seems, it gets better, and as hard as those pressures are, stick around and life gets better.

How does it get better?

BURNS: In a wide variety of ways. And the reality is that it gets better in ways you can never fathom as a 13-or-14-year-old.

When you're experience has been what it has been up until that moment, and times are dark, and you're either being bullied or harassed at school, or outside school, you've got a household of folks who may not accept you, there may be any kind of abuse around it, and you may think that there's just really no hope of that time after adolescence and after your teenage years. And as I mentioned, I've often thought, wouldn't it be wonderful if I could go back and show to the me that existed as a teenager that really didn't think that the future was all that bright at times, and show him just the amazing, wonderful things that have happened in the course of my adult life? And it's a story that continues.

I mean, I wish I could show the 13-year-old not only all the things that I said in that video, but the fact that I'm on CNN today is just something I would have never guessed as a 13-year-old or even really a few weeks ago.

VELSHI: You weren't looking for publicity. I know that.

You are openly gay. But people didn't have the impression, perhaps, that you struggled the way you did as a kid? And I think that's the issue here, that we're not realizing in that interim, in that stage where people start to feel different -- and maybe it's because you're gay, maybe it's not, maybe you're just different from everybody else -- are we not providing the society the civility or the access to the help and information and support that kids need?

BURNS: I think the recent rash of suicides is indicative of the fact that we're not doing our job in that regard.

I have a sister who's a teacher in a rural Texas high school, and she's been teaching for about seven years now. And she told me the night of this -- she called and said, "I want you to know that I see this every day."

And it's not just gay kids. It's anyone who's different, anyone who's perceived to be gay, perceived to be effeminate, overweight. You know, anything that's out of the norm.

These kids can be very, very mean. And my sister and I talked about her experience as a teacher in rural Texas. And she says it's unlike anything when she first started teaching seven years ago.

And so, yes, I think that it has gotten worse, and I think that the rash of suicides is very indicative of that.

VELSHI: You said in your speech for the adults, for the parents, this has got to stop. What do we do? What do the rest of us do who are not the bullied and who are not the bulliers?

BURNS: I think there's a wide variety of things. And I think the very first thing for the parents, the teachers, the school administrators, the coaches, is to enable those kids, remind those kids that they have power, and that it is OK for them to look around them. And try to think of who in my school is being bullied, even if they're not the ones being bullied, although statistics say nine out of 10 kids report some sort of harassment while in junior high and high school.

Even if they're not, even if they're just that 10 percent that's not getting harassed, ask them to look around and ask them to see the kids that are in their classrooms that they may not be friends with, but they see getting picked on. And let that kid know that it's OK, that there's someone who might stand up for them, that there's someone that they can lean on, there's someone who will have their back.

And it's important for the parents to give their kids that permission, to remind them that they can go to their classmate and say, hey, I know times are hard for you, and if you ever need a friend, let me know and I'll be there for you.

VELSHI: Your Twitter, your Facebook must be getting a lot of hits. Mine certainly is as a result of this.

And somebody just tweeted to say, "I've seen how mean people can be. Even if I disagree with that lifestyle, we should love."

That's kind of the point. Kind of the point, is that we're not asking people to make decisions about whether you approve of homosexuality or not. That's not what this discussion is. This discussion is about civility, it's about pluralism, it's about respecting difference.

BURNS: Well, it's not just that, but it's about creating a safe place for our kids to go to school. And even when they're out of school, and they're at a local convenience store, or at the shopping mall, or wherever they are, that they're not subjected to the kind of really just over-the-top harassment and bullying that we've seen. Some of the kids, some of the guys that I referenced at the beginning of my comments, I mean, they had survived literally years of harassment and bullying that had largely, according to their parents, gone unanswered over the course -- from the administrators and principals and teachers. And that's something that has to stop.

VELSHI: Joel, how's your dad doing?

BURNS: He's doing OK. He's out of the hospital. And this, I think, has been tough for him. I talked to my mom again this morning.

My dad and I are close. We operate oftentimes in a way where we communicate sometimes through my mom. She's a little more chatty than my dad is.

And I talked to my mom about, "How is dad doing?" Because I specifically referenced him on Tuesday night. And I think that this has been hard for them.

I think that I have really fantastic parents. And I know that in my upbringing, that they wanted to be as there for me as they possibly could, and that they could interpret what I said on Tuesday, that there was some failing on their part.

And the reality is, is they never failed me once. It's just that kids go through tough times and experience things outside the eye of their parents.

And unfortunate things happened to me outside of their viewpoint. And those weren't things that they could protect me from. And I don't know that I would want them to be there at every single moment protecting me from them.

But they're doing OK. My dad is -- yes, sir?

VELSHI: No, that's good. I wanted to know because I know that was a big part of motivating the comments that you made.

And we thank you for doing what you did. We thank you for joining us. You're a credit to politics, to Texas, to your country. You're a hero, and you will -- your words will save lives.

Thanks for being with us.

BURNS: Thank you. I appreciate it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: We've got some news in to CNN. We're hearing of a big settlement in the government's fraud case against some former top executives at Countrywide. Remember Countrywide? It was once the biggest mortgage lender in the United States and fairly central to this entire mess that nearly brought our economy to its knees.

My good friend, Poppy Harlow, always in New York with CNNMoney.com.

What a treat to have you here. Poppy, you have been on the story since the beginning. POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Since the beginning.

VELSHI: It's ideal that you're here for this. Tell us what this is about.

HARLOW: SEC settling a $67.5 million fine they agreed on just minutes ago with Angelo Mazilo, this is the man at the helm of Countrywide Financial, 2006, 2007, he sold off $140 million worth of company stock at the same time as saying our portfolio is strong, we are in a good position.

So what the SEC did is they took this almost to trial. They were supposed to go to trial in U.S. District Court on Tuesday. They were there. But they settled. This is what's interesting. The biggest fine, if not the only fine we've seen on an individual --

VELSHI: Right, right.

HARLOW: On an individual as a result of the crisis.

VELSHI: What people always say is, has anybody had to pay anything for anything they did wrong in this whole thing?

HARLOW: And he is now.

VELSHI: A lot of players in this thing were saying, we were playing by the rules. So it may not have been fair, it may not have sounded right. But in this case, they were going to trial to say Angelo Mazilo, you had information. You had information that people were foreclosing, people were going to stop making their payments. You saw an uptick on that and you went out in public and you said, everything is fine.

HARLOW: Now --

VELSHI: And that, under the law, is not acceptable.

HARLOW: What's key is that in this settlement he doesn't have to admit or deny guilt. That's exactly what happened in the Goldman Sachs settlement, $550 million settlement there. He doesn't have to. What this also does is this was a civil case. He could have faced criminal charges. What this does, lawyers would say, is this really lessens the chance that he's going to face criminal charges, and potentially go to jail. That's the issue.

VELSHI: He was at the absolute front end of this foreclosure mess. Now the latest thing in the foreclosure mess, the investigations into the freezes of foreclosure sales and all that. What is the latest on that story?

HARLOW: Let's pull up the banks so people can talk about it, because if you have your loan through these banks, you need to know what we're talking about. First JP Morgan just told us this morning, 41 states affected, where they have basically halted foreclosures sales. What they won't tell us is that they're still evicting people. We would really like to know that. Ally Bank halted foreclosure sales in all -- in 23 states, looking at others. Bank of America halted in 50 states. But let's talk about what it means for borrowers. I spent a long time on the phone with someone who is the head of a mortgage publication. He said for borrowers, what this means, get this right. This doesn't mean you're not going to get evicted. This is going t delay the inevitable. This is going to mean, you know, bottom line, no legal way for you to stay in your home, if you haven't paid your mortgage for a year and a half, this will delay it.

VELSHI: You are hearing nonsense in the media, about check because they're evicting the wrong people -- that is not what this is about.

HARLOW: No, it is not the case at all.

VELSHI: This is just the banks not having followed proper rules. Eventually they'll have to fix it. But if you're being foreclosed upon, nothing is likely changing for you.

HARLOW: It's probably not going to change. But let's talk about what it means for buyers. This could be a very good --

VELSHI: There are a lot of people out there with good credit, low interest rates, 4.21 percent.

HARLOW: Twenty-one, right.

VELSHI: For a 30-year fixed mortgage, you may want to buy one of these foreclosures.

HARLOW: Homes are going to be cheaper. There are going to be more homes sitting on the market, also just for the overall economy. But here's the thing, if you're buying a foreclosed home, you're probably going to have to wait. They are holding those sales. But the lawyer told me it's only going to take, he thinks, about two to three months for those foreclosed homes to go back on the market.

Get this, as the kicker. I said, all right, so who is going to make money from this? The lawyers.

VELSHI: Absolutely.

HARLOW: Always.

VELSHI: Poppy, great to have you here.

HARLOW: Good to be here, Ali.

VELSHI: Poppy Harlow of CNNMoney.com.

Contradictory assessments of the situation in Afghanistan are coming out today at this week's coalition. Body count continues to rise. We are going to have a look when we do some globe trekking coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time now to go "Globe Trekking." We're going to start in the always contentious Middle East.

The Israeli government has just announced plans for new construction in disputed East Jerusalem. Now that ends an unofficial building freeze there. And it comes amid an impasse that has seen Israeli/Palestinian peace talks put on hold over questions about Israel's broader settlement plans in the occupied West Bank.

Meantime, the Arab League says if Israel continues to build, the League might ask the U.N. to recognize a Palestinian state without Israel's approval.

OK, over to Afghanistan now, where we're getting some very different assessments of the situation on the ground. In a speech today, the U.S. Commander in Afghanistan General David Petraeus, says he is confident, quote, "We now have the right strategy in place." End quote.

Contrast that with a report out today with from an aide worker's umbrella group. The Afghanistan NGO Safety Office says there's been nine consecutive months of deterioration in the security situation there. The report says these last three months, there's been a 59 percent increase in insurgent attacks compared to the same quarter last year. And the coalition casualty count this week kind of bears out that pessimism. Just in the last three days 16 coalition troops have been killed in attacks around the country.

OK, we've heard a lot today from a man who many consider a hero. After the break, you'll meet another one. She is 74-years old, a grandmother bringing health care to the murder capital of the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It is time to highlight this week's top 10 CNN Heroes. Meet a grandma on a mission in the murder capital of the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUADALUPE ARIZPE DE LA VEGA, FOUNDED HOSPITAL IN JUAREZ, MEXICO: Juarez was a very nice place. And now nobody can go out. In this moment of crisis, people have to have a secure place where healing goes on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: And that's what she's devoted most of the last four decades to. Guadalupe Arizpe De La Vega joins us now from El Paso, Texas. She founded a hospital in Juarez, Mexico, that takes everybody, whether or not they can pay, and it does it in the middle of a drug cartel war zone.

Guadelupe, I was reading just this week, three men were gunned down right outside the hospital there. You're literally putting your life on the line, every single day, when you go to work. What has kept you doing that? This situation has gotten worse and worse over the years that you've been doing this.

DE LA VEGA: Well, the problems in Juarez have been getting worse lately. But I believe that we have the responsibility to keep the hope of the people going on. We have to provide services at the hospital. And everybody has to know that we will receive them and we will heal them and he will continue saving lives.

VELSHI: A lot of people say, why does this violence continue? What can we do about it? Why don't we just write it off? I want you to tell us a story about the other day when you went to the hospital. There was a woman who gave birth to a baby at 9:00 a.m.

DE LA VEGA: Yes, yes.

VELSHI: And then what happened?

DE LA VEGA: It was a very young girl, about 17 years old. And she gave birth to a little boy. At 9:30 in the morning, she was crying, and I went to her and asked her, what happened to you? She says, my husband brought me at 6:00 in the afternoon, and by 10:00, he was dead. So in the morning, she was saying she has to go back because she had to go to the funeral of the husband.

VELSHI: Wow. What makes you want to keep doing this? Why do you not want to say, let me just stay back in El Paso?

DE LA VEGA: Well, I think that's a sense of responsibility. That's a desire, deep-rooted desire of equality and justice. We have to help the people because that what really gives meaning to our lives. We have to say "yes" to life even in an environment of tragedy some problems like this because positive energy sometimes can turn tragedies into triumphs. So we have to keep going and keep working, more now than ever. Surrender is not an answer.

VELSHI: Surrender is not an answer. And that is why, Guadalupe, you are one of our top ten heroes. It's a real honor to have you on the show. Thank you for being with us and we hope your work continues in Juarez.

Guadalupe Arizpe De La Vega, she is 74 years old. And you know why she is one of our heroes.

But the way, the entire top ten will be honored next month. But only one will be named CNN Hero of the Year. We don't decide on that. You do. You pick the top ten and you get to pick the top one. Head to CNNHeroes.com for information on all 10 finalists and their incredible work. Go ahead and vote for the person and vote for the person who inspires you the most. Their stories are all there. And tune into the CNN Heroes all-star tribute with Anderson Cooper, live, on Thanksgiving night.

Let me bring you up to speed with some of the top stories that we are following here at CNN. Some big economic news to tell you about today. We learned just this hour that a settlement has been reached in the government's case against Countrywide co-founder Angelo Mazilo. He had been negotiating with federal regulators to settle civil fraud and insider trading charges. Mazilo must pay more than $68 million in fines. He was scheduled to go to trial just next week. The company became the larger mortgage lender in the U.S. before it imploded in the mortgage meltdown.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave one of his clearest signals yet that the Federal Reverse is about to act to further jump- start the U.S. economy. Speaking this morning, he said high unemployment is too great a threat to the economy and that the Fed has to be creative in using the tools at its disposal. The Fed's main weapon is usually lowering its main interest rate. But that's been sitting near zero for sometime. So, they'll be doing something else and we'll of course bring it to you when they do.

A bit of good news in this sputtering economy, retail sales rose in September. The Commerce Department says it was a jump of just 0.6 percent over the previous month, but retailers are hoping it will translate into a better holiday season. Already we've seen lots of increases in the number of people planning to be hired for the holiday season. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States.

OK, we're taking a break. When we come back, President Obama is back, out on the campaign trail. Our buddy, Ed Henry will join us to talk about the Delaware stop and about a special guest coming to the White House today.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Let's go to "The Stakeout" with Ed Henry our senior White House correspondent at the White House. I'm not sure why that crime scene tape is behind him. What's going on?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I don't know. It's part of this construction project, but it seems to be spreading. It's sort of like a lot of government projects, sort of mission creep. But I tell you, the yellow tape has nothing to do with me, I swear.

VELSHI: Good, good. Nice to see you, Ed.

HENRY: Good to see you.

You know, the president's out there in Delaware today, he's on his way back now. He was campaigning and what's interesting is, you know, he was pretty fired up. He's pushing for the Chris Coons, obviously, the Democrat. Wolf had that big debate this week on CNN in the middle of the week with Christine O'Donnell in the middle of the week. Chris Coons is in pretty commanding position it looks like in the polls.

The president wanted to go though, make sure nobody gets complacent there in Delaware. He was there with Vice President Biden. Kind of funny, because it's his home turf and the vice president was just sort of randomly shouting out to people, "Hey, Lynn," "Hey, Joe." You know, he basically -- he knows everybody in Delaware; not a big state.

But what's interesting about it, while the president was fired up is that this is not the kind of state you want to be in in the final couple of weeks. I mean, if you're the president, at this point, you want to make sure you've got the states that are usually yours locked down and you want to go to some of those so-called purple states, maybe expand things for the Democrats.

But this is a sign of how they're playing defense. You had the first lady this week in their home state of Illinois. You've got the president and vice president in Joe Biden's home turf of Delaware. They're still trying to lock down their own states. And that's why, obviously, another sign -- it doesn't mean they're going to take a pounding, they could still come back here -- but it shows that in the final days, they're using their time in places that they really should have already locked down.

VELSHI: All right, so while he's out there, who's running the shop at the White House?

HENRY: I saw Robert Gibbs a short time ago, he's still here. And you know, they've got a lot of senior officials -- there are all kinds of senior officials here.

VELSHI: Pete Rouse was supposed to be the new chief of staff. How's that working out?

HENRY: Yes, he's running the show.

Well, you know what's interesting? What I'm starting to pick up from Democrats outside and inside this White House is that whole interim title that the president gave him when he was named to replace Rahm Emanuel may be going away at some point. Not quite yet, but that it's going so well behind the scenes, that there was sort of a natural fit -- he's a former Senate chief of staff for Barack Obama.

There are some Democrats inside and outside the White House telling me they think Pete Rouse may on the job for six months to a year, maybe through the reelect in 2012. That, you know, they'll see what happens after the election, but things are going pretty smoothly behind the scenes. So much so, that they're talking him up something long term maybe. So we got to watch that.

VELSHI: Ed, you know, it's October, I'm about 14 days from my birthday.

HENRY: Big day. Yes, I thought I mentioned. I was on Twitter right before we came out and I saw that you wrote, quote, "My birthday is on October 29th. As a gift, can all of my friend Ed Henry's followers on Twitter also follow me. Thanks."

The best response came from one of my followers who said, quote, "OK, that is just sad, but I will follow him to make it stop." And I agree with that, actually.

VELSHI: There you go. @AliVelshi, very easy to solve this problem if you don't want get anymore messages from me.

Ed, have a great time, have a great weekend. Good to see you.

Our senior White House correspondent --

HENRY: Happy birthday.

VELSHI: We have 14 more days for you to wish me happy birthday -- @EdHenryCNN -- and he's out senior White House correspondent.

HENRY: We can do it every day.

VELSHI: Hey, listen, Republicans are holding a pretty big edge with just 18 days to go before the midterm elections that Ed was just talking about. Your CNN Political Update up next.

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VELSHI: It is 18 days until those critical midterm elections. We want to get you updated from the latest developments from the campaign. CNN senior political editor Mark Preston, part of "The Best Political Team on Television."

Take it away, Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Ali.

Look, bad news again for Democrats. It seems that I keep telling you this day in and day out. Well, we have a new CNN poll of polls. We have taken the average of five national polls of the generic ballot.

What does that mean? We're trying to figure out what voters are thinking regarding the midterm elections and what we have from this average is that Democrats right now, Ali, are down six points. The numbers are 47 to 41, meaning voters are more likely to vote for Republicans come election day than Democrats. Again, Ali, you know, it's not will Democrats lose seats on election day, it's how many seats they will lose.

But, Ali, I have a friend here that I want to bring in here from our family, from our Time Warner family, from "Fortune" magazine. This is Tory Newmyer. We just wrote this story, "Who Can Magically Fix the Economy?" and he's come to the conclusion that nobody can. It's this dirty little secret, Ali, that the fact is politicians don't want to tell you. He's written this story along with Allan Sloan.

And unfortunately, Tory can't talk to you. We don't have him miked up. But look not good news regarding the economy. He says that, look, things have been so devastating, it's going to take some time to get it back.

Let me show you another thing here on the online here. This is very cool. We need -- anyone whose following the elections needs to get this mobile application. What this does, it allows you to follow the elections, Ali, minute by minute. We can find out polling, you can find out the latest in news. You don't have to be at your computer, you don't have to be in front of your TV.

And let me just bring in Steve Brusk in very quickly. Steve, over the next 48 hours, tell us the big three political events.

STEVE BRUSK, CNN POLITICAL COVERAGE MANAGER: Bill Clinton, we've seen him all week going around the country campaigning for Democratic candidates, he's ending up tonight in California, one of the stops with Jerry Brown, trying to help his bid for governor. They haven't always seen eye to eye, but they're coming together tonight to make this happen.

Sarah Palin, lots of events with her, usually on her own behalf. Today, actually this weekend, for the first time, she's helping the Republican National Committee, fundraiser, big one in California in Anaheim.

And then, we'll see the Obamas together for the first time on Sunday. President Obama and Michelle Obama teaming up for events in Ohio, big rally in Columbus.

PRESTON: Big weekend, Ali, in politics.

VELSHI: Can I just ask? Can your cameraman show us your human prop again? I thought that was quite interesting.

PRESTON: This is Tory Newmyer from "Fortune."

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: You just showed me a guy --

(CROSSTALK)

PRESTON: I said his name. We don't have him miked up. But look, you have something in common, you guys like to talk business.

VELSHI: A human prop, I love it. Mark, good to see you, my friend, and Steve. And, Tory, nice to meet you, perhaps some other day we'll actually talk to each other.

We'll have another Political Update in just an hour.

Coming up, the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy has to go through legal hurdles before it can officially end. I say it's time to end it right now. I'll have more to say in my "XYZ." Stay with us.

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VELSHI: Time now for "The XYZ of It."

On Tuesday, a federal judge told the U.S. military to stop enforcing its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which bars gays from serving openly in the military. Now the Justice Department is pushing to keep the judge's order from going into effect, even though the Obama administration has come out against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Plus, the military's now telling troops not to alter their behavior in any way.

Look, the administration still opposes the policy but wants it changed through an act of Congress. Justice delayed is not necessarily justice denied in this case, but it is justice delayed. It's time to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" now. This unjust policy has gone on far too long in America.

Countries around the world allow gay troops to serve openly and just because a policy has been deemed constitutional in the past doesn't actually mean it's good policy and it certainly doesn't mean it's right.

Imagine if "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was in effect in your workplace. It would be illegal. What kind of an environment would that be and what kind of precedent would it set? Would any organization -- and they can't legally -- tell it's employees to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" about ethnicity? About religion? About political leaning?

Gay men and women have served, fought and died for this country since it was founded. They have a right to serve, they have a right to fight and at the very least, let's give them the right to be who they are.

That's my "XYZ." NEWSROOM continues now with my good friend, Don Lemon.