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Countdown to Election Day; 'Chalk Talk'; Almighty Debt: Funding College; All for Good: Opportunities to Volunteer; President Obama's Western Wing; XYZ: President Obama Tackles Bullies
Aired October 22, 2010 - 13:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. It is a new hour and a new "Rundown." I'm Don Lemon, in today for Ali Velshi. Here is what's ahead.
You can call him the "Dean of Invention." He has a new show debuting tonight, and he's joining us this hour to talk about his quest to get more kids interested in science and technology, the science and technology of tomorrow.
You know, they have protested for days over a proposal to raise their country's retirement age by just two years, but as French lawmakers near a final vote, will it be enough to keep the current policy in place? We'll check.
And after a string of suicides, President Barack Obama sends a message to gay teens who are being bullied. We're going to bring it to you in its entirety this hour. Stay around for that.
We're going to start with politics, of course, because it is really getting close to Election Day. We can call it the countdown.
The calendar and the big wall behind me both say 11 days left. That's a big 11 right there. If I get close, it's bigger than me. This far away, it doesn't look that big, but it is.
It is crunch time for the campaigns, which you already know if you've gotten any of the thousands of robo-calls from candidates. Also, it breaks down the big guns and brings them out. They come to lend a hand out on the campaign trail. Right?
That's where we want to start today with what's going on. And helping us lead us through this political coverage and all the headlines for today, CNN Senior Political Editor Mark Preston and Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser.
They're working, working. We just saw them a little while ago. They've got some new information. They're back now at our political desk in Washington.
So, Mark, the president is spending the first part of this day in California, home of two of the higher profile races. So where do we stand here?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SR. POLITICAL EDITOR : He is, Don. He's in California right now. He's doing fund-raisers and attending a big rally on behalf of Barbara Boxer, who is trying to run for re-election to the Senate, and, of course, Jerry Brown, who's running for governor of California. Two very important races.
They have Meg Whitman, the Republican, who's spending upwards of $150 million in her race against Brown. And then, of course, we have Carly Fiorina, who is mounting a very serious challenge to the incumbent Democrat, Boxer.
Tonight, President Obama gets on his airplane. He just goes over to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a fund-raiser for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. And he's also going to be doing a rally in that state. Harry Reid facing a very tough challenge from the Republican, Sharron Angle, in that state.
And this comes, Don, as the Democratic National Committee has just announced that they will spend $1 million on TV and radio ads nationally on Univision, of course trying to reach out to Hispanic voters. In fact, President Obama will speak Spanish in these ads. And, of course, in California and in Nevada, the Hispanic vote extremely important -- Don.
LEMON: And Paul, it's almost like it's 2008 all over again and the president is out on the campaign trail. So how is he doing? Is he winning over voters?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, take a look at this. I'm glad you asked.
This is our brand new CNN Poll of Polls. Our Rebecca Stewart (ph) compiled the numbers just a couple hours ago. Americans appear divided right now, 47 percent giving Barack Obama a thumbs up as to how he's doing in the White House, 48 percent saying they disapprove of his duties as president.
Interesting number, but wait a minute. Why does it matter? Barack Obama is not on the ballot this year, right? Well, here's why it matters, Don.
The president, by far, probably the top issue in this election, Republicans are trying to frame these contests, these midterm elections as a referendum on Barack Obama, what he's done in the White House the last two years and he's basically dealt with the economy, and they're trying to tie Democratic candidates to the president. That is why we look at that presidential approval rating so often in these midterms -- Don.
LEMON: All right. I'm going to venture a guess here, but we see former president Bill Clinton out, we've seen the first lady out. The first lady, probably the most popular Democrat right now.
On the Republican side, is Sarah Palin at the top of the list? And who else is there?
STEINHAUSER: Yes. You know, Don, she's certainly at the top of the list. In fact, we'll see Sarah Palin and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele in Orlando, Florida, tomorrow.
This is the second major rally that these two will be headlining. The idea, that Sarah Palin can drive up the vote and really help try to get Republicans remain enthusiastic heading into Election Day.
We're also seeing the likes of Mitt Romney, Bobby Jindal, Tim Pawlenty, John Thune, Newt Gingrich, all on the campaign trail in the closing days. And John Bodner (ph), our photojournalist, ,is going to close in on here.
Haley Barbour, he is the chairman of the Republican Governors Association. He is also the governor of Mississippi. A lot of people, Don, think that he wants to run for president in 2012. He has raised an enormous amount of money to try to help governors get elected in this midterm election.
LEMON: All right. It's very interesting.
Paul, I talked to you a little bit about this before. You have a new Poll of Polls. What exactly is a Poll of Polls?
STEINHAUSER: Good question. OK. If we take the most recent national polls from CNN and from other organizations as well, we average them together. And that way we kind of get a large, super- duper number.
Check this out. This is the generic ballot, the battle for Congress. It's a standard question we and others ask: Would you vote for the generic Republican or Democrat in your congressional district?
Look at that. Half the people say they would vote for the Republican, 42 percent the Democrat. That eight-point advantage, Don, is up from six-point advantage in a Poll of Polls we did just a week ago. We will keep averaging these numbers together between now and Election Day. As you said, a big 11 days away.
LEMON: I think the Poll of Polls is like the Doppler in local news.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: The Poll of Polls -- you're going to get the Poll of Poll of Polls, something like that.
Thank you, Mark. Thank you, Paul. Appreciate it.
Coming up later this hour, we'll be joined by CNN Senior White House Correspondent Mr. Ed Henry. He has been traveling with the president during the western swing, and he'll us know about new plans the president has for the final weekend before Election Day.
You know, you might know him best as "Mr. Segway," but Dean Kamen has patented hundreds of inventions and, still, somehow he finds time to spread the word about the science and technology and try to get kids hooked on it. He joins us next to talk about all of this, the latest effort, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It is time now for what we call "Chalk Talk." And that's where we look at efforts to expand kids' minds and their educations as well.
So, I love this quote from inventor and education advocate Dean Kamen. Take a look at this.
He says, "You have teenagers thinking they're going to make millions as NBA stars, when that's not realistic for even one percent of them. Becoming a scientist or engineer is."
But as we all know, science and math have proven a challenge for lots of American students. In the latest global ranking, U.S. 15- year-olds were 17th in science literacy and 24th -- unbelievable -- in math literacy.
You know, that's got to drive guys like Dean nuts. And that's why he's been on a mission to get kids and everybody really interested in science and technology.
Dean Kamen now joins us. He is one of the busiest inventors. He is giving kids hands-on tech experience for nearly 20 years, and now he's taking his big passion to the small screen with a TV series premiering tonight.
I want you to tell us more now about Dean of invention. And welcome, by the way.
DEAN KAMEN, FOUNDER, DEKA RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: It's great to be here.
So, all the data you gave is true, and to me unnerving, and it should be unnerving to all Americans. Our standard of life and our quality of living has always been and will continue to be, I think, driven by our ability to innovate and compete in the world. The rest of the world is getting more competitive. We've got to do the same.
I think that the way to get kids to do more and better math and science is to get them passionate about it. As you pointed out, they're all willing to spend hours, days, weeks, months, years bouncing a ball or trying to perfect the skills of sports because they see role models that are legends and heroes and role models for that.
LEMON: But, Dean, how are you going to do this through a television show? As I said, it's called "Dean of Invention," right?
KAMEN: Yes.
LEMON: So tell us about it. How are you going to get kids interested? How are you going to get them to watch?
KAMEN: Well, I assume since the sports model is such a powerful model, I said, what if we could put a human face on inventors and scientists and engineers? And what if we could create the pantheon of great role models for kids from the world of science and engineering, and kids could get past the stereotype that scientists and engineers are all curmudgeonly middle aged white males with white hair, frizzy white hair, and lab coats and German accents out in a lab somewhere, antisocial and alone, and then they see their sports heroes and their Hollywood stars all young and attractive and having a good time?
I said let's go around the country and around the world and find all the exciting scientists and engineers and inventors that are doing things that are going to change the world, but particularly put the human face and passion of these inventors in front of kids so that they'll want to be like these people.
LEMON: OK. Well, p art of the challenge is too -- I mean, I think what you're saying is you need to make science sexy, right?
KAMEN: Exactly.
LEMON: The way that music is. So are you going to get people to start rapping about it?
And listen, a lot of it, though -- a lot of the attraction, Dean, is money. When you look at rap artists and music and stars, or whatever, they make a lot of cash and then people sing about it. How do you get people to become interested in that way in science?
KAMEN: You know, there's another misconception. If you have lined up your top 10 rap artists, or your top 10 athletes, and put them up against the top 10 technology people in the world, I think we both know which would be at the top of the list in terms of their financial rewards.
Look at the list of the richest people in the world. They are people that have developed the muscle hanging between their ears, not the ones hanging off their arms.
LEMON: You are such a smart guy. That was very well put.
As you were saying that, I was thinking about Bill Gates, I was thinking about other people who started -- Microsoft, Steve Jobs, all of these people. And these were all new technologies, which is basically part of science as well.
KAMEN: That's right. And even a hundred years ago. It doesn't matter. You pick the era and the people that developed great, new technologies -- I mean, you've probably in your lifetime been in a Carnegie library or a Carnegie -- when you think about the fact that the great scientists, engineers and investors of time have created most of the wealth of the world, even if you wanted to stay with the issue of, how am I going to go out and make a lot of money, kids ought to think about developing the most powerful muscle they have got -- their mind.
LEMON: Yes. I think you and Bill Nye should get together and do, like, a science and technology hip-hop song.
KAMEN: I was with him in the White House a couple of days ago for the science festival, and you're right, he is great.
LEMON: That will break the white guy stereotype, won't it?
KAMEN: I hope so.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: That was supposed to be a joke.
Thank you, Dean Kamen. Appreciate. Hey, have a great weekend, OK?
KAMEN: Thanks a lot.
LEMON: All right.
Getting into college can be hard enough. Finding the money can be harder. On "Almighty Debt," we'll meet one student who has to raise his grades and the money needed to make it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Boy, this is a lot of money. College grads owe about $860 billion -- billion -- on student loans. That's according to the Web site called FinAid.org.
Fred Philp may be about to sign up for some of that debt if he can even get into college.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien introduces us to him in her documentary. It's called "Almighty Debt," a "Black in America" special.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This just seemed like a good place where you could study, you could sync (ph). It would be real great, right?
FRED PHILP, STUDENT: Yes.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fred Philp dreams of becoming somebody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just pray for his audition, and I pray that you would give him the strength, that you would bring every line to memorization.
O'BRIEN: First, he must get into college, then he must find the money to pay for it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay focused and completely tune and block everybody out.
Can we go in?
O'BRIEN: Today he's auditioning to get into the drama program at Cain University in New Jersey. PHILP: Now I have to just go in there and prove to them and prove to myself that I am good enough to be here.
O'BRIEN (on camera): Deliver it?
PHILP: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Now, pretty much?
PHILP: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Good luck. It's 3:00. I have given you an extra 15 minutes. So whatever you all actors do, center.
PHILP: All right, girl. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. You ready?
PHILP: Thank you. Good afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whenever you're ready.
PHILP: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
PHILP: I hate you. You know that? You know that? Yes, you do because now you turned your head, so you ain't looking at me nowhere.
O'BRIEN: While Fred acts, Christy Adams waits. Christy is the 28- year-old youth minister at Buster Soaries' church.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have so much to be grateful. We spend so much time complaining.
O'BRIEN: She has a masters of divinity from Princeton Seminary.
O'BRIEN (on camera): Without being humble, if you were not here, would he make it this far?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to say yes. I believe he needs motivation. And if I wasn't here or anybody here pushing him, then I think that he would be a lot more nervous and I think he would probably choke.
O'BRIEN: Has he choked before?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Fred Philp really wants to go to college, but it will likely require taking out tens of thousands of dollars in loans. So youth minister Christy Adams has entered Fred in an NAACP acting competition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know you don't want to listen!
O'BRIEN: If he wins this round and makes it to the nationals, the grand prize is $2,000.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: See if Fred Philp gets into college and if he can raise enough money to pay for it. Make sure you tune into Soledad O'Brien's special documentary. It's called "Almighty Debt." It airs Saturday and Sunday night, 8:00 Eastern, of course right here on CNN.
Time now for top stories on CNN.
President Obama is heading west on a big campaign swing aimed right at the Democratic base. He is spending the first half of this day in California for a fund-raiser and then a rally. Then he's heading over to Las Vegas for more of the same.
In Haiti, a cholera outbreak has killed at least 138 people. The fast-moving disease has sickened more than 1,500 people. Hospitals are said to be overflowing there. The outbreak started picking up pace on Tuesday.
A California judge has ordered Lindsay Lohan back to rehab until January of next year. The judge warned her that if she violates probation again, she'll be sent to jail for 180 days. Lohan says she is working hard to overcome a substance abuse problem.
OK. We have seen just how devastating really a hurricane can be, especially when it comes to your home. But what if you could make your house stronger? There's a new test to show you just how your home will hold up and you're going to see it.
We're going "Off the Radar."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Just reading some information that we're going to use now for our "Globe Trekking" segment. And the destination here is France.
We're hearing that the French Senate has just passed an austerity measure to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. The issue has triggered violent protests and strikes throughout the country for days.
And CNN's Jim Bittermann, he joins us now from Paris.
So, Jim, here's a question. Does the outcome of the vote mean the end to all these protests and strikes?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not at all, Don. The fact is, this is going to -- well, the government hopes it will bring an end to it, but in fact the unions have already said that they're going to continue their protests.
They have scheduled two more big national days of demonstrations and strikes, one next week and one on November 6th. Also, the students say they're going to strike next week.
So there's a lot of turmoil here that in some ways doesn't even relate to that pension reform bill. That was the catalyst for a lot of anger, but the fact is people are just upset about a lot of different reforms that the government has passed over the last several years -- Don.
LEMON: OK. So, listen, the French Senate passed it, and you said that a lot of people were upset. Was a majority of people upset? Is it just a minority of people who were protesting? Is the public behind this vote?
BITTERMANN: Well, it's pretty interesting, what we see when you look at the public opinion polls. There was a poll out this morning, for example, that said that 70 percent of the French still support this social action, this strike movement that is going on.
Now, when you look at it in more specific terms and look at the study, basically you find that people don't support the kind of thing that we've seen going on. For instance, the blockading of refineries, every gasoline refinery in this country has been shut down by this social movement. That's leading to gasoline shortages.
There are problems at the pump in at least one fifth of the service stations across the country. Motorists think it's a lot higher because they can't find fuel products that they need. But in any case, there seems to be a lot of people upset with the government in general.
They're against President Sarkozy and they've expressed it by joining in the protest or by saying to the public opinion pollsters that in fact they will continue to support the movement.
LEMON: Jim Bittermann, thank you and look at Paris, the lights. It's just beautiful behind you. See the Arc de Triomphe. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. It's gorgeous.
You know, thought about volunteering, but not sure who could use your help? We've got the guy behind a lot of those answers for you. "Mission Possible" next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. You see right there. That means "Mission Possible." That's what it means. Today's "Mission Possible" is one cool guy. Here's a look at just a few ways that he has helped make this world better, a better place.
He co-founded Ethos Water, that's a fancy water that you get at Starbucks and millions, millions in sales that bring clean water to kids. He has helped the United Nations developing a key strategy to address the clean water crisis. He even advised X PRIZE a famous foundation that encourages solutions with cash awards with ending global cycle of poverty and no I am not done with this yet.
He worked with both the Clinton and the Obama administrations. Now President Obama started serve.gov, citizens plugged into volunteering. That plugs us into opportunities. It's called all for good.
Jonathan Greenblatt is the president of the organization behind that. He's helping to highlight volunteer opportunities through different web platforms like Google and Twitter and Yahoo! And, yes, and on Facebook as well.
And, yes, the government's only serve.gov. Jonathan joins me now from L.A. Jonathan, that is a mouth full. You are one busy man. Not sure when you sleep. So what's your message?
JONATHAN GREENBLATT, FACULTY MEMBER, UCLA'S ANDERSON SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: Thank you very much. Well, first of all, it's great to be here today, Don. I appreciate the opportunity to share a little bit about the work that I've been doing and millions of Americans are doing.
More than 60 million Americans to strengthen their communities through volunteering and service. We set up all for good to enhance their ability to do so by using world class technology to help Americans find ways to make an impact in their local communities.
LEMON: So instead of saying I have an idea, I want to do something good, I want to go and volunteer. I feel like I want to do my civic duty and go help people out, instead of searching here and there and everywhere you have basically put it together. They can logon and --
GREENBLATT: Yes. What we've done is assembled the largest database of volunteer opportunities ever compiled. We've got hundreds of thousands of ways that people can make an impact in their local communities and we do what we do because of an amazing network of partners.
We work with nonprofits, for-profits, even government, to pull together all the different ways that people can have an impact in their communities and on the causes that they care about.
And what we've done is through the help of some remarkable businesses like Google, Facebook, Craigslist Foundation and other organizations.
We have taken this technology and built it on an open-source basis so anyone can see how it works and because we're a nonprofit we developed a free tool that anyone can use.
LEMON: How do you get there again? Give us the site again.
GREENBLATT: If you go to allforgood.org, you can do a search yourself. But what we're finding is happening more than a million times a month is we have folks who are finding all for good on serve.gov because we power the volunteer opportunities for the Obama administration.
LEMON: That's what I was going to ask you. How successful has it been?
GREENBLATT: Well, it's been pretty successful, I think. There's still, though, a lot of work to do. So the numbers are up this year and the past year more than 63 million Americans volunteered in their communities.
That was up over 60 million the year before and they're using technology -- iPhones, Android phones, social media like Twitter and Facebook. These tools are helping people to explore how they can make an impact. We're glad they're using al for good to do so.
LEMON: So talk to us about some of the initiatives. People may wonder this all for good. Your latest work has to do with pets and the holidays. Tell us about that.
GREENBLATT: That's right. We have succeeded because of great partners particularly on the corporate side. Google, Target, they've all helped and most recently Procter & Gamble have been working for us.
They have a campaign called home for the holidays. The pet food brand IAMS drives it. They're goal is to get 1.5 million pets out of animal shelters and into people's homes during the holiday season.
And they're using all for good to help Americans find way to volunteer or get engaged on animal issues in your local community.
If you go to facebook.com/iams and click the like button or make a comment, IAMS will donate up to 100 meals for pets in local shelters. It's a great way somebody with a click can make an impact.
LEMON: That's why we call it "Mission Possible" because of people like you. Jonathan Greenblatt, thank you. Appreciate it.
GREENBLATT: Thank you so much.
LEMON: And for more information about how you can help, please go to cnn.com/don. We'll have it there for you.
President Barack Obama is just talking about him. Jonathan Greenblatt works with him. He is trying to make a difference for Democrats out west.
We're talking politics right now, but it's his plan for the final weekend before Election Day that may be getting more attention. Ed Henry standing by traveling with the president out west. Where is Ed Henry? Looks like a stadium out in the field. We'll find out next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Can you imagine if you could just be transported right to Vegas right now? We have the ability to do that and that's where CNN's Ed Henry is standing by. He's traveling with the president.
So I see you're in Vegas, but Ed, I don't see any lights. I don't see show girls or Neil Diamond. What's going on?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No. Where are they?
LEMON: Palm trees, swimming pools. What's up?
HENRY: You know, I'm going to be stuck here in this field for hours because the president is going to be doing a rally in L.A. The press corps jumped ahead of him because the events were stacked up so much.
So we're going to be in Las Vegas waiting for him to come here for hours and we have sort of this Strip out there in the distance. I can see it. It's so close, but we're not getting there until very late tonight.
But I'm also wondering where the regular anchor is. He takes Friday off. To quote Sharron Angle, the Republican candidate in the Nevada Senate race out here, man up, Ali Velshi. Get to work.
LEMON: You should hear T.J. and I talk about it. It's like the T.J. and Don show with Ali Velshi here sometimes.
HENRY: Ali fills in for you occasionally.
LEMON: So listen, what's on his agenda? Tell me about why he's out there.
HENRY: He's going to have the rally in Los Angeles for Barbara Boxer. She's in a tough race with Carly Fiorina and coming here for this rally in Vegas. I've talked to some volunteers here who say they expect maybe in the neighborhood of 10,000 people.
We have had some rain today. We'll see if that has dampening effect. Bottom line is Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, we've known for well over a year probably now that he's been - he's going to be in a tough race.
But maybe Democrats didn't realize how tough because you have the president here coming today. The vice president was here in the state a couple of days ago and we've just gotten word, some new details about the first lady's schedule.
She's actually going to be here in Vegas on November 1st, the day before the election stomping for Harry Reid. When you bring that much star power from the president, vice president, first lady in the span of about 10 days, it tells you the Senate majority leader is in deep trouble out here.
LEMON: Is this magnified, sort of amped up because I don't ever remember - listen, I'm not one of you guys. I don't cover politics full-time. I don't remember any another midterm election this much, you know, star power being out there and the president traveling around so much.
HENRY: Well, I think you're right that it has been amped up. I mean, just last night here in the Vegas area, Newt Gingrich, former Republican House speaker, was here stumping for the Republican Sharron Angle, kind of a Tea Party favorite.
Sarah Palin has been here and maybe back and then you're right. On the Democratic side, Harry Reid is bringing out all the guns. He's the majority leader. He's going to do all he can to avoid the fate of Tom Daschle.
Remember, it was only six years ago that the Democrats had a sitting senate majority leader go down. It was an embarrassment for them then. They want to make sure it doesn't happen again.
I mean, look, everyone knows about the recession all around the country, but here it's been more pronounced. Unemployment much higher here in the Vegas area in the entire state, the foreclose capital essentially of the world right now.
And so, bottom line is that Harry Reid's going to need those big guns to try to pull this out. They're thinking turn out may make the difference, he's got a really strong turnout operation. He's pushing the early voting. The Reid camp feels good about some of the early voting in the counties where they need to do well.
So we'll see, I mean, this is one of several races that will decide who controls the Senate.
LEMON: Ed, I want to get this in because I'm going to be in the Midwest next week on the Election Express and the president is going to be next weekend, just before the election, he's going to be in Chicago. Vested interest, because it's his old seat.
HENRY: Yes, it's his old seat. It's you're old seat as well, I guess, the old anchor chair in Chicago, we can put it that way. And bottom line is that, you know, this tells you all you need to know -- by they they're testing the audio. We're hours away --
LEMON: I was wondering. I thought somebody was talking in my ear. I was like, what is that?
HENRY: You might hear them say the president of the United States but he's not here, they're testing it. I will try to talk over it.
But bottom line is this tells you all you need to know. The sound effects tells you all you need to know about the live check. But also, I think the president going to Chicago in the final week tells you all you need to know about where the Democrats are right now.
Illinois has been very good for the Democrats in terms of holding the governorship before the Blagojevich scandal, holding Senate seats with Dick Durbin and then Barack Obama. And they thought they'd have this seat, the old Obama seat in the Senate, locked up long ago. Instead, the first lady, I was just in Chicago with here there. Now the president is going back. He's also going to Pennsylvania that final weekend, a state he won easily in 2008. He's going to Connecticut, another state Democrats usually do well, big Senate rate there.
And finally, he's going to back to Ohio on the Sunday before the election, his 12th time since he took office he's going to Ohio. Now that's about 2010, but you know what? It's also a little bit, just a little bit about 2012 because that's the ultimate swing state, Ohio and Florida, and the president has got to be looking at the whole climate.
His approval ratings are low in Ohio. The governorship is up for grabs, a Senate seat. And deciding who is going to redistrict all those House seats, a lot on the line in states like Ohio so he's going to try to pull out all the stops. The
But the fact that he's doing a lot of that campaigning on a lot of Democratic turf tells you how much they're on the defensive.
LEMON: All right, I am not going to do the whole cliche, what happens in Vegas, but I want you to have a great time. Do some good reporting and behave.
HENRY: Hey I'm going to be reporting live here tomorrow, by the way. We're bringing "BALLOT BOWL" back, Jessica Yellin and I. She's going to be in Florida and I'm going to be doing it here from Vegas tomorrow afternoon 3:00 to 5:00 Eastern. And so, we're going to be doing a lot of work. We won't get a lot of time with the Strip. We'll be doing a lot of work.
LEMON: "BALLOT BOWL."
I think the guy behind you is telling everybody where they can pick up their chips for "BALLOT BOWL," their earnings and all of that.
All right, thank you. Appreciate it, Ed Henry.
HENRY: All right, have a great weekend, Don.
LEMON: All right, you too, as well.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush talking about the tight midterm races. Your CNN political update next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: There we go, just 11 shopping days until election day, so we want to get you updated on all the developing stories from the campaign trail. CNN's John King is part of "The Best Political Team on Television" and, of course, he is the host of "JOHN KING, USA" 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN, 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN, and he's at the CNN politics desk in Washington.
So, John, good to see you. What's crossing? JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Don, are you shopping for a candidate or you think it's the candidate shopping for votes with 11 days left?
LEMON: I think it's a combination, right?
KING: A little bit of both. You're dead right, and one way we will know in Kentucky is the debate on Monday night.
Remember Rand Paul threatened had threatened to maybe not participate in the final debate Monday night in his Senate race down in Kentucky after the Democratic opponent, Jack Conway, ran an ad essentially questioning Rand Paul's faith and questioning his allegiance to Christianity.
Well, Rand Paul just said he will participate. That's a close Senate race down in the state of Kentucky, critical to the national balance of power question. So debate on in Kentucky.
Kentucky is one of the states, and this goes across the country, where the Obama health care plan is a big issue. And many Republicans are campaigning on the theme of repeal or replace the Obama health care plan. The Associated Press has a new poll on this question today. Should we revise the health care law? Thirty-six percent say yes revise it, 37 percent of Americans say just outright repeal, 15 percent of Americans say leave the health care law unchanged.
Now it is governors who have to do most of the implementation of the health care law, Don, and tonight on "JOHN KING, USA," Jeb Bush, the former Republican governor of Florida, we put to him, what would you do if you were still governor. He's active in the race down there, he's endorsed the Republican candidate Rick Scott. But we asked, what would you do if you were the governor and had to implement the health care law.
We also asked him this, Don, a question we got from one of our fans on Facebook -- Would he endorse Palin for president if he doesn't run himself? We'll get Jeb Bush's answer tonight at 7:00 p.m.
LEMON: OK. You said Sarah Palin, right? Right.
KING: Sarah Palin. Will he endorse Palin if he didn't run himself.
LEMON: Well here's my question then, and I'm sure -- you just took my question. We've been talking today about the 2012 presidential hopefuls like you said Sarah Palin. Did you ask him about that? Did he say he's going to -- that he may be interested?
KING: He has repeatedly said and you will hear him say again right here tonight, no, no, no, no, no, no, never, no. Now, it's 2010. We'll ask him again a few times between now and 2012 you can bet.
LEMON: John, you've been doing this a long time. How many times have you heard that and then all of a sudden they're -- I love being the governor of such and such and the senator from where, and then all of a sudden end up in the presidential race?
KING: There's a lot of governors running around and former governors running around the country right now saying no, no, I'm just out here to help the Republican candidates this year. It has nothing to do, nothing at all to do with down the road.
Remember "Wizard of Oz," Don? Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain?
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: And then we saw the man behind the curtain. Wow.
So listen, CNN is taking part in two Florida debates. When will we see those?
KING: Candy Crowley has a fascinating debate with the three Senate candidates -- Marco Rubio, Charlie Crist, Kendrick Meek -- that's on "STATE OF THE UNION" Sunday morning at 9:00.
And I'm going to take my show on the road Monday night. At 7:00, the two candidates for governor, Republican Rick Scott, Democrat Alex Sink. Florida is a big important state both as a state and in our national politics. So Candy and I looking forward to having a little fun in the Sunshine State.
LEMON: I look forward to seeing that. Also, look forward to watching Jeb Bush on "JKUSA" tonight, 7:00 p.m. Eastern. "JOHN KING USA" I just dubbed it "JKUSA."
Thank you.
KING: Take care, my friend.
LEMON: Appreciate it.
And make sure you stay with CNN for complete coverage of the key races and issues heading into the critical midterm elections. Your next political update just an hour away here on CNN.
You know, we're going to take a look at my "XYZ" in just a second, but instead of hearing my thoughts and me ranting on and on today, I have a special guest appearance for you. So stay put.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. So you know we usually end our hour with an "XYZ," Ali or his fabulous stand-ins like us take on a particular issue. I was already to write one up, until I saw this. A new edition to "It Gets Better" project reaching out to gay bullied teens. It's a little longer than most of the videos, but we're going to run it in its entirety for you. After all, you can't cut down the commander in chief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Like all you of you, I was shocked and saddened by the deaths of several young people who were bullied and taunted for being gay and who ultimately took their own lives.
As the parent of two daughters, it breaks my heart and it's something that just shouldn't happen in this country. We've got to dispel this myth that bullying is a normal rite of passage, that it's some inevitable part of growing up. It's not. We have an obligation to ensure that our schools are safe for all of our kids.
And to every young person out there, you need to know that if you're in trouble, there are caring adults who can help.
I don't know what it's like to be picked on for being gay, but I do know what it's like to grow up feeling that sometimes you don't belong. It's tough. And for a lot of kids, the sense of being alone or apart I know it can just wear on you. And when you're teased or bullied, it can seem like somehow you brought it on yourself for being different or for not fitting in with everybody else.
But what I want to say is this, you are not alone. You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't do anything to deserve being bullied. And there is a whole world waiting for you, filled with possibilities. There are people out there who love you and care about you just the way you are.
And so, if you ever feel like because of bullying, because of what people are saying, that you're getting down on yourself, you've got to make sure you reach out to people you trust, whether it's your parents, teachers, folks that you know care about you just the way you are, you've got to reach out to them. Don't feel like you're in this by yourself.
The other thing you need to know is things will get better. And more than that, with time, you're going to see that your differences are a source of pride and a source of strength. You'll look back on the struggles you faced with compassion and wisdom.
And that's not just going to serve you but it will help you get involved in making this country a better place. It will mean that you'll be more likely to help fight discrimination not just against LGBT Americans, but discrimination in all its forms.
It means you'll be more likely to understand personally and deeply why it's so important that as adults we set examples in our own live and we treat everybody with respect, that we are able to see the world through other people's eyes and stand in their shoes, that we never lose sight of what binds us together.
As a nation, we're founded on the belief that all of us are equal and each of us deserves the freedom to pursue our own version of happiness, to make the most of our talents, to speak our minds, to not fit in. Most of all, to be true to ourselves. That's the freedom that enriches all of us. That's what America is all about. And every day it gets better. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A message from the commander in chief on bullying.
I'm Don Lemon. The CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.
