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President Obama's Future on the Line?; Warren Buffett's Potential Successor; Teachers Face Federal Prosecution if Kids are Bullied Under Their Care

Aired October 26, 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: I'm Ali Velshi, with you for the next hour. Here's what I've got "On the Rundown."

Two years into his presidency, President Obama's party is facing a possible Republican sweep. Other presidents have been in the same boat. Some sank, some kept swimming.

What does President Obama have to do to survive, to get reelected in 2012?

In Iraq, an unexpected death sentence for Saddam Hussein's former right-hand man, Tariq Aziz.

And Alexandra Cousteau moving the family business from the ocean to dry land, traveling across North America. But her mission is still all about saving the water.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: President Obama is facing a possible Republican landslide in Congress, and he's got sinking popularity ratings, which, by the way, as some of you have pointed out to me on Twitter, yes, there are some polls that show that his popularity ratings have actually increased in the last little while.

However, the point is they're not that high right now. Is his future as bleak as some pundits say? We're going to look at some historical perspective next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. When the dust settles from the midterm elections, don't be surprised if you start hearing these questions: Is President Obama going to try to work with what may be a Republican- controlled House, and is he going to have the power, the influence and the support to run for a second term?

Some Republicans and others may have already written him off, but consider this new poll from the Pew Research Center. Compared to other recent presidents, it is not as dire as it might seem to some people.

Now, take a look. That's the top line: "Would you like to see President Obama run for re-election?" Forty-seven percent say yes, 42 percent say no, 11 percent say they don't know.

This is not a popularity -- this is not his approval rating. This is just a poll asking, would you like to see him run for re- election? Now, they compared this to polls that were taken with four prior presidents, not including president George W. Bush, two years into their first term.

In December of 1994, the same question was asked of President Bill Clinton. Fewer people thought he should run again and his -- the people who said no were a majority, or were more of them.

George H. W. Bush had 53 percent. That was higher than what President Obama has right now. He didn't win, as you recall.

Ronald Reagan, 36 percent, and he went on to win a landslide second term.

And in 1978, Jimmy Carter had the approval of 50 percent wanting him to run. He didn't win after that.

So, very interesting when you look at how predictive these things are at the beginning of the second half of the term.

Now, if you're keeping up with President Obama's schedule of late, his hopscotching around the country, you'd think he was running for re-election. Considering what's at stake, it's not really a surprise that he's been hard on the campaign trail. But right now, let's look beyond the midterms.

If the Republicans gain control of the House, which many people expect, or many polls expect, what's Mr. Obama going to do? Is he going to try to reach out and work with them, or is he going to take a more combative role?

And what about 2012? Has he got enough support? Will he have enough support inside at outside D.C. to try to run for re-election?

Joining us now from Washington, our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, with some insight into this -- Paul.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You know, Ali, I love poll numbers more than anybody else. Right? I use them all the time when I talk to you on air, but these numbers, similar numbers by Gallup just the other day, and by us here at CNN.

We did a poll back in August on 2012. It's just still so early.

As you said, look, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan had worst numbers at this time, and they went on to win re-election. It's a long way away, two years from now, and so much can change. The economy can rebound. It's just a whole different ballgame. So, please, let's take these numbers with a grain of salt.

But you're absolutely right, the key question is, what happens over the next two years? Does President Barack Obama work with a Congress that could be controlled by Republicans, as Bill Clinton did with the Republicans when they stormed back and won control of Congress in '94, or are we going to see worse gridlock than we already have?

Ali.

VELSHI: All right. So what do you think is likely to happen at this point? I know you've got to be very predictive about this, and you've got to take these numbers with a grain of salt.

But we have gone through a Congress which is very, very partisan by virtue of the way they voted on everything over the last 50 years. We're now going to go into a Congress that may be, by definition, gridlocked. It may be one House, maybe both chambers controlled by the Republicans, but probably the House and a Democratic president.

How is that likely to play out in terms of cooperation?

STEINHAUSER: Well, it could be like 1995 and '96 when, actually, President Clinton and the Republicans who controlled Congress actually got along. They agreed to some major, major ticket items. But it doesn't appear that way right now.

It appears both sides are more partisan than they were back in the mid '90s. You have got this presidential election, a 2012 election, that's going to be kind of hovering over anything that happens in Congress the next two years. And let's weigh in the Tea Party factor from the Tea Party movement, which doesn't seem to want to negotiate.

You may have a number of Tea Party candidates winning in November, winning next week, and they may not really be inclined to listen to party leaders and try to negotiate with Democrats. It could be very, very difficult.

And again, the economy, if it stays the way it is, it could just really make things worse. You have got a lot of things where the Republicans and Democrats don't agree.

Republicans are calling on repealing the new health care law, and on government spending, and on reducing taxes. You've got a lot of differences, wide differences between these two parties -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. Paul, good to see you, as always, my friend.

Paul Steinhauser in Washington.

Warren Buffett, one of the world's richest men, may be hinting at a successor. We're going to tell you all about the new guy coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: You got questions? We've got answers.

My colleague Stephanie Elam is heading up the Help Desk. She, along with other money-minded folks, are answering your personal finance questions.

Stephanie, take it away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the Help Desk, where we get answers to your financial questions.

Joining me this hour, Amanda Gengler -- she's with "Money" magazine -- and Gary Schatsky. He's a financial planner and president of Objective Advice.

Let's get right to our first question which comes from Elizabeth in Texas. And she writes, "I have $1,000 in an old mutual fund my grandparents started from years ago. It doesn't seem to change in value significantly and I don't contribute to it. Should I liquidate it so I could start a college fund for my 1-year-old? I can contribute $50 a month to either investment option.

What do you think, Gary?

GARY SCHATSKY, PRESIDENT, OBJECTIVEADVICE.COM: Well, first of all, contributing for a college fund is a great idea. The real question is, look at the investment. How has it performed? If it hasn't gone anywhere in the last set of years, well, that's not a bad rate of return given where the market is.

And then the second question is, what would the tax implication be of selling it? If perhaps it's gone up over all of the years she's held it, you have to understand that she is going to have to pay tax when she closes it out. So, contribute to the college savings plan going forward, but the decision on whether to sell this one will depend on the performance of the fund and the tax implication of the sale.

ELAM: So treat them as separate entities.

SCHATSKY: Absolutely.

ELAM: All right.

Let's take a look at our question coming in from Jim in North Carolina. And he writes, "We have too many credit cards, some obtained when given with an instant 10 to 15 percent off a purchase. We want to eliminate/cancel some cards without hurting our superior credit score."

What's the best way about getting rid of some of this credit for them?

AMANDA GENGLER, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: Well, first, you don't necessarily have to close them. He can just put them in a drawer and not use them, because credit experts say that you actually end up hurting your score more when you close a lot of accounts at once than helping it. And that -- people generally don't understand that. So, if he is adamant about closing them, maybe if it's just too hard to keep track of all of them, the best thing is to keep the oldest accounts open, and to do it gradually over time, maybe one every few months. So definitely don't close all of them at once.

ELAM: It will hurt your credit score.

GENGLER: Exactly.

ELAM: All right.

Well, the Help Desk is all about getting you answers. Send us an e-mail to CNNHelpDesk@CNN.com. Or log on to CNN.com/helpdesk to see more of our financial solutions.

You can also pick up the latest issue of "Money" magazine. It's on newsstands now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Thank you, Stephanie.

Warren Buffett, a name you all know, one of the biggest names in business, may be giving clues as to a potential successor, something that's important to a lot of people because a lot of people are fascinated by the way he invests.

Just to keep you in the know, Warren Buffett is the third richest guy in the world, estimates of $47 billion of net worth. He runs Berkshire Hathaway, a huge company that owns everything from Geico to Fruit of Loom, to Russell brands. They also have big investments in a lot of companies that you've heard of like American Express, Nike, Procter & Gamble.

The thing is, Warren Buffett is 80 years old. So he's named this new guy, Todd Combs, as an investment manager. And that fuels speculation of a potential successor.

Todd Combs is a 39-year-old hedge fund guy from Castle Point Capital. The real story is whether he is in line to be Warren Buffett's successor.

Who better to ask than my good friend, co-host of "YOUR $$$$$," Christine Romans?

What do you think?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I've been consulting with Warren Buffett about what he should do. No.

Look, one person can't take over for Warren Buffett, and I think that shareholders understand that. And I think that Warren Buffett has sort of said there are two parts to this business. Right? Well, there are many parts to this business.

There's a CEO function and there's also the investments. And what's been missing, what we haven't known, is who would take over the investments.

VELSHI: Right, which, by the way, is the bigger concern to most people. Right.

ROMANS: Yes. This is the big -- this is the enchilada.

And, you know, he's 80 years old. He's got other people who are incredibly astute managers. Charlie Munger is one of them, several others who help him run the other part of the business, or the insurance parts of the business and the like.

Let's talk about Todd Combs.

OK. So, he's a hedge fund manager, runs a $400 million hedge fund. He's got background in financial services and insurance -- we know those are two very important parts of the puzzle for Warren Buffett -- an undergraduate degree from Florida State.

In 2002, he got an MBA from Columbia. And he seems to be publicity shy. We don't even have a picture of this guy.

VELSHI: Oh, no kidding?

ROMANS: And that sort of makes it -- you know, it's an interesting dynamic here. Warren Buffett having nothing but good things to say about him here today, and I'm sure the next shareholder letter will be very detailed --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Well, here's the interesting thing. A lot of investment strategies are the kind of thing you can do on a computer. You can figure it out. There's a formula. With Warren Buffett's, it's not.

ROMANS: That's right.

VELSHI: He likes companies for specific reasons, and there are entire mutual funds and investment firms that do business just bragging about how they emulate Warren Buffett.

So, what Warren Buffett says and thinks is a secret sauce.

ROMANS: It really is. And it looks as though this guy, Todd Combs, has avoided a lot of the sort of disasters of the past few years.

He's relatively young, which makes sense, because Warren Buffett, you know, he's 80. He doesn't want to tap somebody who is only available to run his company a few years. He'd like to put a team in place, Ali, that will be able to run this company well for many, many years, because he's concerned about his shareholders and he's concerned about the stability and solidity of this company.

VELSHI: Do you remember during the height of the tech stuff, when we were reporting on it, and Warren Buffett --

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: A new economy. Oh, yes --

VELSHI: He did not want a part of the new economy. He did not want a part of the tech bubble. He thought it was a bubble, and people said Warren Buffett has finally gone off his rocker by avoiding -- by missing the tech boom, the Internet boom.

ROMANS: Yes.

VELSHI: Maybe not so crazy, huh?

ROMANS: Well, but he --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Right, he did. And by the way, he may have overstated at the time how not worth it the tech boom was because, really, 30 percent, 40 percent of our economy is still all of that technology.

But the fact is he does something that's important to a lot of people, more important now than it was even five years ago. He focuses on preservation of his investment.

ROMANS: Right, exactly.

VELSHI: So, what's more important than getting the big get is not losing everything.

ROMANS: Do you think one person can take over for Warren Buffett, or do you think that we'll see several people who will be sort of the --

VELSHI: Well, I think if you're a 39-year-old guy with a track record of good investing in a fashion similar to Warren Buffett's, and then you're going to spend several years over dinner and conversations --

ROMANS: Proving yourself. And proving yourself.

VELSHI: Well, I think it's a combination of proving yourself and sitting around with Warren Buffett a lot, and trying to get some of that juice. And then I think that combination, maybe.

ROMANS: I just want to be clear. I was joking about consulting with Warren Buffett. He's not consulting with me. I just want to make sure that --

VELSHI: He should be. He should be.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: Christine, great to see you, as always.

ROMANS: Bye, Ali. VELSHI: Christine is my co-host on "YOUR $$$$$," which you can watch Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

Fifty percent of kids say they have been bullies, and nearly as many have been victims of bullies. Now teachers and administrators could be in violation of federal law if the kids who are under their care are bullied.

I'll tell you about it when I get back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Well, a first of its kind bullying survey is out. The results are scary.

Nearly half of all kids say that they've been bullied, teased or taunted in a way that seriously upset them at least once. Let's break down the numbers from the Ethics of American Youth Survey. It's done by the Josephson Institute of Ethics. This is a nonprofit-based group in L.A. that surveys teens on conduct and behavior.

Now, surprisingly, this is the first year that they've been asked about bullying. We're looking at the Web page there, so don't try and read that.

They surveyed more than 43,000 teens between 15 and 18 years old from 78 public schools and 22 private schools. Fifty percent say that they had bullied someone at least once. Forty-seven percent said they were victims of bullying that seriously upset them. Forty-seven percent of kids age 15 to 18 say they were the victims of bullying that seriously upset them.

The survey also found that 52 percent of kids have hit someone in anger in the last year. And we can't ignore the children who have taken their own lives over the last year or two due to bullying.

Now educators are being held accountable. The teachers are on notice.

According to this 10-page letter sent to thousands of school districts and universities, the Department of Education wants to make sure that teachers and professors know that they can be held accountable for bullying under federal law. This letter clarifies that certain types of bullying could violate federal anti- discrimination laws.

The letter came after a yearlong study of federal statutes and case law. It states that harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex or disability violates federal civil rights laws, and the letter cites for statutes in particular: the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Education Amendments of 1972, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The letter also talks about the different forms of harassment like verbal acts, name-calling, graphic and written statements, both online and on cell phones, and "other conduct that may be physically threatening, harmful or humiliating." The letter even gives hypothetical examples of how kids are harassed -- and that's helpful -- and how teachers and administrators should react, something that has been sorely lacking.

Specifically, the letter shows that gay and lesbian kids are protected under Title IX, that prohibits harassment of both male and female students regardless of the sex of the harasser. Let me say that again. Gay students who are harassed are protected under Title IX according to this letter from the U.S. Department of Education. That's the education amendment that's been in place, by the way, since 1972, Title IX.

It's not just about witnessing harassment. Teachers will also be held responsible for tolerating, not adequately addressing, encouraging or ignoring harassment.

Now, to read the complete letter for yourself -- and it's worth it -- head to my blog. I'll link you to it -- CNN.com/Ali. And I want to hear from you. Leave comments on my blog or on my Facebook page, Facebook.com/AliVelshiCNN.

OK. If you're only interested in the outcome of your state in this midterm election, heads up. What happens in other states could affect what happens in your own state.

We'll explain right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Midterm elections are all about who gains control of the House and Senate. With some key state battles thrown into the mix there are governors running for re-election. That's certainly one take you get from all the chatter on the campaign trail.

But something else very important is happening as well. This one affects you. It's redistricting. Here are the nuts and bolts of redistricting. It's required by the U.S. Constitution. It ensures that House members have roughly an equal population in each of their districts. It occurs every ten years, and it occurs alongside the national census. The process is done by state legislators and governors.

Now, in this midterm election, 18 states may gain or lose House seats as a result of redistricting. The total change is expected to be 24 seats. Key states involved include New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Some of the most populous states, obviously.

Our national political correspondent Jessica Yellin has been digging deeper and deeper into the process of redistricting. She joins us now from Denver. Jessica, if this is based on the census, why does it matter who is in power in any of the states that have to be redistricted?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Such a good question, and you did a really good job explaining that, Ali. It's because where those lines are drawn -- because we have to figure out where the districts are based on where the most people are. But it's not a straightforward process. Legislatures and governors draw the lines, and that can be done in a political way. So, you can put more Republicans in a district or more Democrats in a district to ensure that one party or the other will win. It's likely if your legislature is controlled by one party, they're more likely to make sure the seat picked up in their state, for example, is controlled by their party.

So, you want to make sure there is some sort of a balance. Otherwise, political manipulation can and always has taken place. It's just part of the system.

VELSHI: All right. So, what are voters who are looking for a reason to vote -- let me rephrase this because voters in many cases are not looking for a reason to vote, and that's part of the problems with these midterms. I perhaps am looking for giving people reasons to vote. What should they think about when making a decision about going out to vote when it comes to redistricting?

YELLIN: Let me break this down. So, in a state like Ohio, which stands to lose two seats -- it looks like right now Ohio is going to lose two seats. Well, imagine if after the election in a few days from now, the Republicans win control of the House of Representatives, but only by one vote. It's very narrow, okay?

So, they've won by one vote. Well, in Ohio alone, if those two seats that are lost are two Republicans, eventually, the Republicans would lose control of the House without your vote or my vote just because Ohio let those two seats that were owned by Republicans, controlled by Republicans, go away.

So, you have to keep in mind that this whole redistricting process will affect what the total makeup of the House of Representatives will look like after the next election. And it doesn't even depend on how you vote in your state. It could be up to how other people vote in their states if their redistricting means more changes. It's a very -- it's a big chess game.

VELSHI: It is a big chess game, but it does underscore the fact if you want to have an impact on what's going on out there, you should still go out and vote next Tuesday, one week from today.

Jessica, good to see you as always. Thanks very much. My good friend, Jessica Yellin, joining me from Denver.

You will not believe how many new species have been discovered in the Amazon. A range of eye-popping colors and probably entirely new ways to kill you. We'll tell you about it when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Really, most of us who are watching this today take water for granted. If you turn on the tap, it's there. Kind of like electricity. But all over the United States, all over this continent and in fact around the world, there are critical water issues. There are shortages. There is pollution. Water is not always in the right place where you need it to be.

Today's "Mission Possible," we're trying to raise awareness about levels -- or at least awareness levels about water levels or water availability.

Joining me now is Alexandra Cousteau, the team founder and founder of Expedition Blue Planet 2010. The founder of Blue Legacy which is a nonprofit. She has returned from a -- about a four month trip?

ALEXANDRA COUSTEAU, TEAM LEADER/FOUNDER, BLUE LEGACY: Yes.

VELSHI: You've been on a bus, a biodiesel bus, by the way. Because buses use a lot of fuel. You've been on this bus traveling around, studying, documenting along with National Geographic, the water picture basically in north America. Tell me what you found.

COUSTEAU: Well, I'll tell you we have some of the biggest water issues I have ever seen right here in North America. The water in our own backyards needs a lot of attention.

VELSHI: This is not something everybody really thinks about.

COUSTEAU: No. We have what we call a myth of abundance in the United States. If we have water issues, we can throw money at it, technology at it and fix it. But is, the truth is the Colorado river no longer reach the sea and hasn't for over a decade. That's something most people don't know, but it's something that indicates we can break one of the most important cultural and historical and important rivers in the United States.

VELSHI: Is there a trend -- the right way or the wrong way in terms of water? Has some degree of awareness the last few years stemmed some of the damage we're doing to waterways and water systems?

COUSTEAU: I think we're starting to come to that realization. One of the most hopeful parts of this tour has been meeting with water heroes in communities along the way. Just your everyday people who say, you know what? We've lost our water treasures, and we're going to take our water back. They've within working tirelessly just in their own little towns and cities to reclaim the water that's been lost to pollution or rivers that no longer run, and rivers that are so polluted that fish can't be eaten out of them.

VELSHI: It's hard to be a water hero when it's not an accepted problem.

COUSTEAU: Yes.

VELSHI: Right? There are parts of the world where I understand what a water hero is because this is saving people from walking five miles with two buckets and carrying water. We don't see that picture in America. So, if you could draw me that picture, why would you be a water hero in America? What are the dangers? What's happening? COUSTEAU: Well, we started with the Colorado River. We spent a month going from the headwaters in the Rocky Mountains all the way to the Sea of Cortez. This is a river that is entirely over-allocated to the very last drop and no longer reaches the sea, and entire ecosystems have collapsed. And when ecosystems collapse, the communities that depend on those ecosystems are broken.

We were in the Gulf of Mexico, everybody knows what happened there. Those people are suffering enormously from the loss of their livelihoods and loss of their culture and their way of life. And in the Southeast, where we get the vast majority of our energy from coal- fired power plants, there's so much mercury in too many of those rivers that people can't fish and eat the fish out of their own rivers.

This is impacting communities across the United States in one way or another. And the problem is that we don't recognize that we live on a water planet. We depend on the hydrosphere. Our weather is regulated by the water, too much or not enough. Making sure that we know in our own communities where our water comes from, what happens to it as it flows through our lives and our communities, and who is downstream from us and what kind of water they're getting after we're done with it is the most important thing we all need to be aware of.

VELSHI: I would say --because we can't oversimplify your work, obviously. This is your life's work and the life's work of your family. What is the best thing my viewers can do to -- should they educate themselves first on it? Because these are all different problems that all contribute to the damage we're doing to our hydrosystems.

COUSTEAU: Absolutely. We need to go beyond turning off the tap when we brush our teeth because water is a local issue.

We've been telling stories every day for the past four months in communities across North America. We've done that with nationalgeographic.com and alexandracousteau.com. So, stories from these communities are there if people want to learn about what other communities are doing and what other issues communities are facing. But he most important thing you can do is to know where your water comes from. What watershed do you live in, and what happens to it? That gives us a lot of exciting ways to be involved and be part of the solution.

VELSHI: In other words, know it doesn't just come from the tap.

COUSTEAU: Exactly.

VELSHI: Sort of the same problem with electricity. Know doesn't come from the switch or the plug. It comes from somewhere, and just understand the implication of it.

Alexandra, what a pleasure to have you on the show. Thank you so much for being with us.

COUSTEAU: Thank you. VELSHI: Alexandra Cousteau is the team leader of Expedition Blue Planet. If want a link to all of those Web sites she just talked about, go to my blog. I'll put them up there and you can to them. Just learn about it a little bit. That will go a long way toward solving some of this trouble.

OK. Don't expect to see President Pbama hopscotching across the country on election eve. Ed Henry is outside the White House, standing by. He's going to tell us just how the president plans to help his fellow Democrats without leaving home. Ed's up in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Okay. Let's go to the White House. Ed Henry, our senior White House correspondent, is standing by. He's got the scoop on where the president is going to be on election day, or the day before and how he's going to continue to help people without hitting the campaign trail. Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, interesting. Yes, we're picking up from Democratic officials that on Monday, the president is going to stay right here, not do any more campaigning. But he's going to be doing a series of satellite TV interviews, basically hitting markets where there are key Senate races, maybe a couple of House races and governorships where he can really make a difference. So, it's likely you'll see him doing, say, satellite interviews in, say, Denver where there's a big Colorado Senate race. Seattle, a big race for Patty Murray. California with Barbara Boxer, and so on.

The point is that senior Democrats in the party think it's a lot better to get the president in front of a TV camera, have him hit maybe 10, 12 markets in a few hours whereas Air Force one can only hit so many states in one day. He's made his case. He's crisscrossed the country, and we should point out this weekend, he's hitting four more states. So, it's not like he's not going to be campaigning, but specifically he's going to be staying here at the White House and doing a whole lot of these satellite interviews.

VELSHI: All right. What else is going on that you've got, Ed?

HENRY: Well, interesting, he's also adding another stop on Friday. We knew that on Saturday he'd be hitting three states. He's going to Connecticut, Pennsylvania and then his home of Illinois. Sleeping in Chicago and then waking up and going to Ohio, big rally in Cleveland. That was already on the books.

We've just learned a short time ago the president will be going to Charlottesville, Virginia, this Friday. Just added this stop, trying to help an endangered Democratic Congressman. A freshman, Tom Perriello, Virginia's fifth district. Bottom line, is this is a freshman who just barely won by less than a thousand votes in 2008 and since then in a very conservative Virginia district has voted for stimulus, health care reform, a lot of key pieces of the Obama agenda. He's facing a tough race. This is sort of a thank you from the president. There's a lot of of Democrats who think Tom Perriello is one of many endangered Democrats likely to lose, but they feel that maybe having the president go there in the final days might make the difference. Maybe save that seat, Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Ed. And finally, the president on Al Sharpton's radio show.

HENRY: Yes, he's going to be up in the next hour doing a little bit of talk radio with Al Sharpton around the country. Interesting because you'll remember late last week, the president also did an interview with a Latino radio talk show host in Los Angeles.

This is all about trying to turn out the Democratic base. Doing talk radio, Latino host, now a key African-American leader in Al Sharpton. We're told after this radio interview later tonight, president, the DNC chairman Tim Kaine and others will be on the phone with Al Sharpton strategizing about exactly how to turn out the African-American vote.

There are some key states where that will be important, key states where the Hispanic vote will be important. I was just in Nevada with the president on Friday and Harry Reid -- you realize that in Nevada, about 25 percent of the public, of the voting public is Hispanic. But only about half of that Hispanic population is sort of regular voters, people likely to turn out.

So, the key is to get those that are registered to vote, get them to the polls. It could make the different in some of these key races.

VELSHI: All right, Ed. Good to see you as always. And as I told you earlier, excellent shirt/tie/suit combination -- and any other time you want to borrow a suit from me, just let me know.

HENRY: It's a little Velshi-esque. It's a little Velshi-esque.

VELSHI: It's a little Velshi-esque. Looks excellent.

Good to see you, my friend. We'll be talk everyday between now and the election. It's one week away.

And we want to get you updated on all the developing stories from the campaign trail. CNN senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash, part of The Best Political Team on Television, and the best part about it is she's right here next to me!

DANA BASH, CNN SNEIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali.

VELSHI: Great to see you in person again. We're often like two ships passing in the election. What have you got?

BASH: First of all, want tell you about -- you know what the GOP stands for, right?

VELSHI: Grand Old Party. BASH: Except the party part -- forget that, at least for night of election. That's what House Republicans are telling me. They sent out this invitation, here's a copy of it that we obtained. It talks about the fact they want volunteers and staffers to come to a big hotel on election night, but are cautioning they don't want this to look like a party.

VELSHI: Why not?

BASH: They say the Republican leader, John Boehner, even though very well could be on election night he could be the next speaker of the House, he doesn't want to have that kind of atmosphere. He wants to set a tone, I'm told, that makes clear to the American people that they get in the Republican party that Americans are so angry at everybody, including Republicans. Especially the Republican establishment.

VELSHI: I see. So, if you win on protest vote or anger vote, you don't want to make that look like you missed the message.

BASH: And they remember the pictures from back in 2006 with Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emanuel in particular dancing on the stage. They don't want that.

VELSHI: All right. That's interesting.

All right. Rhode Island, the guy running for governor in Rhode Island telling President Obama to shove it after not getting the endorsement he was hoping for.

BASH: He sort of showed -- he put his money - his actions where his words were, I think it's best to say. Frank Caprio - he did, as you say, tell the president to shove it. There was a seat for him at the event that the president was at in Rhode Island yesterday. He didn't go. He didn't come. He was a complete no show, and apparently later a spokesman for the Caprio campaign said that he toured seven local small businesses in the afternoon. He had better things to do than sit with the president who wasn't endorsing him.

VELSHI: Well, that's a good argument. In fact, I would think in a campaign, not a bad thing to do. We should probably clear that all up before you don't show up. In other words, let them take the seat off.

BASH: And the White House, according to some Democratic sources, they were mad at the White House for even going when they knew this was brewing.

VELSHI: Weird situation in Harry Reid's race. Already a tight, complicated race with pretty much everything you could throw into it. Now, there's a new twist to the story.

BASH: This is something that Harry Reid did not want or need at all. What happened was an aide to Harry Reid abruptly left his office, campaign who worked for his office earlier yesterday. It turns out that that aide had arranged a marriage -- she had married somebody, a Lebanese man. And it was to give that man citizenship.

That happened apparently back in 2003. This aide, Diana Tejada, just started working for Harry Reid in 2008. This happened long ago. The Reid campaign found out about it, and she no longer works for the campaign.

Now, they made clear inside the Reid campaign they think this is absolutely wrong, that she never should have done this, even though she was apparently quite young at the time. They also say this story, which Ali, first posted on FoxNews.com was in the words of Jim Manly, the Reid campaign spokesman, "a Republican opposition hit job." And this was just the opposition --

VELSHI: Was she senior?

BASH: She was a senior. What she was doing was reaching out to the Hispanic media. That was her job. She was a deputy press secretary in charge of that.

VELSHI: OK. Interesting, though. That really becomes an issue as to how far out from the candidate do the ethics of the people involved count in a campaign? It's an interesting story.

BASH: We knew it was going to get ugly in every race. We knew it was going to get especially ugly in Nevada and, boy, is it.

VELSHI: Dana, good to see you, as always. We'll spend the next few days together, hopefully. Dana Bash, our senior congressional correspondent

You won't believe how many new species have been discovered in the Amazon. A range of eye-popping colors, and probably some entirely new ways to kill you that I'm going to tell you about when we come back.

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VELSHI: Right now in Japan, the U.N. is hosting its convention on biodiversity, aimed at protecting the amazing plant and animal life that exists around the world. Turns out it's even more diverse than they or we knew.

The conservation group WWF -- World Wildlife Fund, by the way - has just put out a report a decade in the making. It lays out more than 1,200 species of ants - I'm sorry, of plants and animals discovered in the Amazon since 1999. That's a rate of one every three days. Everything from giant river otters to cappy berras (ph) to a new type of pink dolphin.

Some of these newly deiscovered species not cute and cuddly. Meet the blue fang. It's a tarantula. He's listed as, quote, "aggressive." And his defense mechanism is flinging stinging hairs at you.

No such defense for the bald parrot, who I think is my favorite, by the way. We can't see his head. He's bald. Come on! Let's see a picture of his head. WWF calls the chrome dome extraordinary. Sadly, it is listed as near threatened. Its small population declining due to habitat loss.

Scientists say an acre of the Amazon is lost everyday to logging or other development. Overall, in the last 15 years we've destroyed 17 percent of the Amazon forest, an area bigger than California.

The American dream meets the American pastime. We're talking baseball next in my "XYZ."

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

Tomorrow, the San Francisco giants and Texas Rangers meet at the Giants' home field for game one of the World Series. The fact that both Major League teams have been waiting years even for a chance to play the sports season finale makes this year pretty special.

But let me focus on the Texas Rangers, if you permit me. Sorry, Giants fans. I'll get to you guys later on.

This is the first time ever the Rangers have made it to the World Series, and that's even more remarkable when you have consider how much financial turmoil this franchise has experienced in recent past. The Rangers have been a metaphor for the American Dream gone awry. Years of loose lending and free spending leading to almost total financial collapse. It's a story familiar to millions of Americans who have lost jobs or facing foreclosure on their homes. We all know too well how bad it can get.

Well, similarly, the Rangers have been reeling from the pain of years of financial mismanagement under a former owner Tom Hicks, who reportedly defaulted on a $525 million loan for the team, pushing the franchise to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Only recently, the team has started to see the light at the ends of the tunnel when a consortium of investors led by the greatest pitcher of all time, longtime Texas Ranger Nolan Ryan offered to buy the team for more than $500 million.

So, it's amazing to see the Rangers rise up this year to baseball's highest heights despite the financial mess it had gotten itself into. It's even more amazing when you consider much of the year, the team had been consumed by negotiations with creditors amid reports that it was hard-pressed to even make its payroll. That's tough on players.

Whether you're rooting for Rangers or the Giants over the next week, truly, it's remarkable to see a team like the Rangers wade through such difficulty and still reach the pinnacle of baseball success. May the best team win, and may the hopeful example within America's pastime inspire many out there who may be losing faith in our American Dream.

That's it for me. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Brooke Baldwin.