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21st Century Slavery; Jail Time for No-Show Parents;

Aired November 09, 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. I'm with you for the next hour.

Here's what's on the "Rundown."

A Detroit prosecutor pushing for a law to put parents in jail if they don't show up for their parent/teacher conferences.

A legend drops by our studio -- John Legend. The Grammy-winning songwriter, singer, actor and philanthropist is here with a message about giving and a life lesson for college students.

And President Obama returns to the country where he spent part of his childhood. We're catching up with a few old friends who remember him as a youngster in Indonesia.

But here's our big story today. It's a shocking story.

Here's a quote I'm going to start with: "American children are being marketed and sold for sex in American cities." That's a quote from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It's a fact that none of us like to think about, but advocates and local cops and federal agents think about it every day, and that's how we get to stories like this: a coast-to-coast crackdown on adults who have allegedly forced kids as young as 12 years old into sexual slavery.

Operation Cross Country V went down over three days in 40 cities involving more than 2,000 law enforcement officers at every level. They're all part of a nationwide network called Innocence Lost, and their latest sweep rescued 69 children and underage teens. Almost 900 adults have been arrested, at least 98 of them alleged pimps.

Now, since Innocence Lost was launched in 2003, 1,250 kids have been saved, 625 traffickers tried and convicted. The numbers are staggering, but we want to understand how this happens and how the good guys stop it.

Kevin Perkins joins me now. He's the assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division. He joins me from our studios in Washington.

Kevin, this operation has a "V" in front of it. That means it's the fifth one that you've -- the fifth sweep that you've done like this? KEVIN PERKINS, ASSIST. DIR., FBI'S CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION: That's correct, Ali. And it won't be the last. As long as we have child victims out on the streets, and as long as we have people perpetrating this type of a crime, we'll keep working to clean the streets of these folks.

VELSHI: The numbers are a bit staggering, though. In America, we have kids who are put into child slavery, put into sexual slavery.

What's the profile of the victims? What's the profile of these kids?

PERKINS: Many of these kids, they can be runaways, they can be children that are suffering from some type of substance abuse issue. Essentially, they are kids from dysfunctional backgrounds who are targeted, specifically targeted by individuals, and lured into this type of trade. They're lured in either by drugs or alcohol, or basic necessities of life -- food and shelter.

VELSHI: You mentioned earlier when we talked that you have rescued kids as young as 11 years old. Where are the parents?

PERKINS: In many cases, there aren't. In many cases -- in most cases, these kids are coming from a dysfunctional type of background. And we rely heavily after the fact on various social service agencies, Child Protective Services, to assist us in finding safe environments for these kids after this is over with.

VELSHI: And how is this -- how does this happen? Who takes control of these kids? How do they ends up in sexual slavery?

PERKINS: What happens is, these individuals, the people who perpetrate this crime, will target these individuals. They'll lure them in with some type of enticement. And then when you think about it, to a 13-year-old or 14-year-old, the world is a big place.

They're moved from city to city many times, town to town. And they get into a position where they rely on these people for their very existence. And they're afraid and they're scared of trying to leave. And so that's why these types of operations, with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, with our state and local partners, are vital to rescuing these kids and bringing them to safety.

VELSHI: How many of these -- what proportion would you say of these kids are reported as missing? I know it's missing and exploited, and they all fall into the exploited category. But in some cases, have these kids disappeared either undetected or uncared for, and they're living in another city, doing what they're doing, without somebody actually looking for them?

PERKINS: That's a big concern for us, because we do run across those types of situations where a child goes missing and nobody knows. We come across these children when we do these sweeps and they have no background. They have no one to claim them. It's a very sad situation, and it just goes to show you how vulnerable some of these children are.

VELSHI: All right. Good work on this. Thanks so much for joining us on this. And congratulations on another -- a fifth successful sweep.

Kevin Perkins is the assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division in Washington.

Singer-songwriter John Legend is passionate about education. When he talks about it, he's not one to hold back. That's today's "Sound Effect."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN LEGEND, SINGER-SONGWRITER: I feel like education is so important when we talk about making this country one where equal opportunity is real, making this country one where justice is real, social justice. And when we talk about fighting poverty and breaking the cycle of poverty, we feel like education is the key to doing that.

And for too long in this country, where you lived, where you grew up, what neighborhood you're from, what color your skin is, the income your parents have determine what kind of an education you were able to get in this country. And we believe the only way for us to have true equal opportunity in this country is to make sure every kid has access to a quality education.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: That's a bit of my conversation with John Legend from last hour. I'll have more on that interview just ahead.

And parents, you can either show up or get locked up. It's a bold new idea from one tough-as-nails prosecutor who's doing her part to help fix our schools. Her idea in her own words after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: A prosecutor in Detroit is proposing a unique way to fix our problems with public schools -- put parents in jail. You heard me right.

Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy is pushing for a new law that requires parents to attend at least one parent/teacher conference per year or possibly face three days in jail. Worthy's office says it would be the first law of its kind in the nation. She wants it to become a statewide law throughout Michigan, but she's starting by targeting just Detroit right now.

The proposed law has not made its way through the statehouse, let alone the county commission or the council, but it certainly is kicking up a lot of controversy. Wayne County Commissioner Laura Cox says Worthy's intentions are admirable, but the prospect of jailing parents is "inappropriate on a lot of levels."

Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown has another take on the plan. He says, "If you aren't involved in your child's education, and he or she is failing, it's child abuse."

I've been hearing a lot from you on my Facebook page. Go to it when you get a chance, Facebook.com/AliVelshiCNN, and post your comments, your thoughts on this idea. We've been getting quite a range.

Kym Worthy joins me now from Detroit to talk about this a little more.

Kym, thanks very much for being with us.

Did you mean this or were you just trying to be provocative?

KYM WORTHY, PROSECUTOR: No, I meant it. I'm not trying to be -- that's not my reputation.

Prosecutors have a key. Education is the key. And if these parents are not involved in their children's education, if the children are truant or not going to school, there's a high link that they're going to be involved with juvenile delinquency.

That's why prosecutors are very concerned, and I'm chief among that. I really believe that this can pass, and I hope it will pass. And it's not just going to jail if you miss one conference.

You have four opportunities to go to a conference within a year. And then it's even diverted then. And we offer services and all kinds of things to try to get that parent to understand the importance of getting their child in school. And if they refuse the services, if they don't go to a conference within four times a year, then jail is an option.

VELSHI: So you're not really as a prosecutor suspecting that you're going to see a lot of parents going to jail. You're suspecting that it's going to be more of a hassle to stay out of jail than to go to your kid's conference?

WORTHY: That's correct. And what people don't realize is there are already laws on the books in Michigan alone that can send you to jail for 30 days if you don't send your child to school. So, what I'm proposing is lot less stringent than some of the parental responsibilities that are on the books in most states.

For example, the government tells you, you have must have your child inside for curfew laws. The government tells you, you must have your child in a seatbelt or in a car seat. The government tells you that you have to send your child to school, at least in Michigan, from 6 to 16.

So, the government, people are saying, already tells you how to deal with your children anyway. So, this is not any more than what's already required by law.

VELSHI: What's the reaction been so far to your proposal?

WORTHY: Mixed. A lot of people like it. It's either hot and cold, no gray area.

A lot of people like it, or the people who don't talk about the government intrusion and that kind of thing. And I point out to them all the time what I said already. There are laws on the books that are much tougher than this already, and we already have parental responsibility laws on the books as well.

VELSHI: Was there something specifically that triggered you to think about this as a solution?

WORTHY: Yes, it was. There was a case that happened here some months ago, and we have now convicted the 12-year-old boy -- or 12- year-old adolescent -- 12-year-old person for committing blatant murder in the first degree on someone in the middle of the night at 2:30 in the morning.

And when the police went to that child's house, the parents had no idea where that child was. And I'm not saying he sneaked out one day. They had no clue where he had been for days.

VELSHI: Right.

WORTHY: And he hadn't been in school. He already had a school truancy conviction, or offense, on his record. And there goes that direct link.

VELSHI: All right. So you're talking a little bit about responsibility and discipline, and making sure we know where our young people are, in school. And public schools serve that purpose, if they're not fully educating everybody, as some critics would say. They are at least accounting for where these kids are and giving them some sense of being in one place.

WORTHY: That's right. When you choose to have children, we ought to take care of them. We ought to be responsible.

In other words -- let me also just say one more thing. You're exempt if your child is performing above average in all classes. I'm not talking about you. You're exempt if you're sick or infirm and you cannot get to that school.

VELSHI: OK.

WORTHY: And you're exempt if you're communicating with the school in some other matter -- e-mail, snail mail, phone calls. You're exempt as well. So we're truly talking about that parent who has no interest in or is not participating in their child's life, in their school life, in any way.

VELSHI: Right. Where is this proposal? Is it likely to face some sort of deliberation?

WORTHY: Well, I know Detroit City Council is looking at it very seriously. One suggestion that's been made is they might try to, instead of passing or writing a new ordinance, that they might try to attach it to the parental responsibility law that's already here on the books here in Detroit.

I'm going before the Wayne County Commission, I believe this week or next week. And I've also been to the Detroit Public School Board. I'm going to be going to other cities as well. I'm just starting with the largest city in my county.

VELSHI: All right.

Kym, thanks for joining us and explaining this in a little more detail. It doesn't sound as harsh when you talk about it as the headlines show it. But thank you for sharing that with us.

And remember to go on to my Facebook page and give me your sense of it. So far, it's like Kym says, people are on one side of this issue or another.

Kym Worthy a prosecutor in Wayne County, Michigan.

Well, you probably know John Legend as an entertainer, but when he showed up unannounced for a class at Howard University, it wasn't to sing. He'll tell us about his other passion on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

VELSHI: Man, that guy is good. John Legend is best known for his music, but he has been passionate about education for a long time.

He wrote the theme song for the documentary "Waiting for Superman." It's a new documentary about the need for education reform in the public education system. He even showed up unannounced at Howard University one day to lecture to a class on education in black America.

Earlier today, I asked him about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEGEND: Yes, that was fun. I got to surprise some of the students at Howard University in Washington, D.C. We talked about issues of civil rights and social justice, particularly as they pertain to the struggle for black Americans to get a quality education throughout the years.

And we had a great discussion. It was fun.

VELSHI: You said something interesting there. You avoid the soft bigotry of low expectations.

What did you mean by that?

LEGEND: Yes. I was actually stealing a quote from former President George W. Bush when he was talking about education reform. Part of the obstacle we have to overcome is that sometimes we expect too little from kids from poor neighborhoods and from the wrong side of the tracks. We expect them not to do well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: CNN -- one other note. John Legend will be one of the performers on this year's CNN Heroes tribute on Thanksgiving night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. Just a few moments ago I told you about this cruise ship that's stuck off the coast of Mexico.

This doesn't happen very much.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Not really.

VELSHI: It's very rare. Cruises are -- aside from the fact that it's a lot of people and sometimes they get sick on them, but that's very rare. Cruises tend to be very safe.

MYERS: You know what? You're a flyer.

VELSHI: I'm a flyer.

MYERS: I'm a cruiser.

VELSHI: Right. And I would love to be a cruiser. We just can't get cruises from Atlanta to New York.

MYERS: It's a long trip down the Chattahoochee. It's a bumpy one, too.

This boat was supposed to -- a Carnival cruise -- supposed to leave L.A., kind of bump along here, spend a couple days -- I looked at the itinerary -- "Fun Days at Sea."

VELSHI: OK. Well, they're having their fun days at sea right now.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: I'm not sure where that category gets in.

But a couple days at Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, back to Cabo and back home. Seven days, a lovely time.

VELSHI: Yes, sure.

MYERS: You get to eat and drink all you want, and everything is fun. And you send the kids to kids' club and they go down -- there's a 214 foot slide on this boat.

VELSHI: Wow.

MYERS: But it needs water to get pumped up to the top to go down, all the way down to the bottom. They don't have that.

VELSHI: So this fire breaks out in the back engine room, the aft engine room. And they're out of power?

MYERS: They're out of power because it's a diesel engine- generated boat. So, you know you see, like, a diesel engine train?

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: The diesel is burning to make power to give energy to the engines which are electric motors. With the motors to the wheels, the wheels go.

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: There's not a real diesel engine running a diesel train. Same idea here. When you get a fire and all of a sudden you've lost power, you've lost your generators, you've lost everything there is to have.

VELSHI: OK. So where are they now?

MYERS: They are just off the coast of Ensenada.

VELSHI: OK.

MYERS: And so they're not far.

VELSHI: So they're not way out in the middle of the ocean.

MYERS: They're 55 miles away from being towed in to Ensenada.

VELSHI: OK. All right.

MYERS: And the Coast Guard is there. They are sending supplies. They had food for the whole time.

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: The problem is that they can't cook anything. There's no heat, there's no air conditioning.

They did get running water back to the -- because I heard yesterday that there were no running water and there were no usable, flushing toilets. And I went, oh.

VELSHI: Oh, OK.

MYERS: Yes, that sounds like some kind of nightmare.

VELSHI: But they're close and they're safe.

MYERS: They are safe. Everything's fine. They're going to get towed back, they're going to get their money back. They're going to get another free cruise.

VELSHI: Good.

MYERS: But how do you get your week's vacation back from your company, right?

VELSHI: That's the problem, right.

MYERS: You have two weeks' vacation, you use one of them here, and you're stuck on a boat that doesn't go anywhere.

VELSHI: Oh well.

MYERS: Plus, too, when a boat starts to sit up against the waves, it can rock back and forth. It doesn't point itself into the waves. It rocks back and forth. And when you're out on the wave, you can actually get some -- maybe seasickness going on there.

VELSHI: But it sounds like it's going to have a good ending.

MYERS: It will be all right.

VELSHI: All right.

That's "Off the Radar" with Chad.

Hey, quick question. Where did President Obama spend several years of his childhood? If your answer is Hawaii, you're only partly right. I'll give you the full answer in "Globe Trekking" when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time now for "Globe Trekking." Our destination today is Indonesia, where President Obama is right now. And that's where he spent some four years of his early childhood before moving to Hawaii.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux traveled to Jakarta recently and spoke with some of the president's boyhood friends who knew him as "Barry."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Barack Obama lived in Jakarta, Indonesia, he was Barry Soetoro, the big kid with a big smile, always running around with the neighborhood boys.

INDRA MADEWA, CHILDHOOD FRIEND: Running and bicycle.

MALVEAUX: Indra Madewa was his friend who lived around the corner from Obama's first home.

MADEWA: Barry was a very energetic boy.

MALVEAUX (on camera): Energetic?

(voice-over): Obama's first house in Jakarta, where he lived for three years, is largely hidden behind concrete. (on camera): And they're paving the street now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I think --

MALVEAUX: His home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The street is --

MALVEAUX: For his arrival, yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think so.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Yes. For the last 40 years, a dirt road leading to Obama's home. Now, a makeover, with friendly neighbors eager to see the 6-year-old who grew up to become the American president.

Just down the street is Obama's first elementary school, a Catholic school, St. Francis of Assisi. Obama's first grade teacher remembers a sweet kid who helped her erase the blackboard.

ISRAELLA PAREIRA DHARMAWAN, FORMER OBAMA SCHOOL TEACHER (voice- over): His mother took him to school every day. She walked him to the front gate. Obama was a good listener.

MALVEAUX: She likes to think his success now has something to do with his Indonesian experience.

DHARMAWAN: His attitude, his leadership maybe comes from the neighborhood he used to live. Moteng Dalan (ph) was a small area, but full of diversity in every aspect. That might affect his personality as a president.

MALVEAUX: When his family moved into a more upscale neighborhood, 9-year-old Barry went to the Mesuki (ph) school. It's a public school that during the U.S. presidential campaign, some news outlets incorrectly labeled as a madrassa or radical Muslim school. His classmates here recall Obama stood out in many ways.

They say he was a Boy Scout, couldn't stand kids who cheated in sports, and he could hold his own.

(on camera): I understand he was teased a little bit because he looked different?

CITRA DEWI, OBAMA CLASSMATE: Yes. Some of the kids tease him, but he liked to tease also.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Four years living in Indonesia, and it seems everyone who knew Barry Soetoro has a story to tell.

For childhood friend Indra, it was a fight over a toy gun.

MADEWA: He take me very high and he lifted me and --

MALVEAUX (on camera): And dropped you? MADEWA: Yes.

MALVEAUX: So, if you see him, are you going to remind him that he picked you up and dropped you like this?

MADEWA: Yes, of course. Still pain, you know?

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Still hurting?

MADEWA: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: And Suzanne joins me now from New York.

Hey, that was interesting, what his teacher said about how he grew up in this diverse neighborhood, going to a Catholic school in a country that's a majority of Muslims. I was going to say Barry Soetoro -- Barack Obama writes about this in his book. He discusses the fact that there might have actually been, he says, some influence on his character by growing up and spending some time, spending four years, in this rich, diverse environment.

MALVEAUX: Sure. And Ali, one of the things that he talks about too -- he wrote about in his book. Sometimes talks about it in his speeches and documents during the campaign he talked about it, too, is Indonesia really made an impression as a young child, as a boy, because he grew up seeing poverty, seeing different kinds of people, the way they lived.

And going back to his homes in Indonesia relatively, they lived fairly well compared to some of the neighbors. But you did get a chance to see some of the pictures of those homes there. One was really a kind of garden type home where it was open to the sky, and he had a lot of pets. He had a lot of friends. So, they were doing relatively well. But he was exposed at an early age to people who didn't have a lot and would come and play with them. So those are the kinds of things, I think, the lessons he took away from Indonesia. And his teacher mentions that as well.

VELSHI: All right. So, it took his visit to get the road paved, the road he grew up on. Generally speaking, were people very positive about him and they think it's good for Indonesia that America has a president who spent time there?

MALVEAUX: I was there in March, and they were thrilled. They were absolutely thrilled the idea he was coming. So, yes, they pulled out all the stops. They were paving the road in front of his house. There were people who were building construction. You had kids learning songs in school, that kind of thing. So, there is an incredible amount of enthusiasm.

I know some of it has been tempered over the last couple of years because of the last two cancellations. There is a sense, a feeling here that they're not as important as they thought they were going to be in his life. Clearly what they want and what they want from the president is they want the whole family there, not just the president. But they want the first lady, the kids, Sasha, Malia, to come back and see where he grew up and to really kind of take it in because they feel like he's one of their own. They want to feel that's the same for him as well. And he said --

VELSHI: And you were there in March because that was a canceled trip. Even this trip he had to cut short because of this volcanic activity. They wanted to get that plane out before they got stuck with the volcanic ash blowing over them.

Suzanne, good to see you as always. Come spend a little more time --

MALVEAUX: Good to see you. They're hoping next year they'll get back to them.

VELSHI: They're hoping next year, another trip. All right. Suzanne Malveaux joining us. Our White House correspondent but joining us from New York today.

Let me ask you a question. In which country right now is an estimated one child in four -- one in four living in a household that doesn't have enough food? France, the U.S. or Spain? I'll give you the answer, and you'll meet someone whose job it is to do something about it when I come back with today's "Mission Possible."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: On today's "Mission Possible," I'm going to answer that question about kids in need of food in a moment. But first I want to tell a story with some numbers. And in this case, it isn't a happy story.

According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, donations to the biggest charities in the United States dropped by 11 percent last year. To some degree, it's understandable given the economy. But you want some context for that? It's the biggest drop in the 20 years that the Chronicle has been counting.

The last time thing were anywhere near this bad was in 2001 when the amount we donated dropped by three percent. The ultra-wealthiest among us are still giving, but even that dropped 34 percent. A huge drop, considering those households used to give more than $84,000 a year on average.

Some big names are suffering here in the United States. United Way down 4.5 percent. The Salvation Army down more than 8 percent.

I want to bring in Phil Zepeda. He's the senior vice president of communications for Feeding America. He's in Chicago. Phil, I want to throw out one more number. I asked a question before I went to the break. In what country is more than one in four kids living in a household that doesn't have enough food? I said Spain, I said France, and I said the United States. You know the answer? PHIL ZEPEDA, SENIOR VP OF COMMUNICATIONS, FEEDING AMERICA: Yes, sadly, I do. It is in fact the United States.

VELSHI: Yes. I mean, I was surprised. That number seems huge to me. Give me some context. You're with Feeding America. Give me some context. You run 200 food banks. You've seen a massive increase in demand.

Is that really true? One in four kids is growing up in a house where there isn't enough food, and they have to look elsewhere to get food?

ZEPEDA: Yes. One in four children in this country is struggling in a household where hunger is very prevalent. The USDA estimates that is 17 million children. And through Feeding America and our network of food banks across the country, we're able to reach about 14 million of them, but there are still children that are falling in the gap. And we do whatever we possibly can do to get as much food out into the system as possible.

VELSHI: Let's do a quick, easy economics here. Your demand has gone up, and your supply has gone down. Your donations have gone down.

ZEPEDA: We're actually in a situation -- Feeding America is one of the rare charities where donations have relatively remained steady. That's donations of food, in-kind product from corporations and commodities from the federal government and financial donations.

But what has just sky rocketed, as you have indicated, is the amount of demand. We have food banks in markets across the country where demand is up 50, 60, 70 percent in some cases. And they're fighting this day in and day out.

VELSHI: Let's talk for a second about the people who have been on unemployment for a long time. We know some six million people or so have been on unemployment insurance for more than six months. There are many who have been on for longer than that, and dropped off -- they don't get any more benefits.

ZEPEDA: Yes. They're referred to as the 99'er. People who are coming up on that 99th week of unemployment insurance. And if you think about people that fall into that category, that's people in late 2007 or 2008 that have filed for unemployment insurance, they're coming to the end of that right now. And Feeding America and our food banks are bracing for impacts in the first part of next year where we're most likely to see an even larger increase of people seeking food assistance.

VELSHI: Let's talk a little bit about what we can do as a society. You can -- there are food drives going on this time of year. You need consistency in those food drives.

But we have a new -- election. We had a midterm election. We're going to have a new Congress. What can they be thinking about to try and deal with this crisis? ZEPEDA: One of the things that's important to stress here is hunger is not a partisan issue. We're able to work at Feeding America with representatives on both sides of the aisle here to make hunger a pertinent and important issue that people need to support. But right now, we need Congress to pay attention to the child nutrition bill, to pass that bill so that we're increasing access, and primarily access to child hunger programs across the country. That's primarily school meals, WIC, summer programs, even programs, weekend programs so that kids have access to food.

VELSHI: All right, good discussion. Thanks for keeping a focus on it. Phil Zepeda is the senior vice president of communications for Feeding America. If you want to know more about this organization or how to donate to it, head to my blog, CNN.com/ali. I'll link you to it.

President Obama in Indonesia today. That's where our Ed Henry is staked out. He'll tell us why the president is being forced to make an early exit when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: President Obama is on the second stop of his Asian tour, Indonesia. He lived there for four years when he was growing up but apparently won't be able to stay as long as he planned. CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry, who joins us everyday at this time, is on "The Stakeout" in Jakarta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Ali, this is one of those days on the White House beat where the president, even if he's a little beaten down, he's jet lagged and tired on this Asian tour, he's just been shellacked in the midterm election back home, by his own estimation. But even he can't stop from blurting out every now and again, you know what? It's pretty cool to be president. The perks are not bad.

He came here to Jakarta. And this is sort of -- if something could go wrong, it's gone wrong. He's planned this trip three times. First time it got canceled because of the health care debate back in Washington. Second time, canceled because of the Gulf oil spill. He had to focus on that. Third time, it's been shrunk down to less than 24 hours.

And even then, it's now going to be shrunk down even more. You've got this volcanic ash spewing out of a mountain here. And it's basically unsafe to fly in certain areas. And so, the White House has been keeping a close eye on this and it looks like they're going to have to shave the trip down even more, cancel some events, truncate the schedule to get him safely to South Korea because experts say that the volcanic ash can wreak havoc on jet engines.

On top of that, when the president first landed it's pouring rain. Then he goes to this news conference. You can see he's talking slow. You can see he's tired. I'm tired. Everybody on this trip is pretty jetlagged. It's been going with the time difference. We're 12 hours ahead of you. You don't know what time it is.

So, it's understandable he's jet lagged but then he started reminiscing about being a boy here in Jakarta, growing up for four years. Once he started doing that and talking about what Jakarta used to look like, he said the perks of being president not too bad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The first time I came here was in 1967. And people were on bedcheks (ph), which for those who aren't familiar is a bicycle rickshaw thing. And if weren't on bedcheks that they were on bemales, which were sort of like -- little taxis but you stood in the back, and it was very crowded.

And now as president, I can't even see any traffic because they block off all the streets, although my understanding is the Jakarta traffic is pretty tough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: That reminded me of when I was in one of my favorite cities, Las Vegas, last year with the president. He was raising money for Senate majority leader Harry Reid, and the president was staying at Caesar's Palace. He had stayed there as a candidate for president. And he was joking with the fundraising crowd, you know what? He said, I thought I had a pretty good suite at Ceasar's Palace when I was a candidate, but now I got the upgrade as president. I found out later that the suite that he stays at in Ceasar's Palace is about 22,000 square feet. It's got a private patio and a private pool for anyone who stays there.

Some people might call it the Rainman suite. I call it the Ali Velshi suite because I know you travel in style. But even when you have the perks of the presidency, you can't stop certain things, like volcanic ash. The president may be getting out of Jakarta a little early, and you know what? I am too, Ali. See you tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: What dedication, though. What dedication! That guy files his report live or on tape from wherever he is. I hope he's getting pretty good digs while he's in Vegas.

All right. Changing topics, he's been on the defensive before. Now Republican chairman Michael Steele is at it again. Senior political editor Mark Preston, so happy to have him back. He lost his voice and missed us for a few days, but he's back and has an update. Hey, Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Ali, how are you? Just late last month, we were talking about Michael Steele and his fate. You and I talked about his political future. Michael Steele at the time said to me at the time in an interview as far as his critics were to go, look, the fact of the matter is don't criticize me about raising money when you have told donors not to give to me. Well, he's at it again in an interview with NPR. He said as far as his critics go, "they don't want me in the job. There's a concerted effort ever since I got the job basically to get me out of the job." So, Michael Steele, who hasn't officially said if he's going to run for the chairmanship of the RNC is clearly saying some public statements that would leave us to say otherwise. And in fact, he will run, and we do know privately he's been making phone calls about it.

Kind words, though, from Newt Gingrich about Hillary Clinton. There's been a lot of talk about who will replace Robert Gates as defense secretary. On "Good Morning America" today, Newt Gingrich addressed the fact, what if it was Hillary Clinton, the current secretary of state? Here's what he had to say. He said "She's knowledgeable and tough and she would be a very aggressive defender of the military in terms of what it needs, its budgets and concerns." He said she would be a terrific defense secretary.

Wow, we've come a long way, Ali, since the Republican revolution in 1994 and Hillarycare and, of course, the government shutdown.

Then this might be one guy you might want to party with if you want to smoke pot. Last night, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in California said no one cares if you smoke a joint or not. Of course, this was in an interview on "The Tonight Show." Of course, as our viewers know, the California voters out there just rejected Proposition 19, which would have made pot legalized. We do know it's legalized for medicinal purposes in California. Basically what Schwarzenegger is saying, even though he didn't endorse Prop 19 when it was on the ballot, he said who really cares?

VELSHI: Very interesting. Yes, it was defeated. That was one of the ones -- there were four ballot measures in four different states talking about legalizing marijuana.

Mark, good to see you again. Mark Preston, as always. CNN is the home of The Best Political Team on Television. Stay with us for the next political update in about an hour.

All right. A lot of us are obsessed with cell phones. A lot of us have smartphones with everything but the kitchen sink on it. Yesterday, Microsoft Windows was released here in the United States -- Microsoft Windows mobile. But which mobile operating system ranks number one in the world? Is it Symbian on Nokia phones? Rim or BlackBerrys? Apple's iPhone, or Microsoft Windows Mobile? The answer after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. It's not always -- let me tell you what I was going to talk to you about before the break. I ask what is the most popular operating system on smartphones. Is it Symbian by Nokia? Is it Rim on BlackBerrys? Is it Apple's iPhone system, or is it Microsoft Windows Mobile?

Take a look at this. I was actually surprised by this myself. It's actually -- let's unveil this big new board. No, we're not going to put it -- oh, there! It's on the screen. It's on the screen. Symbian by Nokia. I thought it was a big board -- isn't there a big board that I had of this? I just saw it one minute ago. Can't I have my big board?

There we go! That's what I'm looking for. Look at that! Look at what a difference this is. This is Symbian by Nokia on this side. Research in Motion is the next biggest. Android last year had a big share of the market, but not so much this year. Then you can see how it goes along from there. So very interesting stuff.

I want to introduce Mario Armstrong. You know him. He's a digital lifestyle expert to talk about the unveiling of Microsoft's Mobile 7 operating system. Mario, tell me about this system and what it offers.

MARIO ARMSTRONG, DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: Yes. Hey, Ali, how are you? So, I have my hand on the Samsung Focus, which is one of several models that are going to be coming out with the new operating system from Microsoft, this Windows phone 7. This is basically a total departure from any of their previous versions of Mobile's operating systems. If you ever had a Windows phone before, you used to have to have a stylus, and it looked just like your desktop. Had a little start button, program menus.

You don't have any of that. They have totally rewritten the scripts, and they're hoping, they're banking their mobile future on new operating system.

VELSHI: OK. Other than guys like you and me, do most people who buy smartphones or mobile phones go in there saying I want this operating system? Other than Apple, which operates in a different sphere to some degree. Do you not buy it because your provider is offering this smartphone? Is this really going to drive people?

ARMSTRONG: Absolutely. It's a great question. But absolutely. There is a segment of the marketplace that's absolutely going to be driven by this. On my radio show, I'm constantly hearing from listeners, "What phones should I get, what applications do I need, what kind of operating system has the applications that interest me the most?".

So, a lot of people are asking these questions maybe not as detailed as they think they should or just don't know. But they're certainly now aware there are more than just the iPhones to choose from, and they want to make the smart decisions about mobile phone technology purchases.

VELSHI: In your minds, iPhone -- Blackberry kind of defined the space in which you do business on your PDA. And Apple really defined the space in which you really enjoy it. Are those lines all blurring. I mean, is everybody sort of coming together? Are they going to look more similar or are these offerings out there very, very different still?

ARMSTRONG: Great question. I think what you're getting at is two different things. One is on the handset side. How do these handsets look? I'm holding up an iPhone 4 and I'm holding up a Window 7 device. Both of these handsets are both touch screen, look very beautiful.

Before, a couple of years ago, iPhone had the lead in how that phone looked. Now that's changed. So the manufacturer -- Samsung, HDC and others have moved quickly to mimic the look of iPhone and even do some things more uniquely than iPhone.

But on the software side, I think that's where the game changer really becomes because now you're talking about what applications can I use? Does it connect quickly to Microsoft for me and all of those things? So, those are going to be the decisions that people have to ask. This is definitely a good thing for Windows and a good thing for Microsoft to get in the game, even if it is a little late.

VELSHI: Love your passion on how much you know about this. Mario, thanks very much for being with us. Mario Armstrong, digital lifestyle expert.

All right. It's not always easy to be a kid. It can be downright dangerous. After the break, I'll talk about the threat to kids that only gets worse when grownups try to ignore it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Today, we've talked about child prostitution in this country. The FBI just announced a nationwide sweep of 40 cities that rescued 69 children and netted almost 900 arrests, including some 100 alleged pimps involved in sex trafficking. Americans usually associate the illegal trafficking of minors as sex workers with third-world countries. Places with extreme poverty where abused children and even their struggling families resort to the unthinkable just to make ends meet.

Well, there may be cases in which children living abroad are trafficked into this country to work as sex slaves, but according to the Justice Department, child prostitution is a very American phenomenon usually involving teenage runaways or abandoned children as young as 11 years old, coming from broken homes or suffering abuse.

Both girls and boys fall victim to sexual exploitation and resort to prostitution as a way to support themselves financially. Other child prostitutes are victims of forced abductions or even pressure from their own parents. Either way, the vast majority of children involved in formal prostitution rings are trafficked by pimps. They often force victims to travel long distances from their homes, often across state lines, making it easier to exploit them because the children are so isolated from friends and family.

Let's be clear what we're talking about here. The sexual exploitation of American children, or as one official puts it, 21st century slavery. This continues to go on in the United States. Without more awareness, it's a big strike against this country. According to figures the Justice Department cites, some 300,000 American youth are currently at risk of becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

The recent FBI sweep we've been reporting is part of a much larger effort called the Innocence Lost National Initiative that's rescued 1,275 children from the streets and led to 625 convictions to date. And that may be only the tip of the iceberg.

What this tells us is child prostitution is not just a scourge in poor countries, it's happening right here in this country. We as a society need to be much more aware of the problem to better combat it.

That's my "XYZ." Brooke Baldwin takes over from here.