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Huge Storms Slams Southeast; Why Midterms Matter to You; More Money into the Economy; University of Toledo Students Weigh in on Midterm Elections; Indonesia Hit by Earthquake, Volcano, Tsunami; Crazy-Accurate Video Games; Man Accused of D.C. Terror Plot
Aired October 27, 2010 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Ali Velshi is joining us from New York in the CNN NEWSROOM -- Doctor?
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, you have a fantastic afternoon.
HARRIS: You, too, sir.
VELSHI: Always my pleasure to see you.
I'm Ali Velshi. For the next two hours today and every weekday, I'll guide you through a maze of information that's coming your way. Together, we're going to learn what's going on at home and around the world. You'll get access to the best folks to explain what it means today and the impact of what's happening today has tomorrow. We'll showcase the best ideas and innovation, philanthropy and public education.
My mission is to help you figure out how what's going on around you fits into your life.
Let's get started right now. Here's what's on the rundown for me:
Tornadoes, massive power outages, flight cancellations -- blame it on a severe storm system raging for a second day and it just isn't letting up yet. Just ahead, we're going to show you some of the damage it's already left behind.
Six days to go and politicians are trying hard to get their message out. But if you're thinking about skipping the polls and staying home, you might be surprised to learn how midterm elections have shaped many of the rights that you enjoy today.
And who can forget this? The family who made headlines for a balloon hoax. Now, the dad is back. He's trying to strike it rich. The product he's pushing that he's hoping you'll buy. I'll tell you about that.
Well, it's huge. It's dangerous. It's potentially deadly. The same storm system that pounded the Midwest yesterday is now slowly moving east.
What you see here are live pictures. Well, it's -- those are live pictures -- there we go. There's -- wow. Look at that.
That is Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the biggest airport in the country. This nasty weather is causing arriving flights to be delayed an average of an hour and a half.
Chad Myers joins us now from the severe weather center.
That picture actually looks better than it's been around Atlanta, I would say, about an hour ago. What's going on?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, well, you know what? Some of the planes have been released to land and they're landing from the east this way. But if you'll notice what some of the planes have done -- this is the track, the red lines, the track, that the planes have been coming in through, have been coming in here. All these red lines going in a circle, that just means every plane is being slowed down and then finally allowed and released to get into Georgia, get into Hartsfield-Jackson.
But there are more cells back out to the west that may in fact get stronger as the day goes on, because, Ali, a brand-new -- brand- new tornado watch has just been issued for the same area that was going to be released from the tornado watch just an hour ago. We expected this to be expired at 1:00 and maybe moved a little bit away.
But see the cells up here near Birmingham?
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: Also back up here? This is all new development to the west and north of where those cells have been. And there's that other nasty-looking thing that's going to be heading into Hartsfield- Jackson.
If you go back to that live picture from WSB, from the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, you can actually see the rain shaft there on the western side.
VELSHI: Yes, yes.
MYERS: That's something that airplanes don't want to fly into, especially if you get to be in the severe category, whether there's hail or the downdraft from that air. When rain comes down from the sky, it not only brings water, but it brings air with it.
VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: Just that friction of air coming down, and when the air hits the ground, it kind of splashes out, a lot like the rain does. In a bigger fashion, because the air goes farther, a rain drop just splashes, it makes a little splash of a rain drop.
So when you -- when planes fly through this, you can radically change the direction of the air of the wind, and planes want to be very close to what's called a stall speed. When they're landing, they want to be as slow as possible. VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: You know what it's like to be in a very quick stall speed, when your plane didn't have flaps last time, right?
VELSHI: Yes. That's right.
MYERS: And so, there's not that much of an error -- the margin for error may be 20 or 30 miles per hour. And if the plane, all of a sudden, is going with the wind instead of against the wind, that margin of error can take the plane to the ground and they don't let that happen.
VELSHI: Now, you told us yesterday when you were showing us the shape of the storm, it went from the bottom of the United States to the top of it, and it is still that bow shape that we're dealing with today right across the length of the country.
MYERS: Yes. You know what? The director's not going to like me for doing this.
I'm going to take this camera. I'm going to be the director for a just minute. Spin it all the way over here to this vista wall. That's the top of the storm.
VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: That's where the low actually is, north of Lake Superior. And on the backside of that thing, over in South and North Dakota --
VELSHI: Wow.
MYERS: -- that's where it's snowing like a blizzard.
And look at the wind. The wind, you can just see the spin coming off of Lake Superior. That wind now, 30, 40, 60 miles per hour across the lakes. Storm warnings for the lakes, boaters are just not going out there at all, like they would, anyway.
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: But even the ore boats, the ore ships like -- well, what the Edmund Fitzgerald would have been. This is a bigger storm than what wrecked the Edmund Fitzgerald.
VELSHI: Wow.
All right. We'll stay on top of this. But it is -- I just wanted -- it's good you showed us that. I want you to get the impression -- this isn't sort of some localized thing that we're all excited about because it's in Atlanta. Obviously, Atlanta has suffered tornadoes in the last few years and some damage was done. But this is a big storm across the country.
Stay with us, Chad. We're going to continue this coverage. We're going to go to Carroll County, Georgia, now, it's part of the Metro Atlanta area, the town of Whitesburg was hit hard by the storms a little while ago.
Joining us on the phone is Adam Murphy. He is with our affiliate WGCL. He took cover in city hall as this storm hit.
Adam, that sounds like a serious storm. What happened?
ADAM SMITH, WGCL REPORTER (via telephone): Ali, definitely a serious storm. And to put things into perspective, we're about 55 miles southwest of Atlanta in a very small town in Carroll County, as you mentioned, Whitesburg.
Here at city hall, interestingly enough, they've had several bands of heavy downpours that have come through during the last couple of hours, and we've been here to witness it. Very dark clouds, heavy rain, high winds. And at city hall, interestingly enough, the storm was so strong that actually they had a problem with rain coming into the building from the roof as well as the ground. They've had about an inch of water flood city hall, causing some damage there and they're trying to assess all of the things inside city hall right now to see what needs to be replaced.
But it gives you an idea just how much heavy down rain we've seen in the last couple of hours -- so much so that it's caused damage inside city hall.
Now, as far as outside and around the community, they said they've seen shingles blown off roofs, some mailboxes that have toppled and things like that with the heavy winds they've seen.
VELSHI: Wow. And as Chad says, it's not over yet. It looked like it was going to be over, and now, there are more dangers there. So stay safe, take cover again, if you have to, Adam. Good to talk to you. Thanks very much.
SMITH: Thank you.
VELSHI: All right. Let's talk about the election, less than a week now until midterms. Do you ever feel like your vote doesn't matter? That nothing ever changes and if it does it's not got anything to do with you?
Well, as we count down to Election Day, I'm going to show you how midterm elections of the past helped shape some of the biggest rights that we enjoy today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. Midterms are next Tuesday. Are you voting? Have you voted? Do you plan to vote?
I would like to influence this election in one small way. Not the way you think. I'd like to make you understand the importance of your vote. As you know, CNN equals politics, but a lot of people feel politics doesn't equal change. But it does, and here's why: there are a lot of issues out there -- the economy, health care, taxes. Chances are, you have an opinion about all of them. But this year, your opinion doesn't mean change unless you vote in the midterms.
Women, you vote but it wasn't always that way. A midterm Congress, it was a midterm Congress that citizens voted for that was responsible for the 19th Amendment, to make your vote a right. They voted in the midterm Congress that passed the 1963 Equal Pay Act, prohibiting different wages based on gender. And that same Congress historically outlawed major forms of discrimination in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
So, these midterm congresses can be very, very important to your basic rights. They voted for by, we, the people.
Today, America has been battered by war, jobs, homes lost, political gridlock over a spectrum of issues. Your chance to have a vote, to actually effect change sits in the ballot box on Tuesday. It's the reason to vote in this election and every election.
We'll have this conversation with my two friends, Mark Skoda, he's founder of the Memphis TEA Party; and Gloria Borger, senior political analyst, here with me in New York.
Good to have both of you back.
Now, without cliches, Mark, and without, I mean, this is -- I don't mean you're going to have them. I'm going to say without those things, let's -- tell me why it's important to vote here. And I ask you this because it's one of the things the Tea Party has been very involved in, is this idea that you've got to go out and participate.
MARK SKODA, FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN, MEMPHIS TEA PARTY: You know, I think it's a very good point. First of all, informed citizenry really enables our democratic republic. I think at the very least, that is the duty of every citizen of America.
Secondly, I would suggest to you, as you pointed out at the start of your segment, historically, even midterm votes make a major difference. I mean, the Civil Rights Act in particular, right, was an extraordinary event, not only reflecting historical context but also the people who voted for it. It would not have passed unless we had both a Republican and Democrat Congress ultimately voting on the act to support it.
Even the midterms with the Republican take over after Bill Clinton was elected, and he moved to the center and subsequently, we enjoyed the greatest budget surplus and, of course, even a smaller government.
I think the truth of the matter is, every vote does count, and when we look at contested elections, as we saw with Norm Coleman in Minnesota with a few hundred votes, or even George Bush in 2000 -- look, this is the most important element of our democratic republic, and that is why we are so convinced that this is -- that it's necessary that everyone vote.
VELSHI: Well, well put, and that is -- that is where we are bipartisan or tri partisan in this country, where we believe that if you want to have your say in this, Gloria, that you've got to participate. I mean, there's no law that says you have to, you are not compelled to, but it really is a big part of what we do.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, every election, Ali, is about the next election, right? And so, o what you're going to see now is 37 governor's races --
VELSHI: Right.
BORGER: -- which are really going to affect what happens in 2012. You also are going to have redistricting --
VELSHI: Right.
BORGER: -- which state legislatures do, and that, 24 seats could change.
VELSHI: Right.
BORGER: And that could really affect the makeup of the Congress.
VELSHI: Right.
BORGER: And so voters have to understand that they're not just voting on their local member of Congress or their own state governor, they're really going to affect what comes next.
Things in politics don't happen over one year or two years. They happen over a whole continuum. And so, it's really important, if you want to effect change -- and this is the argument Barack Obama is making to his supporters, which is: you voted for change, I couldn't do it all in two years.
VELSHI: Right.
BORGER: You've got to give us some more time.
VELSHI: Right.
BORGER: And if the other side wants change, then they've got to start doing it right now.
VELSHI: Mark, do we feel better as a people, if this -- whatever change we want, and clearly, people are frustrated and they're frustrated for many reasons. It has something to do with the government and some that don't. But they're frustrated.
Do we feel better when change comes with the force of large turnout?
SKODA: Well, I think so. I think first of all, it gives -- certainly, I've encouraged everybody here locally, whether you're Democrat, Republican or independent, vote. I would rather lose on an informed vote than win on just a depressed turnout.
Now, a lot of people will disagree with me on that, but I really respect the fact that as a people we have this great right. And the larger the turnout, the more legitimate our elections become, and indeed the actions of Congress, the president, our local officials, will have greater legitimacy.
You know, we this year in Shelby County, in Tennessee, will likely elect our next governor with the largest margin of victory by Republicans in the state's history. The only other governor, a Republican governor, Lamar Alexander, who won was by 300 votes. This is going to be the first time that Shelby County wins with a larger margin, for instance. That's a local -- very local issue here in Tennessee --
VELSHI: Right.
SKODA: -- and our redistricting is important.
BORGER: But, you know, it's really hard, as you know, because midterm elections, generally you get very, very low turnout, because there's no president at the top of the ticket.
So, it's difficult to convince voters why it's so important for them to go to the polls when they don't see any kind of, OK, who's the presidential candidate? I really want this. I really want this person to win.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Some people -- it's entirely possible some people will show up to vote maybe having listened to this and won't know who they're voting for. They'll know whether it's a Democrat or Republican, but they won't really know what these people are and what they stand for.
BORGER: But what happens at midterm elections is that the angry voters come out to vote --
VELSHI: Yes, right.
BORGER: -- because they're the ones that say, I don't like the way things are going.
VELSHI: Right.
BORGER: And, so, that's what you get when you get to the polls, which is why we all presume the Democrats are not going to do as well as they would certainly like to do.
VELSHI: Because the Republicans are angrier.
BORGER: Because the Republicans are angrier, they're out of power.
VELSHI: Right. BORGER: And, you know, the folks who want to get power back are the ones who will go to the polls.
VELSHI: Right.
BORGER: You saw this in the primaries, in the Republican Party, had much higher turnout in Republican primaries than in Democratic primaries.
VELSHI: Right.
OK. Good conversation. Thanks to both of you, again -- Gloria Borger, our senior political analyst who will be here in New York over the next few days as we ramp up our coverage ahead of the election.
Mark Skoda, you'll be talking to me a few times in the next few days as well. Thanks very much for being with us.
Mark Skoda is founder of the Memphis TEA Party.
All right. It isn't a new stimulus package, but billions of dollars are about to be pumped back into our economy, and it might actually have the effect of stimulating it. How is it going to trickle down for the rest of us, and why the QE2 isn't just a big ship. We'll break that down for you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I don't know. I'm not really going to freely admit to having done this, but maybe you've heard me use the term "quantitative easing" before. Don't change the channel. Just hold on for a second.
Before your eyes glaze over, let's me say, it's a technical term that when the economy's in deep trouble takes on a similar meaning for all of us.
Simply put, it means the Federal Reserve is going to be spending some money, lots of it, to try to prop you up the economy.
Christine Romans is with me here in New York this afternoon. She's going to help me take this apart and explain to you how it's going to play out.
If you are like us, Christine, you get e-mails these days that have QE2 --
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CO-HOST, "YOUR $$$$$": Right.
VELSHI: -- in the subject line. And I keep thinking back to this cruise ship. The QE2 and the Fed is going to have -- let me see, we've got a picture we can show you? Because this is what I'm thinking about when I --
ROMANS: A big old, slow-moving ship.
VELSHI: OK. That's what I think about. This has got nothing to do with it but we're talking about QE2 right now. What is QE2 mean?
ROMANS: QE2 means basically that the Fed wants to stimulate the economy, that it can't lower interest rates by the way it usually does --
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: -- by setting the Fed funds target.
VELSHI: So, it's a second round of quantitative easing.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: That's right. And it basically means the Fed is going to try to juice the economy, to pump more money into the economy.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: They're going to do that and we think in a couple of ways. Maybe buy back assets, buy back treasury securities, buy them off the market that --
VELSHI: Right. That puts money into the market. That means the Fed buys these bonds back and people now have money.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: So, there's more money in the system.
ROMANS: That's right. The question is, how much? The question is, when?
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: The question is, will it work?
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: Some people are saying it's more like the SS Minnow than the EQ2.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: There are a lot of people the pundits are already talking --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: What do we know? What has Ben Bernanke said that makes us think this is going to happen?
ROMANS: Ten words. He spoke on October 15th, when he said, "There would appear to be a case for further action."
And it doesn't look like a lot -- those words, those 10 words. It looks like mild-mannered econo-speak, right? VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: But those 10 words electrified people to watch --
VELSHI: Right, shot markets up.
ROMANS: Because it means hundreds of billions of dollars, they think, into the economy. Those 10 little mild words could be hundreds of millions of dollars to the economy.
VELSHI: And this is one example, but you've got "The Wall Street Journal" here.
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: But any major business publication, "Fed Gears Up for Stimulus."
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: This is what everybody's talking about.
ROMANS: The question is, how much? Will it be enough?
One of the reasons the stock market is down today, because now, you know, the flavor of the day is that it's not going to be enough. That it won't be enough.
VELSHI: But we don't have it yet. We don't know yet.
ROMANS: We don't know. We'll probably know next week, because next week, the fed has a two-day meeting where it talks about interest rate.
VELSHI: Tuesday and Wednesday, one of those days will be occupied with election coverage.
ROMANS: Exactly.
VELSHI: And Wednesday afternoon, they'll come out and say, this is what we're going to do.
ROMANS: Yes. And you'll also be talking about elections and I'll be going, Ali, look, look -- and I'll hopefully know then what's going to happen here with quantitative easing.
VELSHI: And ultimately for our viewers, does it mean lower mortgage rates? Does it mean -- for small businesses, that there will be more money to borrow? What does it mean? Because part of the problem is -- why has it not trickled down to regular people?
ROMANS: And that's what the goal is of this. But will it -- that's the big debate. Is it going to be enough? And what's happening is inflation is low and the economy is still weak, the recovery is still weak.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: And the Fed wants to get out there and start pumping up the economy.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMAS: They're going to get more money flowing again.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: You're right, so that people can borrow homes. They can borrow money for cars. So that they can get money for their small business.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: So that the economy is moving a little more quickly. So that the pace of the recovery is a little more robust. That's what they like.
VELSHI: All right. We will keep a very close eye on it. And as soon as you know and we know, we'll come on TV and we'll tell everybody what that's about.
ROMANS: You got it.
VELSHI: Christine, thanks very much.
You can watch Christine and me every weekend on "YOUR $$$$$." It airs Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
Christine is also the author of a book called "Smart is the New Rich," which is true. So buy it and read it and you will get a lot smarter, and ultimately, hopefully, that means you'll get richer.
Checking some top stories for you now:
GlaxoSmithKline must pay out three quarters of billion dollars for making bad drugs at a plant that is now closed. Glaxo pleaded guilty to manufacturing impure versions of four drugs used to treat depression, type 2 diabetes, nausea and infection. The whistleblower in this case will receive $96 million of the fines.
A major weather system today is pushing through the Deep South, causing downed trees, storms and delays for airport travelers. At Atlanta's airport, some flights are behind schedule by more than an hour. This is the same system that generated as many as 24 tornadoes yesterday, damaging areas throughout the South and the Midwest. We'll keep following that for you.
And tonight, it will be the comedian and the commander-in-chief. The president will be on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart. Political watchers say Mr. Obama is trying to reach out to younger viewers six days before the election. This will be the first time a sitting president will make an appearance on that cable show. A flying car -- sounds like something from the Jetsons, but a Florida missionary has made it a reality. A flying car. Don't change the channel. We'll tell you about it when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: The car of the future is today's "Edge of Discovery." It gets about 30 miles a gallon on the road, five miles a gallon per hour in the air.
OK, you want to find out what this means? Kate Bolduan shows us a car that can be driven, flown or floated. Meet the car's creator who is visionary missionary.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We've all dreamed of a flying car, but Steve Saint, a Florida missionary --
STEVE SAINT, I-TEC: We could probably get you flying this by noon.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): Really?
SAINT: Really.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): He's making it a reality.
SAINT: Anybody who's ever been in a traffic jam, anybody who's ever been someplace where, you know, trying to get out of the parking lot at Disney has thought about -- you know, if I could just fly. And this one will.
BOLDUAN: It's called the Maverick. On land, zero to 60 in under four seconds. By air, it glides at 40 miles per hour. The first of its kind to get FAA approval.
SAINT: That is it.
BOLDUAN: Its biggest success, it's intuitive.
SAINT: For driving, you have a steering wheel and you have a brake and an accelerator, just like an automatic car, which you probably have.
BOLDUAN (on camera): Just like a car -- yes.
SAINT: Now, when you're going to fly, you see this one little button that says "fly"? All you do to fly is flip this up.
BOLDUAN: What is the biggest selling point of the Maverick versus another type of hybrid machine?
SAINT: There is no other machine that will do what this one will. There is no other car that will fly and go on water and go in snow. BOLDUAN (voice-over): Saint and his crew at I-TEC, a nonprofit organization, developed the Maverick in part to solve a transportation riddle for frontier areas like the Amazon and Ecuador where Saint grew up. What do you do when the road ends?
SAINT: What we're doing here at I-TEC is we're reinventing the technology so it fits the people so that they don't have to become like us.
BOLDUAN: The next step, commercial production. Look for a flying car to be coming soon to a garage near you.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Dunnellon, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: All right. Younger voters were all fired up in 2008, giving Team Obama big boost. Well, is that flame still as bright two years later? I don't know about that.
Don Lemon being schooled by some college students as we speak. The Election Express rolls into Toledo, Ohio -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: And as we move closer to midterm elects, CNN's Don Lemon is in the Midwest this week, getting voters' opinion and concerns.
Today's stop is Toledo, Ohio, and he joins us from the University of Toledo where you're talking to students there. These are a group of people who were so fired up about the 2008 election, about President Obama. T.J. was out with the CNN Express last week talking to students and says it is not the same mood from students in this midterm as it was in the presidential election.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It's not, Ali, but there's still -- they're still very interested and plugged in. And we're going to talk to a few of them in a little bit. And I'm hanging out with Chase and Chris and we're talking about Fallout: New Vegas, some video game that I am way too old to know. Maybe you know, Ali.
Hey, listen. We're in the student center. They've got -- they're doing a fundraiser here to raise money for AIDS, globally worldwide. And they said they're going to do another big gala in December.
I want to walk over here, Ali, because just for you we've assembled a lot of students here to talk about the issues. And if you have some questions for them, you can ask.
How are you guys doing?
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Great.
(CHEERING)
LEMON: Now, where were you guys, you were doing your -- what were you doing the let's go, what?
(CHEERING)
LEMON: OK. OK. Wow.
(APPLAUSE)
LEMON: So listen, Ali Velshi said there wasn't the same optimism or same spirit focus on the 2008 election as this one. Is he right? Are you guys plugged into this? Are you as interested?
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just as excited. I voted first time in 2008, and I voted again in Michigan absentee. I'm just as excited. Go Democrats.
LEMON: What's at the top of your mind when it comes to -- this guy is a Republican sitting right next to him. So when he goes, Democrats, he goes, no.
Why'd you do that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I think this country is having a lot of problems right now. And a lot of it is the way that the government's being run. It's inefficient. They're not treating their money like we have to treat our own, especially as student at a time like this.
LEMON: The biggest issue going into this election for you guys, what?
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: The economy.
LEMON: The economy. Why the economy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's kind of struggling right now and I'd just like to get a job after I get out of college.
LEMON: Yes. And One young lady over here said jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely. We're going to school for no reason sometimes because there's no jobs available for us.
LEMON: So that will affect your decision when you go vote?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely.
LEMON: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
LEMON: You were talking -- what's the biggest issue for you, you said?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's also the economy and the jobs issue is big.
LEMON: You had an opinion as we were speaking earlier, you said something about diversity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I just feel the Democratic Party tolerates diversity more than the Republican Party.
LEMON: Why is that? Explain that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just -- that's just my own opinion. It's also -- it's the candidates.
LEMON: Yes. And you had a strong opinion about that as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Republicans have nominated a lot of candidates that turn young people, young minorities off. Like the guy in Kentucky, the guy in Colorado. So a lot of the Democrats are being positive and a lot of Republicans are just turn-offs.
LEMON: And, Matt (ph), obviously as a Republican, you take issue with that. And whether it's real or perceived, that's a perception that the Republican Party has an issue when it comes to diversity and drawing in diverse people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, obviously the chairman of the Republican Party is an African-American. You have great other minority Republicans like Eric Cantor who is serving right now, who's a Jewish-American, And I disagree and I think that's a lot of the negative campaigning and stereotypes that's go on as they try to label the Republican Party as standing against diversity. And I think that's completely false.
LEMON: Speaking about negativity. What do you guys think -- how many of you are turned off by all the negative campaigning and ads?
Why are you turned off by it? Why is it an issue for you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just that if you can't make your point proving, like saying what you like, you shouldn't put people down. If that's the only way you can win, then you don't deserve to win.
LEMON: Yes. How important is it do you think this is for the 2012 election, depends on whether or not Ted Strickland, the governor gets back into a Democrat governor?
What do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the -- even though when you look at negativity campaigns throughout the country, it also plays here as a state because the state of Ohio is a battleground state, which could give momentum to either party. Whoever gets the electoral votes for this state.
LEMON: Well, whoever gets the electoral -- go ahead, finish.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoever gets the electoral votes would get the momentum to be able to win the 2012 election.
LEMON: Yes. And you're sitting here nodding your head. Why? What's your issue going into Tuesday?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think my biggest issue is the jobs. I was laid off and decided to come back to school. So coming back to school I really want to make sure that the extra loans I'm taking out from my undergrad, plus the graduate, are going to be an investment in myself that I'm going to be able to pay back.
LEMON: Yes. So raise your hand if you have an issue we haven't spoken about that's important to you going into this election. That you haven't spoken about, you haven't had a chance. What's yours?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have no idea.
LEMON: Don't get shy now. What about you, since you pointed them out?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't really focus on politics, I only focus on school. That's why I'm here.
LEMON: Yes. A lot of people are saying that, though. That sometimes we live in a vacuum on television and people who are plugged in. But not everybody is focused on the election. You have to focus on school but have you to be concerned that once you spend all this money whether or not you'll be able to pay it back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. As of like -- well, jobs and what not, I know that they're like really scarce. But I'm going to school really, I want to focus on school. I feel politics is just going to take my mind off the books as of right now.
LEMON: Ali Velshi, we've got some great answers here and people who are voicing their opinions. If you have a question, let me know. I can ask some of these people.
I'm going to walk up here and talk to this young lady. She's raising her hand. And, Ali, you can jump in --
VELSHI: I'm much more interested in hearing what they've got to say. I think this is fascinating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The one thing that really bothered me was like --
LEMON: OK. Go ahead. Start again. Say again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Sorry. Hi. My name is Andrea Harris and I'm really worried about the tax system and like how it's going to hike the interest rate on our school loans. That's what's really bothering me. Like, before they when Ted Strickland last year said he was going to lower the tax rate and that he was going to try to get Columbus more scholarship -- more money for scholarships and stuff, but I haven't seen them. Because the University of Toledo hasn't had a chance to get more funding from the government for more scholarships and they already dropped three scholarships.
LEMON: And people in this economy, they need help going to school. You need some sort of assistance you feel and more scholarship money.
So, Ali, those are the concerns here. I can keep talking to these folks if you want to go on and we continue to talk to them. Otherwise you can jump in and ask some questions.
VELSHI: Here's what I want to ask you. Of the people in the room who are eligible to vote, how many are planning to vote?
LEMON: Any first-time voters here, who are first-time voters? Are all of you guys eligible to vote? How many of you guys are going to vote, raise your hands?
VELSHI: That's great.
LEMON: I'd say probably -- it looks like 80 percent of them are going to vote. So I think it is great. You guys are going to make sure you get out and go to vote on Tuesday.
Real quick, we've got to run but if you can do it real quickly, I'll take you --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something that concerns me is how far the state is really cutting back the budgets for universities. And it's hard enough for us to operate. I work here at the student union and it's just further cuts, we've got to keep the doors open. People -- we've got to be able to pay the teachers. And, so they're just going to -- I feel like they're going to drive up the cost of our education more.
LEMON: All right. Well, thank you, sir. Thanks to all of you.
As you can see, Ali, really, we had some people talk about diversity and those things. But mostly people are concerned it's really about money. Money, it all comes down to the economy, to your specialty.
VELSHI: Yes, it's incredible. I'm glad you did that. I'm glad you got these students together. And I'm glad they are as motivated as they are. We're all sharing are the same concerns. But I appreciate their involvement and how they are going to go out to vote.
LEMON: Before you go back, before you're done, Ali, just so you guys can finish, but let me get the Toledo cheer as we go out here.
(CHEERING)
LEMON: Back to you, Ali Velshi.
(APPLAUSE)
VELSHI: Very good. Congratulations to you all. Great to have you on there.
Don, thanks very much. Keep on bringing us good stuff about what people are thinking so that you don't have to just listen to a bunch of people telling you what people are thinking. We're actually going to bring it to you right from them.
All right. Hit by a triple whammy. Indonesia's race to save lives from a powerful earthquake, a tsunami, and a volcano eruption. Oh, my God, a live report coming up straight ahead on Globe Trekking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK. Time for Globe Trekking. We've been telling you about the severe storm system battering the Midwest and the southeast here in the United States. Halfway around the world in Indonesia, people are struggling to recover from not one, but three natural disasters. An earthquake, a tsunami and a volcano eruption.
As you can see on our map, a powerful earthquake hit the main island of Sumatra on Monday, triggering a tsunami near smaller islands. Those twin disasters killed more than 300 people. On another main island of Java, a volcano erupted, killing at least 29 people.
CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now from Sumatra. She is in the city of Padang.
What's the latest you have on death tolls and the situation there, Paula?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, unfortunate live the death toll is still rising. It seems to be rising every few hours at this point. And bear in mind, we are two days after that earthquake and tsunami actually struck. We have 312 people confirmed dead. This, according to the Disaster Management Agency. Also 410 are still missing.
Rescue teams are in the area. They are trying to find those missing people. One hundred and fifty people are severely injured. But the main problem with this is that these islands that have been the worst- affected are incredibly remote. We just saw down at the ports, the aid being put on to one ship that was going to head in that direction. It would take 14 hours for that ship to get to a port that's not even the worst hit. Then they'd have to take that aid off and load it on to cars probably and get it to these smaller islands.
So really the people that have been affected there, that are injured, are struggling and the rescuers are struggling to be able to get to them. Reports of the hospitals being completely inundated at this point -- Ali.
VELSHI: Paula, what do we have in terms of international offers of help or international assistance that's moving in to Indonesia to help out?
HANCOCKS: Well, we've certainly had the American offer of help. We had that from the U.S. president, and other people are offering as well.
At this point, it seems to be an internal master (ph), because there are an awful lot of NGOs, there's a lot of groups that at here. There's the Red Cross, there's World Vision, there's everybody. Because this isn't the first time there's been this kind of natural disaster here in Indonesia, it is very vulnerable to these kind of things.
And of course, remember in 2004 that incredibly deadly earthquake followed by the tsunami which killed about 225,000 people across the whole region. So they're no stranger to these kinds of -- these kind of disasters. But certainly this particular one has hit islands that are a long way away. They are very difficult to get to. They're inhabited but they're not necessarily the tourist areas that you can get to easily -- Ali.
VELSHI: Paula Hancocks in Padang, Indonesia, thanks very much.
You have got to see this to believe it. Super accurate video games and the technology behind them right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: We talk a lot on this show about the future of computers and the future of gaming, and that's because a lot of the technology that goes into gaming is actually used elsewhere.
There you go.
I was talking to the folks at Sony about this Playstation Move that's now on the market and we were demonstrating it. That looks like still pictures, but we were doing fun things then. We were doing fun things.
Last week, Microsoft was here to show us their Kinect system which debuts next month in the U.S. on the Xbox 360. That's us there.
And today, we're talking about even more accurate technology that converts your movements into the movements of the characters on the screen. The folks over at Georgia Tech have come to our studios in Atlanta to give us a live demonstration.
I wish I were there with you. Karen Liu is professor at Georgia Tech, she's on my left and creator of the software called Activate 3D. Jeff Levy (ph) is the CEO of Activate 3D. Dan Amerson is the VP of engineering for Activate 3D, he's controlling the animated character with his body, and there you can see what he is doing, this animated character is doing.
Show us how this works. Who are we starting with? Who can tell us what is going on there?
PROF. KAREN LIU, GEORGIA TECH: So, Ali, thanks for having us, first.
So we developed this technology from Georgia Tech, and just based on this technology, Jeff and I founded this company called Activate 3D. So the basic idea is that we want to be able to use own body movement to precisely control the virtual character in the video games.
So here we have a live demo set up for everyone to see. And Jeff is going to explain how this technology works.
VELSHI: Go ahead, Jeff.
JEFF LEVY, CEO, ACTIVATE 3D: So Dan's standing in front of the 3D camera and this is what we call the holodeck (ph) and now we're going to put a virtual world up. So this is a playground and Real Dan is going to help Virtual Dan play on this playground just using his body movements.
The thing to understand is there are no pre-canned animations here. All of this is created on the fly in real time.
VELSHI: OK, so let me just ask you something. There's a device at the bottom of that screen that is reading Dan's movements.
LEVY: That's right. That's the 3D camera looking at Dan, exactly
VELSHI: And now Dan is doing -- the pretend Dan, the character Dan is doing things that Real Dan isn't doing. So tell me how that's working. How is the character Dan swinging around like that?
LEVY: Sometimes Virtual Dan can do exactly what Real Dan is doing and sometimes not. So obviously, right now Virtual Dan is swinging in the air, Real Dan is standing on the ground. But if Real Dan -- as we see now, he's reaching his hand out. How about one- handed pull-up, Dan? Maybe do the other hand.
So he can do whatever he wants. We didn't have to come up with a bunch of things up front and figure out what he can do. He has total control.
VELSHI: Does Real Dan get better muscles from doing virtual pull-ups? Cause I could do that.
LEVY: Real Dan is pretty strong.
So it really gives you a completely different feeling. You feel like you're in the game. You're not just sort of selecting from a menu of choices.
VELSHI: You use the term holodeck, which I remember from "Star Trek," a room you went into, a gridded room like that that became any world you want it to be.
Is there a real world application to this sort of technology?
LEVY: That's sort of what we call it, but that's that sort of mesh where we can create any virtual world outside of it and our engineer guys are, as you might imagine, somewhat fans of "Star Trek." They are Trekkies.
So one of the other things that's cool about this system is Virtual Dan can be anything he wants to be. He doesn't just have to be this young man right here. Virtual Dan could be a boy or he could be a big silly apple guy or anything else.
So it gives you -- and particularly game developers -- a tremendous range of things they can do. So we're real excited to get this into the hands of game developers to create amazing new games for users, for viewers of this show and others.
VELSHI: Wow, that is fascinating. I'm excited to see that work its way into the world of gaming. Thanks so much for being with us. We love having you folks from Georgia Tech over there, Karen. Thank you for being with us.
Karen Liu is an associate professor from Georgia Tech. Jeff Levy and Dan Anderson from Activate 3D. That is fascinating stuff. Thank you to all of you.
Goodbye, Dan. And let's say bye to artificial Dan, too. Can we see him?
LEVY: Turn around, Dan. Bye, Virtual Dan.
VELSHI: There we go. Bye, Virtual Dan.
All right, to get even more details about this technology, go to my blog, CNN.com/Ali, we'll get you headed in the right direction. I find that stuff fascinating.
Hey, a new forecast is out for next week's election. In these final days, who's gaining ground, who's losing? That's next. Two members of "The Best Political Team on Television" join me right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A lot is on the line when the country decides next week which party will run for Congress. So what is grabbing political headlines in these final days? The answers from two of the members of "The Best Political Team on Television," our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser and senior political editor Mark Preston -- gentlemen.
MARL PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Ali, how are you? Hey let me break some news here on your show.
Michael Steele, that controversial chairman of the Republican National Committee who has had some very big successes during his tenure and, of course, he's had some controversies as well, is taking steps to run for a second term. A lot of people weren't sure what Michael Steele would do, but he held a conference call with supporters and allies last week, a previously unreported conference call. And in fact, he has named two staffers that will help guide him through this process.
Now, Ali, I'll have more on this story, this developing story in the next hour. We'll talk a little bit more about that. But let's move on a little bit and talk about some advice that former House speaker Newt Gingrich is giving President Obama.
He's telling him you should go talk to Bill Clinton because Bill Clinton back in 1994 lost control of the House of Representatives and who did Bill Clinton have to work with? He had to work with Newt Gingrich. In fact, this is what Newt Gingrich had to say about President Clinton, "President Clinton did a tremendous job on working with us on balancing the budget and cutting taxes."
So, Ali, let me kick it back to Paul. Some interesting advice from Newt Gingrich.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good stuff there, Mark. I'm looking forward to that update on Steele.
But, Ali, let's talk about the battle for the House of Representatives. We all know this -- Republicans need a net gain of 39 seats to reclaim the chamber, which they lost in the 2006 elections.
Brand new today and also on the CNN Political Ticker, one of the nonpartisan handicappers, the Cook Political Report, upped their ante. Now they are saying, they're predicting, forecasting the Republicans could make a net gain of 48 to 60 seats, well above the 39 need by the Republicans.
The other top political nonpartisan handicapper in this town, the Rothenberg Report, also has a pretty high number, not as high, 45 to 55.
We'll keep an eye on the numbers and of course, find out next week if the Republicans get those 39 and then some -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Paul and Mark, thank you so much. We're going to stick very close to you guys, obviously, over the next few days as we close in on the midterm elections. Thanks, guys.
Got some breaking news right now. I want to go right to our D.C. bureau, Jeanne Meserve standing by with this.
Jeanne, what have you got?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Ali, we just found out that a Virginia man has been arrested and will be appearing in court this afternoon on terrorism charges. His name is Faruk Ahmed (ph), 34 of Ashburn, Virginia. He is described as a U.S. citizen born in Pakistan. According to the indictment, which we've read, he was involved in doing surveillance and planning for multiple attacks on Washington's metro system.
This press release says from the Department of Justice that at no time was the public in danger during this investigation. The FBI was aware of Ahmed's activities from before the alleged attempt and closely monitored his activities through his arrest.
According to the indictment, he met several times with people he believed were members of al Qaeda. The indictment doesn't say who they were but our suspicion is putting the indictment language together with the press release that they may have been some undercover people programs working for the FBI. That he went out and videotaped metro stations, that he did sketches of metro stations, that he made suggestions of where explosives should be put and how they should be carried on to trains in the metro stations.
Once again, this individual appearing in court this afternoon. Hopefully we'll learn a little bit more about these allegations being made against him by the justice department at that point in time -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Jeanne, thanks very much. We'll stay on top of that and bring you any updates as we get them.
