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Hurricane Earl Threatens East Coast; Middle East Peace Talks to be Held; Veterans Having Trouble Finding Work; Virtual Game Creates Human Hamster Ball; US Combat Mission in Iraq is Over; Iraq at War & Peace; Hostage Situation in Maryland; Fix Our Schools: How to Turn Around Public Schools
Aired September 01, 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: Let's rock.
CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi in New York City -- Doctor.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Tony -- Tony, change the name of your show to "What's Hot" --
HARRIS: "What's Hot."
VELSHI: -- because the whole thing is hot.
HARRIS: Love you, Doc. Have a great show.
VELSHI: You have a great afternoon, my friend.
I'm Ali Velshi. Consider me your news guide today, and there's a lot of news to get through. We're mapping out important information for today and tomorrow, breaking down ideas, seeking out innovation. We are about access and understanding, and there's a lot to understand.
So let's get started. Here's what I've got on the rundown.
Mideast peace talks have been held time and again. They have failed time and again. But the administration thinks this week's round might be different. We'll tell you why.
Plus, we'll put decades of conflict into perspective for you. You'll be able to explain it to someone else when we're finished.
Also, schools where the overwhelming majority of teachers are happy, and the overwhelming majority of students go on to bigger and better things. They are out there. And you'll meet a guy who says he can turn your child's school into one of them.
Plus, a long-time political fixture in Alaska is out; a virtual unknown is in. And that means the Tea Party has made another big stride toward November. We'll look at the big picture for you.
CNN is your hurricane headquarters. We've got lots on the latest hurricane. Earl is what he is called. Even though it's been downgraded to a Category 3 storm, Earl is still very powerful, very dangerous. It's packing 125 mile-an-hour winds; it is threatening the Eastern Seaboard. A hurricane warning has now been issued for North Carolina.
President Obama is staying on top of the situation. He spoke by phone this morning with FEMA chief Craig Fugate, who will join me live by phone in the next hour.
Here's what it looks look right now in North Carolina. This is a live web cam near the town of Duck. Yes, you heard me right. Doesn't look too serious out there. As Earl moves closer to the state, though, dozens of National Guard troops have been ordered to report for duty tonight. Remember, the day before a hurricane arrives often looks very calm.
Mandatory evacuations have also been ordered along North Carolina's Outer Banks on Ocracoke Island. People are leaving the only way they can: by ferry. Not everybody is getting out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of my neighbors are leaving. We're just going to hang in and ride her out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They'll throw us off the island. That's all right. We'll just camp somewhere else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: In Virginia, the Navy is also preparing. It's ready to move nearly 35 ships at naval station Norfolk out of storm's way if necessary.
And not knowing what Earl will do, people like these boaters are going ahead and making plans as far north as Massachusetts.
Now, another threat: rip currents. Red flags are posted along many beaches warning swimmers of the potential danger. About 65 people were pulled from the water in Virginia Beach yesterday.
A hurricane couldn't come for a worst time for business that depends on tourism dollars from the Labor Day weekend. Some travelers are starting to cancel hotel reservations ahead of the storm.
Before we bring in Chad Myers, I want to show you this video from one of our iReporters. Earl whipped up very strong winds in Saint Kitts, causing some boats to wash ashore. This was yesterday in Saint Kitts.
All right. Let's do what we have to do. This is your hurricane headquarters at CNN, and when there's a hurricane, Chad is our man on it.
Chad, what have you got?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Ali, the problem with this storm is that it's not a Category 4 anymore. I don't want people to take a little sigh of relief and say, "OK, it's not so big." It's as big as Katrina was when Katrina made land fall, at a Category 3, a very strong Cat 3. We're only just a few miles per hour below that Category 4 hurricane status, and it could still go back to Category 4.
It's a very impressive storm. It has a very tight eye right now. Didn't have a very good eye at all yesterday. Much more compact storm again.
VELSHI: Tell me -- tell me what that means, Chad. Because we talk about that a lot when we cover hurricanes. We get familiar with that. What does it mean when it's got a tight eye or a more compact eye?
MYERS: OK, we're thinking about the little skater that skates on the ice in the Olympics. When she's out there skating, just skating around, she's doing a little thing, but then she decides to spin, spin with her arms in and her legs in, and that spin is very, very fast.
Then all of a sudden, some other thing -- she puts one leg out, keeps one leg in. When the arms are out like that, and the leg is out, she spins slower. It's -- the -- conservation of angular momentum. More than you ever wanted to know.
But anyway, when an eye gets very small, this spin gets bigger. Stronger. Faster. Because the hurricane basically, bringing its arms in. And as the arms come in, the middle of the eye gets more dangerous. The eye walls get more dangerous. The eye is still very calm, but you never want to be in that, even if you're a storm chaser, you don't want to be in the eye, because all of a sudden the winds are coming from one way --
VELSHI: And then they change direction.
MYERS: Coming the other way, yes. So the whole storm system still has to turn. This is the key to this storm. And hasn't it been for now ten days, Ali, waiting for the storm to turn? Waiting for the paint to dry? It is still not turning. That is the line that it is on right now.
So without any turn, without any deflection, this thing makes landfall somewhere between Myrtle Beach and Jacksonville. Don't believe that's going to happen. I do believe that there will be turn. Every computer model says turn, but so have they been saying that for ten days.
So that's why -- get rid of this map. That's why the parts of North Carolina into Virginia, have either hurricane watches, tropical storm watches or right here, hurricane warnings in effect. Because if this storm comes in and doesn't turn in time -- say it's turning, but doesn't turn in time, and this thing runs right across Albacore (ph) and Albemarle Sound, we're going to lose an awful lot of beach here.
Sometimes you actually lose the island all together. You lose the road. And there's another what they call cut in the island, because it's just a big hunk of sand. The sand gets washed away; so does the road. And then you get another island, and you can't get back and forth because the bridge is completely gone. That can happen.
The forecast is for it to be out here. Let's hope that turn turns, because right now, it's not. We'll keep watching.
VELSHI: Say, Chad, I want to ask you one other thing. Before you put that thing up that you're looking at, there was another window that was on the right side on the top of your chart, which shows the cone of uncertainty, if you will. I still see that looking at the upper part of the East Coast. Is that -- I mean, this thing can -- can still get higher?
MYERS: Yes. The high -- the high pressure out here is releasing its westwardly push. That's why the storm is still moving from east to west. But that high is moving away, and it's beginning to get this part of the high, starting to get the turn.
But as it gets back up here to the north, there's a major low pressure center up here. Way up into Canada. That could actually suck it back around and suck it back into Atlantic Canada, maybe even around in toward Greenland and Iceland. So this thing may not be just done with one turn. It may come up, it may come in, and it may turn back.
Now, that turn back is Cape Cod. That's ugly. If this turn doesn't happen soon enough, that's landfall, North Carolina. That's ugly. And then somewhere here, that would be right there, still in the cone, that would be Long Island. How many people are going to be out there?
VELSHI: Which is -- a lot of people go out there for --
MYERS: Absolutely.
VELSHI: For the Labor Day weekend. I knew if I gave you half an inch, you would blame Canada somehow. Chad, we will stay on top of this.
MYERS: Never blame our people in Atlantic Canada. Love them, love Nova Scotia.
VELSHI: We will, of course -- CNN is your hurricane center for this, and we will stay on top of it. Chad will. Thanks, Chad.
The phrase almost synonymous with dead ends and wasted effort, but a new round of Mideast peace talks gets under way in Washington. A special U.S. envoy says this time may be different. I'll show you what they're talking about when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Just hours after President Obama turned the page on the war in Iraq. He is hoping to write a new chapter in a much older Mideast drama. He's brought the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to Washington for their first direct peace talks in almost two years. Those will happen tomorrow at the State Department.
Today at the White House, he's holding separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen here, and moments from now, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Later, he'll meet with Jordan's King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Within the past hour, Misters Obama and Netanyahu stepped out to speak with reporters. Here's what the president said about the ever- present threat of terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are going to be extremists and rejectionists who, rather than seeking peace, are going to be seeking destruction. And the tragedy that we saw yesterday, where people were gunned down on the street by terrorists who are purposely trying to undermine these talks, is an example of what we're up against.
But I want everybody to be very clear: the United States is going to be unwavering in its support of Israel's security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: OK. So the goal of these talks is a viable Palestinian state that has neighborly relations with Israel. That is not new. Nor are the sticking points, chiefly borders and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. A self-imposed ten-month ban on new settlements expires September 26. Palestinians say they won't talk peace unless that ban is renewed.
You could say it takes a village to restart Mideast peace talks, and here are the key villagers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the left, he was elected prime minister in 2009. This is his second time as prime minister. He supports the creation of a Palestinian state, only if it's demilitarized.
Now, he's a familiar face to many Americans. He spent a lot of time here. He also spent part of his childhood in the United States. And he was a former finance minister in -- in Israel.
The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, he's a former Palestinian prime minister. He replaced Yasser Arafat when he died. He co-founded the Fatah faction, which is the main political group in the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
He was also the main architect of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which some people believe was the best chance for peace that those two sides have ever had.
Over on the right, notice there's no picture there? That's Hamas. They are not attending this week's peace talks. They weren't invited. And even if they were, they probably wouldn't have come. They operate in Gaza, the goal of Hamas. By the way, Hamas is an elected government. Although they are -- their goal is to have an Islamist Palestinian state. They have been designated a terrorist organization by the United States. The U.S. won't talk to Hamas. Israel won't talk to Hamas. Hamas doesn't seem all that keen on talking to them, either.
U.S. President Barack Obama, he's the key player here. During his campaign, he said he would deal with the conflict. Some people say he hasn't done enough. On the third day of his presidency, he -- he appointed the guy next to him, former senator, George Mitchell. He was -- George Mitchell has been the envoy to the Middle East, trying to bring the two sides closer. He will attend the peace talks this week. He's been a longtime mediator between the two.
And the talks are actually being hosted by the State Department. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is going to be hosting them. Not only is she the secretary of state, but her husband, Bill Clinton, was the -- was also a president who made great efforts to achieve peace between the two sides.
The -- the talks tomorrow will be direct talks between Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
There will also be a couple of other attendees. Jordan's King Abdullah is going to be there. His father was a constant fixture at peace talks. Jordan is one of two Arab countries that has peace agreements with Israel. The other one being Egypt. The guy in the middle: Egyptian prime minister -- President Hosni Mubarak. That's another country that has peace with Israel. And on the right, Tony Blair. He is representing the Middle East Quartet, which is a group of countries trying to get peace in the Middle East: the U.S., Russia, the U.N. and the European Union.
All right, we'll have more on that later.
Troops coming back from the battlefield now facing a new challenge: being jobless in a tough economy. The numbers are startling, and I've got a special guest for "Your $$$$$" coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: "Your $$$$$" today. The unemployment rate for July, 9.5 percent. We'll get a new number on -- on Friday. But July was a savings that was in June. One group is dealing with troubling numbers well above the national average. Those are veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tony Harris, a special guest.
HARRIS: Doctor.
VELSHI: Not only a special guest on the show, which we're thrilled about, a special guest -- talk about being on my turf -- on the money topic -- Tony.
HARRIS: I think I'm all over your marks here. It's comfortable. It's good.
VELSHI: Feel at home. My marks are your marks. HARRIS: I've got to tell you something. We have -- and Ali, we've been following this story for a while now. We've been watching these amazing pictures of these families being reunited. We're talking about Iraq war veterans who have been coming home to their families in wonderful receptions like this one.
You remember this from a couple of weeks ago.
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: The 4th -- the Stryker Brigade returning to the Seattle area. And all of the hugs and the kisses and the families being reunited again.
Here's the thing. There were a lot of -- there were a lot of service personnel who have finished their enlistments. And now it's time to transition, right, from a military job into the civilian work force. And, as we talk about all the time, this is a difficult and challenging time to be looking for a job.
Take a look at this. You mentioned it just a moment ago. The national unemployment rate stands right now at 9.5 percent. But take a look at the number for returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. We're talking about Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from 2001 on. Look at the unemployment figure. It's at 11.8 percent. And this is from the Department of Labor. If you take a look at -- this is up. This is actually up from last year, OK, where it was about 9 -- here we go, 9.8 percent last year. What was the overall national unemployment rate that time last year? It was at 9.4 percent. So you see the trend here.
But let's get the statistics. Let's talk about individuals and what this means for returning veterans, what it means for them and their statements to try to transition, try to find work to take care of their family. This is Richard Wilt, and listen to how difficult a struggle it has been for him to find work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD WILT, FORMER U.S. ARMY: I was putting out resume after resume, I would have some interviews. And you just -- I just didn't get hired. I opted to go back overseas, because I couldn't find work. It was just -- I volunteered to go back to Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So that's what he did. So he went back and he did another tour in Iraq. He was that frustrated for him as he was attempting to transition and to find a job to take care of his family in this difficult, difficult jobs environment.
So what do we want to do here? We want to give returning vets every opportunity they can to be successful and to navigate this. So we found a Web site that we think can be helpful. Michael, let's take a look at this Web site. It is careeronestop.org/militarytransition. Doesn't get any simpler than that, Ali. And once you go there, you will see a number of links. Some that we want to point out for you right now. For example, there was a link matching military skills to civilian jobs. I don't have to tell you how important that would be.
There is another link that is titled, where and how to get certifications and licenses for various jobs. How something -- how about something as simple as resume crafting? There is a link for that, as well. How to prepare resumes and a state-by-state link to jobs, banks in the various states across the country.
So what we're suggesting here is that you just -- if you're a returning veteran trying to transition, we know in this environment it can be difficult to find that job to get yourself going again. There is one option for you that you can consider. It is careeronestop.org/militarytransition to maybe get you started -- Ali.
VELSHI: Tony, you know, a few years ago, it was a different economy.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: But one of the things I remember talking to people who represent companies that franchise businesses out, and they used to tell me they loved having veterans back, because to run your own business, to franchise, requires a certain amount of discipline and they found --
HARRIS: Yes, mission-focused.
VELSHI: Yes, they're totally mission-focused,.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: They can follow directions. They can make it work. They can problem-solve. Veterans are very -- do very well in small businesses. I know it's a tough economy to get a loan for a small business, but they do well in them.
HARRIS: And -- and let's be clear. The other issue on this that we're trying to get greater clarity on is are the returning veterans, do they have the necessary educational skills? Do they have the tools, right?
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: In order to compete in this work force. It's something that we've talked about a lot, and it's something that we will continue to follow.
VELSHI: Tony, it's a real pleasure to have you on this side of 1 p.m. Eastern. What a pleasure to see you. You have yourself a great day.
HARRIS: Yes. You too, sir. And listen, if you want to tune in to get more information about money every weekend, we put a lot into topics just having to do with your money on a show here at CNN called "YOUR $$$$$." Saturday, 1 p.m. Eastern, Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern. We talk about investing. We talk about jobs. In fact, this weekend it's going to be all about jobs because of that big jobs report we're expecting on Friday.
There is technology out there that you can put -- that can put you into a whole new world. And it does it by turning you into a human hamster. It's pretty cool stuff. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: We have all seen the virtual reality worlds in movies like "The Matrix" and "Avatar," but now there's this new gadget. It is taking that technology to casinos in Las Vegas, and this is the part I don't understand, it turns you into a human hamster.
Gary Tuchman takes us to "The Edge of Discovery."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the movie "The Matrix," actor Keanu Reeves was trapped in a virtual world.
LAURENCE FISHBURNE, ACTOR: How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?
TUCHMAN: Now you can experience your own alternate reality inside a video game. It's called the VirtuSphere, a human hamster ball that tracks your every move.
MICHAEL ALEXANDREA, 360 VIRTUAL VENTURES: The game is placing you inside the center of that story, where you are a focus point.
DANIEL JAMES SCHIAVONE, 360 VIRTUAL VENTURES: Get a 3-d headset that allows you to see the world. You also have a sensor on the bottom of the sphere that tracks which way the surface is rolling so you get a really true, immersive 3-D experience.
TUCHMAN: You can walk, spin around and even run inside the sphere during an action-packed game.
SCHIAVONE: You're actually involved in the game. Instead of just your thumb, it's your whole body.
TUCHMAN: Or you can just take a stroll through a virtual village in Russia.
The VirtuSphere was originally designed for military and police training. But now --
SCHIAVONE: The possibilities are endless, and we can't wait to work with major gaming publishers and movie studios. What we can see in the next five years is placing these in hundreds of malls and major theme parks around the world. TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: That was interesting.
All right. It took more than a week, but we finally know who will carry the Republican banner in the 2010 Alaska Senate race. You may not know his name. You are certainly going to recognize his friends.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Hi, breaking news just into CNN. We have a standoff situation in Silver Spring, Maryland. Here's what we know coming in from Montgomery County.
There is a man armed with a gun, possibly with explosives, and he is at 1 Discovery Place. This is the Discovery Building in Silver Springs, Maryland. The area has been evacuated. Emergency response teams are on the scene. Our crews are on the way to the scene.
But the Discovery Channel building in Silver Springs [SIC], Maryland, has been evacuated. There is a man there -- Silver Spring, Maryland, has been evacuated. There is a man there, allegedly, with a gun, possibly with explosives. And crews are on the way there.
We understand emergency response teams are already there and have evacuated the immediate area.
We do not know whether he has got anybody with him. We don't know where he is, but there is a picture from Google Earth. Those of you in the Washington, D.C. area will know the area, will know the building, that is off Wayne Avenue, Discovery Avenue. Wayne and Georgia in Silver Spring, Maryland. We will keep you up to speed with what we learn about this as soon as we get more information on it.
All right. Eight days after Alaskans voted on a GOP Senate candidate, we know who that is. Incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski has conceded to, but not endorsed a challenger, backed by the Tea Party Express. And endorsed by Sarah Palin. His name, he's on the right, his name is Joe Miller. If you've never heard of him, that's OK. Up until a few weeks ago, most Alaskans hadn't either. Here is Murkowski doing the math and not taking questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: We know we still have outstanding votes to count in this primary. But based on where we are right now, I don't see a scenario where the primary will turn out in my favor. And that is a reality that is before me at this point in time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: OK. I want to bring in CNN's deputy political editor, a good friend of mine, Paul Steinhauser in Washington. He has been following all of this very closely.
Paul, let me just get this straight. This would make him the fifth candidate backed by the Tea Party whose sort of come out of nowhere to win a Republican Senate primary? And I don't know if you count Marco Rubio in Florida, whether that's six or not.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, I'm not even keeping Rubio on the list. Take a look at this, and I think you have a graphic of that. Yes, five now. You've got Miller in Alaska, and also you've got Mike Lee in Utah; Sharron Angle in Nevada; and Ken Buck in Colorado. So you put all both together -- and Rand Paul in Kentucky, I'm sorry. Can't leave Rand Paul off.
These are all candidates who were backed by various groups in the Tea Party movement who received some support from them, as well. In Lee's case, in Alaska, the Tea Party Express you mentioned them, one of the leading national Tea Party organizations, they pumped up nearly $600,000 for his campaign. They ran commercials. A lot of this in the last two weeks. So these people getting a lot of support from the Tea Party movement, Ali.
VELSHI: Are there anymore of these to come? Are there more Tea Party challengers and contests to represent the Republican Party elsewhere in the country right now?
STEINHAUSER: We've got one last big round of primaries on September 14th. And the Tea Party Express, the group that supported Lee, the group that supported Angle and supported Miller now say they're going to support a woman called Christine O'Donnell in Delaware. She's a conservative candidate for Senate there, and she is taking on a guy called Mike Castle, who's known as being a moderate. He's the long-time Congressman from Delaware and a former governor and he's pretty popular. But now they're going after him, just like in Alaska. They say these candidates aren't conservative enough. That was their argument against Murkowski, that she wasn't conservative enough. That's why they came to Miller's support.
VELSHI: Does this concern the Republican Party? Is it good news for the Republican Party? Have they even said anything officially about the influence of the Tea Party Express or Tea Party-backed candidates in their races?
STEINHAUSER: I think there's two ways to look at it. The movement is about a year-and-a-half old, right? And there is a lot of energy and enthusiasm on that side by Tea Party activists. And that is helping to fuel the -- I guess the fervor on the Republican side.
You're seeing a lot of people voting in the Republican primaries this year. And the political winds seem to be at the Republicans' back. And they're become a big player - Tea Party activists in the primary. But what happens in the general election?
Democrats actually in a way are almost embracing this because they say it's pushing the Republican nominees to being as they say, out of the mainstream, too conservative for the moderates and Independents who on November 2nd will determine who wins or loses. We'll find out.
VELSHI: Joe Miller is not a name most people know, but he's fairly accomplished. He's a Gulf War veteran, he's a lawyer, he's a Yale graduate.
STEINHAUSER: Yep. West Point graduate, and as you said, fought in the first Persian Gulf War, won the Bronze Star. He, out of nowhere, in early June, became pretty famous in Alaska because Sarah Palin endorsed him. And soon after that, the Tea Party Express got involved, as well, and started helping him out. But, yes, he's a pretty accomplished guy and has got quite a resume. And now he would be considered, Ali, the favorite in November against the Democratic candidate, who's the mayor of Sitka.
VELSHI: Which means if he wins, he would be the only guy in the Senate, if I'm not mistaken, with a beard.
STEINHAUSER: I've got to check on that, Ali.
VELSHI: And you will. I know you. You'll actually check on it. I think in the old days a lot more of them used to have beards. I may be mistaken about that.
Are there any bald senators? I'm just trying to think.
STEINHAUSER: Senator Velshi.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: You call me senator, I'll call you governor.
All right, Paul, good to see you as always, my friend. Thanks very much. Get some sleep. I hope you get some sleep. I know you were up late last night.
Listen, if you want to hear more from Joe Miller, or anything from Joe Miller, he's John King's guest tonight on "JOHN KING USA,"7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 Pacific, only on CNN.
Well, it's now a done deal. U.S. combat operations in Iraq are finally over, officially. Emphasis on the word "officially." And now what's set to be the final phase of the American Military mission is underway. I'm going to give you a look at how we got to this point when we go Globe Trekking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Breaking news again. I want to bring you an update of the situation in Silver Spring, Maryland. Let's go to an aerial picture now of the Discovery Building. This is a live picture, but we have delayed it for important reasons.
The S.W.A.T. teams are on the site. They have a good visual of the man who they are looking for. He does apparently have at least one hostage. Here's what we know. He has one hostage. He also appears to have a suspicious device on his body. One man with at least one hostage and a suspicious device on his body at the Discovery Building in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Explosive experts are on the scene or on the way to the scene to get a sense of what's going on. Police say they've got a very clear visual picture of him, according to corporal Dan Fritz of Montgomery County. That is the situation that we know now. The building has been evacuated. The area around it has been evacuated. They do not know of anything other than the one hostage that they appear to see, and they believe they see something on this man, a suspicious device is how they're describing it.
So one man, one suspicious device, one hostage. That's what we know. These are the pictures of the Discovery Building in Silver Spring, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. We'll continue to bring you more on this as we find out more about it.
All right. Time now for Globe Trekking. To Baghdad, after more than seven years of war, Vice President Biden today presided over ceremonies marking the official end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq. The cost? More than 4,400 American lives, an estimated 100,000 Iraqis killed, and hundreds of billions of dollars.
A change of command ceremony played out in Baghdad today with the presentation of colors to the new commander of American forces in Iraq. Army General Lloyd Austin, he just got promoted to general, actually, this morning. Operation Iraqi Freedom comes to an end. A new mission of assistance Operation New Dawn has begun.
On the minds of many, was the war worth it? Defense Secretary Robert Gates, also in Baghdad, put it this way, history will judge. He said the problem was the reason we, quote, "justified going to war turned out not to be valid." He was referring to the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have ever been found. But both Gates and Biden had nothing but praise for American servicemen and women.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This change of mission, to state the obvious, would never have been possible without the resolve and tremendous sacrifice and competence of our military. The finest -- if of our Iraqi friends will forgive us -- the finest fighting force in the world, and I would argue, the finest fighting force that ever has existed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Also presiding over the change of command ceremonies, the Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen. All three are acutely aware that the roots of this war are deep in history. Here now is a quick look at how we got to this point.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: What we know now is Iraq used to be called Mesopotamia. It was governed by the Turkish-based Ottoman Empire. But after being defeated in World War I, the Ottoman Empire collapsed and it was carved up by the victorious British and French; Britain got the land of Mesopotamia, which includes present-day Iraq.
Forward to the 1920s now, an estimated 9,000 Iraqis were killed in uprisings against the British occupation. Britain set up a government in Mesopotamia and it renamed the country Iraq.
In the 1930s, Iraq became an independent nation, Baghdad remained it's capital. In the '40s after the Second World War, Iraq became a founding member of the Arab League and the United Nations.
But here's where it gets interesting, in the 1950s, King Faisal is killed in a coup led by Abd al-Karim Qasim. But within months, militants of the Ba'ath Party, including a young Saddam Hussein, try to assassinate Qasim. The assassination attempt fails and most of the attackers are killed, but Saddam Hussein survives and is flees Iraq.
In the 1960s, Qasim is finally overthrown and executed. The Ba'ath Party assumes control of the government; Saddam Hussein returns to Iraq. But the new government doesn't last long. It is overthrown, Saddam Hussein is imprisoned, but he escapes and in exile becomes an influential figure in the Ba'ath Party. When the party recaptures power in 1968, Saddam Hussein becomes the vice president.
In the 1970s, Saddam Hussein remains vice president, but he's the real power behind the government. When President Ahmed Hassan al- Baker finally steps down in 1979, Saddam Hussein replaces him and deals ruthlessly with his rivals.
In the 1980s, Saddam Hussein orders an air attack against Iran, and that began eight years of war against the Islamic republic. On several occasions, Iraq is accused of using mustard gas and other chemical weapons against Iran. The war ends in a stalemate with nearly 2 million people killed, but Saddam's goal of regional supremacy is not dead.
The 1990s, August 1990 to be specific, Iraq invades Kuwait. After months of negotiations fail, Operation Desert Storm begins, a multinational coalition led by the United States. Iraqi forces are driven back, Saddam Hussein comes close to being overthrown by revolts in the south and the north of the country. Iraq is forced to allow U.N. inspections of its weapons program. When Saddam Hussein obstructs inspections, Britain and the United States launch air strikes against weapons facilities in Iraq.
After the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush declares that Iraq, Iran and North Korea form an "Axis of Evil." Iraq unconditionally agrees to the return of the United Nations inspectors and submits a 12,0000-page declaration of former weapons programs and civilian industries with military applications to the U.N.
But the U.N. is not satisfied. So in early 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell makes the case to the U.N. that Saddam Hussein still harbors weapons of mass destruction. President Bush issues an ultimatum to the Iraqi leader and his family, leave Iraq or face military action. Saddam Hussein refuses, and Operation Iraqi Freedom is launched. Coalition forces take Baghdad, a large statue of Saddam Hussein -- you'll remember this -- is toppled. Months later, Saddam Hussein is captured in a spider hole in Tikrit; he's arrested.
In 2004, the U.S.-backed Iraqi Government Council sign an interim constitution. It lays the groundwork for future elections, a permanent constitution and eventually a return to self-rule.
Millions of Iraqis cast ballots in the nation's first free election in half a century in 2005, but the vote is widely boycotted by the minority Sunnis; a parliament is chosen.
In 2006, Saddam Hussein is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.
In 2007, as the insurgency led by al Qaeda in Iraq grows, President Bush orders a troop surge, eventually increasing U.S. troop levels to more than 150,000. Along with moves to turn Sunnis against al Qaeda, the surge helps reduce the violence.
In 2008, the Iraqi Presidential Council approves a security agreement that paves the way for the U.S. to withdraw completely from Iraq by 2011.
President Barack Obama, in 2009, announces an actual date for the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq. He names August 31st, 2010. The last U.S. combat brigade leaves Iraq. Fewer than 50,000 troops now remain in the country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: All right, I want to bring you up to speed on the situation at the Discovery Building in Silver Spring, Maryland. I don't know if we've still got a picture of this I can show you. I've just received an e-mail sent to workers in that building at Discovery Channel.
There is a -- that's a picture of the building, it's actually on a delay.
We -- the information we have right now is that the -- that the police have a visual of a man in there who has a -- possibly a hostage and may have a suspicious device strapped to his body. They have brought in explosive experts and they are examining the situation.
We will bring you up to speed with what we have as soon as we've got it. I'm going to take a quick break. We'll be back on the other side.
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VELSHI: OK. We're getting more information on this hostage situation in Maryland just outside of Washington, D.C., Silver Spring, Maryland at the Discovery Building Complex, if you know about it, where that is, you'll recognize it.
First thing I want to tell you is, we have the text of an e-mail that was sent to people in the building. It reads as follows, "We have reason to believe there is an armed gunman at 1 Discovery Place. All employees should seek protection in a locked office on their respective floors immediately."
What we know is the buildings in the area have been evacuated. SWAT teams are on the scene. They have a visual -- apparently they have a very good visual contact with the suspect who does apparently have at least one hostage. He also has a suspicious device on him.
Let me just tell you what the description is that we're getting. He's described as short wearing a green shirt, a silver revolver and has tanks on his back. That's what we are being told at the moment, that he has tanks on his back.
Police do have a visual of him. Explosive experts are on the scene and are trying to determine the next course of actually.
The area has been evacuated. We don't know if there's more than the one hostage, but he does appear to have one hostage with him and that is the situation as we know it right now.
That's what we know about it. As we know more about it, I will bring that information to you. Our crews are there as well. As you can see our affiliate, WJLA, is bringing us these aerial shots of the scene.
It looks very calm around there, but this is quite high up in the air so what you can't see is the activity that's going on on the streets. As we zoomed in a lot closer, you could see police officers and others around the area.
But we do believe that there's been an evacuation of the building. We're not confirmed that everybody's out of the building. This is the information we have. As we get more, we will bring it to you.
This is Silver Spring, Maryland, 1 Discovery Place, the Discovery Building in Silver Spring, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C.
I'll stay on top of this story. Our producers are on top of it. If there's anything that develops into this, we'll break into our news and bring it back to you. This breaking news is something that we're following very closely right now.
OK, all this week we are talking about fixing our schools here on CNN. Here's a question for you -- can you use the charter school model to turn a public school around? Our next guest says, yes. You'll meet him on the other side.
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VELSHI: We're going to continue our coverage of the situation in Silver Spring, Maryland. This is just outside of Washington, D.C. These pictures brought to us by a helicopter courtesy of our affiliate there, WJLA. That is the Discovery Building, 1 Discovery Place on Wayne in Silver Spring, Maryland. There is a gunman in that building. The building and the campus, if you will, has been evacuated. We don't know who's left in there.
We know there's a gunman. Police say they've got a visual on this gunman who has apparently got a hostage with him. They don't know if there's more people involved, but he apparently has a hostage with him.
Let me tell you -- what they know. They reported there was a suspicious device on this man. Well it turns out that he's got a revolver, they seem to be able to see a revolver and they seem to be able to see tanks on his back.
I don't even know what that means, but that's what we're hearing, that there's these suspicious devices or the suspicious device are tanks on his back. So they've called in explosive experts to try and get a closer look.
Police say they do know where he is. They see him, they've got a visual on him. He does appear to have a hostage and he has tanks on his back as well as a gun.
SWAT teams are on the scene. We'll continue to cover this for closely for you and bring you updates immediately as they develop. That is the situation at Discovery Place -- 1 Discovery Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.
"Fix Our Schools," words that you are going to hear a lot of on CNN this week. We have sent reporting teams across the country to document the education crisis in America. Most importantly, we're going to shine a light on success stories that can empower us to offer our children more than they're getting right now.
Now imagine a school achieving the following -- 90 percent of its teachers and other staff say that they are satisfied; 100 percent, that's the number of eighth graders who have been accepted to further their education at preparatory high schools; thousands, the numbers of high-school scholarships the students have earned.
The school is not fiction, it actually exists. There are two of them actually, both of them are charter schools in Brooklyn founded by Morty Ballen. He -- listen to this, though, Morty says give him a public school and he can get the same results.
Morty Ballen is the CEO and founder of Explore Schools. He joins me now. Morty, welcome.
MORTY BALLEN, CEO & FOUNDER, EXPLORE CHARTER SCHOOL: Thank you.
VELSHI: We think about charter schools as small samples that grow a grade at a time and turn things over over time and run, some arguments go, more efficiently than regular public schools. You think you can do what you're doing here in a public school, how? BALLEN: So that's right and that's exactly why we're doing what we're doing what we're doing, because we're not getting to enough kids fast enough.
What we learned at Explore Charter School is in one year, we had double-digit gains with our students, and that's because the grown-ups changed their minds. The grown-ups did different things --
VELSHI: The grown-ups being the teachers? The administrators?
BALLEN: The teachers, the administrators, the entire staff worked together as a team to change how we were using time, the change the material we were using with our kids and to change how we were selecting and retaining staff.
The kids change when the grown-ups change and we think we can apply those lessons to any public school.
VELSHI: OK, so in science, you would use a control group. Did anything else change? Are the facilities substantially improved? Is the class size substantially smaller?
BALLEN: No, it was the adults who said, this is not good enough and our kids were almost waiting for the kids to change their minds.
VELSHI: This is red meat, though, to some people. I mean there are some people who think all we do is bash on public schoolteachers. Is that the implication that your teachers can do better than public school teachers do?
BALLEN: I think any teacher in the right environment and help with the right expectations and working toward the same mission can achieve to the goals we set for our kids.
I think too often what we do in our country is blame the kids or the families if they're not achieving, when really it's the adults in the school building who can be asking themselves --
VELSHI: What part of a kids' success is actually about the kids or the families? There has got to be something.
BALLEN: Again, you're talking to a guy who believes strongly that schools have a profound impact on a kid's life. We are with kids nine hours a day, outside the institution of family, I know of no other institution that can have that profound impact.
If we're spending our time correctly, doing the right things, working with kids over years, we'll achieve those goals.
VELSHI: Let's get down to brass tacks then. What are the things that the adults in the school environment -- the teachers, the staff -- decided to do differently that have resulted in better results for the kids in the school?
BALLEN: So one, dig into data. Individual by individual student, look at the interim test results every eight weeks. What does each kid need in order to achieve the standards?
And then we had freedom, as a charter school, with resource allocation. Change how teachers are using their time, change the number of kids who --
VELSHI: Let me stop you there. You said as a charter school, we had freedom. Which means, could a public school under the system, without being a charter school, do what you did? Or, does something have to change?
BALLEN: We need the same freedoms. We need freedoms around human capital and we need the freedoms around resource allocation. And --
VELSHI: OK, so this isn't just a bunch of teachers and administrators in public schools not doing it, it's that there's a system that prevents them from achieving what you want to --
BALLEN: I think there are two parts. One is you need the freedoms, which is the DNA and the structure. And two, you need the specific levers that you're going to change, and we've learned about both of those at Explorer.
So what we have right now, Ali, is we actually have a charter from the state of New York, we have a principal hired, we are awaiting for the school to turnaround. We have -- we wrote a charter to say, give us a school that's failing, give us all of those students, we don't want to grow one grade at a time.
VELSHI: And what grades would you take?
BALLEN: Our goal is K through 5. Our goal is to work with --
VELSHI: So that could be a few hundred students?
BALLEN: It could be a few hundred students. And that's why --
VELSHI: So you're telling me that if the state of New York gives you a school, K to 5, with a few hundred students that are underperforming, you can turn it around?
BALLEN: Absolutely. The kids are waiting for us. Those families are waiting for us.
VELSHI: So the idea here is that, can this be -- this can be replicated, in your mind, at any level throughout --
BALLEN: So part of -- that's a great question, and part of what we're doing is charter schools serve 3.5 percent of our country's population. It takes too long each year to grow. We need a more systemic solution to our country's educational crisis, turnaround gets to more kids faster.
VELSHI: Thank you for bringing us this information, we appreciate it.
Morty Ballen is the CEO and founder of Explore Schools, joining us today.
For more information about Morty and his Explore Schools program, go to my Web site, CNN.com/Ali.
