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Tucson Shooting Suspect Due in Court; Snowstorm Socks the Southeast; Fix Our Schools; Football National Championship Tonight; Giffors E-mail Called for Civil Tone in Politics; Rubio Dismisses Vice Presidential Talks; Jeb Bush Urges GOP to Reach Out to Hispanics
Aired January 10, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: OK. It's 2:00 on the east. More than 48 hours after the massacre in Tucson, we've just heard President Obama say all of us are still grieving and in shock.
Of utmost concern at the moment and for a long time to come, the condition of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She remains in a medically induced coma, but her surgeons say she is holding her own and functioning at a high level considering a bullet went through her brain.
Of the 14 people who were wounded on Saturday, six others were killed. Giffords alone is still in critical condition. We've got our most recent briefing about two hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MICHAEL LEMOLE, UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: With regard to Congresswoman Giffords' recovery, at this phase in the game, no change is good, and we have no change. That is to say she's still following those basic commands. On top of that, the CAT scans are showing there is no progression of that swelling.
We're not out of the woods yet. That swelling can sometimes take three days or five days to maximize. But every day that goes by and we don't see an increase, we're slightly more optimistic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Now, the alleged shooter is due in federal court in Phoenix two hours from now. There he is. Jared Lee Loughner, a community college dropout who supposedly jotted down notes about his plans for a, quote, "assassination." So far, he's charged with five counts of murder and attempted murder based on attacks against federal officials.
Now, the dead include a community outreach aide to Congresswoman Giffords and a federal district judge, John Roll.
CNN's Ted Rowlands is outside the Phoenix courthouse.
Ted, it seems every few minutes, we're learning something new about Jared Lee Loughner. None of it too good. Tell us what we know now.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically, Ali, we're learning that he, in the years before this horrible tragedy, had contact with a congresswoman -- Congresswoman Giffords had a similar event she was conducting on Saturday in 2007 and apparently, the suspect was there. One of the things that came out in the criminal complaint was the fact that a search warrant turned up an envelope which was basically a letter from the congresswoman's office thanking him for showing up to this "meet your Congress person on the square" event that she had and he had kept it. He had also written on there a couple things including the words "I planned ahead" and "My assassination."
Clearly, this young man was obsessed on some level with the congresswoman before this tragedy began. We're expecting him in court here in the next few hours in federal court. It should be a fairly quick hearing. He'll have the charges read to him. They'll set a preliminary hearing date, and then they'll also set basically a bail hearing date for him as well.
He is expected to be represented by Judy Clarke, who is a public defender that also represented Ted Kaczynski and some other very high-profile clients in the past. A court document filed this morning lists Clarke as his lawyer along with two others. So, we do expect her to be at his side when he makes his initial court appearance today.
What will be interesting is whether he says anything -- because up until now, according to law enforcement, he has said absolutely nothing. Since the time that he has been arrested, he's been silent. Whether or not he says anything in the back and forth with the judge or even maybe disrupts the hearing, which he has been known to do in his college classes, we'll have to wait and see.
VELSHI: But because he hasn't said anything, everything we know about motive has to be gleaned by these things that you were talking about -- references to a note that was found, postings on the Internet, things that he may have done at Pima Community College. We don't really have anything otherwise as to motive.
ROWLANDS: No. And the other key here is his parents. The law enforcement has interviewed his parents according to a source. We haven't heard anything from the parents though publicly what they assess their son's mental capabilities, where he, you know, what -- who is this young man? And obviously the parents will have a lot of insight if they ever do come forward. They apparently are cooperating.
So, law enforcement and prosecutors likely have a pretty good idea through the parents about where this young man was mentally and his potential obsession with the congresswoman before the shooting.
VELSHI: All right, Ted. Thanks very much for this. We'll stay in touch with you through the course of the afternoon as this hearing gets under way -- Ted Rowlands in Arizona.
OK. Our sound effect today -- well, it's felt more than heard. Across the nation, just about three hours ago, Americans observed a moment of silence to honor the victims of that Tucson rampage. I want to take you to the White House, then Capitol Hill, and finally to NASA mission control in Houston. As you may know, Congresswoman Giffords' husband is a space shuttle commander, Mark Kelly.
(VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: In his first public statement on the attack, Commander Kelly, the representative's husband, says, quote, "Many of you have offered help but there's little we can do but pray." We'll stay on top of this story with you.
OK. The Northeast has gotten walloped again and again this year. Now, it's the Southeast's turn. A big old winter storm has been moving through, leaving lots of places not so used to snow pretty paralyzed. There are lots of unhappy people by the way in Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport right now.
CNN's Martin Savidge hopefully isn't one of them. There he is there. We'll check in with him in a second.
But, first, Chad Myers standing by at the severe weather center, which has been keeping him very busy this year.
And the Northeast may be having some fun at the Southeast's expense. But in two days, we're handing the storm back to them.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. Watch what ask you for.
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: And watch where you think you just sent the weather. I don't know if you've heard of this app, Ali. It's called Flight Board.
VELSHI: I have not.
MYERS: OK. I don't want to steal Marty's thunder because I know he's going to show the Real Flight board here in a bit. But if you have an iPad and you log in, I think it's just a couple 3 bucks, you can see all the arrivals, all the departures for any airport in the country. I can see here --
VELSHI: Wow.
MYERS: -- that Grand Rapids flight, Delta Airlines flight 582, actually landed. Over here, all canceled.
VELSHI: Everything is cancelled. Wow.
MYERS: There's a San Diego flight 9859. It actually landed.
And you can see, you can go to arrivals or you can, of course, go to departures, to see whether a flight is leaving or not.
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: This is the real flight board directly from the airports right into your iPad for just a couple 3 bucks. Pretty amazing.
Here's what we're dealing with in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of our weather bunk cameras here, there's downtown. And that's on a good day, because this is obviously Google Earth. Now, let's just go grab a camera and see what the roads really do look like.
VELSHI: Wow.
MYERS: I was on that road yesterday.
VELSHI: Yes?
MYERS: It was like driving about three miles per hour on Daytona Motor Speedway. There's a little bit of banking. If you didn't keep just a little bit of velocity, all the cars were sliding --
VELSHI: Wow.
MYERS: -- right down here. And they all ended up right down there. A couple more shots for you here, Dave. Take me wherever you want. I know we have a couple of --
VELSHI: It's not a lot -- it's not a lot of snow, Chad. The issue is these places are not used to snow, so people don't have the tires for it. We don't have the salt trucks for it.
MYERS: Well, I just got an update from DOT. They said they have 50 things out there now. Most of them dump trucks with a blade on the front that they're trying to spread salt out the back. I have seen -- I don't know if these are DOT official trucks or not -- pickup trucks --
VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: -- with men in the back and men in the front.
VELSHI: Throwing salt out.
MYERS: Taking a shovel and throwing it on the road as they're driving down past CNN.
VELSHI: Right. And that happens more than people know. Cities and governments make deals with private contractors. They got equipment. They had to do it in New York with the big storm.
MYERS: Yes, of course.
VELSHI: It's too much for us to handle. Sometimes, a truck, a little pickup truck can do better. But this is heading back -- this is heading up north?
MYERS: Big time, maybe up to 12 inches in New York City --
VELSHI: Wow.
MYERS: -- starting tomorrow midnight.
VELSHI: So, Wednesday is going to be another commuting day. OK. So, for commuters across the Eastern Seaboard, it's going to be an issue, Chad.
Let's go to Hartsfield right now. The storm is keeping a lot of people out of planes, especially Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, one of the busiest in the country.
So, this isn't just about Atlanta people, or Southeast people, Martin. Those people around you could have been coming in from all reaches of the country or the world, and they might be stuck here for a while.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Exactly, Ali. And that's really the issue.
By the way, where I am in this line, two hours to get to this particular spot.
VELSHI: Wow.
SAVIDGE: And I would say you're just over halfway at this point maybe to get up to a counter to see an agent if you're keeping track.
But you're right. There are a lot of people here. You see, Atlanta is so busy because many people transit through. They come from one place. They're going someplace else. But they change planes here.
That's where a lot of people got into trouble last night. They got on planes that brought them to Atlanta. They expected to get on another plane to go where they wanted to be. But the weather shut down when they were here.
Many got on planes only to be told two hours later, hey, we're not taking off. We're going back to the terminal.
Say hello here to Mike. Mike --
(VIDEO GAP)
VELSHI: OK. We're still having a little problem with that signal. If we get Marty back we'll bring him back with that conversation with Mike.
For those of you traveling anywhere in the country, just be careful. Check ahead of time so you don't get stuck at the airport. It's a lot better to get stuck somewhere else. The airlines have gotten better about immediately figuring out where you are going and changing your flight ahead of you having to do it.
OK. We'll stay on that story.
Also, disturbing new details about the Tucson shooting suspect's background and some very serious questions about someone like him, how someone like him was able to get a gun in the first place. We'll discuss it on the other side of the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: We are learning more about the alleged shooter in Saturday's assassination attempt outside of a Tucson supermarket. Jared Lee Loughner, whom you see here, is being called a, quote, "very troubled individual" by Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. He's got a history of mental issues, including being kicked out of class at Pima Community College because one of his teachers saw Loughner as a threat.
And according to a law enforcement source, Loughner tried to buy bullets at a Wal-Mart store but was turned down because of his behavior. Another Wal-Mart store later sold him the ammunition.
We're hearing also that Loughner was not allowed to join the Army because he failed the drug screening process. Not a test. An official says the Army rejected him before he got to the drug test because he admitted to excessive use of marijuana.
One of the burning questions circulating now is: how did a guy with his background get a gun and bullets in the first place?
Joining me now is Andy Hill. He's a retired sergeant with the Phoenix Police Department.
Andy, answer that question. How does a guy with his background, a guy who told the Army recruiters he uses marijuana, allegedly, a guy who was asked to leave Pima Community College because people were scared about what he might do, that just doesn't register on the radar if you're going to buy a gun or ammunition, am I correct?
ANDY HILL, RETIRED SERGEANT, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: No, you're absolutely right, Ali. As a matter of fact, the truth of the matter is anybody can get a gun if they want to legally or illegally in this country. But for him, unless you are a prohibited possessor or there's a flag that's raised that comes into the sights of law enforcement or somewhere in public safety or the medical profession, that person will not be refused buying a weapon or the magazine or the bullets, or even the extended magazine now as the law permits in this country.
VELSHI: Is there some sense in the discussion, Andy, that maybe the group of people who fit into being a prohibited possessor, somebody who can't get a gun under the laws should be expanded to deal with people who may have some other trouble and possibly mental illness?
HILL: Oh, I think that's a very valid question and a good point especially for law enforcement or any other first responders. They're usually the ones, whether at the hospital or the police officers or the firefighters or people at shelters, they come in first contact with people that may have mental illnesses. Not that the suspect in this case has those issues.
But what we need to do is probably think about how can we mitigate or minimize some of the risk by addressing those flags when they come up, a place to report them to? Sometimes a police officer can have somebody with a mental order of detention be evaluated, but it's for a short period of time. But there is something that needs to be looked at.
Unfortunately, in this country, mental illness tends to be looked at in a different way. It doesn't get all the resources it needs, but certainly is a valid issue to discuss.
VELSHI: And let's talk about the magazine on this gun. He apparently had a Glock 19 that had a 31-round capacity, a normal Glock 19 I think gives you 17 rounds or something like that, and there are some states in the U.S. -- California, New York, and others, where you can't have a magazine with more than 10 rounds in it.
Give me your thoughts on that, the capacity of which a gun can hold before you have to reload.
HILL: Well, this particular weapon, the Glock 19, it's a nine millimeter weapon and it has a 15-round normal capacity. The extended capacity is 30 rounds. However, just by virtue of the fact that he had the extended capacity rounds in the case, that he had some motivation to have a tactical advantage in whatever he was going to do with that gun. So, that was some kind of a predisposing mental condition he had that he wanted to do this thing and he wanted to be prepared.
Anybody can get that. You can buy, you know, in 1991 or the early '90s of the Clinton administration, there was prohibition to buying those extended capacity rounds. That law lapsed in 2004, was not renewed. So, for the last six years, anybody can buy that type of magazine.
The only purpose to have it really, the extended capacity, is if you want a tactical advantage.
VELSHI: Right.
HILL: Otherwise, it's a very uncomfortable thing to have an extended capacity magazine.
VELSHI: It's very big. It's bulky. And bottom line, police don't carry those. If police are in a gun fight with somebody who has 30 rounds in a magazine and one in the chamber, that police officer would have to reload a few times whereas that person with the magazine wouldn't have to.
HILL: That's correct. And that was the point of having it for that person or anybody who has it, generally, is to be able to get more rounds off. That's their goal.
VELSHI: All right. Let's just talk about generally more broadly this issue of mental illness. There is on the federal registry or whatever you do when you go to get a gun and you get an instant check, a background check, there are some people whose mental illnesses will register on that and will prevent them from getting a gun. But short of that, there are many people who may suffer from some mental illness that the system won't catch.
HILL: That's absolutely true. And, you know, there are a number of issues involving those that have mental illness or mental issues. One may be physiological, where they need medication.
The police officer on the street runs into a person, they get a certain amount of training because there are ways to bring people down. But unless you recognize a problem or know there's an issue or trained to deal with it, you have a chance of having a confrontation.
But what we need to continue to do is to recognize that people that have mental illness should not be ignored. We need to be able to continue to work through it and help those people that are first responders to deal with those issues as they come up.
VELSHI: And that point you make, Andy, is much bigger than this rampage in Tucson. That is an issue across our entire health care system and our law enforcement system, that there are a lot of people who fall under the threshold of being institutionalized or under the care of a physician or psychiatrist, and sometimes our system lets them fall off the radar as it were.
HILL: That's a very good point and you're very right about it. You know, those who are suffering don't usually have rights, are the ones the kind of get ignored. So, we really have to try to help those people. It's the same thing you talk about people in jail or prison, they're -- obviously, people say, well, they belong to be there, they need to be there, but we can rehabilitate some people.
VELSHI: Right.
HILL: You have to try and find the balance that work. It's all about common sense.
VELSHI: Well, if a good discussion about that comes out of this incident, then we'll be further ahead.
Andy, good to see you again. Thank you for being with us.
Andy Hill a retired sergeant from the Phoenix Police Department joining me from Phoenix, Arizona.
OK. Are you a car lover? Do you know somebody looking for a car? Well, the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards were announced. Today, Poppy Harlow joins from us a fantastic place to be today, the Detroit auto show to tell us who took home the honors.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Piers Morgan's lineup for the first week is incredible.
It's a very big day for the American auto industry. The plug- in Chevrolet Volt was named the North American Car of the Year. And Ford Explorer was voted Truck of the Year at the Detroit auto show on today.
The Ford's brand new Explorer, fully re-designed for those of you who have enjoyed it in the past. Also, Ford announced it will add 7,000 new hourly and salaried jobs between this year and next in the United States.
My colleague, CNN Money's Poppy Harlow joins us from Detroit -- the Detroit auto show. She sat down with ford CEO Alan Mulally for today's taking the lead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN MONEY: Hey there, Ali. Well, the big headline this afternoon, as you said, from the Detroit auto show, it is about Ford and hiring. Ford just announcing this afternoon they will hire 7,000 new workers here in the U.S. over the next two years. We had a chance to speak with Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford, about why they're hiring in this country and why now. Take a quick listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN MULALLY, CEO, FORD: Well, we are really accelerating the implementation of Henry Ford's original vision, and that is to operate in every country in which we serve customers. So, we have a great operation in the United States like we do in Europe and Asia Pacific. So, now, basically, the strength of these product, we are actually growing the business and we're able to offer great opportunities for American workers here in the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: And, you know, Ali, jobs has been the real focus of this recovery for the auto industry. We are seeing some record profits for automakers. But what about the jobs? When will those come back? So, this is a big announcement from Ford.
Also, the big news today the announcement of Car and Truck of the Year. Right behind me, the Ford Explorer. This on this won Truck of the Year this morning. Ford -- last year, remember, won Car and Truck of the Year, taking the Truck of the Year Award.
But a big focus, Ali, has also been on electrics. What you see behind me here Ford showing off one of their electric vehicles and it was actually General Motors that took the Car of the Year Award this morning, Ali, with their GM Chevy Volt. So, GM getting Car of the Year, Ford getting Truck of the Year.
And we had a chance to sit down with the head of GM's North American division to talk to him about everything from gas prices and competition around the world, to the perception issue that gm still faces because of the bailout. Take a listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: During the bankruptcy and the bailout, some people called GM "government motors." Has that perception problem gone away or are you still fighting that in terms of sales?
MARK REUESS, PRESIDENT, GM NORTH AMERICA: I'm a realist. You know, I know it's still there. I don't have any data. We don't go out and survey that. We really, frankly, are concentrating on, again, the cars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: And, Ali, just to give you a sense over all here at the auto show, it is much more optimistic than last year. Last year at this time, GM and Chrysler were deep in bankruptcy. They have emerged from that. Companies making much more money now, jobs slowly coming back to this industry.
So, a much more optimistic tone here on the floor of the Detroit auto show. A lot more to see and a big focus here on small cars and electric vehicles, Ali. We've got a lot of it for you on CNNMoney.com -- Ali.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Thank you, Poppy.
I spent so many years going to the Detroit auto show when things weren't optimistic and now, I'm here while Poppy is there.
OK. It's 25 minutes after the hour. Here are some of the developing stories we're following right now:
The first court appearance for the suspect in the mass killing in Tucson, Arizona, is now about an hour and a half away. Jared Lee Loughner, whom you see there, is facing murder and attempted murder charges. He's s in federal custody following Saturday's shooting that left six people dead and 14 others wounded. Among the injured is a congresswoman, Gabby Giffords, who doctors say remains in critical condition.
The crippling winter weather we've been telling you about across the Southeast is now heading up the East Coast. Look at that. Snow and ice has brought travel in the Southeast to a standstill and has left thousands without power. The storm system is expected to intensify as it reaches the Northeast.
Stay with CNN for all the updated forecasts and warnings and coverage.
Closing statements set to begin right now in the sentencing hearing for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The man known during his congressional days as "The Hammer" was convicted in November of money laundering and conspiracy. He had been accused of funneling $190,000 to help Republican candidates in the state elections in Texas. DeLay faces up to 99 years in prison plus fines.
All right. A city snowed in. No, it's not Buffalo, New York. It's Atlanta, Georgia -- which rarely sees much if any snow at all. This storm has paralyzed much of the Southeast. Amazing pictures and where the storm is headed, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Sometimes in the news business, we're given to exaggerations to make the point. We're not really exaggerating to say that what some of us from the North think of as not much snow has really paralyzed places like Atlanta. In fact, I think the mayor has just put out another word to say, if you don't have to drive in Atlanta, just stay home.
MYERS: Yes. And you can go on to Georgia-navigator.com. There's a couple -- there's one shot right there. That's I-85 at the north loop, that's what the camera looks like.
VELSHI: That's iced -- the camera is iced.
MYERS: Completely shut down.
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: I mean, it looks like you're looking through a shower door, right?
VELSHI: Right. Yes.
MYERS: And you can look at every one of these cameras and you see similar things.
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: You see people moving or at least trying to move and that's going to be OK until about 4:00 or 5:00, because the sun, although not making it all the way through, is warming the ground significantly.
VELSHI: Right, but as the sun goes down, then it becomes ice.
MYERS: Slush is gone --
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: -- as soon as the sun sets.
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: And it's all, then we hit ruts.
VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: Ruts of slush that have now turned to solid ice. What's next? This thing turns to the left and goes right up to the --
VELSHI: Right. So, anybody up North is making fun to the South, you're getting it.
MYERS: You're getting it, although while they have more than 50 snow plows in New York City --
VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: -- some people are, you know, doing whatever with those snow plows. But it's a different story.
Seven to 10 inches, maybe 12 inches in Boston. Six to 12 for New York City. This starts in Washington, D.C. at 6:00 tomorrow night.
VELSHI: OK.
MYERS: It starts in New York City at midnight tomorrow night.
VELSHI: I heard something that this is actually almost two storms coming together to give them a bit of a nor'easter. Is that the case?
MYERS: That is -- that is true. We have this thing coming up from where we are now in Atlanta, Georgia and then another piece -- another piece of cold there that will come in at the same time.
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: Not like the movie "Perfect Storm" but not unlike how big nor'easters can form. What I believe is going to happen rather than the thing sitting here with 25 inches of snow spinning, it actually scoots out to the ocean far enough that we don't get that --
VELSHI: But we've learned enough times that a shift like this of a few miles and a little bit more wind and a little bit more -- a little colder, creates -- is all the difference between a crippling storm and one that just sort of passes you by and has people saying why was Chad carrying on so much about the storm?
MYERS: Believe how much a snow machine is going to make when the snow is finally over because it can set up right over the top of you and all of a sudden, you are in trouble.
VELSHI: All right. Tell me about living on an ark.
MYERS: Living on an ark -
VELSHI: "Off the Radar."
MYERS: -- would take all of the problems of snow away.
VELSHI: Right. MYERS: This is a Russian designed architect, Alexander Romanoff. He has now designed --
VELSHI: It looks like a Slinky.
MYERS: 10,000 people can live in there if it's big enough.
VELSHI: It's a boat?
MYERS: It is not a boat. It can be on land, but it can be changed to a boat.
VELSHI: Ah!
MYERS: Making a honeycomb bottom. It can snow all it wants up on top. Wouldn't that be a cruise ship?
VELSHI: Yes. Seems like a lot of length to go to to avoid the snow, but you know.
MYERS: But we have wind tunnel. You have solar panels. And everything is designed --
VELSHI: So, it's a self-contained environment.
MYERS: You remember that thing people went into. --
VELSHI: Yes, yes.
MYERS: That biosphere? They weren't ever going to come out.
VELSHI: This is a nice biosphere
MYERS: This one might work.
VELSHI: Very interesting. But this is just theoretical at the moment.
MYERS: CNN.com.
VELSHI: All right. We'll check it out. Thank you, my friend. Good to see you.
Two political shootings. You know about the one here. There was one in Pakistan as well. Two very different reactions. We've got an exclusive interview with the children of an assassinated Pakistani governor. It's actually interesting. You'll want to hear this. Stay with us. It's next in "Globe Trekking" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Thirty-four minutes after the hour. Happening now in Arizona, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords remains in critical condition after Saturday's shooting, but her doctors say her condition has stabilized. Two other patients who were wounded have been discharged from the hospital. In an hour-and-a-half from now, suspect Jared Loughner is scheduled to appear in federal court in Phoenix. So far, he's charged with five counts of murder and attempted murder based on attacks against federal officials.
And the Southeastern United States has been hit by a major storm. Traffic is treacherous. Thousands of flights are canceled. Schools are closed. Winter storm warnings are in effect for more than a dozen states as the storm heads up the East Coast. Should be hitting Washington by tomorrow evening.
OK. Time now for "Globe Trekking." Voters in southern Sudan are returning to the polling stations for a second day in this historic referendum on independence. Now, tensions remain high in the oil-rich area. This is all of Sudan. The oil rich area, those places that I've got in blue shading, that's where the tensions are high. Fighting between northern and southern forces has killed more than 20 people since Friday.
Now, the ballot offers only two choices for the southerners, and that is unity with northern Sudan or succession -- secession and independence for southern Sudan. The outcome is expected to be a new nation -- Southern Sudan. Voting was part of a peace treaty in 2005 that ended years of civil war. Now, international monitors say that for the most part, the week-long voting is going smoothly.
Now, I want to take you to Pakistan. This is interesting. We told you about this story on Friday. Eerie similarities to what happened over the weekend. That country has, like the U.S., been shaken by a political shooting. In this case, the assassination of the governor of Punjab, this whole area, the province that we've shaded in yellow.
Salman Taseer, the governor, was apparently shot to death because he was an outspoken critic of Pakistan's blasphemy law, which makes it a crime punishable by death to criticize Islam. He said that doesn't make sense. He was shot by his security guard, allegedly. The security guard blamed for the attack appeared in court today. Officials say he confessed to the killing. His next court appearance is later this month.
In an interview, an exclusive interview with Taseer's children, CNN's Chris Lawrence reports on a key difference in Taseer's murder in Pakistan and the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An American Congresswoman; a Pakistani governor. Separated by half a world, united by similar crimes. Two outspoken elected officials gunned down in broad daylight within days of each other.
SHEHRBANO TASEER, CHILDREN OF ASSASSINATED GOVERNOR: To her friends, to her supporters, the people who didn't know who believed it what she believed in. It's a tragedy. LAWRENCE: The children of Governor Salman Taseer heard about Gabrielle Giffords. Their father was assassinated for trying to change Pakistan's blasphemy laws which make it a crime to insult Islam. And that, they say is where the two shootings diverge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sympathy. I mean, my heart is with totally with the Congresswoman. But the difference is that in Pakistan, this is a message to all liberal and progressive people to keep quiet and to try and scare and intimidate them.
LAWRENCE: Even Giffords' political opponents condemned her shooter.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MAJORITY LEADER: An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve.
LAWRENCE: In Pakistan, few politicians spoke up, afraid to anger hard liners who condemned the governor and hailed his shooter as a hero.
SHEHRBANO TASEER: It makes me sick. It makes me sick to my stomach.
LAWRENCE (on camera): Crimes were similar but are the implications of the crimes the same?
SARA TASEER, DAUGHTER OF ASSASINATED GOVERNOR: The fact is it is different and the fear amongst the people. (INAUDIBLE) The general public is feeling threatened; they don't feel they can voice their views or openly condemn it.
We are in a totally different situation. People who support us can lose their own lives.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Some Pakistanis prayed for the governor Sunday, but militants warned people not to publicly pay their respects.
SHEHRYAR TASSER, SON OF ASSINATED GOVERNOR: Anyone who visits, who takes up the case of the governor and his family, their offices would be burned. Their person will be killed.
LAWRENCE: Similar shootings, different reactions.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Lahore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: And that situation in Pakistan is going to have a great deal of influence on how they govern that country, so we'll keep you on top of that.
OK. Back to the United States. I have a quick question for you. Which U.S. city is the most literate? I'll have you the answer on the other side of the break. It might surprise you.
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VELSHI: Before the break, I asked you which U.S. city do you think is the most literate? Hre are the top five cities. Number five, Pittsburgh. Number four, Atlanta. Number 3, Minneapolis. Number two, Seattle. And in the Number 1 spot, Washington, D.C. According to an annual study, the nation's capital is the most well read. Just so you know, the study does not measure the number of people who can read but the number of people who actually do read.
Keeping this study in mind, former D.C. public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee is now working toward getting more school districts to make changes in the interests of students. She is now the founder and CEO of a new group called Students First. Just one month after the group's inception, it is now laying out its challenges to school districts across the country.
Michelle Rhee is the founder and CEO of Students First. She joins us now from New York. Michelle, good to see you again. Thank you for being with us.
MICHELLE RHEE, FOUNDER/CEO, STUDENTS FIRST: A pleasure. Thank you for having me.
VELSHI: I want to talk about what your group is going to do, but first of all, for people who know you as having been the school chancellor in D.C. and a controversial schools chancellor at that, what is Students First? What is this new organization? What is it going to do? I know we're going to talk about your goals, but how do you plan to achieve them?
RHEE: Well, Students First is a national organization. It's a movement of people of all walks of life throughout the country who are going to be dedicated to putting the interests of children above everything else in fighting for public education.
VELSHI: Okay. When you say above everything else, what do you mean by that? The implication here is that sometimes our education system, our public education system, is not actually built with the outcome for students as the forefront.
RHEE: That's absolutely right. If you look at the policies and the laws that govern how public education in this country works, it's actually full of things that are about adult's interests instead of student interests.
So, let me just give you an example. We have laws in this country that govern how layoffs are conducted in times of tight budgets. So, layoffs are conducted by seniority, which, you know, for the adults and for unions make sense. But the research says when layoffs are conducted by seniority, you end up actually laying off some of your most effective teachers and you actually end up having to lay off more people because the junior teachers are actually the least expensive. So, you have to lose more jobs in order to fill the budget deficit.
Those things again, you know, may be in the interests of some adults who are in the system, but they are definitely not in the best interests of children.
VELSHI: In your press release, in your aannouncement of what you are going to do -- I want to put it up on the screen for you, the first thing that you talk about is elevating the teaching profession by valuing teachers' impact on students.
What does that mean and how do you achieve that? Because to some people, that means an attack on the system, the system by which teachers are hired and kept.
RHEE: Well, what it means is that we have to look first and foremost at how effective a teacher is with their students.
Right now a lot of the decisions that are driving what happens to teachers every day in terms of their compensation, in terms of their professional development, in terms of their staffing, all is driven off seniority. How long a teacher has been in the system?
We want and think it's in the best interests of kids for that system to be based on how effective that individual is in attaining gains in student achievement for children in their classroom.
VELSHI: It sounds simple. It sounds logical and it sounds like an easy stole say why don't we put students first? But then you get into two issues. One is as you say seniority, teachers, and unions who say this isn't necessarily the most effective way to do it.
Then bigger issue is how exactly do you measure what we are doing that is in the best interests of students? What is that system that best measures that?
RHEE: Right. Well, a lot of people will sort of say there is no way to measure how effective a teacher is and we disagree with that. We think that there are multiple measures through which you can look at how a teacher performs.
First, you can look at whether or not they are growing the levels of student achievement for the kids in their classroom and that should be first and foremost. We also think that you should do observations of their classroom practice to see how they're interacting with the kids every day and the expectations they have for their students.
We think that you should look at some of the other factors like their contribution to the school community, whether they're engaged in extracurricular activities, what their engagement is with the school as a whole. So there are lots of different ways to look at things.
A recent study by the Gates Foundation just showed that actually students' input, student feedback about how effective the teachers are actually is highly correlated to student achievement levels as well.
So there are multiple things that we can look at to determine the effectiveness of a teacher and what students first is advocating is that we begin to take those things into account much, much more heavily than seniority.
VELSHI: Michelle, let me ask you this. Not to criticize any of the merits of your argument or the argument of those who didn't agree with what you did in D.C., bottom line is there was a lot of butting heads. You have some very high profile supporters in your new movement. Are any of them teachers unions?
RHEE: Well, we don't have any teachers unions who are supportive of our efforts, but we do have a lot of teachers. In fact, we have about 140,000 members right now and over 20,000 of those members are actual classroom teachers.
So we feel very, very good about the fact that we have been approached by teachers from across the country who are coming to us and saying, you know what? We don't think tenure is actually good for our profession.
We don't think it's good for kids and we know that the system is in trouble and needs to see a radical change and I think there is a very strong difference between teachers union leadership and the people who are sort of out there spouting rhetoric versus the rank and file teachers who are in the classroom every day.
VELSHI: All right. Michelle, we obviously discuss this every day on our show so we'd appreciate it if you'd stop in regularly and we can continue this discussion. Thanks for being with us today.
RHEE: Absolutely.
VELSHI: Michelle Rhee is the founder and CEO of Students First. OK, it's 48 minutes after the hour. Let me bring you up to speed with some of the top stories we are following right now.
The suspect in the Arizona shootings, Jared Lee Loughner, is due to make his first court appearance minutes from now at the top of the hour. In Washington, President Obama led the nation in a moment of silence today for the victims of the shootings in Tucson over the weekend. Six people died, 14 others were wounded, including Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who doctors say remains in critical condition.
Another tragic story to report out of Washington, D.C. a car fire this morning claimed the life of Ashley Turton, a Capitol Hill lobbyist and the wife of White House Deputy Director of House Legislative Affairs Dan Turton. Mrs. Turton was the director of Congressional Affairs for Progress Energy. No word yet on the cause of the fire.
New video just in of Vice President Joe Biden in Afghanistan today. He is meeting tonight with Commanding General David Petraus and Ambassador Karl Iconberry to get a sense of the security situation there. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is also on the schedule. The vice president is expected to sit down with some of the U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Well, it is game night for college football fans waiting for a national champion. The Tigers and the Ducks face off in Phoenix and we will take you there for a preview.
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VELSHI: Auburn and Oregon are squaring off for the National College Football Championship tonight. The Tigers against the Ducks. CNN'S Mark McKay live in Glendale, Arizona, of course. Hello, Mark. What's going on?
MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali. We are bathed in sunshine and I don't mean to rub it in for all of the fans there in the southeastern United States dealing with the cold and the snow. We start with a weather note, Ali.
Hundreds, hundreds of Auburn fans who have tickets to tonight's game have been stuck in the Birmingham, Alabama airport wondering if they're even going to get their chartered flights out. The airport has been closed. Not sure if it has reopened.
It is a waiting game close to expiring, because kickoff is now less than six hours away. The flight is about four hours from here, but those are very expensive tickets. We do know that Auburn University has shut down today the viewing parties on campus have been canceled. By the way, it's 55 degrees and as you can see severe clear here.
VELSHI: All right, we will stay on top of it with you, Mark. Enjoy yourself out there. We'll all be watching with you tonight. Mark McKay in Glendale, Arizona.
All right. There is ironic news today also out of Arizona about an e-mail message sent by Representative Gabrielle Giffords the night before she was shot. Time now for a political update from CNN political producer Peter Hamby in Washington. Peter, what do we know?
PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Hey, Ali. Well, yes, there's been all this talk about whether, you know, hot political rhetoric contributed to the shooting. It's a matter of debate, but that topic was on Congresswoman Giffords' mind the night before Saturday's shooting.
She e-mailed Kentucky Secretary Of State Trey Grayson who you might remember lost to Rand Paul in that contested Kentucky primary last year. She wrote to him, quote - sorry, excuse me, I should say Grayson was appointed to a position at Harvard University. This was a message of congratulations.
Giffords wrote, quote, "After you get settled I would love to talk about what we can do to promote centrism and moderation. I am one of only 12 Dems left in a GOP district, the only woman, and I think we need to figure out how to tone our rhetoric and partisanship down" So a relevant topic from Giffords just the night before the shooting.
Switching gears there is other political news out there. Marco Rubio the new senator from Florida on paper, a great candidate for the vice presidential ticket in 2012. He is young, telegenic, Hispanic, from the huge swing state. He can raise money. He was asked about this on a radio show today. The guy hasn't even taken a vote in the Senate and is already swatting away speculation. He is saying he is flattered, but there is no way he'll do that. Of course that's what you're supposed to say.
Finally Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida on the same topic penned an op-ed over the weekend in the "Miami Herald." That's interesting. He's been a real voice urging Republicans to reach out to Hispanic voters to kind of broaden the GOP tent especially heading into the next presidential election. And he is saying that the GOP really needs to do more to reach out to Hispanics or they won't be relevant in the political discussion in the coming decades.
So he's chairing a conference in Florida this week to talk about how Republicans can do a better job courting the Hispanic vote. Ali --
VELSHI: All right, Peter, thanks very much. Your next political update from the Best Political Team On Television just one hour away. We'll take a quick break right now. When we come back my "XYZ."
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VELSHI: Time for the "XYZ." Saturday's tragic shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona poses some troubling questions about the mental state of the suspected gunman, Jared Lee Loughner.
Now there is early evidence that Loughner plotted to assassinate U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Investors though are not linking Loughner to any extremist groups instead they're painting a picture of a mentally disturbed young man that many fear could pose a threat to society.
Last year, Loughner was physically removed from his college classroom because his instructor feared that he might turn violent during numerous outbursts in class. Pima Community College later suspended him after run-ins with campus police. The school authorities insisted he present a doctor's note stating that his presence wouldn't be a danger to himself or others in order to be let back into class. He dropped out instead.
None of those run-ins showed up in Loughner's mandatory background check when he went to purchase the gun and ammunition that he used on Saturday. Apparently because Loughner was never formally charged in those past instances, nothing would have shown up in his background check to prevent him from obtaining a firearm.
After this tragedy, policy makers may want to revisit rules that govern firearms, whether that means ensuring that reported mental health concerns make their way into background checks or somehow gun laws as they pertain to people who may have mental illnesses get tightened. Something should be done.
That's my XYZ. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Brooke Baldwin.
