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President Departing Airport; Prayer Service in Honor Of Giffords; Security Briefing for Lawmakers; Second Blizzard in Three Weeks; Not Prepared for Snow in Atlanta; Tragedy in Tucson; Loughner Pulled Over Same Day as Tragedy; Funerals Protected by 300 Foot Distance Rule; Illinois Hikes Tax Rate; President Obama: Comforter-in- Chief?; Cholera Quake Survivors; Apple's Solar Patent

Aired January 12, 2011 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks so much for that.

I am Ali Velshi. I'll be with you for the next two hours today and every week day.

Let me show you some live pictures that we're looking at right now. That is the president getting ready to depart Andrews Air Force Base en route to Tucson where he will speak at a memorial service, this evening, as a result of that rampage there, this weekend, in Arizona.

And now looking at Congress where there is a prayer service underway on the hill in honor of representative Gabby Giffords who remains in hospital as a result of her wound to the head.

Also, right now on the hill, the Senate Sergeant at Arms is meeting, right now, with members of Congress about security. The chief of the capitol police, the director of the secret service, and FBI representative are, also, there. The meeting is supposed to run until 2:30 or so. We'll let you know what comes out of it. A lot of discussions about what sort of protection members of Congress should have.

And, then, there is the weather. If it's any consolation, the latest weather storm to bury the northeast is getting out of there as fast as it blew in. In the meantime, though, it is whiteout Wedne3sday. A foot or more of new snow in New York City, and through much of New England, plus winds as high as 80 miles an hour. That's right. A gust of almost 80 miles an hour was clocked, this morning, on Cape Cod.

Air travel, once again, is at a virtual standstill. The bigger airports are open but so many people are not flying. Today's storm, in the northeast, is a bigger, badder version of what we had in the south on Sunday and into Monday. The memories of that are still fresh because most of the snow and ice is still all over the place in the south.

Delta Air Lines, hoping to get back to a normal schedule, in Atlanta, this afternoon. That, of course, is their main airport. Apart from CNN, though, in Atlanta, hardly anything has been on a normal schedule, here, since Sunday. We've been telling you that 49 of the 50 states have some snow on the ground somewhere this week. Florida being the lone exception.

Here's another way to look at it. The national weather service says 71 percent of the United States is covered by snow. And we're going to hear, momentarily, from Martin Savidge. He is on the 'let it melt strategy' that's faced a great deal of criticism, here, in Atlanta, and on the other extreme, the catch every snowflake before it hits the ground strategy in New York. An administration there that's come under a lot of criticism in New York with CNN's Allan Chernoff.

Before I get to these two guys out in the field, though, let's talk to our severe weather expert, Chad Myers, who's here in New York -- boy, what a busy -- here in Atlanta. What a busy week it's been. This storm contributing to what they're seeing in New York, plus another storm. They're getting it pretty bad up there.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is every plane out of JFK.

VELSHI: No kidding.

MYERS: No kidding. Every plane in the air out of JFK. Two are FedEx, one's a UPS and the other one -- two of them are going to Europe. This one is going to Montego Bay. It's going down to Jamaica. Very few peop0le getting out of Newark, LaGuardia, or JFK. And, believe it or not, if you go onto the Web site, Fly.faa.gov/ois (ph) there are no delays.

VELSHI: Because there are no cancelations.

MYERS: Because there are no planes.

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: If the planes aren't leaving, then they aren't delayed, are they? And here are some of the numbers. This is the latest from Bronx, from Newark, Central Park, around nine inches. Bridgeport at 15. And some spots up in Connecticut and, also, into Mass at 20 to 25 inches of snow that came -- and this came down really fast.

VELSHI: Yes.

MYERS: It started after dark, and the sun came up this morning, in Central Park, with the sun rise. That's how fast nine inches of snow came down. We're still expecting a little bit more snow. Nothing for the city. Nothing more for Long Island. It's all going to be heading up toward the northeast.

If you're hoping for that sun, that melt, it isn't doing very much melting at 27. The sun's out and things are getting OK. But I had to take an eight-mile drive today. It took me over two hours to go eight miles, this morning.

VELSHI: Now, that slush, as you warned me the other day, melted just a little bit on Monday. And, now, it's just big things of ice.

MYERS: Yes. Right. It looks like Atlanta's a big martini. It does. But it's just not as fun.

VELSHI: We will be on top of this, both the weather and the traffic for you. Let's go to Allan Chernoff, though. My friend, Allan, who seems to love the snow up there as a native New Yorker would. Allan, you seem to be getting along, quite nicely, in New York.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Ali, absolutely. We're doing very well, here. What a difference from that huge snowstorm we had right after Christmas, the day after. I mean, granted, we got less than half the amount of snow this time around. It was fluffier, lighter, and there was not nearly as much wind.

But, none the less, Ali, we have been driving since 6:00 a.m. eastern time. We have not seen one street here in borough (ph) Brooklyn that had not been plowed. The city was out overnight. The plows on those garbage trucks. And those guys did an incredible job because, I'm telling you, they plowed this entire borough (ph). Frankly, this is what New Yorkers are used to. They're used to their city responding, very aggressively, when the snow does come down.

And what happened last time, of course, after that huge snowstorm, following Christmas Day, is the city was just stranded. They had streets that were not touched for days and days. And you know the difference today. Clearly, New York City can keep its streets clean. Here you have the evidence -- Ali.

VELSHI: And you are our evidence walking around there, driving around and checking it out. Allan, thanks very much. We'll stay on top of this with you.

It Looks like the worst has passed for New York. Martin Savidge is here, outside CNN center, in Atlanta. But over the last few days he's been probably around more places in Atlanta than most people have.

It is now possible, Martin, to get around. I actually got out on a flight last night. I got back into Atlanta. It is not a great idea, it is not easy, and it's not moving all that quickly.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and part of the problem, Ali, is that people do believe that they can get out and about and the problem is congestion now. Out at 85, that system closed down as a result of two semi-tractor trailer trucks that have spun out. The whole highway is closed. That's the main way to get to the airport. They are diverting traffic off of it. Ice is the culprit there.

Here is a little snow and tell. You hear? This is that snow but it's not that very, very distinctive crunching sound because there's ice. This ice, even a snowplow could not remove. In fact, out on the highways, they're having to use sledgehammers to break it up. That's how thick and how compressed the snow and ice have become.

Now, when this storm was coming, the city of Atlanta knew it had a problem. It doubled its fleet of snow removal equipment. They went from 10 snowplows and dump trucks to 20. They got 1600 miles of roads, here, in the city of Atlanta. It didn't even make a dent. The city knew it wasn't prepared. But they also know, hey, that's the way it works here because they do not spend the money for snow removal on a storm that comes once a decade. Here's how the mayor talked about it when I asked him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DASIM REED, ATLANTA: Most recently, we paid $1.1 million for a new fire truck for fire station number 11. Now, I think, that that was the right judgment. I would rather have new fire -- a new fire station, new fire equipment that's functional, and I would rather partner with private companies that had equipment, that once we got it in our inventory, it's working reasonably well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: In other words, it's all about money. They don't see the need to spend all that money for a fleet of snow removal equipment that you only use now and then. This storm, of course, is the exception. The two beliefs are that storms are rare, and when they happen, here, they go away quick. This one is little different but that hasn't changed the mayor's mind.

And, in fact, the business community, for the most port - most part, excuse me, it's cold -- agrees with him saying, they don't want to spend the money on the extra taxes, as well. And they hope to bring in outside contractors. The only problem is everybody wants the outside contractors. Every company in Atlanta and there's a free for all to get them, right now. They can't get enough of them.

VELSHI: I was considering, as I was driving this morning, Martin, whether it would be worth putting a plow in the front of my vehicle for the next time it happens sometime in the next 10 years. I suspect, I would've been gainfully employed. I was gainfully employed, anyway, but could've had a good time for a couple of days.

SAVIDGE: No. There's no doubt about it. The city of Atlanta would probably pay you quite a bit of money if you're willing to show up with that plow.

VELSHI: That's it. Martin, good to see you. Thanks, as always. Martin Savidge in Atlanta continuing to cover the problem that has not ended in this city yet.

VELSHI: OK. Let's go to Tucson, Arizona, now, where we just heard from surgeons treating Congresswoman Giffords. Once again, they say the only changes are positive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PETER RHEE, UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: At this time period, things can go very slowly and the progress can occur very rapidly at some particular time and, actually, can go in a negative fashion and a downward way as well. And I'm happy to state that none of the downward events have occurred, at this time, which is an exact of what we, kind of, wanted to happen, at this point. And we have really decreased the amount of sedation that we're giving him -- giving her, and result of that, she's becoming more and more spontaneous all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: We now have photographs of Giffords' husband, there he is, astronaut Mark Kelly - Mike Kelly, staying close by her side, close as he possibly can, holding her hand.

As we mentioned at the top of this newscast, President and Mrs. Obama are on their way to Tucson for a memorial service for the six people who were killed in Saturday's rampage.

On Capitol Hill, in the meantime, Giffords' colleagues in the House are soon to pass a resolution condemning the attack honoring the victims and defending the right of all Americans to participate in the democratic process.

CNN's Susan Candiotti is following developments in Tucson. There are many, many developments, Susan. The first one is new news that we have about the alleged gunman Jared Loughner having a traffic stop the very morning of the shooting, being pulled over by the police. What do we know about this?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Isn't that something? It turns out that day, CNN has learned from the Arizona game and fish department, that they pulled over Jared Loughner about two and a half hours before the shooting happened last Saturday, at that Safeway Shopping Center, because he ran a red light.

Now, the officer for the state pulled him over, told him that he did the wrong thing, checked him out, made sure that he didn't have any outstanding warrants, ran a license plate check, but, then, allowed him to leave with a verbal warning. Of course, needless to say, this is an important part of the time line leading up to events, and, certainly, a very interesting one, to say the least.

But he ran a red light. They pulled him over. They checked him out. He was cleared. And, so, he was allowed to move on and, of course, we all know, as it turns out, what happened next, who could have predicted it, right?

But we are, also, Ali, learning some new information about some of the documents that police have found in Loughner's home. We've already heard about the one where they saw signatures or writings. He wrote, let's see, planning an assassination and Giffords' name, but we also learned that he wrote the words "die bitch" as well.

So, all of this becoming an important part of the investigation as authorities continue to lean toward the theory he was specifically targeting, allegedly, Congresswoman Giffords for this attack when he approached her and allegedly shot her in the head, and, then, of course, fired at all the other people, as well, hitting 19, six of them critically. VELSHI: OK, Susan, even the memorials or, at least, the funerals are not simple, at this point, because we have the complication of this Westboro Baptist Church that, often, pickets and protests at funerals of members of the service who have come back -- who have died and have come back to the United States for burial. What is their role in these funerals over next few days?

CANDIOTTI: Well, they have said that they were going to be coming here. And it's still stated on their Web site. This is the group that inexplicably targets soldiers' funerals when they come back, saying they all ought to die, targeting homosexuals and the like.

And they have said that they planned to picket the funeral of the nine-year-old little girl, Christina Green, who was fatally shot in this shooting. However, they are, now, telling us that they will no longer attend her funeral but they are still intending to show up at the funeral of the federal judge who was killed in this case, John Roll.

However, as I'm sure everyone has heard, by now, Arizona's legislature has quickly moved in and signed a new bill into law, also approved by the governor, that forbids any group, any group of protesters, from getting within 300 feet of any funeral procession. So, at the very least, if they do show up, this Westboro Baptist group will be kept at bay, according to authorities -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. So, there's lots of updates on that. We'll come back to you for more of them. Susan Candiotti live in Arizona.

OK. Be sure to join CNN for live coverage of tonight's memorial service. The President and first lady will be there, in Arizona, starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern, right here on CNN.

And as we're following several developments in the tragedy, we want to see how two sons overcame the senseless killing of their father in Iowa less than two years ago. This is an amazing family. You don't want to miss their story. It's on the other side of the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Well, this is the front page of the "Arizona Daily Star" today. The city of Tucson has started its sad farewells to the victims of Jared Loughner. Unfortunately, senseless killings are not new. On June 24, 2009, famed high school football coach Ed Thomas was shot dead by 24-year-old schizophrenic Mark Becker, who was released from a mental hospital just the day before. Fifty-eight-year-old Thomas was assisting players in the high school weight room when he was shot in the head, chest and knee. Mark Becker was sentenced to life in prison for his crime. Thomas' sons, Todd and Aaron, join me now from Iowa to share how they have dealt with this tragedy.

Todd and Aaron, thank you for being with us. They're joining us via Skype. The similarities, of course, to the Arizona situation is sort of the senselessness of somebody like your father doing his work, his consistent work that he had been doing for a long time and a seemingly unprovoked, brutal murder. How do you even begin to deal with this? How do you begin to get past your initial shock and your initial grief?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, sorry about that. I guess we didn't hear. We lost you.

VELSHI: I'm sorry. I was saying to you, how do you get passed your initial shock, your initial grief in a situation like this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if you ever really move --

VELSHI: All right. We appear to have lost the connection with those guys. We're going to try and re-establish that for you and continue the conversation with Todd and Aaron Thomas about the loss of their father in a situation that certainly wasn't the same but they had some similarities when their father was shot, their 58-year-old father, shot on June 24, 2009, by a man who had just been released from a mental institution.

A few states are starting to win the unemployment battle. Where are they and how are they doing it? I'll talk to you about it next in "Your $$$$$."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. In today's "Your Money," we're going to take a look at five states that are doing a good job of reducing their unemployment rates. Now, let me show you the states. They are Tennessee. People in Tennessee took it upon themselves to get back to work. More freelancing, a little more entrepreneurial spirit helped get the unemployment rate down there. Still, 9.4 percent. But the year over year drop was 1.3 percent. So that's Tennessee.

Let me take you to D.C. A boost in federal spending. Obviously the stimulus, things like that, as well as service jobs that are closely tied with government contracting and the fact that that area of the country, particularly northern Virginia, has a lot of technology in it. The unemployment rate there, 9.6 percent. That has dropped 1.8 percentage points over the course of the year.

Alabama has an unemployment rate of 9 percent. It has often been in better shape than the rest of the country. Production at three automobile plants, a Hyundai plant, a Honda plant, a Mercedes Benz plant, they are responsible for some of it. There's also a rebound in the leisure and hospitality industry. As you may recall, last Friday, when we had the jobs report for December, the biggest single gainer, the industry that gained the most was the leisure and hospitality sector.

New Hampshire is another state that has done pretty well. Take a look at that unemployment rate, 5.4 percent. About 60 percent of the -- of the national rate. They've dropped by 1.5 percentage points over the last year. There's no sales or state income tax in New Hampshire and that, they say, has helped draw in new companies. They've also reinstating a job training program that partners with private companies. They've trained more than 8,000 workers. That's a big answer for America, training workers who work in a particular industry to work in other industries that are in demand.

Illinois. There's a state with a lot of problems right now. They've just passed some tax increases. But look at the unemployment rate there, 9.2 percent. That's down 1.3 percent. A big increase in public infrastructure projects. $31 billion state bond was passed to finance public works projects and that's created about 535,000 new full-time jobs over the next six years. But, as I say, Illinois has got some other problems.

Let's go to the New York Stock Exchange where my colleague Alison Kosik is there to tell us about tax increases in Illinois. Some very substantial tax increases that that state is facing.

Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, whether they want it or not, Ali, these tax hikes are -- have been approved and they're massive and they're on the way because, you know, as you mentioned, some of the -- the big problem there is, you know, you look at the unemployment rate, it's pretty high there. I mean states make their money based on their tax revenue. Obviously if people aren't working, they're not paying payroll taxes or income taxes.

VELSHI: Right.

KOSIK: So that's part of the problem. But the bigger problem, of course, is that Illinois is facing a $13 billion budget deficit. And it's put this plan in action to try to make up this budget shortfall. It's going to temporarily raise personal income taxes to 5 percent. They're now sitting at 3 percent. They're going to temporarily raise corporate income taxes to 7 percent. They're now under 5 percent. And they're going to cap spending growth at 2 percent.

But the funny thing about this, Ali, you know, Illinois is so far in the hole, these cuts aren't even going to be enough. They're only estimated to bring in about $7 billion. So the state is really even going to have to do more to at least meet their deadline, which is June 30th. That's their fiscal year deadline.

Ali.

VELSHI: And it's just sort of a microcosm of what so many other states are feeling in -- across the country.

KOSIK: It really is.

VELSHI: Alison, good to so you. Thanks, as always.

KOSIK: Sure.

VELSHI: Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange, where things are doing quite well, by the way. We've got new 52-week highs on the Dow and the S&P 500. Check out your stocks.

And, don't forget, tomorrow and every Thursday, now that we're in the new year, "Q&A" with Richard Quest and me. If you've got a topic you want us to explore, remember, this goes out all over the world, here and on CNN International, and so it's got to be a topic that everybody in the world is going to be interested in, send your suggestions to my blog, CNN.com/Ali or send it to me at Facebook or on Twitter.

All right, it's 24 minutes after the hour. Let's update you on developments in our top stories right now.

President Obama on his way to Tucson, Arizona, right now, where he'll speak at tonight's memorial for victims of Saturday's shooting. You can see the service live on CNN at 8:00 Eastern tonight. Members of Congress began a prayer service this hour for Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and other shooting victims. Giffords remains in critical condition today.

We also learned a short time ago that the shooting suspect, Jared Loughner, was stopped for running a red light the morning of the attack and he was let go with a warning.

That winter blast that turned much of the southeast into an ice rink, is keeping some of it an ice rink, coupled with storms from the plains has dumped up to a foot of snow on New York City. Even more on much of New England. The storm brought wind gusts of up to 80 miles an hour this morning.

And Facebook, now using its vast social network to help find missing children. Today it introduced Amber Alert pages for all 50 states plus, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Users can receive mediate updates about missing kids in their area and share them with friends. It's a joint effort between Facebook, the Justice Department and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Well, the commander in chief becoming the comforter in chief as he heads to Arizona. Ed Henry, our senior White House correspondent, standing by at the White House. He's follow that story. He'll tell us what the president is looking to achieve when he gets to Arizona, right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: After writing about the tragedy in some brief online posts, Sarah Palin has finally put out a video statement. It's almost eight minutes long and seems to have two objectives, to express her horror at Saturday's shootings and her disgust with some in the media who have suggested that her rhetoric may have contributed to the violence. Part of Ms. Palin's response stands out and it's today's sound effect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Like millions of Americans, I learned of the tragic events in Arizona on Saturday. And my heart broke for the innocent victims. Congresswoman Giffords and her constituents were exercising their right to exchange ideas that day to celebrate our republic's core values and peacefully assemble to petition our government. It's inexcusable, incomprehensible why a single, evil man took the lives of peaceful citizens that day.

After the shocking tragedy, I listened at first, puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness to the irresponsible statements from people attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding. Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to insight the very hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.

As I said while campaign for others last March in Arizona during a very heated primary race, I said, we know violence isn't the answer. When we take up our arms, we're talking about our vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Meantime, in trying to address one controversy, Sarah Palin may have kicked off another. There's been a lot of online chatter today about her use of the expression "blood libel." Now, historically, a very loaded term used to describe false anti-Semitic claims that Jews were murdering Christian children.

We went to the Palin camp for reaction but an advisor had no further comment on the message. We did get some comments from Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

He says, and I quote, "It was inappropriate at the outset to blame Sarah Palin and others for causing this tragedy or for being an accessory to murder. Palin has every right to defend herself against these kinds of attacks, and we agree with her that the best tradition in America is one of finding common ground despite our differences. Still, we wish that Palin had not invoked the phrase blood libel in reference to the action of journalists and pundits in placing blame for the shooting in Tucson on others. While the term blood libel has become part of the English parlance to refer to someone being falsely accused, we wish that Palin had used another phrase, instead of one so fraught with pain in Jewish history."

Well, the President of the United States faces the challenge of becoming the comforter-in-chief in the wake of the mass killings in Arizona. As much of the country still in shock, they'll be looking to the president for words of reassurance.

Let's bring in our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is here. Ed, the president has -- he's faced serious issues before in the country. Why is this one so fraught with symbolism and significance for him?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think in part of what you were just talking about, Sarah Palin, and others on the left, you know, kind of going back and forth on whether or not, you know, rhetoric in this country contributed in any way to the situation. Certainly people on the right feeling like people on the left even raising that at all is a big problem.

And so I think maybe the best example to take a look back at would be late in 2009, when the president had to deal with going to the memorial service at Ft. Hood.

VELSHI: That's right.

HENRY: And you'll remember the shooter there was Muslim and there was talk about, you know, was this a terrorist attack? And, were people being too politically correct in not, you know, getting into that subject more? We're told by White House aides this president is not going to get into this whole Sarah Palin controversy obviously tonight. He's just going to focus on trying to bring people together.

And take a listen real quick to what he did in terms of Ft. Hood and how he handled it.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know, no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So without even, you know, directly addressing the Muslim issue, if you will, in that context, he just said, look, it doesn't matter who what faith, this kind of violence is completely unacceptable.

And obviously, same here. Regardless of the rhetoric on either side, the violence we saw in Tucson, completely unacceptable. Obviously that's something everyone can agree on, you would think. And so what this president is going to try to do is elevate the dialogue, if you will, and not get into that back and forth.

VELSHI: And in a case like this where the authorities are all over this, we're getting information. There is, in reality, only so much that the president can do materially. Most of what he can do if he has any role here is to be comforting.

What is the word on what role he has played so far since Saturday afternoon?

HENRY: You know, Ali, you make a great point because oftentimes in a situation like this, immediately there are people around the country saying, well what's the president going to say, what's he going to do, when is he going to Arizona? And I've had this experience both in covering President Bush and President Obama -- two presidents, different parties. And any time there's a big tragedy like this what I've seen each side do is not jump in right away because the last thing you want to do is bring that large Secret Service detail in, maybe interfere with the investigation, take police resources away from what they should be working on, and instead having them deal with motorcades and other security.

And so they've let a few days pass here. And I think what he's going to focus on is comforting the families because what we should point out is beyond just speaking at the memorial service, we're told by White House officials, the president's going to meet with families of the victims, maybe even Congresswoman Giffords. We'll see whether he goes to the hospital. They say the details haven't been worked out.

And again, even in that situation, the last thing he would do, would be go to the hospital if in any anyway it interferes with what the doctors are doing, if it interferes with the recovery. But if they can make that happen, then that's something they will try. But the last thing they're going to do is inject any sort of politics into this.

What I find fascinating is we just got the manifest for who's on Air Force One and the president. Various members of Congress in both parties. One of them, Ben Quayle, freshman from Arizona, who you'll remember, his whole campaign was based on that YouTube ad that said, Barack Obama is the worst president in American history and caused a lot of controversy. He's on Air Force one with the president right now heading to Arizona.

If that's not the best example of how, I think, both parties are going to try to put the differences of the midterm aside, and focus on the victims, pretty good example.

VELSHI: Yes. If any good comes out of tragedies, we hope there's something.

Thanks, Ed. We'll check in with you later.

Ed Henry, our senior White House correspondent with the Stakeout at the White House.

All right. Remember, one year ago today, the earth shook. Port- au Prince came crashing down. Haiti. Even now on the anniversary of the Haiti quake, people are still dying in that country. We'll get a live update from the Capitol after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: On June 24th, 2009, famed Iowa high school football coach Ed Thomas was shot dead by a 24-year-old schizophrenic named Mark Becker. He was released from a mental hospital just one day before the shooting. The 58-year-old Thomas was helping players in the high school weight room when he was shot in the head, chest, and knee. Mark Becker, who you see here, was sentenced to life in prison for his crime. Thomas' sons Todd and Aaron join me now to share how they dealt with the tragedy. Todd and Aaron, thanks for coming back. We just had a problem with the line you guys are coming in on, the broadband line. Hopefully we can talk to you now.

Todd, I was asking you, obviously the reference is to the tragedy that we've just seen in Arizona. How -- in the overlap is interesting in that your father was minding his own business, doing what he always does, pillar of the community, and somebody shoots him dead. How do you get passed this, how have you coped with it in the last year?

What do you do to try and make things better and make things seem more useful than the senseless loss of your father?

TODD THOMAS, SON OF MURDERED FOOTBALL COACH: Yes. You know, you don't ever really fully get over it, you just try to move forward. And something that we've done is we just really tried to focus on all the positive aspects of dad's life and what he did and what he stood for. And that really helped us along the last 19 months.

You know, when it first happened, just knowing how many people out there praying for us, thinking about us, all the messages that they left us, really just helped us cope with everything that just happened.

VELSHI: Aaron, you guys -- both of you brothers are involved in the team that your father was coaching.

AARON THOMAS, SON OF MURDERED FOOTBALL COACH: Yes, correct.

VELSHI: How does you sort of keep his legacy going?

A. THOMAS: Well, you know, I think coming back to the school for me -- I didn't work at the Aplington Parkersburg district at the time and following my father's death that job was offered so I've come back and now replaced my dad as athletic director.

I think for both of us, it's great to see -- you know, my dad took such pride in the football program and as the school as a whole. And to continue that and be a part of that and to, you know, make sure it's in good hands and you know, that those moral lessons are taught that he taught. And, you know, not about winning and losing but making boys into men. And seeing that continue, I think, is important to both Todd and I.

VELSHI: Todd, when you think back, look at where the folks are who are suffering, the victims, the families of the victims, those who are died, those who are still healing.

At what point does that shock -- at what point for you did that shock become something else, this decision to be able to move on and to say how do we preserve your father's memory?

T. THOMAS: Yes. You know, I don't know. Like I said, I don't know if you ever get over the shock. You know, people always say, well, you'll get back to normal soon. It's never really normal again. It's a new normal. And for everybody, it's different.

You know, we're -- I know personally I'm still coping with the tragedy that took place back in June of last year. So, but again, we just try to focus on the positive aspect of dad's life. And, like Aaron said, just try to continue what he stood for and the morals that he taught, and continue forward.

VELSHI: It is unthinkable what you have been through, what the folks in Arizona have been through, and what so many American s do go through. So, thank you for sharing some of how you have tried to cope with it.

Todd and Aaron Thomas, the sons of 58-year-old Ed Thomas who was shot on June 24th, 2009.

Guys, thanks very much for being with us. We appreciate it.

T. THOMAS: Thank you.

A. THOMAS: Thanks for having us.

VELSHI: Well, one year ago today that monster earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than 200,000 people. Daily life is still a struggle in and around Port-au-Prince. 1.2 million people stuck in tent cities still a year later. They're battling poverty, they're battling crime, and a disease that has claimed thousands who had managed to survive the quake.

CNN's Gary Tuchman reports.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not unusual to see people bathing or washing their clothes in rivers and creeks in Haiti. But using this particular body of water is not recommended. And it all has to do with the cholera that is now devastating this nation.

(on camera): More than 3,600 now dead. More than 170,000 infected. And according to a report commissioned by the French government, the cholera epidemic began right here.

(voice-over): The French study produced by an epidemiologist at the request of the French government declares there is no doubt as to its imported origin.

Above the river tributary in the town of Mirebalis, there is a United Nations camp where hundreds of U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal are stationed. Nepal had a cholera outbreak last year. The report declares that waste water from the camp contaminated the Artibonite River and its tributaries and spread cholera.

First infecting people in this area north of Port-au-Prince, and then spreading elsewhere in the country. Haiti had no cases of cholera before this epidemic. Elsie (ph) uses this water all of the time.

(on camera): Do you know what cholera is? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): And that's a sad fact. Not only do many people here have no access to news about the cholera outbreak, many don't even know what cholera is in the first place. I told Elsie about cholera and the possibilities this water is badly contaminated.

But she told me --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It means nothing to me. I need to wash my clothes. I'm not afraid of this water.

TUCHMAN: Violence against United Nations personnel, the result of the rumors that U.N. troops were the source of the bacteria. Rumors now backed up with the report. The U.N. Secretary General has declared legitimate concerns about the source of the epidemic and has named a panel to independently investigate how it started. But that certainly doesn't mean the U.N. is conceding its people are responsible. It's a very touchy subject among the troops from Nepal.

(on camera): They say the sewer from your camp came into this river and started the cholera in this country. That's what the French government report is saying.

(voice-over): These men did not want to talk. They told us to speak to their captain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't give you any kind of -- this things -- you know. And actually --

TUCHMAN (voice-over): I tell you, this French government report said that they --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can come inside.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The captain invited us into the U.N. compound. Once we got inside, we were told we had to turn off our camera. He then told me off camera the (INAUDIBLE) police were being scapegoated, that none of them had cholera and that he had even gotten hidden by a bullet in the knee during the anti-U.N. demonstrations.

But the French study is unflinching in its views.

(on camera): This is the jail in the center of town. According to the French report, several of the inmates here came down with cholera. Jail officials say the numbers at least ten.

Now, the reason it's significant, according to the report, is because these inmates do not mix with the general public. They get their water, though, from the river by the U.N. camp.

(voice-over): And that's the water where Elsie takes a bath after washing her clothes. Whether she understands the possible threat or not, she's not leaving.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VELSHI: Gary joins me now.

Gary, the World Health Organization said that the outbreak of cholera has not yet reached its peak. So what's the issue? If it's going to get worse, is it like the woman you spoke to, lack of knowledge about it? Is it lack of information that is spread? Is it lack of medical supplies or doctors? Why hasn't it reached its peak?

TUCHMAN: It's a combination of all the above, Ali. The fact is they don't know how much more it will spread. But just last week, the death toll was at 3,400 and now it's at 3,600. So it's increased by more than 5 percent in one week alone.

I mean, there's so much despair in this country and sadness particularly on this day, January 12th. Right now, it's 92 degrees and brilliantly sunny and it's the exact same weather that they had here a year ago this afternoon when the hook earth shook and life changed forever.

But just a short time ago this hotel where we've been doing our live reports the last year, the employees, about 50 of them, gathered for a memorial service. It was all done in Creole, so I couldn't understand most of it, but the tears streaming down these people's faces, the employees here, every one of them has lost somebody.

And that's something you have to keep in mind, 220,000 people killed, 300,000 people injured, that's a total of 500,000. There are only 10 million people in this country, Ali. One out of twenty people in the entire nation of Haiti were either killed or injured in this terrible earthquake.

VELSHI: It really was a remarkable, remarkable time. Gary, thanks very much. Good to see you as always.

Gary Tuchman in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

OK, your cell phone, laptop, tablet computer, what if they were all powered by the sun? Not just recharged by the sun but they were actually powered by the sun. Today's "Big I" is a new patent that's been approved for Apple. I'll tell you about it right after the quick break.

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VELSHI: Five billion -- five billion people around the world have cell phones. In places of the world where they have nothing else, they have cell phones. Right now in the world, there are a billion computers. Imagine if all of those devices could be powered by the sun. You can already recharge things with the sun, you can get rechargeable -- solar rechargeable chargers and batteries and things like that, but Apple has been awarded its first patent for solar powered portable devices. The actual device can be powered by the sun.

This is according to the website Patently Apple. It's is today's "Big I" and here to tell us all about, CNNMoney.com's staff writer Stacy Cowley.

Stacy, tell me what the major advance in this patent would be over the fact that some people do use devices which allow you to use the sun to charge something while you happen to be in the sun. This is a bit of an advance over that.

STACY COWLEY, STAFF WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. The big distinction here is that a lot of the device that allow you charge right now are external devices. They're external chargers, they're external cases and they only use solar power. What Apple is looking at here is something baked right into the device. And the device, of course, is going to have multiple charging options, you can plug it into the wall, you can charge it off your computer.

So what this covers is a battery charging manager that knows what the best power source is at any given moment and how best to be drawing down on that. For instance, if there's more charge in your solar cells, Apple wants the device to be able to know, OK, go use that. Or if there is more charge in the battery, go use that.

VELSHI: How practical is this in terms of powering devices that require a lot of power and a lot of consistent power? One of the problems with the sun is it's not consistent and some of these devices we're talking about use a lot of juice. So how likely is it that this becomes common on gadgets that we use?

COWLEY: That's a big problem right now, obviously, and an important thing to note is that this is a patent. This is something that Apple's engineers are playing with out in the labs. It's not something we've seen Apple developing in their supply chain yet. So it's not something we're expecting to see out come for a few years.

But when you look at the patents Apple has been filing related to solar power, one thing that you can see that they're really honing in on is a lot of the solar energy sources out there right now aren't very user friendly. They're bulky, they're flaky, they're not really reliable. Apple's whole hallmark is elegant devices.

So I think it's safe to say this is something Apple wants to make happen, but they're not going to roll it out into the wild until it's really ready for the mass audience.

VELSHI: And a point you bring up is that Apple is an innovative company that is always filing patents.

Stacy, good to have you on the show. Thanks so much.

Stacy, by the way, is the brains behind a lot of the business news that we bring you as it pertains to small businesses. Stacy, you can read her stuff at CNNMoney.com.

And to check out this patent for yourself, head to my blog, CNN.com/Ali, I'll link it you to and I'll also post it on my Facebook page. I think this kind of stuff is really, really interesting.

South Carolina swears in its first female governor. That and more in your CNN "Political Update" coming up right after the break.

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VELSHI: Well, a southern state swears in its first female governor. Peter Hamby at the Political Desk in Washington with details on that and more.

Peter, we're talking about a place you spent a lot of time.

PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: I have. It's my second home down there. They have given us a lot of material over the last few years, that's for sure.

Nicky Haley, you're right, the first female governor of South Carolina, she made history today when she was inaugurated. She's also the second Indian-American governor after Bobby Jindal in Louisiana. Mark Sanford, his tumultuous tenure has ended. He has said that he will split his time now down at the family plantation in Coosaw, South Carolina and also in Charleston. But he hasn't ruled out a run for future office. Would that be a Senate seat down the road? We shall see. We'll definitely be following Mark Sanford if he peeps (ph) up, that's for sure.

And also, we're following another story down south. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, you might remember, came under fire recently for calling the Civil Rights Movement in his hometown of Yazoo City, Mississippi was not that bad. He spoke warmly about the all white citizens councils, the segregationist group kind of known as "The Uptown Klan" back in the day.

He came under fire for that. You know, he's thinking about running for president 2012 and he's very aware of that baggage. He gave a State of the State Address in Mississippi last night where he called for a $50 million civil rights museum to be built in downtown Jackson. Was that a calculated move ahead of the 2012 bid? Perhaps, but that's definitely something he's going to have to address if he does decide to take a larger role on the national stage in the next couple of years.

VELSHI: Peter Hamby, thank you so much. Good to see you, my friend.

Your next "Political Update" from "The Best Political Team on Television" is just one hour away.

Some new research suggests that Europe might not be the origin of wine. Sacre bleu. "Odds & Ends" coming up next.

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