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Atlanta in Virtual Standstill; Loughner's Traffic Stop; Palin Video Statement on Shootings

Aired January 12, 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: All right. Time for a sip of "Odds and Ends" right now. If you consider yourself a wine geek, this is some pretty great party trivia.

Now, some people, clearly, whoever came up with this idea, assumes wine was invented in Europe. I studied religion in school, so I know that wine was around a whole lot before Europe was around.

But a new find by archaeologist puts the world's oldest winery thousands of miles away in a cave in Armenia, to be specific. Scientists tunneled their way into a collapsed cavern and found clay pots, vats, grape seeds, and a mummified sommelier. OK, maybe that other stuff.

If it's any consolation, the latest winter storm to bury the Northeast is leaving as fast as it came. In the meantime, though, it's whiteout Wednesday.

A foot or more of snow in New York and New York City, plus much of New England. Winds as high as 80 miles an hour. You heard me right. A gust of almost 80 mile an hour was clocked this morning on Cape Cod.

Air travel once again at a virtual standstill. The biggest airports are open, but nobody is flying right now. Very few people are.

The storm is a bigger, badder version of what we got in the South on Sunday into Monday. The memories of that are still fresh because much of the snow and ice is still around us here in the Southeast.

Delta Airlines hoping to get back to a normal schedule in Atlanta today. Apart from CNN, very little has been going on in Atlanta, other than efforts to clear the snow and ice since Sunday.

We've been telling you that 49 of the 50 states have some snow on the ground this week. Florida, by the way, is 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.

Let's find out what is going on out there. We'll hear momentarily from CNN's Martin Savidge, with Atlanta's "let it melt" strategy that's coming under some criticism.

On the other extreme, the catch every snowflake before it even hits the ground strategy in New York by a very pressured administration there. Allan Chernoff is trekking through that, and we'll talk to him in a minute.

But first, let's go to our own severe weather expert, Chad Myers, to tell us whether we are toward the end of this.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: We've had more than a couple here in Atlanta. It has been more severe -- the storm was OK, Martin, in Atlanta. We got about four inches of snow.

Marty Savidge outside here in Atlanta.

About four inches of snow. That's a lot for a place like Atlanta, but that wasn't the worst of it, really. Why it is that we're in Wednesday afternoon and much of Atlanta is still at a standstill?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, the biggest difficulty here is, first of all, this is a storm of which there have only been five like it since they kept records in all of Atlanta. So this is at least a once-a-decade -- in fact, I would say the last time you had a storm like this was back in 1993.

So, really, the fact that the city was overwhelmed by this shouldn't come as any surprise. This one has overwhelmed even a northeastern city, because once you have not just a snowfall, four to five inches, six to seven in some other areas, then you had rain. That made it freeze. And then you ended up with just, you know, the really heavy ice block that is everywhere all over the city of Atlanta.

Now, I know that the mayor of Atlanta watches your show, Ali, because I got a blistering e-mail from the city after we talked about this last hour. But what we were stressing here is that, historically, the city has made a decision. And that decision is, look, it is not worthwhile to keep a fleet, a massive army, of snowplows and spreaders ready for a storm that comes once a decade.

And, in fact, the economic experts in the city of Atlanta, as we pointed out, back the mayor up on that and say that's exactly right. That is the economic strategy to take, especially in these very difficult economic times. The drawback is, though, it's going to take you a while to dig out of this.

Now, the city of Atlanta says it is doing the very best it can. And referring to this e-mail that I got, I just want to point out, here's what they got out on the streets -- 11 spreaders, eight graders, 15 loaders, six backhoes, 26 dump trucks, 15 bombcats (ph). And they say that so far, 271 miles of roads have been plowed and treated in the last 18 hours.

Not bad. There's 1,600 miles of the street in the city of Atlanta, so they still have a way to go. But the good news is priority roads are open. It's still treacherous to get out. Back to you, Ali.

VELSHI: Martin, you make an interesting point. The difference between the criticism that the New York administration came under from that last storm versus this is that New York never made the decision to say we're not going to invest in cleaning this up. New York had 1,000 plows and a whole bunch of salt spreaders and things like that.

Your point -- or I guess the mayor's point here in Atlanta -- is that we're just not going to gear up for a storm of a decade when it comes once a decade.

SAVIDGE: Right. They will tackle it as best they can. And right now they're using private contractors.

But they aren't going to be like New York or Boston, which has 500 snowplows. They can't afford it. They put their money into other things that are needed daily in Atlanta.

VELSHI: Martin Savidge in Atlanta.

We'll continue to cover this story, because it's going to take us another day or so before this place is up and running. And we will cover this whole weather situation for you as it develops.

Thanks, Martin.

Let's go to Tucson now, where surgeons treating Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords have another piece of encouraging news.

Let's listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PETER RHEE, UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: At this time period, things can go very slowly and then the progress can occur very rapidly at some particular time, and actually can also 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 exactly what we kind of want to happen at this point, and that we have really decreased the amount of sedation that we're giving her. And as a result of that, she's becoming more and more spontaneous all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: We now have photos -- there we go -- of Giffords' husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, staying as close by her bedside as he possibly can.

President and Mrs. Obama en route to Tucson as well. We don't know whether they will see Gabrielle Giffords, but they will attend a memorial service this evening for the six people killed in Saturday's rampage.

CNN's Susan Candiotti following these and many other developments in Tucson today. Susan, you have news about the alleged gunman's traffic stop on the day of the shooting, the morning of the shooting. He was pulled over by police.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Imagine this, Ali.

Just two-and-a-half hours before that fatal shooting in which six people lost their lives and 13 others were injured, a police officer who worked for the Arizona Game and Fish Department saw suspect Jared Loughner run a red light. Of course, at the time he had no way of knowing what this man was allegedly about to pull off.

But as he was going through the intersection, this police officer saw him and pulled him over. He did run a license plate check on him, checked to see whether he had any outstanding warrants. He did not. And so he allowed Loughner to go on his merry way with just a verbal warning.

Of course, no one could tell what was going to happen just two- and-a-half hours from that time. But this is very important information because, of course, the FBI, the sheriff's office, each conducting investigations, is trying to put together a critical timeline in what the suspect was said to be doing before he got to that shopping center.

Ali, we're also learning of additional information about some of the paperwork evidence that they found in Loughner's home. And according to a source, in addition to finding papers that contain the words like "assassination" and "I'm preparing" and Giffords' name, also found the words "Die, bitch." And, of course, the question is, was he allegedly, in fact, referring to Congresswoman Giffords?

Ali.

VELSHI: Susan, tell me about some threatened protests by this church that has taken to protesting the funerals of returning service members of the United States. Apparently, they are interested in protesting some of the funerals of the people who died in the rampage.

CANDIOTTI: That's right. It's the Westboro Baptist Church. We've all heard about this group time and again.

And they are saying on their Web site and also telling us that they have been planning to attend the funeral of the youngest victim in this case, 9-year-old Christina Green, a little girl who was one of the six that was killed. And a lot of pressure brought to bear. Of course, there's been a lot of fanfare about this, a lot of protests about it.

And after that, Westboro said it would no longer attend her funeral, but is still planning to attend the funeral of Federal Judge John Roll, who was also killed in this terrible shooting. So we don't know, in fact, whether they will show up. But we do know this -- Arizona's legislature passed a bill, and it was signed into law just yesterday by Governor Brewer, that forbids any protesters from coming within 300 feet of any funeral. So, therefore, even if these people do show up, they obviously will be kept back at quite a distance -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. Susan Candiotti staying on top of many developments in this story.

Thanks so much.

Be sure, by the way, to join us for live coverage of tonight's memorial service in Arizona. It starts at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Now, after writing about the tragedy in some brief online posts, Sarah Palin has finally put out a video statement.

CNN's Jessica Yellin joins me with that -- Jessica.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ali.

Palin's statement is a solemn -- it's considered an in-depth response to both the tragedy that occurred and the discussion that followed about political rhetoric. It is, as you say, a Facebook post followed by a long eight-minute video.

In it, she calls for healing, remembers the victims, and says that this is an important opportunity and a time for us to consider the way that the response happened. She says America's a place where we need a vibrant exchange of ideas, and she emphasizes that this was an attack by a lone, in her words, "deranged gunman," emphasizing he's not affiliated with any political group.

Now, why this is relevant in this context, Ali, of course, you know after the shooting, there was a lot of discussion of Sarah Palin's own posting during the campaign season of crosshairs that featured Gabrielle Giffords' district in a gun's crosshairs. And Palin has been criticized for that.

She lashes out in this statement now, attacking the media, her critics, and opponents for inappropriately, in her view, persecuting her, essentially, when this man had nothing to do with her. Here's some of Sarah Palin's own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN (R), FMR. ALASKA GOVERNOR: There are those who claim political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently, apolitical criminal. And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it less heated?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: Now, something in her statement did generate some more controversy instead of quieting it down. And we can talk about that for a moment if you'd like.

VELSHI: Sure. Yes, please do. There was a comment, a word she used that has gotten some people a bit upset, a term she used.

YELLIN: Yes. She used the term "blood libel."

OK. So, in her statement, she says, "Within hours of this tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacturing a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible."

So, the term "blood libel" was jarring to some because it's a term that comes from the history, especially of persecuting Jews. That Jews had the blood of Christians on their hands back in ancient times, allegedly, and that there were claims that Jews used Christian blood in rituals, and that was an excuse to persecute them.

So, online, some Jewish groups, individuals have responded. The Anti-Defamation League put out a statement saying they wish she had chosen a different use of words. It was also used in an op-ed column in "The Wall Street Journal," this term, "blood libel," defending Sarah Palin. So she is in the context of others who have spoken using that language.

But some are upset. And the larger picture here, Ali, is instead of quieting down the back-and-forth, all of this seems to have heightened it, not just Palin, but the entire response has heightened it right and left -- Ali.

VELSHI: Right. I think a good distinction to make for those of us in the media is not as much the connection between whether or not this alleged shooter had anything to do with inflammatory rhetoric, because it doesn't seem that there's any attachment between him or Sarah Palin or anyone else. He did seem to be not attached to any of these politicians.

But generally speaking, the tone and rhetoric of politics, which I think somebody like you, who's covered this for so long, knows is certainly more inflamed today than it was five years ago or 10 years ago.

YELLIN: It is. And, you know, it's one of the reasons so many people immediately, pundits, and also even the sheriff here, jumped on that issue, because so many people were sensitive to the violent language in our politics. So it's a discussion we're having, but it clearly has zero connection to this individual shooter at this time -- Ali.

VELSHI: Right. So it's still a valid discussion, but these people ought to be careful about those connections.

Jessica, good to see you. Thanks as always for telling us about this.

Last year, by the way, there were 49 threats made against members of Congress. That's twice as many as the year before. If you couple that with Representative Giffords being shot in the head, it may not surprise you that some in Congress are now carrying guns.

We break down the stats and how you should -- what you should know about it right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Continuing coverage now on the tragedy in Tucson.

This past weekend, six people were shot and killed at a town hall-type event for Representative Gabrielle Giffords. She, along with 13 others, were wounded. And today, members of Congress are meeting to review safety procedures on Capitol Hill.

Some members of Congress have come out strongly, saying that they are going to carry guns with them, including Republican Jason Chaffetz of Utah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: I was a concealed carry permit holder before I was in Congress. I've continued with that practice. And I will probably make it even more regular in my routine moving forward.

It's just a personal security thing for me. I think it's a smart thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: He's not the only one, by the way. Democratic Representative Heath Shuler from North Carolina sent out a statement this week saying, "I, like many of my constituents and staff in western North Carolina, strongly support the Second Amendment and do exercise our right to legally and safely carry a firearm."

Some in Congress say that is not a good idea at all.

Terrance Gainer is the Sergeant-at-Arms for the U.S. Senate. He spoke with T.J. Holmes on "AMERICAN MORNING" today. T.J. asked the simple question, "Do you think it's a good idea for members of Congress to carry guns?"

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRANCE GAINER, SERGEANT-AT-ARMS, U.S. SENATE: I do not. The violence -- the violence perception -- excuse me -- violence prevention is a very difficult matter. Preventing homicides is very difficult. But I think every chief and sheriff across the nation is trying to figure out how best to do that.

Putting more guns in the mix is not the answer. It may be part of a solution, to have more police, more law enforcement, but we shouldn't just turn to guns as how to end violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: So let's talk for a second about the number of threats on members of Congress. Gainer told us this morning that last year, there were 49 threats to congressional members. That is nearly double the number in 2009, which had 29 threats. In 2008, there were 28 threats against members of Congress, so you see not much of a jump from 2008 to 2009.

Gainer emphasized that while we did see an increase last year, we need to compare that to the tens of thousands of interactions that members of Congress have with people all the time. He said it's actually good news that we don't have more.

Newly-elected Speaker of the House, Republican John Boehner, also weighed in on this today on the floor of the House of Representatives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: Today is not a ceremony, but tragedy that stirs us to renew our commitment to faithfully fulfill our oath of office. And let us not let this inhumane act frighten us into doing otherwise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: And today, on my Facebook page, we asked a series of questions about guns in Congress. First, we asked, "Should members of Congress carry guns?"

Here are some of your responses.

Sergio said, "Only if we want the Wild West back and to relive the dark days of uncivilized behavior."

Ryan said, "If somebody is mentally unstable, they are going to do something unless they get treatment. So, if someone wants to carry a gun, it is their right, politician or not."

Bill said, "Certainly not. If Representative Giffords or others in that crowd began shooting, even more people would have been killed or wounded. Guns should be carried by trained professionals."

We also asked a different question on my Facebook page: "Should members of Congress have a security detail at all public events?"

Tiffany said, "Yes, they should. Member of Congress have enemies, as well as aggressive fans. When speaking in open public forums, they should be secured just like an entertainer would for their own protection."

Kevin said, "No, but should have a security consultant to take the responsibility to decide when and where."

And Jennifer said, "I think if they feel that they need it, they should hire their own private security. I do not think that taxpayers should pay for it."

I read all the comments that you post on my Facebook page or that you tweet me. Please continue the discussion. Go to Facebook.com/AliVelshiCNN.

And be sure, by the way, to tune in to CNN tonight for live coverage of the memorial service in Arizona, where the president and first lady will be, starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

OK. The good news is that there are more jobs out there. December's dropping unemployment numbers proved that. But there are still millions of people who are looking for work.

Where are the jobs? I'm going to try and answer that question after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Updating developments in our top stories right now.

We are learning a short time ago that Arizona shooting suspect Jared Loughner was stopped for running a red light the morning of the attack, Saturday morning. He was let go with a warning.

Doctors say Congresswoman Gabby Giffords remains in critical condition today.

President Obama is on his way to Tucson, Arizona, right now, where he'll speak at tonight's memorial for the six people who died in Saturday's shooting. You can see the service live on CNN at 8:00 Eastern.

Members of Congress held a prayer service for victims last hour.

One year ago today, that monster earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than 200,000 people. Daily life is still a struggle there in and around Port-au-Prince, with 1.2 million people stuck in tent cities. Cholera has also claimed some of the thousands who managed to survive the quake.

And taking the lead today, December's jobs report actually look good at the surface. The nation's unemployment rate fell from 9.8 percent to 9.4 percent last month. But what matters more than that is how many jobs the economy created.

The December number came in at 103,000. Take a look at this, from the beginning of the recession. That was December of 2007, all the way to the end of 2008, through 2009.

We started to see some job growth in the beginning of 2010, but then it leveled out. And you finally saw some job growth at the end of the year, 100,000 jobs -- 103,000 jobs added.

But let's take a look at where they grew by industry.

Leisure and hospitality jobs were up 47,000. That could because people have a little bit more money, they're spending a little more. Maybe it's because the U.S. dollar is low and we're getting more people in from Canada or from Europe to spend money. Health care, that has been a perennial gainer. Health care, almost every month, we create jobs. If you're looking something to move into, health care is it -- 36,000 jobs created.

Retail, that could be because of holiday shopping. The shopping season up 12,000 jobs.

Manufacturing, which was a massive, massive loser during the recession -- in fact, some people call it a "mancession" or a "hecession" because those were male-dominated jobs. We started to see a bit of a pickup in some of that. We gained 10,000 jobs in December in manufacturing.

This all looks good on the surface, but there are millions of people looking out there for jobs. Where are they?

My good friend and colleague Christine Romans talks to some members of a job club who are all about getting people employed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEN GARRISON, CAREER COACH, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: All right. Good afternoon, everyone.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here at the January meeting of the Job Success Club, job seekers aren't feeling a recovery just yet.

GARRISON: Well --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a start.

GARRISON: It's a start. And I think --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a start and it's expulsion. Yes.

GARRISON: Right, good experience.

A lot of people talk about how the market's getting better. But really what happens is, for each person, it's very personal.

ROMANS: Members of this group at Rutgers include a business analyst with 15 years of corporate experience. A dual engineering major laid off last spring. A recently graduated geography major.

ROMANS (on camera): People are getting hired. We're not creating enough jobs, but people are getting hired. Who is getting hired?

TIG GILLIAM, CEO, ADECCO: The more education you have, the better. And that's true in this job market, even more so than it was only five years ago. So it's the finance and accounting skills, the IT skills, the engineering skills, which greatly improve your chances of finding a job.

ROMANS (voice-over): It's leisure and hospitality and health care, too. Those fields saw the biggest job growth last month. But regardless of field, many job seekers say the toughest part is just getting a foot in the door.

SAM CHACKO, JOB SEEKER: The challenge for me, at least it's been, I know I have the skills but it's kind of frustrating because I don't know how to market myself to get employers to notice me.

ROMANS: And that's just what the members of the Job Success Club hope to figure out.

GARRISON: I mean, the goal of the Job Club is that I'm the only person left. That would be the ideal dream, that I'm the only person sitting in the room.

Be really -- be really focused.

ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: The South still recovering from a severe snowstorm. But what is happening up North? Well, CNN severe weather expert Chad Myers tells us next.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right, here with Chad. We're taking a look at weather. We're just getting over bad storms in the Southeast. The northeast woke up this morning. They kind of dodged a bit of a bullet. Right?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They got what they were expecting.

VELSHI: Right. Much better than getting a lot more -

MYERS: But Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, very heavy. They did not dodge anything.

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: They are getting slammed right.

VELSHI: Wow. Every time you show me this picture, it gets better.

MYERS: This is Newark. Fifty-five planes in Newark. Last time, they couldn't get the snow out of the way of the gates. This time the snow was so fluffy, it got out of the way all by itself. As soon as they started plowing it, it actually did a good job of leaving. It didn't get blown back into places like that wind they had -- I know there are still winds in New England, the wind was not in the Bronx and Newark and Central Park like it was last time. It is still here. But it's not as bad. VELSHI: I heard Cape Cod had 80 mile an hour wind this morning.

MYERS: Yes, that's where the low is. So, you got to be closer to the low. And this red zone, I know it's hard to tell between red and pink but that is the blizzard warning.

VELSHI: Oh, really? So, Boston is right in the middle of that.

MYERS: Right in the middle. Smack dab. All the way up toward (INAUDIBLE) as well. This is how much more snow is to come. About six inches for the most anywhere other than the mountains. Snow's almost done. Tapering off now.

This, I know we're going to call this a nor'easter. It really wasn't a nor'easter, so to speak. It was a coastal low. Kind of got some -- it came in too much like this rather than a nor'easter that comes in like this.

VELSHI: I see. OK. It stands out in my mind is what the Northeast got was a sort of combination of two storms going on? This one and the one from down here.

MYERS: Cold, moist, snow, gone.

VELSHI: Got it. The worst is over for Philly, New York, that area.

MYERS: Absolutely.

VELSHI: New England still going through it right now?

MYERS: Yes. And some will melt today and some will refreeze tomorrow. That is maybe the biggest problem as you walk where you walk at home. You walk home, it was fine. In the morning when you go back to work, it may be icy there. Walk the dog, be careful.

VELSHI: We'll stay on top of that as always. Thank you very much, Chad.

Devastating flooding, by the way, in Brisbane, Australia. It's the worst natural disaster in that city's history. People are very worried. I'll take there in a moment in Globe Trekking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: President Obama on his way to Tucson, Arizona to attend a memorial service for the victims of Saturday's shooting in Tucson. He'll also meet the familiar lives the six people who died. CNN will have a live coverage of the memorial at 8 p.m. Eastern.

We're learning that the alleged shooter, Jared Lougher, was stopped by an officer on the morning of the shooting for running a red light. He was given a verbal warning and then he was released.

The Northeast, blanketed in snow today. More than 1,200 flights canceled at New York's three major airports. More snow expected for New England as we speak.

The mayor of Brisbane, Australia calls the flooding of his city the worst natural disaster in its history. That's the focus of "Globe Trekking" today. There's the map. You can see Brisbane on the right side. Raging flooding from waters from the Brisbane River have inundated tens of thousands of homes and businesses. It is Australia's third largest city and it's inundating nearby towns. The swollen river runs through the center of the capital Queensland state.

CNN's Phil Black is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is just one street in Brisbane, but the scenes here are being repeated in streets across the city. You can see the water has already come up a long way. It started to do that overnight. Some of the residents had to flee overnight, leaving behind most of their valuables. We're seeing lots of them come back today, trying to get what they can, save what they can. And then as the waters rise, other residents up the streets on higher ground that is also likely to be swamped are getting out and taking what they can as well. As I say, one street that it is being repeated across suburbs here.

Brisbane is very much a city that in so many ways is beginning to shut down because of this flood. Public transport is cut and is gradually being shut down entirely. Electricity cut to around 100,000 homes or so, it is estimated. The mobile phone service relies on that electricity is no longer working as well. All of this as the floodwaters approach the peak that will take place some time on Thursday. And the estimate at this stage is that as many as 20,000 homes will be flooded.

Phil Black, CNN, Brisbane, Australia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Up next, Moscow and a controversial Russian report on the crash of a Polish plane that killed Poland's president last April. The Russian-led investigation concluded that the crew was under psychological pressure to land the plane under dangerous weather conditions.

Polish president Lech Kaczynski says -- his wife and many top polish officials were among the nearly 100 people who died in the crash. The report also noted that there may have been pressure from the commander of Poland's air force, who was in the cockpit. Investigators say he had an elevated level of alcohol in his blood when he entered the cockpit before the crash. Kaczynski's twin brother reacted strongly to the report, calling it biased.

And our next stop, Lebanon. Hezbollah and its allies today forced the collapse of prime minister Saad Hariri's unity government. It happened when 11 of the cabinet's 30 ministers announced their resignation while Hariri was meeting with President Obama in the White House. Mr. Obama criticized the move, saying it demonstrates Hezbollah's fear and determination to block Hariri's efforts to advance the will of the Lebanese people. The move also deepens a crisis over a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. He was the father of prime minister Saad Hariri. The tribunal is expected to indict members of Hezbollah, the country's powerful Shiite Muslim movement.

Fixing our broken public schools. We talk a lot about that on this show. Today we're going to look at a success story. How did Baltimore public schools get back on the road to success? We'll talk to the man who is leading the charge after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: For many years, the city of Baltimore had some of the worst public schools in the nation. Less than half the students were graduating, test scores were below the national average. But all of a sudden in 2007, things started to turn around. I guess it wasn't all of a sudden. But students, take a look at this, reached the highest outcomes in state exams and enrollment in the city schools increased for the first time in decades. That is downright weird.

These changes came thanks to the arrival of Andres Aloso. He became the CEO of Baltimore City Schools in 2007. The school district has been changing and improving ever since. He joins us now live from Baltimore.

Andres Alonzo, thank you for being with me. You -- sort of took forward things that you focused on. And I'm looking at these four things, and they look remarkably general to me. I want to ask you about them. Leadership. Choice and competition. Hard choices. And engaging the community. What does that mean and how did you use that to fix the schools?

DR. ANDRES ALONSO, CEO, BALTIMORE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Well, I think leadership is the key to everything. Across the board, there's no way that schools improved unless you have great principles and great teachers in every single classroom. But also elected officials, people in central offices, everybody has to understand their role in focusing on what's right, which is moving the kids forward.

Secondly, we made choice a huge driver for competition, huge driver for accountability. In a school system where over the decades, thousands of kids were leaving the system, we need to give parents -- to empower parents to help us understand what schools they wanted to go to, how to reward the schools that were working. And quite frankly, how to close and move away from the programs that were not working.

Thirdly, we very consciously focus on making the hard decisions that have not been made over time. Conflict is the DNA for so many things that have to happen. If it's been done before and it hasn't worked, then something different has to happen. And in most school systems, there's a huge gravitational pull for doing the same thing. And we shouldn't expect different outcomes.

And finally, we've worked unbelievably hard at getting parents and the community to embrace what we're doing in order to make it sustainable over time. If we're fighting and we're not engaging parents in the work, it should be predictable that down the line it's not going to survive.

VELSHI: All right, you talk about hard choices. I'll ask a couple hard questions of . I want you to look to a city south and a city north of you. In Washington, D.C., Michelle Rhee tried to bring in a number of reforms, and for all intents and purposes, she was thrown out of that. And in New York City, the person that Mayor Bloomberg wants to run the schools comes without an education background but from a corporate background, something we're also seeing a lot of. Tell me about the potential successes and failures of those approaches.

ALONSO: Well, many of the things that we've done are quite similar to what Michelle Rhee tried to do in Washington, D.C. We have closed schools. We have let go of hundreds of teachers. Seventy percent of my principals are new to their jobs since I arrived. We have opened new schools. I happen to have been deputy counselor in New York City with Joe Klein, who was the previous chancellor.

And the context matters tremendously in terms of readiness of a city and a community to embrace change. And both -- I mean, Joe Klein is one of my heroes. Michelle Rhee is a partner in the work. And it's going to take fights and conflict and hard decisions in order to move systems that haven't worked over time in a new direction.

It's also going to work being extraordinarily focused on what's right for kids. And we should be expecting that is going to take a long time for those things to happen across the nation.

VELSHI: The biggest ongoing fight seems to always be the one about teachers. About how to rate teachers, how to evaluate them, how to pay them and how to move some out of the system. How do you break the back of that issue without -- with the support of -- or as much support as can you get from the teacher's unions that are very strong?

ALONSO: Well, you know, my experience is - and I was a teacher for 12 years. Teachers resent, teachers who are not doing a good job because they make everything harder on everyone who is trying very, very hard to do their job. And in Baltimore City last year, we rated unsatisfactory 11 percent of our teachers. That was four times the rate of New York City and Washington, D.C.

And part of the job is about making sure that everybody is doing their job. If principals are not evaluating teachers fairly and rigorously, then we're going to end up with people in front of kids who should not be there. So, it's been about taking responsibility for what needs to happen. And in Baltimore, unlike in some of our neighboring cities, is engendered tremendous momentum in a certain direction. Which doesn't mean next week or a year from now, we won't be engaged in some of the same conversations as in D.C. or New York City. The direction is exactly the same.

VELSHI: I think it's very interesting. I'm going to think a lot on what you said. That conflict is the DNA of the job. And that you have to be prepared to engage and that conflict is part of the growth process.

We instinctively think of conflict as bad. But you're saying that it actually could have a useful purpose in the remedying of our education system.

ALONSO: We see it as an opportunity. If we do the same things that have failed in the past and we expect a different result and that's a form of insanity. And we have very, very consciously looked at the history of district, looked at what has been done in the past. And we have very, very intentionally tried to do things in a very different way.

VELSHI: Great conversation. Andres Aloso, congratulations on the work that you've done in the Baltimore City public school system. Good to talk to you. Come back and talk to us again. We have a lot to talk about on the front of fixing our schools.

ALONSO: Thank you very much.

VELSHI: OK. Our pleasure.

ALONSO: Anytime.

VELSHI: It is 48 minutes after the hour. Let me bring you an update on the top stories that we're following.

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

Meantime, President Obama is on his way to Tucson 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.

And an awful accident between a bus and snow plow killed one person in Ohio. It happened about an hour north of Columbus. The bus was carrying the University of Mount Union wrestling team home from a match. The one victim, Mount Union's director of athletic training.

The winter blast that turned much of the Southeast into an ice rink coupled with a storm 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.

And "Ghostbuster" fans, who you going to call? How about another sequel to the hit movie from the 1980s? I'll have all the details and a potential speed bump in our "Showbiz" hit next.

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VELSHI: Okay, "Ghostbuster" fans, things were set to go for "Ghostbusters" Part Three to be filmed, but they've hit a glitch. The director says all the actors have read the script. They loved it. Except for Bill Murray, otherwise known as Mr. Bankman. He starred in "Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters 2" along with Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis in the 1980s. The director says this latest installment is better than the previous two movies. But if Murray isn't on board, the movie may be a no go. We'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Calling in Justin -- calling all Justin Bieber fans, also known as Bieb-believers. The pop star is coming back to primetime. CBS just announced that Beiber will be back on CSI. His character, Jason McCann, will be calling Nick in an upcoming episode to warn him he is in danger. I guess that makes sense to those of who you watch the show. I do sometimes, actually. The episode set to air next month for those of you who want to check out Bieber's acting skills again. By the way, I hope his acting is better than his dancing.

Rapper 50 Cent has added about $8.7 million to his bank account after a weekend of tweeting. He reportedly raked in the dough by giving a business an online shout-out. He showed up last week in Vegas at the Consumer Electronic Show to push the latest business venture with H & H Imports. They're going to distribute his new line of wireless head phones. His tweets encouraged people to purchase stock in the no-name company. Turns out the stock went up 240 percent, earning the business $50 million.

Who are you people? Buying stock to somebody tweets it? 50 cent. I like 50, but still. 50 Cent's headphones, called Sleek, set to arrive in stores in April.

Good God. That's like buying stock because it was scratched on a bathroom wall.

Nevada Republican Sharron Angle goes on the offensive in the wake of Arizona's shooting. CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley joins me from Washington with that and much more in a political update. Candy?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali. Yes, Sharron Angle, as you know, challenged Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, in the senatorial race in Nevada. She lost but certainly gave him a race for his money. She along with Sarah Palin is another of the names that critics put out there saying that their rhetoric went over the top, the kind of rhetoric that a mind that is unstable can seize on and take differently than it is meant.

Sharron Angle now putting out a statement condemning all acts of violence and saying look, this is the work of an unstable individual. And any attempt to expand that blame, she calls, dangerous and ignorant. Quote: "The irresponsible assignment of blame to me, Sarah Palin, or the Tea Party movement by commentators and elected officials puts all who gather to address grievances in danger."

On the other side of the coin, we have Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and independent caucuses with the Democrats who put out a 1,600 word e-mail to his supporters. And they talked about how John McCain, the senator from Arizona, ought to make Arizona safe for those who are not Republicans. He suggested it wasn't safe for anyone who didn't hold Republican beliefs to try to campaign or be even in Arizona. Republicans zeroes in on the first graph of this e-mail in which he thanked people for sending him money and said he appreciated it as well as any donations that may come in the future because he will be challenged by what he calls the right-wing. The Sanders people say look, this was just an e-mail. It is a pro forma thank you. It was not a fund-raiser. Nonetheless, it gives you a sense, Ali, I think, that we probably don't even need any more of how really hot this whole topic has become.

And just one purely, purely political note on our ticker today. We have our first exploratory committee for the presidential campaign of 2012 has now been set up by who, Ali? I'm going to ask you.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

VELSHI: I don't know.

CROWLEY: Herman Cain.

VELSHI: OK.

CROWLEY: OK. Who's Herman Cain? Herman Cain is a Republican. He is a favorite, we are told, of the Tea Party, a conservative talk show radio host and former CEO of Godfather Pizza. Now, we would say doesn't have a chance. He says, go ahead and say that. Because that only encourages me.

VELSHI: Right. In my world, anybody who ran a pizza operation is actually --stands a better chance than many people out there. So I'm very happy to hear that.

CROWLEY: Exactly. Go. We like to hear that presidential campaign is under way in case we doubted it.

VELSHI: Excellent. Candy, good to see you as always. Thank you so much. Candy Crowley. And your next update from The Best Political Team on Television is just one hour away.

Hey, on the topic of politics, regardless of who or what is to blame for the Arizona shootings, isn't it time to tone down the rhetoric? My XYZ and some thoughts on that, next.

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

There has been a lot of talk since Saturday about the role that incendiary political rhetoric may have played in the deadly rampage that left six people dead and many wounded in Arizona. Those who have been cited by some media as saying and doing things that politically, potentially incited violence have defended themselves, saying that individuals who commit violent acts are the ones responsible. Not politicians, not public figures, not media personalities.

The fact is, from what we know of the alleged shooter, Jared Loughner, he had no ties to or interest in people like Sarah Palin. And we'd all be best served to know as much as we can about the alleged suspect's motivations before trying to address a separate issue, and that is whether or not our political discourse has become too hot.

Quite separate and apart from the killings in Arizona, the fact that so many people think to tie heated political debate to a mass killing means that it probably has become too hot. Remember, this is a democracy. It's a great one. Citizens in America have the vote. They've got access to the media. They've got access to a fair judiciary. Even if the accusations are farfetched about the connections to this killing, the underlying message is a sound one and worthy of discussion.

Let's tone down the rhetoric and try as much as possible to expunge violent speech and imagery from our political discourse. Those are my thoughts. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Brooke Baldwin.