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Steve Jobs' Secret; China's President Visits U.S.; At Least 3 Shot at High School in California
Aired January 18, 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. Well, we've been covering the story about Apple for a while. I want to tell you about a new development we've got.
"Fortune" magazine has reported that in 2009, Steve Jobs took an undisclosed trip to Switzerland to seek treatment of a cancer that he had sought treatment for many years earlier. This wasn't disclosed to the public.
Jessi Hempel -- she's a senior technology writer with "Fortune" magazine -- joins me now with this.
What do we know, Jessi?
JESSI HEMPEL, SENIOR TECHNOLOGY WRITER, "FORTUNE": Well, we know very little right now, but I can tell you, essentially, we had a "Fortune" contributor who had an interview with Jerry York. Now, he was a director at Apple. And he passed away in March.
At that time, the interview which had previously been off the record became public. And what we've learned from it is that during the time when Steve Jobs had taken his leave, the second six-month leave he took, he took this unpublicized flight to Switzerland. And while he was there, he underwent an unusual radiological treatment at the University of Basel for neuroendocrine cancer.
Again, we don't know a lot. We know this is a man who has gone to great, great strides to keep certain elements of his personal life private. We think that it happened before the secret liver transplant that was uncovered, and that was in 2009. But we don't know a lot right now.
VELSHI: Yes. And this, of course, Jessi, contributes to the uncertainty around the stock that we saw this morning. People are not quite sure.
Ultimately, people care about Steve Jobs' health, and a lot of people care about how this company is going to do with or without him. What's your sense of that? Because you are a technology writer. What is the sense out there about Apple and its ability to do business successfully without Steve Jobs at the helm?
HEMPEL: Well, it's a hugely important question. We are covering it very aggressively at Fortune.com, Ali. You know, my sense is that this is a company with an incredible innovation machine, but that Steve Jobs has always run this company very closely. And so, yes, you can imagine that people are watching it ver closely, and we're seeing the confusion about what is going to happen in the stock.
VELSHI: Well, that's exactly what it is. It does appear to be confusion.
After the bell today, we will get Fortune's results. They're expected to be very strong, but this question will continue.
Jessi, thanks very much. If you get more information, let us know.
Jessi Hempel, senior technology writer at "Fortune."
All right. The term "state visit," it's a big deal in Washington. But really, some state visits are bigger than others.
The visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao, due to get under way in about two hours, well, that's about as huge as they get. They don't get any bigger.
China is America's partner and rival, its banker and its supermarket. It has the largest population on Earth. It has the of fastest-growing economy on Earth.
President Hu will be President Obama's guest at a private dinner tonight, and a full-on State Dinner tomorrow. In between, meeting after meeting at the White House.
What are they going to talk about? Well, I think the question is, what won't they talk about?
U.S./Chinese relations are complicated, to say the least. You'll hear that word a lot this week, but they boil down to three things -- money, obviously. The Chinese have a ton of it. We don't have as much.
They sell other countries a lot more stuff than they buy, and they use the proceeds to further their interests around the world. That's a fact.
They're also investing heavily in their military. In just the past week, we've heard about a Chinese stealth fighter jet and a long- range missile that could threaten U.S. ships in the Pacific.
And then there's human rights. This is an issue that often gets eclipsed by the other two. The world got a reminder of Chinese repression when a pro-democracy dissident won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. You remember this?
Couldn't accept it because he's in prison. They laid the prize on an empty chair in Oslo.
Well, since I'm a money guy, let me show you that relationship, the business relationship, in a little more detail.
China is now the third largest buyer of U.S. exports. Canada is the first. Mexico is the second. So, bottom line, $82 billion in goods last year went that way to China.
Look at the other arrow, though, $334 billion worth of goods America bought from China. The major reason for that, in the view of many U.S. politicians, is a deliberately undervalued Chinese currency.
Beijing keeps its currency, called the yuan -- you'll hear it pronounced many different ways. That's how you pronounce it, the yuan. But they keep it relatively cheap -- so they are accused of doing -- and that makes Chinese-made products relatively cheap in other countries versus products made in other places. The same thing made in China, in part because of that currency, may be cheaper than being made anywhere else.
That's not the only give and take in this discussion, by the way. China finances much of America's spending by lending the U.S. money. Right now it is the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, almost $900 billion worth of U.S. debt.
So, clearly, both presidents need to choose their words wisely because both sides kind of need each other in this equation.
There is some concern that President Hu may be more talk than action. So, for "Two at the Top," CNN Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty joins me with that.
Jill, this is an important, important consideration. We think of China, a communist and longtime totalitarian regime. We think of the leader of China, the world's biggest country and the world's fastest- growing economy, as being almost all-powerful. But there's some talk that maybe he's not.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And it came up, Ali, just very recently, when secretary -- the defense secretary, Gates, was in Beijing, and lo and behold, just as he came, the military tested a fighter jet. And the question -- and apparently President Hu did not know about that, or at least said that he did not know about it.
That, of course, would raise questions. I mean, is he on top of everything? Is he in charge? Or is the military taking a more independent line?
And apparently, that is the case. The military is speaking more aggressively, doing things like that. And it raises some issues, you know, of where China is headed, who exactly controls everything. It's not to say, of course, that the president is not carrying out his functions, but it's just that it is a more aggressive tone coming from the military right now.
VELSHI: Right. So it's how much he controls versus what we know of previous Chinese premiers controlling. Let's ask this question -- there are going to be these meetings at the White House, a lot of policy meetings. What about business? He's traveling with a lot of business leaders from China, and that's where most of that flow of money is coming from.
DOUGHERTY: Yes, exactly. And, you know, it's not just the yuan, as you said, but it also gets into these preferential treatment, as the U.S. would put it, of Chinese companies within China, and also some prejudice, I guess discrimination, the U.S. says, against U.S. companies that want to operate in China.
The big prize is the population. You know, over a billion people -- just think, a billion customers, what you could do with that. And the U.S. wants to export more to China.
But there was recently, just last week, in fact, there was a delegation from the State Department, Commerce and U.S. trade representative, and they did not get along well in their discussions in Beijing. So there are some frictions. I mean, the U.S. wants China to open up those markets because it's important to the Obama administration --
VELSHI: Sure.
DOUGHERTY: -- to prove that something's moving in the relationship for American consumers.
VELSHI: Right. A good example, General Motors sold more cars in China than it did in the United States in 2010. But the reality is that national sentiment that favors business in China, favors Chinese businesses in China, isn't necessarily anti-American, it just favors Chinese more than it favors any other country.
DOUGHERTY: Absolutely, that's true. And, you know, this administration really wants to prove that American consumers and also American business do not have a lot to fear from China. You heard that coming from Hillary Clinton last week. They want to show that there's a positive side to this, and that's a very important part of the Obama message.
VELSHI: Yes. Hillary Clinton said -- I think she something like, if you're rowing a boat, your oars have to be going in the same direction. And that's where China and America are. They're sort of rowing this boat together.
Interesting. It will be an interesting debate. It will be interesting to see what happens.
When George Bush hosted a Chinese leader, there was no State Dinner, there wasn't the same hoopla. Why is that such a big deal now?
DOUGHERTY: Well, that was perceived as a glitch, as a problem. There were several things that happened during that visit.
And what they want to make sure right now is that this is very high profile, that it goes on the diplomatic side, the protocol side very smoothly, because the relationship is just so darned important. They have to -- a lot of this, as we know, is kind of precooked, pre- decided, but when two leaders get together and there is a news conference, and there is -- you know, coming out to the press, you're going to have some unscripted moments.
So they don't want the protocol to get in the way. There will be enough moments of unscripted nature.
VELSHI: That's what we will be looking. We'll all be tuning in for those unscripted moments.
Jill, great to talk to you. We look forward to hearing your coverage over the course of the next few days.
Regis Philbin, he is a broadcasting legend, one of the very few still on air every day since our own Larry King stepped aside last month. Today, after 23 years on his current show, and 50 years in the business, Regis made an announcement, and it is today's "Sound Effect."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REGIS PHILBIN, CO-HOST, "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY": But this will be my last year on this show. There is a time that, you know, everything must come to an end for certain people on camera, especially certain old people.
So, anyway, folks, I just want you to know that. Plenty of room to go, but this is going to happen at the end of the summer. It's the fall, whatever it is. We don't know that yet.
But just so that you know. OK?
KELLY RIPA, CO-HOST, "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY": I can only speak for America and all of us here when I say it has been a pleasure and a privilege and a dream come true, and I wish I could do something to make you change your mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Regis holds the Guinness World Record for most hours on TV, well over 16,000.
And speaking of Larry King, he will be Joy Behar's guest tonight on our sister network, HLN, to talk about his old friend's retirement.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. I've got some breaking news coming in right now from Gardena, California. Let me just give that to you right now.
Apparently, there has been a shooting at Gardena High School in Gardena, California, where we have confirmed -- or we have heard -- I don't know whether this is confirmed -- that three people have been shot -- at least three people have been shot. They are believed to be students.
Let me tell you, we do have it confirmed that three people have been shot, according to the Gardena Police Department. The shooting took place at Gardena High School.
The victims' conditions are not known right now, but the school is on lockdown. Unknown. We don't know right now where that shooting took place at the school.
One suspect has been identified, but has not been captured, apparently. No police involved in the shooting, but as you can see, a lot of law enforcement on the scene right now. Gardena High School, which is in Los Angeles.
Just trying to sort of get a picture of it in Los Angeles. But this is what we know right now.
Three people having been shot. They are believed to be students at the high school. We don't know who else has been shot or what the condition of the students are.
The school is on lockdown. They do seem to have some sense of who the shooter is, but do not have the shooter in custody. So we'll continue to stay on that as we get more information on this shooting in Gardena, California.
OK. We hear it every day. To succeed in today's world, you need a college education.
Many parents begin preparing for the expense almost the day their child is born. Now, with this in mind, consider a new study that poses a fairly bold question: Are college students learning anything? And conclusion is that they're not learning all that much.
Take a look at this pie graph. The study found that 51 percent of students questioned spend most of their time in college socializing; 24 percent of the time is spent sleeping; 9 percent is spent volunteering or working; another 9 percent in class and labs; and 7 percent actually studying. So, you take the 9 and 7, you've got 16 percent of the time actually related to school.
The study also found that 45 percent of students made no major gains in learning after two years in college; 36 percent showed little change after four years; 50 percent of those surveyed spent less time studying than their counterparts several decades ago. But there's also this interesting finding. Of the students questioned, they had an average GPA of 3.2.
The study was based on transcripts, test scores and surveys of over 2,300 college students at 24 schools across the country. The report was based on the book "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses."
The book is by a professor, by the way, at New York University, and another at the University of Virginia. The authors argue that one key problem, many professors are spending more time publishing their own research than they spend in the classroom teaching. And a major reason for this is the pressure placed on them by administrators to publish.
China's economy is strong and it gets stronger all the time. What kind of threat does that pose to America? Is this China's century?
We'll take a look right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Economic concerns will be major issues this week as President Obama holds talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao. The U.S. and China have the world's two biggest economies. And even though the U.S. economy is still three times bigger, China's catching up fast.
Christine Romans joins us live from New York.
You've been looking into this, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, look, Ali, the big question is, if the last century was America's century, will the next century, this century, be China's? And is it possible that both countries could prosper together, or does China's rise come with a United States decline?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: A Chinese leader, Vice-Premier Deng Xiao-Ping in Washington, opening the door to expanded relations between two global giants.
In the three decades since Deng's initial market reforms to China's communist system, China has transformed itself into an economic powerhouse, achieving spectacular growth averaging 10 percent per year. And with its factories humming, China has overtaken Germany to become the world's largest exporter.
And who is China's biggest customer? The U.S.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: There was an old Chinese saying that when you're in the same boat, you have to row in the same direction. We are in the same boat. And we will either row in the same direction, or we will unfortunately cause turmoil and whirlpools that will impact not just our two countries, but many people, far beyond either of our borders.
ROMANS: That's because China's trading clout translates into financial clout. Today, China is by far America's biggest foreign creditor, holding $900 billion in U.S. debt.
Another milestone, China beat out Japan in 2010 to become the world's second largest economy, second only to the U.S. But it's a distant second for now. China's economic output last year was just one-third of the output of the U.S., even though China's population is four times as big, meaning China could overtake the U.S. in the next decade or two.
But with the spectacular growth comes accusations that China doesn't play fair by keeping labor costs low and pegging its exchange rate to the dollar, making Chinese goods far cheaper to American consumers.
But China's growth has also fueled a growing Chinese middle class that may be just as eager to spend their new wealth on goods and services to better their lives, and U.S. companies are taking notice.
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: The United States is on track to export more than $100 billion of goods and services to China this year. Our exports to China are growing at twice the rate of growth of our exports to the rest of the world. We have a great deal invested in each other's success.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Ali, there's no question about that, but a trade mission came back last week sorely disappointed that there had not been more reforms, more market opening for U.S. goods. It is the Holy Grail of big American and international businesses to be able to get a hold of that Chinese middle class. But it's been something that's been difficult because of currency controls and other controls within the country that try to keep the wealth there, understandably, perhaps, to help enrich a middle class in China.
On the agenda will be the currency issue, but there are a lot of other issues that matter to your bottom line and to American jobs that they'll be discussing, including intellectual property rights, piracy, cyber-espionage, cyber-attacks, as well, against American companies. A lot of other issues that I think behind the scenes, are going to be pointed, but I think you're going to see a public display of mutually beneficial economic cooperation, I think --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Right. And there's security concerns, North Korea, there's what China does with some of its minorities. But let's just get back to this middle class thing.
It's a major, major point. In a place like the United States, where the middle class has been under pressure and is shrinking, China is the opposite with all of these people who have been called into new jobs. And they've suffered in the recession because people have bought less, but they have an emerging middle class that everybody, whether you're the Chinese or you're anyone else in the world, would like to get a piece of that action. They would like to sell these people fridges and toasters and cars and food and everything.
ROMANS: That's right.
It's interesting, though. You mentioned the middle class. I think there's no question that over of the last 30 years, the American middle class has helped China's rise. And the American middle class has benefited from cheap products that have come from China, and then those dollars go back to China, China build its military, China builds its own infrastructure, China builds its own economy so that it can try to help its middle class.
The question here is, China has now been a member of the World Trade Organization for a period of years, and there still are complaints that it protects its industries too much. And for where China has come, it needs to start playing by the rules that other countries play by.
Another point that I think you're not hearing a lot about -- I mean, Jill Dougherty has mentioned it and Zain Verjee has mentioned, and, of course, I've been reporting it, too -- energy security. China does something which is quite brilliant, and energy security is so important, Ali.
They sign deals directly with countries and investments in countries, many of whom -- some of whom are actual foreign enemies of the United States, so that they don't have to go to the global markets to pay higher and lower prices for oil like the United States does.
VELSHI: Right. They buy it right from producers.
ROMANS: So China is securing its own energy and natural resources -- securing its energy and natural resources in a way that could leave the United States vulnerable as these resources become more in demand down the road.
VELSHI: Well, we have a lot to talk about on China in the next few days.
ROMANS: Sure do.
VELSHI: We actually have lots to talk about on China normally, but we'll have an extra opportunity because of Hu Jintao's visit.
Christine, thanks a million.
Hey, I want to take you to another piece of breaking news we've got right now, news concerning the merger between Comcast and NBC Universal.
Alison Kosik has this for us.
What have we got, Alison?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you know, Comcast is the country's biggest cable company, and what's going to happen here, the FCC announced, is it's going to be acquiring controlling interest -- that's 51 percent -- of NBC Universal from General Electric. And what this deal would do, it would combine Comcast Internet and cable services with NBC's broadcast stations. That includes MSNBC, channels like Bravo, and also an ownership stake in that online video service that we all talk about so much, Hulu -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right. And this has been approved now by the FCC.
That was largely expected. Am I right, Alison? We were largely expecting this to be done.
KOSIK: It was. It was all but a done deal.
The Department of Justice looked over this as well, as well as the FCC. They've considered all of the sides and figure that this would be a good deal.
But, you know, we have the critics on the other side. The big worry with this deal is about media consolidation and stifling competition, especially with online video.
But, you know, reports are that Comcast has agreed to a bunch of conditions with this deal, giving -- for instance, giving space to independently-owned channels on its dials, guaranteeing that NBC's news operations are going to remain independent.
And net neutrality has been a big part of this deal, too, Ali. I know that's one of your favorite topics.
VELSHI: Yes.
KOSIK: But Comcast has agreed to play ball with these new rules by not blocking Web sites or deliberately slowing Internet traffic -- Ali.
VELSHI: Right. And that is concern. We've already seen -- I just saw an e-mail from Senator Al Franken's office criticizing the deal.
KOSIK: I was reading the same thing.
VELSHI: There are definitely people who say that this consolidation weakens things for the consumer. Obviously, NBC, Universal and Comcast made the opposite argument, and the FCC voted in favor of them. So the deal will be done.
Alison, thanks for bringing us that information.
KOSIK: Exactly. Sure.
VELSHI: That is, the Comcast/NBC deal. Comcast will be acquiring NBC. That deal has now been approved by the necessary regulatory bodies.
OK. Californians have been fearing "the big one" for years. Why the state's greatest natural disaster threat may not be an earthquake.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I want to update you on breaking news that I brought you there. You see an ambulance, courtesy of KTLA. This is a scene in Los Angeles, Gardena, California. There has been a shooting at a high school there. Let me bring you the information that we know on this right now.
It was a shooting that took place at about quarter to 2:00 p.m. Eastern, quarter to 11:00 a.m. Pacific time, at Gardena High School. There are three victims who appear to all be students. We don't know their condition. The school has been on lockdown. One suspect has been identified, but they have not got a suspect in custody.
The suspect -- here's what we know from the police -- was dressed in black. The students have remained in classrooms, watched by teachers. Parents by the way, if you're watching this, police say don't come to the area. Stay at home, stay away from the area. No information on the victims or conditions, but the police were notified by a teacher who called 911. This is Gardena Senior High School in the Los Angeles Unified district. It is a very large school, grade 9 to 12 school with over 3,000 students - 3,203 students and 145 faculty.
So, as I'm telling you that they don't have somebody in custody and they're not quite sure where they are, the fact is we are talking about a very, very large school. Police say that a teacher -- you can see this is -- Kelly, is this tape we're showing here? This is live. OK. You are look being at live pictures then from our affiliate KABC of police heading toward the school.
They have not got a suspect in custody at the moment, but they do seem to know who it is. Police have said that a suspect has been identified. Three people have been shot. We don't know their conditions, but we do believe that they are students. A teacher called 911. The school is on lockdown. The kids are in classrooms with their teachers. That's where they're locked down.
On the phone right now is -- from "The Los Angeles Times" is Andrew Blankstein. Andrew, are you there?
ANDREW BLANKSTEIN, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES" (via phone): I am.
VELSHI: Andrew, what do you know about this?
BLANKSTEIN: About 10:30 this morning, there was a reported shooting on the Gardena High campus. According to the latest reports, it involved -- three people were shot. I believe they were students, as well as the shooter was a student. And right now, there's obviously a huge police presence in and around the campus, trying to find the gunman.
VELSHI: Andrew, is there a protocol, sort of districtwide in L.A. as to what happens when a school goes on lockdown? We've heard from the police that there seems to be -- they seem to know, without knowing who -- where the alleged shooter is, they seem to be able to say that students are inside their classrooms supervised by their teachers. Would that be a school policy or a district policy that that's what they do when there's a shooter?
BLANKSTEIN: Well, obviously, each school has its own kind of individual plan, but it is a district policy. It goes back more than a decade. We've had a string of school shootings in the early to mid- '90s, including a couple of fatal shootings. And that was kind of the jumping off point for these policies. And you see that in action, even in cases where there's shootings near a campus. In this case, it happened on campus. So obviously that went into effect right away.
VELSHI: Can you tell us anything about the area? Where is this in L.A.?
BLANKSTEIN: Well, 182nd Street is just -- in Gardena is just south of the L.A. city line. So, if you go south of downtown, it's a city just south -- just to the south -- the southern border of L.A.
VELSHI: We're looking at live pictures courtesy of KABC, helicopter shots. It looks like a massive school. Do you know anything about the school? Have you ever seen this?
BLANKSTEIN: Obviously, it's one of the bigger schools in the Los Angeles Unified School district. It is in the city of Gardena, so you have the response of not only Gardena police but L.A., Los Angeles Unified District school police and the Los Angeles Police Department. And the new chief of school police used to be with the Los Angeles Police Department.
VELSHI: And where are we close to? We're looking at a map heer. It looks like the school is fairly close to -- you say just south of the city line. There seems to be a freeway just a little east of it, several blocks east of it. What would that be?
BLANKSTEIN: The Harbor Freeway is really kind of -- you take that straight out from downtown there.
VELSHI: OK. And is it largely that area the school is in, is it largely residential, or is it commercial? Is it mixed?
BLANKSTEIN: It's kind of a mix. As you said, this is -- it's a facility that has, what, 3,200 students.
VELSHI: Over 3,200 students, yes.
BLANKSTEIN: It's a big spot, and it obviously draws kids from areas which -- kind of working class areas. So, it's definitely one of the larger schools in the district.
VELSHI: And I imagine you don't have more information than we do on this particular issue, but the police said they have a suspect identified but not in custody. Do we know -- do you know anything about that?
BLANKSTEIN: No. You get the sense that obviously they might have located where he is or they think they believe they know where he is. But they haven't said a lot about that for reasons of not wanting to be specific on it --
VELSHI: Sure.
BLANKSTEIN: So that's kind of where we stand right now.
VELSHI: As we see from these live shots, it's still very active. Still a lot going on there.
This is a taped shot you're looking at from KTLA. But what the issue is now that three people have been shot at Gardena Senior High School, and it is a school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, just south of the L.A. line, according to what Andrew just told us. Grades 9 through 12, 3,200 students, 145 faculty members. The shooting took place at quarter to 2:00 on the East, quarter to 11:00 a.m. California time.
The school is on lockdown at the moment, and the police say they know who the victim - who the shooter is, but they do not have the shooter in custody. Andrew Blankstein from The L.A. Times, thanks very much for giving us some insight into this. We'll continue to monitor this and bring you more information as it becomes available.
All right. I want to tell you about an interesting situation also having to do with California. Scientists are now saying the greatest natural threat to California may not be the big one that we always think about, the big earthquake. They're raising the alert about something entirely different. What is this about?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is not about global warming. This is about the odds. If you buy a hundred lottery tickets every day, someday you're going to win.
VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: OK. There were storms in the past that were so significant, three feet of rain in the mountains --
VELSHI: Right. Right.
MYERS: If we get two or three -- this is a story that came out from FEMA. This was an entire story that went down as a scientific experiment almost. They said, what if, what if this arc storm really happens? What if it happens? What does California look like? It looks like a big bathtub!
VELSHI: Right. So, this is if one particular storm or two storms --
MYERS: No. If a number of storms come in, and ten feet of rain could possibly come into California, this could be bad.
VELSHI: OK.
MYERS: Literally one-fourth of California homes could be under some type of water. This is a bathtub. This is the valley. This is where I'm going right there.
Now, I saw this. My wife saw this on Yahoo! yesterday. She said, maybe we shouldn't go to California on Thursday for our honeymoon -- VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: -- because she was afraid the storm was coming.
VELSHI: So this is like "War of the Worlds." This is it a, if this were to happen, this would happen. But there's no forecast for this to happen.
MYERS: Right. And California almost lost sp,e dollars because my wife didn't want to go there because she thought the big one was coming. The big one is not coming.
But there's a big one out there. Don't get me wrong. This is in the northern Pacific Ocean. It's not coming to California, but if something this large like a Category 3 hurricane out here, it's going to make gigantic waves. That's where --
VELSHI: To be clear, FEMA was doing this to determine what the damage would be, what kind of preparations are needed, that kind of thing. It was a test of what might happen.
MYERS: If they didn't do it, and all of a sudden three years down the road they said, look, two storms came, why weren't we prepared, someone would have, you know, gotten axed. This was a big event and it could be a very large event for California, but this could be a thousand years from now.
VELSHI: But right now, that looks pretty good. That's the best I've seen the West Coast in days.
MYERS: That's correct. Good stuff.
VELSHI: This was all full of stuff.
MYERS: Drying out. Nice. Though I'm getting pictures in Cairo of more flooding. It's still running off. All the water that was up here has to get to the ocean somehow.
VELSHI: But that's not getting over California. That's not going to hit California.
MYERS: If you heard about the storm that the big one is coming, it's not coming. It will come --
VELSHI: One day.
MYERS: One day. Hopefully after we're gone.
VELSHI: But your trip can continue.
MYERS: I had to talk her down from the ledge.
VELSHI: If I was married to a weather person, I would just let them the decisions about weather and travel.
All right, Chad, thanks very much. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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VELSHI: All right. We're showing you live pictures from KABC in Los Angeles of Gardena High School. Gardena Senior High School, which is under lockdown right now after a shooting. There have been at least three people shot; we understand them to be students. We do not know their condition.
Gardena is just south of the L.A. line, but it is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school has 3,200 students, 145 faculty members. It's a grade 9 to 12 school. Shooting happened at 1:41 p.m. Eastern time. This is a shot from earlier, courtesy of KTLA, one of the ambulances rushing away from the scene. That was 10:41 a.m. Los Angeles time.
The suspect has been identified, according to police, but not taken into custody. Students remain in their classrooms, watched by teachers. Police are asking parents not to converge on the scene. Don't come to the scene, they say. Stay at home. We have no information at the moment on conditions of the victims.
This is a live shot that we're looking at courtesy of KABC, a helicopter shot of the school. It's a very large school, as you can see. The police tell us that a teacher called 911, and that may be how they know who the shooter is. But that is the information we have at the moment.
We're monitoring this very, very closely. But as of now, what we understand is that three people have been shot. We do not know what their conditions are, but they are students. We're on top of this situation for you, and a number of other stories we're following. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
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VELSHI: High school freshman Lyndon Baty has polycystic kidney disease, which means he has virtually no immune system. So, doing normal things like going to school used to be impossible until he got a new robot.
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LYNDON BATY, USES ROBOT TO ATTEND SCHOOL: Absolutely amazing. I never thought that with this that when I was sick that I would ever have any interaction, much less this kind.
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VELSHI: Lyndon and his father join us now from Knox City, Texas, via Skype.
Guys, good to have you here. Thank you for being with us.
Tell us a little bit about this robot and tell us about your situation.
LOUIS BATY, FATHER/KNOX CITY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: OK. Well, Linden received a kidney transplant about seven years ago and mine went through the rejection and to stop the rejection, they really -- his immune system is really suppressed right now, so he's unable to go to class, to be around other people.
We were able to, through the help of the Region 9 Education Service Center in Wichita Falls, talk about what technology may be available to allow Lyndon to be able to attend class from home. And Mike Campbell there was able -- had just heard about the Vgo system, which is a robot system, he was able to take from class to class from the home.
VELSHI: Well, Lyndon, good on you for doing it. I got to tell you, if I had some reason to stay away from school as a kid, I might have done it. What -- how have your classmates responded to this?
LYNDON BATY: They really -- they really enjoyed it very much, and they really like just being -- just seeing me there, and I'm thinking that I'm enjoying them more because I'm actually able there to react with them, you know, talk to them, as if I was there with them. And, hi, class.
VELSHI: It's very cool. We were looking at pictures of the class responding. They seem to like the idea that this robot is in there.
How is this -- I mean, are you learning as effectively? Do you find that your -- is this better or worse than being there in person for you?
LYNDON BATY: Oh, it's a lot better. I mean, with this -- before the robot, you know, the teachers would just send me the work and say, due Friday, and I had no idea how to do stuff. And my parents, you know -- I had to learn the lesson and do it within two days, and now, you know, I learn the lesson and now, I can do it in a day. And, you know, get it due on that Friday, and, you know, it's done and before the robot -- and before the robot, I couldn't do that. But now, with the technology, I can do it.
VELSHI: And how do you control it? Is it like a laptop or a joystick? How do you -- how do you make it work?
LYNDON BATY: I just control it with my -- the mouse pad, mouse on my computer or the case with the arrows on it on the computer.
VELSHI: Sorry, dad. I interrupted you. You were saying something.
LOUIS BATY: No. I was going to say the difference now in what we had before is they got the robot technology is he's able to actually participate in the class discussions and hear the teacher as she's presenting the lesson rather than with the homebound teacher coming, or with the moms helping and trying to learn the lessons.
VELSHI: That's fantastic. The only downside of this, of course, is if it snows a lot, you don't get a snow day if you don't actually have to go to school because the robot's already there.
Guys, what a great thing. Thanks so much. Maybe one day, we'll able -- maybe I won't have to come to work. I could just do it on one of those robots.
Lyndon and Louis Baty, good to see you both. Thanks very much for being with us.
LOUIS BATY: Thank you.
LYNDON BATY: Thank you.
VELSHI: Well, a swing senator is trying to decide his next move: stay, go, or maybe even change parties again. We'll have all the options in your CNN political update, next.
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VELSHI: I want to bring you up to speed on some breaking news. You are looking at an aerial view of Gardena Senior High School in Los Angeles. It is just south of the city line in Los Angeles, but it is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The news here: at least three people have been shot. We believe them to be students. We do not know what their condition is.
This is a sprawling campus. It has got more than 3,200 students. Here's some video from KTLA, our affiliate, gives you a sense of the area. About 145 teachers.
Apparently, police were notified by a teacher who called 911. They appeared to know who the suspect is. The suspect, we do not know whether the suspect is in custody. As of now, we do not have any confirmation that they've got anyone in custody. But they do seem to know that the student was dressed all in black.
Again, three people shot. We believe them all to be students at Gardena Senior High School. The shooting happened at about 1:41 p.m. Eastern Time, 10:41 a.m. local time in California. This is just south of the city of California, a very big campus. It covers a square block, includes athletic fields.
The school is on lockdown. Students are apparently in the classes supervised by their teachers right now. And police are asking parents not to come to the scene. They are asked not to come anywhere close to the scene. It is an active scene at the moment.
We have been seeing -- we've been monitoring live pictures from there and seeing that there's a lot of movement around the campus. So, police would like not to have parents around there.
So, Gardena, just south of Los Angeles, very close to the city line, but is part of the L.A. Unified School District.
At the moment, here's what we know. Three people shot there, believed to be students. We do not know their conditions or who they are. But apparently, police know who the shooter is or so they have said.
This is a shot from earlier, a helicopter shot, courtesy of KTLA of the area. It's a residential area. We were told -- I was speaking to somebody from "The Los Angeles Times" -- it's a sort of a working class area, but very, very big school, 3,200 students. You can see this is earlier, emergency vehicles on the scene.
We do not have any confirmation that they've got the suspect. But we do understand that they know who the suspect is at the Gardena High School, just south of Los Angeles.
All right. We'll keep an eye on that for you. We will bring you any developments as they occur. Time now for a CNN political update.
Already, we're seeing a key race for 2012 hitting critical mass. CNN chief national correspondent John King joins me now in -- from the political desk in Washington.
John, what are you talking about? 2012?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's January 2011, right, Ali?
VELSHI: Yes.
KING: We are starting to see some maneuverings about -- it's never too early, never too early.
Let's look at -- here's two races to look at. Let's start in Connecticut. Connecticut Democrat Susan Bysiewicz, she's a former secretary of state -- she announced today she will run for the Senate seat currently held by the Democrat-turned-independent Joe Lieberman. And guess what? Joe Lieberman will be heading home to Connecticut tomorrow to announce his intentions for 2012.
He has been coy about this. He has said that if he runs, he most likely would run again as an independent, but he hasn't been definitive, Ali. Joe Lieberman we'll give us the definitive word tomorrow on that big race in Connecticut.
Another 2012 calculation, veteran Democratic Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota announcing he will finish his term but he will not seek reelection in 2012. Now, Senator Conrad is a big voice on cutting the deficit, debt issues, fiscal responsibility issues. He says he's going to focus on those issues but he would have faced a tough race, Ali, if he's in the race.
VELSHI: John, thanks very much for that. We'll get back to you in an hour for another political update.
I want to go to right to our Los Angeles bureau. Casey Wian is there. He's following this shooting in Los Angeles, Gardena High School.
What have you got, Casey?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Actually, Ali, I'm actually on site at Gardena High School, just about 100 yards off the campus where a huge contingent of Los Angeles Police Department and sheriff's officers it appears have gathered under a black tent here. I just spoke to a woman named Misty (ph) who says she has a 14- year-old daughter inside the school right now, locked down in the bathroom. I guess she's speaking with her daughter by cell phone.
And according to a parent information line, they are saying that they do have someone in custody, and they do believe he is the shooter. Now, that's according to a parent who is reading that information off a parent information line.
The school is still on lockdown. A perimeter has been set up around the school.
We're also hearing from the local radio reports, according to the Los Angeles Unified School District, that what apparently happened here is this gun was in a student's backpack and the student dropped that backpack and the gun went off.
We don't know how many people were injured. We don't have any confirmation of that report, independent confirmation of that report. But that's what local radio reporters are saying. The L.A. Unified School District is telling them, Ali.
VELSHI: We do -- do we know anything about who's been injured and what their condition is?
WIAN: Absolutely no information like that. I just got here within the last couple of minutes, spoke briefly with that one parent. And so, we don't have any information yet on the condition of anybody who is injured. We do know that someone was taken -- at least one person was taken away from here by ambulance. I know that you were monitoring of some of the video live on air.
So, you may actually have more information about whether the other two apparently injured people were actually taken away from here or not. I don't.
VELSHI: All right. I want to bring us some fresh video we've got right now that we have been looking at. This appears to be -- Casey, we're looking at it. The police are escorting someone dressed in all black out of the school. So, we don't know what this is. We don't have confirmation of it.
But as you said, some parents have learned from a parent information line that somebody is in custody. And that definitely looked like a bunch of policeman holding somebody in handcuffs, walking somebody out who was fully dressed in black.
Casey, tell us again what you heard from people about who this suspect might be.
WIAN: I haven't heard anything about who this suspect might be. Parents are not getting a lot of information right now because there's a perimeter set up around the school. They can't get to the school. There are a lot of very anxious-looking parents, relatives starting to gather around here, even though school officials and police have requested that they not come to the school at this time and rely on the parent information line.
We have no information on who the suspect is other than he has been described as someone 14 to 15 years of age.
VELSHI: All right. And, Casey, at the moment, parents are assembling? I know the police said they were hoping parents wouldn't assemble at the site. But there is a place for them because they've set up a perimeter?
WIAN: No, it's not an official place by any means. We're just near the school, and parents are trying to get close as they can. So, there's -- the media is beginning to arrive, parents are beginning to arrive. Nothing official in terms of a gathering spot for this event.
You've got to remember, this shooting only happened probably an hour, hour 15 minutes ago. So, we're in the very, very early stages of this incident.
VELSHI: OK. Casey, hang on the line. Right now, Brooke Baldwin is here. She's going to take over our coverage of this now. Casey, thanks for your good information -- Brooke.
