welcome, shall, to the uss macon islands. my name is lewis loeven and i'm the executive director of the san francisco fleet week association and what a great fleet week we're going to have for 2012. thank you. this is the second time we've had the uss macon islands and i want to thank captain pringle and his entire crew. what a great ship and what a great crew. they turned this swear hanger deck around all right night and turned it into a conference room and it looks absolutely beautiful. thank you, captain, and your entire crew. i'm going to make this short because we're already running a little bit behind schedule, but san francisco fleet week for the third year is organized with i object credible participation from city, civilian agencies from all around the region and all of us our fabulous united states military, the coast guard has been fabulous in providing assets to protect everybody out on the bay. it is one heck of a logistics program to get this whole program started and here we are the culmination of nearly a year

because i'm now aboard the macon island in san francisco. this ship is huge. it's basically a city on water when it is out at sea. it is about 840 feet long. [ signal breakup ] roughly about the size of three of football fields back to back. coming up at 6:00 tonight, only right here on cbs 5 will you see this. we are going to take you on a personal tour of the flight deck and only other way you can see that is if you come here for fleet week from tomorrow through sunday. reporting from the macon island in san francisco, roberta gonzales, cbs 5. >> big stuff. >> yeah. >> so much going on it's almost mind numbing. i might watch a movie stay home. >> exactly. rent a dvd. >>> julie? >> well, stretching your paycheck at the grocery store just because they claim it's healthy doesn't mean it is. coming up, the five common gimmicks that may waste your money.

a bit of a hybrid machine on the uss macon. may not look like a prius, but it kind of is in the navy. it's a hybrid of sorts. it has both a diesel electric. and as you can hear here live, they're also doing tests. we've got the bay bridge there in the distance. and way on the other side of the bay, you've got the america's cup race, which is still ongoing at this hour. so how does all this tie in with the weather that we're seeing right now? it is cool and breezy outside. some of our current temperatures will show you that we've got some 50s and 60s around the bay. we'll be cooling off quickly as we head into tonight. the winds, well, there is some good news for you. we're seeing winds of 15 to 25 miles per hour, which is good news for the america's cup. and as we look at fleet week, the forecast there looks good. we're going to see a mixed bag of clouds for the afternoon. some patchy low clouds, followed up by mid level and high-level clouds as we head through the afternoon. the america's cup, well, there is the best forecast.

in the macon miracle.is what he is calling his plan for sweeping change in the classroom with an emphasis on math and reading. >> how many more students should we lose as a community before we do something fundamental to improve our students performance. >> reporter: and while not everyone has an ear for the language of change, so far just two unhappy parents have pulled their kids out of mark fuller's mandarin class. mark strassmann, cbs news, macon, georgia. >> glor: los angeles drivers know it as the 405. this weekend it was shut down cutting off the nation's busiest highway, the drivers so an overpass could be demolished and carpool lane added. despite a baseball game and triathlon today, all went well. it was not the carmegeddon part two that officials had feared. another unusual transportation note from off the coast of california, a man named dean o'malley flew his jet pack 26 miles across the sea to catalina island, a record distance for a jet pack ride. when outlaws bonnie and clyde went down in a

taught by one of 25 chinese teachers sent to macon from china.laries partially subsidized by the chinese government. >> i love learning the words. >> reporter: within three years 25,000 kids in the schools k-12 will be taking mandarin. this is one of georgia's lowest achieving where half the kids dropout. >> this is about opening their world. >> reporter: the new superintendent for bibb county schools wants big change. >> this is about preparing our students to compete in the 21st century, multiethnic global economy. >> reporter: he's haitian born and spoke only creole until the ninth grade. he made mandarin mandatory over the objection of many macon parents. >> nobody can convince me that this is the way, this is the language, this is the avenue that the schools need to take. >> reporter: sandy parker wants options for chandler, her second grader. her choice for him would be spanish not mandarin. >> is mandarin the priority in a school system where so many kids are struggling with english? >> yes. mandarin is one piece. >> reporter: he said his

state department, but here in macon a small group of parents have become vocal critics. mandarin chinese is the number one language on the planet right now, so isn't it useful on some levels to teach children this language? >> i don't have a problem with the language itself. it's the way that it's being presented by the institute that leaves questions. >> reporter: a heated debate and some say a dilemma, a program that presents children with a wonderful opportunity, but is it worth the trade-off? >> and dan is here, so, dan, is there evidence of any propagandizing in other classrooms? >> short answer, no. they've been at it since 2006, the chinese government. we could find no hard evidence they've ever engaged in propaganda. >> and how much money is the chinese government spending on this? >> they won't tell us exactly, but we know it's millions of dollars a year. experts say this is a vast amount of money compared to what other countries are doing, perhaps unprecedented. >> is it going to grow and grow? how many classrooms, how many schools in this country are clamoring

we'll take you onto the uss macon island.leet week, after all. >>> and the cooldown continues. 70s bayside, 60s at the coast. showers in the forecast. lots to talk about coming up. >>> we're looking at your commute because there is lots to talk about in the city but around the bay with your morning commute. that's coming up. >>> we'll take a beautiful live look outside overlooking san francisco. all ready for the weekend. it is friday, october 5th. this is "today in the bay." >>> it is 5:31. good morning, everybody. always happy to have you with us. i'm jon kelley. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. time to crack open those waltz. bay area gas prices are soaring just in time for your weekend travel plans. prices, believe it or not, jumped more than 15 cents overnight. some stations already selling it for more than $5 a gallon. look at that. live look at oakland this morning. >> that hurts my eyes. >> premium, $5.13. sorry to say the news even worse in the south bay. monte francis is live in cupertino where you're going to pay mo

and this year at pier 3032, we will welcome the uss macon island. she has been here a couple of times before, but she is bound to be a very popular ship. on saturday morning we will have the ships under the golden gate bridge, we are expecting 3 vessels and 2,000 officers to visit san francisco. there will be three navy ships, the u.s. s. macon island and the sterit and bravel. >> we will have a cutter, which is a high enduhave three ships her majesty. and we will have a few that will come in advance of fleet week and they will be first at pier 80 and they will be coming in this coming sunday and beginning on monday. they will be opened to the public down at pier 80 which they will be sharing with the oracle racing team. so another reason to visit. there will be ship trailers, monday, tuesday and wednesday and thursday and unfortunately the korea navy has another obligation and they will be leaving before pat raid of ships. >> if you want to see, get down there next week. >> the ship tours are free and so for the ships at pier 80 they will be availa

and this is not just happening in macon. according to the chinese government, they have set up shop at 75 universities around america and at nearly 300 primary and middle schools. the superintendent assured me that his american teachers are always in the room with the chinese instructors. but there was something he didn't know. let me show you something because i want to see if this meets your standards. the video i'm about to show him on my phone is a cartoon from the "for kids" section of the confucius institute website which renames the korean war "the war to resist u.s. aggression and aid korea." the institute recently pulled this video from its website. >> i don't know what this is but i can tell you that we are very much in charge of the curriculum that is delivered in our classroom. >> reporter: can you be sure they're not showing videos like this to our kids? >> we have all the curriculum that they deliver, so, yes. >> reporter: so they run by you. >> correct. >> reporter: but does it worry you that they make a video

appreciation to admiral beaman and captain pringle on the beautiful uss macon island. if we could give applause to all the men and women serving on this ship, thank you for your hospitality. (applause) >> this is a week where we highlight and celebrate all the sacrifices that military personnel make. in the san francisco fire department, we work 24/7 shifts. we're considered para military, but we recognize in the military the great sacrifices that you make each and every day to protect our freedom while being away from your homes and your family. so, thank you very much. it's an honor to welcome you to san francisco. (applause) >> i'd also like to acknowledge the presence of two people that i consider honored to call friends, and they continue to be treasures to san francisco, to our city, to our state, and to our nation. and i was so impressed yesterday that both of them intently sat here yesterday taking it all in. and it was the highlight really i think of the seminar to have the evening closing remarks capped off by former secretary of state george schultz. so, tha

happy to report that a little later today aboard the uss macon, we're learning the best. firefighting below the deck, members on the flight deck learning about aircraft rescue, firefighting. similarly, and i won't be able to stay the whole day today because soon i'll be headed over to treasure island, a former navy firefighting school, we'll have that facility about 14 years and we'll be welcoming 40 members from the u.s. marine corps, 20 members from the u.s. navy, 10 members the u.s. coast guard, where we will then partner with them and cross train them and use our techniques, reaching technical rescue and high and low rescue being demonstrated in display. we will also be having some of our u.s. navy personnel on ride-alongs with members on our ambulances, fire engines and trucks to continue with our cross training. so, it gives me great pride to be here to continue to serve as the fire chief, to welcome the military, and to say thank you to all of you. here's to an enjoyable fun-filled busy weekend. all the best, and thank you for your service. (applause) >> i wanted c

macon island offers tours for a couple of those droestroyers th we saw.re will be demonstrations from coast guard and marine corps. there will be heritage flight and the blue angels are going to give another performance for the grand finale and remember there is still america's cup world series racing today and today's super sunday fleet race gets under way just before 2:00. we're live on the embarcadero. >> that's exactly the kind of roaring we like to hear. fleet week, thank you very much. we're at a cool spot on the embarcadero again and today will also be a sports fan dream in san francisco. the niners are at home taking on the buffalo bills and the gates open about a half hour from now. comcast sports net is there with a preview of what we can expect. of course we're hoping for a win. the record working in their favor. >> reporter: it sure to be a very full house here at candlestick park. 49ers have played their last two games on the road in minnesota and at the meadowlands so 49er faithful will be out in force to support their team. the 49ers gettin

macon island, docked at pier 32. we invited command staff, senior leaders from department of homeland security, both federal, state, and local organizations. and we went through a whole briefing on the process to bring in defense, part of defense assets. it doesn't just come automatically. it's not their main mission and is a whole program of process that has to be followed in order to bring in the access. we partnered up with the department of emergency management. we did a briefing on what they call defense port civilian authorities. in 2011 we ratcheted it up with a stable top exercise with mass casualty evacuation. in 2012 back in august, we actually had a functional exercise where we set up command posts and we tested interoperable communications techniques and techniques on route clearing for mass debris route clearance. all of that is the lead agency in planning part of the emergency management with ralph and diane. and jill ray croft. it's all made possible by the waterfront department that is run by ann cron

macon island. tours of this vessel here in san francisco start in just under 24 hours from now. one thing that will strike you is just how large she is. at 850 feet long, she's only a couple hundred feet shorter than an aircra carrier. her flight deck, as you can see, can handle lots of helicopters. it's an assault ship capable of carrying 1,000 sailors and a detachment of 1200 marines. some of whom you just saw. her yeek anemic feature is the well deck. it can be filled with water and slunk slightly so hovers can come and go through the ship's rear. >> the assault ships were designed to be able to put the marines where we need to put them and storm the beach. since that time, they have taken on a whole new mission set for disaster response. the same way that we get the marines to shore, we can get that humanitarian assistance like relief supplies, we can do that. ships like this were used in new orleans after hurricane katrina and in haiti following the big earthquake down there. >> reporter: commissioned in 2009 the macon island has the latest technology. a combination of gas

(applause) >> what a pleasure it is to be aboard this symbol of america's millery power, the uss macon island. what a pleasure it is to be among the men and women of our armed forces and the men and women of the first responders of the san francisco bay area. fleet week for many years in san francisco was a somewhat [inaudible] affair and it has been transformed into this great coming together by the military and the first responders, the great coming together of our uniformed personnel and a great [speaker not understood] of san francisco. this amazing transformation in the last few years was due primarily to the vision and the dedication of three people, george and charlotte schultz and mike myers. i'd like to pause to thank all three of them for this work. (applause) >> and in april of 1996, my last year as secretary of defense, i met one morning intelligence briefing at 7 o'clock along with general charlie. the previous day general hughes had briefed us that the chinese military were to begin extensive military maneuvers in the taiwan strait. this morning we were stunned to learn t

good morning. >> reporter: yeah, you can't miss the uss macon island. she's an 847-foot-long amphibious assault ship here at pier 3032 here in san francisco. we're lucky enough to be five levels above the flight deck on the bridge. good morning to you. >> good morning. we are glad to be here. ten days ago we didn't have this mission in our sights at all. it got dropped in our lapse and we had an opportunity to return to support san francisco fleet week again. >> reporter: i'm surprised coming on the bridge that this right here is the steering wheel of this massive ship. >> absolutely. >> reporter: i thought it would be some big to do. >> well, you know, the most interesting part is that the person who actually sears tteer ship is probably the youngest people on board. we have 18 to 20-year-old sailors steering the ship. a very complicated way of driving it. we have an officer who tells the helmsman what course to steer and usually that individual gets guidance from either me or my officer on the deck. >> and when you're at sea, i'm curious what the atmo

you are sitting on this amazing lhd, the uss macon island, it can bring the heat or it can bring the light. do you want to get a little twitchy around the world and you want to sort of rattle the cage a little bit and test our will and show bravado? you don't want an amphibious group showing up off your shore. that can be a bad day for you. on the other hand, we'd like to bring the light. we'd like to bring the medical prowess, its ability to generate electricity for you, we'd like to bring its cadre of people to rebuild your churches, your clinics, your homes, we'd like to be able to bring its operating rooms and 40,000 tons of icu's and hospital beds and transports and medical evac, whether we fly you in or float you in. that's what we'd like to bring. and like everybody else in the medical business, i wake up every morning and hope the next day i'm out of a job. i hope the next day that world peace has been declared and disease has been stamped out and nobody will be ill, nobody will be harmed or injured. until that day comes, it's my responsibility to be able to speak to the comm

the uss macon island ---makin island. >> it is overwhelming, is exciting. >> his parents are marinesnd carry on the family tradition was a no brainer. finding out that he went to fleet week he was looking for to interacting with the public so he can show the public what his job is all about. >> i am an an aviation technician. with this aircraft, it is fun. >> these men and women are walking the streets of the city. some of them have seen family for the first time in years. >> he looks great. it is so great to see him it has been too long a time goes so fast. i am so excited that he is able to come visit. >> fleet week is always interesting but the blue angels but i did not realize that the marine going had a lot to do with this. on fleet week. for him to, on the ship oh my gosh! it was such a surprise. and i am so glad and so grateful. >> there were 2500 sailors and marines sailorsuss makin island. they are getting ready. for this complete list go to their website. democrat lotus >> -- grant lotus. heat is fresh off a flight of a lifetime. >> oh my gosh! i made it and i thought that

they say step onboard the uss macon island to learn more. this floating city was too busy to visit san francisco during fleet week last year the crew was preparing for a long deployment. but it is back. and the crew is ready to give you a tour. >> it is interesting to see people are great to meet. definitely come out. >> reporter: local dignataries and emergency workers climbed onboard today to meet with military leaders. they are focused on how they will work with the mill -- military if in is a disaster and we help. >> they are experts in logistics and we need that expertise should there be a big disaster that happens here that closes our roads. >> reporter: that focus has been a shift in festivities. two years ago local leaders decided to make fleet week more than an air show. they brought attention to the humanitarian aid the military can offer. officials say each year the relationships have strengthened. >> truth be told, we are not just learning about the military, they are learning about us and we are leaning a lot about how things mi

it's called the macon island about 840 feet long.to 2,000 troops like a city on the water when it's out at sea. our photographer went up to the flight deck and took a look around totally amazing is this ship. and this ship actually brought in a particular individual. he calls it home. born and raised in vallejo, gunnery sergeant jason dowd is with us. welcome home. >> thank you. >> reporter: been a marine for 11 years, yes, that's correct. >> reporter: and you served time in iraq but now here for your very first fleet week even though you were born and raised here. >> right. >> reporter: what are you looking forward to? >> a lot of stuff. everything we're going to do out in the community is going to be great. i'm looking forward to the 49ers game. a big group are going there sunday so that's going to be awesome and trying to make it to the giants game as well. >> reporter: i'm hoping you told the troops how chilly it is in san francisco. >> i did. it's not like san diego. it's chillier up here, bring coats, be prepared and some of th

they say step onboard the uss macon island to learn more. floating city was too busy to visit san francisco during fleet week last year the crew was preparing for a long deploymen t its ba. d t creis ready toive you to >>t is interesting to see people are great to meet. definitely come out. >> reporter: local dignataries and emergency workers climbed onboard today to meet with military leaders. they are focused on how they will work with the mill -- military if in is a disaster and we help. >> they are experts in logistics and we need that expertise should there be a big disaster that happens here that closes our roads. >> reporter: that focus has been a shift in festivities. two years ago local leaders decided to make fleet week more than an air show. they brought attention to the humanitarian aid the military can offer. officials say each year the relationships have strengthened. >> truth be told, we are not just learning about the military, they a learning about usnd we are leang a lot about how things might play out. >> reporter: onboard