President Barack Obama stopped in Los Angeles Friday for a fundraiser lunch in Santa Monica -- just blocks from a shooting at Santa Monica College -- before flying to Palm Springs for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
President's LA Visit: Traffic Advisory
Air Force One departed LAX ta about 2:30 p.m., and the Secret Service said the shooting did not affect the visit.
"We are aware of the incident and it is not impacting the visit. It’s a local police matter at this point," said Secret Service Spokesman Edwin M. Donovan.
Air Force One touched down at LAX at about 10:55 a.m. after Obama's health-care speech at a San Jose hotel. He arrived in the Bay Area Thursday night for a brief fundraising visit and the speech. The President boarded a military helicopter -- designated Marine One -- for a short flight to Santa Monica, where he is scheduled to attend a mid-day fundraiser.
The two-day meeting at Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage will be Obama's first with Xi Jinping since he became China's president. They are expected to talk about several issues involving U.S.-China relations, including cyberattacks on U.S. corporate and national security targets.
A White House statement characterized the summit as "in-depth discussions on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues."
The President touched down at Moffett Field Thursday, marking his second visit to the Bay Area in as many months. He was greeted about 50 people invited to the landing, including Sunnyvale Mayor Tony Spitaleri, Ames Research director Peter Worden, California National Guard Col. Steven Butow and Mountain View Mayor John Inks.
The President's visit, which lasted less than 12 hours, began Thursday night at the home of Flipboard CEO Mike McCue and his wife, Marci, in Palo Alto. Guests, who paid anywhere from $2,500 to $12,000 to attend the event, began lining up around 5 p.m. to get into the McCue's residence.
Protesters, angry about Obama's support for the Keystone pipeline project, also greeted him on street corners. The project is an oil pipeline that will stretch from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
After Obama left the McCues, he headed to the Portola Valley residence of Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla and his wife, Neera, for a $32,000 dinner, complete with Greek salad, Fulton Valley chicken and hand-craft chai chocolate creameux cups.
In Portola Valley, political signs were left on the side of the road for the president to see. One sign read "Reinstate Glass Steagall." Others featured the message: Take money out of politics.
In West Los Angeles early Friday, the signs read "No Parking." The LAPD issued a traffic advisory for streets in the area.
The Southern California visit comes after Obama delivered a speech Friday morning about health care at a San Jose hotel. The Santa Monica fundraiser lunch will be at the Santa Monica home of Hollywood producer Peter Chernin and his wife, Megan.
The lunch costs $10,000 to $32,000 per person.
Obama is scheduled to return to Washington, D.C. at mid-day Saturday after the Sunnylands summit. The Annenberg Estate east of Palm Springs was built in the mid-1960s and has played host to several world leaders.
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