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American Morning
Soldiers with Task Force Olympia Spending Holiday in Mosul; Yellow Ribbon Car Magnets
Aired November 25, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Look how great that looks. Ronald McDonald. That's the Macy's Day -- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I'm messing it up now.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Got it.
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
And that's Central Park there on your right, as they're making their way down. The parade now under way. It looks good. It's going to be a great day. The winds kept down, not raining.
SANCHEZ: Yes, look at Ronald. He's barely even moving. They said, you know, it might have gusts of over 35 miles an hour. Well...
O'BRIEN: No.
SANCHEZ: Not true.
O'BRIEN: It looks good.
Welcome back, everybody.
Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
In just a few moments, we're going to take you back to Iraq and Thanksgiving with the troops. Nic Robertson is at a mess hall in Mosul with the men and women of Task Force Olympia. We'll see how they're spending the holiday today.
SANCHEZ: And, also, the troops are a long way from home, but they're certainly not forgotten. Just look at the back end of cars and you'll see what we're talking about. We're going to talk to the creators of those yellow ribbon magnets about how their idea took off to support the troops and how it go so big so fast.
But before we do that, let's get another check of the headlines.
Carol Costello is joining us now to bring us up to date.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I certainly am.
I have the latest headlines right here.
Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.
And to you, too.
In the past half hour, several stories unfolding from Iraq, beginning with an explosion in Baghdad. Smoke seen rising from the scene there. The cause of this blast still not yet clear.
And in Falluja, word from an Iraqi official that a chemical weapons lab has been found there. U.S.-led forces have been mopping up in the city since the end of a major offensive.
Also in Iraq, a major arrest has been made. An Iraqi official says a top aide of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was captured in Mosul. The arrest was made two days ago. Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for many of the deadliest suicide bombings in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Here in the States, Illinois residents are shaking off from an early snowstorm this morning. Parts of the country are rebounding from as many as eight inches of snow. The early season storm causing hundreds of flights to be delayed for up to three hours. Chad will be along to tell us what is expected for today's holiday travel. That's coming up.
O'BRIEN: I think that picture we just saw says it all -- waiting. Sitting and waiting.
COSTELLO: Waiting.
O'BRIEN: It's what's to be expected.
COSTELLO: Imagine.
O'BRIEN: Yes, but, you know what, then you get home and it's great. Right?
COSTELLO: Hopefully.
O'BRIEN: Right? Right? Right?
Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: You've missed the dinner.
O'BRIEN: That's OK, you're home and it's great.
Carol...
SANCHEZ: Get there just in time to argue politics.
O'BRIEN: Thanks.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Carol.
O'BRIEN: Well, many American men and women in the service are thousands of miles away from their families today. Soldiers with Task Force Olympia are spending the holiday in Mosul, Iraq.
Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is live for us with that unit this morning -- Nic, good morning.
What are they telling you today?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, I think perhaps the background noise here of a helicopter close by gives you an indication of just how busy this base is, Camp Freedom in Mosul, where the troops go out in their Striker vehicles into the city of Mosul.
What they are doing has been conducting offensive operations to disrupt the anti-Iraqi forces. They've been going out on overnight missions to try and capture and detain some of the people they believe are behind the insurgency.
But what they've been telling me is -- and this is what I've been seeing, as well -- unlike many other bases I've been on in Iraq or in Afghanistan, where troops have been stationed overseas while they've been -- while there has been a holiday, here the work really carries on. The troops I was embedded with last night who were on an overnight raid got to bed about 5:00 a.m. this morning. They were back up again at 7:00 a.m. and back out on another operation. And they say that's pretty much the way it's been here. There's a lot of hard work.
But they say they're able to keep in touch with their families over the Internet. That's been a very good tool, they say, for them to let their families know how they're doing. But today they say, you know, it's really a day like the other days. It's a lot of work and they keep working.
But everyone here, they had a festive lunch. There was good food for them over lunch today. And for a lot of the troops here, being able to get a good meal in this canteen you see behind me is one of the things that makes life on this base a little bit more durable, if you will -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us this morning.
Nic, thank you very much -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Well, it's a variation on the yellow ribbon theme. Remember? And it's sweeping the nation. We're talking about those yellow ribbon car magnets. The two men behind it, is that Tony Orlando and Dawn I hear in the background?
Dwain Gullion and Chris Smith were searching for a way to support our troops and they came up with this.
And they're with us now from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Hey, fellows, thanks so much for being with us.
CHRIS SMITH, KING INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION: Good morning.
DWAIN GULLION, MAGNET AMERICA: Good morning.
SANCHEZ: Who thought of this idea? Was it you, Dwain? GULLION: No, it was Chris Smith.
SANCHEZ: Yes? Well, how'd you come across this idea?
SMITH: Well, it was last year, end of March, reading an article out of the local newspaper about a shortage of yellow ribbon and just kind of, seeing that there was a shortage and put it with the idea of making a magnet, kind of like sports balls and some of the other stuff we currently print.
SANCHEZ: I think most people have seen them by now. But in case they haven't, we do have a picture that we can show of what they look like. And the idea is just to show that Americans support the troops, right?
SMITH: Right.
SANCHEZ: This is apolitical, correct?
SMITH: Right.
GULLION: That's right.
SANCHEZ: Take us through that a little bit, because I guarantee you there are some people who've had discussions with you about this.
What type of discussions? Has anyone raised particular arguments about it one way or another? Does it make people come together and talk about our position in Iraq?
GULLION: I think that it has brought that debate up. But the whole idea behind the ribbon, and from what we can get from most of the people that put these on their car or want to show support is it's just the thoughts and prayers of America for our armed forces. And it's just a great way to show support. And we hear a lot from the military personnel when they come home and they see these. They had no idea. And it's just a really encouraging thing for them.
SANCHEZ: And here's the way it works. You sell them and then you take the proceeds from the sales and you do what with it?
GULLION: We, Magnet America, our company, has been able to donate to Freedom Calls. It's a foundation in New York that sets up voice-over I.P. and video conferencing. It's in Camp Cook, north of Baghdad. And so the families can communicate for free back and forth with each other. And we've been able to help local family readiness groups, National Guard units, just with donation of product. And it's been a great fundraising product for the different groups.
SANCHEZ: Help them how? What kind of help do these families need that you're able to give them that they otherwise wouldn't be able to get? We're talking about the people who are here whose husbands or wives may be over there in Iraq, correct? Or Afghanistan?
GULLION: Yes. It helps them to be able to send packages, keep in contact with the family. There have been some people sending phone cards. But it also helps the people, the families here at home that have lost some incomes, you know, some of the National Guard and Reserves that have been able to -- that have had to be shipped out. It allows the families to come up with ways to just pay the bills, in some cases.
SANCHEZ: Did you guys ever expect this would be such a success? I mean it was just an idea and all of a sudden there it is. It's out there all over the country, isn't it?
SMITH: Well, when we first come up with the idea, we probably figured it'd last a few months. But a lot of people like to express themselves with putting something on the back of their car. And it's kind of a freedom of speech, whatever you might believe in, whether it be supporting the troops or supporting a football team.
SANCHEZ: We appreciate it.
You guys have been great.
Chris and Dwain, we appreciate the information and thanks for being with us.
SMITH: Thank you.
GULLION: Thank you a lot.
SANCHEZ: All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade making its way down Manhattan streets now.
CNN's Jason Carroll live for us along the parade route.
Hey -- Jason, good morning again.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, hello to you, Soledad.
Behind us, Picachue. We've got our marching band going behind us, as well. Things are looking great out here. In front of us, if you take a look up the parade route, if you look very carefully, you can see SpongeBob SquarePants is in line behind Barney, getting ready to come down the parade route.
This parade has come a long way since 1924, when it was called the Macy's Christmas Day Parade. Back then they had horses pulling the floats. Certainly not like that now. Boy, it's come a long way.
And this family has come a long way, as well. They came all the way from Nashville, Tennessee. This is the Gibson family.
You guys have been to the Rose Bowl, the Rose Parade.
How does this parade compare to that one?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it's totally different. This is like mostly balloons, which are fabulous. The Rose Parade, of course, are mostly floats, with the roses and the seats and the things that they decorated. They're both fabulous. We're having a great time here.
CARROLL: What do you think? Any favorites that you've seen so far?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, SpongeBob will be our favorite, I know.
CARROLL: Everyone's waiting for SpongeBob.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There he is.
CARROLL: Are you waiting for SpongeBob?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am.
CARROLL: You waiting for SpongeBob?
Anything else about this parade that struck you since coming down here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people are so friendly. We were really surprised. You know, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
CARROLL: We're friendly in New York. Maybe not as friendly as Nashville, but we are friendly here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been enjoying it. It's been a great week. So we're really glad to be here.
CARROLL: All right, well, we're glad to have you here.
Thanks very much, kids and family, for joining us out here.
A little bit of factoids for you about this parade. Macy's is actually the second largest consumer of helium behind, guess who? The U.S. government. Some other factoids. Eight hundred cheerleaders in the parade, 500 clowns, 23 floats, 15 giant balloons. Some of them have gone by, but the big balloon that everyone is waiting for, for sure, who? SpongeBob SquarePants.
Soledad -- back to you.
O'BRIEN: Making its debut this morning.
Jason Carroll for us here in New York City.
Jason, thanks.
And time to get a look at the weather for the day ahead.
Chad Myers is at the CNN Center with the latest.
Decent weather, Chad, for this parade. It could have been a lot worse.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And it will be worse. (WEATHER REPORT)
SANCHEZ: Still to come, President Clinton is a veteran of many battles and now he's focused on the worldwide fight against AIDS. Dr. Sanjay Gupta's exclusive interview with our former president is next.
O'BRIEN: Plus, we're reminding you to get your turkey questions answered by the dean of Butterball University. That's ahead.
Stay with us.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIRST LIEUTENANT JAMES KING: Hi. My name is First Lieutenant James King.
I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to my friends and family back home in Seattle, Washington, especially to my fiance, Heidi. I love you, I miss you and I hope to see you soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. WINSLOW JACKSON: Hi. I'm Sergeant Winslow Jackson from Brooklyn, New York.
I want to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to my fiance, Trisha; my two boys, Devron (ph) and Keegan (ph); my moms. I wish I could be home, but you know duty calls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Next Wednesday is World AIDS Day. And according to a U.N. report, more than 39 million people are living with HIV, up over a million from just last year. The fight against AIDS has been a priority for former President Bill Clinton in his post-presidential life.
And Dr. Sanjay Gupta talked to him about that -- good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
A really big post-presidency initiative for him. I asked him, he said single-handedly the most important thing he's probably going to work on as a former president. It was at his library last week. He was really focused on legacy. I asked him specifically about how he planned to fight the good fight and how he planned to fight the good fight against AIDS.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
GUPTA: When was the first time you really heard about AIDS?
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, I'd say early '80s. I think the first case was diagnosed in America in '81. A few years after that, I had two experiences of it. One more educational; one deeply personal. I had -- I went to San Francisco for the Democratic convention and we had the highest infection rates in the country out there. Our host, the Arkansas delegation host, was a doctor named Sanchez, who treated a lot of people and had helped to shut down some of these bathhouses where they were having all this anonymous, unprotected sex. And he was -- and there was no medicine at the time, you know, to treat it.
So he was a fanatic on prevention and education, and very disciplined about it. And he really hammered home the dimensions of the tragedy that they were then enduring. And I don't remember the exact year, but a man who had been active in our political party at home, had worked for me, was HIV positive, developed full blown AIDS, and died a very painful death. Again, there were no protease inhibitors. There was none of that then.
And I, you know, went to his hospital room and held his hand and watched the sores cover his body. And I watched him die way too soon and it made a profound impression on me.
And, you know, AIDS drives me nuts. Oooh, it is a tough nut to crack. It's the only virus we know that invades the cell and reconfigures the DNA. On the other hand, it's a hundred percent preventable. The medicine to prevent mother to child transmission is something like 98 percent effective. And the medicine to turn it from a death sentence to a chronic illness works most of the time if you get it out there soon enough, particularly if you've got the testing capacity so you can remix the medicines if the, you know, standard formula doesn't work.
So I just decided when I got out of office that there were systematic breakdowns in the world keeping this from happening, just systematic problems. And I had, as I said, people with whom I'd worked in the White House who were willing to help, countries and individuals who were willing to finance it. And so we're out there doing the best we can.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: Sanjay, when you look at the numbers, why are women so affected by this and why is that category continuing to grow and surpass other categories?
GUPTA: They call it a feminization of HIV. That's how the U.N. report actually referred to it. A couple of things. One is it's not, it's become more of a heterosexual problem now. And you're much more likely to transmit this virus from a man to a woman than the other way around. That's why you see some of the rates.
But just socially and culturally, Soledad, and a lot of parts around the world, women can't refuse sex. They can't mandate safe sex. So you start to see a lot more increases in those populations of women, as well. Fifty-eight percent now of the population of sub- Saharan Africa is women. So they've actually overtaken men now.
SANCHEZ: So it goes hand in hand with women as sort of a second class sex in all these other countries.
GUPTA: That's right.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right, thanks, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Interesting interview.
Appreciate it.
We should mention that Sanjay is going to host a special CNN broadcast on Sunday all about AIDS and HIV. It's called "Are You Positive?" It can be seen on Sunday night at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Pacific time, right here on CNN -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: And throughout the morning, we have been checking on a story that's been coming from Falluja. Reports of a chemical weapons lab where they may have, indeed, found some substances. We're certainly trying to nail that one down for you, and as we do, we'll bring it to you, right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Again, this story that's been coming out of Falluja throughout the morning. Iraqi officials are saying that soldiers have reportedly found there a chemical weapons factory in Falluja. In the lab, instructions, they say, on how to manufacture explosives and toxins, including possibly anthrax.
Now, here is an interview that was done with an Iraqi minister not long ago and here's what he had to say about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KASSIM DAWOO, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This is a place discovered in Falluja. It is in the west of Falluja, in the industrial region in Falluja. Our soldiers has discovered in this place this laboratory for chemical materials. And through these chemical materials, there were manufacturing death and toxication and assassinations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And there you go.
Once again, those words coming from Kassim Dawoo. He is an Iraqi minister. A story that we will continue to follow for you -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes, obviously we'll get more details and make those available as they come through.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Let's turn back to preparing your bird on this Thanksgiving Day.
Let's check in once again with our Butterball dean this morning, Sherleen Clauson.
Hey, Sherleen, we've got some questions for you from some of the folks who have been e-mailing in.
SHERLEEN CLAUSON, DEAN, BUTTERBALL UNIVERSITY: OK.
O'BRIEN: Can we talk about deep frying for just a moment?
SANCHEZ: Yes, that's a good topic.
CLAUSON: Well, you know, it is a very popular way that people like to do it. Our big caution is is you need to make sure that you always are safe, so do it outdoors, use the recommended equipment, you know, follow the directions that come. But I guess the question maybe is is well, I'm not going to have any pan drippings, so how do I make gravy?
Well, this year we developed a recipe for a mushroom herb sauce that doesn't require gravy. So, you know, there is a gravy alternative. And you can find that recipe at butterball.com.
The other thing is is you're not using the giblets or the neck and so, you know, one might cook those and make stock and then you could make gravy using that.
SANCHEZ: We've got one, an e-mail that just came in from an airman talking about, you know, soldiers and sailors and everybody. Here's what he asks you: "I'm in the Air Force." His name is Casey, by the way. "I'm in the Air Force and we've been working nonstop so I've been unable to get started on my turkey. I've thawed it in the fridge, but that's it. What's the quickest way to try and get it done today?"
I guess this guy is in a hurry.
CLAUSON: OK, well, he's in a hurry. I hope his turkey isn't too large. Actually, the fastest way to cook the turkey is using the foil wrapped high temperature method. And that's where you would take a long piece of heavyweight foil, put the turkey over it, wrap the foil and put it in a pan and then in a 450 degree oven.
Another method that's fairly quick if he has one of those oven cooking bags. You could put the turkey in that and, again, wrapped in foil at 450 or in the cooking bag at 350. Those are the fastest ways.
SANCHEZ: Sherleen, thanks so much.
We appreciate you being with us today. O'BRIEN: And that is it for us this morning.
After a break, we're going to take another look at the headlines.
Then "People In The News" profiles Kevin Spacey and Pierce Brosnan.
I hope everybody has a terrific holiday.
Have a great Thanksgiving.
Enjoy the parade. You're here. And we'll see you back here tomorrow morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired November 25, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Look how great that looks. Ronald McDonald. That's the Macy's Day -- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I'm messing it up now.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Got it.
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
And that's Central Park there on your right, as they're making their way down. The parade now under way. It looks good. It's going to be a great day. The winds kept down, not raining.
SANCHEZ: Yes, look at Ronald. He's barely even moving. They said, you know, it might have gusts of over 35 miles an hour. Well...
O'BRIEN: No.
SANCHEZ: Not true.
O'BRIEN: It looks good.
Welcome back, everybody.
Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
In just a few moments, we're going to take you back to Iraq and Thanksgiving with the troops. Nic Robertson is at a mess hall in Mosul with the men and women of Task Force Olympia. We'll see how they're spending the holiday today.
SANCHEZ: And, also, the troops are a long way from home, but they're certainly not forgotten. Just look at the back end of cars and you'll see what we're talking about. We're going to talk to the creators of those yellow ribbon magnets about how their idea took off to support the troops and how it go so big so fast.
But before we do that, let's get another check of the headlines.
Carol Costello is joining us now to bring us up to date.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I certainly am.
I have the latest headlines right here.
Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.
And to you, too.
In the past half hour, several stories unfolding from Iraq, beginning with an explosion in Baghdad. Smoke seen rising from the scene there. The cause of this blast still not yet clear.
And in Falluja, word from an Iraqi official that a chemical weapons lab has been found there. U.S.-led forces have been mopping up in the city since the end of a major offensive.
Also in Iraq, a major arrest has been made. An Iraqi official says a top aide of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was captured in Mosul. The arrest was made two days ago. Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for many of the deadliest suicide bombings in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Here in the States, Illinois residents are shaking off from an early snowstorm this morning. Parts of the country are rebounding from as many as eight inches of snow. The early season storm causing hundreds of flights to be delayed for up to three hours. Chad will be along to tell us what is expected for today's holiday travel. That's coming up.
O'BRIEN: I think that picture we just saw says it all -- waiting. Sitting and waiting.
COSTELLO: Waiting.
O'BRIEN: It's what's to be expected.
COSTELLO: Imagine.
O'BRIEN: Yes, but, you know what, then you get home and it's great. Right?
COSTELLO: Hopefully.
O'BRIEN: Right? Right? Right?
Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: You've missed the dinner.
O'BRIEN: That's OK, you're home and it's great.
Carol...
SANCHEZ: Get there just in time to argue politics.
O'BRIEN: Thanks.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Carol.
O'BRIEN: Well, many American men and women in the service are thousands of miles away from their families today. Soldiers with Task Force Olympia are spending the holiday in Mosul, Iraq.
Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is live for us with that unit this morning -- Nic, good morning.
What are they telling you today?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, I think perhaps the background noise here of a helicopter close by gives you an indication of just how busy this base is, Camp Freedom in Mosul, where the troops go out in their Striker vehicles into the city of Mosul.
What they are doing has been conducting offensive operations to disrupt the anti-Iraqi forces. They've been going out on overnight missions to try and capture and detain some of the people they believe are behind the insurgency.
But what they've been telling me is -- and this is what I've been seeing, as well -- unlike many other bases I've been on in Iraq or in Afghanistan, where troops have been stationed overseas while they've been -- while there has been a holiday, here the work really carries on. The troops I was embedded with last night who were on an overnight raid got to bed about 5:00 a.m. this morning. They were back up again at 7:00 a.m. and back out on another operation. And they say that's pretty much the way it's been here. There's a lot of hard work.
But they say they're able to keep in touch with their families over the Internet. That's been a very good tool, they say, for them to let their families know how they're doing. But today they say, you know, it's really a day like the other days. It's a lot of work and they keep working.
But everyone here, they had a festive lunch. There was good food for them over lunch today. And for a lot of the troops here, being able to get a good meal in this canteen you see behind me is one of the things that makes life on this base a little bit more durable, if you will -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us this morning.
Nic, thank you very much -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Well, it's a variation on the yellow ribbon theme. Remember? And it's sweeping the nation. We're talking about those yellow ribbon car magnets. The two men behind it, is that Tony Orlando and Dawn I hear in the background?
Dwain Gullion and Chris Smith were searching for a way to support our troops and they came up with this.
And they're with us now from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Hey, fellows, thanks so much for being with us.
CHRIS SMITH, KING INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION: Good morning.
DWAIN GULLION, MAGNET AMERICA: Good morning.
SANCHEZ: Who thought of this idea? Was it you, Dwain? GULLION: No, it was Chris Smith.
SANCHEZ: Yes? Well, how'd you come across this idea?
SMITH: Well, it was last year, end of March, reading an article out of the local newspaper about a shortage of yellow ribbon and just kind of, seeing that there was a shortage and put it with the idea of making a magnet, kind of like sports balls and some of the other stuff we currently print.
SANCHEZ: I think most people have seen them by now. But in case they haven't, we do have a picture that we can show of what they look like. And the idea is just to show that Americans support the troops, right?
SMITH: Right.
SANCHEZ: This is apolitical, correct?
SMITH: Right.
GULLION: That's right.
SANCHEZ: Take us through that a little bit, because I guarantee you there are some people who've had discussions with you about this.
What type of discussions? Has anyone raised particular arguments about it one way or another? Does it make people come together and talk about our position in Iraq?
GULLION: I think that it has brought that debate up. But the whole idea behind the ribbon, and from what we can get from most of the people that put these on their car or want to show support is it's just the thoughts and prayers of America for our armed forces. And it's just a great way to show support. And we hear a lot from the military personnel when they come home and they see these. They had no idea. And it's just a really encouraging thing for them.
SANCHEZ: And here's the way it works. You sell them and then you take the proceeds from the sales and you do what with it?
GULLION: We, Magnet America, our company, has been able to donate to Freedom Calls. It's a foundation in New York that sets up voice-over I.P. and video conferencing. It's in Camp Cook, north of Baghdad. And so the families can communicate for free back and forth with each other. And we've been able to help local family readiness groups, National Guard units, just with donation of product. And it's been a great fundraising product for the different groups.
SANCHEZ: Help them how? What kind of help do these families need that you're able to give them that they otherwise wouldn't be able to get? We're talking about the people who are here whose husbands or wives may be over there in Iraq, correct? Or Afghanistan?
GULLION: Yes. It helps them to be able to send packages, keep in contact with the family. There have been some people sending phone cards. But it also helps the people, the families here at home that have lost some incomes, you know, some of the National Guard and Reserves that have been able to -- that have had to be shipped out. It allows the families to come up with ways to just pay the bills, in some cases.
SANCHEZ: Did you guys ever expect this would be such a success? I mean it was just an idea and all of a sudden there it is. It's out there all over the country, isn't it?
SMITH: Well, when we first come up with the idea, we probably figured it'd last a few months. But a lot of people like to express themselves with putting something on the back of their car. And it's kind of a freedom of speech, whatever you might believe in, whether it be supporting the troops or supporting a football team.
SANCHEZ: We appreciate it.
You guys have been great.
Chris and Dwain, we appreciate the information and thanks for being with us.
SMITH: Thank you.
GULLION: Thank you a lot.
SANCHEZ: All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade making its way down Manhattan streets now.
CNN's Jason Carroll live for us along the parade route.
Hey -- Jason, good morning again.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, hello to you, Soledad.
Behind us, Picachue. We've got our marching band going behind us, as well. Things are looking great out here. In front of us, if you take a look up the parade route, if you look very carefully, you can see SpongeBob SquarePants is in line behind Barney, getting ready to come down the parade route.
This parade has come a long way since 1924, when it was called the Macy's Christmas Day Parade. Back then they had horses pulling the floats. Certainly not like that now. Boy, it's come a long way.
And this family has come a long way, as well. They came all the way from Nashville, Tennessee. This is the Gibson family.
You guys have been to the Rose Bowl, the Rose Parade.
How does this parade compare to that one?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it's totally different. This is like mostly balloons, which are fabulous. The Rose Parade, of course, are mostly floats, with the roses and the seats and the things that they decorated. They're both fabulous. We're having a great time here.
CARROLL: What do you think? Any favorites that you've seen so far?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, SpongeBob will be our favorite, I know.
CARROLL: Everyone's waiting for SpongeBob.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There he is.
CARROLL: Are you waiting for SpongeBob?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am.
CARROLL: You waiting for SpongeBob?
Anything else about this parade that struck you since coming down here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people are so friendly. We were really surprised. You know, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
CARROLL: We're friendly in New York. Maybe not as friendly as Nashville, but we are friendly here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been enjoying it. It's been a great week. So we're really glad to be here.
CARROLL: All right, well, we're glad to have you here.
Thanks very much, kids and family, for joining us out here.
A little bit of factoids for you about this parade. Macy's is actually the second largest consumer of helium behind, guess who? The U.S. government. Some other factoids. Eight hundred cheerleaders in the parade, 500 clowns, 23 floats, 15 giant balloons. Some of them have gone by, but the big balloon that everyone is waiting for, for sure, who? SpongeBob SquarePants.
Soledad -- back to you.
O'BRIEN: Making its debut this morning.
Jason Carroll for us here in New York City.
Jason, thanks.
And time to get a look at the weather for the day ahead.
Chad Myers is at the CNN Center with the latest.
Decent weather, Chad, for this parade. It could have been a lot worse.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And it will be worse. (WEATHER REPORT)
SANCHEZ: Still to come, President Clinton is a veteran of many battles and now he's focused on the worldwide fight against AIDS. Dr. Sanjay Gupta's exclusive interview with our former president is next.
O'BRIEN: Plus, we're reminding you to get your turkey questions answered by the dean of Butterball University. That's ahead.
Stay with us.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
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FIRST LIEUTENANT JAMES KING: Hi. My name is First Lieutenant James King.
I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to my friends and family back home in Seattle, Washington, especially to my fiance, Heidi. I love you, I miss you and I hope to see you soon.
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SGT. WINSLOW JACKSON: Hi. I'm Sergeant Winslow Jackson from Brooklyn, New York.
I want to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to my fiance, Trisha; my two boys, Devron (ph) and Keegan (ph); my moms. I wish I could be home, but you know duty calls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Next Wednesday is World AIDS Day. And according to a U.N. report, more than 39 million people are living with HIV, up over a million from just last year. The fight against AIDS has been a priority for former President Bill Clinton in his post-presidential life.
And Dr. Sanjay Gupta talked to him about that -- good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
A really big post-presidency initiative for him. I asked him, he said single-handedly the most important thing he's probably going to work on as a former president. It was at his library last week. He was really focused on legacy. I asked him specifically about how he planned to fight the good fight and how he planned to fight the good fight against AIDS.
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GUPTA: When was the first time you really heard about AIDS?
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, I'd say early '80s. I think the first case was diagnosed in America in '81. A few years after that, I had two experiences of it. One more educational; one deeply personal. I had -- I went to San Francisco for the Democratic convention and we had the highest infection rates in the country out there. Our host, the Arkansas delegation host, was a doctor named Sanchez, who treated a lot of people and had helped to shut down some of these bathhouses where they were having all this anonymous, unprotected sex. And he was -- and there was no medicine at the time, you know, to treat it.
So he was a fanatic on prevention and education, and very disciplined about it. And he really hammered home the dimensions of the tragedy that they were then enduring. And I don't remember the exact year, but a man who had been active in our political party at home, had worked for me, was HIV positive, developed full blown AIDS, and died a very painful death. Again, there were no protease inhibitors. There was none of that then.
And I, you know, went to his hospital room and held his hand and watched the sores cover his body. And I watched him die way too soon and it made a profound impression on me.
And, you know, AIDS drives me nuts. Oooh, it is a tough nut to crack. It's the only virus we know that invades the cell and reconfigures the DNA. On the other hand, it's a hundred percent preventable. The medicine to prevent mother to child transmission is something like 98 percent effective. And the medicine to turn it from a death sentence to a chronic illness works most of the time if you get it out there soon enough, particularly if you've got the testing capacity so you can remix the medicines if the, you know, standard formula doesn't work.
So I just decided when I got out of office that there were systematic breakdowns in the world keeping this from happening, just systematic problems. And I had, as I said, people with whom I'd worked in the White House who were willing to help, countries and individuals who were willing to finance it. And so we're out there doing the best we can.
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O'BRIEN: Sanjay, when you look at the numbers, why are women so affected by this and why is that category continuing to grow and surpass other categories?
GUPTA: They call it a feminization of HIV. That's how the U.N. report actually referred to it. A couple of things. One is it's not, it's become more of a heterosexual problem now. And you're much more likely to transmit this virus from a man to a woman than the other way around. That's why you see some of the rates.
But just socially and culturally, Soledad, and a lot of parts around the world, women can't refuse sex. They can't mandate safe sex. So you start to see a lot more increases in those populations of women, as well. Fifty-eight percent now of the population of sub- Saharan Africa is women. So they've actually overtaken men now.
SANCHEZ: So it goes hand in hand with women as sort of a second class sex in all these other countries.
GUPTA: That's right.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right, thanks, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Interesting interview.
Appreciate it.
We should mention that Sanjay is going to host a special CNN broadcast on Sunday all about AIDS and HIV. It's called "Are You Positive?" It can be seen on Sunday night at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Pacific time, right here on CNN -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: And throughout the morning, we have been checking on a story that's been coming from Falluja. Reports of a chemical weapons lab where they may have, indeed, found some substances. We're certainly trying to nail that one down for you, and as we do, we'll bring it to you, right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
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SANCHEZ: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Again, this story that's been coming out of Falluja throughout the morning. Iraqi officials are saying that soldiers have reportedly found there a chemical weapons factory in Falluja. In the lab, instructions, they say, on how to manufacture explosives and toxins, including possibly anthrax.
Now, here is an interview that was done with an Iraqi minister not long ago and here's what he had to say about this.
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KASSIM DAWOO, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This is a place discovered in Falluja. It is in the west of Falluja, in the industrial region in Falluja. Our soldiers has discovered in this place this laboratory for chemical materials. And through these chemical materials, there were manufacturing death and toxication and assassinations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And there you go.
Once again, those words coming from Kassim Dawoo. He is an Iraqi minister. A story that we will continue to follow for you -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes, obviously we'll get more details and make those available as they come through.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Let's turn back to preparing your bird on this Thanksgiving Day.
Let's check in once again with our Butterball dean this morning, Sherleen Clauson.
Hey, Sherleen, we've got some questions for you from some of the folks who have been e-mailing in.
SHERLEEN CLAUSON, DEAN, BUTTERBALL UNIVERSITY: OK.
O'BRIEN: Can we talk about deep frying for just a moment?
SANCHEZ: Yes, that's a good topic.
CLAUSON: Well, you know, it is a very popular way that people like to do it. Our big caution is is you need to make sure that you always are safe, so do it outdoors, use the recommended equipment, you know, follow the directions that come. But I guess the question maybe is is well, I'm not going to have any pan drippings, so how do I make gravy?
Well, this year we developed a recipe for a mushroom herb sauce that doesn't require gravy. So, you know, there is a gravy alternative. And you can find that recipe at butterball.com.
The other thing is is you're not using the giblets or the neck and so, you know, one might cook those and make stock and then you could make gravy using that.
SANCHEZ: We've got one, an e-mail that just came in from an airman talking about, you know, soldiers and sailors and everybody. Here's what he asks you: "I'm in the Air Force." His name is Casey, by the way. "I'm in the Air Force and we've been working nonstop so I've been unable to get started on my turkey. I've thawed it in the fridge, but that's it. What's the quickest way to try and get it done today?"
I guess this guy is in a hurry.
CLAUSON: OK, well, he's in a hurry. I hope his turkey isn't too large. Actually, the fastest way to cook the turkey is using the foil wrapped high temperature method. And that's where you would take a long piece of heavyweight foil, put the turkey over it, wrap the foil and put it in a pan and then in a 450 degree oven.
Another method that's fairly quick if he has one of those oven cooking bags. You could put the turkey in that and, again, wrapped in foil at 450 or in the cooking bag at 350. Those are the fastest ways.
SANCHEZ: Sherleen, thanks so much.
We appreciate you being with us today. O'BRIEN: And that is it for us this morning.
After a break, we're going to take another look at the headlines.
Then "People In The News" profiles Kevin Spacey and Pierce Brosnan.
I hope everybody has a terrific holiday.
Have a great Thanksgiving.
Enjoy the parade. You're here. And we'll see you back here tomorrow morning.
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