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CNN Live At Daybreak
Ukrainians Barricade Government Buildings in Kiev; Alabama Residents Recover from Tornadoes; Mountain Collapses onto Highway in Colorado
Aired November 26, 2004 - 05:30 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.
BETTY NGUYEN: Good morning. Welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.
There's a lot going on right now, so let's check the headlines "Now in the News."
Take a look at this. This is a live picture from Kiev. Thousands of Ukrainians supporting the opposition presidential candidate have encircled government buildings in Kiev to refuse to let anyone through. Now the move comes after Ukraine Supreme Court barred the publication of disputed election results. Some international observers say Sunday's presidential election was rigged and protestors have been there for four days.
A full plate for delegates to the U.N. nuclear agency meeting in Vienna. On the agenda, Iran's current freeze on uranium enrichment and nuclear experiments in the past by South Korea.
Nineteen-month-old Maria Medina has gone home from a Los Angeles hospital after four operations. Maria is expected to fully recover from severe burns suffered when she fell into a vat of hot soup at her family's home.
Alabama residents are clearing away debris after tornadoes wrecked dozens of homes and killed one woman in the town of Bynum, which is east of Birmingham. Eight tornadoes were reported on Wednesday in six Alabama counties.
Not what people were hoping for, for the holiday, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, that moved through there, really, with a cold front. We had all these storms on Wednesday morning. We had 13 tornado warnings for 13 different counties about this time Wednesday morning, as that area ran right through Atlanta and then right off the East Coast.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
NGUYEN: Long lines, busy streets and stuffed parking lots; yes, if this is the day after Thanksgiving then it must be one of the busiest shopping days of the year, right?
Well, the National Retail Federation says year-end shopping season generated $205 billion, with a B, in 2002. That is up 2.2 percent from the year before. Now, last year you all spend almost $210.5 billion. That was a jump of more than 5 percent from the year before. And the prediction for this season, $219 billion, that is up 4.5 percent.
How would you like to wake up with Darth Vader or super model Heidi Clume, or actor/rapper Ice T. Well, Target stores are....
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to mess around, or you want to wake? Because I'll get your butt out of that bed real quick. Because if your feet don't hit...
(END AUDIO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yikes! Yes, Target stores offer before dawn wake up calls. Some nice, some like Ice T., so shoppers can get a jump on those after Thanksgiving sales. And at mini-malls across the country, early bird shoppers will be greeted by pep rallies, tailgate and pajama parties, and even free food and drinks. Now, that's a way to get out of bed.
So, get on out there and shop till you drop.
Well, it is a big day for shopping in America, but not for Americans in Europe. The plunge of the U.S. dollar has made everything ultra-price over there. And CNN's Jim Boulden has a report now from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BOULDEN, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Americans may not be shouting it from the rooftops, but they are from the top of this London tour bus, at least. The weak dollar is taking its toll.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Too expensive! Oh, is that right? Is it really?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you really find that the exchange really that bad at the moment?
BOULDEN: The Partin family of Fort Lauderdale, Florida arrived Thursday morning and went window shopping before hopping on the bus.
LILY PARTIN, AMERICAN TOURIST: We were just in the stores and the prices, we were looking at some watches. We noticed that they're double the price than what you would get in the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here on our left, one of the most famous, largest toy shops around, it's Hamley's.
BOULDEN: Though the Partins couldn't resist the world's most famous toy store. PARTIN: You have six pounds, it's about $12.
BOULDEN: But they did resist the urge to buy, leaving Hamley's with all their money still in their pockets.
PARTIN: The only thing we can do here is just about eat and do our little tourism.
BOULDEN: That is not what Britain's tourist authority wants to hear. Americans make up 14 percent of tourists in Britain, but spend a whopping 20 percent of tourist money.
RICHARD DONOGHUE, "VISIT BRITAIN": About 4 million Americans come to Britain every year. And although they are spending slightly less, they are spending coming here in record numbers.
PARTIN: You think a large will do it.
BOULDEN: The Partins did have to make one purchase on their first day, gloves for their cold 11year old. So, we did a little currency conversion for them.
(on camera): You have just bought these pair of gloves at The Gap. Tell me how much it was?
PARTIN: Total was 29 pounds.
BOULDEN: OK, 29 pounds, you know what the current rate? Probably by the time you get back with your credit card...
PARTIN: About $1.86, I think.
BOULDEN: Yes, I think you are going to be close to $1.90, so these gloves just cost you $55. What would you have paid for those in the States, do you think?
PARTIN: About $10.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: About $10.
BOULDEN: We just paid five times the price.
(voice over): Granted London is expensive at the best of times. And though their flight was cheap their one hotel room is not. Coming in at $359 a night.
BOULDEN (on camera): What would $359 a night get you in America, do you think?
PARTIN: Oh, we could be at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Wilshire (ph) Boulevard.
(LAUGHTER)
BOULDEN (voice over): And no one back in Fort Lauderdale should expect a Christmas present from London. GARY PARTIN, AMERICAN TOURIST: Yes, we would normally look for stuff while we're here. But that doesn't look like it is going to happen.
BOULDEN: So now, it is back on the bus where at least the views are free - Jim Boulden, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: "News Across America" this morning.
A bit of a scare for passengers and crews aboard this Northwest Airlines flight. Flight 1933 from Rochester, New York slid off a runway while landing at Michigan's Lansing Capital City Airport. Snow was falling in the area, but it is not known if that played a part in the incident. Authorities say no one was injured.
An Indiana high school student is being held in a juvenile detention facility after attacking his classmates. Authorities say the 15 year old used two knives to slash five classmates at Val Paraso (ph) High School. All of the injured were treated and released from a hospital. Authorities report, no motive for those attacks.
In Bakersfield, California a hazardous materials team responded to a welding shop after the owner set off two radiation alarms. No problem though. It seems the owner had a medical procedure last week involving some radioactive material. Hazmat officials say that have set off those alarms.
The shop owner says he's gotten some questions, or he does have some questions for his doctor about all of that.
Well, crews worked through the night trying to get at least one lane open on Interstate 70 near Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Both east and west bound lanes were closed for 24 miles on Thanksgiving Day when part of a mountain collapsed onto the highway. Details from Matt Reneau (ph) from CNN affiliate KUSA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bunch of rocks came down.
MATT RENEAU (ph), REPORTER, KUSA: If the sign isn't clear enough...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got rock about three feet in.
RENEAU (ph): ...the wall of rocks piled on I-70 says it all.
DWIGHT GAYMON, COLORADO TRANSPORTATION DEPT.: This is a pretty big rockslide.
RENEAU (ph): Glenwood Canyon cam crashing down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just fell straight down and then rolled down the hill. RENEAU (ph): Sending a river of rocks slicing across all four lanes of I-70.
GAYMON: They closed both east and westbound lanes. Caused pretty good damage to the westbound lanes.
RENEAU (ph): Those lanes hit hard by a barrage of boulders, some the size of trucks.
GAYMON: Three at least this size and a bunch of smaller stuff.
RENEAU (ph): Punching a massive 20-foot by 20-foot hole through the elevated westbound lanes.
GAYMON: Yes, it came down and it hit in a place where it knocked the wall out. So, it knocked all the base material out from underneath it and made a pretty good size hole.
RENEAU (ph): And a big mess for CDOT crews to clean up. But even as they drill holes in larger boulders to blow them up...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire in the hole!
GAYMON: Getting ready to break some big rocks with the boulder busters.
(EXPLOSION)
RENEAU (ph): They have to deal with warning horns sounding. A sure sign the unstable hillside isn't finished spitting out stones.
GAYMON: Usually it is freeze (ph) off (ph) and there is quite a bit of freeze (ph) off (ph) going on right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: What a mess there. That report was filed by Matt Reneau (ph) of our Denver affiliate KUSA.
Now, no one was hurt in the rockslide, probably because the highway was already closed due to an overturned truck.
If you think the Bush/Kerry campaign got a little rough, look at this. Thousands of protestors aren't budging in the Ukraine. And now that country's supreme court is stepping into the fray. And what is happening and why should you care? Well, that is at 41 after the hour.
And deck the halls with lots of bargains, or should I say spending? The holiday shopping season is now upon us. At 44 after, we'll see who is rising to the occasion and what enticed them to be first in line. That's a long line.
And our e-mail question of the morning: What is the "must have" item on your holiday shopping list? We'll read some of your e-mails later this hour. But first here is what else is making news this Friday morning.
(GRAPHIC WITH HEADLINES)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The disputed election in Ukraine has lead to roadblocks, calls for a national strike and the surrounding of government buildings.
Meanwhile, leaders from several countries have offered to help mediate. Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty is in Kiev with the latest now.
Hi there, Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREA CHIEF: Hey, Betty.
Well, you know, we have been driving around the streets of Kiev and it is very, very busy. People on the streets. There are students with flags, mainly opposition, of course students. And then down in the main squares, these demonstrations that are now going into their fifth day, are continuing.
On the political front, lots of developments. The EU, the European Union's chief for foreign policy, Javier Solana, is the man of the hour. He has flown in here to Kiev, and in essence, what he is trying to do is broker some type of a settlement. There will be other people coming in as well.
The president of Poland, representatives from the OSCE, that is Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the president of Lithuania and others. And what they are going to be doing is having a joint meeting with the president, the outgoing president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma and hoping that they can get both men, who were candidates for president, one of whom has been officially declared, or at least declared the winner according to the vote, and the other is the opposition candidate who says that this election was stolen.
NGUYEN: All right, that is CNN's Jill Dougherty, the Moscow bureau chief with that information this morning for us.
Thank you, Jill.
Your news, money, weather and sports, the time right now is 5:46. Here's what is happening this morning.
Two Marines have been killed in Falluja during house clearing operations there. Three others were wounded when insurgents opened fire on them.
In money, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his country will ask OPEC to review its official price target range. Chavez wants to make the minimum price per barrel, $30.
Right now, the minimum is $22 to $28 a barrel. But since oil is now about $50 a barrel, don't expect the price to drop significantly any time soon.
In culture, Ray Charles has his own room at the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. The museum opened a new exhibit incorporating some of his keyboards and pairs of sunglasses. Ray Charles was part of the first class of inductees back in 1986.
In sports, Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Payton Manning threw six touchdown passes against the Detroit Lions in a 41-9 win. There is one of those touchdowns. He is just seven TDs short of Dan Marino's single-season record, with five games still left to play.
So, Chad, is he going to break that record?
MYERS: Probably next week. Maybe not, it might take him two weeks. But absolutely, he will be way over that.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
NGUYEN: Still to come this morning, it happened to her and unfortunately, it could happen to you, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I want to say, to everyone, is at any age, you do not know the sexual history of anybody else, only yourself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The diagnosis she did expect and how she found out about it. Expect the unexpected at 51 after.
This is DAYBREAK for Friday, November 26.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: HIV is widely regarded as young person's problem, but the virus that causes AIDS is on the rise in some retirement communities. Details from our Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Jane Fowler is 69 and does what many grandmothers like to do, spoil her grandkids.
She's also single, divorced now for over 20 years.
JANE FOWLER, HIV POSITIVE: I had my career as a journalist, what I didn't have was the social life that I had enjoyed as half a couple.
GUPTA: So, at age 48 she re-entered the dating scene. Seven years later she received a disturbing letter from a life insurance company. FOWLER: I got a kind of form letter saying that I could not be insured. The company would not insure me because my blood test had shown a significant abnormality.
GUPTA: And that is how she found out she had HIV. She was 55 years old.
FOWLER: I was devastated.
GUPTA: AIDS is rarely thought of as a disease affecting middle- aged heterosexuals, but Fowler's story is becoming increasingly common.
In areas like south Florida, where a lot of single seniors live, the rate of infection is stunning. In Broward County one in seven over the age of 50 is infected with HIV. And in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach the HIV rate is one in six.
Then there is another amazing part of the equation, among south Floridian seniors there is only on man for every seven women.
At age 78, after losing two husbands, Evelyn Gross-Brien never thought she'd feel like a teenager again, but look at her now.
EVELYN GROSS-BRIAN, COUNTY HEALTH DEPT., VOLUNTEER: You sort of get excited, you get a second wind when you get to be our age, or there is a new adventure.
GUPTA: Especially when the golden years are spent in self- contained communities, kind of like college dormitories, with thousands of people your own age.
JOLENE MULLINS, BROWARD CO. HEALTH DEPT.: And with the advent of medications like Viagra and Cialis and Levitra, the ones that enhance male potency, people's life, as far as their sexual stamina has certainly expanded into 60, 70, 80, 90 years old.
GUPTA: Evelyn is HIV negative, but has seen the devastation caused by the virus. She wants to be safe, but convincing men of her generation to wear condoms, is a tough sell, but an important one as HIV takes an unlikely toll among seniors in the sun. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And you can log on to CNN.com/aids, for an animation explaining how HIV infects a cell and for a special report on the changing face of AIDS in America.
Here is what is all new in our next hour of DAYBREAK: Just say, charge! Well, maybe not. We'll tell you why you might want to rethink pulling out the plastic right about now.
But first, today's question: On this day in 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill to establish what? Do you know?
From New York, this is DAYBREAK for Friday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Here is the question of the day, the trivia question: On this day in 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill to establish what?
And the answer is: Establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. Of course, you all remember that. That was just yesterday.
Time now to read some e-mails, Chad. I need a little help now.
MYERS: OK.
NGUYEN: The e-mail question of the day was, what the major thing on your shopping list. We'll ask you in just a second, but a lot of our viewers, like Mike (ph), writing in saying, "Top of my shopping list. Sirius Satellite Radio."
I know a lot of people wanting that.
MYERS: Got that one, too. Yes.
NGUYEN: All right, Tom, writes: "Dear DAYBREAK, Top of my list? I need a job. Twenty resumes mailed out a week yield one or two responses, if I'm lucky sometimes. Three more weeks of unemployment checks to go."
That person does need a job.
And Michael from Long Beach, California, writes, "This year our immediate and extended families have agreed, instead of exchanging presents among ourselves, we either donate to the USO or Red Cross or send items directly to specific troops we know in Iraq or the vicinity."
That's a good idea.
MYERS: That is. But if you are going to send something overseas, to the troops, it actually has to have a name on it before it will go there, otherwise send it to someone here, who can package it up and send over there for you in the big pack.
NGUYEN: You don't want that coming back.
MYERS: Exactly. It has to go somewhere.
And AV, AV has got the best one of the day.
NGUYEN: OK?
MYERS: "On my Christmas list, money. Without it nothing else matters. The rest if pointless.
(LAUGHTER) NGUYEN: That is on my list as well. OK, the next hour of DAYBREAK, from Atlanta, begins right now.
(PROMO CLIP)
NGUYEN: On your mark, get ready, get set and shop! This is a live picture from Macy's this morning. And all across America at this hour, thousands, millions are getting ready for the after Thanksgivings spree. At 20 after we have a live report.
In Kiev, a stalemate in the streets; government protestors ...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 26, 2004 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN: Good morning. Welcome to the second half hour of DAYBREAK. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.
There's a lot going on right now, so let's check the headlines "Now in the News."
Take a look at this. This is a live picture from Kiev. Thousands of Ukrainians supporting the opposition presidential candidate have encircled government buildings in Kiev to refuse to let anyone through. Now the move comes after Ukraine Supreme Court barred the publication of disputed election results. Some international observers say Sunday's presidential election was rigged and protestors have been there for four days.
A full plate for delegates to the U.N. nuclear agency meeting in Vienna. On the agenda, Iran's current freeze on uranium enrichment and nuclear experiments in the past by South Korea.
Nineteen-month-old Maria Medina has gone home from a Los Angeles hospital after four operations. Maria is expected to fully recover from severe burns suffered when she fell into a vat of hot soup at her family's home.
Alabama residents are clearing away debris after tornadoes wrecked dozens of homes and killed one woman in the town of Bynum, which is east of Birmingham. Eight tornadoes were reported on Wednesday in six Alabama counties.
Not what people were hoping for, for the holiday, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, that moved through there, really, with a cold front. We had all these storms on Wednesday morning. We had 13 tornado warnings for 13 different counties about this time Wednesday morning, as that area ran right through Atlanta and then right off the East Coast.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
NGUYEN: Long lines, busy streets and stuffed parking lots; yes, if this is the day after Thanksgiving then it must be one of the busiest shopping days of the year, right?
Well, the National Retail Federation says year-end shopping season generated $205 billion, with a B, in 2002. That is up 2.2 percent from the year before. Now, last year you all spend almost $210.5 billion. That was a jump of more than 5 percent from the year before. And the prediction for this season, $219 billion, that is up 4.5 percent.
How would you like to wake up with Darth Vader or super model Heidi Clume, or actor/rapper Ice T. Well, Target stores are....
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to mess around, or you want to wake? Because I'll get your butt out of that bed real quick. Because if your feet don't hit...
(END AUDIO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yikes! Yes, Target stores offer before dawn wake up calls. Some nice, some like Ice T., so shoppers can get a jump on those after Thanksgiving sales. And at mini-malls across the country, early bird shoppers will be greeted by pep rallies, tailgate and pajama parties, and even free food and drinks. Now, that's a way to get out of bed.
So, get on out there and shop till you drop.
Well, it is a big day for shopping in America, but not for Americans in Europe. The plunge of the U.S. dollar has made everything ultra-price over there. And CNN's Jim Boulden has a report now from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BOULDEN, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Americans may not be shouting it from the rooftops, but they are from the top of this London tour bus, at least. The weak dollar is taking its toll.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Too expensive! Oh, is that right? Is it really?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you really find that the exchange really that bad at the moment?
BOULDEN: The Partin family of Fort Lauderdale, Florida arrived Thursday morning and went window shopping before hopping on the bus.
LILY PARTIN, AMERICAN TOURIST: We were just in the stores and the prices, we were looking at some watches. We noticed that they're double the price than what you would get in the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here on our left, one of the most famous, largest toy shops around, it's Hamley's.
BOULDEN: Though the Partins couldn't resist the world's most famous toy store. PARTIN: You have six pounds, it's about $12.
BOULDEN: But they did resist the urge to buy, leaving Hamley's with all their money still in their pockets.
PARTIN: The only thing we can do here is just about eat and do our little tourism.
BOULDEN: That is not what Britain's tourist authority wants to hear. Americans make up 14 percent of tourists in Britain, but spend a whopping 20 percent of tourist money.
RICHARD DONOGHUE, "VISIT BRITAIN": About 4 million Americans come to Britain every year. And although they are spending slightly less, they are spending coming here in record numbers.
PARTIN: You think a large will do it.
BOULDEN: The Partins did have to make one purchase on their first day, gloves for their cold 11year old. So, we did a little currency conversion for them.
(on camera): You have just bought these pair of gloves at The Gap. Tell me how much it was?
PARTIN: Total was 29 pounds.
BOULDEN: OK, 29 pounds, you know what the current rate? Probably by the time you get back with your credit card...
PARTIN: About $1.86, I think.
BOULDEN: Yes, I think you are going to be close to $1.90, so these gloves just cost you $55. What would you have paid for those in the States, do you think?
PARTIN: About $10.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: About $10.
BOULDEN: We just paid five times the price.
(voice over): Granted London is expensive at the best of times. And though their flight was cheap their one hotel room is not. Coming in at $359 a night.
BOULDEN (on camera): What would $359 a night get you in America, do you think?
PARTIN: Oh, we could be at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Wilshire (ph) Boulevard.
(LAUGHTER)
BOULDEN (voice over): And no one back in Fort Lauderdale should expect a Christmas present from London. GARY PARTIN, AMERICAN TOURIST: Yes, we would normally look for stuff while we're here. But that doesn't look like it is going to happen.
BOULDEN: So now, it is back on the bus where at least the views are free - Jim Boulden, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: "News Across America" this morning.
A bit of a scare for passengers and crews aboard this Northwest Airlines flight. Flight 1933 from Rochester, New York slid off a runway while landing at Michigan's Lansing Capital City Airport. Snow was falling in the area, but it is not known if that played a part in the incident. Authorities say no one was injured.
An Indiana high school student is being held in a juvenile detention facility after attacking his classmates. Authorities say the 15 year old used two knives to slash five classmates at Val Paraso (ph) High School. All of the injured were treated and released from a hospital. Authorities report, no motive for those attacks.
In Bakersfield, California a hazardous materials team responded to a welding shop after the owner set off two radiation alarms. No problem though. It seems the owner had a medical procedure last week involving some radioactive material. Hazmat officials say that have set off those alarms.
The shop owner says he's gotten some questions, or he does have some questions for his doctor about all of that.
Well, crews worked through the night trying to get at least one lane open on Interstate 70 near Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Both east and west bound lanes were closed for 24 miles on Thanksgiving Day when part of a mountain collapsed onto the highway. Details from Matt Reneau (ph) from CNN affiliate KUSA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bunch of rocks came down.
MATT RENEAU (ph), REPORTER, KUSA: If the sign isn't clear enough...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got rock about three feet in.
RENEAU (ph): ...the wall of rocks piled on I-70 says it all.
DWIGHT GAYMON, COLORADO TRANSPORTATION DEPT.: This is a pretty big rockslide.
RENEAU (ph): Glenwood Canyon cam crashing down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just fell straight down and then rolled down the hill. RENEAU (ph): Sending a river of rocks slicing across all four lanes of I-70.
GAYMON: They closed both east and westbound lanes. Caused pretty good damage to the westbound lanes.
RENEAU (ph): Those lanes hit hard by a barrage of boulders, some the size of trucks.
GAYMON: Three at least this size and a bunch of smaller stuff.
RENEAU (ph): Punching a massive 20-foot by 20-foot hole through the elevated westbound lanes.
GAYMON: Yes, it came down and it hit in a place where it knocked the wall out. So, it knocked all the base material out from underneath it and made a pretty good size hole.
RENEAU (ph): And a big mess for CDOT crews to clean up. But even as they drill holes in larger boulders to blow them up...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire in the hole!
GAYMON: Getting ready to break some big rocks with the boulder busters.
(EXPLOSION)
RENEAU (ph): They have to deal with warning horns sounding. A sure sign the unstable hillside isn't finished spitting out stones.
GAYMON: Usually it is freeze (ph) off (ph) and there is quite a bit of freeze (ph) off (ph) going on right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: What a mess there. That report was filed by Matt Reneau (ph) of our Denver affiliate KUSA.
Now, no one was hurt in the rockslide, probably because the highway was already closed due to an overturned truck.
If you think the Bush/Kerry campaign got a little rough, look at this. Thousands of protestors aren't budging in the Ukraine. And now that country's supreme court is stepping into the fray. And what is happening and why should you care? Well, that is at 41 after the hour.
And deck the halls with lots of bargains, or should I say spending? The holiday shopping season is now upon us. At 44 after, we'll see who is rising to the occasion and what enticed them to be first in line. That's a long line.
And our e-mail question of the morning: What is the "must have" item on your holiday shopping list? We'll read some of your e-mails later this hour. But first here is what else is making news this Friday morning.
(GRAPHIC WITH HEADLINES)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The disputed election in Ukraine has lead to roadblocks, calls for a national strike and the surrounding of government buildings.
Meanwhile, leaders from several countries have offered to help mediate. Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty is in Kiev with the latest now.
Hi there, Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREA CHIEF: Hey, Betty.
Well, you know, we have been driving around the streets of Kiev and it is very, very busy. People on the streets. There are students with flags, mainly opposition, of course students. And then down in the main squares, these demonstrations that are now going into their fifth day, are continuing.
On the political front, lots of developments. The EU, the European Union's chief for foreign policy, Javier Solana, is the man of the hour. He has flown in here to Kiev, and in essence, what he is trying to do is broker some type of a settlement. There will be other people coming in as well.
The president of Poland, representatives from the OSCE, that is Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the president of Lithuania and others. And what they are going to be doing is having a joint meeting with the president, the outgoing president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma and hoping that they can get both men, who were candidates for president, one of whom has been officially declared, or at least declared the winner according to the vote, and the other is the opposition candidate who says that this election was stolen.
NGUYEN: All right, that is CNN's Jill Dougherty, the Moscow bureau chief with that information this morning for us.
Thank you, Jill.
Your news, money, weather and sports, the time right now is 5:46. Here's what is happening this morning.
Two Marines have been killed in Falluja during house clearing operations there. Three others were wounded when insurgents opened fire on them.
In money, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his country will ask OPEC to review its official price target range. Chavez wants to make the minimum price per barrel, $30.
Right now, the minimum is $22 to $28 a barrel. But since oil is now about $50 a barrel, don't expect the price to drop significantly any time soon.
In culture, Ray Charles has his own room at the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. The museum opened a new exhibit incorporating some of his keyboards and pairs of sunglasses. Ray Charles was part of the first class of inductees back in 1986.
In sports, Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Payton Manning threw six touchdown passes against the Detroit Lions in a 41-9 win. There is one of those touchdowns. He is just seven TDs short of Dan Marino's single-season record, with five games still left to play.
So, Chad, is he going to break that record?
MYERS: Probably next week. Maybe not, it might take him two weeks. But absolutely, he will be way over that.
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NGUYEN: Still to come this morning, it happened to her and unfortunately, it could happen to you, too.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I want to say, to everyone, is at any age, you do not know the sexual history of anybody else, only yourself.
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NGUYEN: The diagnosis she did expect and how she found out about it. Expect the unexpected at 51 after.
This is DAYBREAK for Friday, November 26.
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NGUYEN: HIV is widely regarded as young person's problem, but the virus that causes AIDS is on the rise in some retirement communities. Details from our Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Jane Fowler is 69 and does what many grandmothers like to do, spoil her grandkids.
She's also single, divorced now for over 20 years.
JANE FOWLER, HIV POSITIVE: I had my career as a journalist, what I didn't have was the social life that I had enjoyed as half a couple.
GUPTA: So, at age 48 she re-entered the dating scene. Seven years later she received a disturbing letter from a life insurance company. FOWLER: I got a kind of form letter saying that I could not be insured. The company would not insure me because my blood test had shown a significant abnormality.
GUPTA: And that is how she found out she had HIV. She was 55 years old.
FOWLER: I was devastated.
GUPTA: AIDS is rarely thought of as a disease affecting middle- aged heterosexuals, but Fowler's story is becoming increasingly common.
In areas like south Florida, where a lot of single seniors live, the rate of infection is stunning. In Broward County one in seven over the age of 50 is infected with HIV. And in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach the HIV rate is one in six.
Then there is another amazing part of the equation, among south Floridian seniors there is only on man for every seven women.
At age 78, after losing two husbands, Evelyn Gross-Brien never thought she'd feel like a teenager again, but look at her now.
EVELYN GROSS-BRIAN, COUNTY HEALTH DEPT., VOLUNTEER: You sort of get excited, you get a second wind when you get to be our age, or there is a new adventure.
GUPTA: Especially when the golden years are spent in self- contained communities, kind of like college dormitories, with thousands of people your own age.
JOLENE MULLINS, BROWARD CO. HEALTH DEPT.: And with the advent of medications like Viagra and Cialis and Levitra, the ones that enhance male potency, people's life, as far as their sexual stamina has certainly expanded into 60, 70, 80, 90 years old.
GUPTA: Evelyn is HIV negative, but has seen the devastation caused by the virus. She wants to be safe, but convincing men of her generation to wear condoms, is a tough sell, but an important one as HIV takes an unlikely toll among seniors in the sun. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Miami.
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NGUYEN: And you can log on to CNN.com/aids, for an animation explaining how HIV infects a cell and for a special report on the changing face of AIDS in America.
Here is what is all new in our next hour of DAYBREAK: Just say, charge! Well, maybe not. We'll tell you why you might want to rethink pulling out the plastic right about now.
But first, today's question: On this day in 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill to establish what? Do you know?
From New York, this is DAYBREAK for Friday.
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NGUYEN: Here is the question of the day, the trivia question: On this day in 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill to establish what?
And the answer is: Establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. Of course, you all remember that. That was just yesterday.
Time now to read some e-mails, Chad. I need a little help now.
MYERS: OK.
NGUYEN: The e-mail question of the day was, what the major thing on your shopping list. We'll ask you in just a second, but a lot of our viewers, like Mike (ph), writing in saying, "Top of my shopping list. Sirius Satellite Radio."
I know a lot of people wanting that.
MYERS: Got that one, too. Yes.
NGUYEN: All right, Tom, writes: "Dear DAYBREAK, Top of my list? I need a job. Twenty resumes mailed out a week yield one or two responses, if I'm lucky sometimes. Three more weeks of unemployment checks to go."
That person does need a job.
And Michael from Long Beach, California, writes, "This year our immediate and extended families have agreed, instead of exchanging presents among ourselves, we either donate to the USO or Red Cross or send items directly to specific troops we know in Iraq or the vicinity."
That's a good idea.
MYERS: That is. But if you are going to send something overseas, to the troops, it actually has to have a name on it before it will go there, otherwise send it to someone here, who can package it up and send over there for you in the big pack.
NGUYEN: You don't want that coming back.
MYERS: Exactly. It has to go somewhere.
And AV, AV has got the best one of the day.
NGUYEN: OK?
MYERS: "On my Christmas list, money. Without it nothing else matters. The rest if pointless.
(LAUGHTER) NGUYEN: That is on my list as well. OK, the next hour of DAYBREAK, from Atlanta, begins right now.
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NGUYEN: On your mark, get ready, get set and shop! This is a live picture from Macy's this morning. And all across America at this hour, thousands, millions are getting ready for the after Thanksgivings spree. At 20 after we have a live report.
In Kiev, a stalemate in the streets; government protestors ...
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