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CNN Live At Daybreak
NBC Sports Chief Dick Ebersol Survives Deadly Plane Crash; President Bush's Image Abroad
Aired November 29, 2004 - 06:00 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, CNN ANCHOR: A cold reception -- President Bush could get one when he visits his neighbor to the north. We'll explain in just a few minutes. And beware of spyware. How to keep your computer safe from prying eyes.
Also, it's a shopping list you probably can't afford, but we'll give you a taste anyway.
It's Monday, November 29, and you're watching DAYBREAK.
Well, good morning, everyone.
Thanks for waking up with us on this Monday morning.
I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.
Let's check the headlines.
NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol and a son are hospitalized this morning after their chartered plane crashed in Colorado. Rescuers are looking for another son. The pilot and co-pilot were killed in the crash about 185 miles southwest of Denver. We will get a live report from the scene in just two minutes.
The U.S. Supreme Court hands down rulings and hears arguments today. First on the agenda, a test of medical marijuana laws. Arguments begin at 10:00 Eastern.
Spain's former prime minister is defending his government's handling of the Madrid train bombings last March. Jose Maria Aznar is testifying before a panel investigating the bombings that killed almost 200 people.
In northwest China, 141 coal miners remain trapped following a gas explosion that killed at least 25 workers. One hundred twenty- seven miners escaped the mine after Sunday's explosion. China's state run news agency quotes rescuers who say the chances for survival are slim.
Well, it is a Monday morning after a holiday weekend and -- Rob, how is the weather looking out there?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Not too shabby, but a little slice of the middle part of the country, Betty, is kind of a mess.
(WEATHER REPORT) NGUYEN: In the meantime, we want to get more now on the deadly plane crash that NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol survived, along with one of his sons. Rescuers are hoping to find another son this morning.
And our Sean Callebs joins us live from Montrose, Colorado with an update -- good morning, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.
Let me bring you up to date on the conditions down here. It's been snowing throughout much of Colorado for the past 48 hours or so. In some places they've had as much as three feet. We know the FAA and members of the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to be in Montrose later this morning to begin the initial investigation.
Certainly they will have a starting point. They will look at the weather. They will look at the maintenance of this aircraft, both recently and how it has been in the past.
As near as we can tell, this is an aircraft that was developed in the '70s, built in the early '80s. They stopped production of it in about 1983.
Now, apparently yesterday around 10:00 local time, the plane taking off with Dick Ebersol, NBC Sports chief, and his two sons, Charles and Teddy. And then something terribly -- went terribly wrong somewhere during the takeoff. The plane apparently ran through the end of the runway. Then eyewitnesses said it exploded in flames.
Now, the pilot and co-pilot were killed, and, also, when it broke apart, the seat carrying Teddy Ebersol apparently was ripped free and that is what investigators have been looking for for some time now.
They combed the area with a helicopter and on foot yesterday, trying to find any sign of it. Now, Ebersol and his son Charles, who is a college student at Notre Dame, are at a local hospital. Conflicting reports on how seriously they are injured. But one eyewitness said they were clearly in a state of shock when they were able to leave the aircraft yesterday -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Sean, let's talk about the search for 14-year-old Teddy, especially in the conditions right now.
What's the possibility of survival in snow like that?
CALLEBS: It is freezing out here. I mean it is very cold. It's not single digits, but it has to be in the teens. The snow has been blowing all night. As you said, it's about 185 miles southwest of Denver. That's probably as the crow flies. But getting here is very difficult. You have to go down to Grand Junction then down another 70 miles. So it's probably closer to 300 miles as you drive.
It is very much off the beaten path, so very difficult to say if -- it would be very difficult for anybody to survive these conditions, especially after a crash. This certainly has to be a heart wrenching moment for the Ebersol family.
NGUYEN: Absolutely, but a search is under way.
CNN's Sean Callebs joining us live with an update this morning.
Thank you, Sean.
Two powerful Republican opponents of an intelligence bill aren't backing down despite pressure from both political parties. An overhaul of the nation's intelligence services was one of the main recommendations of the panel that investigated the September 11 terrorist attacks.
House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner wants the bill to deal with illegal immigration. But some lawmakers say action needs to be taken before the next Congress convenes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: It's up to the president now. I mean, we've got a week to try to bring this bill to a vote and I think the president clearly wants it. And I can't believe that the speaker, who also is for the bill and worked very hard for the compromise agreement we came up with, is not going to let the roll be called.
REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R), WISCONSIN: What good is reorganizing intelligence if we don't have homeland security? Eighty- five percent of the American public wants to see immigration reform for our own protection and it's the senators that are ignoring that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now, the bill would create a national intelligence director and a national counter-terrorism center.
Confirmation hearings for Condoleezza Rice won't take place until Congress returns in January. That is according to Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He says the White House urged the delay, though he didn't say why. President Bush has nominated Rice to succeed Colin Powell as secretary of state.
Rice will certainly have her work cut out for her as the nation's top diplomat. One thing she may work on is trying to improve her boss' image abroad.
As our senior political correspondent, Bill Schneider, reports, that she just might have her work cut out for her in that area.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): In 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon went to Venezuela and was confronted with rampaging protesters. This month, President Bush went to Chile and found the same thing. The ugly American syndrome is back. The rest of the world just doesn't get President Bush, not even America's closest ally, the British. Look at the London newspaper headlines after Bush won reelection -- "How Can 59 Million People Be so Dumb?" "Oh, God."
Polls taken in 23 countries this fall found Kerry favored over Bush in 22 of them, usually by overwhelming margins. Bush was narrowly ahead in Poland.
Next week, president Bush will be making an official visit to Canada, a country that's supposed to understand the U.S.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES: I'm looking forward to bringing the greetings of my great country to your great country.
SCHNEIDER: But do they?
PAUL MARTIN, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I think that it's -- I think we've got a lot of, you know, a lot of issues to discuss in terms of North America, and also in terms of the world.
SCHNEIDER: Two-thirds of Canadians say their opinion of the U.S. has worsened over the past four years. Two years ago, a top aide to former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien resigned after she was overheard calling President Bush a moron. Chretien was forced to state that President Bush is ..".a friend of mine. He's not a moron at all." This year, Canadian member of parliament Carolyn Parrish had this to say about President Bush's missile defense plan.
CAROLYN PARRISH, CANADIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: We are not joining the coalition of the idiots.
SCHNEIDER: This month, Parrish was shown on the news stomping on a George W. Bush action figure.
PARRISH: Cut it out.
SCHNEIDER: Prime Minister Paul Martin threw her out of Liberal Party caucus.
The U.S.-Canada relationship clearly needs repair. What kind of reception might President Bush get in Ottawa? President Ronald Reagan addressed the parliament there in 1987. He got heckled.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Nicaragua, we see such a campaign on our own shores threatening -- is there an echo in here?
SCHNEIDER: Some Canadian political activists are debating whether President Bush could be indicted under Canada's War Crimes Act. If so, the president could be facing arrest the minute he sets foot on Canadian soil.
(on camera): What's dividing the United States from the rest of the world and reviving the ugly American syndrome? The same thing that's dividing Americans at home: Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, there were apparently more than just protests in the works when President Bush went to Colombia last week. The country's defense chief now says leftist rebel leaders wanted to assassinate the U.S. president during his brief visit and they even told their fighters to try to kill him. But there is no evidence the rebels actually tried to organize an attack.
We want to do some Monday morning quarterbacking on this first big holiday weekend. Holiday shoppers ring in cash registers all across the country. Carrie Lee has some numbers for us in just four minutes from now.
Shades of four years ago -- an appeal of Ukraine's presidential election goes to the supreme court. The "Time" magazine correspondent on that balloting in seven minutes.
And beware of spyware. We will tell you how to keep your computer safe from prying eyes in 13 minutes.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this November 29.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The song says it all. We're talking about money today.
Time now for a little business news.
The parking lots were packed, the mall traffic was slow. It all sounds like a nice kickoff to the holiday season for retailers. But it wasn't for all.
Carrie Lee has the story now from the Nasdaq market site in New York -- hey, there, Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Betty, thank you.
Well, shopping crowds certainly hitting a record -- that's what a lot of people are saying -- for the post-Thanksgiving shopping kickoff for Christmas. According to ShopperTrak, which tallies 30,000 outlets, retail sales jumped nearly 11 percent on Friday. Of course, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. And that's up 11 percent from a year ago, to hit a total of $8 billion. And some analysts think this is a very good start to a sign that holiday shopping will remain strong throughout the season.
Now, there were a couple of exceptions. Wal-Mart saw such disappointing holiday sales on Friday that on Saturday it slashed its own projected sales growth for November. Also, J.C. Penney and Sears both cautious about their holiday seasons. But overall it looks like it was a pretty robust couple of days for shoppers and overall the mood is pretty upbeat as far as Wall Street analysts are concerned and about these companies' sales.
I have to tell you, also, looking at stock futures this morning, we are expecting a solid open for Wall Street here at 9:30 a.m. Futures looking very strong. One stock to watch, IBM. Big Blue, a lot of people call it. They're coming out with a new chip designed to compete with intel, IBM doing this with Toshiba and Sony. The new chip is going to be used in high definition televisions and even Sony's PlayStation video game system. They're going to start rolling this out in 2006. So IBM one stock to watch today -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Very interesting. Those high def televisions are in big demand these days.
LEE: That's right, and you can bet a lot of people are buying them for Christmas, too, I'm sure.
NGUYEN: I want one. So put that on your list for me, OK, Carrie?
LEE: There you go.
NGUYEN: All right, thanks.
Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market site.
LEE: OK.
NGUYEN: Well, your news, money, weather and sports.
The time right now is 6:14.
Here's what's all new this morning.
NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol is one of three people hurt in the crash of a private jet in southwestern Colorado. Two people were killed in that crash. One of Ebersol's sons was also injured. KUSA Television in Denver reports another son is still missing.
Iran says it now has a final agreement with Britain, France and Germany to fully suspend uranium enrichment. The deal could avert U.N. sanctions. Enriched uranium is a necessary ingredient of nuclear weapons.
Not to money. Crude oil futures are slightly lower this morning, at $49.30 a barrel. But there is concern about heating oil inventories. The tanks are down 200,000 barrels from this time last year.
In culture, actress Julia Roberts has given birth to twins, Hazel Patricia Moder and Phinnaeus Walter Moder. Interesting name there. Roberts is married to cinematographer Danny Moder. Mother, daughter and son are all reported to be doing just great.
In sports, the Philadelphia Eagles win a fourth straight NFC East title after thumping Eli Manning and the New York Giants 27-6 on Sunday. The Eagles are only the third team to win a division title by the eleventh game.
And I know Rob Marciano is not too happy about his Giants.
MARCIANO: Well, they've got a rookie quarterback, you know? What are you going to do?
NGUYEN: What can you do?
MARCIANO: Congratulations to the Eagles and their defense is tough, as well.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: The ongoing election crisis in Ukraine -- it's happening half a world away, but a lot of American voters might be able to relate.
It's a timely issue for the latest edition of "Time" magazine.
"Time" correspondent Viveca Novak joins us now from Washington to talk about this.
Good morning to you.
VIVECA NOVAK, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning.
NGUYEN: Well, a lot of people in Ukraine have really made their voices heard. We've seen the protests. I want to talk about one woman in particular. She was providing the sign language during a live broadcast of the election results. Tell us what's happening there.
NOVAK: Well, this was last Thursday when the announcer on the official state television station was announcing that the central election commission had declared that Prime Minister Yanukovych was the winner, would be the new president. And she, down in the corner, was interpreting for the deaf. She was doing the sign language. And she said, "No, no, don't believe them. Viktor Yushchenko is our president."
And it was, it was a quite dramatic, you know, understood by not very many people at the time...
NGUYEN: So she wasn't saying what was being said at all in that sign language? She was really putting out her own opinion?
NOVAK: That's exactly right, or what she thought was the truth.
NGUYEN: Well, we're looking at live pictures right now of all the protesters still in the streets. They've been there for days in the cold weather.
Are you a little surprised by how many young people have come out to raise their voices in this election?
NOVAK: Well, this is -- this has largely been led by young people. It is quite surprising, particularly when you think in this country, there was such, you know, in this last election, there was such a targeting of youth to try to get them to the polls because it's so difficult normally. And even this year was not that great, frankly.
But over there, it is led by young people, the movement to have new elections, and there are tens, hundreds of thousands of people out in the driving snow and bitter cold. It's almost difficult to imagine anything like that happening here. But it's very moving.
NGUYEN: Talking about something like that happening here and how difficult it is to imagine, there are some similarities, though, because the supreme court in the Ukraine is taking this issue now in its hands. It kind of brings back some memories from Election 2000, doesn't it?
NOVAK: Yes, it does. Yes, it does. The supreme court today, I believe, is expected to issue an opinion on whether there should be new elections or not. The supreme court has the final word, as it did here in 2000. And if there are new elections, then, you know, we could see some very serious consequences, including the split of the nation of Ukraine, because the Viktor Yanukovych's supporters in the eastern part of the country are threatening to split off. And that's where a lot of the industry is, that's were a lot of the resources are. And that's -- it also has the backing of the Russians at this point.
So it's a very interesting sort of tricky diplomatic situation for the rest of the world.
NGUYEN: And if that happens, that changes this game altogether.
NOVAK: Yes, it does.
NGUYEN: Viveca Novak with "Time" magazine.
Thanks for your insight today.
NOVAK: Good to be with you.
NGUYEN: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, right now, on this computer right here, somebody, or, rather, something is watching where I'm surfing. It's called spyware.
Technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg explains what it means to you and your computer.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You may not know much about spyware, but let's start with something you probably know way too much about, those pesky pop up ads. (voice-over): The popup ad for the X10 camera -- remember that? It was among the very first pop up ads to really sweep the Web. For a while there in 2001, it popped up again and again and again.
(on camera): Back then, such ads were pretty new. But to help illustrate how things have changed, imagine that this tennis racket is like the cursor or the mouse on your screen and you're trying to close down those pop up ads. Well, initially, there was sort of a slow, steady stream -- annoying, but still manageable. Then, along came something called spyware, little software programs that would install themselves on your computer. And pretty soon that slow, steady stream turned into a raging flood, a torrent, if you will, of pop up ads popping up faster than you can close them down. A little help?
(voice-over): And that's no coincidence. Most spyware is adware, as in advertisements, pus designed to force you to click on them. But other versions of spyware actually track you around the Web, reporting your movements back to third parties. Some spyware even records everything you type, including sensitive information.
How does this stuff get on your computer in the first place?
Well, you get it just by surfing the Web. When you visit certain sites, spyware programs insert themselves on your machine.
(on camera): So how do you know if you've got it? Well, the truth is there's no easy way to know. Look around on your desktop and you're not going to find an icon for spyware. That's because the people who make spyware don't want you to know that it's there.
(voice-over): One big tip-off that your machine has been infected is it'll start to run slower, freeze up or even crash frequently. A recent study found that nine out of 10 computers connected to the Internet have been compromised with spyware lots of times. Dozens of different spyware programs are running all at the same time.
We sat down with Mark Rasch, a lawyer and computer security expert with the company Solutionary, to find out more.
(on camera): Now, spyware, beyond just providing all of these pop up ads, you're saying that it collects information, it collects what I am typing? What do they then do with that information?
MARK RASCH, SOLUTIONARY, INC.: What we've created with the Internet is this whole market economy in personal information. It's very important for me to know what are you looking at, what are you buying, what are you not buying, what time of day are you surfing, who are you. So there's a whole marketplace for information. And so what that spyware is trying to do is collect that information and the people who are purveying it trying to sell it.
SIEBERG (on camera): Actually, we've been tracked online since the early days of the Web through something called a cookie. Most company Web sites use them. Here's how they work. When you visit Company X's Web site, a small file gets placed on your computer called a cookie, which tracks your movement on that particular Web site and remembers things like the links you clicked on and how long you were there.
Now, once you leave that Web site, the cookie stays on your computer. But it doesn't report back on where else you go on the Web.
Not so with spyware. It can follow you anywhere.
RASCH: So here we have a computer that's acting very sluggish and we don't know why.
SIEBERG (voice-over): We turned off the spyware filter on a computer in our office then we ran some spyware scanning software to see what it picked up.
RASCH: So we'll run one of the programs here and see how many copies of spyware we've got on this machine.
SIEBERG: How many would you guess are on there?
RASCH: I would guess if it's been running for about a day and a half, I would guess probably around a thousand.
SIEBERG: A thousand different programs or files that are all trying to generate ads and get your information?
RASCH: That's right. So, so far, in the last six or seven seconds, it's got 211 different objects recognized and 44 running processes.
SIEBERG: It's just overwhelming at this point.
RASCH: And so what people end up doing is they end up buying new computers that they don't need, simply because their old computers are just filled with this gunk.
SIEBERG: All right, so you've heard what spyware can do to you. But what can you do about spyware?
Well, the first thing you might want to consider is changing the Web browser you use. It turns out that most spyware programs can only run on Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
Now, beyond that, you're going to have to roll up your sleeves and get some spyware blocking or scanning programs. There are plenty of them out there, including Adware, Spy Box, Spy Sweeper. Also, companies like Norton and McAfee have spyware upgrades for their anti- virus software. There are lots to choose from. You're just going to have to search around a little. The bottom line is whichever you choose, keep it updated and run it regularly because spyware is likely here for the long haul.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SIEBERG: Yes, unfortunately it is likely here for the long haul. This year Congress started to take notice, though. Two bills prohibiting spyware have passed through the House, but stalled in the Senate. They would levy fines or even jail time against somebody who hijacks a person's Internet use or steals information. But there will almost certainly be enforcement issues and it likely won't solve the whole problem. You can just look at last year's Canned Spam Act and you still have spam.
NGUYEN: Yes.
SIEBERG: For now it's going to be up to you. Yes, you probably still have spam.
Download an anti-spyware program and scan your computer. I promise you that it won't take long. And you'll be amazed and probably unnerved at what you might find.
NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about this blocking software.
SIEBERG: Yes.
NGUYEN: Does it keep those pus from coming up in the future or does it just fix the problem that you already have with the spyware?
SIEBERG: A little bit of both. With the ones that you get for free, it will at least clean out your computer, which is the first thing that you need to do. Beyond that, you generally have to pay for the ones that will protect you and keep the spyware filtered out. But you do have to be on top of it and updated all the time.
NGUYEN: All right, and what do you have coming up tomorrow for us?
SIEBERG: Tomorrow in our five part privacy series we're going to be talking about biometrics. Now, what does that mean? Well, what about paying for your groceries with your finger or getting through airport security with your iris? It's all part of this scary and convenient world of biometrics and we'll look a little closer at it.
NGUYEN: That is very interesting.
SIEBERG: Yes.
NGUYEN: All right, Daniel Sieberg, thanks for that information today.
SIEBERG: Thank you, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, holdups and holdouts on the intelligence reform bill. Ahead, we'll look at the chances for a resolution before Congress heads home for the holidays.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired November 29, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: A cold reception -- President Bush could get one when he visits his neighbor to the north. We'll explain in just a few minutes. And beware of spyware. How to keep your computer safe from prying eyes.
Also, it's a shopping list you probably can't afford, but we'll give you a taste anyway.
It's Monday, November 29, and you're watching DAYBREAK.
Well, good morning, everyone.
Thanks for waking up with us on this Monday morning.
I'm Betty Nguyen in for Carol Costello.
Let's check the headlines.
NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol and a son are hospitalized this morning after their chartered plane crashed in Colorado. Rescuers are looking for another son. The pilot and co-pilot were killed in the crash about 185 miles southwest of Denver. We will get a live report from the scene in just two minutes.
The U.S. Supreme Court hands down rulings and hears arguments today. First on the agenda, a test of medical marijuana laws. Arguments begin at 10:00 Eastern.
Spain's former prime minister is defending his government's handling of the Madrid train bombings last March. Jose Maria Aznar is testifying before a panel investigating the bombings that killed almost 200 people.
In northwest China, 141 coal miners remain trapped following a gas explosion that killed at least 25 workers. One hundred twenty- seven miners escaped the mine after Sunday's explosion. China's state run news agency quotes rescuers who say the chances for survival are slim.
Well, it is a Monday morning after a holiday weekend and -- Rob, how is the weather looking out there?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Not too shabby, but a little slice of the middle part of the country, Betty, is kind of a mess.
(WEATHER REPORT) NGUYEN: In the meantime, we want to get more now on the deadly plane crash that NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol survived, along with one of his sons. Rescuers are hoping to find another son this morning.
And our Sean Callebs joins us live from Montrose, Colorado with an update -- good morning, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.
Let me bring you up to date on the conditions down here. It's been snowing throughout much of Colorado for the past 48 hours or so. In some places they've had as much as three feet. We know the FAA and members of the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to be in Montrose later this morning to begin the initial investigation.
Certainly they will have a starting point. They will look at the weather. They will look at the maintenance of this aircraft, both recently and how it has been in the past.
As near as we can tell, this is an aircraft that was developed in the '70s, built in the early '80s. They stopped production of it in about 1983.
Now, apparently yesterday around 10:00 local time, the plane taking off with Dick Ebersol, NBC Sports chief, and his two sons, Charles and Teddy. And then something terribly -- went terribly wrong somewhere during the takeoff. The plane apparently ran through the end of the runway. Then eyewitnesses said it exploded in flames.
Now, the pilot and co-pilot were killed, and, also, when it broke apart, the seat carrying Teddy Ebersol apparently was ripped free and that is what investigators have been looking for for some time now.
They combed the area with a helicopter and on foot yesterday, trying to find any sign of it. Now, Ebersol and his son Charles, who is a college student at Notre Dame, are at a local hospital. Conflicting reports on how seriously they are injured. But one eyewitness said they were clearly in a state of shock when they were able to leave the aircraft yesterday -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Sean, let's talk about the search for 14-year-old Teddy, especially in the conditions right now.
What's the possibility of survival in snow like that?
CALLEBS: It is freezing out here. I mean it is very cold. It's not single digits, but it has to be in the teens. The snow has been blowing all night. As you said, it's about 185 miles southwest of Denver. That's probably as the crow flies. But getting here is very difficult. You have to go down to Grand Junction then down another 70 miles. So it's probably closer to 300 miles as you drive.
It is very much off the beaten path, so very difficult to say if -- it would be very difficult for anybody to survive these conditions, especially after a crash. This certainly has to be a heart wrenching moment for the Ebersol family.
NGUYEN: Absolutely, but a search is under way.
CNN's Sean Callebs joining us live with an update this morning.
Thank you, Sean.
Two powerful Republican opponents of an intelligence bill aren't backing down despite pressure from both political parties. An overhaul of the nation's intelligence services was one of the main recommendations of the panel that investigated the September 11 terrorist attacks.
House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner wants the bill to deal with illegal immigration. But some lawmakers say action needs to be taken before the next Congress convenes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: It's up to the president now. I mean, we've got a week to try to bring this bill to a vote and I think the president clearly wants it. And I can't believe that the speaker, who also is for the bill and worked very hard for the compromise agreement we came up with, is not going to let the roll be called.
REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R), WISCONSIN: What good is reorganizing intelligence if we don't have homeland security? Eighty- five percent of the American public wants to see immigration reform for our own protection and it's the senators that are ignoring that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now, the bill would create a national intelligence director and a national counter-terrorism center.
Confirmation hearings for Condoleezza Rice won't take place until Congress returns in January. That is according to Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He says the White House urged the delay, though he didn't say why. President Bush has nominated Rice to succeed Colin Powell as secretary of state.
Rice will certainly have her work cut out for her as the nation's top diplomat. One thing she may work on is trying to improve her boss' image abroad.
As our senior political correspondent, Bill Schneider, reports, that she just might have her work cut out for her in that area.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): In 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon went to Venezuela and was confronted with rampaging protesters. This month, President Bush went to Chile and found the same thing. The ugly American syndrome is back. The rest of the world just doesn't get President Bush, not even America's closest ally, the British. Look at the London newspaper headlines after Bush won reelection -- "How Can 59 Million People Be so Dumb?" "Oh, God."
Polls taken in 23 countries this fall found Kerry favored over Bush in 22 of them, usually by overwhelming margins. Bush was narrowly ahead in Poland.
Next week, president Bush will be making an official visit to Canada, a country that's supposed to understand the U.S.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES: I'm looking forward to bringing the greetings of my great country to your great country.
SCHNEIDER: But do they?
PAUL MARTIN, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I think that it's -- I think we've got a lot of, you know, a lot of issues to discuss in terms of North America, and also in terms of the world.
SCHNEIDER: Two-thirds of Canadians say their opinion of the U.S. has worsened over the past four years. Two years ago, a top aide to former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien resigned after she was overheard calling President Bush a moron. Chretien was forced to state that President Bush is ..".a friend of mine. He's not a moron at all." This year, Canadian member of parliament Carolyn Parrish had this to say about President Bush's missile defense plan.
CAROLYN PARRISH, CANADIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: We are not joining the coalition of the idiots.
SCHNEIDER: This month, Parrish was shown on the news stomping on a George W. Bush action figure.
PARRISH: Cut it out.
SCHNEIDER: Prime Minister Paul Martin threw her out of Liberal Party caucus.
The U.S.-Canada relationship clearly needs repair. What kind of reception might President Bush get in Ottawa? President Ronald Reagan addressed the parliament there in 1987. He got heckled.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Nicaragua, we see such a campaign on our own shores threatening -- is there an echo in here?
SCHNEIDER: Some Canadian political activists are debating whether President Bush could be indicted under Canada's War Crimes Act. If so, the president could be facing arrest the minute he sets foot on Canadian soil.
(on camera): What's dividing the United States from the rest of the world and reviving the ugly American syndrome? The same thing that's dividing Americans at home: Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, there were apparently more than just protests in the works when President Bush went to Colombia last week. The country's defense chief now says leftist rebel leaders wanted to assassinate the U.S. president during his brief visit and they even told their fighters to try to kill him. But there is no evidence the rebels actually tried to organize an attack.
We want to do some Monday morning quarterbacking on this first big holiday weekend. Holiday shoppers ring in cash registers all across the country. Carrie Lee has some numbers for us in just four minutes from now.
Shades of four years ago -- an appeal of Ukraine's presidential election goes to the supreme court. The "Time" magazine correspondent on that balloting in seven minutes.
And beware of spyware. We will tell you how to keep your computer safe from prying eyes in 13 minutes.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this November 29.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The song says it all. We're talking about money today.
Time now for a little business news.
The parking lots were packed, the mall traffic was slow. It all sounds like a nice kickoff to the holiday season for retailers. But it wasn't for all.
Carrie Lee has the story now from the Nasdaq market site in New York -- hey, there, Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Betty, thank you.
Well, shopping crowds certainly hitting a record -- that's what a lot of people are saying -- for the post-Thanksgiving shopping kickoff for Christmas. According to ShopperTrak, which tallies 30,000 outlets, retail sales jumped nearly 11 percent on Friday. Of course, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. And that's up 11 percent from a year ago, to hit a total of $8 billion. And some analysts think this is a very good start to a sign that holiday shopping will remain strong throughout the season.
Now, there were a couple of exceptions. Wal-Mart saw such disappointing holiday sales on Friday that on Saturday it slashed its own projected sales growth for November. Also, J.C. Penney and Sears both cautious about their holiday seasons. But overall it looks like it was a pretty robust couple of days for shoppers and overall the mood is pretty upbeat as far as Wall Street analysts are concerned and about these companies' sales.
I have to tell you, also, looking at stock futures this morning, we are expecting a solid open for Wall Street here at 9:30 a.m. Futures looking very strong. One stock to watch, IBM. Big Blue, a lot of people call it. They're coming out with a new chip designed to compete with intel, IBM doing this with Toshiba and Sony. The new chip is going to be used in high definition televisions and even Sony's PlayStation video game system. They're going to start rolling this out in 2006. So IBM one stock to watch today -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Very interesting. Those high def televisions are in big demand these days.
LEE: That's right, and you can bet a lot of people are buying them for Christmas, too, I'm sure.
NGUYEN: I want one. So put that on your list for me, OK, Carrie?
LEE: There you go.
NGUYEN: All right, thanks.
Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market site.
LEE: OK.
NGUYEN: Well, your news, money, weather and sports.
The time right now is 6:14.
Here's what's all new this morning.
NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol is one of three people hurt in the crash of a private jet in southwestern Colorado. Two people were killed in that crash. One of Ebersol's sons was also injured. KUSA Television in Denver reports another son is still missing.
Iran says it now has a final agreement with Britain, France and Germany to fully suspend uranium enrichment. The deal could avert U.N. sanctions. Enriched uranium is a necessary ingredient of nuclear weapons.
Not to money. Crude oil futures are slightly lower this morning, at $49.30 a barrel. But there is concern about heating oil inventories. The tanks are down 200,000 barrels from this time last year.
In culture, actress Julia Roberts has given birth to twins, Hazel Patricia Moder and Phinnaeus Walter Moder. Interesting name there. Roberts is married to cinematographer Danny Moder. Mother, daughter and son are all reported to be doing just great.
In sports, the Philadelphia Eagles win a fourth straight NFC East title after thumping Eli Manning and the New York Giants 27-6 on Sunday. The Eagles are only the third team to win a division title by the eleventh game.
And I know Rob Marciano is not too happy about his Giants.
MARCIANO: Well, they've got a rookie quarterback, you know? What are you going to do?
NGUYEN: What can you do?
MARCIANO: Congratulations to the Eagles and their defense is tough, as well.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: The ongoing election crisis in Ukraine -- it's happening half a world away, but a lot of American voters might be able to relate.
It's a timely issue for the latest edition of "Time" magazine.
"Time" correspondent Viveca Novak joins us now from Washington to talk about this.
Good morning to you.
VIVECA NOVAK, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning.
NGUYEN: Well, a lot of people in Ukraine have really made their voices heard. We've seen the protests. I want to talk about one woman in particular. She was providing the sign language during a live broadcast of the election results. Tell us what's happening there.
NOVAK: Well, this was last Thursday when the announcer on the official state television station was announcing that the central election commission had declared that Prime Minister Yanukovych was the winner, would be the new president. And she, down in the corner, was interpreting for the deaf. She was doing the sign language. And she said, "No, no, don't believe them. Viktor Yushchenko is our president."
And it was, it was a quite dramatic, you know, understood by not very many people at the time...
NGUYEN: So she wasn't saying what was being said at all in that sign language? She was really putting out her own opinion?
NOVAK: That's exactly right, or what she thought was the truth.
NGUYEN: Well, we're looking at live pictures right now of all the protesters still in the streets. They've been there for days in the cold weather.
Are you a little surprised by how many young people have come out to raise their voices in this election?
NOVAK: Well, this is -- this has largely been led by young people. It is quite surprising, particularly when you think in this country, there was such, you know, in this last election, there was such a targeting of youth to try to get them to the polls because it's so difficult normally. And even this year was not that great, frankly.
But over there, it is led by young people, the movement to have new elections, and there are tens, hundreds of thousands of people out in the driving snow and bitter cold. It's almost difficult to imagine anything like that happening here. But it's very moving.
NGUYEN: Talking about something like that happening here and how difficult it is to imagine, there are some similarities, though, because the supreme court in the Ukraine is taking this issue now in its hands. It kind of brings back some memories from Election 2000, doesn't it?
NOVAK: Yes, it does. Yes, it does. The supreme court today, I believe, is expected to issue an opinion on whether there should be new elections or not. The supreme court has the final word, as it did here in 2000. And if there are new elections, then, you know, we could see some very serious consequences, including the split of the nation of Ukraine, because the Viktor Yanukovych's supporters in the eastern part of the country are threatening to split off. And that's where a lot of the industry is, that's were a lot of the resources are. And that's -- it also has the backing of the Russians at this point.
So it's a very interesting sort of tricky diplomatic situation for the rest of the world.
NGUYEN: And if that happens, that changes this game altogether.
NOVAK: Yes, it does.
NGUYEN: Viveca Novak with "Time" magazine.
Thanks for your insight today.
NOVAK: Good to be with you.
NGUYEN: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, right now, on this computer right here, somebody, or, rather, something is watching where I'm surfing. It's called spyware.
Technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg explains what it means to you and your computer.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You may not know much about spyware, but let's start with something you probably know way too much about, those pesky pop up ads. (voice-over): The popup ad for the X10 camera -- remember that? It was among the very first pop up ads to really sweep the Web. For a while there in 2001, it popped up again and again and again.
(on camera): Back then, such ads were pretty new. But to help illustrate how things have changed, imagine that this tennis racket is like the cursor or the mouse on your screen and you're trying to close down those pop up ads. Well, initially, there was sort of a slow, steady stream -- annoying, but still manageable. Then, along came something called spyware, little software programs that would install themselves on your computer. And pretty soon that slow, steady stream turned into a raging flood, a torrent, if you will, of pop up ads popping up faster than you can close them down. A little help?
(voice-over): And that's no coincidence. Most spyware is adware, as in advertisements, pus designed to force you to click on them. But other versions of spyware actually track you around the Web, reporting your movements back to third parties. Some spyware even records everything you type, including sensitive information.
How does this stuff get on your computer in the first place?
Well, you get it just by surfing the Web. When you visit certain sites, spyware programs insert themselves on your machine.
(on camera): So how do you know if you've got it? Well, the truth is there's no easy way to know. Look around on your desktop and you're not going to find an icon for spyware. That's because the people who make spyware don't want you to know that it's there.
(voice-over): One big tip-off that your machine has been infected is it'll start to run slower, freeze up or even crash frequently. A recent study found that nine out of 10 computers connected to the Internet have been compromised with spyware lots of times. Dozens of different spyware programs are running all at the same time.
We sat down with Mark Rasch, a lawyer and computer security expert with the company Solutionary, to find out more.
(on camera): Now, spyware, beyond just providing all of these pop up ads, you're saying that it collects information, it collects what I am typing? What do they then do with that information?
MARK RASCH, SOLUTIONARY, INC.: What we've created with the Internet is this whole market economy in personal information. It's very important for me to know what are you looking at, what are you buying, what are you not buying, what time of day are you surfing, who are you. So there's a whole marketplace for information. And so what that spyware is trying to do is collect that information and the people who are purveying it trying to sell it.
SIEBERG (on camera): Actually, we've been tracked online since the early days of the Web through something called a cookie. Most company Web sites use them. Here's how they work. When you visit Company X's Web site, a small file gets placed on your computer called a cookie, which tracks your movement on that particular Web site and remembers things like the links you clicked on and how long you were there.
Now, once you leave that Web site, the cookie stays on your computer. But it doesn't report back on where else you go on the Web.
Not so with spyware. It can follow you anywhere.
RASCH: So here we have a computer that's acting very sluggish and we don't know why.
SIEBERG (voice-over): We turned off the spyware filter on a computer in our office then we ran some spyware scanning software to see what it picked up.
RASCH: So we'll run one of the programs here and see how many copies of spyware we've got on this machine.
SIEBERG: How many would you guess are on there?
RASCH: I would guess if it's been running for about a day and a half, I would guess probably around a thousand.
SIEBERG: A thousand different programs or files that are all trying to generate ads and get your information?
RASCH: That's right. So, so far, in the last six or seven seconds, it's got 211 different objects recognized and 44 running processes.
SIEBERG: It's just overwhelming at this point.
RASCH: And so what people end up doing is they end up buying new computers that they don't need, simply because their old computers are just filled with this gunk.
SIEBERG: All right, so you've heard what spyware can do to you. But what can you do about spyware?
Well, the first thing you might want to consider is changing the Web browser you use. It turns out that most spyware programs can only run on Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
Now, beyond that, you're going to have to roll up your sleeves and get some spyware blocking or scanning programs. There are plenty of them out there, including Adware, Spy Box, Spy Sweeper. Also, companies like Norton and McAfee have spyware upgrades for their anti- virus software. There are lots to choose from. You're just going to have to search around a little. The bottom line is whichever you choose, keep it updated and run it regularly because spyware is likely here for the long haul.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SIEBERG: Yes, unfortunately it is likely here for the long haul. This year Congress started to take notice, though. Two bills prohibiting spyware have passed through the House, but stalled in the Senate. They would levy fines or even jail time against somebody who hijacks a person's Internet use or steals information. But there will almost certainly be enforcement issues and it likely won't solve the whole problem. You can just look at last year's Canned Spam Act and you still have spam.
NGUYEN: Yes.
SIEBERG: For now it's going to be up to you. Yes, you probably still have spam.
Download an anti-spyware program and scan your computer. I promise you that it won't take long. And you'll be amazed and probably unnerved at what you might find.
NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about this blocking software.
SIEBERG: Yes.
NGUYEN: Does it keep those pus from coming up in the future or does it just fix the problem that you already have with the spyware?
SIEBERG: A little bit of both. With the ones that you get for free, it will at least clean out your computer, which is the first thing that you need to do. Beyond that, you generally have to pay for the ones that will protect you and keep the spyware filtered out. But you do have to be on top of it and updated all the time.
NGUYEN: All right, and what do you have coming up tomorrow for us?
SIEBERG: Tomorrow in our five part privacy series we're going to be talking about biometrics. Now, what does that mean? Well, what about paying for your groceries with your finger or getting through airport security with your iris? It's all part of this scary and convenient world of biometrics and we'll look a little closer at it.
NGUYEN: That is very interesting.
SIEBERG: Yes.
NGUYEN: All right, Daniel Sieberg, thanks for that information today.
SIEBERG: Thank you, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, holdups and holdouts on the intelligence reform bill. Ahead, we'll look at the chances for a resolution before Congress heads home for the holidays.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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