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Alleged 'Miami Herald' Gunman Arrested; Whites-Only Scholarship Creates Controversy; Former Spy Accuses Russian Government of Assassination; Harvard Teaches Happiness Class

Aired November 24, 2006 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm T.J. Holmes, in today for Don Lemon.

The SWAT teams stand down in Miami. An armed standoff ends peacefully. But we're still not clear why it started in the first place.

PHILLIPS: Revenge attacks force the death toll in Iraq even higher, one day after the country's deadliest round of violence so far.

And did the Kremlin slip a former spy a fatal dose? The dead man goes to his grave pointing a finger at the Russian president.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: The drama in Miami is over. Police there have arrested a man who walked into the "Miami Herald" building just before noon, supposedly carrying a machine gun, and demanding to see one of the editors.

CNN's John Zarrella joins us now from Miami with more.

John, what do you have for us?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Well, T.J., the police tape is down. All is clear here. It lasted about two-and-a-half hours.

What happened, according to Miami police, is this, that about noon this afternoon -- about noontime, this man, identified as Jose Varela, a freelance cartoonist with "The El Nuevo Herald" -- that's the Spanish-language version of "The Miami Herald" -- walked into the building, demanded to see the "El Nuevo Herald" executive editor, Humberto Castello.

He then went up to the sixth floor, where, again, he demanded to see Castello. And, at that point, he was brandishing, according to police, something that looked like a machine gun. The sixth floor was cleared out. The police came in.

The man never threatened anyone, said that he had no intention of harming anyone. Apparently, according to police, he was upset. He was angry, according to police, that his work, his cartoons, were being censored by "The Miami Herald."

Well, the standoff lasted about two-and-a-half hours. No shots were ever fired. No one was ever injured. Police were able to talk with him and get him to finally surrender peacefully at about 2:30 this afternoon.

So, again, the incident here is over. This freelance cartoonist is now in police custody. Now it's time to start sorting out the details, as to exactly what set him off, and why he decided to go into the "Miami Herald" building.

It's still unclear as well, T.J., if that gun that he had was actually a real gun. That is still another unanswered question -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, John Zarrella for us in Miami -- John, thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: Now to Iraq, and confirmation of a ghastly development -- we have been reporting witness accounts that Sunni worshipers were attacked today in Baghdad by Shiite militiamen and burned alive.

CNN is now able to confirm this appalling story on a day of violence that was, by any standard, just spinning out of control.

Let's get straight to Baghdad and CNN's Michael Ware -- Michael.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, we're really starting to get the full brunt of the Shia backlash, following yesterday's Thanksgiving Day car bombing massacre, in which at least 200 men, women, and children were killed, hundreds more wounded.

In the immediate aftermath, we saw mortars raining from Sunni City into surrounding neighborhoods -- today, even more horrific tales emerging from Shia-dominated neighborhoods that have small Sunni communities within them.

What we're hearing from these areas is just terrifying, that four mosques, for example, in one district alone have been attacked, two burned, two others hit with rocket-propelled grenades. We also have reports of Sunni mosques elsewhere in the city being hit.

We're hearing that Shia militiamen are preventing locals from fighting the fires at these mosques. We're hearing that Sunnis in these Shia-dominated areas have been driven from their homes by hand grenades and explosions from rocket-propelled grenades.

And we heard from Sunni eyewitnesses, now from an officer within the office of one of the vice presidents here in Iraq, that, indeed, perhaps seven Sunni worshipers were hauled from a mosque and set alight in the streets.

This very much is a bloody aftermath in what is a long sectarian war that is under way here. The military doesn't want to use the term civil war, but, when you have one suburb raining bombs on another, in response to a mass car bombing, it struggles one to find any other way of describing what is happening here.

PHILLIPS: Michael Ware, well put, live from Baghdad.

The latest explosion of that sectarian violence that Michael is talking about calls for a quick review of the Shiite and Sunni schools of Islam.

Here's the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): About one in every five people on the planet consider themselves Muslim. That's about 1. 2 billion.

But there are many divisions in the Muslim community, the largest being between Shiites and Sunnis. The majority of the world's Muslim population follows the Sunni branch. Only about 15 percent follow the Shiite branch. But, in some countries, the concentration of Shiites is larger. These nations are Bahrain, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Iraq.

Shiites historically believe that religious authority has been handed down from the Prophet Mohammed through bloodlines. When you hear the terms imam and ayatollah, these refer to Shiite religious leaders. Sunnis attach much less importance to their leaders, and much more importance on Muslim traditions.

There can be extremists in both branches of Islam. But Sunni extremists like Osama bin Laden have focused predominantly on the corruption of the religion, and specifically the negative influence of western culture.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now the other war, Afghanistan -- coalition forces killed seven suspected insurgents today in the south. A coalition fighter was wounded.

CNN's Barbara Starr is touring the country with U.S. CENTCOM Commander John Abizaid.

She filed this report from the U.S. base at Bagram.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Winter has already come to these mountains of Afghanistan. And the bitter cold means that, in some areas, attacks by the Taliban are dropping off, at least for now.

But the top commander is expressing his concerns about al Qaeda activity across the border in Pakistan. GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: ... say that the Pakistanis have done a great deal, especially in the -- in the areas away from the mountains, to get after al Qaeda, capture their operatives, and make it difficult for them to conduct operations. That having been said, there's no doubt that, in this region, there is a safe haven on the Pakistani side of the border that needs continued work, in cooperation with NATO forces.

STARR (on camera): Here in Afghanistan, commanders expect that 2006 will wind up with more than 100 suicide bomb attacks in this country, a tactic that had not been seen until recent years. Indeed, commanders here tell us that, in the last three months, they have broken up six suicide bomb cells here in Afghanistan.

The bombs that they are seeing here are still fairly rudimentary, though some of them have grown to be larger in size than they have seen in the past.

Still, as commanders say the attacks are dropping off with the winter weather, they are already preparing to see a spring offensive by the Taliban.

Barbara Starr, CNN, Bagram, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So, just browsing today? You won't be the only one. While you're looking for sales or salespeople or Tickle Me Elmo, maybe just a place to sit down, cameras likely will be looking at you. And what they could see, well, might make your future trips to the mall a little more productive.

CNN's Ali Velshi has the eye-opening details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Smile. You're on consumer behavior camera. No surprise that you will likely be videotaped while holiday shopping, but it's not all for security. Some of it is for market research.

Retailers are tracking you to learn how you shop.

RAJEEV SHARMA, FOUNDER & CEO, VIDEOMINING CORPORATION: Where people -- shoppers are spending time, what is grabbing their attention. Are they having to wait too long for customer service at different points?

VELSHI: Consumer behavior analysis, it's part observation, part science, part technology, and a bit of psychology.

Rajeev Sharma's software turns images of customers working their way through stores into hard data, allowing retailers to take fast action if things aren't working out.

SHARMA: You can move around the merchandise to position the products, so that it -- it -- it creates the right sequence and right products in front of the right people at the right time.

VELSHI: With the holiday shopping crunch, retailers know their customers have short fuses. And crowd hassles don't help.

SHARMA: And you can create these kind of maps, the hot spots and the cold spots. These are extremely important, because there is no number. By just looking at this color-coded map, you can see which portion of the store is receiving more attention.

VELSHI: And that helps retailers decide where to place display units.

SHARMA: After browsing, decided to interact with it, as in read labels or, you know, experience it more. And, finally, of course, what every product and retailer -- product manufacturer and retailer want, that you drop into your basket.

VELSHI: But it's not all creative marketing. Traffic jams at checkout are often the biggest problem.

SHARMA: What this shows is a -- is a line forming, and something that we are very familiar with in this season.

VELSHI: Best Buy is using its own research to try to shorten those lines.

BRIAN DUNN, PRESIDENT & COO, BEST BUY: We now deploy a queuing system in our stores, where all customers, they wait in a queue, and we have somebody there directing traffic, so you don't get caught in the wrong line, which drives people crazy.

VELSHI: Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Divers, dogs, now the feds -- the FBI joins the hunt for two little boys missing in Minnesota. We will have details on that search straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: And a college scholarship with a twist -- it's for whites only. And it's promoting controversy at Boston University -- details straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, some of you shoppers out there got the sun shining down on you today.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: How long will that nice weather last?

Carrie Maginnis -- Karen Maginnis, rather, knows. She joins us from the CNN Weather Center to give us a little bird's-eye view.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Actually, everybody is looking pretty good, just about everybody.

We have got a few volume delays being reported at New York's JFK Airport. Remember yesterday, when he had that big storm system that really walloped the Northeast? Well, now it's moved well out into the Atlantic.

But we have got a storm system across the Pacific Northwest, just to give you a closer view. Some of those higher elevations in the Cascades could see up to 16 inches of snowfall.

If you're headed on over towards Glacier Park, well, they are looking for several feet of snowfall there as well. But the rain keeps coming on in with these back-to-back storm systems. It looks like, even as we go through the holiday weekend, we will see one after right the other just kind of impact this area.

All right, what about the rainfall totals that we did see in the previous 24 hours? Well, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, just under two inches -- Newark saw just over an inch-and-a-quarter of rainfall. But we saw lots of areas, all the way from North Carolina, heavy downpours over the last two to three days. It's a very slow-moving weather system.

In the meantime, take a look, from Dallas all the way up to Chicago, temperatures from the 50s into the 70s. Now, this time of year, Chicago, they should be running about 43 degrees or so. So, this is actually bonus weather for this time of year -- even in Minneapolis, 54 degrees right now.

Earlier, we had some minor delays in and out of LAX, because of some of the fog. But, across the Southeast, we're looking at nothing but sunshine, clear skies. Saturday looks pretty good, as high pressure controls the Eastern Seaboard. And into the northern tier, we could see some snow flurries, deteriorating weather late in the day on Sunday around Chicago -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Karen, thank you so much.

And, Of course, CNN is your holiday travel headquarters. Just go to CNN.com/holidaytravel, a special page with everything from travel tips to top destinations. And we will constantly update the site throughout the holiday travel season.

PHILLIPS: Well, could the AIDS crisis spur a shift in the Catholic Church? Insiders say the pope may ease the ban on condoms. We're watching the Vatican -- straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie spent their Thanksgiving in an unconventional manner. We are going to tell you where they were, what they were doing, and give you a preview of the big holiday movies -- when CNN NEWSROOM return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC) HOLMES: OK. My bad. I'm not as familiar with Seal as some, but you will recognize that song...

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: ... as belonging to Seal, because we are talking about a baby seal in this next segment, as long as...

PHILLIPS: It involves Brangelina.

HOLMES: Brangelina.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Well, we got Brangelina we're going to talk about, too, I'm more interested in, also holiday movies.

All of this stuff is in today's "Entertainment Spotlight."

And "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT"'S Brooke Anderson is here with us now.

Hello, ma'am.

ANDERSON: Hello, T.J.

We are going to start with Brangelina.

HOLMES: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Then we will get to Seal.

HOLMES: OK.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: Then we will get to those holiday movies -- a lot on the plate today.

First, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie didn't spin their Thanksgiving in the traditional way, you know, filling on turkey and stuffing, like most of us did. Instead, they spent the holiday in Vietnam. The Hollywood power couple was seen cruising through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City yesterday on a motorbike. Pitt told the local press they were enjoying their brief visit to the city.

Now, Brangelina arrived there after the day after a surprise visit to neighboring Cambodian, where they toured a genocide museum and met with officials to discuss a forest conservation project.

You know, Jolie has a special connection to Cambodia. It's the homeland of her adopted son, Maddox.

Speaking of celebrity kids, model Heidi Klum and singer Seal are the proud parents of a new baby. Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo Samuel was born Wednesday in Los Angeles. This is the couple's second child together. Son Henry Guenther Ademola Dashtu Samuel is 1-year-old. And Klum has a 2-year-old daughter, Leni, from a previous relationship.

So, T.J., they have a history of very long, but I'm sure very meaningful names for their children.

HOLMES: OK. I hope I'm not putting you too much on the spot, but is there any way you can say that name of that child to me again?

ANDERSON: You know, I can give it a try.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo Samuel. How's that?

HOLMES: Very nice.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: You could have made up four of those names, and I wouldn't have known, anyway.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: You wouldn't have known the difference.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: But we got to talk holiday movies, as well, the holidays, of course, here, full swing now.

So, what do we got on the plate?

ANDERSON: We have a lot on the plate, a lot of highly anticipated films, T.J., "Dreamgirls" among them. It's adapted from the hit Broadway musical. And it stars Beyonce, and Eddie Murphy, and Jamie Foxx. The films opens December 21. It's loosely based on the rise of singing trio the Supremes.

"Dreamgirls" may boast a high-powered cast, which I just mentioned, but it's former "American Idol" finalist Jennifer Hudson who is getting rave reviews and Oscar buzz for the film. Some say her performance could make her a superstar in her own right.

All right, Mel Gibson's historical thriller "Apocalypto" releases December 8. Now, a movie in Mayan dialect with subtitles is a hard sell to begin with, right? But when Gibson got into trouble this summer with his drunk-driving arrest and the subsequent anti-Semitic tirade, it looked like the movie had an even tougher mountain to climb.

But critics who have seen it say it's actually quite good. The film is set in ancient Mayan civilization, centers on a villager who is on the run from bloodthirsty tribal rulers -- a lot of violence in this film. Despite the recent controversy surrounding Gibson, Disney still has him out there, front and center, promoting the movie.

The company believes that Gibson is still the main draw for this film. And "Rolling Stone" gave it a really positive review -- listen to this -- saying that Gibson has made a film of "blunt provocation and bruising beauty" -- and some other films to look forward to, "Blood Diamond," "Pursuit of Happiness," and also "The Nativity Story," which has its premiere this weekend at the Vatican.

All right, coming up tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: caught on tape -- some of the most outrageous things ever caught on tape, and how some Hollywood stars almost wish the cameras had been turned off.

Join us at 11:00 Eastern, 8:00 Pacific, on CNN Headline Prime -- T.J.

HOLMES: We sure will.

And "Dreamgirls," all you had to do was say Beyonce is in it, and stop talking.

ANDERSON: And you're there.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: That would have been fine.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Thank you so much, Brooke.

ANDERSON: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, condoms and Catholics -- for Catholics? With the Vatican's blessing? A proposal is said to be circulating that would sanction condoms for married couples only, and only when one partner is HIV-positive.

The goal, then, would be AIDS prevention, not contraception, artificial forms of which the Catholic Church firmly opposes. Even this limited change has to be approved by the Vatican's theology arm, and, of course, by the pope himself. And that won't happen soon.

Dying lips utter damning accusations. A former Russian spy goes to his grave blaming Russia's President Putin all the way. The radioactive story is next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Deathbed accusations, presidential denials -- Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, is denying he had anything to do with the apparent poisoning of a former KGB spy in London.

Alexander Litvinenko was a fierce Kremlin critic who died last night, but not before naming Putin as his killer.

Today, Putin's response:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I deplore this. And I would extend my condolences to the family of Mr. Litvinenko.

However, as far as I understand the medical statement of British physicians, she doesn't say that this was a result of violence, or this is not a violent death. So, there is no grounds for speculations of this kind.

Well, I hope that British authorities would not contribute to instigation of political scandals. It has nothing to do with reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, that's the word from Russia.

The Brits, meantime, want to know whether the dead man's exposure to radiation may have put other people at risk.

A short time ago, Scotland Yard said traces of radioactive material have been found at Litvinenko's home, as well as the restaurant where he ate before he got sick.

CNN's Jim Boulden is following the story from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There had been a great deal of speculation over what substance transformed this former Russian spy from a healthy man to one who died painfully in a London hospital late Thursday.

On Friday afternoon, the speculation ended. British health authorities confirmed Alexander Litvinenko suffered from a heavy dose of highly toxic radiation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're here because what we have had is an unprecedented event in the U.K., that someone has apparently deliberately been poisoned with a type of radiation.

BOULDEN: Then, police confirmed the same radiation had been found at his London home, a local hotel, and a sushi restaurant in central London. After Litvinenko had met some Russians at the restaurant on November 1, he fell ill.

Friends and family of Litvinenko say they have no doubt he was a target of the Kremlin.

WALTER LITVINENKO, FATHER OF ALEXANDER LITVINENKO (through translator): This regime is a mortal danger to the world. Sasha fought this regime. He understood it. And he -- and this regime got him.

BOULDEN: The Kremlin denies any involvement in the death of its former spy. Alexander Litvinenko was a agent for the Kremlin, but turned away from the regime and defected to Britain. He had made serious allegations against President Vladimir Putin.

ALEX GOLDFARB, FRIEND OF ALEXANDER LITVINENKO: We know that the Russian regime has evolved into a kind of authoritarian dictatorship by now, with no checks and balances, with no civil society, with no bounds or accountability to the Russian secret services.

BOULDEN: One former KGB agent who also fled to Britain first assumed the Kremlin could not be involved.

OLEG GORDIEVSKY, FORMER KGB AGENT: I thought, no, the Russian authorities are intelligent enough not to commit assassination attempt on foreign soil, particularly a big country like Great Britain, because it's suicidal.

BOULDEN: The British police have said little about its ongoing investigation into the matter. They have yet to call it murder.

(on camera): Now that it has been confirmed that the former Russian spy was exposed to heavy radiation, it's no longer just a criminal case. The British Foreign Office says that it's taking his death as a very serious matter.

Jim Boulden, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, he got home safely after a year in Iraq, but where is he now?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody has heard from him, not me, not his friends, not his chain of commands, nobody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A soldier vanishes. His family fears the worst. We're on the story from the NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computer three decades ago, revolutionizing the computer industry and becoming very rich along the way.

STEVE WOZNIAK, FOUNDER, APPLE COMPUTER: Yes, it was way too much.

ROGERS: As his bank account grew, so did Wozniak's desire to do something else.

WOZNIAK: I had way, way more than you could ever use in life. And I wanted to go out early and just start doing some good things that make me feel good about myself.

ROGERS: Wozniak left his full-time job at Apple in the '80s and went back to college. He produced music festivals, funded a children's museum, and even underwrote the local ballet. He eventually focused his philanthropy on education, providing computers to schools.

Soon, he started teaching, and found giving his time more rewarding than giving money.

WOZNIAK: I like to do things hand-on. I didn't want to write classes and publish a book for 100,000 people, and -- what I wanted to do was touch 30 kids.

ROGERS: His philosophy in teaching, as well as life, is to have fun. This attitude, on display at a recent book signing for his new book, "iWoz," at New York's 92nd Street Y has won him a loyal following.

WOZNIAK: To John (ph) and Phyllis (ph).

ROGERS: He continues to give to charities, but says his resources aren't what they used to be.

WOZNIAK: What I have left gets smaller and smaller, because I give -- I wanted it to be smaller ranges.

ROGERS: Wozniak says he never wanted to be defined by wealth, which may be why he's had so much fun giving it away.

Jen Rogers, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The drama in Miami is over. Police there have arrested the man who walked into the Miami Herald building just before noon supposedly carrying a machine gun and demanding to see one of the editors. Reporter Rosh Lowe of affiliate WSVN has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSH LOWE, WSVN REPORTER: Well, we just confirmed through Miami police public information officer Delrose Moss (ph) that the suspect in this case is, in fact, in custody. We are told that it was not a violent end here, that he finally gave himself up. He's in custody.

Delrose has just left this media briefing site to get us more information, exactly how it went down. But, obviously, a very tense situation all morning along outside the Miami Herald building where we were told he was a freelance cartoonist for El Nuevo Herald. He was upset about censorship. Was able to get into the building with what witnesses called a machine gun. Was able to get up to the sixth floor. Obviously, Miami police were concerned so they evacuated the building. They were also concerned that there were open windows up there on the sixth floor and that is why they stopped traffic on the Venetian Causeway, stopped a lot of traffic here on North Bay Shore Drive.

But as of 2:25 this afternoon, Miami police say this situation has ended. That the suspect is, in fact, in custody.

You heard from Delrose Moss during that news briefing that they were very concerned about this, not only because of the open window situation but because it's a well-populated area. They wanted this to end peacefully. They wouldn't go into details about what tactics they, in fact, used, but, obviously, those tactics were successful.

As soon as we get more information from Delrose Moss who is getting that right now from the S.W.A.T. team members themselves, we'll get that information along to you. But the headline this half hour, the suspect who held all of downtown Miami in suspense for hours is, in fact, in custody -- Lynn.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: All right. Again, and we are just confirming, we're getting information again about really exactly what the weapon was that that suspect might have been carrying. We have just confirmed that, in fact, it was a real gun. There was some question about the security guard that did said he saw the man, only saw it quickly with the gun. Not exactly sure about that weapon, but now we are confirming that did, in fact, have a real weapon with him in that building -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All this morning and this afternoon we've been talking about the three Sunni mosques that were attacked in Baghdad in addition to the massive attack on a Shiite area yesterday 24 hours of violence, nonstop. The worse so far since this war has begun. It's a daily Shiite/Sunni revenge killings that we have been seeing in Baghdad alone. Thousands of bodies shot and tortured, many of them just dumped across the capital over the past year, all believed to be victims of sectarian violence.

The White House coming forward with a statement today. We just received it. This is coming from White House spokesman Scott Stanzel saying, "these ruthless acts of violence are deplorable. It's an outrage that these terrorists are targeting innocents in a brazen effort to topple a democratically elected government and it's not going to work. Securing Baghdad and gaining control of the violent situation will be a priority agenda item when President Bush meets with Prime Minister Maliki in just a few days."

And of course, we will be following that meeting and bring you all the details when those two leaders meet.

Now, the record may not stand long, but the U.N. tells us October was the deadliest month to date for Iraqi civilians. More than 3700 men and women and children lost their lives to the mind-boggling violence. There are faces behind those figures. CNN's Michael Ware reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An overcrowded morgue. This father pleads for help. "I came here," he says, "for my son." Just 17-years-old, Mohammed Al-Tamimi (ph) left his aunt's house almost two weeks ago, bound for home. He hasn't been seen since.

His increasingly dispirited father Ali cannot rest, trolling Baghdad's hospitals, jails, army barracks and morgues. It's his third visit to this one. "I've looked everywhere, but I can't find him," he says. "He's my son. I feel lost." He's far from alone. These faces each seeking someone dear fill Baghdad's central morgue.

More than 13,000 men, women and children have died in the past four months alone, according to the United Nations. Victims of insurgent violence and sectarian death squads.

And this sad place is swamped each morning, prompting a macabre efficiency. Viewing bodies is impossible in the crush, so a large video screen is installed with photographs of the dead scrolling slowly past. With many of the images still bloodied, barely recognizable, we agreed not to show the screen.

Inside, women hold worn photographs. As men peer at the screen, a wail rises up. While outside, by hastily made coffins, others grieve. And even more wait.

At home, Ali's wife Rahma, can't help but hold a mother's hope her boy will return.

RAHMA AL-JOUBORI, MOTHER OF MISSING SON (through translator): My heart is telling me that he's still alive. I just want him back. I have no other son except for Mohammed.

WARE: His grandfather, however, is sure he's dead. "He's gone," she sighs. But Rahma can't bear the thought.

AL-JOUBORI (through translator): I'm keeping my eyes on the gate of the house, waiting for him to push through the gate.

WARE: Ali would keep a similar vigil. But heavy with mourning, he's forced to return to driving his mini bus taxi. "I had to go back to work," he says. "It's very hard for me, but what can I do?"

All Rahma can do is pray.

Most of the disappeared die at the hands of death squads for the sake of their faith, a cruel torment for this family. Ali is a Shia, Rahma a Sunni. For them, the sectarian divide had meant nothing. Now, it's the source of their terrible lament.

"Before we didn't have the Sunni versus Shia thing," says Ali. "We were the same. Brothers, living together, playing, eating together. I don't know where all this came from, or where it will end."

Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: A U.S. soldier returns from Iraq two days later, he disappears. Army Corporal Jessiah Jameson was last seen at a bar near Fort Campbell, Kentucky far from his home in Washington State. So what happened? Here is a report from Darian Trotter from CNN affiliate WSMV.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN JAMESON, WIFE OF MISSING SOLDIER: Nobody has heard from him -- not me, not his friends, not his chain of command, nobody.

DARIAN TROTTER, WSMV REPORTER: Erin Jameson is trying to hold it together. She just flew into middle Tennessee from Washington state to leave the crew -- lead the crusade to find her missing husband.

JAMESON: I mean, I've got tons of different scenarios running through my mind of what could of happened to him.

TROTTER: Corporal Jessiah Jameson is a Ft. Campbell soldier last seen Thursday night at Kickers Country Club on Riverside Drive in Clarkesville. It is here where investigators said the 21-year-old was forcibly removed from the nightclub because he was visibly intoxicated. He was believed to have taken a taxi to the nearby Quality Inn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was never at the motel.

TROTTER: Clarkesville police investigators aren't sure what to make of his disappearance. The military has him listed absent without leave. He had just returned from a one-year tour of duty in Iraq. So police aren't sure if he simply needs time alone or if something serious has happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know. I mean, we're looking into every possible way of trying to find out just exactly what the situation is.

JAMESON: Just I know that something is not right and he wouldn't be gone voluntarily.

TROTTER: Right now, fear of the unknown is eating her up inside. She's keeping a brave face for their little one. They both want daddy home safe and soon.

JAMESON: Or let somebody know that he's okay and that he's alive out there somewhere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And again, that report from Darian Trotter of CNN affiliate WSMV in Nashville, Tennessee. Less than two weeks after Veterans Day, the nation's oldest veteran of World War I has passed away. This Veterans Day was more special than most for Ernest Pusey. He was awarded a Victory Medal by Jeb Bush having apparently overlooked for the honor when the war ended. Pusey was the only World War I vet in Florida. Nationwide nearly a dozen remain and he was thought to be the world's third oldest man. Ernest Pusey was 111 years old.

PHILLIPS: Well, divers dogs, and now the feds. The FBI joins the hunt for two little boys, missing in Minnesota. We'll have the details ahead on the search.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A desperate search and now a reward for two missing Minnesota boys. FBI is offering $20,000 dollars for information leading to the safe return of brothers age 2 and 4 who disappeared from their yard on the Red Lake Indian reservation on Wednesday. Searchers are using horses, bloodhounds, four-wheelers, and small planes to comb nearby woods. A dive team plans to check the lakes. It's not known whether the boys wandered off or were snatched.

HOLMES: The money's not much, but it's the thought that counts. And the thought, say critics of a whites only scholarship at Boston University has repugnant. CNN's Mary Snow reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The idea was to provoke controversy at Boston University, and that goal has been met. BU's College Republicans are sponsoring a scholarship for white students only. The aid is $250, a sum the college GOP will pay out themselves to make a point.

JOSEPH MROSZCYK, PRESIDENT, B.U. COLLEGE REPUBLICAN: We're really just trying to point out the absurdity of the whole notion of race-based scholarships, and we hope people will consider that and not write us off as racists or white supremacists or anything of that sort.

SNOW: But the way the group brought attention to the issue is under fire.

RONALD RICHARDSON, DIRECTOR, B.U. AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES: It is silly and it ha created divisiveness among some of the students who were annoyed at this. All the more reason for us to sit down and talk.

SNOW: The dean criticized the student group, saying their scholarship goes against the goal of increasing diversity at the school, where over 50 percent of the students are white. The Massachusetts GOP criticized it charter college group, calling their move "offensive," but the head of the College Republicans says he had to use what he calls guerrilla tactics.

MROSZCYK: The best way to get College Republicans out there and start a discussion is to do something controversial, to use satire and cause Republicans to use this across the country to break through the liberalism that's on campus, especially Boston University.

SNOW: But others say scholarships are not a political issue and there is a reason for affirmative action.

RICHARDSON: I think that I can understand their feelings, but I see no other way in order to redress problems that were caused by racial discrimination. Decades and decades of racial discrimination that followed upon centuries of slavery.

SNOW (on camera): One thing this whites-only scholarship idea has accomplished is dialogue. Professor Richardson of the African- American Studies Department is inviting College Republicans to come in and talk.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: I'm Allan Chernoff at the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island where the shoppers are out in force. We'll have an update on Black Friday shopping coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Red and green, those are the colors of Christmas. Black and blue, for shoppers really who just can't wait to get it started.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GROUP: Three, two, one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That's just -- that's silly. What are they going after?

PHILLIPS: I don't get it. Do not get it.

HOLMES: What are they -- yes, retailers love this stuff, though. You know, they're all about the red and the black and moving out the former into the latter with all the holiday sales. Today marks the traditional kickoff of the holiday shopping season and, as you can tell, it got a little nuts in some places.

They were shopping before the sun came up at this store in Vegas. Retailers call today Black Friday because holiday sales can determine whether stores operate at a profit or at a loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY STORCH, CEO, TOYS 'R' US: This would be one of the top five days of the year. It varies from year-to-year which one is the largest, but it's a very important day and it's good to get off to a good start.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, retailers are pulling out all the stops to get customers in the door. Here is our Ali Velshi. Of course, you know, he normally reports on the ups and downs of the stock market.

Well, today he is doing things like that, taking a break from the rigors of shopper watching at a mall outside New York and, as you can see, Christmas just brings out the kid and sometimes silliness in all of us.

PHILLIPS: I wonder if he got the brass ring?

Well, many folks have the day off. Not us, but don't get me started. What does that add up to? A trip to the mall, of course.

CNN senior Allan Chernoff is at the Roosevelt Field Mall just outside of New York City.

Hello, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, you know, "Consumer Reports" estimates that more than 60 million Americans are going to be out shopping today. It kind of feels like a big chunk of them are right here at the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island. Boy, we are packed here.

The mall has been open since 5:00 a.m.! Why would people come out so early? Well, perhaps to get some of these bargains that were advertised in the newspapers, some stores, 10, 20, 30, even 40 percent off. So some serious discounting going on right here at the beginning of the holiday shopping season. We found a few shoppers who have been doing some serious work here.

Chris, what do you have? What have you bought today?

CHRIS RASCIO, SHOPPER: We've picked up some stuff from Abercrombie, Swarovski, Macy's.

CHERNOFF: How long have you been out shopping?

RASCIO: Since about 11:00.

CHERNOFF: Now, Carly (ph), you're handling this OK? No problem?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it's OK but my hands hurt.

CHERNOFF: Your hands hurt? How about your feet?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're fine.

CHERNOFF: They're OK? OK. You may have to stop off at the car and drop some of these off.

RASCIO: I think so. I think so.

CHERNOFF: OK, well, it looks like you're doing fairly well. And a lot of people shopping very intensely today but, of course, there is a flipside to all of this, the male's perspective, and we do have one man over here, very, very patient.

You've been waiting here for how long?

JIM HOWEY, PATIENT HUSBAND: About three-and-a-half hours.

CHERNOFF: About three-and-a-half hours just relaxing here. Jim Howey has been relaxing on the bench over here waiting for?

HOWEY: For my daughter who is 13 years old, and her two girlfriends.

CHERNOFF: Your daughter and your wife as well. Now, when did they promise they would be back?

HOWEY: By 4:00.

CHERNOFF: You trust them to keep that promise?

HOWEY: Well, she's has got six minutes for me to know.

CHERNOFF: Six minutes. I would say that we are looking at right now at one of the most patient husbands and dads in the country. You're a heck of a guy.

HOWEY: Thank you very much.

CHERNOFF: Very good of you.

Of course, a lot of the other dads and husbands, they're out pounding the pavement here doing what they can to buy those gifts as quickly as they can -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Allan, I want to know what happens in six minutes. Do they get grounded?

HOLMES: They get left.

CHERNOFF: I guess that's a possibility, of course.

PHILLIPS: Allan Chernoff, you poor thing. All right. Now, but there is a serious side to all of this. It will be interesting to see if those discounts really make a dent on the economy. We'll follow up. Allan Chernoff, thanks so much.

More from the NEWSROOM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Kyra, all right, we're talking happiness now.

PHILLIPS: Don't we look real happy?

HOLMES: You do. Look at this woman. But you know what? That is true happiness. You didn't have to pay for that. You know, sometimes money can't buy you happiness.

PHILLIPS: That is true. Can you learn it? That's the question. CNN's Dan Lothian reports at Harvard that, yes, Harvard happiness is now a course.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the class Harvard students can't seem to get enough from.

PROF. TAL BEN-SHACHAR, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: We can learn gratitude as a way of life.

LOTHIAN: It's not a course on philosophy or law or engineering.

BEN-SHACHAR: It's a class that focuses on making people happier and we all want to be happier.

LOTHIAN: Tal Ben-Shachar is part professor, part motivational speaker, delivering spirited lectures in a course called positive psychology, a mix of serious research, pop culture and pop songs.

Every class starts with a tune. Today's theme -- change.

BEN-SHACHAR: Do it. Just do it. You can't make a change in theory.

JESSICA GLAZER, TEACHING ASSISTANT: We take our happiness for granted and that is why it's so important that we study it. So I think it just works to help them to apply the class outside of the classroom.

LOTHIAN (on camera): Eight hundred and fifty-six students pack into this theater twice a week to learn and laugh. With so many pressures in life to achieve -- better grades, better jobs, bigger raises -- sometimes, happiness gets lost in the rat race.

BEN-SHACHAR: What is actually important for sustained happiness is the internal, our perception of the world. For instance, how do we look at failure? Do we see it as a stumbling block or do we see it as a stepping don.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Sam Siner and Tiffany Niver are exploring those very questions.

SAM SINER, HARVARD FRESHMAN: It's telling us that it's not a bad thing to try to do what makes us happy because, ultimately, it will benefit ourselves and it will benefit everyone around us.

LOTHIAN: Students are encouraged to keep a gratitude journal to chronicle the positive things in their lives.

TIFFANY NIVER, HARVARD SOPHOMORE: You come out of this class, I think, with a little bit more idea of how you can apply it every day, whereas, when I'm learning intermediate macroeconomic theory, I don't see directly at this point in my life how I can apply that every day. LOTHIAN: Some call it self-help; others call it life-changing. Harvard grad Liz Petersen was headed for a career in law until the class opened her eyes with three simple questions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you find meaning in, what are you good at and what do you find pleasure in?

LOTHIAN: The answer sent her in a different direction.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Psychology and trying to help people be happier about their lives.

LOTHIAN: Perhaps a sign of the times that students have to be taught happiness in a classroom?

NIVER: I don't think college campuses as environments are less happy, I think it's because we can study something that makes us happy, as well as has huge impacts.

LOTHIAN: After all, where else can you find a course where something other than a good grade makes you really happy?

Dan Lothian, CNN, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Go ahead.

PHILLIPS: They will be happy when they pay off that Harvard education.

HOLMES: Yes, all right.

That's the NEWSROOM for today, folks.

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