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Fighter Jet Crashes in Iraq; Embattled Iraqi Prime Minister to Meet with Bush; Protesters Demand Answers in Shooting Death of Groom; Turks Protest Against Pope's Planned Visit; Black Friday Successful for Retailers

Aired November 27, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CO-HOST: And I'm Heidi Collins. For the next three hours, watch events happen live on this Monday, the 27th day of November. Here's what's on the rundown.

Wartime maneuvers. President Bush crossing the Atlantic, hoping to shore up the fight for Iraq and Afghanistan.

HARRIS: Risky road trip, protesters waiting for the pope in Turkey. Benedict's controversial trip to a Muslim land.

COLLINS: A barrage of bullets leaves a groom dead. Today his family is demanding answers. New York police under investigation, in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: We begin with a developing story out of Iraq: the crash of a U.S. fighter jet. The U.S. military says the Air Force F-16CG was supporting combat troops on the ground.

CNN's Jamie McIntyre is at the Pentagon with new details.

Jamie, good morning.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

We still don't know the fate of the pilot of this single seat fighter plane that was conducting ground operations, attacks against the ground northwest of Baghdad when it crashed about 1:30 in the afternoon.

What we are told from a U.S. military official in Baghdad is that the plane was on a low-level strafing mission in support of ground troops. A Pentagon official says the report they got back here was that the operation was near Fallujah.

But this F-16 is -- has been outfitted in a ground attack mode, and apparently was flying quite low when it crashed, which raises the possibility that it could have been shot down, perhaps by a shoulder fired missile or some other ground fire. Even a well placed lucky shot from a bullet can bring a plane down if it's flying low enough.

But again, the U.S. military doesn't know what -- what caused the crash. They have dispatched a recovery team to the area, and there's no word yet on the fate of the pilot.

HARRIS: OK. Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, for us. Jamie, thank you.

COLLINS: Iraq at the crossroads, reaching out for help to Tehran and Washington. President Bush en route this hour to a NATO summit, knows his larger mission begins on Wednesday. He is due to meet with Iraq's prime minister, a man whose job may be imperiled as the fractious country he leads.

CNN's Arwa Damon live now from Baghdad.

Good morning to you, Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

And that's right. If the Iraqi prime minister goes ahead with this meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush, a lot of his power base, in fact, his main political supporters -- that is Muqtada Al- Sadr's bloc -- is threatening to suspend its activities within the Iraqi government.

Now, the bloc is primarily the political force that actually gave Iraqi prime minister his seat as leader of this country. He has gotten most of his support from them. In fact, most of his support coming from Shias which follow Muqtada Al-Sadr.

Just to give you an example of how precarious his situation is right now, yesterday he traveled to Sadr City to pay his respects to the relatives of bombing victims. Sadr City is predominantly Shia. It is a Mehdi Militia stronghold, again, the militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr. And while he was there, according to Iraqi officials, his convoy was stoned by dozens of fellow Shias.

So the prime minister is right now in a very risky situation. He is trying to hold his now fragile government together, his nation that is pretty much overcome with the violence here.

Yesterday we also heard from him at a press conference where he stood with his fellow Shia, Sunni and Kurdish leaders and said something that we have actually been hearing on the Iraqi street for quite some time now. He said, "Let's be honest. The security situation is a reflection of political disagreement."

Now, this is a slight change in at least public perspective coming from the Iraqi prime minister, who up until now has insisted that his government is one of national unity -- Heidi.

COLLIN: And Arwa, we know that there was a curfew in place over the weekend. That curfew now lifted. Did it make any kind of change or impact in the violence over the weekend?

DAMON: Well, Heidi, the curfew lifted after three days and the Iraqi streets right now are incredibly tense. I mean, according to Iraqi -- the Iraqi police, they're saying that 50 percent of government employees did not show up to work out of fear. We are hearing that schools opened, although many of them closed after a few hours.

Rumors are running rampant, especially in the streets of Baghdad. And citizens are trying to cope with it, to the degree that they can.

But just to give you one example, on a Sunni web site, there at the top of the web site is -- is a statement that says the militia will do as they please. The Americans, the coalition forces, will not protect you.

This is a web site addressing Sunni residents. And is detailing how Sunni residents should protect themselves. It is telling people to keep a weapon by their side. If they don't know how to shoot it, to ask their neighbor for help. It is saying, don't feel bad about shooting someone. Remember what's been done to your own people -- Heidi.

COLLINS: So Baghdad residents arming themselves on this Monday. All right. Arwa Damon live from Baghdad. We'll watch the story. Thanks.

HARRIS: Before heading to the Mideast, President Bush will try to get NATO allies to up the ante for the war in Afghanistan. His week begins at Estonia, then it is on to Latvia for the NATO summit.

Our Kathleen Koch is live from the White House for us this morning.

Kathleen, good morning.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

President Bush headed out about two hours for that NATO summit in Latvia. This is the president's second major international trip in less than a week. And in Latvia, as you mentioned, President Bush will be pushing the NATO allies to boost their spending on defense.

Right now, our European allies, our allies in NATO spend a good bit less than the United States does when it comes to financial commitment to NATO. In fact, NATO's supreme allied commander made a call in September for more funding from the allies for helicopters, troops, planes for the mission in Afghanistan, and so far those calls have gone unheeded.

But most of the focus truly is on President Bush's, the second half of his trip, and that is his visit to Jordan, where he will be meeting with the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Al-Maliki. The host of those talks, over the weekend, pointing out that it's important that the United States understands that the war in Iraq is linked to other flashpoints in the region, like Lebanon, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

King Abdullah of Jordan issuing a rather dire warning about what's at stake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KING ABDULLAH, JORDAN: We could possibly imagine going into 2007 and having three civil wars on our hands, and, therefore, it is time that we really take a strong step forward as part of the international community and make sure we avert the Middle East from a tremendous crisis that I fear and I see could possibly happen.

(END VIDE CLIP)

KOCH: And neither President Bush nor Al-Maliki will admit that the situation in Iraq, the war there, has degenerated into a civil war.

And of course, President Bush is making this trip despite those threats that Arwa mentioned by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr to boycott parliament if President Bush does go ahead, the White House saying President Bush will not change his plans.

Certainly, the Bush administration, the president very intent on showing it is going to stand by its commitment to Iraq, stand by the Iraqi people, the fledgling democratic government despite growing calls here in the United States to pull out, also some calls at the same time to put in more U.S. forces, certainly.

Though a lot of the support the president is offering here will certainly, Tony -- comes from pressure because there is concern on the part of the administration that Al Maliki is not doing all he can to quell the violence in his country.

HARRIS: At the White House, Kathleen Koch for us. Kathleen, thank you.

KOCH: You bet.

HARRIS: In Afghanistan now, two NATO soldiers are dead, killed today when a suicide bomber slammed into their convoy in Kandahar province. NATO doesn't release the nationalities of its casualties, but Canadian soldiers usually patrol Kandahar.

COLLINS: New York, a family makes funeral arrangements instead of celebrating a wedding. A police shooting left the groom dead, his friends wounded.

CNN's Mary Snow has the story.

(BEG

REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: How many shots?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifty!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifty!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifty!

REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: How many shots?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifty!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifty!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifty!

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The crowd, led by the Reverend Al Sharpton, counted to 50 to mark the number of shots fired by New York City police officers, killing one man and injuring two others early Saturday morning.

Twenty-three-year-old Sean Bell was killed just hours before he was to be married. His two friends, one seen here, received multiple gunshot wounds.

Police say no weapons were recovered, and outraged members of the community are demanding answers.

SHARPTON: All of these rumors don't answer the question of why three unarmed men were shot down with 50 shots in our community.

SNOW: Early Saturday, the three men left a bachelor party at a Queens strip club that was under surveillance. New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly says undercover officers were watching the men, and there were suspicions one may have had a gun.

Kelly says a plain clothes officer on foot approached the men's car and was struck before the car hit an unmarked police van, adding that the officer was treated and released for an abrasion on the shin.

COMMISSIONER RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: The officer was struck, and the minivan was hit just about the same time. And then the officer opened fire.

SNOW: In all, Kelly says five officers opened fire, including one officer who fired 31 shots, meaning he had to reload his 9 millimeter.

MALCOLM SMITH, NEW YORK STATE SENATE: We unite in our pursuit for justice.

SNOW: That was prompted one state senator to get involved, demanding a full investigation.

SMITH: Why would that happen, when there's no return fire at all? That's the biggest question.

SNOW: As the community waits for answers, Bell's fiancee and family members joined in a vigil. And one of Bell's friends is calling for calm.

MIKE JONES, BELL'S FRIEND: This -- we have warm hearts but, like, don't have hot heads, because hot heads is how this incident happened in the first place. We've got to do this in a way that will respect someone's memory.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COLLINS: Mary Snow joining us live now for the latest on the story.

Mary, what is the status of the investigation? I assume it would be internal affairs, right?

SNOW: Well, Heidi, yes, but the police department has said that it has not been able to interview the five officers who were involved in this shooting, and that is because they are being investigated by the Queens district attorney's office.

The police department says until that line of questioning is complete, the police department is precluded from doing their own questioning.

As to the timetable of how long that will take, the police department at this point is saying it does not know. In the meantime, though, it has placed those five officers on administrative leave, and they have taken the guns from those officers.

COLLINS: All right. Mary Snow, thanks so much for the very latest on this.

HARRIS: Reaching out to another audience. Michael Richards choosing a different venue to apologize for a racist rant. That story ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Protesters telling the pope to stay home. His high stakes trip to Turkey in the NEWSROOM.

And an eerie image as Italy's former leader, Silvio Berlusconi faints while speaking at a political rally. We will tell you what he is saying about it now, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: News as it develops, as only CNN can bring it to you. See for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Tensions running high in Turkey ahead of the pope's planned visit there. Already, thousands of protesters -- look at this scene -- letting their voices be heard. Not happy about the pope's visit.

CNN's Alessio Vinci takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Pray for the success of my journey," Pope Benedict asked pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on the eve of his difficult trip to Turkey.

At exactly the same time, though, in Istanbul, thousands of nationalist Turks gathered to protest the pope's upcoming visit. There were far less than the hundreds of thousands organizers hoped would show up, but a vociferous minority, nevertheless, closely watch by security officials.

They left their small group chanting "Allah is great," stormed one of the buildings the pope is expected to visit. And weeks after a gunman fired shots outside the Italian consulate in Istanbul, shouting that it would strangle the pope.

Not enough to deter the Vatican. The pope is expected to meet with the spiritual leader of the world's orthodox churches and gather in prayer with other Christian minorities, but this marks his first trip to a Muslim country since quoting a controversial statement by a 14th Century emperor linking violence with Islam.

JOHN ALLEN, VATICAN ANALYST: The clash of civilizations that Benedict sees in the world today is not between Islam and the west. It's between belief and unbelief, that is between a culture that prizes religion and the supernatural and cultures that don't. And in that struggle, he thinks of Muslims as natural allies.

VINCI: The pope expressed regret for the damage his speech in Germany last December caused but did not offer a full apology. Vatican officials confirm that, as a sign of respect towards the Muslim faith, Pope Benedict plans to visit the Blue Mosque, essentially emulating his predecessor, John Paul II, widely credited with building bridges with the Muslim world by becoming the first pope to enter a mosque when he traveled to Damascus in 2001.

ALLEN: I think Benedict believes that those bridges, having been built, you know, it's now time to walk across them. In other words, you know, dialogue has to be more than being polite to each other. It has to be more than tea and cookies.

VINCI: The pope is in a delicate mission, with all sides willing to talk and perhaps finally willing to listen to each other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Alessio Vinci joins us now from Rome.

Alessio, good to see you. Let me ask you. We understand that the Turkish prime minister has agreed to meet with the pope. How significant a development is this?

VINCI: Well, it is significant because the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan had indicated that he was not going to meet with the pope. He was among the most vociferous critics of the pope's comments when he linked Islam and violence together. And, therefore, he did not want to be seen in a predominantly Muslim country in a photo op with the pope who many Turks believe that he has insulted their religion.

Now, you've seen this huge protest in Istanbul. They are big. It was the largest demonstration yet in Turkey against the visit of the pope, but it was a very small one compared by the numbers that, first of all, organizers had hoped to put together. Twenty thousand people in a city of 14 million is not considered a large demonstration, and certainly does not indicate the widespread belief that most Turks do not want the pope to come.

Most Turks are offended by the pope's remarks, but they also believe that this visit is an important step to try to mend fences and, therefore, they are welcoming the pope.

HARRIS: Well, Alessio, you mentioned the protests over the weekend, large or small, it have -- it really does have to point up all kinds of security concerns for this trip.

VINCI: Of course. Every time the pope travels outside of the Vatican there is a security threat. And when he travels to a country that, after all, is still hosting the only person who's tried to kill a pope. Mehmet Ali Agca is now in a Turkish jail, but nevertheless he was a Turkish or is a Turkish nationalist.

There have been several incidents in the -- in the past few weeks, indicating that there are some people trying to stir up some trouble.

The pope travels with a very strong detail. Turkish officials have put together a tremendous amount of police officers, in the thousands. And I understand the Turkish military, the largest NATO force seen in Europe, will also be deployed in order to protect the pope.

And we also are receiving reports this morning in an Italian newspaper that Italy has sent to Turkey a small contingent of special forces to protect sensitive sites...

HARRIS: Wow.

VINCI: ... such as the Italian embassy and the consulate in Istanbul. So of course, there is concern, but at the same time these are all provisions made to make sure the trip and the pope go as planned

HARRIS: CNN's Alessio Vinci for us in Rome. Alessio, appreciate it. Thank you.

And tonight, join Anderson Cooper live in Turkey as the Muslim world prepares for the pope's visit. What will his historic visit bring? See firsthand all this week at 10 p.m. Eastern Time.

Then all day tomorrow beginning at 6 a.m., CNN begins a full day of special coverage, "When Faiths Collide: Christianity and Islam". Watch all day tomorrow beginning at 6 a.m., only on CNN.

COLLINS: We want to go ahead and check the weather situation now on this day that could have been a pretty busy travel day. I'm sure it's a lot more calm, don't you think, than yesterday?

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Look at the warmth still on the eastern two thirds of the country. How warm was it the past couple days? Unbelievable. I don't know where this came from, but... HARRIS: That's OK.

COLLINS: Looks good.

Looks like soil content or something?

MARCIANO: I don't know. You know, there's six buttons on this thing. I can't even walk and chew gum at the same time.

HARRIS: Interesting rock formations there.

COLLINS: Lovely seeing you today, Rob Marciano. You know what I did like, though...

MARCIANO: Yes?

COLLINS: ... was the video of the people's yachts and things being snowed on. Did you think they had time to winterize those boats before all...

MARCIANO: Probably not.

COLLINS: Look at that.

MARCIANO: Yes. It's pretty nasty.

COLLINS: Ai, yi, yi.

MARCIANO: But you know, then again it's hard to feel for somebody with a boat that big.

COLLINS: I know, but still, yikes. Thanks, Rob. We'll see you later.

MARCIANO: All right. See you in a bit.

HARRIS: We are "Minding Your Business" after the break. And we know how much you enjoy that. Ali Velshi is here with a preview.

Ali, good morning.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Good morning, Tony.

Back to work after the holiday, but look, if you don't really feel like working, don't worry. You get a free pass today, because it is Cyber Monday. Want to find out where the best deals are? Stay with us. I'll have those back, right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So the results are in, and Black Friday was a pretty good one for retailers. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning, Ali. How good? VELSHI: Well, it was pretty good. Right now, about 140 million people hit the stores this weekend. That's a bit of an increase over last year. The average person spent about $360. Now they're sort of thinking that the average person is going to spend around $800 for the whole season, so right now the gain has been pretty good.

One third of shoppers, Tony, hit the malls on Friday before 6 a.m. Half of shoppers had been there by about 9 a.m. And retailers are sort of expecting a five percent increase in bottom line sales over last year, which means you're going to spend probably five percent more.

We'll know sort of better on Thursday when the retailers report their November sales. But the most popular Internet site on Friday was eBay.

HARRIS: Sure, yes, makes sense. Hey, I've got to ask you, what are the retailers going to do now to keep this strong start going?

VELSHI: Well, that's exactly it. You have 30 days, right, to shop.

HARRIS: Yes.

VELSHI: So, they want a strong start. It's always bad news when they don't have a strong start. But what do you do to keep that going?

A lot of them are using very sophisticated techniques now to insure -- first of all, they want to make sure that there's not clutter in lines. They want to make sure there's enough product available for the things that people want to buy.

Typically, the front end of holiday shopping is electronics and toys. Those are the things that are heavily discounted right now. And then it moves into apparel as the -- as the season goes on. Clothing is usually cheaper later on.

One of the things that's interesting, Tony, is that they all use sophisticated software now, the big retailers, to sort of get a sense of inventory, how it moves on a daily basis and when the best time is to start making reductions.

The retailer, the smart retailer now wants to -- wants to reduce things as soon as they can see that they're not selling. So you don't typically wait for that last week before Christmas before those sales go on.

HARRIS: Right.

VELSHI: The smart retailer will be lowering prices all the way along, because one of the things that's different now, Tony, is that, because of the gift card business is so big...

HARRIS: Right. VELSHI: ... as soon as Christmas is over people start shopping for themselves. It's not all about returns. They want -- the retailers want to put new material out for people going shopping for themselves.

HARRIS: We need to develop that tracking software.

VELSHI: We need -- the tracking software exists. What we need is hacking software...

HARRIS: Hacking.

VELSHI: ... to hack the tracking software so I know exactly when this sweater or whatever it is I want is going on sale.

HARRIS: You're nuts. I've got to ask you. It's still early in the season, but well -- but what are the trends? Do we have an idea of what people are buying so far?

VELSHI: Yes. We do have an idea of trends. A number of things have come up in the last few days, but men are spending more money. Men spent more money this weekend than women did.

Now I'll tell you why that's the case. First of all, men buy a lot of the electronics and toys. Now look at this, 17 percent of the men who went shopping this weekend were at a store by 4 a.m. Eight percent of women were doing that.

Men bought mostly consumer electronics, video games, DVDs, things like that. They spent $420 so far, versus $304 spent by women. But remember, apparel goes on sale later. Electronics are always big sale items right now, including today, Cyber Monday.

So the guys -- I don't even know if the guys are spending it on Christmas gifts.

HARRIS: Just buying stuff for themselves.

VELSHI: That's right. The sales are really...

HARRIS: Because the hot stuff is out there.

VELSHI: Honey, how about that great 50-inch flat screen?

HARRIS: Yes, yes. You'll enjoy it, too, honey.

VELSHI: Right.

HARRIS: All right, Ali, appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

VELSHI: Good to talk to you.

COLLINS: Holiday travel tie-ups in some places maybe. There's a reason it's tougher to get out of town than back in. We'll explain that, coming up in the NEWSROOM. Also, stop the rockets, stop the bombs. Israel offering the Palestinians concessions for peace. Deal or no deal? Find out, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: We are currently awaiting word from the Pentagon now on a U.S. fighter jet that crashed today outside Baghdad. The U.S. military says the Air Force F-16 was supporting combat troops on the ground. We have just learned from our Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon the jet was on a low-level strafing mission. This is a single-set, single-engine aircraft. It did crash about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad. No word at this point on whether or not the pilot survived or the cause of the crash. So we will be watching this for you.

Meantime, a surprising peace offering today from Israel. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says his country is ready to exchange Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier kidnapped five months ago.

Our Paula Hancocks is live now from Jerusalem. Good morning to you, Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there.

Well, we do know that one day on Ehud Olmert has offered these incentives for peace to the Palestinian leadership, one day on from the cease-fire between Palestinians and Israelis in the Gaza Strip itself.

Now, in theory, that cease-fire is still holding, but in practice, there have been further rocket attacks against Israel this Monday. There were also rocket attacks just an hour after that cease- fire took place on Sunday morning.

But at this point, Ehud Olmert is saying the Israeli military should show restraint. He wants to see if these are isolated attacks, or whether they will become full violation of the cease-fire itself.

We also saw violence and bloodshed overnight in the West Bank as two Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops. But as for what Olmert is saying today, he's basically tell the Palestinian leadership they are at a historic crossroads. He says that if Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was kidnapped back on June 25th is released, then will release many Palestinian prisoners.

Now it is significant, because this is the first time that Ehud Olmert has actually linked the two. He has actually said there would be a prisoner swap. In the past, he hasn't wanted to say if we get Shalit back, we will release prisoners, because he was worried that that would encourage further kidnappings of Israeli soldiers. He's also saying that if they do have talks between Israelis and Palestinians, there could be an independent Palestinian state. He said he could ease checkpoints, he release hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen funds, and also Israel would dismantle... COLLINS: Unfortunately, it looks like we have lost our correspondent there. We're going to continue to watch this story as well. It's an interesting one, indeed, as she was just mentioning, a possible restart of these peace talks between the two countries. We'll get back to that just as soon as possible.

HARRIS: The general is sticking to his guns, John Abizaid insisting no timetables in Iraq, and no large infusion of troops.

CNN's Barbara Starr is traveling with the general.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Violence in Iraq again threatening to spiral out of control, raising the stakes for the U.S. military effort to stabilize the country.

CNN is the only news network traveling with general John Abizaid throughout the Persian Gulf region and Afghanistan. As the senior military commander for the region, Abizaid may become the target for war critics, especially now that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down, and President Bush says he wants a fresh look at Iraq.

Still, Abizaid is determined to focus on the long-term security picture, rather than the daily attacks or the newspaper headlines.

GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, CMDR., U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: I'm not one to look back and talk only of our mistakes. I'm one to say, it's a very complex operating environment.

STARR: Abizaid is in a tough position. He recently testified before Congress, laying out his military advice weeks before President Bush receives recommendations from the Iraq Study Group. Abizaid clearly laid down his markers. It all raises questions about what will happen in the weeks ahead, if President Bush accepts recommendations that the general doesn't agree with.

ABIZAID: The president recently said all options are on the table, and I think everybody needs to understand that we're having a debate and a discussion.

STARR: So far, Abizaid is sticking to his guns. He is against calls for a set timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq.

ABIZAID; While I don't favor a timetable, and I want to make sure that commanders have full flexibility, our instructions are to examine all options, and that's exactly what we're going to do.

STARR: He is also skeptical that sending large numbers of additional combat troops would really reduce the sectarian violence. Abizaid, a long time student of Arab culture, thinks Americans must understand Iraqi tribal society in order to understand how the U.S. military got to this point.

ABIZAID: The way I explain it best is that the enemy has a vote in everything that happens. Sectarian violence takes on a life of its own. Revenge in this part of the world works at really astonishing speeds. You are obligated to revenge the loss of a loved one.

STARR: But he still thinks the U.S. can achieve its objective.

ABIZAID: There's no reason to believe that we can't be successful in stabilizing Iraq, stabilizing Afghanistan, but more importantly, making the region less conducive to the extremist cause.

STARR: Barbara Starr, CNN, traveling with General John Abizaid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: President Bush over offering his condolences over the death of a police officer in Hawaii. You may remember this story. Motorcycle officer Steve Favela died on Sunday, five days after he crashed while escorting the presidential motorcade. The president stopped at Hickham Air Force base last week on his way back from Indonesia. Two other officers also crashed, but were OK.

HARRIS: Holiday travel tie-ups. In some places, maybe. The reason it's tougher to get out of town than to get back in. We explain in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And what some people think they can get away with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Rambo knife. Don't leave home without your chainsaw. This was the infamous machete. And that's not plastic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Good lord. Confiscated at the airport. What happens then? Find out in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: We go shopping.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: The trip back home. For many Thanksgiving travelers, getting home wasn't anything like getting out of town.

And of course, our Allan Chernoff is here to report that was just fine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After a long Thanksgiving weekend, travelers rushed back to make it to work by Monday morning. Despite a the few setbacks, the trip home was relative smooth, at least for the masses. Unlike Wednesday into Thursday, when rain and snow snarled already congested traffic in the northeast, Sunday's weather cooperated, keeping roads fairly clear for those traveling by car. But in some places, like New Haven, Connecticut, traffic backed up anyway. Not from winter weather, but from the sheer volume of travelers. On Pennsylvania's Interstate 79, traffic remained heavy but flowed smoothly to the relief of drivers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm surprised a little bit, yes. I think maybe a lot of people might have been taking the airplanes.

CHERNOFF: At Los Angeles International Airport, one of the nation's busiest, a technical workers union, representing more than 7,000 members, staged a strike outside a terminal. But it didn't seem to affect holiday travelers. Denver International Airport had a busy but seemingly calm day. Air traffic in Florida was also above average on Sunday, with Orlando's airport reporting 100,000 travelers. But short security lines and on-time departures gave passengers something to be thankful for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was expecting it to be a little bit more hectic, but it's been pretty tranquil.

Alan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Surrendered at the airport, taken to a warehouse, sold online, the trip your confiscated items take can actually turn out to be longer than yours.

Here's CNN's Zain Verjee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hand it over. Out go the guns, no knives or razors, lighters, nope. Sorry, no scissors.

RAMIN ZAMANI, TRAVELER: And I was traveling, I had my scissors, $800 pair of scissors they took it away.

VERJEE: Ever wondered where the stuff you surrender at the airport goes? It is boxed up and transported to a warehouse like this one in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that receives items from 14 airports in several northeast states. Government agencies can look for bargains in person, like police officer Robert Wolf who comes here once a month.

CPL. ROBERT WOLF: We are going to use the knives in the break room.

VERJEE: This program started in July of 2004. Ken Hess directs the operation and oversees a small staff that sorts the items from the obvious.

KEN HESS: Pocketknives, scissors. We are getting a lot more silverware as you can see. Cork screws.

VERJEE: To the obnoxious.

HESS: Shock absorbers for vehicles, four of them. We had an antique sausage grinder.

VERJEE: It gets weirder.

HESS: We get quite a variety of S & M materials, whips, handcuffs; I'm not sure what some of the things are to be honest with you. Rambo knife. Don't leave home without your chain saw. This was the infamous machete. That's not plastic.

VERJEE: Most of these items wind up online.

HESS: The bulk of our sales are e-bay.

VERJEE: Here is a wine set we wanted to track on e-bay. After four days there have been seven bids. The latest one at $6.59. Take a look at the seller's other items all the stuff you gave up.

WES CRAISH, TRAVELER: I don't think that's right. They're selling something that is not theirs.

VERJEE: The TSA doesn't have a problem with it.

KIP HAWLEY, TSA DIRECTOR: Once the security issue is done its then their business.

VERJEE (on camera): And business is good. They've made $280,000 in profit since it started, most of it through eBay. The money goes to the state of Pennsylvania. It goes into a general fund that's used by different agencies. In one case, tutoring kids after school.

Zain Verjee, CNN, Reagan National Airport, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Who knew you couldn't get a whip? It's good to know.

COLLINS: I was worried about the machete. You were worried about the whip. I don't want to know.

Meanwhile...

HARRIS: Still to come.

COLLINS: An NFL quarterback calling a play that is not the playbook. Did you see this? The finger flash.

HARRIS: Oh, Mike Vick, come on.

COLLINS: Coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is in the hospital after a fainting incident. Berlusconi was speaking at a political rally Sunday when his voice trail off and his eyes closed. Aides rushed to support him and doctors found an irregular heartbeat. They planned to conduct more tests. Berlusconi blamed the collapse on fatigue post knee surgery antibiotics, and heat at the rally. HARRIS: Mystery unsolved, Scotland Yard investigates the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. But the autopsy is still on hold. It may be too dangerous. CNN's Paula Newton looks at the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His doctors called it chemical torture. And in the hours before his death, former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko bared the scars of it. His organs failing, his body surrendering. But not his mind.

Until the last, he fingered the Kremlin, a charge echoed by his father.

ALEXANDER LITVINENKO'S FATHER (through translator): "This regime is a mortal danger to the world. He fought this regime, he understood it, and this regime got him."

NEWTON: What actually got him, investigators say, is a rare radioactive element called Polonium-210. And now trying to figure out when and how he was poisoned is turning into a sensational whodunit. His friends say the Polonium should be like a fingerprint for police; it implicates Russian intelligence executing the government's orders.

ALEX GOLDFARB, VICTIM'S FRIEND: We know that the Russian regime has evolved into a kind of authoritarian dictatorship by now, with no checks and balances.

NEWTON: Russian President Vladimir Putin denies any and all involvement.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I hope that British authorities would not contribute to instigation of political scandals. It has nothing to do with reality.

NEWTON: It's now up to Scotland Yard to sort all of this out. Investigators are combing through Litvinenko's north London home, the sushi restaurant where he had lunch on November 1st, and the hotel where earlier that same day when he met with two Russian men.

All the sites are now contaminated with radiation and authorities are asking people who may have been affected to come forward.

JILL MEARA, BRITISH HEALTH PROTECTION AGENCY: Because we can analyze for it, and this is potentially a serious incident as a whole, we are pleased to offer this reassurance to people.

NEWTON: But police remain challenged by this bizarre murder that now threatens to strain relations between Britain and Russia.

NEWTON (on camera): As a former secret agent, Litvinenko made plenty of enemies. He had been one of Putin's harshest critics in recent years. But in truth, there may have been many with the means and the motive to silence him.

Paula Newton, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The front lines of the war on terror. Afghanistan is critical in the fight of NATO countries. Hear the call for more support this week. We will take a look.

And shots fired, 50 times. The groom is dead. Now friends and family want answers from the NYPD. The investigation coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Deadly mission in Afghanistan. Two NATO soldiers killed this morning. Their convoy hit by a suicide bomber near Kandahar. The mission there seen as critical for future security, but some NATO countries seem to be coming up short with their support.

CNN's Robin Oakley explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, the going has been tough. The most intensive combat, say some commanders, since World War II. The politicians claim those troops will get the backup they need.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: If the clients on the ground want more equipment, armored vehicles for example, more helicopters, that will be provided. Whatever package they want, we will do.

OAKLEY: Visiting Afghanistan last week, Mr. Blair had no doubt of the importance of their mission.

BLAIR: Here in this extraordinary piece of desert is where the future in the early 21st century of the world's security is going to be played out.

OAKLEY: But that piece of desert is too the crucible where NATO's credibility and readiness for a wider world-wide role is being tested since it took responsibility for Afghanistan security. And the Alliance's commanders have struggled to get member countries to contribute enough troops or equipment.

MICHAEL WILLIAMS, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: Even the initial NATO deployment to Afghanistan was never seen as sufficient. The Afghans were always asking for more troops. The secretary general was really going around with a cup asking for more troops and it didn't really happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The going has also been tough from time to time, I must admit.

OAKLEY: That's one problem for NATO's political leaders to address at their summit, but there's another. A number of countries with contingents serving in Afghanistan have imposed so-called caveats, refusing to let their soldiers go to danger areas. It infuriates their allies in the hot spots.

LIAM FOX, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE DEFENSE SECRETARY: There's no such thing as NATO light. You are either in NATO or you are not. Being there implies a set of responsibilities which ought to be carried out. Our government should be involved in absolutely no holds barred diplomatic activity to say to partners especially in Italy and Germany and Spain that we need to have full participation.

OAKLEY: Caveats don't please the secretary general either.

JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: If I have the choice of having a force with a certain limitation or no force at all, my choice would be clear. Nevertheless, let me reiterate, my bottom line is that we should have caveat-free forces, solidarity in the alliance demands caveat-free forces.

OAKLEY (on camera): Afghanistan has been a crucial test for NATO but it's been a struggle getting some member nations to provide the troops and equipment needed to make a success in the toughest areas, particularly in some countries have refused to allow their troops to serve there. It raises questions NATO diplomats concede about the alliance taking on a wide global role.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN, at NATO headquarters, Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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