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Holiday Travel Update; Rape Suspects 8 and 9 Years Old; U.S. Contractors Accused of Civilian Shooting in Iraq

Aired November 20, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Heidi Collins.

Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Tuesday morning, November 20th.

Here is what's on the rundown.

Fog slows holiday travelers in Los Angeles this morning. And a brewing storm could spell trouble for airport hubs across the heartland.

Do you get bad migraines? Researchers say thicker brain tissue could play a role.

And just in time for Christmas shopping, toy makers and toy sellers sued over lead. Yes, Virginia, there is new trouble in toy land -- in the NEWSROOM.

Pack the car, grab the kids, get to the airport. The Thanksgiving countdown is on. But first, you've got to get where you're going.

We've got you covered, too, no matter where you're headed.

Our Ed Lavandera is at California's LAX airport. And Jacqui Jeras has what you need to know about flight delays and traffic conditions.

But let's go ahead and get started right away with Rob Marciano. He is in the weather center with what's going on across the country.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Want to go ahead and get back to our reporters now covering the story for us.

Ed Lavandera is at California's LAX, as we said. And he has a little bit more about what is going on across the country. But first, I think -- we want to go to Ed?

Ed, it looks like you are ready to go. Let's go to you.

Ed, hi.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

Well, here, LAX airport, just after 6:00 in the morning Pacific Time and already this airport is buzzing with activity. There's -- the line that you might see here just at the end here is actually way past us just a few moments ago, and this is a line that everyone has to go through here to get into the secured area of the terminal.

So it is kind of fluctuating back and forth, but there's a steady stream of traffic. And as you heard Rob mention, the fog out here this morning has been rather thick.

If we can see out there, that at some point, you've heard planes kind of flying over, especially last night when this fog rolled in. You see planes and hear planes roll in, but you couldn't even see them. So kind of an eerie sight here this morning. The boards inside say that everything's taking off on time, but we'll see how that plays out here in the hours ahead -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, we shall see. All right.

Ed Lavandera from LAX this morning.

Ed, thank you.

Want to take a moment now to get to Susan Roesgen, our correspondent who is at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to see how things are looking there.

Good morning to you, Susan.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

Is there a holiday this week?

COLLINS: I don't know. I haven't heard of one.

ROESGEN: It doesn't look that busy here at O'Hare. I mean, it's always busy at this airport, the second busiest in the nation behind your airport there, Heidi, in Atlanta. But I have just spoken to a P.R. person here at the airport who said it's about business as usual. And it really is about business as usual.

They say this is the second busiest day that they're expecting of the Thanksgiving period. They say traditionally the busiest day here is going to be next Monday, because they say more and more now Americans are taking off earlier and staying at grandma's house later. So they're expecting about 237,000 people on Monday, only about 200,000 people today.

They say they're going to provide some musical entertainment between 2:00 and 5:00 for weary travelers. They put up some Christmas decorations. But so far, all of the flights are on time and it is pretty much business as usual at O'Hare. But check back later, Heidi, because you never know.

COLLINS: Yes. I think we should check back later just in case. Susan Roesgen at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Thank you, Susan.

And if you are hitting the road or flying the skies, make CNN.com your first destination. Check out our special report, "Holiday Travel," and get an online travel kit with tips on where to go and how best get there. That and more at CNN.com/holidaytravel.

In fact, we want to check in with Jacqui Jeras. She is monitoring the situation both on the air and on the ground.

But that, I know, behind you is Flight Tracker. And yesterday I think we had something like 5,400 planes in the sky, and it looks exactly the same.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Similar. We're about 4,100 actually at this hour, and that's just because it's awfully darn early out West just yet. So, as the West Coast starts waking up and those planes start taking off, I'm sure we will start to see those numbers begin to go up. But as you can see there, a big concentration is really east of the Continental Divide there, and a lot of air traffic going on. And unfortunately a lot of delays as well.

We're going to zoom into one city having a lot of trouble at this hour, and that is Houston at Intercontinental Airport. There is a ground stop in effect. And that doesn't affect every plane getting to Houston, but quite a few of them. And there you can see them all kind of starting to line up trying to make their way into the airport there.

The biggest problem, why can't you get there? Well, the clouds and fog very low. So very poor visibility makes it tough to get in.

We've got a live picture out of the Houston area right now to show you how those conditions look. And there you can see the overcast condition. And boy, I don't even see a plane on that runway.

Do you?

We do expect this to be clearing up in the next two hours or so, so hopefully we will see the flight delays disappear unless you have volume trouble. Once you kind of start the day off slow like that, unfortunately, it can kind of snowball.

Let's go ahead and take a look at some other cities being affected. We also have a ground stop in effect right now in Philadelphia.

There you can see Chicago O'Hare not reporting delays. Susan Roesgen had over an hour.

We also have some delays there at Washington, D.C. This is at National, and those delays are on the way up. Unfortunately, 30 minutes now.

And we also have some delays there in Teterboro, but very minor. Only three minutes. But hey, a delay is a delay, right?

We want to show you what's going on also on the ground. If you're trying to drive around today, a lot of the big cities in the Northeast being affected due to some wet weather, also some snow into the higher elevations.

We took a look into Philadelphia. And all these red dots that you can see here, that means trouble. That means that traffic is moving slowly.

This is Google Earth, and there you can see downtown Philadelphia. And this highway right here, we want to go ahead and zoom in on one of those. Dave Hennen running that for me -- and kind of check on what the speed of traffic.

There you can see looking at about 44 miles per hour on -- I-87, is that? Moving westward. So kind of slow-moving in Philadelphia this morning.

We're going to check in on some other cities and tell you how you can do this at home and find out about what is going on in the travel. That's coming up around the bottom of the hour -- Heidi.

COLLINS: OK. Jacqui Jeras watching it all on the air and the ground for us. That was pretty cool.

Thank you, Jacqui.

JERAS: Sure.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, if you are planning to hit the road or flying the skies, make CNN.com your first destination. Once again, check out our special report, "Holiday Travel," and get an online travel kit with tips on where to go and how to best get there.

That and much more at CNN.com/holidaytravel.

A new suit just in time for Christmas. California is fighting back over dangerous levels of lead in toys. The state filing a lawsuit against several major toy makers and sellers. The suit claims companies knowingly put kids at risk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCKY DELGADILLO, LOS ANGELES CITY ATTY.: I think because of the recalls that seem to come on a daily basis, self-policing is not going to work. I was mentioning earlier that the federal government outlawed lead in toys back in 1975, virtually eliminated it from toys. Now 30 years later, we're talking about lead in toys? That's not right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Twenty companies are named in the lawsuit, including Wal-Mart, Target, Sears and Toys "R" Us. Also, Mattel and Fisher- Price. Some of the companies say they've put systems in place to ensure the safety of their toys. The Consumer Product Safety Commission lists more than 20 toy recalls due to lead in just the last two months.

We are hearing more this morning about a disturbing story from a Georgia town. Three boys ages 8 and 9 accused of raping an 11-year- old girl.

Ross Cavitt of affiliate WSB reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSS CAVITT, REPORTER, WSB (voice over): The mother of the 11- year-old victim stood with her daughter in the Acworth complex and told us her daughter confided in her two days after the attack what had happened.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And when she started telling me, it was like, I didn't know how to react. I was -- I don't know. I was just shocked, because I did not expect this to happen to my daughter.

CAVITT: The daughter said her attackers were friends. Two of the boys are 9, the other 8. She says they threatened her and took her to these woods, where one of the boys assaulted her while the other stood guard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's unbelievable that they're starting at such young age now. You know? You would think something like maybe 13, 14, or a teenager. But, you know, their ages is really bothering me.

CAVITT: Police arrested the three boys after interviewing them on Sunday, hours after the 11-year-old victim had a medical workup.

CAPT. WAYNE DENNARD, ACWORTH, GEORGIA, POLICE: We can only deal with the facts that we're presented and what was told us by this victim and by her mother, that the child was sexually assaulted. So at this point that's what we're investigating.

CAVITT: But the father of one of the boys says he believes the girl is being less than truthful, saying she changed her story when it became apparent her parents would find out what had happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's just one of them clear cases that the girl got in trouble with her parents, so turn the story around, and now these kids are in the time of their life right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They should get some help, because apparently there's something wrong . But, at the same time, I do believe that they need to be taught a lesson because if they do it to her, they could have done it to anybody else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Prosecutors say the boys cannot be charged with felony crimes because of their ages, but they could be tried on lesser charges and, if convicted, sent to a juvenile facility for five years. More protests and signs of possible progress in Pakistan's crisis. The government says it freed more than 3,400 lawyers, activists and other opposition supporters in recent days. They had been detained under emergency rule. The protesters you see here want the release of those still in custody. About 2,000, by government estimates. And word this morning some 150 journalists were held following a demonstration in Karachi.

Aid workers bracing for a "second wave of death" from that killer cyclone in Bangladesh. Five days after the storm tore through the region, the officials death toll has surpassed 3,100. Some say it could go as high as 10,000 once rescuers reach outlying island islands. Millions offered in aid, but supplies have reportedly been slow to reach survivors. One aid official says after catastrophes like this, many more die from lack of food, clean water, and medicine.

Pentagon contractors, dozens of them held by Iraqi police. Find out why coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Forty-three Pentagon contractors detained in Iraq. Some of them accused of shooting a civilian.

We want to go straight to CNN's Michael Ware now for us this morning.

Michael, tell us what happened.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, according to the U.S. military, what happened yesterday is that this convoy from a private construction firm that included security guards -- obviously no one can move in this country without security guards -- was driving up the wrong way on a thoroughfare in a central part of the city. Now, as they were doing this, it said that one of their guards or some of their guards opened fired and, as a result, they wounded an Iraqi woman.

Now, this is really bringing us to the cutting edge of how difficult it is to operate in this country and it shows you how insurmountable some of these challenges are at nation-building. I mean, this is the American military. These are Department of Defense contractors. These are the people who are nation-building.

They're doing what the Army once upon a time used to do -- delivering food, building roads, building schools. But they need their own security to protect them. And we're seeing the Iraqi government flex its muscles and crack down on some of their behavior. So this is sure to heighten tensions between the American and the Iraqi governments.

Now, of the 43, the nationalities include Fijians, Nepalese, Sri Lankans, Indians and some Iraqis. Most importantly, the U.S. military says it's up to the Iraqi government what happens to them from this point on. The Iraqi government will decide what, if any, criminal charges are to be applied, and of the 43 detained, most are expected to be released soon, except for those involved in the shooting. On the back of the Blackwater incident last month, this really is going to inflame the situation -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Michael, there have been some questions about whether or not there were any Americans that were being detained. I think that we have learned there are not. Is that correct? Is that the information you have?

WARE: That's absolutely correct, Heidi. I mean, what we heard yesterday from one of the most senior Iraqi government spokesmen, in an odd -- in an unusual turn of events, an Iraqi spokesman had it completely wrong. There are no American contractors involved in this incident, at least.

As I said, there was a range of nationalities that I listed. None of them are American. Certainly this is a construction and logistics company based in Dubai. It has a contract with the American Department of Defense, but, no, there are Americans right now as a result of this incident in the custody of the Iraqi army -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Michael Ware live from Baghdad for us this morning.

Michael, thank you.

The Senate's latest session took less time than it took for me to tell you about it. Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled some very fast sessions over Thanksgiving break even though virtually every lawmaker will be absent.

Gavel to gavel, the sessions are expected to last less than half a minute. No official business, of course, but quickie sessions keep the Senate from being in recess, and that keeps President Bush from filing any vacancies without the Senate's confirmation.

Well, rapper Kanye West will bury his mom in Oklahoma City today. Donda West died one day after undergoing cosmetic surgery. The coroner has not determined an official cause of death.

Tonight at 9:00 Eastern, the plastic surgeon who operated on Donda West just hours before her death, Dr. Jan Adams, sits down with Larry King. It will be an exclusive interview. You can see it, CNN, live, at 9:00 Eastern.

Shooting at the pump. Police say a gas price feud turns deadly. Now a gas station owner faces a murder charge.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Groceries from a dumpster? This lady says don't waste food.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As long as it's there and this economy, yes, OK, I'll take it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Making a point with a stomach of steel.

Ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Early admission for a football felon. Michael Vick is sitting in a Virginia jail this morning three weeks before he will be sentenced in federal court. An attorney for Vick says the Atlanta Falcons quarterback wanted to begin any sentencing he may receive.

Vick pleaded guilty in August to bankrolling a dogfighting operation. Under federal sentencing guidelines he faces 12 to 18 months in prison, but the judge doesn't have to follow those guidelines. Vick still faces state dogfighting charges.

A killing over the cost of gasoline. That's what police are calling it. A Detroit gas station owner is accused of shooting a rival businessman.

The suspect had lowered the price of gas at his station by three cents. Police say the competitor from across the street came over to complain and, according to authorities, a fight broke out and the suspect shot the man. An attorney for the suspect says his client fired in self-defense.

Self-defense or vigilante justice? A grand jury in Texas must now decide. The whole incident caught on tape.

CNN's Gary Tuchman has the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joe Horn saw it right outside his window.

911 OPERATOR: Pasadena 911. What is your emergency?

HORN: Burglars are breaking into a house next door.

TUCHMAN: A burglary at his next-door neighbor's house in the Houston suburb of Pasadena. It was 2:00 in the afternoon.

HORN: I have got a shotgun. Do you want me to stop them?

911 OPERATOR: Nope, don't do that. Ain't no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?

TUCHMAN: Three minutes into the call, and the 61-year-old was getting increasingly upset as he watched the two men.

HORN: I'm not going to let them get away with them. I can't take a chance on getting killed over this, OK? 911 OPERATOR: No.

(CROSSTALK)

HORN: I'm going to shoot. I'm going to shoot.

TUCHMAN: On September 1, Texas strengthened a law giving civil immunity to people who defend themselves with deadly force, not only in their homes, but in their cars and workplaces. But this was a neighbor's house, and the 911 operator warned Horn 13 times during the call to stay inside his home.

(CROSSTALK)

HORN: OK. He's coming out the window right now. I got to go, buddy. I'm sorry, but he's coming out the window.

(CROSSTALK)

911 OPERATOR: No, don't. Don't go out the door.

Mr. Horn? Mr. Horn?

HORN: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) They just stole somebody. I'm going out the window. I'm sorry.

911 OPERATOR: Don't go outside.

HORN: I ain't going to let them get away with this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) They stole something. They got a bag of something.

911 OPERATOR: Don't go outside the house.

HORN: I'm doing it.

911 OPERATOR: OK?

Mr. Horn, do not go outside the house.

HORN: I'm sorry. This ain't right, buddy.

911 OPERATOR: You're going to get yourself shot if you go outside that house with a gun. I don't care what you think.

HORN: You want to make a bet? I'm going to kill them.

911 OPERATOR: OK? Stay in the house.

TUCHMAN: Joe Horn would have won that bet.

911 OPERATOR: I don't want you going outside, Mr. Horn.

HORN: Well, here it goes, buddy. You hear the shotgun clicking and I'm going.

911 OPERATOR: Don't go outside. HORN: Move, you're dead.

(GUNSHOTS)

TUCHMAN: Miguel Antonio Dejesus and Diego Ortiz, two men who had previous minor scrapes with the law, were killed.

CAPTAIN BUD CORBETT, PASADENA POLICE DEPARTMENT: One of the two suspects -- at least one of the two -- was carrying some property which was dropped in the front yard of the residence that -- that was being burglarized.

TUCHMAN: As for Joe Horn, he said in a written statement the shooting is weighing heavily on him. A grand jury will now decide if he should be charged with a crime.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A sex scandal rocking a suburban Atlanta church this morning. Earl Polk (ph), the church's 80-year-old leader, had an affair with his brother's wife decades ago and fathered a child with her. Members of his church revealed the long-held secret a few weeks ago.

The story came out only after a court-ordered paternity test. Results showed that his 34-year-old nephew, D.E. Polk (ph), is actually his son. The son only found out because of the paternity test.

This isn't the first sex scandal involving Earl Polk (ph). He's being sued by a former church member who says he manipulated her into a 14-year affair. He allegedly told her it was her only path to salvation. But this time he could face charges for lying under oath about the affair with his brother's wife.

Heading out for the holiday? Well, we've got you covered. Everything you need to know to get where you're going for Thanksgiving.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: All right. We want to go ahead and get ready for the opening bell today. Hopefully it is going to be a little bit better than yesterday. So we're going to take a look at that in just a moment.

But first, attention migraine sufferers. Boy, if you are one of them, you're going to want to see this story. Is it all in your head? Some people think it is if they've never suffered a migraine. The link between your pain though and your brain, that story is coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris has the day off.

All right. Let's go ahead and take a look -- look who it is! Oh, it's Santa Claus and a couple of clowns by his side.

This is all to celebrate the 81st Thanksgiving Day Parade put on by Macy's, of course, happening in New York. They are handling the opening bell today, this Tuesday, just two days before Thanksgiving, as you well know.

Hopefully they'll have some luck and some magic because yesterday, it was ugly -- 218 the Dow fell by the time it had closed. There is the opening bell now. And the Nasdaq also down about 44 points. S&P down 25 so down, down, down, in all three of those categories. Hopefully today, we are hearing, anyway, that stocks could be on the rise because of some gains in the overseas market. And you see Santa. And he is working it.

So, hopefully, we will see some of those numbers go up today. We will be following all the different stories with Susan Lisovicz today. I wonder if Santa has anything to say about all of these toy recalls as well.

Our Rob Marciano is with us now to take another look at the weather picture which boy, I really hope a lot of people, I know they're not, but are already in place because that, too, is an ugly situation.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Jacqui Jeras is also with me here in severe weather center. You got some cool tools that they're going to show the folks here on how they can track, you know, their travel on the road?

JERAS: Absolutely. You know, this area that you've talking about, here with the snow and ice beginning to accumulate, unfortunately, yes, we're having a little trouble on the roadways as a result of that. You can see right along here, this is I-87 also known as the New York throughway. That pink that you see here, that means that the road is ice covered. Also, you can see on the Berkshire Connector there on I-90, we've got some ice accumulating and we're expecting those snow to come and total up to maybe how about an inch or so.

MARCIANO: This looks like something I could maybe get off the Internet? Is it that easy?

JERAS: It's that easy. Actually, one of my favorite site, google.com, not just a search engine but so many things you can find here. You go to that site and then what you do, you type in maps first of all and then you want to click on the traffic button that you see right there and then you'll watch all of the stop lights pull up. Click on the city that you choose. For example, we'll click and zoom in right there under the Detroit area then you click zoom on the map and it will pop up. The legend, you know, just like a stop light, red means bad. That means the traffic is stopped or moving very slowly. Green is good and yellow is kind of moderate so there you can see on the interstate, right there in the Detroit area we're looking at some red lights. So, there's a lot of cloud cover in Detroit area right now. We also have some poor visibility and a little drizzle expected throughout the day so Detroit will be one of the cities that we're watching. Of course, the big airport hub so doing OK right now.

MARCIANO: This is all free?

JERAS: This is all free, right on the internet.

MARCIANO: Oh boy, got to put some traffic people out of business now. Good advice. Thanks, Jacqui.

JERAS: Sure thing -- Heidi?

MARCIANO: Heidi?

COLLINS: Thanks, guys. All right, people are going to be watching very, very closely. We wish everybody luck getting where they need to go.

In fact, home for the holidays if you can get there. We're talking about Thanksgiving travel all morning long and we do have everything you need to know. If you're headed on L.A., our Ed Lavandera got you covered. He is at L.A.X. this morning. All right, Ed. Do you have any good news for us?

LAVANDERA: Actually, you know, although you might see the fog out there. For example, here at Southwest flight just landed, pulling in. So, we do see planes moving. Now, wouldn't be surprised once you get inside, you start making your way around these terminals around here where some of the flights might be slowed down a little bit just because of visibility. So, cut down here this morning. But this is a launching pad for us here, for what will be an incredible week.

Four time zones in three days. I'll be traveling 2,868 miles. From Los Angeles to Denver. Denver to Dallas, Dallas to New York LaGuardia. Hopefully in time to make it to New York just before the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Pack those bags, grab your airline tickets and hang on for a bumpy ride. It's time for the Thanksgiving holiday travel adventure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a make-shift chair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our flight just canceled.

LAVANDERA: An estimated 27 million people are expected to fly this Thanksgiving. A 4 percent jump from last year and many of them novice air travelers. MIKE BOYD, AVIATION ANALYST: Which means people don't fly a lot. People that know you can't and don't know you can't bring Listerine through security checkpoint and people with a lot of children.

LAVANDERA: It's been a turbulent year for the airline industry. Record flight delays, long lines at security checkpoints, loss baggage, even the White House is getting involved this holiday season.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These failures are carry some real costs for the country. Not just in the inconvenience they cause. But in the business they obstruct and family gatherings they cause people to miss.

LAVANDERA: President Bush has ordered some air space normally reserved for military flights to be opened up to commercial flights. Although, some say that will hardly help alleviate congested flight paths. The Federal Aviation Administration says it will have more air traffic controllers on duty. The Transportation Security Administration says it will bring in extra manpower to help with security screenings and some aviation expert say the air traffic control system is so outdated and vulnerable that it doesn't take much to send it into a tailspin.

BOYD: One little glitch, one little snowstorm, one line of thunderstorms and the whole system really gets a ripple effect that hurts everybody.

LAVANDERA: All travelers can do is hold on and try to enjoy the ride.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: And it's just after 6:30 in the morning here Pacific Time and we've already seen incredibly long lines of passengers trying to make their way through the security checkpoints here in L.A.X.

Of course, now one of the big things to keep in mind here is to try simplify as much as possible as you try to get through these checkpoints and outside here in Los Angeles, just a short while ago, we were actually the first time we were able to catch a glimpse of the control tower which we're about 500 yards away from, but it is covered up in a heavy blanket of fog here this morning -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes, Ed, what are you? Out on the tarmac? You look like you're standing smack dab in front of the plane itself.

LAVANDERA: Right. We're just actually just here to the left, is one of the terminals. So, we had to see a long line of people actually making it all the way outside of the terminal to where we were standing here about an hour ago. And this is actually very close here to one of the gates. And this plane just pulled up here a short while ago as we were tossing into piece.

COLLINS: Now, I got to ask you before we let you go. How did you draw the short straw on this trip that you're going to take? Let's look at that map one more time. Just watch how far you're going to go and how long, you think, it's going to take you again?

LAVANDERA: Well, we're doing Los Angeles to Denver today. Well, wake up early tomorrow and start talking to folks and make Dallas to New York at some point tomorrow, connecting through Dallas. Tomorrow, yes, tomorrow will be a heck of a day and then by Thursday, I don't know. Actually, I really did this to get Christmas off is why I'm doing this.

COLLINS: Oh, really? Now we see how it works. All right, Ed, you keep checking in with us. OK? Because, we want to monitor your travel as well. Great idea. Thanks so much.

LAVANDERA: All right, you got it. Take care.

COLLINS: Ed Lavandera, starting out his trip for us today at L.A.X.

So, get ready to pay. Thanksgiving dinner can be a pricey affair. Our Greg Hunter adds at all up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At Manhattan's Garden of Eden Supermarket, the manager Nicholas Kotsianas says the mood among this year's Thanksgiving shoppers has changed.

Last year, this year. What's the difference?

NICHOLAS KOTSIANAS, MANAGER OF MANHATTAN'S GARDEN OF EDEN SUPERMARKET: In terms of perception in how they're feeling. They're feeling far more frugal this year, far more cautious. They want to get more bite for their dollar.

HUNTER: And that will be much tougher this year because prices have gone up on many Thanksgiving staples. The biggest increase, the bird.

KOTSIANAS: The prices have gone up about 15 percent to 18 percent. Depending on the brand.

HUNTER: Other must haves, yams and cranberries. Both...

KOTSIANAS: 10 percent increase definitely, compared to last year.

HUNTER: Kotsianas says food prices are climbing right along with fuel prices.

You're seeing it without question, the price of fuel and shipping of, whether it's turkeys or vegetables.

KOTSIANAS: Anything, anything.

HUNTER: It's more expensive.

KOTSIANAS: Absolutely. HUNTER: Some good news, root vegetables like potatoes and carrots are about the same as last year. Overall, Kotsianas says the cost of Thanksgiving dinner will far outpace inflation.

What do you think people are going to pay across America on average for Thanksgiving?

KOTSIANAS: 10 percent more than last year.

HUNTER: That grows as estimated. It's amazing and it close to American Farm Bureau's national survey of how much more it will cost for you a Thanksgiving dinner. It's about 11 percent but prices aren't only going up because of fuel. Some, weather conditions. For example, yams from North Carolina, big drought down there. Yams this year have gone up because of weather. Greg Hunter, CNN, Hunt's Point, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Attention migraine suffers. Is it all in your head? The link between your pain and your brain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

COLLINS: Dumpster dining. This lady says Americans waste food.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eggs, cheese, there's another dumpster where I usually get bread.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We'll pass the butter in the NEWSROOM. Yummy.

Migraine pain and your brain. What is the link? CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here now with some fascinating new insight. You know, I've been talking this story around the NEWSROOM a little bit. It seems like there are an awful lot of people who deal with migraines and just really don't know what to do.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are. There are so many people that deal with migraines and you can't blame them for asking why me? Why do I get them? And other people don't get them. And this latest research may provide a clue as to why some people get them and others don't. And so, if we take a look at the brain. Take a look. We have a picture of the brain that we're going to show you. There's that brain.

If you look at that yellow region, what doctors found was that when they imaged the brains of people with migraines, that yellow region there, it was thicker, the cortex. The other layer was 21 percent thicker than in people who didn't have migraines. So, they're hoping that this will give them some clues as to what causes migraines.

COLLINS: OK. So, that seems like pretty significant because if you can find out what the difference is, that's great. But what can you actually do? I mean, how will these change things for people who suffer from migraines?

COHEN: It won't change anything for people immediately but what they're hoping in the future is that they can figure out the whole chicken/egg thing. Is that area of the brain thicker because they have migraines? Is this a result of migraines? Or did those people just naturally have a thicker cortex and that's what's causing the migraines? So, once they can answer that, hopefully they can come up with a treatment based on that answer but it's not going to be for a while.

COLLINS: Yes, and you know, I think it's hard for people who have never suffered from a migraine before to even understand what we're talking about. I mean, they can really be debilitating for people. So, while we're waiting to figure out the chicken before the egg and all of that, what can migraine sufferers do in the meantime?

COHEN: Right. And usually standard advice for migraine sufferers and many people do find a lot of relief by following this advice. First of all what you can do is you can avoid triggers. I think migraine sufferers overtime come to learn certain foods might trigger.

COLLINS: Caffeine, chocolate?

COHEN: The caffeine. Sometimes other people, its cheese. And so, there are certain things that you can really try to keep track. Also, take medication. There is medication that sometimes can less than the effects of a migraine and also proper diet and exercise are both really important. But there is no magic bullet for migraines at this point, unfortunately.

COLLINS: I used to have them and boy, they are so incredibly painful.

COHEN: Not fun. It's not just like walking around with a nagging headache. You know, I mean, people I know who have them, can't work. I mean, that's it. They're done, they're lying in bed.

COLLINS: That's exactly right. All right, well, Elizabeth, we hope we get even more info from that study. Thank so much, Elizabeth Cohen.

Totally awesome.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were just about to leave and this nice man over here, give me and my sister two free tickets and I'm very happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The greatest story. Meet the most deserving Hannah Montana fans and the man who made their dreams come true.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It's a nightmare scenario. Pakistan's nukes in the hands of the wrong people. Here now is Senior Pentagon Correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pentagon sources tell CNN the United States does have contingency plans to intervene if it believes any of Pakistan's nuclear weapons are in danger of falling into the hands of terrorists or extremists. Unlike the U.S., Pakistan doesn't rely on sophisticated electronic safeguards and access codes to secure its stockpile of 50 to 100 nukes. Instead, Pakistan's military keeps the key component separate. The warheads stored in one secret bunker, that this isle core or trigger in another.

MIKE MULLEN, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I don't see any indication right now that security of those weapons is in jeopardy but clearly we are very watchful as we should be.

MCINTYRE: Is that the nightmare scenario? I mean, is that the worst case scenario? What the U.S. is watching for is what worries experts like David Albright, a former nuclear arms inspector. What if the Pakistani military loses its grip on power and control over the nuclear arsenal?

DAVID ALBRIGHT, FORMER ARMS INSPECTOR: The safety and security controls on Pakistani nuclear weapons are not that sophisticated so unlike Russian weapons which a terrorist group would very unlikely would be able to get to work, a Pakistani nuclear weapon may very well be workable by a terrorists.

MCINTYRE: But the very secrecy Pakistan relies on to protect its arsenal is the biggest obstacle to success for the highly classified plans for U.S. commandos to secure or seize any loose nukes. Simply put, the Pentagon doesn't know for certain exactly where the components are.

JOSEPH CIRINCIONE, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: We can't sent our Nat teams or 82nd airborne in to go seize those weapons. We don't know where they are and if we tried we would be overwhelmed by the Pakistan forces resisting us. It's too late at that point to try to get the nukes out.

MCINTYRE: At the Pentagon, they like to say they have a plan for everything but having a plan and implementing it are two different things and launching a commando raid into Pakistan to snatch that country's nuclear weapons without the help of the Pakistani military would be darn near mission impossible.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, The Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COLLINS: Time to take a look at some of the most clicked on videos on cnn.com. Now in South Florida, a teen survives a plunge into a canal. No one saw the 18-year-old's car veer off the road. He still managed to pull himself out and swim to shore.

Also in Florida, surveillance video captures an act of bravery. A 71-year-old security guard confronts armed men outside a restaurant and scares them away.

And former police officer Drew Peterson is asking reporters to leave him alone and go home for the holidays. Police say Peterson is a suspect in the disappearance of his wife Stacy.

For more of your favorite video go to cnn.com/mostpopular and of course don't forget you can take us with you anywhere you go on your iPod with the CNN daily podcast. See some of the stories that will have you talking. The CNN NEWSROOM podcast available 24/7 right on your iPod.

A new trend in environmentally friendly dining. Recycled food but a word of advice. Don't grab the green products, if you know what I mean. Liz Tufts (ph) of affiliate WHSM goes along for a freggan's feast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUTHY WOODRING, FREEGAN: I'm going to get a few more of these.

LIZ TUFTS (ph), WHSM AFFILIATE: It's shopping time for Ruthy Woodring and today she's on the hunt for bread.

WOODRING: Pastries.

TUFTS: Once a week, she hops on her bike at the wee hours of the morning and travels through the land of dumpsters. Hoping to snatch up any unwanted food from local stores.

WOODRING: I like the hunt, the chase, the treasure.

TUFTS: And Ruthy has been forging for food inside garbage cans and dumpsters the past 15 years.

WOODRING: This is full of bread.

TUFTS: She can tell you the best dumpster to look in for vegetables. Where to find fresh fruit and even where the best baked goods may be laying around.

WOODRING: There is one dumpster that I hit regularly where I often get eggs, cheese. There's another dumpster where I usually get bread. Other dumpsters where I get produce.

TUFTS: And it's not because Ruthy can't afford food from the grocery store.

WOODRING: I really hate to go shopping inside stores. I go inside and the fluorescent lights and the bright colors and the packages on the wall just screaming at me, I feel like my senses are assaulted but in the dumpster I feel like I'm more in control.

TUFTS: It's because she can't stand seeing food like this going to waste.

WOODRING: I recycle that food in my body and bodies of my friends and divert it in the landfill.

TUFTS: As I stand in the middle of this dumpster here, you're probably thinking about the smell or the filth but believe it or not Ruth says you actually have to bring your manners here at the dumpster just as you would to the dinner table.

WOODRING: You want to try to leave it neat for the next person. You also want to try to leave it neat so that the store people don't get upset.

TUFTS: And if you're thinking about how someone could eat food out of a dumpster, Ruthy says she is not worried about getting sick. She says most of the food they find comes free packaged and what's not, they take home and clean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa, this is very heavy.

WOODRING: The stuff that I find in a dumpster is usually fresher than most people have in their fridge that they forgotten about.

TUFTS: At one dumpster we stop by, Ruthy left with a few loaves of bread, bagels, and a dozen pastries.

WOODRING: This is three times as much as this in there.

TUFTS: So, what may seem look like a dumpster full of trash to some people could actually be a dumpster full of dinner.

WOODRING: I want to leave it somewhat nice to the next dumpster diver.

TUFTS: Or what Ruthy called a freegan feast.

WOODRING: So, dumpster diving is kind of like, well, as long as it's there, in this economy, yes, OK, I'll take it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Toy makers get sued over lead. Could Christmas gifts be toxic to your children?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: He looked like a scalper but he didn't want money. He just wanted to make Hannah Montana fans happy. Preston Rudy of affiliate WTSP reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PRESTON RUDY, AFFILIATE WTSP: If you were at the (INAUDIBLE) Tampa Monday night, you would swear it was every girl's dream to see Hannah Montana.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES: We have the Hannah Montana wigs.

RUDY: In fact, one family we met came all the way from Puerto Rico so their daughters could see the teenage singing sensation.

You came all the way from Puerto Rico just to see Hannah Montana?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we love Hannah Montana.

RUDY: But while most people paid $60 or in some cases hundred of dollars for their seats.

FINN WALLING, GAVE TICKETS AWAY: Do you have tickets?

RUDY: Finn Walling showed up with an offer that sounded too good to be true.

WALLING: Do you folks have tickets tonight?

RUDY: The father of a 9-year-old girl named Madison. Walling was looking to give his two tickets away for free.

WALLING: It's not about money to me. As long as I can have somebody else go and really deserve to go and wants to go and they can't afford tickets.

RUDY: The tickets were originally for this daughter but when Madison feel ill...

WALLING: Do you folks have tickets?

RUDY: Instead of scalping the tickets, Walling decided to try and make some other little girls dream come true.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES: Hanna Montana rocks.

WALLING: If you're coming to the show in limousine, you do not deserve free tickets.

RUDY: After a 20-minute search.

WALLING: Do you folks have tickets?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

WALLING: You don't?

RUDY: Some things in life...

WALLING: Well, you're on disability, you can't afford.

RUDY: Are free. WALLING: Well, I'll tell you what? I cannot think I can have two girls more deserving than you two to have two free tickets to Hannah Montana.

EMILY ADAMS, GOT FREE TICKETS: Thank you so much.

RUDY: He also, a smile that comes from a good deed is truly priceless.

ADAMS: We were just about to leave and this nice man over here gave me and my sister two free tickets and I'm very happy.

WALLING: When I saw her crying. That's when I started to cheer her up a little bit. It just felt so great. In means that much of its deed and so, bring a little joy. Maybe (INAUDIBLE).

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