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Nanny Cam Bust; What Is The Evidence?; Turkey Day & The Big Apple; Thanksgiving Greetings; Playing It Safe; Greatest Gift
Aired November 22, 2007 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Caught on tape. A nanny faces felony charges of injuring a toddler. Phil Archer of affiliate KPRC reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL ARCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Janae Acquard thought her kids were in good hands.
ROBIN MAYBERRY (ph), NANNY: I'm tired (ph) and tired of you spitting out your food Adalade (ph). Now swallow it.
ARCHER: Until she saw this video of their nanny, Robin Mayberry, with her daughters Adalade and Avery (ph). Adalade, the baby, is 17 months old.
JANAE ACQUARD, MOTHER: You can't describe how you feel. I mean, I told my mother I had -- I felt emotions I didn't even know I had.
STEVEN ACQUARD, FATHER: Robin is thumping the baby in the face. And you hear the pop. Every time she thumps the baby in the mouth, it's pop, pop, pop.
ARCHER: Don't want to say anything? Nothing to say?
Mayberry went to court. She's charged with a felony, injury to a child, and as a condition of her bond, Judge Michael Wilkinson (ph) barred her from working as a child care provider. Meantime, investigators are checking old video to see if it had happened before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're still looking into the case. There's a lot of videos we have to look at. We have to investigate, see what happened.
ARCHER: That's what most concerns Janae Acquard now. Mayberry cared for her kids for almost a year. She's worried about how she's been treating them.
J. ACQUARD: I wanted them to grow up in, you know, a happy, loving home and always have that safety and always have that security and know that no matter what these girls have their parents. And I feel like she's took that away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The couple says the nanny knew she was being recorded when she was caring for the children. TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Rearrested, but what's the new evidence? Three suspects back in custody in the case of Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teen who disappeared in Aruba. Phil Black live from the Netherlands.
Phil, good morning to you.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Tony.
Joran van der Sloot, a young man who some two years ago was arrested, named as a suspect in the disappearance in Natalee Holloway, has again been arrested allegedly for the same crime. He was picked up by Dutch police here at the town of Anam (ph) at the request of prosecutors in Aruba because they say they have new, incriminating evidence against him and two other suspects. And we are told that he will be appearing in the courthouse behind me in just a little bit over an hour's time.
The purpose of that hearing is to explain the charges against him. It will be a closed session. But also to rubber stamp his extradition, if you like, to Aruba to face the charges that now wait for him there.
The officials here at the courthouse describe these proceedings as a formality because Aruba is a Dutch territory, there is no need for a complex extradition hearing. As such, this is just a matter of the prosecutors there demanding his return and that will happen. And we're told that once the judge rubber stamps that point, it will happen very quickly from there, too. He could be back at that Caribbean island facing those charges in just a few days.
Back to you, Tony.
HARRIS: I think we're all anxious to hear about -- more, at least, about the new evidence. Doesn't sound like we'll get that today.
Phil Black for us. Phil, thank you.
And without a trace. The FBI joins the search for a Mississippi college student who vanished more than a week ago. Latasha Norman was last seen November 13th after a class at Jackson State University. Authorities say Norman filed police reports recently after someone slashed the tires on her car and an ex-boyfriend is accused of hitting her. Police say they've gotten dozens of calls on the case, but so far nothing has panned out and they have no suspects.
COLLINS: Pronounced dead. He laid there more than six hours. Zach Dunlap classified as a motor vehicle fatality in Oklahoma. But just as tubes were being removed from him and his organs were about to be harvested, the 21-year-old reached out and touched a nurse's arm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TROOPER BETSY RANDOLPH, OKLAHOMA STATE POLICE: The nurse, obviously, in a panic, you know, very frightened, runs from the room, tells the doctor, you know, the attending doctor there that this young man is still alive. The doctors tries to calm her down. And he tells her, look, this is something that happens. The body -- the reflexes.
He goes into this big, you know, long -- this happens, it's reflexes, you know, trying to get her to calm down. And she says, I don't think you understand. This young man is still alive.
So she gets the doctor. They go back into the room. And, sure enough, Zachary's alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Unbelievable. Hospital officials say Dunlap is on life support with serious head and internal injuries. His family, though, calls it a miracle.
HARRIS: How about this? A time to give. For some a time to take. A Salvation Army bell ringer is in jail this morning, accused of stealing a kettle with $127. And here's what Terry Gordon told a local television station.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRY GORDON, ADMITS TAKING SALVATION ARMY KETTLE: The Salvation Army bucket and took off with it and that's how I got a place to sleep at night. I didn't get it because I was taking from the homeless or whatever, you know. I am homeless. I'm trying to do it for me and my girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, Gordon says they spent the money on dinner and a room for the night at a nearby motel. Gordon is expected to make a court appearance the day after Christmas.
COLLINS: A huge celebration underway in New York right now. The Thanksgiving Day Parade. CNN's Jason Carroll is checking out the sights and the sounds. Trying to figure out who that is behind you. Is that Mr. Potato Head, I think it is behind you?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes. He's actually, Heidi, Mr. (INAUDIBLE) Potato Head because he, obviously, doesn't have any globs of sour cream or butter on him. So he's Mr. (INAUDIBLE) Potato Head this year.
COLLINS: He's gluten free, Jason. He's gluten free.
CARROLL: Which is good for you. I know you know all about that.
COLLINS: Yes, sure.
CARROLL: But he's making his way down here. Everyone's been loving the parade so far, Heidi. There are 11 giant helium balloons in the parade this year. Some of the favorites that we saw just go by just a few moments ago, Dora the Explorer. We've been chatting all morning, if you will, with some of these people. They're from all over, Alabama, Missouri . . .
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Texas.
CARROLL: Texas. Can't forget good old Texas. But what have been some of your favorites so far? Other than Mr. Potato Head.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shrek.
CARROLL: Shrek. Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you about Shrek.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shrek was good. Abby Cadabby (ph). All the new ones were really beautiful.
CARROLL: I know you like Shrek as well, correct?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a big guy.
CARROLL: Yes, he's a big guy. Yes. That's why you like Shrek?
Oh, one more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The weather. The weather.
CARROLL: Got to talk about that weather, right? This weather out here, Heidi, in case you can't tell, it is downright balmy. I mean if you guys remember last year, it was do you remember last year. It was rainy, cold. You remember it, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was so bad last year I (INAUDIBLE) watching it.
CARROLL: So someone said a prayer and got some thanks for this year, that's for sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It's just so beautiful out here. I love it so much. And everything's amazing.
CARROLL: All right. Also the marching bands, correct? We want to give props to the marching band.
Alabama. Alabama.
So, Heidi, it's been a lot of fun out here so far. We still have a little bit ways to go. Pikachu down the parade route, going to make his way. And, of course, old St. Nick, Santa Claus, as well. So we're going to be out here for just a few more moments, all the parade as it continues to go on.
Back to you.
COLLINS: Oh, it's such a great day. We were going to have you sort of reenact your feelings from last year in the weather and just show us some of those faces you made and the jacket and the umbrella and the crying and the whining.
CARROLL: Oh, Heidi, come on! It was so cold out here. Do you remember, I think I dropped Gloria Estefan's book. And it was so cold I couldn't even pick it up. She said, ah, Jason, don't bother. It really was freezing.
COLLINS: Yes. It was. I know. But we always like to make fun of you when you do the crying and whining.
Anyway, Jason, great to see you. Happy Thanksgiving and have a great day out there.
CARROLL: Happy Thanksgiving, Heidi.
COLLINS: We'll check back a little later on, especially when Santa comes through. We want to see that.
CARROLL: Tell Tony I said happy Thanksgiving, too.
COLLINS: Yes, he's right here next to me.
HARRIS: Love it. Love it. Love it.
CARROLL: I just love clowns.
HARRIS: Oh, let's just stay with this.
COLLINS: Yes.
HARRIS: Oh, work it, Jason, work it!
COLLINS: He took his ear piece out.
HARRIS: Oh, did he? OK.
COLLINS: He can't even function right now. Oh, wow, that was kind of an attack of the guys in the yellow hats and the cacti. Never been attacked by a cacti.
HARRIS: There was a lot of whining last year, but it really was.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: He was accosted by a cowboy and a cactus. I mean, that's not something you see every day. That's kind of a special I guess this is our holiday edition.
HARRIS: We love the weather in New York City. Boy, what a great day.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: How about this. Words of thanksgiving and encouragement from troops in recovery. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr making the rounds at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): This Thanksgiving, Specialist Joseph McLosky is recovering from having this leg amputated. But he's a soldier with a plan. SPEC JOSEPH MCLOSKY, U.S. ARMY: And I'm to (INAUDIBLE) get a prosthetic and start walking. Walk my butt out of the hospital. So that's what I want to do.
STARR: Recovering isn't stopping these wounded troops from sending holiday greetings to buddies still on duty.
MCLOSKY: I'd like to say happy Thanksgiving to my guys who just got back from Iraq. Hope they're doing all right. And my friends that are still in Iraq. And I hope you guys are staying safe and happy Thanksgiving.
CPL. JEFFREY REFFNER, U.S. ARMY: Hi. This is Corporal Jeff Reffner at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I want to say happy Thanksgiving to all the troops in Iraq and some of my fellow soldiers back here in the states, Jeff and Para (ph). Sorry my voice is so hoarse. I was at the Springsteen concert last night.
STARR: We're showing IED fragments that put this officer in the hospital.
LT. RYAN MILLER, U.S. ARMY: Hi. My name's Lieutenant Ryan Miller. I'm from third squadron, second shocker (ph) cavalry regiment. And I just want to say happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow wolf pack soldiers still back in Iraq right now.
STARR: At the end of a hall in a room by himself, we meet a young soldier who may not have the happiest of holidays. Mark Hodge is receiving chemotherapy for the leukemia he developed after being wounded in Iraq.
SPEC. MARK HODGE, U.S. ARMY: Hey, what's up? This is Specialist Mark Hodge from the 173rd in Italy. I want to wish everybody in the second 503, the rock, happy Thanksgiving. And I wish everybody well. Peace.
STARR: He says he doesn't expect any family holiday visits, but he doesn't want anybody to feel sorry for him.
HODGE: We're OK. We really are, you know. We'll pull through it, that's for sure.
STARR: One more year, another holiday season, America's wounded trying to recover.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And we wish all of our troops the best this Thanksgiving holiday.
Avoiding trouble in toyland. A consumer expert with tips on what to buy and what not to. It's coming your way in the NEWSROOM. But first, more Thanksgiving greetings from our troops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PFC. CHRISTINA GUY (ph), U.S. MILITARY: Hi. This is PFC. Christina Guy here at Camp Tazi (ph), Iraq. And I want to wish my husband, Marvin Guy from Tulula (ph), Louisiana, a happy Thanksgiving. I love you and I miss you and I'll be home soon.
SGT MICHAEL LOTUS (ph), U.S. MILITARY: Hi. My name is Sergeant Michael Lotus. I am currently in Baghdad and I'm from Gulfport, Mississippi. And I'd like to send a shout out to my sister, Lucille (ph), my sister, May (ph), my brother, Edward (ph), and my girlfriend, Brenda (ph), in Sara Vista (ph). And I'd like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.
CAPT. ADELLE TYLER (ph), U.S. MILITARY: Hi. I'm Captain Adelle Tyler in Camp Tazi (ph), Iraq. I'd like to wish my mom a happy Thanksgiving and Gordon Tyler (ph) in Louisville, Mississippi.
STAFF SGT. GREG TATE (ph) , U.S. MILITARY: I'm Staff Sergeant Greg Tate stationed on LSA (ph) Anaconda (ph) in Balad, Iraq. I'd like to give a happy holidays to my family and friends back in Moline, Illinois. And I love you all and I'll see you soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Unfortunately want to give you this not great news coming in to us right now here at CNN. We have some video to show you as well of apparently several mortars have landed in Baghdad's very heavily fortified Green Zone. You see the smoke from them just a few seconds ago there in that video. As you know, the U.S. military is based there and they are celebrating their Thanksgiving Day.
Once again, we have learned that several mortars landed inside of Baghdad's Green Zone. No initial reports of casualties at this time, but you do see the smoke there in the sky. And we're going to continue to follow this story for you and find out just as much as we can just as soon as possible as well.
HARRIS: Well, the toy aisle can be a scary place for parents these days. Lead paint, choking hazards and the almost daily, it seems, toy recall. Jean Halloran is with Consumer's Union, publisher of Consumer Reports. She is in New York with some tips on playing it safe and avoiding dangerous toys.
Hey, Jean, let me just start out with a basic question here. I mean there seems to have been just a slew of recalls. Are we just getting better information? And we're also a little worried. Are we making too much of it or is there, in your mind, a real reason to be concerned as we head out to buy toys this holiday season?
JEAN HALLORAN, CONSUMERS UNION: Well, there is a real reason to be concerned. We have a lot more imports. About 80 percent of the toys now are imported from China. And we're slowly discovering that we have some quality control problems with those products.
HARRIS: Well, Jean, let's get started here because we've got a list of six items and tips and advice that we want to get to folks. You start out by advising us, do not, don't buy metal jewelry. Why not?
HALLORAN: There have been so many problems with metal jewelry products. Many of them have lead in them. We just advise avoiding them altogether.
HARRIS: Just avoid them altogether. OK. We love the tip and the advice.
HALLORAN: Yes. And they are much more powerful magnets than when we were kids. And if a little kid swallows a couple of pieces, they can attract each other inside the intestine and tie their insides up in knots.
HARRIS: Oh, boy.
And this one. I think this one makes sense, too. Avoid no-name products. Elaborate on this tip.
HALLORAN: Well, I think some of the bigger companies, like Mattel and Toys "R" Us, are really concerned about their brand name and have done a lot to check up on their suppliers. But there are a lot of dollar stores and no-name products who may not really be coming up to standards.
HARRIS: And how about this one? Beware of small balls, tricycles and balloons.
HALLORAN: Yes. Actually balloons are one of the leading causes of death to children. Very small children should not have balloons because they can inhale them and close their windpipe.
HARRIS: Boy. All right. Number five. Tip number five here, look for age grading on toy packages.
HALLORAN: Yes. All toys are supposed to carry an appropriate for a certain age, and that will help you avoid toys with small parts for young children.
HARRIS: And finally, do your own safety check. And why don't you elaborate on this and I've got one more quick question for you.
HALLORAN: Yes. We've tested at Consumer Reports a number of lead test kits. And this is the Lead Check Kit which is one that we found worked quite well. You can use it on toys you already have at home to see if there's lead paint on the surface.
HARRIS: Jean, this is an awful -- this is a lot of work now that is being foisted upon parents. Have we really gotten to this point where we really can't trust and have to be this careful about the toys that is we buy for our kids and, you know, and our family members?
HALLORAN: Unfortunately, our Consumer Products Safety Commission has been cut back to almost nothing. They have half the staff they had 30 years ago and twice the job. So we really need to do something about that. Hopefully Congress will act before Christmas.
HARRIS: Well, let's get them help. If they need help, let's figure out a way to get them more help.
Jean Halloran with us this morning.
Jean, appreciate it. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy holidays to you.
HALLORAN: Thank you.
HARRIS: And you can find more toy safety information on the Internet. Some web sites to check out now, notinmycart.org, recalls.gov, and cpsc.gov, the web site for the Consumer Products Safety Commission.
COLLINS: Home destroyed in the California wildfires, but they're still together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have my family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A family's story of thanksgiving.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Is that Frosty?
COLLINS: I think so.
HARRIS: That's not is that really Frosty?
Oh, did we -- oh, the NYPD. How great is this. On a great day in New York City, temperatures in the 50s, watch, I'm absolutely wrong about that, but, come on, what a departure from last year when it was just miserable there. So many folks there just all huddled up. And is that really Frosty?
COLLINS: Well, that's my guess.
HARRIS: I don't know. Corn cob pipe and a button nose. I don't see all of that.
COLLINS: It's a snowman with a hat.
HARRIS: There you go.
So we're talking about 2,000 or so cheerleaders, let's see, about 800 clowns. We saw Jason Carroll getting accosted a few moments ago. What a day. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade heads to 34th Street and we are there live.
COLLINS: The principal wants to see you. That sentence can make any student shudder. But for one girl it was a blessing. Jean Mackin from our affiliate WMUR reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN MACKIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Franklin Middle School Principal Jim Friel holds on to the card from one of his students and her friends. Inside it says, "I thank you so much that you're donating a kidney. I will take good care of it."
JIM FRIEL, MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL: The very first time I saw the announcement, I was just like, this is something that I really think I need to do.
MACKIN: He's watched 13-year-old Morgan Coreless' (ph) health deteriorate from a kidney disease. When he heard about the search for a kidney donor, the Franklin Middle School principal underwent testing. And it turns out he's the best match for his own student.
FRIEL: When I spoke to my family and I spoke to my wife, I told her, you know, as we talked about it, that I've spent half my life educating kids and trying to make a difference. And if this isn't making a difference in the life of a child, I don't know what is.
MACKIN: There's still more screening ahead. And if there are any concerns, doctors will have to search for another donor for Morgan. But for now, her principal is the first choice for the surgery that could take place in January. This educator of 24 years says he's spoken many times with Morgan and her family about this life-altering gift.
FRIEL: I told her that I was going to be keeping tabs on her if she ended up with my kidney because we were going to be connected for a long time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: He kind of looks like Santa Claus a little bit, too, doesn't he? The principal was one of two possible matches and the girl's family chose him.
HARRIS: Well, he got a speeding ticket, then look what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn around, put your hands behind your back. Turn around, put your hands behind your back now!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the hell is wrong with you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn around. Turn around!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the heck is wrong with you? No, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay on the ground!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Shot over a signature. You've got to see this story. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Welcome back everyone to the CNN NEWSROOM. Good morning, happy Thanksgiving. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi everybody, I'm Heidi Collins.
Unfortunately, we have to start this hour with some bad news coming into us from Baghdad. We have learned that several mortars have landed in Baghdad's heavily fortified green zone today. It's been about a week according to our sources that an attack like this has occurred. Usually they do not result in casualties because basically those mortars are just sort of lobbed into the area.
But once again, mortars have been launched into Baghdad's Green Zone. As you know, the U.S. military is based there. They are trying to celebrate Thanksgiving day. Not a good story to share with you at the moment. Our Michael Ware is in the area and we're going to be checking in with him shortly to find out exactly what happened.
HARRIS: Well developments unfolding in the Natalee Holloway investigation. Three suspects in the Alabama teen's disappearance in Aruba back in custody. Authorities say they have new evidence, but they aren't saying what it is exactly. Holloway's father just wants answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE'S FATHER: You know, all along we've known they've been the three primary suspects or the three persons who were last seen with our daughter, Natalee. The Dutch and the prosecutor in Aruba I think, they're on the right track, and I think they're committed as well as we are to finding answers for Natalee and getting justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A suspect Joran van der Sloot is due in court in the Netherlands today. The other two, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe go before a judge in Aruba tomorrow. Natalee Holloway has been missing since May of 2005.
Not home for the holidays, but a family is still thankful after living through the fires. Here now is CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We first met Kelsey Perry back in October at Qualcomm Stadium. She had volunteered to help evacuees from the catastrophic San Diego fires. What they didn't know was that this 14-year-old helper was an evacuee herself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh.
GUTIERREZ: About to learn the fate of her home, we went with the Perrys to Ramona, California. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, gosh.
GUTIERREZ: The home that Hobby Perry built with his own hands has been reduced to ashes.
JULIE PERRY, HOME DESTROYED BY WILDFIRE: I got married he here on the property, and our kids were born in San Diego and they have been raised in this house.
GUTIERREZ: All of it gone.
J. PERRY: This right here is a nativity scene.
GUTIERREZ: Out of the ashes these precious keepsakes that somehow survived.
KELSEY PERRY, HOME DESTROYED BY WILDFIRE: This one, promise ring that my dad gave to my mom. I always used to wear it because I really, really liked it. That was in here, too.
GUTIERREZ: One month after the fire we checked back with the Perrys.
J. PERRY: This right here is our wedding cake knife from our wedding. You can still see what it says, Hobby and Julie.
GUTIERREZ: Julie and Hobby say they're still dealing with FEMA, their insurance company, and their heart break.
J. PERRY: We're in a one-bedroom with no kitchen and no bathroom. And so it's hard.
GUTIERREZ: What has it been like to try to rebuild?
J. PERRY: It's hard, you know. We're going to be OK and rebuild.
GUTIERREZ: The Perrys have already cleared away the rubble that was their home, making plans for the huge task of rebuilding. Kelsey has come up with a plan.
K. PERRY: The garage, which is going to be right over there, and then the entry which will be like right here.
GUTIERREZ: Through it all on this Thanksgiving holiday, the Perrys say they still have a lot to be thankful for.
HOBBY PERRY, HOME DESTROYED BY WILDFIRE: I'm very thankful for everybody that's helped out, everybody that's come to our aid.
K. PERRY: I'm also thankful that we still have our family, you know, and we can be together and help eve other through this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have my family.
H. PERRY: I love you. GUTIERREZ: Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Ramona, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Take a moment, take a moment. Remind yourself of all the reasons you have to be thankful today.
Let's get you to New York City now. Hey, look, Reynolds, take a look at these pictures.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Do you still have turkey questions? We'll answer some of them with the help of the people at the Butterball hotline. But first, more Thanksgiving greetings from our troops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm specialist Metty (ph) from LSA Anaconda (ph). I wanted to give a special shout out to my mom, stepdad, my little brothers in Vermont, Illinois. I want to also give a shout out to everyone in McComb (ph), Chris, Matt, Poodle, and my girlfriend, Katie (ph). Love you all. Wish everybody a happy holidays and I'll see you soon, peace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, my name is Kyle Barry (ph), currently stationed in Baghdad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I want to say happy holidays to my family and everyone back in Michigan. I'll be home soon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Sergeant Maloni (ph). I want to say a happy Thanksgiving to my family back in Michigan and go Lions. I hope you guys smack the pack today. Bye.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi I'm Captain Marty (ph) in Kabul, Afghanistan. I'd like to wish happy holidays to everyone back in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, especially my wife, Ellen and my daughter Colleen and my son Trace. To the Indianapolis Colts, go out there and have a great season.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Thankfully you still have a few hours before you put that turkey on the table. So let's go ahead and talk turkey for a minute. I think those turkeys are crazy.
Carol Miller is the Butterball turkey talk-line supervisor. She is joining us once again to give us a little bit more information about cooking up that bird and possibly even more importantly, Carol, about carving that bird once you have success in the oven.
Last hour that we talked to you, I think some of the most shocking news we learned is that if you forgot to thaw the turkey, all is not lost. You can actually cook a frozen turkey. I did not know that. It will just take a little bit longer. All right.
So let's talk about the carving. Are we supposed to use an electric knife? Are we supposed to use just the old fashioned knife? Or what is the best way to get this done?
CAROL MILLER, BUTTERBALL TALK-LINE SUPERVISOR: Well, Heidi, a lot of people carve in the kitchen, but there are some people that carve in front of an audience of family and friends.
COLLINS: The pressure.
MILLER: Yes, it is. What you want to do is let the turkey have a turkey time-out. Once it comes out of the oven it needs about 20 minutes before you start carving. Make sure you have a sharp knife and a fork, and let me show you how we carve here at Butterball turkey talk-line.
First thing you do is remove the drum stick and the legs, and you would cut right through this band of skin. You take the drum stick and pop it open. There's the thigh bone in there. You take the tip of your knife and go right into the bone.
Next on to the breast. Right above the wing, cut all the way to the bone, and then you can just take your knife and slice down, and when you get to the bottom they just fall free.
Butterball.com has a video that if you're the carver today, go watch that video because after you watch it, you'll be a pro. And also have a good story so that people will listen to your story and not watch you carve.
COLLINS: Yes, because seriously I can just only imagine the pressure that would be to stand there and get this thing carved correctly. Seems like if you use an electric knife though, it would be a lot faster.
MILLER: Some people do.
COLLINS: Yeah?
MILLER: It could be. If you don't have any muscles, but if you have a sharp knife, that's great. The calls that we're getting here this morning, you know, one of the things is that my turkey is not getting done, and the company is here.
Stop basting, stop opening the door, relax. Take a deep breath. Give it a good 20 minutes and then check on it again. People get so excited. They keep opening the door and opening the door, and that just cools off the chicken -- or the turkey and heats up the kitchen.
COLLINS: You did not mean to say chicken.
MILLER: I did not. I didn't say it.
COLLINS: Turkey, turkey, turkey. Let's hear the birds. Maybe that will help. There you go. Carol, you know, I want to ask you a couple questions about you.
As we are discussing this segment today, you always have such great advice, but we want to know how on earth you got your job. How long have you been working at the Butterball hotline, if you will?
MILLER: Well, I'm only one of 55. You can see behind me, I have many co-workers. We're all home economists. We're dietians. We're foodies. We go to Butterball University where we learn how to make picture perfect turkeys, all the different ways that people call us. On the charcoal grill, in the microwave, in a covered pan, in an electric roaster. So when the phones start ringing like they are today, we're ready. We have the answers. I have been doing this for 24 thanksgivings.
COLLINS: 24 Thanksgivings. That's unbelievable. What's the weirdest call you've ever gotten?
MILLER: Every year I have a favorite. My favorite this year is the woman who was roasting her turkey breast side down, and we don't recommend that. It's too hard to turn the hot turkey over and it's just as good roasting it breast side up.
She lost control of the turkey. It slipped out of her hand, skidded across the kitchen floor. She had to chase down the turkey because she had two golden labs in the kitchen with her. So the moral of the story is breast side up always.
COLLINS: Got it. That is a little frightening there. The dogs would have gotten it easily. Carol, I'm going to have to let you go before my Midwestern accent comes back. Carol Miller from the Butterball hotline in Naperville, Illinois, today. Happy Thanksgiving.
MILLER: Happy Thanksgiving right back to you. Bye-bye.
HARRIS: Quality entertainment on Thanksgiving from Carol, OK? OK, all right.
An immigrant's last Thanksgiving in America, happy to go home but heartbroken. The story coming up for you in just a couple of minutes in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK, be careful what you eat any day of the year. The "New England Journal of Medicine" brings us this story of the day. An 18-year-old woman was sick, weight loss, pain, swelling in her abdomen. Doctors found something.
Now, this is where you might get a little squeamish. It was a ten-pound hair ball. Take a look at it! Heidi, where are you, 15 inches by 7 inches? Doctors removed the hair ball. That's good eating right there.
COLLINS: Stop showing that. It's horrific.
HARRIS: How about that ...
COLLINS: Happy Thanksgiving.
HARRIS: Yeah! OK so the young woman, she had a medical condition. She said she had been eating her hair for years. Heidi, are you OK?
COLLINS: No.
HARRIS: We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Tasered on the highway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn around. Turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the heck is wrong with you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The incident now plastered on the Internet. Investigators try to decide if the officer overreacted. The story coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: An immigrant's tough choice. Leave the U.S. with some of his money or none at all. CNN's John Zarrella reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On this Thanksgiving, likely the last Pedro Zapeta will ever spend in this country, the illegal immigrant says he has very little to be thankful for. In two months Pedro will go back to his home after years of being away. But he says he can't even be grateful for that.
PEDRO ZAPETA, IMMIGRANT DISHWASHER (through translator): I will be happy when I get to see my family, but there's pain in my heart.
ZARRELLA: To understand Pedro's pain, you have to know where he comes from -- this small town in the mountains of Guatemala. He left, he says, because there was no opportunity there for him to earn a living or improve life for his mother and two sisters. He traveled over land through Mexico and crossed the border illegally in the United States. He made his way to Stewart, Florida, near Palm Beach. He says he came with only one purpose.
ZAPETA: I came here to make something of life, not to fail.
ZARRELLA: He says he never had any interest in staying, so he didn't learn English and spent most American holidays like Thanksgiving working. Working is mainly what Pedro did for the next nine years. Odd jobs like washing dishes, saving every spare nickel he could.
By 2005, that added up to $59,000, enough money for him, he says, to buy some land and build a house in Guatemala. So Pedro packed his suitcase and arrived at Ft. Lauderdale Airport with a one-way ticket home, and a bag full of cash, his entire savings. But Pedro didn't get very far.
ZAPETA: They asked me how much money I had. The security people came. There were a lot of people around me. They counted the money, $59,000. They called immigration, and then they took me away.
ZARRELLA: Turns out Pedro broke the law by trying to leave the country with more than $10,000 in cash and not declaring it on this one-page form that the federal government requires.
If he just had filled out the form, Pedro and his money may very well have been allowed to go home. Instead, the government kept it. A judge ordered that Pedro could get $10,000 back, but would have to forfeit the rest. Pedro says he didn't know the law and his attorneys have appealed the decision saying he's being punished too harshly for being an illegal immigrant.
MARISOL ZEQUEIRA, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: We're making an example out of Pedro for no good reason.
ZARRELLA: The U.S. attorney's office which prosecuted the case would not talk to us about Pedro. But former U.S. attorney Guy Lewis (ph) said the government could have been much tougher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man's clearly violated the law. Do you seize the money and let him go? Do you prosecute? Or do you walk away from the thing? I actually think the government took the middle ground here.
ZRRELLA: An immigration judge ordered Pedro to buy a ticket and leave the country by the end of January. He expects to return to Guatemala he says with little to show except health problems from years of labor. And yet he says if there is something he can be thankful for, it's the hope he still has that one day he will receive justice.
ZAPETA: I believe in god's will, and then I will get the money back. I will get it back because I earned it.
ZARRELLA: John Zarrella, CNN, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Time now to unveil our top five turkeys, a list you definitely don't want to find yourself on. So who did make the cut?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: You know, it's our own little holiday tradition. The political turkeys of the year. CNN's senior political correspondent Bill Schneider carves it up for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How do you become one of our "Political Turkeys of the Year?"
By doing something foolish -- like, say, turkey number five, John Edwards -- who spent $400 on a haircut.
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can come from nothing to spending $400 on a haircut.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
EDWARDS: There are great opportunities.
(LAUGHTER)
EDWARDS: So embarrassing, by the way.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHNEIDER: Yes, it was.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've had a Congress that spent money like John Edwards at a beauty shop.
SCHNEIDER: And how about turkey number four -- that fake FEMA news conference during the California wildfires?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I will be glad to take some of your questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very happy with FEMA's response so far.
Thank you.
SCHNEIDER: Thanks for asking?
Not necessary. The questioner was a FEMA employee.
Turkey number three -- the attorney general suffers an amazing memory lapse when asked about the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't recall having specific questions.
I don't recall such a conversation.
Senator, I don't recall that -- that occurring, again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER: Exasperated Republicans finally gave up on him.
SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: And I believe that the best way to put this behind us is your resignation.
SCHNEIDER: Done.
Turkey number two -- Larry Craig pleads guilty, pays a fine and agrees to step down if the court denies his appeal.
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: Therefore, it is with sadness and deep regret that I announce that it is my intent to resign from the Senate, effective September 30.
SCHNEIDER: Not done -- even though the court denied his appeal.
Turkey number one -- New York Governor Eliot Spitzer promotes a plan to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens.
GOV. ELIOT SPITZER (D), NEW YORK: Over the last two months, I have been advancing a proposal that I believe would improve the safety and security of the people of my state.
SCHNEIDER: The plan meets with overwhelming public opposition -- enough to trip up a presidential contender.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Governor Spitzer is trying to do it.
SCHNEIDER: Governor Spitzer's response? Oh, never mind.
SPITZER: I have concluded that New York State cannot successfully address this problem on its own. I'm announcing today that I am withdrawing my proposal.
SCHNEIDER: Now it's time to answer my annual Thanksgiving question -- what three national disasters would happen if you drop the Thanksgiving platter? Answer -- the downfall of turkey, the breakup of china and the overthrow of grease. So be careful out there. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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