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American Morning
Celebrating Thanksgiving; Need Help with the Turkey?; Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; New Developments in Natalee Holloway Case; Ticket and a Taser
Aired November 22, 2007 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: A ticket and a taser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the heck's wrong with you? Don't...
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Stay on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help! Lauren!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Stopped for speeding, a driver ends up tasered and face down on the highway.
Plus, it's show time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to Butterball. For information on turkey preparation, press or say three.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: We're answering your cooking questions with a little help from the pros on this Thanksgiving edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here on this November 22nd. It's gorgeous out here, John. We're up on the seventh floor balcony. We got a great view of where the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It's going to be winding down these streets in about an hour from now. So we'll let you know what it looks like up here but a pretty cool sight this morning as they get ready for that big annual parade.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It's just an amazing vantage point up there and of course, we've got 10 floors of windows at the Time Warner Center as well and people bringing their families in this morning to watch the parade.
How the weather, is it expected to hold as far as you know?
CHETRY: It is beautiful. Of course, Rob will fill us in a little more, but right now, it feels unseasonably warm, at least compared to last year when it was just windy, damp, rainy.
It's about 55 degrees right now going up to about 63. So perfect weather. Keep your fingers crossed that it'll stay this way as the parade makes its way through today.
ROBERTS: All right. What do you got for us out there?
CHETRY: Well, we're going to meet up with Jason Carroll who's not far from me. He's a little bit north. He's at 72nd and Central Park west and that's where more preparations are under way.
I'm sure you're mobbed there because everyone wants to come out and see the festivities today at the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Everyone wants to come out. And I feel like everyone is here. I'm right here now with the Brendell (ph) family. You've been down here since what time this morning?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 5:15.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CARROLL: 5:15 this morning. You know, one thing I'm discovering. Since everyone is out here at the parade, no one seems to be cooking. These guys aren't cooking but you're making hats, though. She made this one last night. Looking pretty good. How are you feeling in that thing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very good.
CARROLL: I'm sure you are. Sure you are. And they have somewhat of a tradition out here in the Brendell family. Tell us about the game that you play every year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. We have a great game. You get one point if you shake a hand of a clown, five points for a clown captain. If you get celebrity to waive to you, you get 25 points, you get a celebrity to throw a kiss to you, it's 50 points.
CARROLL: And how many points if you get a CNN reporter to talk to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN, instant winner.
CARROLL: Instant winner. Yes. Cannot beat that. But these guys are out here. They're going to be looking at, what's the balloons you're going to be looking for this year? Because you know there's three big new ones that we've got going on beside Abby...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abby Cadabby.
CARROLL: ...Cadabby, Hello Kitty and Shrek.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CARROLL: Of those three, which ones are we voting for?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the balloons last night.
CARROLL: And?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shrek looks pretty good.
CARROLL: Shrek is looking good. You hear that guys? And who said that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abby Cadabby.
CARROLL: Abby Cadabby. You also want to give a shout-out to the three states that we're representing in this family, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CARROLL: Maryland, Connecticut and New York, Long Island. Yes. All right, so, the parade gets off in, what, just about an hour from now, right, guys?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About an hour.
CARROLL: We've got front-row seats.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where's grandpa?
CARROLL: And we're -- oh, Grandpa's on his way.
(CROSSTALK)
CARROLL: Oh, there's Grandpa. All right. Say hello to Grandpa. Grandpa is coming down here. So we're very excited to be down here. We've got our front-row seats. We're going to be back in just about a half hour with the people from "High School Musical" so you've got to stay tuned for that. Back to you.
CHETRY: That's going to be a blast. Hey, it's those that got up early and got out early that are going to reap the benefits today because a lot of people lining up because of the good weather.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Back to John.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran.
New this morning, stunning developments in the case of missing teenager Natalee Holloway. Three men, once detained as suspects in her disappearance two and a half years ago, are now back in custody.
Holloway vanished in a school trip to Aruba back in 2005. Joran Van Der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe were the last people seen with Natalee Holloway. Now prosecutors say they have new evidence against them.
Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we spoke to Aruba's chief public prosecutor. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
VOICE OF HANS MOS, ARUBA'S CHIEF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR: Still in 2006, and we didn't see any more leads in this case and then there was the request from the Aruban authorities to the Dutch to help them out and see whether they can review the whole investigation and that's what happened last year, earlier this year and during the last few weeks.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Van Der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were arrested on suspicion of involvement in manslaughter. Coming up in our next half- hour, we're going to be speaking live with Joran Van Der Sloot's attorney, Joe Tacopina.
And we're also following another missing person's case here at home. The FBI now joining the search for Latasha Norman. She's a student at Jackson State University in Mississippi. She was last seen on November the 13th in a classroom covering a story for the campus newspaper.
Latasha's father says his daughter would not just wonder off and he is not leaving the state until he finds her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDEN: Latasha, if you can hear us, we want to let you know we love you and that we're not going to stop until we know something.
HARRIS: She was a quiet, sweet girl. I mean, she didn't mess with anybody on campus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Latasha vanished more than a week ago. She recently filed reports with campus police after someone slashed her tires and stole the license plates off of her car. Police say they spoke to her ex-boyfriend who is facing charges for punching her. But they say they have no suspects in her disappearance.
A Utah State trooper could be in hot water after a dash cam video saw him using a taser on a driver who refused to sign a speeding ticket.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Turn around, put your hands behind your back now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the heck is wrong with you?
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Turn around. Turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the heck's wrong with you. Argh! UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Stay on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help! Lauren!
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Get on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help! Lauren, Lauren!
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Stay on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lauren! Lauren!
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Stay down. Stay down. Stay in the car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The 10-minute video was posted on YouTube by the driver who got it by filing a public records request. He had been arguing with the police officer claiming that he had not yet reached the speed limit sign that the police officer was citing him for violating.
Just hours ago, Pakistan Supreme Court clearing the way for Pervez Musharraf to serve as a civilian president. The court stacked with Musharraf loyalists since emergency rule was imposed earlier this month rejected a final challenge to his reelection.
Musharraf is expected to resign as army chief within days and swear a new oath of office as a civilian for another five years.
And this man, retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, now supporting a Democratic plan to bring soldiers home. General Sanchez was the top commander in Iraq from 2003 to four. He says Iraqi leaders have not been working to achieve peace in the struggling democracy.
The Democrats' $50 billion funding proposal requires that all combat troops be out of Iraq by December of 2008.
Stocks struggling overseas. Asian markets dipping sharply in volatile trading. Hong Kong closed down 2 percent. The Nikkei, though, managed to bounce back to close slightly up. There's no trading on Wall Street. Could be a good thing. But the Dow now at its seven-month low on Wednesday.
Ali Velshi here with more on that. Ali, the day off will give people a chance to take a deep breath and come back again at it tomorrow?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And we're starting to see European markets, which are open or actually doing OK. Tomorrow is a shorter trading day, John.
But take a look at what happened yesterday. A light trading week, as you said, a lot of volatility because of that -- the Dow lost 200 points, the NASDAQ was down, so is the S&P 500. That's just for the day. I don't know how most people even keep track of how these markets are doing.
So let me give you a sort of a broader view. Take it from the beginning of the year to now on. The major markets, if you have mutual funds that mimic the Dow or NASDAQ or S&P 500, that's kind of the performance you all have been seeing for the year.
Still up on the Dow and the NASDAQ. But look at the S&P just by a smidge. Below ground. You've lost money for this year. Why? Well, some of this is oil. Oil prices almost touching $100 yesterday, overnight. Yesterday, we got $99.29. The settle yesterday was $97.29. That is up 60 percent since January.
The issue here, John, is that when you pay for things that require oil or you're paying for your gasoline or you're heating oil in the northeast, you're buying exactly the same product you would have been buying last year, probably in similar quantities, and you're paying that much more for it.
Going into this holiday weekend, we are looking at gas prices approaching their all-time high. It's about $3.10 a gallon for national average, John. So you can see why people are a little concerned about the economy.
ROBERTS: Yes. And the oil still flirting with that all-time record high as well.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks very much. We'll check back with you soon.
VELSHI: You're welcome. Sure.
ROBERTS: Giving shelter tops your "Quick Hits." The nonprofit group Unity of Greater New Orleans provided hotel rooms for dozens of homeless people in New Orleans this morning. They had hoped that a hundred homeless people would take them up on the offer but only 61 showed up.
The city estimates that its homeless problem has doubled since Hurricane Katrina hit two years ago.
And some new numbers out of Indiana making a strong case for smoking bans this morning. The study looked at nonsmokers living in a smoke-free county and found the number of heart attacks dropped by 70 percent and in the county with a similar population but no smoking ban, there was no decline.
The race for the White House is getting tight in Iowa. Look at who's on top of the latest polls. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Some of the best shots of the morning in our "Quick Hits" now. Check this out. This is a family of traveling pilgrims -- actually two families actually. They decided to get into the holiday spirit and dress as pilgrims from their flight to Oklahoma City to Denver. The expected travel nightmare of Thanksgiving actually wasn't all that bad. So far, so good.
There was good weather across much of the country and we've got a lot of I-Reporters telling us that many of the airports they went to seemed to be super prepared for the big crush of travelers.
Also a train derailment in northeastern California. 1,800 feet of track damaged when 83-car freight train derailed. They still don't know why. Half of the derailed cars were carrying hazardous materials. Crews say that none of it was released and no one was hurt. The derailment should not affect passenger traffic today.
And thousands are being evacuated in the Philippines as a major storm is coming. Officials are concerned a typhoon could develop into a super typhoon. Right now, it's packing 75-mile-an-hour winds but the Philippines's chief government meteorologist says that winds could hit 138 miles an hour by the time it hits land this weekend.
ROBERTS: Massive storms.
Fifteen minutes after the house. The race for the White House keeps running straight through the holidays. Just a handful of weeks left now until the first caucus in Iowa and the race is as exciting as ever this morning.
"New York Times" reporter Jeff Zeleny is just back from Iowa. He joins us now from Washington. Jeff, let's take a look at the latest Republican poll there. It's got Mitt Romney out in front, 28 percent. Mike Huckabee now, sneaking up on him, not far behind to 24. Fred Thompson well back at 15, Rudy Giuliani down to 13.
The question everybody is asking is: can Huckabee pull this one off? Is there the evidence there in Iowa that he might be able to overtake Romney?
JEFF ZELENY, REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES: That's the big question but Governor Huckabee has been slowly rising ever since that August straw poll that we heard so much about at the time. He's kind of been doing it behind the radar screen or under the radar screen, if you will.
But he has been working social conservatives, Christian conservatives, which are very important on the Iowa Republican side of the ticket. And he has done this almost entirely without spending much money at all. He's not up on television or on radio.
So at this point, he is a considerable worry to the Romney campaign. But there is also some evidence, some suggestions or worry on his side that he may be -- has hit his ceiling there.
ROBERTS: Right.
ZELENY: So the next six weeks, you will see Governor Huckabee there virtually all of the time trying to ring out as much as he can.
ROBERTS: Yes. Romney has spent so much money in Iowa, which gives him that preeminent position there. He's also ahead in New Hampshire. And this is where we start to play the game of what happens, because if Romney were to win Iowa and New Hampshire, that would leave Giuliani at a deficit.
His strategy is that if he loses those two states he's going to get back-stopped of the huge support he has in the now earlier primary states of New York and Florida and Pennsylvania and California. But tradition has shown that whoever wins Iowa and New Hampshire, even New Hampshire, starts to get up a head of steam that could actually change people's preference.
So do we know at this point whether tradition will hold or because of this new front-loading of the primaries with these big states, could it change the calculation?
ZELENY: That's one of the reasons that Mayor Giuliani is doing more in Iowa than his campaign has been willing to admit before. They are on the radio. They are sending mailers and they are doing the training for their supporters to actually come out on January 3rd.
So Mayor Giuliani is looking for a strong showing, you know, than fourth place in Iowa. He's looking for, you know, third place. It's hard to say how this all works out, but it becomes very difficult for these candidates to rely on February 5th as a backstop if they don't start performing well or showing well in Iowa and New Hampshire.
With John McCain essentially out of the race in Iowa he's going to spend very little time there in December, if at all. It opens the door a little bit for Mayor Giuliani, but you have to start winning early.
ROBERTS: On the Democratic side of things, it's virtually a dead heat. Obama 30 percent, Clinton 26 percent, Edwards 22 percent. Hillary Clinton and Obama have stepped up their attacks and counterattacks at each other.
Let's take a quick listen to some of the most recent rhetoric from Iowa here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think living in a foreign country between the ages of 6 and 10 is foreign policy experience.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's met with all of these leaders and, you know, I was wondering which world leader told her that we need to invade Iraq. Because that's not -- that is the conventional thinking that we're going to have to break.
CLINTON: There is one job we can't afford on-the-job training for, that is the job of our next president.
OBAMA: I am happy to compare my experiences to hers when it comes to the economy. My understanding was that she wasn't Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Jeff, it's really turning into a dog fight there. And Hillary Clinton soon going to take Bill on the campaign trail with her in Iowa. Oprah is going to come out and campaign for Obama. You know, we're down to the short strokes here. Who do you think is going to pull it off?
ZELENY: The next four weeks are critical for all of these campaigns. Really beginning this weekend when both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama, as well as their rivals will be out in Iowa. But for the next four-week period, Senator Clinton is going to try to impress upon Iowa voters or raise the question in her mind if Senator Obama has the experience.
One question for her, though, is how tough is she willing to get on this? Senator Obama is liked by, you know, the vast majority of Iowa voters. Some are questioning his experience but everyone likes him. So if she begins increasing those criticisms of him that could be a problem for her. But going into this stretch, the Clinton campaign has been trying to expand their lead there and they've been unable to all summer. In fact, it's slipped down a little bit.
So it's still a three-way contest between Senator Clinton...
ROBERTS: Right.
ZELENY: ...Senator Barack Obama and John Edwards. Don't overlook him in Iowa. He is campaigning there strong. He's been there more than all of the other candidates. So the next four weeks are the critical period for Democrats before Christmas.
ROBERTS: And that's what makes it all so exciting.
Jeff Zeleny from the "New York Times" joining us from Washington this morning. Jeff, thanks.
ZELENY: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, an incredible story of giving a middle school principal in New Hampshire donating a kidney to one of his students. Jim Friel says he's been watching 13-year-old Morgan Corliss's health deteriorate for months now. He says there are still some more screening ahead, but, for now, he will -- it looks like he will be the top match.
Friel says he spent 24 years in education trying to make a difference and the transplant is the best chance he's had so far. If all goes well, this operation could happen early next year.
Coming up the catchiest videos on the Web. Veronica De La Cruz brings us a holiday edition of this week's viral video.
And it's time again to test your Thanksgiving I.Q. And if you were listening to John and I a little earlier, then you will know this one because we told you. The year of the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: was it 1858, 1900, 1960 or 1924.
We have the answer on the other side of the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. Well, it's time for your Thanksgiving I.Q. test. Before the break we asked the question: what year was the first Macy's Thanksgiving Parade? Was it 1854, 1900, 1960 or 1924? And the answer is D, 1924.
How about that? And what did they say the first big giant balloon was?
ROBERTS: 1927 and it was?
CHETRY: I was trying to look at my notes.
ROBERTS: You can't cheat. You can't cheat. Can't look at your notes.
CHETRY: Snoopy?
ROBERTS: Snoopy? No. No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spongebob.
CHETRY: Spongebob.
ROBERTS: Spongebob in 1927? You're both correct. Spongebob, that's just...
CHETRY: I got it right. 1924. I got it right.
ROBERTS: Felix the cat was the very first one.
CHETRY: Felix. Felix the cat.
ROBERTS: Felix the cat.
CHETRY: See, we're all going I should have, I should have had it.
ROBERTS: Spongebob is 1990s creation.
CHETRY: We were teasing at that point. I'm taking in Ali with this thing.
VELSHI: I was.
CHETRY: You know, it's his favorite show.
Time now for this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Thanksgiving theme, of course. If you had a choice, would you rather have Thanksgiving dinner with: Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama or Mitt Romney? We asked your to cast your votes and for those of you who didn't vote so far, 31 percent for Hillary, 6 percent for Rudy, Barack Obama, the frontrunner here, at least in this poll, 56 percent, and Mitt Romney 7 percent.
ROBERTS: We're going to keep tallying those votes throughout the morning. We'll bring you a final check just before we go off the air.
And check out this bird that's being served at Richard Portnoy's (ph) house. He sends us his I-Report picture of 72-pound turkey that he's going to be serving this year. It actually weighed 85 pounds before it was cleaned and defeathered as it appeared in this picture as he is sitting there in the car with his turkey buddy.
CHETRY: Oh, it's awful.
ROBERTS: The turkey, of course, with no idea that -- that's about to befall him. Every year, he competes with his father and sister to see who can find the biggest bird. This year, Richard definitely won. He called the bird Barry Bonds by the way, said he had to call a hotline to find out how long it would take to cook. It's going to take 16 hours in the oven. He started at 11:00 last night. It should be ready about 3:00 this afternoon.
CHETRY: So awful that you took a picture of it alive and it has no idea.
ROBERTS: My friend Barry Bonds. Well, Barry is no more, let's put it that way. If you got a "Hot Shot," send it to us. The address is AMHOTSHOTS@CNN.com. Be sure to include your name, where you're from, a little bit about the picture and video. And one more thing, please make sure that the image is yours and not someone else's.
What's hot and being passed around by thousands of people this holiday? It's not turkey or stuffing. It's our holiday edition of the Web's best videos.
CHETRY: That's right. For that, Veronica De La Cruz joins us and she has this week's viral video.
Hey, Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Hi, you guys. Yes, a very special holiday collection of viral video for you. And you have something that you might want to pass around yourself this Thanksgiving, starting with this pretty funny video.
It's from YouTube and this is actually a commercial for a company that sells frozen turkey. Obviously, the woman here having a bit of trouble cooking hers. Take a look.
A little frustrated maybe. Oh, oops.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Oh, no.
DE LA CRUZ: So that's actually a commercial, once again, from a frozen turkey manufacturer and we hope for your sake, if you're cooking the bird at home today, it isn't you. Also making the rounds this morning, Scuba Santa, our friends from the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky send us this one. Scuba Santa opens at the aquarium tomorrow, runs through the holidays. In the meantime you can find Santa -- there he is -- on YouTube if you can't make it to the Newport Aquarium yourself in Kentucky.
And finally, you might remember this one from last year. It's back. Yes, that's me right there. Elf Yourself.
CHETRY: Look at the moves. And we got to tell (INAUDIBLE), Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: You like it? If you're a big lover of holiday cheer, love to send out those e-cards then you can consider this: Eflyourself.com. Office Max has set up this site called Elfyourself.com and as a present to my AMERICAN MORNING family, I have Elf us all. There it is.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Wow. We're In Sync! Watch out, rockettes.
DE LA CRUZ: OK, check, check -- no, but we're not. Look at Ali. He's really...
VELSHI: I'm definitely a little behind the times.
CHETRY: Bad man.
VELSHI: Beat me. That's yes.
DE LA CRUZ: I think John has got the moves. Look at him.
CHETRY: Look it. John, you're so flexible.
DE LA CRUZ: Look at John go. Wow.
ROBERTS: Why did you pick me? Why?
DE LA CRUZ: John, you're really into it.
ROBERTS: What do I do to you that you do this to me?
VELSHI: Oh, man.
DE LA CRUZ: You know what? Wait, wait. All right. Hold the phone. I think that I forgot a member of our AMERICAN MORNING family, you know.
CHETRY: Almost (INAUDIBLE).
DE LA CRUZ: If you're not really into the holiday cheer, you can always Scrooge yourself, too. Take a look at this. There he is, Rob Marciano. I think we forgot Rob.
(LAUGHTER) DE LA CRUZ: If you don't want to Elfyourself you can always Scrooge yourself and that address is Scroogeyourself.com.
CHETRY: Wow. It looks a lot better without the gray side burns.
ROBERTS: Right.
DE LA CRUZ: Rob's a pretty good dancer.
VELSHI: Look at that.
DE LA CRUZ: Look at him go. Wow.
CHETRY: Oh, wow. Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Thank you. Thank you. Yes.
ROBERTS: And wait, wait.
MARCIANO: You know, I don't know which is worse. The fact that I'm Scrooge or that, once again, I'm sitting at the kiddie table in the kitchen on Thanksgiving or that...
CHETRY: Hey, you know, you could of come up here. You could have come.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
CHETRY: We're always happy to have you in New York.
MARCIANO: That's true. Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: I mean, he's on that holiday travel.
MARCIANO: I wouldn't (INAUDIBLE) out of gas.
ROBERTS: Better Scrooge than an elf any day, Rob.
MARCIANO: John Roberts dressed as an elf, reaching to pinch Ali in the butt, that's really the award-winner. Good stuff, guys.
ROBERTS: Can we stop this now?
Look at a story coming up in the next half-hour here that you just can't miss. Is it fresh or frozen, roasted or grilled? The Butterball Turkey Talk line ready to talk you through any turkey dilemma that you might have. You know, if you're something that Richard Portnoy who needs to know how to cook a 72-pound turkey.
CHETRY: Cool, I know. Let's -- yes, OK, the poor thing.
The Butterball turkey experts are celebrating their big milestone, of course, of their own. We're going to talk about that coming up. Hey, look. I mean some of them aren't even that busy right now. So if you have a question, call them. Isn't it 1-800-BUTTERBALL, by the way? But we're going to answer some of those questions for you right here on the showing coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: That's a picture off the front of the Time-Warner Center there. Our seventh floor balcony, looking down over Columbus Circle. People starting to fill up the stands there as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade expected to start coming by in about a half an hour or so. And it looks like the weather is going to hold. 54 degrees right now in New York, going up to a high of 63. The showers not expected to roll in until afternoon.
So, if you're not too far away and you want to get down, you still get an opportunity. too. Looks like it's going to be a good day for the parade this morning.
CHETRY: That's right. And if you're watching on television, it's nice to have a clear day instead of the rain and dreariness of last year.
ROBERTS: Last year was awful.
CHETRY: The trees are gorgeous.
ROBERTS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Thursday, the 22nd of November. Thanksgiving Day and a happy one to you. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. New this morning, the date is set. New Hampshire will hold the nation's first primary on January 8. State officials announced the new date hours after Michigan was allowed to move up its primary to January 15th. New Hampshire has held the first primary since 1920. It's even written into state law. The primary will come five days after the Iowa caucuses.
And in Germany, police diffused a hostage situation safely. A man held another man at knife point for more than two hours at a train station in Berlin. You see them moving in there, rushing the man, pinning him to the ground, getting him into custody. No one hurt. The suspect not harmed and neither was the hostage.
ROBERTS: Will it keep kids safe or will it violate civil rights? The town of Lexington, South Carolina wants to ban all registered sex offenders. The plan would keep them from moving near places like schools or day care centers but the American Civil Liberties Union calls it unconstitutional. A similar plan in Georgia was overturned by that state supreme court.
CHETRY: Well, why wait for black Friday? There's a couple of major chains that are staying open today for Thanksgiving. Wal-Mart, K-Mart keeping their doors open. FAO Schwartz, the toy store, right here in New York, opened today as well. Tomorrow, on black Friday, ,many chains like Kohl's and J.C. Penny are opening their stores as early as 4:00 a.m. hoping to lure customers by offering sales prices that are only good in the first few hours. Analysts say retailers should not bank on deep holiday discounts after the week is fall shopping season in a decade, instead retailers should be working on a recovery plan for 2008.
And they're cheering this morning. Dr. Seuss' childhood favorite "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is back on Broadway. A Manhattan judge ordering everyone back to work saying "I think one Grinch in town is enough." The theater owners were forced to reopen the doors, despite not wanting to do so because of the ongoing stagehand strike. The producers of the show say they got their "Miracle on 44th Street." The Grinch will return tomorrow with an 11:00 a.m. show.
ROBERTS: As we said, the weather grinch staying away this year, which is great. The balloons from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade are going to be floating up the street in front of the Time-Warner Center here CNN's New York Headquarters in just about half an hour or so. Jason Carroll live on the parade route where they're set to go. A lot of people down there having fun this morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people having fun down here and we got a special surprise for you guys. We've got two of the cast members from "High School Musical" everyone along the parade route has been waiting for this moment. And I've got them both right here, we got Ashley Tisdale and Corbin Bleu. Thank you very much for joining us, both of you. Both of you will be participating in the parade. What float will you be on?
ASHLEY TISDALE, ACTRESS/SINGER: The Echo red float.
CORBIN BLEU, ACTOR/SINGER: The starship discovery.
CARROLL: Both sound pretty good, will you be singing? What will you be doing?
TISDALE: Yes, I'll be singing "Last Christmas."
BLEU: And I'm going to be singing "This Christmastime."
CARROLL: Now "High School Musical," in case our audience doesn't know, is huge. I mean, it is so popular. Why do you guys think the shows have become so popular with so many people?
TISDALE: Man.
BLEU: I think it's a couple of different things. One, the music. Music is very universal and it's very inspirational and especially the kids, the message that the music portrays is something that the kids relate to and the fact that when we started "High School Musical" we weren't really names. So, when they're watching the movie, they just saw characters. They just saw the world of "High School Musical," which is...
TISDALE: Like you never know like what project is going to go or what project isn't so. It's just like I think, you know, it's luck and it's obviously the cast, the crew, the producers, the director and how passionate we were doing it.
CARROLL: Obviously, too, it is Thanksgiving, after all. If someone had to ask you what you are thankful for, other than your huge careers, what would it be?
TISDALE: My family.
BLEU: Yes.
TISDALE: Yes.
BLEU: The same. With everything that goes on in the career, you wouldn't be able to do it without your family and they're the ones that keep you grounded and they're the ones that you just wouldn't be here without them so it's definitely family.
CARROLL: Absolutely. Can't agree with you more. Thank you to both of you for joining us. Really, really appreciate it. Again, all along the parade route, John, I have to tell you. These two, more than any balloon, more than any float or band, these are the two that everybody wanted to see and we have them right here on CNN. So, thanks very much.
TISDALE: Thank you.
CARROLL: Happy Thanksgiving.
TISDALE: Happy Thanksgiving.
CARROLL: All right. Take care. All right. Back to you guys in the studio.
ROBERTS: You should take them back to the family that was giving points for celebrities waving at them. They would win hands down.
CARROLL: I'll take them down there after this.
ROBERTS: All right. Jason, thanks very much. Don't have too much fun. Rob Marciano down there in the weather center in Atlanta with a look at today's forecast. And it's going to be good for parade, Rob, but bad stuff moving in later on today?
MARCIANO: Yes, a little bit. Most of the rain is going to stay north and west of the city. Temperatures 40s and 50s and climbing. So, this is certainly ideal weather for the Thanksgiving Day parade. 58 degrees at start time. Maybe in the 60s by the time it's done. Winds should stay below the criteria where they would shut those balloons down, and keep them below 23 miles per hour, we're a-OK.
Rain turning into snow right around the Canadian border. You might see a little bit of snow at the higher elevations across New England. That's good. Atlanta, Georgia seeing a little bit of rainfall as well and that's good because they desperately need the rain. And then some more rain across parts of northern Florida. Today's forecast weather map shows highs in control across parts of the west. By the way, Steamboat Springs, Colorado yesterday a little bit of snow. They're not opened. This guy climbed up and got a few turns in. They got 10 inches of snow there. Aspen snow mass opened today and it's free. At least for today and free, of course, is a good price.
John, back up to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks very much.
A Thanksgiving family reunion. Father and son serving in Iraq hook up with grandparents in Mississippi. We'll show you how it turned it out, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gear up for travel on this week's "Road Warriors."
BARNEY GIMBEL, WRITER, FORTUNE: When I travel I only bring four things. I bring my iPod, I bring my laptop and I bring my blackberry or cell phone and I bring that universal power adapter. I can bring all of the gadgets I want and don't have to bring all of the cords. Most of the best adapters cost over $100. Another great gadget area noise-canceling headphones. The most popular ones are made by Bose and they cost at least $300 but they actually cancel out the hum in the background when you're in the plane. So, it's easier to sleep and it's easier to listen to your music so it's easier to relax.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And if you need more direction in your travels starting at around $200, you can get GPS systems that you can travel with. They are really small, you can put it on your dashboard, travel with, really small and fit on your dashboard in any car you're driving and it can get you at point A to point B with no paper involved.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. MARK PEER: Hi, this is Captain Mark Peer of the first engineer battalion in Tikrit, Iraq. I'd like to give a Thanksgiving greeting to my family in Kansas City, Kansas. I look forward to seeing you guys. I'll be home for Christmas. Love you. Bye!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, it's a Thanksgiving day edition of Sanjay's mailbag. You e-mail us your questions and we page the doctor. So, Sanjay, are you ready?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: My favorite segment. Of course, I'm ready, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, the first question is coming out of Pennsylvania. Heidi writes "My grandma has Alzheimer's and I can see her just barely holding on to who she is. What exactly happens to the brain when you get Alzheimer's?"
GUPTA: You know, it's interesting, Heidi, when we talk about overall Alzheimer's, as much as we talk about it, I think most neuroscientists would concede that we're not precisely sure still what's happening to the brain. We know that plaques and tangles develop in the brain. And at sometimes these plaques and tangles and sort of clumps of protein if you will can interfere with everyday activities, most sort of importantly, short-term memory.
So you start to forget things, how to balance a checkbook, how to get home, how to drive around. Those sort of things become a real, have a real impact on you overall. But we don't know exactly what happens. We know that it tends to get worse after it starts. We also know there are some medications which an help preserve your memory as well. Heidi, best to you and your grandmother on this Thanksgiving day, though.
CHETRY: It's just so devastating for the people whose loved ones have it. Let alone the person who has it as well, it's tough.
GUPTA: Yes.
CHETRY: Our next question is from Eric in North Carolina, about lead in toys. We got a lot of e-mails about this one, Sanjay. "Just how much lead is dangerous? And do we also need to focus on other household items that might contain dangerous amounts of lead? " You know, this past week, we did a story about the wreath, the cord that wraps around some of your holiday lights and wreaths also containing lead.
GUPTA: Yes. And everything goes into a kid's mouth. As you know, Eric, as you know, Kiran, this is what happens. They stick things in their mouth which is why this could be of concern.
To your question about what is a safe level, what you'll hear, if you want a number is ten micrograms per deciliter. That means nothing to most people but if you're concerned that your child is eating a lot of lead or getting it into their system somehow, you can get a check with a blood test, fingerprint test and then actually taking more blood if the first test comes back positive. Eating about 28 pieces of LITTLE lead chips, that's usually considered what it takes to get someone toxic on lead.
But Kiran, let me say this quickly. In the '60s, we used to think 60 micrograms per deciliter was the upper level of acceptable normal levels of lead. Now we think it's ten so science is starting to catch up. Some will say there is no safe level. You really got to watch your kids on this.
CHETRY: Yes, you absolutely do. Good point. Our final question today is a follow-up on a story that you reported to us here on AMERICAN MORNING on Tuesday and of course, it's about your finger. He writes, Earlean writes "Dr. Gupta, what you did to your hand, I did to my right ankle -- I have pins and a plate. My question is, why are they removing yours? I don't think mine will be removed."
GUPTA: Well, first of all, thanks for asking about this. My finger was really badly deviated. You just cant really see it now. That is precisely why I need the pins which was mainly to correct what is called the rotational problem with my finger.
So actually, right now I'm not going to show it to you. It's really gruesome for morning television but I have two pins that are sticking out of my hand here that eventually is going to come out. You're right though, your question that a lot of times pins and screws stay in and they pose no problem. I mean, they stay in for the rest of the person's life. In my case because of the nature of type of operation they're going to take those pins out and those, it will hurt but the wounds will heal up on the side of my hand eventually.
CHETRY: Right and you know, you're on the mend, thank goodness. Full recovery there. Sanjay, great to see you again. And as always, if you have questions for Sanjay, e-mail us at am@CNN.com and we have "Sanjay's Mailbag" and we open it every Thursday.
Sanjay, thanks again.
GUPTA: Happy holidays.
CHETRY: You, too.
ROBERTS: 14 minutes now to the top of the hour. CNN NEWSROOM is just minutes away. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center now with a look at what's ahead. Happy Thanksgiving, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Thanksgiving to you, John. That's right, we have new stories coming up in the NEWSROOM today.
Police in Aruba say they have new evidence. Three suspects in the Natalie Holloway case rearrested. So, what now? We'll tell you about that.
And a fifth Thanksgiving in Iraq for the American military but Baghdad is somewhat calmer this holiday. We'll go live to the warzone.
And a driver tasered and you won't believe why. Did the police officer go too far? Investigators certainly want to know.
Forget football and parades. Spend the day informed in the NEWSROOM. We're going to get started at the top of the hour right here on CNN. And we'll have some of the parades too, right here.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to that.
COLLINS: John, thank you.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks very much. Speaking of the parade, let's go upstairs to our seventh floor balcony overlooking Central Park and Columbus Circle. Here's Kiran, good morning.
CHETRY: It is a gorgeous view up here and all the seats are starting to fill up right here at Columbus Circle. The parade route making its way down where Jason Carroll is up on 70th and it go through here and then stop at Macy's Herald Square down on 34th Street. A great day for it. We're going to be showing you more of that and we're going to be answering your questions.
If you're cooking that turkey, maybe you need a couple of tips. Well, our "Butterball" experts are in the house and they are going to answer your questions, the "Butterball Hotline" live on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll be right back.
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CHETRY: What we have for you now is a special treat. It's a Thanksgiving reunion for one dedicated military family. Sergeant First Class Steven Beasley and his son, Specialist Landon Beasley are serving together in Iraq. And Glenn and Joan Beasley, are Steven's parents and they haven't laid eyes on their son or grandson since they were deployed back in June. They are going to get a good look today all the way from Jackson, Mississippi to Balad, Iraq. We have Steven Landon, Glenn and Joan.
Good morning to all of you and happy Thanksgiving.
BEASLEYS: Good morning!
SGT. STEVEN BEASLEY, U.S. NATIONAL GUARD: Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
CHETRY: Well, Joan and Glenn, I know it's been a long time, so why don't you say hello to your son and grandson.
JOAN BEASLEY: Hi Steve, Landon. You boys look wonderful. They're feeding you real well over there, I think.
S. BEASLEY: Yes.
CHETRY: Steven, what is it been like serving in Iraq with your son?
S. BEASLEY: It's been wonderful to be serving my country but mostly serving it with my son. Just a chance of a lifetime.
CHETRY: Do you have to listen to your dad?
LANDON BEASLEY: Yes, ma'am, unfortunately, I do. He is my non- commissioned officer in charge so I have to report to him every situation I get.
CHETRY: You guys were deployed back in June and, Joan, you haven't seen them since then, since they left. Do you worry knowing they are both over there, both your son and your grandson?
J. BEASLEY: I do. I worry quite a bit and I pray quite a bit.
CHETRY: How about you, Glenn, are you proud of them?
G. BEASLEY: I am very proud of my son and grandson. They are, I knew from the time that Landon was very small that he was going to become a soldier. He would love to follow me around when I was in uniform and we he just almost my shadow. So, I knew that Steve and Landon would become military people and I'm so proud of them serving our country and we want to say to them that our prayers are for them and all of the men and women in harm's way, and that we pray that they will soon accomplish the mission and be able to return home to their loved ones and their families.
CHETRY: Yes, I think you couldn't have said it better. Landon, we understand you might be actually coming home for a visit in December. Tell us a little bit about that.
L. BEASLEY: Yes, ma'am. Supposedly deploying back to the States sometime in December. The actual dates are not scheduled yet but hopefully be able to make an appearance sometime.
CHETRY: And Joan, if that is the case it will be an early Christmas if your grandson gets to come home a few weeks early. What do you have planned?
J. BEASLEY: Oh, we have everything. We will have Christmas every day.
CHETRY: Well, listen, we're all thinking about you here. A lot of families like you guys making big sacrifices. You feel it especially during this holiday season. And our prayers are with you. Our thoughts are with you and hope you get home safe and soon and thanks again for your service.
L. BEASLEY: Thank you very much, ma'am.
CHETRY: Thanks. Go ahead, Glenn. Say your good-byes real quick before we leave.
J. BEASLEY: You just get home! Oh, we'll be so glad to see you.
G. BEASLEY: We want to put our arms around both of your necks and tell you we're glad to have you home. It's good to see you. You all have a good Thanksgiving.
J. BEASLEY: We hope you have a good day, Steve. We miss you and we love you.
LANDON AND STEVE BEASLEY: We love you all, too.
ROBERTS: Wow. That must have meant so much to them.
CHETRY: I know, leave it to grandma to say you look like you've been eating well. They're feeding you well over there. Very cute. ROBERTS: So, what a fantastic vantage point we got here. What an incredible day as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is about to unfold below us. But before that, we've been promising you all morning that we're taking in your e-mails and we're going to help you along if you've got some problems, some concerns about cooking that Thanksgiving dinner today.
CHETRY: That's right and Carol Miller with "Butterball" University. She is the Talkline supervisor and joins us now from Naperville, Illinois. Let's get right to the questions before we run out of time. One of our e-mailers B. Holland from Illinois, asked "last year I put my turkey in a roaster and when it was done it wasn't brown. How do I get my turkey brown?" Carol?
CAROL MILLER, BUTTERBALL TURKEY TALKLINE: Well, if you're cooking it in an electric roaster it doesn't brown. You need a browning sauce on it, it's a combination of butter and kitchen bouquet and a little paprika. If you carve it in the kitchen that might not make a difference but if you want a picture perfect turkey, put that sauce on it. It will brown it up and make it look more like this turkey here.
ROBERTS: Carol, Suzanne from Minnesota writes us. She say "what do you think about the heavy duty Reynolds Wrap method?," which is, I'm unfamiliar with it. She says "the butcher says this is similar to the bag method reducing cook time by a third."
MILLER: It is a quick method. You wrap the turkey up with heavy duty aluminum foil. You cook it 450 and it is one of the fastest methods. You can give us a call at 1-800-butterball and we'll run through that with you. It's not our favorite method. We would rather do it in an open pan, at 325. Let it roast gently.
CHETRY: Bottom line, it's not as juicy, I guess? Is that why you don't like it as much? Not as juicy?
MILLER: It is still juicy but it's not a picture perfect turkey.
CHETRY: I got you.
MILLER: But if you're in a hurry, yes, you can certainly use that.
CHETRY: All right. One more quick question, Adam wants to know "should you wash the turkey prior to cooking it?"
MILLER: You don't need to. They should come, I know the Butterball turkeys are beautiful just like this one here. I would just pat it dry with a little paper towel. You can wash it if you want to but don't splash those raw juices around your kitchen.
ROBERTS: All right, Carol Miller from the Butterball Turkey Talkline joining us this morning. Carol, thanks very much for your tips. We're going to be back in just a minute here on AMERICAN MORNING with more of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade live here on CNN. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thanks everyone for voting today. Who would you rather have Thanksgiving dinner with? Was our "Quick Vote" question and the final tally...
ROBERTS: 35 percent said Hillary Clinton. 5 percent say Rudy Giuliani. Barack Obama the winner at 54 percent and 6 percent for Mitt Romney. It's interesting to see those results
CHETRY: Yes, not bad. A gorgeous day if you're out here in New York City enjoying the Thanksgiving day parade. We're going to give you a street level shot right now, so you can see the preparations are under way. They're getting under way in just a couple of minutes now.
ROBERTS: It's just incredible. So different from last year. It was cold, windy, rainy. Today, it's sort of in the high 50s. Nice sunshine. You can see behind us in this picture most of the leaves are still on the trees here in Central Park. It's just almost picture perfect for this Thanksgiving day parade this year.
CHETRY: It really is beautiful. So, if you're watching it on TV or you're going to be out here today. We wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving. We'll see you right here tomorrow morning on AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: Thank you very much for joining us. Right now, NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins and Tony Harris, coming your way, here on CNN.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Get ready to feast on news and watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on November 22nd, my brother's birthday. Here's what's on the rundown now.
Let me tell you about this story, in Aruba, police say they have new evidence.
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