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Drones v. Terrorists: Tactical Benefits, But at What Cost?; Holiday Traffic Hits Some Delays; Salvation Army to Take Credit-Card Donations

Aired November 25, 2009 - 13:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And we are pushing forward now with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, with -- there she is -- Kyra Phillips! Welcome back!

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Happy Thanksgiving! I'm very thankful for you, Tony Harris.

Well, murderers or heroes? American soldiers in prison for killing Iraqi detainees, but their wives say they're the victims of military injustice.

It's more than a meal, more than a tradition. For holiday travelers, Thanksgiving dinner is a well-deserved reward. We're tracking the comings and goings.

Well, it takes talent, drive and practice to navigate a football field at halftime, and in this band, a helping hand and an extra pair of eyes don't hurt either. It's our inspirational story of the day.

So, now we know the who, what, where, when, and why, but now we're pretty sure we know how many. After weeks of deliberations, President Obama is set to announce his plans for Afghanistan. He'll do it on Tuesday in a prime-time speech to the nation from the U.S. military academy at West Point. You'll see it live here on CNN.

Now, it's not final until we hear it from him, of course, but sources do indicate he'll order roughly 34,000 more troops, soldiers and Marines, to head overseas. A 50 percent increase over U.S. troop strength. He's also expected to lay out a strategy for bringing troops home.

Manned versus unmanned. Boots on the ground are a vital part of the U.S. campaign against the Taliban, but they're not the only part. Drones in the air can go places and do things soldiers can't, but their tactical benefits may come at a strategic, even moral, cost.

CNN's Nic Robertson takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Look around this room. It's been hit by a missile fired from an unmanned aerial vehicle, a UAV, more commonly known as a drone.

The family living here say children were killed in this U.S. attack. The children were never the target, but in Pakistan's tribal border region, the deaths spell trouble to U.S. foreign policy, where many believe that fighting with drones is cowardly.

PETER SINGER, AUTHOR, "WIRED FOR WAR": Last year one of the most popular songs in Pakistani pop culture was a song whose lyrics talked about how America fights without honor.

ROBERTSON: Launched from just over the border in Afghanistan, the pilotless Predator and Reaper drones are the answer to so many of the U.S. military's problems, credited with killing more than a dozen al Qaeda leaders.

GEN. DAVID DEPTULA, U.S. AIR FORCE: The real advantage of unmanned aerial systems is they allow you to project power without projecting vulnerability.

ROBERTSON: This is what the view looks like from a drone. And this is how effective they can be. Those men on the corner are firing guns. The enemy eliminated. No service personnel put in harm's way.

Why? Because the pilots who fly the drones never have to leave home. They control them from thousands of miles away, in suburban America.

Major Morgan Andrews drives to work from his Las Vegas house. I asked whether it's like a video game. No, he says. It's often all too real, helping comrades in harm's way.

MAJ. MORGAN ANDREWS, USAF PREDATOR PILOT: It's very easy, I guess, when something like that is happening to project yourself there.

ROBERTSON: For the top brass, the potential of these remote systems gets their hearts racing, too.

DEPTULA: The future with respect to how you use these unmanned systems or remotely piloted systems, is really unlimited, and we need to -- we need to open our minds and think more about capability and impact that we can use them to achieve, as opposed to how we've done business in the past.

ROBERTSON: The U.S. military calls the deaths of children in Pakistan's border area regrettable. An acknowledgement that the awesome power of these machines can sometimes backfire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And Nic joins me now from Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he's actually working on another story. But, Nic, while I have you, if you don't mind, Philip Alston (ph), the United Nations special investigator, says that there are fears from the international community that using -- by using drones, the U.S. is actually operating a targeted assassination program. How do you respond to the criticism?

ROBERTSON: Well, one of the things, that points, that Peter Sayre who had written a book "Wired for War" and knows about these unmanned aerial vehicles, and knows a lot about the subject, he pointed out that, for example, if you look at last year, the number of air strikes from these Predator and Reaper aircraft over the border inside -- inside Pakistan last year, all those attacks and strikes went ahead without any great debate in Congress. And he pointed out that this is something that can go on, before there -- because nobody's getting engaged. And there's no talk about sending troops. And it happens behind the scenes.

But it is, at all, and we certainly know in Pakistan, that although the Pakistani government isn't coming out and openly supporting it, even criticizing the United States sometimes, behind the scenes there appears to be a very tacit approval of their use in a way that actually aids Pakistan's national government.

PHILLIPS: Well, whether -- whether manned or unmanned we're going to find out how many more troops are headed over to Afghanistan come Tuesday. Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

Pakistan is fighting insurgents on its side of the Af-Pak border, but how does it feel about drones? My colleague, Christiane Amanpour, actually interviewed a retired Pakistani general and former adviser to ex-Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TALAT MASOOD, RETIRED PAKISTANI GENERAL, ADVISOR: I think on balance one can say that it has tactical advantages, but in the long run, if you really want that there should be no opposition, then you should win the hearts and minds of people, then it becomes a questionable whether, in the long term, will it really, in the cost- benefit ratio, will it really help the United States?

I think the best logic would be to sort of have an arrangement whereby Pakistan shares the control of this, even if it does not actually possess these. But the acquisition of the target must be shared, and at the same time I think the operational side should also be shared. Then it could be of great advantage. I think that will really be extremely helpful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, how many drone attacks are we talking about anyway? Well, don't ask the Air Force or CIA. You won't even get an answer. But Reuters news service did its own count and came up with 46 attacks so far this year, killing an estimated 415 people.

Last year, Reuters says, 32 strikes killed about 240 people.

Clearly, President Obama has stepped up the use of remote- controlled warfare since he took office. Drone strikes have actually averaged one a week.

You can bet things will never be the same at Fort Hood. This is the post-rampage era on post, security tighter from now on. And soldiers will have more mental health services available to them. The changes come as former top brass at the Pentagon look in to the massacre on November 5 and how it could have been prevented.

Thirteen people were killed. The last funeral today at Arlington National Cemetery.

The suspect's lawyer might be planning an insanity defense. Accused gunman, Nidal Hasan, is an Army major and a psychiatrist.

OK. This is the day that the weather peeps earn their giblets and gravy watching those skies. So you'll know just how late your loved ones will be arriving today. Chad already looking a little frustrated.

Speaking of timing -- but he's keeping a good attitude. Who knew that Thanksgiving itself traveled temporarily back in the day? Well, when FDR was in the White House, he shook up tradition a little bit. Instead of the last Thursday in November, he declared turkey day should be the next to last Thursday. The idea here: an expanded Christmas shopping season to help the depressed economy.

Long story short, "Franksgiving" didn't fly. Congress settled on Thursday number four.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it might be the only place busier that Butterball headquarters right now. The busiest airport during one of the busiest weeks of the year. How do they keep things moving when so many people are flying?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you're staying home this Thanksgiving, you might consider yourself lucky. Packed rows and airports are what you'll face if you're leaving home today.

Chad Myers, not only our holiday travel expert on this Thanksgiving eve; also our meteorologist, also tracking all the flights. What are you looking at right now?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Looking at NavteqTraffic.com. And this is something that you can look at, at home, as well. Right there. And I'm looking now at -- this is Wilmington in Delaware and then right down toward Baltimore, and there's a big red space right through there. Hard to see on that camera.

But let me take you over here. You'll be able to see it better on our shot on our wall. That's why we have this wall, so we can do so many things here.

We do know that there's a big slowdown on I-95 northbound into Wilmington. This is about a six-mile stretch where traffic at this point is moving at about six miles per hour. And I do think, Kyra, although there are a lot of planes in the skies today, I think the airports are doing better than people thought they would.

I'm looking at -- I went onto Expedia yesterday. I went onto Travelocity. I went to all the Web sites that you could actually view seats available on planes. Those planes weren't full. They were absolutely -- most of them were wide open. Which means you're not going to have that TSA problem, I don't think, today that sometimes you do.

And I just think it was -- it might have been the cost of things. Gas wasn't $4.50 a gallon this year. Planes never really came down. Flights were always fairly expensive. Sixty-five hundred planes in the sky right now, and almost all of them are on time.

There are a couple of slowdowns, and this one here in Philadelphia. So not only are you slow going I-95 from Wilmington, heading to Philadelphia, but if you're flying to or through Philadelphia, maybe slow down. LaGuardia, Newark, Liberty, White Plains all a little bit slow.

This is our Web site of the day, NavteqTraffic.com. You can literally take this and slide this to almost any city in the United States and see how your traffic is going. Another thing you can do on this Web site: you can put your home address and your destination address and see how long it will take you with the traffic. Pretty amazing stuff, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You're amazing. Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Busy day at the world's busiest airport, as you know Chad's been talking about. Live pics right now of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International, which always handles tens of dozens of passengers on the day before Thanksgiving.

CNN's Rob Marciano gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here at the world's busiest airport. Thousands of people, and planes, coming and going every day. Do you ever wonder how in the world do they make it work? Let's go take a look.

(voice-over) A quarter million passengers travel through Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport every day. So, first up, getting the people to the planes.

STEVEN POERSCHMANN, AVIATION TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MANAGER: Three times a day, we move about 10,500 passengers an hour.

MARCIANO: The computer-controlled trams tunnel under the tarmac, connecting the six concourses. We were allowed beyond that, into what felt like a secret train station.

(on camera) So, this is pretty much the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain here. POERSCHMANN: This is -- this is the man behind the curtain here at the automated booth. We always have people standing by to respond anytime there's a problem.

MARCIANO (voice-over): Above ground the runways are inspected three times a day for bad lights, wildlife or any debris that could get into an engine and bring down an aircraft.

JOHN RYAN, OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR: Good morning, sir. Let's start the air field inspection on Foxtrot and Echo, the aircraft and all runways.

MARCIANO: While on patrol this day, a plane is in trouble.

(on camera) So, we're just sitting here out on the tarmac, doing our inspection, and this plane declared an emergency. Smoke in the lavatory, so the fire department's been activated. They got to check it out and make sure there's no visible fire before they let it go back to the gate.

(voice-over) The airport has five stations equipped with some impressive gear.

(on camera) This is not your typical fire truck. It holds 3,000 gallons of water, over 400 gallons of foam. This is specifically made for airplane crashes and/or emergencies.

Captain Cuprowski, why is this truck built the way it is? It looks like a tank.

CAPT. PAUL CUPROWSKI, ATLANTA FIRE RESCUE: As you can imagine, if you had one of these planes come down and dismantle on the ground, we're basically in a war zone, but they're designed exactly for that. They're designed to go off-road. You don't even have to get out of the vehicle to extinguish a fire.

MARCIANO: What you're looking at is what's called a piercing nozzle. It actually can puncture the skin of the aircraft, because you can't cut through it by hand, and it sprays the fire inside the aircraft from outside it.

(voice-over) Luckily, that has never been used here. And the plane that reported smoke in the cabin? It was given the all-clear. Just another day at the world's busiest airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And thanks again to our Rob Marciano.

Now, across the country nearly 2.5 million people are expected to hop on an airplane today.

Derek Reimer, you might not toot your own horn, so to speak, so we're going to do it for you. Derek's in the marching band, and he just happens to be blind, and he's making everyone around him a better marcher, player, and person. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. I've got to warn you: this is one of those stories that will not only make you tear up but make you think a lot about what you're thankful for this Thanksgiving.

A young musician in Colorado can't see. But he can play. He can march, and, boy, can he inspire.

Kim Christiansen from our affiliate KUSA in Denver has this remarkable story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody needs to get all excited and try to be a hero.

KIM CHRISTIANSEN, KUSA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the difference between winning and losing comes down to one step or one note, you have to believe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a leap of faith. Trust your friends. Trust the people around you.

CHRISTIANSEN: Believe in those around you and those beside you. Ninety-two students make up the Ralston Valley marching band. Director Ken Sawyer put his trust in 16-year-old Melissa McNally for one role.

KEN SAWYER, BAND DIRECTOR: She's just one of those special people that comes along every once in a while, and I'm sure glad she's here now.

MELISSA MCNALLY, SECTION LEADER: Mr. Sawyer, you know, said, "Melissa, you got section leader. But I want to tell you, you know, before we really get into this, that Derek's coming, and Derek isn't just a normal freshman. He's also blind, but he's not going to stand on the sideline. We're going to march him."

CHRISTIANSEN: One of the best mellophone players in the band had to learn to play with one hand, and teach Derek Reimer how to march and play.

DEREK REIMER, MELLOPHONE PLAYER: I can't see anything.

CHRISTIANSEN: Derek was born blind. He can't separate light from darkness. Perhaps that explains why a few other schools told him he couldn't march in the band.

REIMER: Mr. Sawyer said that we'd figure out a way to get me to be able to march and everything.

SAWYER: If everybody came into the band, everybody came into everything with the desire that he does, we'd be unbelievable.

REIMER: Melissa would tell me how many counts there were in each set, and when we first got our sets, she'd tell me how many counts were in each one as we were doing them and then how big of a step to take. And then we'd just march it together a few times, and then I'd go on my own.

CHRISTIANSEN: Derek and Melissa marched side by side, a freshman and a junior. They march as musicians and performers, and now friends.

MCNALLY: It's incredible how he's changed everybody for the better.

Not only has the music gone up this year, has the marching style gone up this year. He's just -- he's inspired everyone to just work harder. He has made everybody a better marcher, a better player, and a better person, because we know that we're so lucky and that, if he can do it, then we don't have an excuse. We can, of course, do it.

CHRISTIANSEN: In this band, everyone plays, everybody marches, and thanks to Melissa, Derek is never marching blind.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And thank you so much to Kim Christiansen from KUSA for bringing us that amazing story. The whole experience has Melissa, Derek's guide and section leader, actually thinking about a career in teaching one day. And Derek, he's planning to play in the jazz band and hopes to try out for drum major. We will definitely follow-up.

Other top stories now.

Ohio gets the go-ahead from a federal court to resume executions next month, but with a new, untested method of lethal injection. It uses only one drug. The federal court denied a Death-Row inmate's request for a stay of execution. He claimed Ohio's previous three- drug mix was cruel and unusual punishment.

On the anniversary eve of last year's terror attacks in Mumbai, India, seven men in Pakistan now face criminal charges. It's Pakistan's first indictments in the case. At least 160 people and 9 gunmen were killed in the four-day siege. India blames the attacks on militants based in Pakistan.

In Mecca, Saudi Arabia, crowds as far as the eye can see. The annual Hajj is under way. The pilgrimage attracts Muslim pilgrims from around the world. The highlights: it visits some of Islam's holiest sites, and the ceremonial stoning of the devil.

Another standoff today on a college campus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The faculty, all these other problems, all these other symptoms, will go away.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Several dozen students holed up in a building at the University of California-Davis, to protest big hikes in student tuition. Last week dozens of students and a professor were arrested at UC-Davis during a similar protest. Demonstrations were also held at other University of California campuses. Because of the state budget crunch, the school is hiking tuition 32 percent.

The recession has changed the way companies do business, and in some cases, the way we raise money. Susan Lisovicz is in New York with the story about the changes at one of the nation's best-known charities.

So, Susan, what's the Salvation Army doing to try to adjust to the recession?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going to, Kyra, take plastic. Whether it's a credit card or a debit card, the metal bucket is still going to be the same, but it's going to have a wireless -- in many cities, a wireless card reader that you might see in a gas station, for instance.

The reason why? Well, the Salvation Army tested it out last year in three cities. Terrific success. So, it's expanding it to 100 cities this year, places like Las Vegas, Detroit, Dallas, Denver. Not in Atlanta.

The reason why? It's going to make it easier for people on donate, because over the years, how many of us, well, we just use so much plastic, whether it's a debit or the credit. We don't carry as much cash as we used to, and for those of us who are using cash, when we're coming out of the store, well, we're broke -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, come on, we're never broke. We always save those extra -- we always have to make sure we have all the gifts taken care of. You and I talk about that a lot.

LISOVICZ: That's -- that's exactly right.

PHILLIPS: Never miss out on anything for anybody.

All right, well, people -- are they donating? Because, after all, you know, there are so many people that are out of work. They don't have a lot of extra cash. But at the same time, it's amazing how many people still give during the holidays, even when they have so little.

LISOVICZ: Not only give, Kyra, but give more. This is historically true. In the worst of times, the Salvation -- the Salvation Army has found that people give more, because they see firsthand this kind of distress.

In fact, we have a statement from the Salvation Army that says, "We often see the level of charitable giving rise as more people see the effects of poverty firsthand" and that "we're amazed at the American public's willing to give and we're confident that we'll see strong support again this year." And in fact, those red kettles brought in $130 million last year when the recession was in full swing, up nearly 20 percent from 2007, when the economy was doing a whole lot better.

Also, when people use plastic, the average donation is so much greater: about $14 as opposed to a cash donation that is typically $1 or $2.

And, of course, these donations are used for things like toys for kids who don't have them, coats and food for people who may be homeless. It's for the neediest of our fellow Americans, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Happy Thanksgiving, Suze.

LISOVICZ: And to you, Kyra.

Well, hey, I'd be happy with one good thing to say about the economy. Mr. Business himself, Ali Velshi, will be here with not one, not two, but three reasons to be thankful. That's at the top of the hour.

The Army calls them killers. Their loved ones call them heroes. Three U.S. Army sergeants behind bars for killing Iraqi detainees. Battlefield justice or brutal murder? Our exclusive report: "Killings at the Canal."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Four Iraqi detainees shot execution-style. Three decorated army sergeants convicted. Was it murder or battlefield justice? The wife of the soldier who came up with the idea to kill the detainees calls her husband a hero.

In an exclusive report, here's Special Investigations Unit correspondent Abbie Boudreau, with part five of "KILLINGS AT THE CANAL, THE ARMY TAPES."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: With four Iraqis murdered and three U.S. soldiers blamed, including First Sergeant John Hatley.

His wife, Kim, felt she had to do something. She came up with a video and these handwritten cards. In this field near her home in Shwineforte, Germany, where her husband was based, she silently told her story.

(on camera): She very simply just wrote words on these cards to express what was happening and what she was feeling. And this one is interesting, to free these 3 American heroes. These men were convicted of premeditated murder.

KIM HATLEY, WIFE OF FIRST SERGEANT JOHN HATLEY: Yes.

BOUDREAU: But you still call them heroes. K. HATLEY: Of course. They've served their country and they've been through a lot, and so have the family members. But in life, with any challenge, you can't just look at one incident. That does not define who these soldiers are.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Kim's husband was accused of coming up with the plan to kill the detainees.

UNIDENTIFIED U.S. ARMY INTERROGATOR: A decision was made. We're gonna take these (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out and give them lead poisoning and be done with it.

BOUDREAU: On this Army interrogation tape, the investigator tells Hatley he already knows what happened at the canal.

UNIDENTIFIED U.S. ARMY INTERROGATOR: Good concept, good concept; bad execution. And, you know, I'd like to make this right. Because if not, we're going to have a couple dozen (EXPLETIVE DELETED) up Joes, we're going to have smeared unit lineage and we're probably going to have smeared United States Army and United States of America over this.

BOUDREAU: The investigator informs Hatley the secret is out and it's bound to get worse.

UNIDENTIFIED U.S. ARMY INTERROGATOR: We got a hell of a lot of pretty damn concerned high-level people way above my pay grade that are grabbing their ankles and bracing for what's bound to be an ugly damn mess if this becomes a big drawn out, public knife fight.

BOUDREAU: Hatley would eventually ask for a lawyer, and that would end this session. He left no clues as to why he pulled the trigger that day.

This video was shot during Hatley's four-day trial. You can barely make them out, but that's John and Kim Hatley walking in to court.

JOSHUA HARTSON, FORMER PVT. FIRST CLASS, U.S. ARMY: Move away for respect for them.

BOUDREAU: Soldiers shield him from our camera. They form a barricade. Once again, protecting their leader.

All three soldiers were convicted of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder in this military courtroom in Vilseck, Germany. They're now all prisoners at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. Two other soldiers were sent to prison, but are now free.

Joshua Hartson is the private who confronted our camera crew. He was one of the last soldiers to see the four detainees alive. He says First Sergeant Hatley was a father figure and to this day, he feels the right decision was made at the canal.

(on camera): This is premeditated murder. When you hear those words, and you know that you had a role, what are you thinking? HARTSON: Why am I not in prison with them?

BOUDREAU: Should you be?

HARTSON: I would love to say no, but yes.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Hartson, along with most of the other soldiers at the canal, were disciplined by the Army and received immunity for their testimony. Hartson left the Army after a serious injury.

HATLEY: Eight years.

BOUDREAU: Kim Hatley says she doesn't believe any of the soldiers should be in prison.

(on camera): Did your husband reach his breaking point?

HATLEY: that's a possibility.

BOUDREAU: Do you think he did?

HATLEY: I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I know that he was tired. He actually told me that he was tired multiple times.

There's quite a few medals on there.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Kim says her husband never told her why he came up with the idea to kill the four detainees.

But these documents may provide some insight. They summarize an interview with an intelligence officer attached to Alpha Company. The intelligence officer states Hatley and his soldiers once captured a suspected bomb maker. They found electronic parts used to make explosives at his house, but the detainee claimed he was an electronics repairman and was let go. Hatley and the other soldiers were then forced to bring him back to his house, quote, "giving him a letter of apology and a fist full of cash for his troubles." The intelligence officer states, in his opinion, even a reasonable person will, quote, "do what they need to do to ensure the survival of the unit."

We asked Brigadier General David Quantock about the detainee policy in light of the killings at the canal.

(on camera): Do you think that the policy is so flawed that something like this could happen?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID QUANTOCK, U.S. ARMY: Well, there's -- there's the rules of war, and those soldiers knew those. There's never an excuse to execute anyone. They become judge, jury, and executioner, and that's not the way we do things in the United States. That's not the way they were trained. And that's not the way we do things in our Army.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): But the wives of these soldiers say the Army let them down.

HATLEY: He's been punished enough. He definitely wants to get out of there. He doesn't think he belongs there either. Doesn't deserve to be there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And Abbie joins us now live.

Now we heard a little bit from one of the wives and you also talked to the third wife. Tell me more about what the they said?

BOUDREAU: Yes, we talked to all three wives, and they're all so incredibly different. One of the wives we talked to, she's in her late 20s. Her whole life has pretty much been put on hold. She just is waiting, and it will be a long wait for her husband to come home.

We talked to the third wife, who you'll hear more from next hour. And her name is Joanna Mayo, and her story's incredibly sad, because she has three young children, ages ranging from 11 all the way down to 15 months old, and this woman is legally blind. She cannot drive. She was used to her husband coming home, helping the kids with the homework, you know, going to the grocery store, helping with every aspect of their lives.

These three women want their husbands home and need them home to a certain degree, and it's going to be a very, very long wait.

PHILLIPS: Now, you've received a lot of response since you started airing this series. What -- anything -- could anything change here for any of these men?

BOUDREAU: I mean, I think it's hard for us to know whether or not anything could change. I mean, these men, their sentences have been reduced; 20, 20, and 40 years. It's going to be, I guess, up to the wives, they're still fighting this fight, hoping something can happen.

At the same time, we've heard from so many -- we've gotten thousands and thousands of e-mail responses, which is a lot for a story like this. And we've heard from people who say, you know, there's absolutely zero justification for what happened here. We've also heard from people who say, you know what, I sympathize with what happened and why they did what they did, although what they did was wrong. That's the majority. That's who we're hearing from the most I would say at this point.

And then there's a growing number of people out there who are saying, you know what, do you know what, these men don't even belong in prison. Keep in mind one of the men who shot one of these detainees was a medic. He had saved many, many lives including Iraqi lives in the past and also American lives.

PHILLIPS: Wow. Look forward to next hour. Thanks, Abbie.

BOUDREAU: Thank you. PHILLIPS: We will have the final part of Abbie's exclusive investigation, "KILLINGS AT THE CANAL, THE ARMY TAPES." Plus, if you want more details, you can logon to CNN.com/specials.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Top stories now. The president has made his long- awaited decision on U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan. He's actually going to deliver the news to the nation in a prime-time presidential address Tuesday night. You can see it live right here on CNN. Once again, 8:00 Eastern Tuesday night.

And here's something to be thankful for, the government report shows the number of first-time filers for jobless benefits fell last week to the lowest level in 14 month. Continuing jobless claims also were down.

Half the fun is getting there, right? And we're halfway through one of the busiest travel days of the year. More folks actually expected to hit the roads instead of taking to the sky, and so far flights are mostly on time, so keep an eye on our info bar right there bottom of the screen for all the turkey day travel and weather info. And, of course, Chad Myers is tracking all of it with us, too.

So, how do you like your swine flu vaccine? Made the old fashioned way or with the new and improved formula? What do you mean, you don't know? Your information booster is next.

But first, some call them optical illusions. Others say they're animated artwork. We found an inventor whose magic murals are sure to get you talking. Gary Tuchman is "On the Edge of Discovery."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You might have seen these best-selling books.

Yes, that one looks good.

TUCHMAN: They bring pictures to life when you flip the page. But the man behind the books has been creating other eye-catching art for 20 years. Rufus Butler Cedar (ph) calls them light tiles, murals that move when you walk by.

RUFUS B. CEDAR, ARTIST: What I'm after is trying to create an experience which totally takes you by surprise.

TUCHMAN: But how do they work?

CEDAR: The short answer is, it's magic! The slightly longer answer is it's like a flip book. I've taken all the pages from a flip book and I've scrambled them all together and I put them up on the wall and made them animated.

TUCHMAN: Life tiles don't use moving parts, electricity or tricky lighting. Just hours of pain-staking work at Cedar's Boston studio.

CEDAR: We put four to five hours work into each tile we make.

TUCHMAN: The glass for the tile is cast by hand, then sandblasted, painted and eventually assembled to work in harmony with hundreds of other tiles which make up each mural.

CEDAR: Anywhere from six months to a year is what it takes to produce these.

TUCHMAN: Cedar says the hard work pays off when his audience pays attention.

CEDAR: I love to watch people react to the work. They don't expect the wall to move, so they'll be walking down the hallway in a museum or walking outdoors through a zoo and suddenly they'll realize that the dolphins are starting to move next to me. How is that possible?

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Think of all the scientific and medical advances over the past 50 years. Now consider we're still making vaccines the same way that we did back then, but the times, they are a changing. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen talking about what's next.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first let's talk about the way it's done now.

PHILLIPS: OK.

COHEN: Then the what's next will really be pretty eye-popping.

The way it's done now is that chickens have to lay eggs, lots of eggs, in order for you to get your flu shot. That's right, the way that flu shots are done now is they get a whole mess of chickens to lay eggs. Then they have to find a strain of the virus that will work in those eggs that will grow, which isn't easy. Then they've got to take some time to let them grow in the eggs, and that whole process takes at least six months.

And, Kyra, if the flu was really bad in a particular year and they need more shots, guess what, they have to get more chickens to lay more eggs and that's not easy.

PHILLIPS: Well, then, what's the new way and is it any faster?

COHEN: It's much faster. The new way is called cell-based technology, and CNN was allowed into a plant in North Carolina that is gearing up to start making some of this. The way that this one works is very different. There's no chickens. There's no eggs. They have a vat of animal cells and they take -- this is a simplified explanation, of course -- and then they take the version of the strain that they want to put into the shot, they add some other ingredients and voila, you have a vaccine. It still takes some time, but it takes six weeks less time than the old way.

PHILLIPS: All right, it's faster, but is it safe?

COHEN: Well, this technology has actually been used in Europe for quite a few years. There are tens millions of doses put out there, and we are told that it is just as safe as the old-fashioned vaccine.

PHILLIPS: All right, CDC just had a flu briefing. Did we learn anything new?

COHEN: You know, we had a flu briefing and we learned about pneumonia, because pneumonia is often a complication of the flu. And what we're hearing is that there is quite a bit of pneumonia out there much more so than what was expected, or much more so than was had with the regular flu in young people. So they're seeing pneumonia in people under the age of 50, which you don't usually don't see with the seasonal flu.

PHILLIPS: All right, thank you very much. Happy Thanksgiving.

COHEN: And to you, too.

PHILLIPS: Well, bite your tongue and hurt your heart. A new study says that men that fail to vent about work-related conflicts double their chances of having a heart attack or dying from heart disease. The report also found that men who ignore long-standing conflicts at work triple their chances for heart attack or coronary death.

So why are we only talking about men here? Well, researchers say that not enough female test subjects had heart attacks during the study to reach any conclusion.

He must have really been desperate to mug a sister. But sympathy, well, we've got none. Seriously, look out for the lightning bolts, dude.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Three things about this economy to be thankful for. Are you kidding me? Was that a typo? Nope, our chief business correspondent Ali Velshi will rattle all three reasons why the money glass is half full. We'd have been happy with just one.

Plus, reading, writing and reality check. Teachers and staff at this elementary school learning just how much helping kids in need and stepping up to give it means something. It's an absolutely incredible effort and an education for all of us.

All right, most people pray for divine intervention. One guy who's definitely not, the dude in the white shirt way in the background of this surveillance video. Chatting up a nun and seeking sympathy and then, stealing her purse. Police in San Fernando, California couldn't believe their eyes when they saw how it went down. And thank heavens, they've got one hell of a clue, the getaway car caught on tape. All I can say is, heaven help you, man.

Also facing serious wrath, but at least showing a little shame. The person who looted this Georgia church, "Sorry, but I'm poor. Forgive me, lord," scrawled on the wall amid the wreckage he or she left behind. Who would do something like this? Well, sadly the burglar's not alone. It's the fourth time this church has been hit in two years.

He survived the Mumbai attacks, but says he's a dead man. The assault and the aftermath, one year on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Sixty hours of terror, Mumbai, India under siege a year ago this week and the world watched it unfold live. Today, seven men arrested in connection with the terrorist attack finally charged in Pakistan. We likely won't see their trials unfold, everything's being done behind closed doors in a maximum security prison. The suspects are accused of helping planned and fund the assault which killed at least 160 people.

India says these guys are part of a militant group, long- supported by Pakistan's security forces. The Pakistani government's been under heavy international pressure to get moving on this case. The only surviving Mumbai gunman on trial right now in India.

When those terrorists stormed Mumbai's Oberoi Hotel last November, they forced a group of people up against the walls and opened fire. A survivor of that horrific mass execution talked to CNN's Mallika Kapur about that attack and the aftermath.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Apurva Parikh is learning to play the piano. It helps him destress he says, and keeps his mind off this -- the day Mumbai came under siege, the day he was shot by terrorists, the day two of his closest friends were killed.

One year later, Parikh revisits the scene. We stand outside the Oberoi Hotel, we're not allowed inside while it's rebuilt.

APURVA PARIKH, SURVIVOR: We were reached on the top floor right there.

KAPUR (on camera): Right at the top?

PARIKH: Right at the top. And the last landing inside was where they shot all of us.

KAPUR (voice-over): Two bullets struck Parik, he fell to the floor, lay there under a pile of bodies including those of his friends. Hours passed before he managed to wriggle out and make it to the hotel's rooftop with two other survivors.

Here they stayed on the rooftop drinking water from the air conditioning unit to stay alive.

PARIKH: We were scared also to shout. Maybe if we shout louder somebody else will hear us and they may come.

KAPUR: They made a flag using pieces of plastic and a handkerchief, stuck it out of one of these narrow windowed and waited. Nearly 40 hours later, they were rescued by Indian commandos.

Parikh's bullet wounds have healed. The rest of the scars are raw.

PARIKH: It's like a dead man living. My life is suddenly changed. Even today, I'm not very comfortable when I meet the wives of the two friends I lost. I look at stuff thinking about myself that I'm still guilty, I'm still guilty. Why did I ask them to come? Why was it that day? And so on.

And what would they be thinking of me? Have they really forgiven me? They have children. What will the children be thinking about me?

So it's very easy to survive, to be a survivor, but in the end, it's very difficult to live like that.

KAPUR (on camera): Where do you get your strength from?

PARIKH: Well, my yoga. I go to my temple. And these are the two sources I look at.

KAPUR (voice-over): On the first anniversary of the attacks, Mumbai will remember its victims and honor survivors with vigils and candlelight ceremonies. Parikh doesn't plan to attend any public event, he's going to mark the day quietly, with family, with prayer and with his music.

Mallika Kapur, CNN, Mumbai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: An American wife and mother survived a double loss in Mumbai, her husband and daughter killed a world away, but she says the terrorists deserve compassion and forgiveness. I'm going to talk to her in just a few minutes.