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What's Good About This Economy?; President Obama's Afghan Strategy; Terror and Forgiveness

Aired November 25, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Pushing forward on the hour's top stories. No pushing, no shouting, crying or pouting, it's Thanksgiving eve, the airports and highways are crowded. Get used to it. AAA expects more than 38 million of us to get away for the holiday. But get this, air travel looks to be down from 2008.

And one year ago this week, gunman went on a terror rampage in Mumbai India and when it was over more than 160 people were dead including nine of the 10 attackers; the tenth is on trial in India. Now Pakistan has brought charges against seven suspected conspirators, they've been in custody for months.

President Obama sets the date for his long-awaited announcement on Afghanistan. He's going to speak to the nation Tuesday night 8:00 Eastern from the U.S. military academy at West Point. We expect to hear an increase of roughly 34,000 soldiers and Marines.

Now we've spent so much time over the last year or more talking about what's wrong with the economy. Another example just crossed our wire. Personal bankruptcies up 33 percent up third quarter. Ouch! Happy Thanksgiving.

OK, hold on now, though. We do report a lot of bad news about the economy, but let's not ignore what's good about it and there is some good. Our chief business correspondent Ali Velshi promises there are at least three reasons to be thankful.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

Well, first of all, that it's not a year ago. A year ago...

PHILLIPS: It was brutal.

VELSHI: It really was. It was brutal. We didn't know where things were going.

So I looked for little trends. These are not absolutes, but let me tell you about three things.

First of all, I'm very thankful the for the chocolate chip cookie I just got. I like your -- in New York they don't feed us.

PHILLIPS: We take very good care.

VELSHI: You do take care of us.

PHILLIPS: Yes, but you have big, fancy offices. I saw your new offices.

VELSHI: There you go.

All right. Let's talk about real estate then, property.

PHILLIPS: All right.

VELSHI: It's not great. Anybody with a House knows that. But home sales are actually up.

We just got word that new home sales are up in September, according to -- versus -- up in October, versus September. So, in one month, up 6.2 percent.

The median price of a new home is $212,000, so that's up $7,200. Most homes that are sold are not new homes. Most homes are what we would call used home, they're old homes. But they have also seen an increase in sales.

So, the bottom line is, while this is not a full trend yet, home prices are working their way out. They're bottoming out.

Interest rates, very low, lowest we've seen in a generation. There's a homebuying credit. So, on the housing side, there's something to be thankful for.

PHILLIPS: How about stocks?

VELSHI: Let's talk about that.

PHILLIPS: Investments. Our 401(k)s, our money.

VELSHI: This is important, and down a lot from the height in October in 2007. But, boy, up this year, almost 20 percent up from the beginning of this year.

If you happened to buy on March 9th, which was the low of the market, up 60 percent, 59 percent from then. But again, from the top of the market, down 26 percent. But we're making our way up, so that's an interesting thing.

That's two things to be thankful for. You've got houses and you've got stocks.

PHILLIPS: And the third?

VELSHI: The third one is a tough one. It's jobs.

And people must be listening here, saying, why are we possibly being thankful about jobs? I'll tell you why.

It's not the 10.2 percent unemployment rate. There's nothing to be thankful about that. But, first-time unemployment claims, which we get every week, came in at the lowest level in 14 months, the lowest level since September of 2008. That is an advantage. That means that the trend is starting to support us a little bit. It will be a long time before we're out of the jobs woodwork, the job loss woodwork.

I'll tell you, you need three things to feel prosperous. You need your property value to be going up, you need your investments to be going up, but you need an income. And more important than the other two, you need an income.

So, the jobs story remains the biggest, but if you're out there and you're a job hunter, this little bit of news that we got today is a little bit of a glimmer in the right direction.

PHILLIPS: I think you need family and friends too. That helps.

VELSHI: Well, and I think probably the values have become a bigger deal this year.

PHILLIPS: That is of great value.

VELSHI: They stick with you.

PHILLIPS: You do look at this Thanksgiving a little differently.

So, what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

VELSHI: I'm thankful -- I think you're absolutely right, I have learned a lot about values and family in the last year, and I'm thankful that I'm here with you. We don't get to hang out much anymore.

PHILLIPS: The feeling is mutual. Filling in for Rick Sanchez at the top of the hour.

It's great to have you here.

VELSHI: Good to see you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Ali.

Well, not to rain on Ali's parade completely, but we wanted to pass this on. It's probably as much a reflection of media evolution as it is economy, though.

"The Washington Post," we're getting word, shuttering its last three domestic bureaus in New York, Chicago and L.A. The paper says it will focus on covering the D.C. area as a place to live and work.

Back now to the president's decision on the war in Afghanistan. He told us yesterday he plans to finish the job. So, in his primetime address next Tuesday, he's going to lay out not only tactics -- around 30,000 more troops -- but a strategy for bringing all the troops home. Sixty-eight thousand U.S. soldiers and Marines are there now.

And our Frederik Pleitgen is with some of them in the Afghan city of Kandahar. He joins me now live. So, Fred, what's the reaction to the rumblings that they have heard so far?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

Well, certainly the troops that I have been speaking to here on the ground are, first of all, glad that this decision is now going to be coming down, and that they know when it's actually going to be coming down. As you know, they have been waiting a very long time to hear how the strategy is going to come out.

Now, most of the soldiers that I have been talking to here in Kandahar say that they really need more boots here on the ground. There's not a single soldier that I have talked to who said they don't need more boots on the ground here, especially in the south of Afghanistan.

As you know, here in Kandahar, this is really a hotbed of the insurgency. This is also the spiritual home of the Taliban. So, certainly there's a very hard fight going on down here.

And the troops are telling me the main problem that they have is that they'll go into districts, they'll go into towns, they'll clear the Taliban out of there, but then they won't have enough forces on the ground to actually hold those areas. They'll have to move out, and that's when the Taliban moves right back in. They say that's a major problem, and they say they hope, with this troop decision coming up, they have a remedy against that because they'll have more boots on the ground -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, what areas do the troops say need to be filled, Fred?

PLEITGEN: Well, I mean, it certainly is on many levels. I mean, one of the major issues that they have here is, first of all, not enough combat forces on the ground to do some of the things that I have just been saying. But the other thing that they say is also a major issue is training the Afghan national forces. They say that's a very big problem, something that's not moving along as fast as many would like.

As you know, many American soldiers here on the ground say that's really their ticket to get out of this country, if the Afghan security forces can take over keeping the peace here in this country for themselves. So, certainly, more trainers for the Afghan Army.

And one other thing that's also very important is mentors for the Afghan army. The mentor project is something where American forces go into the Afghan army and actually conduct operations, together with them, and then afterwards tell them, this is what we would have done differently. So, certainly, they say having that in place would be a very, very big boost in getting the Afghan national security forces off the ground. Getting them to take more responsibility themselves, they say, is something that's going to be very, very key in the long run -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Enjoy your thanksgiving, Fred. Appreciate it.

NATO has about 45,000 troops in Afghanistan, and that number could be rising too. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says 10 member nations which he won't name are willing to send another 5,000 troops.

Back in Washington, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says there's serious unrest among Democrats about the cause of an Afghan troop surge, so, unlike two years ago, she's not ruling out a war tax, a measure labeled "Share the Sacrifice." For now, it's just a proposal.

They were the picture of a happy family until those three days of terror in Mumbai. An American wife and mom lost everything to those terrorists, everything but her humanity. She says love and forgiveness are still with her.

She joins us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, for three days and three nights, we watched Mumbai go up in flames as terrorists took over India's financial capital. Today, seven men arrested in connection with those attacks finally charged in Pakistan.

The suspects are accused of helping plan and fund the assault which killed at least 160 people. The only surviving Mumbai gunman on trial right now in India.

Two people lost in that tragedy, Alan and Naomi Scherr, an American dad and daughter who were in India for a meditation retreat. The woman they left behind, wife and mom Kia Scherr, kind of stunned us all with the message she had right after this happened and right in the midst of her mourning.

Take a listen to her a year ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

We must send them our love, forgiveness and compassion. As Jesus Christ said long ago, they know not what they do. They are in ignorance, and they are completely shrouded and clouded by fear. And we must show that love is possible and love overpowers fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's been a year later, and we're checking in with Kia Scherr.

You know, Kia, I remember, we all remember, we were all talking about it today, when you came up live during that news conference and said that just after you lost your husband and your daughter. And we were just all so taken aback. And again, a year later still talking about it.

Where did that strength come from, just being able to be so strong and have that forgiveness for those who took your loved ones' lives?

SCHERR: St. Catherine of Siena wrote that forgiveness is the foundation of God's being. And my meditation practice over all of my adult life has led me to that experience. So I really can't do otherwise.

PHILLIPS: And I know you think of them every single day since last year.

SCHERR: Yes.

PHILLIPS: You know, how have you taken in the memories, their memory, their spirit a year later? Has it become any easier to live with? Because I know you never get over it.

It drives me crazy when people say, oh, time heals, you get over it. You never do. You just learn how to live with it.

How do you think about them and love them a year later after losing them so tragically?

SCHERR: I have very sweet memories of them, but also, the greatest honor that I could show them is to dedicate my life to sharing a message about honoring the sacredness and oneness of all of life. And that's why we have started an organization to create a context to inspire that conversation.

PHILLIPS: And it's called One Life Alliance. Tell me about it.

SCHERR: That's right. The One Life Alliance, to encourage and inspire that conversation so that we can begin to live that message for ourselves, to honor the sacredness of life first in ourselves, and then in each other. Because when we live with that perspective, it changes the way that we are and the way that we interact with each other. It changes our experience and it transforms us and our world.

That's been my experience over this past year.

PHILLIPS: You know, there was a very unique woman, Linda Ragsdale, who was underneath that table with your daughter during these attacks, and telling her to remain calm and that she was go to help show her and teach her how to draw the peace dragon the next day. She's an illustrator.

Tell me about her and your relationship with her. She spent the last moments with your daughter.

SCHERR: Yes. It was Linda's creative inspiration that arose from us having this conversation over the past year to create the Peace Dragon Art Project for Children. She was going to teach Naomi to draw a dragon the next day, and was not able to fulfill on that promise.

And so, she's now dedicating herself to teaching children all over the world to draw what she's calling peace dragons. And together, with One Life Alliance, we plan to collaborate and travel to as many countries as we can, and create art exchanges between children in different countries, and create an online global gallery so that everybody can view the peace dragon drawings.

PHILLIPS: You know, out of death, so many times we see life. And you have definitely created a totally different life for yourself and attitude, and even an organization that keeps the lives of your husband and your daughter very much vibrant for everybody.

What keeps you going from day to day? Is it the peace of knowing they're still with you? Is it those you interact with? Is it the organization?

SCHERR: I would have to say, first of all, it's my meditation practice. I also happen to have the great joy and privilege of living at a modern meditation sanctuary, the Synchronicity Foundation. So, there's holistic lifestyle that's part of my whole daily routine that gives me the strength and balance within a very challenging and painful situation.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'll tell you one thing, we all need to meditate more after listening to your story and what you've dealt with.

SCHERR: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: Amen.

Kia Scherr, great to see you again a year later, and to see you so happy and so strong. Really appreciate your time today.

SCHERR: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: So, the guy next to you on the train or plane keeps coughing. Well, swine flu alert, right? That's what most of us worry about.

How do you keep yourself from catching H1N1 if someone on your flight has it? We've got the answers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, folks. When do you ever see this: "Hello. I'm Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and I'm going to be checking your bags today at the Reagan National Airport"?

That's right, live pictures there of the secretary mingling with the TSA. And just a few moments ago, she was actually helping them get passengers through the security line and getting those bags through. There she is right there, blue gloves and all.

What would you say to the secretary of Homeland Security if she was dealing with your bags? I'm just curious.

All right. A big worry for air travelers this Thanksgiving. And, no, I'm not talking about delays. I'm talking H1N1.

So what are you options if you're stuck on a flight with someone who's coughing all over you?

Here's CNN's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As if anyone needs another reason to stress about holiday travel, now H1N1 anxiety is part of the mix.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was this lady that was sitting, like, across the aisle from me, like, blowing her nose. And I was, like, all right, I'm glad we have that kind of distance. You know? Because I don't want the get sick, and there's no way you can really get away from it when you're on a plane.

MESERVE: This animation from Purdue University shows how a sneeze propels germs around an airplane. Government health officials have a few simple words of advice for travelers. Wash your hands often, don't touch your eyes or nose, cover your cough, and for Pete's sake, don't travel if you're sick.

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Don't get on a crowded plane and spread the wealth. It's time to stay home.

MESERVE: Airlines have briefed crews about H1N1. Airtran even enlisted a former head of the Centers for Disease Control to answer employee questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I contract swine flu from loading bags?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maurice, the bags will not transmit the flu.

MESERVE: But flight crew vigilance has inconvenienced a small number of passengers. Mitra Mostoufi had an upset stomach and was taken off a United flight.

MITRA MOSTOUFI, UNITED AIRLINES PASSENGER: The crew does not feel good about you flying because you might be sick. I didn't know they were all physicians.

MESERVE: It turned out Mostoufi did not have H1N1 but United says it removed her as a precaution, to protect the health of other passengers. Despite the specter of H1N1 infection many Thanksgiving travelers are undeterred and unconcerned.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something you got to live with and just have to make some adjustments. And yes, you can't let it stop your life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. And there's no reason to get, you know, so uptight about it.

MESERVE (on camera): If you get on an airplane and the person next to you is obviously sick, you can ask to have your seat reassigned. But flights are so jammed this holiday period, there might not be another seat on your flight, or the next flight or even the flight after that, so you may end up in a very different kind of predicament.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Top stories now. President Obama will attend next month's U.N. Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark. That's the word today from the White House. Mr. Obama will be in the Danish capital one day before he accepts the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. In Copenhagen, he's expected to talk about U.S. plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the years ahead.

At Ford Hood, Texas, new security rules are now in place, and they're permanent. That move, after this month's shooting rampage that killed 13 people. The sprawling base is also making a wider range of mental health services available.

Firefighters in southern California hope to contain a wildfire by this evening. The blaze near Anaheim has scorched 60 acres, but so far it hasn't threatened any homes. Right now, there's worry that the winds could pick up and spread the flames again.

As Americans give thanks this week, we're honoring heroes, present and past. And I would like you now to meet one of mine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Heroes.

PHILLIPS: Dr. Heidi Kraft, she is an amazing woman. She was a psychologist assigned to the expectant room, and that's where men and women go to die during war. And it was Heidi that actually held the hand of Jason Dunham. He was the young man that threw his body over a grenade and saved his entire unit.

DR. HEIDI KRAFT, CNN HERO: I sat down and took his hand. And we were giving him medicine and talking to him and telling him how proud we were of him.

PHILLIPS: Then he squeezed her hand and she realized he was still alive.

KRAFT: So I got right down in his ear, and I said, "All right, Marine, here's the deal. If you can hear my voice, I need you to squeeze my hand again."

PHILLIPS: Because of her, Jason lived just long enough for his parents to come see him and for there to be a final goodbye. In a time when we're losing so many men and women, I just see her as an incredible hero.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And to see whose lives will be changed this year, be sure to join us on Thanksgiving night for "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," hosted by Anderson Cooper, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Back to our exclusive investigation, "Killings At the Canal: The Army Tapes." It reveals what led to the murders of four Iraqi detainees. Three U.S. Army sergeants serving long prison sentences for the crime.

In the final part of the story now, we're going to hear from one of the sergeants and why he believes the Army's own policy for handling detainees is simply not working.

Here's Special Investigations Unit Correspondent Abbie Boudreau.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Johana Mayo doesn't feel that her husband, Sergeant 1st Class Joseph Mayo, betrayed anyone when he shot one of the Iraqis in the back of the head next to a Baghdad canal.

JOHANA MAYO, JOSEPH MAYO'S WIFE: I knew that he was on trial for murdering the Iraqi detainees that they had captured.

BOUDREAU (on camera): It was hard for you to say the word murder.

MAYO: Yes. That's not the word I want to use, I just can't think of --

BOUDREAU: You don't look at your husband like a murderer?

MAYO: No, not at all.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): She says her husband is a good soldier, he was awarded the purple heart after an ied exploded resulting in a brain injury. His doctor told her he still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and memory loss. It was his third combat deployment.

MAYO: I think that he's sacrificed a lot. I think he's a war hero. He's not a criminal.

BOUDREAU: The Mayos have been married for nine years, they have three children. The oldest is 11-years-old.

MAYO: Who's that?

YOUNGEST CHILD OF JOSEPH MAYO: Da.

MAYO: Dada.

BOUDREAU: Their youngest is only 15 months, then there's 6-year-old Joseph. Just from watching him play, you can't tell anything is wrong. But he suffers from congenital scoliosis that will soon require surgery. And Johana Mayo legally blind, cannot drive. She can barely make out her husband platters.

"How are you doing? I miss you guys so much, I'm doing good just thinking about you three all the time."

MAYO: He was the one that drove the kids around, he was the one that took care of their home work and everything, grocery shopping, everything. I relied on him for everything and now I feel like I have to turn to my daughter a lot and she's only 11. BOUDREAU: The incident at the canal that day changed this family.

(on camera) Are you angry at all at your husband for him making that decision?

MAYO: No, not at all. Knowing how my husband felt about those soldiers, about those soldiers were his family. And knowing that what he did was to protect his family, it doesn't make me angry at all.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): These military wives are used to their husbands not being home. But this, they say, is different. Once decorated heroes, their husbands are now convicted war criminals. Sergeant First Class Mayo pleaded guilty to the murder charges. The other two sergeants were convicted at trial.

Kim Hadley, the wife of first sergeant John Hadley, says she refuses to let herself cry even in private because she needs to be strong for her husband and her 19-year-old son who's now fighting in Afghanistan.

(on camera) Some people might call your husband a murderer. What do you call him?

KIM HADLEY, WIFE OF JOHN HADLEY: I call him a big man.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): She has no reason to stay in Germany any longer. She's packing up her life and moving to Texas. Her husband's home state.

Jamie Leahy, wife of Sergeant Michael Leahy: OK. Here's a card for you too.

BOUDREAU: Jamie Leahy, the wife of Sergeant Michael Leahy works at her mom's beauty saloon. It was never part of the plan but it keeps her mind occupied.

(on camera) Is it upsetting when people hear about what happened in your husband's case and they look at him and they think monster?

Leahy: It does, because it makes me feel like you don't know who you're talking about at all. Like he's a person, he's a son, he's my husband.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): And Joanna Mayo, the wife of Sergeant First Class Joseph Mayo struggles to hold her family together.

(on camera) Do you believe you'll get through this?

MAYO: Yes, I know we will. It's just - it's just, you know, it's hard right now, but we'll get through it.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Three wives now waging a battle of their own. They want their husbands' home, but they have a long wait. Cnn requested interviews with each of the three soldiers, but army policy prohibits media interviews with prisoners. Yet this man was given rare access. We met up with him outside the gates at Fort Levin Worth moments after he spoke with two of the soldiers. Stjepan G. Mestrovic is a sociology professor and has written books about war crimes. He also consulted with the defense on the Leahy and Mayo cases which allowed him inside the prison.

Stjepan G. Mestrovic, sociologist and author: They're afraid that people look at them and say, you know, monsters and, no, they're not. They have no prior record, they love their families. What Michael Leahy told me was very bluntly, he said, you know, if they let me out tomorrow, he said, I would never go out and do any crime, and I never did it before. What people don't understand is, we're different people over there, it's Iraq.

BOUDREAU: Mestrovic said both Mayo and Leahy have lost weight and have a hard time sleeping.

(on camera) Do you think from your conversation with them that they care about what Americans think about them?

MESTROVIC: They care a lot, yes because you've got to remember in their minds they're patriotic, in fact one of them said, they feel like the army misused their patriotism. They feel betrayed by the army.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Mestrovic did not meet with Hadley, but now we hear from him for the first time from inside Ft. Levin Worth. Hadley explains the difficulty of evidence collection in a war zone in this letter to cnn. He writes, quote, "The guidelines established for detaining and prosecuting the enemy has extensive flaws." Hadley says that he would capture the enemy, but then be forced to release them two to three days later because of lack of evidence or because the "weapons or explosives found on the individuals were not found in the same portion of the house that the insurgents were found in. He says he repeatedly found himself "fighting the same enemy again and again." "I assure you," he writes, "the military spared no expense in the prosecution of my soldiers and me. If they would have spent half the time, efforts and money in prosecuting the enemy as they had in prosecuting us, I assure you, we would have never found ourselves in our current situation."

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm curious what other soldiers have said to you since they have seen this?

BOUDREAU (on camera): I was surprised that so many soldiers, active soldiers have actually contacted us and they're just saying, you know, we can understand and sympathize why they did what they did, though there's justification for the actual killing of detainees and they obviously understand that but they were trying to encourage and understand what is truly like in the field. And then of course, we did hear from a lot of active soldiers and former military personnel who says, there is no excuse, I have been in situations like this and there's no way out of reached for my pistol at that point.

PHILLIPS: You know, it's like the fog of war, you know, the laws, the rules, there are laws in war about what you do in a high risk situation. It's been so much Abu Graibh. Yes, you could throw anybody into the prison if you thought that they are doing something that was tied to terrorism. Well, that's scandal erupted and so many things have changed since then. So, and you heard from Hadley, he just -- it sound like they thought, OK there's no way we're going to be able to do anything with these bad guys because it's like political correctness has taken over the whole evidence realm.

BOUDREAU: They felt that these men that they detained were the men that were shooting at them but they didn't feel like they had all the evidence that is going to be needed.

PHILLIPS: Enough evidence to lock these people up. And in that point, they made a decision, do we drop them off at the detainee center and risk them never being detained or being let go in a couple of days? Or do we take that matters into our own hands? And that was the fateful decision that they made that day. It's tough, you've see both sides, definitely.

Great reporting, thanks Abbie.

So many tough questions and obviously no easy answers, if you want to push forward even more on this story, log on to cnn.com/specials. Tell us what you think.

Down on the farm but up for Thanksgiving. One moment harvest for the hungry. A whole lot of folks are digging in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Top stories now, the president has made his long-awaited decision on u.s. Troop levels in Afghanistan. He'll deliver the news to all of us in a prime time address Tuesday night we're told. You can see it live right here on cnn, 8:00 Eastern.

I think we can safely say that president Obama's first presidential pardon was a real turkey, earlier today courage, a 45-pound tom was pardoned by the president from becoming the first family's Thanksgiving dinner. What's the big bird to do? Giving a new list on life. Well, go west young pow. Courage is flying the coupe to Disneyland. Less playing in the kettle but more bang for the buck.

The salvation army expanding on last year's pilot run and Red Kettles that are deep in then credit card friendly. Charity officials say it's necessary since fewer shoppers use cash and there's a value added benefit too. Donations by plastic are often more sizable than pocket change.

Farmers' Horn O' Plenty giving truly in need for second consecutive year of Colorado farmer opens up her harvest for the hungry. Ana Cabrera from CNN Affiliate KMGH has more on a bumper crop of hope up for the taking.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Opening up the farm up to the community is a beautiful gift to the community.

CHRIS MILLER, FARM OWNER: We were brought up, what goes around comes around.

ANA CABRERA, CNN Affiliate KMGH (voice-over): If that's the case, Chris Miller has a lot of good coming her way.

MILLER: We got wiped out with hail in the last part of July. So there's not as much stuff left but people still need food.

CABRERA: And hundreds seized the opportunity to gather fresh food for free. Potatoes, carrots, even brussels sprouts.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We make a lot of soup.

CABRERA: It's the second year in a row the Millers have opened their farm, a way to give back to the community in tough times.

MILLER: We asked the people to come out that were really in need of the food.

CABRERA: People like Steve Rivera.

STEVE RIVERA, RECIPIENT: The last couple of few years have been real bad. I have been laid off, you know, several times from different jobs.

CABRERA: Rivera brought his family to plot and pack barrels full of potatoes to take home.

RIVERA: Some of the stuff you know is actually -

CABRERA: And not just for themselves.

RIVERA: I'm not going to keep that much.

CABRERA: Rivera plans to pass this gift on to others.

RIVERA: We probably help at least, you know, six families that I know of. Whoever needs it, you know, I'll have it there and I'll say hey if you need it, take it. You know, so it doesn't go to waste.

CABRERA: From the Millers to the Rivera, spirit of giving, soon to be empty field.

PHILLIPS: And that was from Ana Cabrera from KMGH.

Any veggies that go unpicked don't go wasted either. Chris actually feeds her cows the remaining food. Nature's recycling and great work.

A hound dog that had very good reason to be crying all the time. More than 100 reasons, yes, Roxy the Bassett countdown confused a lunch box with a toolbox. She wolfed down more than one hundred nails and lived to drool about it.

The vet had to go in and get them out, because, well, you know, let's face it, do you really want your dog passing those puppies?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: If you have reservations about health care reform, you haven't checked into the Rosen hotel chain. As CNN's Jim Acosta reports, it's a whole new way to do business and medicine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this health clinic in Orlando, Florida, there's no such thing as no vacancy. It's located inside a hotel.

HARRIS ROSEN, ROSEN HOTELS HEALTH CLINIC FOUNDER: How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good, how are you?

ROSEN: OK.

ACOSTA: And run by the hotel's owner, Harris Rosen, who started the clinic 18 years ago to see if he could cover all of his employees and save money.

ROSEN: There is a - an apprehension, a fear, an anxiety on the part of most employers to step into an area they know very little about. But we did it and at a cost that were a fraction of what the national averages are. Why? We emphasize wellness.

ACOSTA: Rosen dumped his insurance company, hired his own doctors, nurses and support staff, all of it at little cost to his employees. But there's a catch.

ROSEN: If you smoke, Jim, you can't work for me.

ACOSTA: The employees have to follow Rosen's rules or risk losing their coverage. Smokers have to quit, heavyset workers have to go on weight loss programs and so on.

ROSEN: So there is a bit of big brother looking over to make sure that you're following the - the regimen.

ACOSTA (on camera): And you're big brother?

ROSEN: Yes, and I don't like that very much because I - I'm not very much a fan of big brother, any big brother. But I am.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Chris Teague, the assistant manager of one of Rosen's hotels, lost 100 pounds with the clinic's help.

ACOSTA (on camera): You're glad they nudged you?

CHRIS TEAGUE, HOTEL ASSISTANT MANAGER: Yes. Oh, yes. This changed my life dramatically.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The clinic's approach does have its critics who say it's an invasion of privacy.

JEFFREY BLOOM, TRIAL ATTORNEY: The idea of providing wellness care is wonderful, but if I choose not to go back to a follow-up care with - with a doctor, that's my decision.

ACOSTA: But it's not the critics who worry Rosen, it's Congress. ACOSTA (on camera): You'd think with the health care system Harris Rosen has put in place here, he'd be a big fan of Democratic plans for health care reform. But the message at this health care hotel is quite the opposite. It's do not disturb.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Under the Democratic proposals in Congress, Rosen says he'd save money by shutting down his clinic, forcing his employees into a public plan and paying a government-imposed penalty.

ROSEN: I'd hate to close this facility down. It means so much to all of us.

ACOSTA: Including Harris Rosen, who seems to enjoy providing health care, whether it's in Spanish or French, more than he likes running the fanciest of his seven hotels.

ROSEN: Some of my friends will - will probably not be happy with what I'm about to say, but I do believe that it's a right.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Orlando.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm blessed with two "Ali" get togethers.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is fun!

PHILLIPS: Two hours.

VELSHI: Like the old days.

PHILLIPS: Just like the old days, back when we did that morning gig.

VELSHI: That's right!

PHILLIPS: Oh, how fun that was, getting up at 2 AM.

VELSHI: But you made it more fun.

PHILLIPS: Ditto. What you got coming up at the top of the hour? You're in for Rick Sanchez.

VELSHI: Well, we were just talking - Jim Acosta was just talking about this Harris Rosen and his - his health care hotel. We're going to talk to Harris Rosen, the owner of that. I want to ask him a little bit more about what - you know, what he gets out of this and what he's worried about in terms of health care. I think a lot of people are really looking for every option possible when it comes to health care.

We're going to talk about the traffic messes and the - and the transport messes out there for those of you who are getting very close to leaving on - on your vacation.

And we're going to talk to the lawyer for Major Nidal Hasan, who is accused in the Fort Hood killings three weeks ago. What kind of defense could he possibly have? We're going to discuss with this lawyer what he knows, what he's discussed with the major and - and what defense they might be coming up with.

PHILLIPS: And we want to plugs for some tweets, is that right? What do you want to hear from - from your - from your viewers?

VELSHI: You know, we want to - we do want to hear -

Listen, here's the big one, what I want to hear from our viewers about. We're going to be talking about money, because I can't really get through an hour without talking about money.

PHILLIPS: You're the money - the money guru.

VELSHI: What you do with your money right now with this - you know, gold where it is - look at that picture. I look (ph) about 18 years old. A slim, young little guy back then.

PHILLIPS: Back when you - dyed your eyebrows back then.

VELSHI: Clearly, I was dyeing my eyebrows back then.

So we want to hear from people about - I think it's a great time to buy a house.

I - I don't know where that picture came from. That is one old picture. Look at me. I looked (ph) like that.

PHILLIPS: You're such a handsome devil. Don't tweet Rick Sanchez's...

VELSHI: Yes, you can. I'll be - I'll be there. I don't - I don't want to mess it all up for Rick's...

PHILLIPS: Why don't you do yours...

VELSHI: You can tweet at alivelshi, or you can tweet at ricksanchezcnn. I'll check them both. I don't want Rick's people to all - get all crazy on me. And don't bother with the tweets about how he's better than me and better looking and all that. I'm - I'm over it.

PHILLIPS: Those are your BlackBerrys (ph). Yes. He's got two over here. All right...

VELSHI: Great to see you.

PHILLIPS: Great to see you too.

Watch this story because this is hysterical. All right? It's in our "What the...?" segment of the day.

All right if this pedestrian thing doesn't work out, an Illinois woman ought to think about a soccer career, maybe roller derby. Let me go ahead and set the stage here. A reporter in Rockford, Illinois doing a story about rising crime in the city, talking to people on the street, things are going okay, then a woman - occupation unclear - got a little upset. You might be able to figure out what she does.

Here's what happened next with reporter Bob Schaper describing it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB SCHAPER, WREX REPORTER: Sometimes all it takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This woman told me to move along because she couldn't make any money with me standing there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

SCHAPER: Hey, what are you doing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. This street corner is not big enough for the both of us, newsman! Bob's OK and maybe we'll be seeing her on "The Jerry Springer Show" someday.

Enthusiastic teacher, receptive class. Looks like your textbook school set up. What you can't see is all the extracurricular challenges that Principal Sherrie's kids face and the lengths that her staff goes to to help out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, "No Child Left Behind" took effect in 2002 nationwide. That same year, a Las Vegas elementary school started taking that principle, well, a bit further. Seriously, teachers and staff there deserve extra credit for all the extra help they give their kids.

More now from CNN's Dan Simon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are chefs from some of the fanciest hotels in Las Vegas, but today they are serving breakfast at Whitney Elementary, part of a nonprofit initiative to eliminate malnutrition and hunger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what do we say when we're very grateful and very fortunate?

CHILDREN: Thank you.

SIMON: School principal Sherrie Gahn says it's a healthy and memorable meal for student who don't have much.

SHERRIE GAHN, PRINCIPAL, WHITNEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Which one?

SIMON: That's because the school estimates that as many as 85 percent of the 600 or so students are homeless, living in cheap motels, with friends or in shelters.

GAHN: Literally, my every waking moment, I think about what else do I need to do?

SIMON: When Gahn arrived here seven years ago, she says children were devouring ketchup packets to fill empty stomachs. Clearly, they weren't getting enough food. So she set out to do something about it - a mission that came from personal pain.

GAHN: And I was raised in poverty. My mother went to a local organization at one point. My mother actually asked for food and clothes, and they turned us down, and I - and I saw how devastated she was.

Here's (ph) your food, honey.

SIMON: Gahn vowed her families at Whitney would never be turned down. She twisted arms and begged for donations, opening a one of a kind school supply closet, part food bank, part clothing supply.

JAMES ICENOGLE, FOURTH GRADER: I got some pants, some shirts, some new shoes and some new socks.

SIMON (on camera): A lot of these kids come from such challenging circumstances that there's no money at home to even celebrate birthdays. So once a month the school throws a giant birthday party for all the kids who had birthdays that month.

There's pizza, there's cake, and even some presents to take home.

SIMON (voice-over): Hairstylists donate hair cuts and dentists donate dental care. When a family come up short for something like a utility bill, the school, through donations, can help with that too.

SHIRLEY HERNANDEZ, GRANDMOTHER OF WHITNEY STUDENT: Last year we didn't have Christmas, they gave us Christmas. This year we're hardly going to have Christmas, but they're going to give us Christmas.

They've helped us a lot, so I'm going to donate my time here to, you know, to show how much I appreciate the people here.

SIMON: And that's what Gahn expects, that parents give something back by volunteering.

SIMON (on camera): At the end of the day, what is it that you wish for these children?

GAHN: I want them to have that sense of norm that a lot of families grow up in America having, that they don't get.

SIMON: On this morning, they do get attention from the city's best chefs. For many, it will be the best meal they've had in a while. For Sherrie Gahn, it's another small victory for her students.

Dan Simon, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Ali Velshi, it's all yours.