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Taking Stock of Dubai; '30-Second Pitch'; Hot Items on Black Friday

Aired November 27, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

RICHARD LUI, CNN ANCHOR: Pushing forward on three of the top stories at the top of the hour.

Dubai -- it's no oasis in the recession as we take a look at that, in the recession desert. Powerful financiers have basically tried to turn the desert city into a Hong Kong or a New York overnight. Now, they say they need a six-month break from paying their creditors.

Knowing that rich Dubai is having money problems is giving the global stock market the jitters.

And U.N. nuclear watchdog agency is telling Iran to stop work right now at this nuclear site. The agency's director said a military angle to Iran's nuclear program cannot be ruled out. The U.N. resolution has the U.S. threatening stiffer economic sanctions.

And then, President Obama is reportedly planning to ask for about 34,000 additional troops on the ground in Afghanistan, and NATO is talking about member nations sending up to 6,000 more. CNN has learned the first wave of U.S. troops could deploy before the end of the year.

OK. Christmas is coming to the White House. Right about now, the official White House Christmas tree is arriving on a horse-drawn carriage with first lady Michelle Obama on hand to receive it.

It's a Douglas Fir, 18.5 feet tall, from Shepherdstown, West Virginia. It will go up in the Blue Room later today. And we'll be following that as they get ready to put on all the trimmings.

Eric and Gloria Sundback have trod this path before, by the way. The White House tree was harvested from their farm just like one of President Carter's trees and two of President Reagan's. But this year, they say, is especial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC SUNDBACK, CHRISTMAS TREE GROWER: What we really like this year is it's going to a family. The children are there, the family is well knit.

We hope they enjoy it as much as we've enjoyed Christmas as kids. So, if the tree is good and they enjoy it, that's what it's about.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LUI: And if these laps could talk, what would they say? We're going to find out as we hear from the Fraternal Order of Santas. You won't believe what these jolly good fellows have heard over the years.

Stick around for that.

All right. Now to one of our top stories.

Dubai is in a bind and everybody else is feeling the pinch. We have been feeling the shock waves from the emirate's plea for a six- month freeze on debt payments. Investors worldwide are running scared through European markets, bouncing back today, and then also Wall Street today. Let's just say it wasn't Black Friday, good thing, but we can all be glad it was only a half day.

CNN's Ali Velshi is down from New York to fill in for Rick Sanchez in about an hour. He joins me now to tell us what this all means for us here in the United States.

Obviously, our 401(k)s got a little bit of a hit today.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You're right in saying Black Friday on the market means something entirely different, something that's more ominous than Black Friday as a retail day.

Here's a distinction. It's Dubai World, which is the sovereign investment arm of the government of Dubai. And that distinction is important, because it's not Dubai saying we're in financial trouble, it's the investment arm which deals with shipping, it deals with properties, saying that we've got a lot of debt.

They've got about $60 billion in debt. We knew that part. What they've asked for is a six-month moratorium on all the payments.

This happens in the business world. Sometimes businesses run into trouble. It's difficult in the world of business.

The issue here is that we were expecting that the government would step in and say this company has problems and we'll deal with it. When they didn't, you saw a reaction on Asian markets, very, very sharp reaction, in fact. Then you saw less of a reaction in Europe this morning, and then you saw yet less of a reaction in New York.

So, a half a day of trading. The Dow closed down more than a percent lower. But the bottom line is, probably, that was exaggerated because of the thinness of trading because so many traders and investors are enjoying their holiday.

So, we're not quite sure this is as bad as it may have seemed when it first came out.

LUI: So what do we do? What do we look for now, the market to go down further, maybe, after the holidays?

VELSHI: Well, this market is up 20 percent since the beginning of the year, the U.S. market. Since March, March 9th, the bottom of the market, it's up about 60 percent. That is unnatural.

So, what's happening is a lot of people are saying we're looking for some catalyst to start pulling this market back a little bit. Some thought this might be it. It probably isn't.

But if you're an investor, you need to just stick back to your basics. You need to have an asset allocation plan. You need to diversify. And if you've enjoyed a 20-percent run since the beginning of the year, check your 401(k), because you possibly have rebalanced, sell some of the winners, get into other things. Don't just sit around and wait for the bubble to burst.

LUI: Here on Wall Street, it's been said, double dip, triple- dip, all these kinds of theories out there.

Should we expect another Dubai-like incident to happen over the coming years or so?

VELSHI: Dubai is -- look, anything that is enjoying a bubble will see some kind of a pop. Dubai is like combing 10 Las Vegases with a few Disneylands and some industry in there.

I mean, it was definitely a place that was prime to pop. There are probably other places like that.

Here's what I would like at. They don't like bubbles like Dubai, which has got the biggest hotels and ski slopes in the desert, but places like Shanghai, places like India, where you've seen such remarkable growth for so many years, it can't continue at that pace.

That doesn't mean it pops and becomes worth nothing. It means just be careful. When things go up for a long time, understand that that has to come to an end at some point and start to moderate. And that's part of what we're seeing in Dubai.

LUI: Cycles. Did this worry or surprise you when you heard about it?

VELSHI: It surprised me a little bit that the government of the Emirates didn't immediately step in and say we'll take care of this. I think you might hear that next week as they renegotiate the terms of this deal.

That's the part that surprised me. We knew that the company was in debt and we know that debt is trouble, it's a problem for companies these days.

LUI: Ali Velshi, our business guru, obviously.

Thank you so much, sir.

VELSHI: My pleasure.

LUI: A safety expert in a dangerous job market. George Rinke is an environmental health and safety engineer. He was laid off early this year after about 20 years with the Ford Motor Company. And he's got at least five reasons to get back to work quickly. He's got five boys, two of whom are in college.

And, well, let's find him some work.

George Rinke is in Detroit, and he's our "30-Second Pitch" today.

George, thanks for joining us.

And let me ask you this -- when you first found out that you were going to be laid off, were you surprised?

GEORGE RINKE, SEEKING EMPLOYMENT: Yes, I was.

LUI: And so what have you done since that has happened to prepare yourself for the next phase?

RINKE: I have networked with several groups, and I'm actively looking for employment at this time.

LUI: Now, you were working the auto industry. Why were you surprised by that?

RINKE: I was surprised because felt my position as an environmental health and safety director was secure at the time.

LUI: And your family, what was their reaction? You were surprised, they probably just as were surprised.

RINKE: Oh, absolutely. They were shocked at the time. And like anything else, you've got to march forward. So we have been looking for the last 10 -- more than 10 months to get back to work.

LUI: Ten months. And what tool has worked best for you?

RINKE: My advice to anybody who's lost their job at this time is to network.

LUI: All right. George Rinke, you're suggesting to network. I'm going to allow you to kind of loosen your shoulders up. We're going to do your "30 Second Pitch" right now, and we'll get it going in three, two, one.

Go for it.

RINKE: My name is George Rinke. I'm an environmental health and safety specialist with over 20 years of experience in delivering compliance. One of my most valuable assets is my ability to communicate with co-workers and lead groups to achieve compliance.

I'm a recognized environmental safety trainer, auditor with solid negotiation, presentation and written skills. I'm looking for work as a management role position in environmental health and safety or environmental consulting.

I look forward to meeting you.

LUI: All right. Excellent use of time, my friend. Again, that "30 Second Pitch" from George Rinke.

The best of luck to you, my friend. Your wife, as well as your five kids. Thank you so much for being on CNN NEWSROOM today.

RINKE: Thank you very much.

LUI: You bet.

Again, George Rinke's e-mail is George.Rinke@ATT.net. We'll have his e-mail posted on our blog, CNN.com/Kyra.

Help him out if you can.

If you also want to be part of the pitch, e-mail us your resume at 30SecondPitch@CNN.com, or you can tweet us at KyraCNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: All right. Let's take you to the White House.

What we're expecting right now is the White House Christmas tree -- 18.5 feet tall. It cannot be any taller than that.

You can see Michelle Obama, the first lady, accepting it. There could be more than one, too.

I don't know if you knew this, but they do put 24 trees in the White House, in various rooms. But this is the main tree that will sit in the Blue Room.

And what the first lady had wanted, she wanted a full tree, it said in "The Washington Post." She wanted it to have sturdy branches so it could hold lots of ornaments. And she also said it need to be skinny enough so people could still wiggle around it. It couldn't be too wide.

So, Michelle Obama, as well as her daughters, saying here comes the tree. Probably one of the largest ones they've put out. And smiling and having a good time.

OK. Now, as they unfurl that, we'll be watching that for you right here on CNN NEWSROOM.

From New Jersey to Los Angeles, and points in between, it's Black Friday. Discount the goods, but don't discount the crowds.

The National Retail Federation is expecting better numbers today than a year ago. And some experts think people pinching pennies all year might go ahead and swipe that card today. So far, though, no reports of consumer chaos. But some pictures from all around the country there.

Now stuff like Snuggies, cashmere sweaters, robotic rodents and electronics getting some deep discounts, as we've been telling you.

Let's go to CNN's Kara Finnstrom. She's at the busy Burbank Best Buy. Say that three times fast. I can't even say "fast" fast.

Kara, how are the crowds? It is early right now. It's about 11:00 a.m. there locally.

What are you seeing and is everything moving as it should?

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, it is really moving. Laptops and large flat-screen TVs appear to be the big, hot items out here today.

Take a look at this crowd. This is the folks who are checking out. And we have been seeing those laptops, those large flat-screen LCDs roll out of here throughout the morning. This is about six hours after the stores opened up, and the crowds have continued throughout the morning.

One of the customers we met here a little bit earlier is Tiss Michaels (ph).

And you've been filling up your shopping cart. What kind of deals have you found out here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I found a TV, 26-inch TV/DVD combo, and then also a digital photo frame. And some -- actually, the flash drives are good deals, too.

FINNSTROM: Lots of talk about folks not wanting to open up their wallets. How is it for you this year with the Christmas season coming up?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what? I was planning a big trip next month -- or December -- and since I'm not going to go, I'm like, well, I have a little extra money.

But, I don't know. The deals seem pretty good. So that's why I decided to come out. But I came late. I didn't come until, like, 10:00.

FINNSTROM: And that's exactly what the retailers are hoping for.

Most of these big-ticket deals that you see on the front pages, the blockbusters, as they call them, those have already sold out. But as you take a look around, there's tons of inventory in the store. And Blockbuster, like a lot of other retailers, says this year they're going to do this a little bit differently. They're actually going to be rolling out special values throughout the season because they don't want to just have a big day today and then have it teeter off.

We were here early this morning, about 5:00, right before those doors opened up. And check out the pep rally that was held to rev up those employees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you guys feeling about it, good?

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

So, we're going to have an awesome day today. We've got about -- I would say about 2,000 people out there, probably 1,500 to 2,000 people out there right now.

There's been people out there for, oh, my gosh, 36 hours; right? Wednesday, at 1:00, there were people out there. And they're still out there, and they have multiplied, obviously, out there a lot. So we're going to have a great day today. Just remember what you guys have all...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FINNSTROM: That was the excitement this morning just before those doors opened up. A long line of people, single file, out there.

As he mentioned, some of those people started camping out on Wednesday. They brought out tents, and many of those early shoppers, we're told, came out for the laptops.

Now, we also want to mention we have seen no mayhem. There was a lot of tussling, elbow-shoving, pushing out here last year at some of the different stores. Best Buy says this year they have seen none of that, everyone has been very really calm.

But check this out. We do want to show you some video of one of those excited customers early this morning, got his hand on one of those big flat-screen TVs. And unfortunately, this is what happened.

LUI: Oh! Oh! Kara, poor guy.

FINNSTROM: Now, we were told apparently that flat screen was OK, it's wrapped up well, and he was able to take it home. But it gives you a feel for the excitement that we're seeing out here this morning.

LUI: Exactly. Five yard penalty on that one. I mean, it may be one of the hot-selling items, but he's probably one of the fellows that were there on Wednesday, maybe had a little smell to him, too, after being there for almost a day and a half or two.

Exciting times.

Kara Finnstrom, Burbank...

FINNSTROM: Exactly.

LUI: Yes -- Burbank, California, at the Best Buy there.

Thank you so much.

And I'm glad I'm not there. I would be spending like a crazy man.

FINNSTROM: Thanks, Richard. LUI: All right. Here's a fraternity like no other. Qualifications: white beard, jelly belly, reindeer skills, and a kind of well-worn lap as well. Call it Phi Ho Ho Ho. And these jolly frat brothers have some incredible stories.

Here's CNN's Ted Rowlands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are five Santas with some incredible stories. Bob Gerardi is a realtor. Bob Beals is a retired deputy sheriff. Elloyd Ray is a retired train conductor who now drives this Santa convertible. Dave Strom is retired from the phone company, now a gun smith, and Art Brown is a politician.

They each had thousands of kids sit on their laps.

BOB BEALS, SANTA/RET. SHERRIF'S DEPUTY: Most of us have gotten a beard full of whatever the child is eating at the moment. "Here, Santa, have a bite."

ROWLANDS: They also have stories about children with nothing asking for things for their parents and heartbreaking requests from kid asking Santa for a miracle like bringing loved ones back from the dead.

DAVE STROM, SANTA/FMR. PHONE LINESMAN: I've been asked to have mom or dad come back. I've been asked for a liver transplant or a kidney transplant for one of the parents.

ROWLANDS (on camera): Those are tough.

STROM: They're very difficult.

ART BROWN, SANTA/MAYOR PRO TEM. BUENA PARK: I had one mother -- one kid says, all I want is a new diaper bag for my new baby for my mother. They don't have anything but they think of other people.

ROWLANDS (voice-over): Sometimes the Santas can help, like Dave's story on getting a family's power turned on.

STROM: Having worked for a utility company, I had a little insight on how we can do that, and we got their power turned back on.

ROWLANDS: As a rule, the Santas never promise anything, though kids definitely ask.

ELLOYD RAY, RETIRED TRAIN CONDUCTOR: As their face they can tell me what they want. I can see the parents in the background ...

ROWLANDS (on camera): Yes. How do you handle that?

RAY: I tell them, I'm sure that you're going to love what Santa will bring you. ROWLANDS (voice-over): These Santas are members of the fraternal order of real bearded Santas. Bob and Elloyd did get their beards colored. The group gets together throughout the year for Santa pool parties and dinners. They recently went to see the movie "A Christmas Carol."

BOB GERARDI, SANTA/REALTOR: I've never seen the movie "Bad Santa," by the way. I refused to see it.

ROWLANDS: They say they're recognized all year by children and are always ready to answer questions like, are you the real Santa?

GERARDI: We have the best way of getting around that. Santa has lots of helpers, but there's only one Santa. It's up for you to decide which one is the real Santa.

ROWLANDS: The pay isn't great. In fact, a lot of Santa work is volunteer. The smiles they get is enough, they say, like the one Bob says he got from a disabled girl he saw who had pneumonia.

GERARDI: This little girl had a smile on her face from ear to ear that wouldn't stop and broke my heart, and you know, I just sitting there looking -- she was obviously just overjoyed to be there.

ROWLANDS: The next time you see a smiling child on Santa's lap, know that the man behind the beard is probably smiling, too.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: All right.

He rolls through the slums with his chalkboard, talking, teaching and trying to reach kids sucked into gang life, or about to be.

He's our hero. You'll meet him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: We have got your top stories right now.

The worldwide death toll from H1N1 keeps on climbing. At last count, it was over 7,800, most of them in the Americas. That's up 1,000 from last week. More than 200 countries have reported swine flu cases so far.

Nine years of war are taking a heavy toll on marriages in the military. Divorces for those in uniform are up slightly from last year, to just over 27,000. The Pentagon says counseling, retreats and other programs are helping to hold the numbers down somewhat there.

This was a picture-perfect trip home for Atlantis. The shuttle touching down in perfect weather. Just look at these pictures.

It happened at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew spent 11 days in space.

And a perfect landing.

The key focus of their mission this time around was delivering spare parts to try to prolong the life of the International Space Station as the shuttle program is retired.

Bullied by gang members, dirt poor, and living in a shanty town, it would have been easy for Efren Penaflorida to give it up, to give in to the poverty and desperation surrounded him. Instead, he pushed himself to do and to be better. And now 12 years later, he's pushing kids out of slums in his native Philippines and beyond.

CNN's Hero of the Year talks to T.J. Holmes about the big honor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EFREN PENAFLORIDA, CNN HERO OF THE YEAR: We're now in the process of our expansion. We have one in Manilla and in (INAUDIBLE) and Sibonga in the Philippines. And as far as Kenya and in Indonesia, there are people there who are expressing their interest of duplicating the pushcart system, or the pushcart technology. And we're also planning to build our dream like having our center for learning where kids can go and where we have a big place for a play center, a place for -- rooms for literacy classes, and a parking space for the pushcarts.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Efren, for your pushcart system, again, you're literally in a pushcart, taking the classroom to these kids who need this education, some of these really, really poor kids.

Now, you were in that same situation as a child. What is it when you work with these kids all these years -- what was it in your that you don't see in them? I guess, what was it in you as a kid?

And you were able to dedicate yourself and make sure that you made it. I guess, what do you see that's missing from these kids that you're trying to give to them?

PENAFLORIDA: Because a lot of kids back there are deprived, left out, they're not given the opportunity to have proper education. So they could not go to school simply because of poverty, that they don't have money to support them.

So what we do with the pushcart tool is we bring the school to them. So, if they can go to school, so we bring it to them.

HOLMES: Well, Efren, really, congratulations on the honor. And I guess it was pretty cool being in that room with all those celebrities, wasn't it?

PENAFLORIDA: Yes, it yes. It's so surreal. I've seen them on TV, but last night, it's really, really -- I cannot explain.

HOLMES: Who was your favorite that you got to maybe meet last night, your favorite celebrity? PENAFLORIDA: Eva Mendes.

HOLMES: Oh.

PENAFLORIDA: She's the one who presented me.

HOLMES: Well, I'm with you there. I agree with you. That would be pretty cool.

All right, Efren.

Efren Penaflorida.

Sir, thank you so much for the time, and congratulations on being the CNN Hero of the Year.

PENAFLORIDA: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: OK. A little stall on the video there, but the sound kept on going for you.

If you missed the whole Efren and Eva thing, do not worry. You can catch "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," tomorrow night and Sunday night, too. That's at 8:00 Eastern for those encore presentations.

Put your seat backs and tray tables up. It could be a bumpy landing at one of the nation's biggest airports. Why the feds say it could be risky to touch down or take off from these runways.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Imagine hovering over a busy runway as your flight lands or takes off. You look out the window and another plane whizzes by just 600 feet away. It happened last year at Newark Liberty International Airport, and it wasn't the only near miss.

So, how close is too close for comfort?

Here's Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A potential danger to the flying public. That's how federal investigators are describing the simultaneous use of intersecting runways at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the busiest in the nation.

Newark air traffic controller Ray Adams raised the issue after witnessing too many close calls from the control tower. On January 16th of last year, he saw two Continental planes miss each other by only 600 feet.

RAY ADAMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: That was very scary. I was there for that one personally in the control tower, and it scared the heck out of everybody up there.

CHERNOFF: Potential danger arises when approaching planes need to abort their landings, which happens about every 700 flights, according to an FAA analysis.

(on camera): Any plane aborting a landing along Runway 11, which runs west to east here at Newark, has to make a sharp right turn, taking it into the path of two intersecting runways.

(voice-over): In what the FAA calls go around, the diverted plane has to avoid planes landing and taking off from the intersecting runway. There's little margin for error. Four times last year and another four times this year, Newark Air traffic Control allowed planes to come too close together.

ADAMS: There was a distinct possibility that we could have had a collision with these operations the way they were run previously.

CHERNOFF: Adams raised the safety issue to the FAA, but it went nowhere. He says his managers maintained there was no problem. Yet Adams persisted, taking his complaint to congress.

In response, he says, he was pushed, put on paid leave for eleven months and then leave without pay for a month. The FAA says the disciplinary actions had nothing to do with Adams' safety concerns.

Adams filed a whistle blower complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Council, which led Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel to investigate. He found merit in Adams' concerns, concluding two months ago, "questions about the safety of Runway 22L-11 approach configuration at Newark persist."

ADAMS: I have been vindicated at least on the safety concerns, and I would like to see some accountability on the part of the FAA.

CHERNOFF: In response, the FAA promised to utilize a computer program that helps air traffic controllers stagger aircraft to ensure proper spacing. On November 5th, the Department of Transportation, which oversees FAA, told the Office of Special Council the computer system had been put to use. "FAA implemented converging runway display aid technology at Newark on October 26th."

The very next day, the U.S. Office of Special Council learned that, in fact, the technology was no longer in use at Newark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am outraged. When you put the jeopardy of human lives at risk, it can't get any more serious than that.

CHERNOFF: FAA says "there was no intent to deceive anyone about what we were doing. FAA safety officers wanted to make absolutely sure employees were fully trained on the equipment."

Last week, the Office of Special Council raised the matter with President Obama, writing, "we found a substantial likelihood that FAA officials were engaging in conduct that constitutes gross mismanagement and a substantial and specific danger to public safety." (END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: All right, senior correspondent Allan Chernoff live for us with more on the story.

Allan, did the FAA outright lie about the use of the computer system at Newark?

CHERNOFF: Richard, you get the impression, but the FAA says that's absolutely not the case, that on October 26th, that computer system was operational, and even on the date of the letter, November 5th, it was also operational. But immediately afterwards, all of a sudden, it was not.

So it seems to have been more of a miscommunication issue within the bureaucracy, between the FAA and the Department of Transportation, it's parent agency, it's parent department.

LUI: So then Allan, why use this sort of set up, these intersecting runways in the first place? That's probably the obvious question.

CHERNOFF: It's a matter of traffic, frankly. They want to maximize the incoming and outgoing traffic at Newark airport. The airlines have lots of demand and that's the reason that they actually utilize intersecting runways. As you saw in the graphic, they don't intersect right at the middle or right at the end. The idea is that you never have planes coming too close. But as we have seen, that as happened upon occasion.

LUI: No doubt, frightening for those passengers that were part of those four incidents you were telling us about in your piece there. Allan Chernoff, thank you so much.

Constant distraction. A real time explanation from the pilots of Northwest Flight 188, as they try to undo their mistake. You remember the flight from San Diego that overshot Minneapolis a little over 150 miles a little over a month ago. Now we've got the tapes, and CNN's Jean Meserve has the details, with more on that for us.

Hey, Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Richard.

These are the tapes of air traffic control, not cockpit tapes. But the tapes and transcripts, as interesting as they are, do not give us any more insight into why the crew of Northwest Flight 188 overflew Minneapolis on October 21st.

One does hear air traffic controllers in Denver and Minneapolis trying repeatedly to make contact with the plane. They talk about reaching out to the airline so it can try it's channels of communication. And on the tape, you hear the controllers enlisting other Northwest pilots, asking them to try and reach Flight 188 on another frequency. But only after 77 minutes is there any communication from the flight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Minneapolis, Northwest 188.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Minneapolis, Center, go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger, we got distracted and we have overflown Minneapolis. We are overhead Eau Claire and we would like to make a one-eighty and do arrival from Eau Claire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, 188, Roger. Turn to the right to a heading of one zero zero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Now, air traffic controllers pressed the crew twice for a more complete explanation, but the crew replied only that there were cockpit distractions, and that they were dealing with some company issues. The controllers ask if the plane's in secure and have the pilots make several turns on their way back to Minneapolis to verify they are in control.

The pilots, once they were on the ground, said they were looking at their laptop computers in the cockpit, looking another some new scheduling procedures at the airline. The FAA revoked their licenses. The pilots are appealing. Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation, and may release some information by the end of the year that will hopefully shed some new light on this. Richard, back to you.

LUI: Jean, one of the concerns there was national security, only because of the time that was in between that the defense command was notified. Wasn't that one of the concerns too?

MESERVE: Yes, it was one of the concerns. And the FAA says it's taking some steps to address that, to make sure that that sort of timing issue doesn't arise again.

But in reading these transcripts, it isn't clear that they think they have a national security situation on their hands. They know they don't have radio contact. They seem to think that this flight is going to hold over Minneapolis for a while, which would be the normal procedure, I'm told, for a plane that has lost its radios. Then it travels on to Eau Claire. Then they realize something is truly amiss.

LUI: All right, Jean Meserve, thank you so much, there in Washington, with the latest on Northwest 188.

A call for a peace in Afghanistan coming from within. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is asking the Taliban fighters to lay down their weapons. The plea comes as much of his country celebrates Eid. That's a major holiday marking the end of Ramadan. But the Taliban have repeatedly said they are not interested in peace. The surging violence means U.S. troops are shifting focus from Iraq to Afghanistan. Our Fred Pleitgen is embedded with a unit that made the move half a year ago. They have lost 11 comrades already.

Fred, the going has been certainly tough to say the least, hasn't it?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly has. I remember when I came in with this unit half a year ago, a lot of them had very high spirits. Since then, as you said, they have lost these 11 men. They have also had a lot of really bad wounded in that time. They have had 17 soldiers with so-called life changing injuries. That means, for instance, losing a limb or something similar to that.

So certainly the going has been very tough, especially here in southern Afghanistan. We've since made the move to this place. This is a forward operating base Wolverine. What's going on here is counter-insurgency operations and also something which is actually quite unique in this battlefield. It's called a mentoring program. What's going on is the U.S. Army is sending specialists into the Afghan security forces to try and train and mentor them.

So what they'll do is they'll go on operations with the Afghan army, watch what the Afghan army is doing, and then afterwards tell them the sort of things they should be doing differently. That's what they'll do to try and get more discipline into the Afghan Army, and to try to get the Afghan security forces to be able to really get security going here in this area, Richard.

LUI: All right, yes, and it's so tough. And that is very important to review again, as we look at the president, who will be making an announcement on Tuesday in terms of troop deployment in Afghanistan. Fred Pleitgen, who is there live for us, thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: This just in to CNN; we are learning that Tiger Woods was in an accident, according to the Florida Highway Patrol at 2:25 a.m. In their report, they do say that Tiger Woods was seriously injured when he hit a fire hydrant at the front of his house, after pulling out of a driveway at his residence and then, after that, hitting a tree.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, no alcohol is related to this. They are looking at this crash. It's under investigation. Also from the press release, it says that charges are pending. We are looking to see if we can find out more information about this situation. Again, what we understand is that he was driving a 2009 Cadillac, an SUV, according to this report. And we have no other information in terms of who else might have been in that car at the moment.

Again, Tiger Woods in an accident in front of his residence in Florida. And currently -- he was taken to the hospital and we are looking for more information. When we do have that, we'll have it for you right here on CNN.

President Obama is promising to finish the job in Afghanistan. That likely means more boots on the ground. On Tuesday, he's reportedly planning to ask for about 34,000 additional troops. And CNN has learned the first group of GIs could deploy before the end of the year.

And Dubai is having trouble paying its bills. The Middle Eastern city-state wants to suspend payments on its 60 billion dollar debt. That's making the world markets very nervous. The Dow closed sharply lower during half of a day of trading on this day, and European stocks rebounded after an early drop off as well.

Torrential rains slammed western Saudi Arabia earlier this week, killing dozens. But it now appears that none were Hajj pilgrims here making the obligatory trek for Muslims across the globe. And the Hajj, the Fifth Pillar of Islam, requires devotees to travel to Mecca at least once in their lives.

Now we take you to Ireland, where decades of heinous cruelty, compounded by secrecy, lies, and indifference are finally out in the open, and tearing the country apart as well.

CNN's Atika Shubert reports on a investigation of child abuse and molestation at the hands of Catholic clergy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The report reaches a damming conclusion, for at least three decades, the archdiocese of Dublin and other church officials consistently covered up hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests.

No fewer than four archbishops are blamed for putting the welfare of the church above the care of abused children. The commission received hundreds of abuse allegations. In a 700-page report, it investigated the abuse of 46 priests. Eleven were subsequently convicted.

One priest admitted to abusing more than 100 children. Another confessed to committing abuses on a regular basis for 25 years. Ireland's government is promising justice.

DERMOT AHERN, IRISH MINISTER OF JUSTICE: As I read this, if I felt a growing sense of revulsion and anger, revulsion at the horrible and evil acts against young children. Anger at how those children were then dealt with and how often abusers were left free to abuse.

SHUBERT: But victims of abuse say this report is not enough.

MARIE COLLINS, VICTIM OF ABUSIVE PRIEST: The maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church and the preservation of its assets, all of the considerations, including the welfare of children and justice for victims were subordinate to these priorities.

SHUBERT: The report found that church officials failed to disclose any cases of abuse until 1995, and continued to hide the extent of the abuse until only recently in an effort to avoid scandal.

Church officials perpetuated the problem by ignoring allegations and, in some cases, simply moving an alleged abuser on to another parish, leaving him free to abuse another group of children. The commission made a point to say current church officials are now cooperating with authorities, reporting abuse cases and disclosing thousands of documents previously kept secret.

But Archbishop Diarmuid Martin acknowledges the church has a long way to go in regain trust.

REV. DIARMUID MARTIN, ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN: The archdiocese of Dublin failed to recognize the theft of childhood which survivors endured, and that the diocese failed in its responses to those children, when they or their parents had the courage to come forward, compounding the damage done to their innocence.

SHUBERT: This report is the third inquiry in four years to reveal extensive child abuse in Ireland's Catholic church. The national healing process will take many years more.

Atika Shubert, CNN, London

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: A couple weeks ago, CNN's Gary Tuchman brought us the story of a U.S. priest who father a son who is now a young adult and dying of cancer. Now Gary has a follow up. The young man has slipped into a coma. And the Franciscan order to which his father belongs is helping cover his travel and treatment costs.

You can see Gary Tuchman's full report on "AC 360" here at 8:00 and 10:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

A soldier back home from Afghanistan in time for Thanksgiving. But his parents don't know that yet. He's got to think of an original way to surprise them. His plan is original all right. He's just going to lie down and play deer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: If you're just joining us, we want to update you on the story that just came to us at CNN. The Florida Highway Patrol reporting that Tiger Woods was in a serious accident. I read straight from this press release right now. They say that it was a serious injury, alcohol not related, that this happened in front of his house as he pulled out of the driveway. The car that he was driving is a 2009 Cadillac of an SUV make. And that he hit a fire hydrant and then after that striking a tree.

He was then transported to Health Central Hospital there in Florida. This all happening in front of his own residence in Florida. Again, a serious injury, alcohol not related, and they are currently looking at this. It is under investigation and chargings are pending in that. When we do learn more, we will have it for you right here.

As always, Team Sanchez is back there working on the next hour of NEWSROOM. Ali Velshi is filling in for Rick today.

(NEWS BREAK)

LUI: The down side is Staff Sergeant Daniel Berger's brother did not really bag a buck. So no venison for Thanksgiving. The upside is the sergeant made it home to Wisconsin for the holiday. Berger got home about a week early from service in Afghanistan. He wanted to surprise his parents. So what did he do? He pretended to be a dead deer in the back of his brother's pickup, as you can see there. Mom and dad thought they were coming out to check out a potential dinner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See the deer in there? It's a nice deer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we look at it or what? Open it up. Oh, my god!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We never expected this. We went out to look at a deer in the back of a truck. And all of a sudden there pops out Dan.

We were hoping that he would make it for Thanksgiving, and we were just so thrilled.

Unbelievably special, because we have another son that's on leave from Iraq right now. He's home. So we have everybody, our whole family together. It's awesome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: A really pleasant surprise. Boy, I would have jumped out of my skin if that happened. Berger served with the 951st Sapper Company, by the way.

The story is amazing, a man trapped in his own body for 23 years, totally alert, yet totally immobile. The back story is even better.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Breaking news, if you're just joining us here at CNN; we're following a story on Tiger Woods, reports that he was in an accident involving a 2009 Cadillac SUV.

What we are hearing from the Florida Highway Patrol is serious injury, alcohol not related. What we are also hearing from the Florida Highway Patrol is that this happened in front of his own residence in Florida, that when the car was pulled out of the driveway, that the car struck a fire hydrant, after striking that fire hydrant, then striking a tree. Tiger was then transported to a hospital close by. The crash remains under investigation and charges are pending on that.

And a local affiliate, WESH, also looking at this story for us. They're consistent with what we are learning here at CNN. The Florida Highway Patrol saying that Woods was taken to Health Central Hospital, and that this home there in Isleworth is where this happened, and this happened early on Friday morning.

The police report itself, as I refer to that again, says this was made at 2:25 am there at 6243 Deacon Circle and Deacon Court in Orange. So again, this is coming out of Florida. We just learned this within the last 20 minutes. Again, Tiger Woods, which everybody so well knows, in an accident that has caused him to sustain serious injuries, according to what we have heard so far.

Were there others in the vehicle at that time? We do not know. We are still looking to determine where exactly this happened. If we can get you some detail, in terms of video or more information, we will have it right here. But again, Tiger Woods driving a 2009 Cadillac, crashing into a fire hydrant and then a tree, with serious injuries, and then taken to a hospital. That is all we know at this moment.

For the last 15 minutes -- 15 minutes ago, rather, is when we first became aware of this story and that it looks, according to the report, that this happened at a very early hour on Friday. So we're now looking at around 3:00 in the afternoon Eastern Time. This may have happened within the last 12 hours, 12 to 15 hours. We're trying to dig in and find out more details.

What we have got right now is this press release from the highway patrol in Orange County, Florida. Again, at 33 years old, we're looking at Tiger Woods with some serious injuries, taken to the hospital. We're not sure what type of injuries these are at the moment, or if other vehicles were involved, or if there were other people in that vehicle at the time.

So, again, Tiger Woods injured. We're going to follow this story for you right here on CNN. We're getting all the latest information from our affiliate. We're now going to go to Ali Velshi, doing NEWSROOM for 3:00 pm, in for Rick Sanchez on this Friday.