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CNN Saturday Morning News
Three Americans Dead in Shanghai Plane Crash; Tiger Woods Will Talk to Investigators Today; Couple Accused of Crashing White House State Dinner May Face Criminal Charges
Aired November 28, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, everybody from the CNN Center this is CNN SATURDAY morning for this November the 28th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Brianna Keilar in for Betty Nguyen this morning. It's 8:00 a.m. Eastern, 7:00 a.m. in the heartland, 5:00 for everyone waking up on the west coast. Thank you so much for starting your day with us.
And we're keeping an eye on that car accident that Tiger Woods got into. He hit a fire hydrant. This happened really early in the morning yesterday, 2:25 a.m. He's going to be talking to investigators today and we will give you more on the story coming up.
HOLMES: Also that couple accused of crashing a state dinner earlier this week, well we got some new photos to show you and one of them that actually shows this uninvited couple shaking the hand of the president of the United States. Amazing they were able to do this and they may be facing some criminal charges also.
That is our topic in our Facebook, on our blog on Twitter this morning. What do you think should the couple actually be charged for allegedly crashing that party? By all means send in your comments. We're going to be reading those throughout the morning. We do want to start though with a look (ph) at some of our top stories we're keeping an eye on.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing reporting three Americans were killed today in the crash of a cargo plane as it attempted to take off at the airport in Shanghai, China. The Americans were part of a seven-member crew. Reports say the plane caught fire on takeoff.
KEILAR: And we're also following a Russian rail accident, officials there say a terrorist explosion is what most likely caused the high-speed train to derail on Friday night. At least 26 people were killed; about 100 were injured. This was a train carrying about 680 people from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Some heard a blast before the train derailed and now investigators are also looking at a technical fault with the track as a possible cause as well.
HOLMES: Take a look at this picture. That is a major security screw up you're looking at right there, folks. You've been hearing a lot about the couple that crashed that White House state dinner. Well it turns out they actually got to meet the president there as one of the two shaking the hand of the president there, getting a look at more pictures from that night, security service, Secret Service actually admitting they did mess this thing up and that couple should not have been there. We don't know if heads will roll with the Secret Service but they are possibly looking at charging the couple.
Turn to a story now that had a lot of people scratching their heads. The man can drive a golf ball down the middle of a fairway but he can't drive a truck down the street apparently. Talking about Tiger Woods here, they plan on, investigators talking to Tiger Woods again today about that crash he had early yesterday morning. He did suffer some minor injuries in this crash.
KEILAR: That's right. I think he had a laceration on his upper lip and lower lip and there's a lot of questions, though, this morning, about the incident.
Gary Tuchman picking up the story near his mansion in Windermere, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tiger Woods, the most famous golfer in the world, one of the most famous people in the world, one car accident. Here's what we know about it. It happened here in Windermere, Florida, a small community north of Orlando. He hit a fire hydrant. He hit a tree. He was semiconscious or unconscious for a number of minutes. His wife used a golf club to bash in the back window to rescue him.
Those are the things we do know. But there's an awful lot we don't know. We interviewed the chief of police here in Windermere, Florida, to get his take on what happened.
CHIEF DANIEL SAYLOR, WINDEMERE POLICE DEPT.: He was on the ground semi-unconscious and had lacerations to his upper and lower lip, so our first response was to render first aid to him.
TUCHMAN: We certainly don't know what happened. The hospital says it was a minor injury. The injuries were just seen on his mouth. Why do you think he was semiconscious or unconscious?.
SAYLOR: I don't know. The officers that were there said he was semi-unconscious, in and out of it for several minutes. He did have blood coming out of his mouth but the officers also said did not look life-threatening his injuries.
TUCHMAN: The car was drivable. So why did his wife have to bash it in with a golf club?
SAYLOR: From what I understand, she explained to my officers that the doors were locked and she could not gain entry, so she used a golf club to smash the window and gain entry to unlock it.
TUCHMAN: Did she have a golf club with her at the time?
SAYLOR: I don't know where the gold club came from.
TUCHMAN: If she went back she could have gotten the keys to open the door.
SAYLOR: It sounds like that's probably what you'd do.
TUCHMAN: Does this sound -- I certainly don't want to put words in your mouth, but does this sound a little unusual and suspicious, this case?
SAYLOR: It sounds unusual but we're not the investigating agency, so we were first responders on our way to help him out and we didn't know it was Tiger Woods. We just knew that there was a male down.
TUCHMAN: There's certainly still a lot more investigating to do. In charge of the investigation now is the Florida highway patrol because this happened in an unincorporated part of Orange County, Florida, not actually within the town limits of Windermere. There's also a 911 call that's not being released right now by the police.
Tiger Woods is scheduled to play next week in the Chevron world challenge golf tournament. That's in Thousand Oaks, California. He won it four times before. It's an important tournament because proceeds go to his foundation. But it's not clear if he'll be able to play.
This is Gary Tuchman, CNN, in Windermere, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: He's heard from top military commanders, his diplomatic team, fellow Democrats and politicians from across the aisle. This Tuesday, President Obama reveals his strategy for the war in Afghanistan in a prime time address from the U.S. military academy in West Point, New York and Paul Steinhauser, CNN's very own deputy political director has more on this critical decision for the Obama White House. Hi Paul.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning, Brianna.
KEILAR: So politically, the president has come under fire from former Vice President Dick Cheney who said that President Obama was quote dithering and other Republicans as well. Now a decision has been reached. What are Republicans saying leading up to the speech?
STEINHAUSER: The Republicans have been doing two things, maybe a little less blunt than the former vice president, but they have been critical of this president over the length of period that he's taken to make a decision on whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.
The other thing that we've heard from Republicans is support the generals, do what the generals say and we've heard this over and over the last couple of months from some top congressional and also Republicans across the country that if General McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan wants 40,000 or more troops, then the president should listen to his generals.
So if Barack Obama sends less a substantially less amount than what maybe McChrystal was asking for, there could be pushback from Republicans. A couple of congressional Republicans are over there in Afghanistan. They met with McChrystal the other day during this Thanksgiving break. But again, those are the two themes we've heard from them.
KEILAR: Paul we are expecting, the Pentagon is obviously anticipating a request for a pretty large group of additional troops, so it really makes you wonder what about the president's own party. Are congressional Democrats behind this troop buildup especially as we move now into 2010, get closer to the midterm elections?
STEINHAUSER: This is a very tough issue for his own party especially those in Congress because there has been some unease with what the White House has been doing, the buildup of 20,000 troops earlier this year and now the talk of 34,000 or more now. And we've seen this even from some top allies in Congress like the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin and talk of a war tax as well. You spoke with Carl. What did he tell you?
KEILAR: This is pretty interesting because we heard from Senator Levin and we also have heard from Congressman David Obey, the powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, both of them floating ideas about a war tax which essentially would be an increase in income tax. Obey's plan that he shares with some other prominent Democrats would be for all Americans to field this tax more income taxes and if you make more money, then you'd pay more.
Senator Levin's plan that he's floated is really just for more wealthy Americans to pick up the cost here. As you know, Paul, it would be a political no-no and this is Democrats putting President Obama potentially in a tough spot by saying to me, hey if you're going to put more troops in Afghanistan, we're going to make you pay for it and asking him essentially to raise taxes during a really tough economic climate, his own Democrats.
STEINHAUSER: That would definitely put the president in a bind and they tried this back during the Iraq years a couple years ago, but of course it was a Republican president at the time. But you're right though and take a look at these numbers. This is our most recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll. And we asked this question and you can see right here that there is a big, big partisan divide among Americans, Democrats opposing sending more troops, Republicans definitely supporting it -- Brianna.
KEILAR: All right, fault lines we certainly expected I guess there. Paul Steinhauser, our deputy political director, thank you so much for that.
And President Obama remaps his battle plan in Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After eight years, some of those years in which we did not have, I think, either the resources or the strategy to get the job done, it is my intention to finish the job. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, it is his intention and now they have to pay attention to details. Author and scholar Mark Moyar and Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt going to be joining us to discuss whether the war is winnable and what winnable even means these days.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's the "American Boy" one of my favorites.
KEILAR: Great song.
WOLF: You have that on your iPod?
KEILAR: I do, featuring Kanye or is it Kanye featuring (INAUDIBLE).
WOLF: Either way, can't go wrong. It's great.
KEILAR: Can we go wrong with the weather?
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We are only days away now from learning President Obama's new strategy for the war in Afghanistan. He is set to address the nation Tuesday night detailing a tricky equation, the commitment to send more troops there in order to bring U.S. forces home early. Get how that works?
Well Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt served as assistant secretary of State for political and military affairs under then President George W. Bush. He joins us from Washington and also Mark Moyar joining us. He's author of "A Question of Command" and professor at the U.S. Marine Corps university at Quantico joining us from Cleveland.
Gentlemen, thank you for both being here. I want to start by reading this to you and showing this to our viewers. This to this quote. This says we're at a point where we clearly have moved from major combat activity to a period of stability and reconstruction. Where did that come from? That came from then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld back in 2003. So I will start with you, General, hearing that quote about where we were in '03, what a difference a few years makes. Where are we now?
BRIG. GEN MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY (RET.): In many ways we're in the same position. We are trying to stabilize the government, help the government move forward, provide security for the people and eject the Taliban who are trying to come back in to Afghanistan.
HOLMES: Mr. Moyar, do you agree with that? Here we are some six years later and we're in the exact same place doing exact same thing that we were doing, that Rumsfeld said back in '03.
MARK MOYAR, SCHOLAR, U.S. MARINE CORPS. UNIV.: I do think the objectives are essentially the same. Unfortunately the Taliban has gotten quite a bit stronger and so we're now forced to put a lot more of our resources in and we have to do more counter insurgency whereas back then, the Taliban wasn't very strong. We could focus more on counterterrorism.
HOLMES: You mentioned something there, this is something Mr. Moyar I'll stick with you here, what is it, clearly define it for the American people because we hear so many things about what we're going after and how we're going after it. What is our clearly defined mission in Afghanistan right now?
MOYAR: We're trying to prevent it above all from becoming a safe haven for insurgents to launch another attack like 9/11 or some other attack on the U.S. homeland. But in order to get there, what we need to do is create Afghan security forces that can control the country ultimately without American forces and by sending more resources we can help them do that. But the big question of course is time. It's not going to be something we can do overnight. It's going to take time to develop the Afghan leadership so that's really the big question at this point.
HOLMES: General Kimmitt, on that point, how are we doing in that regard as far as building up the Afghan forces? How far have we come, how quickly is that process moving along? How much longer will it be before we get to a point that we can get out of there?
KIMMITT: There has been substantial improvement in the development of the Afghan security forces. But I think Professor Moyar is actually right. It is going to take time and as much it's going to take strategic patience of the American people. This will not be a two to three-year program. It will take many, many years before we can completely hand over the responsibility for the security of Afghanistan to the people of Afghanistan.
HOLMES: And again General, given the pace that we're on, you said many years but given the pace that you see right now, how many years are we talking about? Are we talking about the next decade?
KIMMITT: It could certainly take that long for complete American accomplishment of the mission. I don't think we're going to need hundreds of thousands of troops there for a decade or more, but we're going to have to take the time to do this right, to give the Afghan national security forces the training and the capability and the experience for them to do this themselves.
HOLMES: Mr. Moyar, this is going to be a second go-round of surge, if you will. Earlier this year the president ordered about 20,000 more troops to Afghanistan. What was the goal of that first surge? What did that get us?
MOYAR: Well, the Taliban continues to get stronger and so in order to stop their momentum and try to reverse it, we've needed to add more troops but you know, it's also very important to look at what the troops are doing and what we've been doing more recently now which I think has been effective is putting our troops together with the Afghans because the Afghans in many cases don't have adequate leadership especially the Afghan police and so when you put the Americans together with those Afghan forces, you provide them some extra fire power, combat assets.
You also provide them some inspiration and courage where they otherwise might not go to an area and also the fact that the Americans are there to prevent some of the abuses of power that unfortunately we've seen from the Afghan police.
HOLMES: General Kimmitt, last thing to you here, it's been widely reported and we will of course hear officially from the president on Tuesday, but widely reported that now the Pentagon is getting ready for an order of about 34,000 troops from what we have on the ground already there, about 68,000, you add these 34. Is this going to be enough or is this just a good start right now and we can expect more and more?
KIMMITT: What we really need is not more American troops after we had the 110,000 American troops. What we really need to be producing is more Afghanistan troops, more Afghanistan police. This will be enough to provide a bridge and provide the time necessary and the training for the Afghan national security forces to get larger, more capable, more effective so they can do this themselves.
HOLMES: Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt and again Mark Moyar. Gentlemen, we appreciate you both being here and we will certainly have you back because we got a big night coming up on Tuesday, all eyes and ears on the president that night. Gentlemen, thank you so much. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Again a reminder folks, Tuesday night is the night. President Obama announcing his decision on U.S. troops heading to Afghanistan, our special coverage, the best political team on televisions again, Tuesday night, 7:00 Eastern time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: The U.S. embassy in Beijing says three Americans were killed today in a plane crash in China. The cargo plane operated by a Zimbabwe-based company crashed at the airport in Shanghai. The embassy says the three Americans were part of a seven-member crew and a Chinese news agency reports the plane caught fire as it was lifting off.
HOLMES: Officials in Utah have decided to permanently close a cave -- you're seeing this here where a medical student got stuck and died earlier this week. His body will not be recovered from that cave. The 26-year-old died Wednesday, 28 hours after becoming trapped in a narrow shaft. Despite their best efforts, rescuers were unable to free him. Officials now say it's too dangerous to try to send anyone in there to remove his body.
KEILAR: Checking our top stores, a man hunt is going on right now for a Florida man accused of shooting five of his family members, killing four of them. The shooting in Jupiter left the man's young cousin and aunt and his two twin sisters dead and one of his sisters was pregnant. Her husband was also wounded. Police say that after the shooting, Paul Michael Mareesh (ph) took off in a 2007 blue Toyota Camry.
And turning a corner now, we're talking shopping. But as you know, Black Friday so yesterday.
HOLMES: That used to be the big thing. Everybody would go out on black Friday. I still love that tradition but now it's all about cyber Monday.
KEILAR: This is what I'm all about, Monday, everyone's at work during cyber Monday.
HOLMES: Of course they are.
KEILAR: This is strange but Monday kicks off the online holiday shopping season. Retailers are already saying that this year's bargains will be better than the last. Of course they are.
HOLMES: They always say that. You need to check out a few of those websites. Our technology wizard Mario Armstrong has found a lot of them. Mario, you are essentially going to encourage people right now to not work when they go to work on Monday because that's what people do. They're at work on the computer and they're shopping.
MARIO ARMSTRONG, TECHTECHBOOM.COM: Brianna and T.J., they're not going to do it anyway. They're not going to work at work on Monday. Monday is official cyber Monday which is the kickoff for that online shopping season. They weren't coming to work so all of you bosses out there, you already know this is going to happen.
So people are looking for these online deals. The deal is this, you can sidestep the crowds. You can shop in your PJs or at the office and you can also compare prices and do shipping of gifts anywhere, so it really makes it convenient for people to shop online and take advantage of these special deals.
HOLMES: What kind of sites are we talking about here and again, there's going to be so much loss of productivity at the office on Monday.
ARMSTRONG: There will be.
HOLMES: A huge loss.
KEILAR: People can do it before work or after work.
HOLMES: Sure they can.
ARMSTRONG: Absolutely or during a lunch break but that's OK. But you're looking at websites like cybermonday.com or fatwallet.com. Another one is newegg.com that a lot of people -- techies may use that, but it's the second largest online only retailer so they're great as well and these sites have an assortment of merchants, some aggregate retail sites and retail discounts across the web.
So you're not necessarily shopping at one specific outlet. You're looking at these aggregators that have thousands and thousands of products. Now if you do know that you like a specific brand, say you want an HP laptop, you would go straight to the HP site. They're going to have great deals as well.
But many of these sites T.J. are also going to be having hourly specials so you want to go back and check and Twitter and Facebook are on fire this year with up to like 70 percent discounts on some of the items I've been seeing.
KEILAR: Hourly specials, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.?
ARMSTRONG: That's right and so every hour, you may see something different at some of these sites. For example I've just been following recently Toshiba laptops on Twitter. Toshiba laptops on Twitter only has 1,400 people following the account which means only 1,400 people or so are really getting these messages and they're giving away three or more laptops on cyber Monday just to those people that are following them on Twitter.
And then for those that really want to get out and shop, I have another tool that may be useful. It's called shop savvy and what you do is you use your mobile phone. You can use your droid phone or an iPhone and actually use it as a bar code scanner and you can scan the bottom of your product and it will tell you where you can find it cheaper on the web or near you physically if you actually want to go to a store and find it. It's called shop savvy. It's another interesting way to find bargains.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) That is remarkable!
ARMSTRONG: It's cool stuff. The holiday shopping, look, people are being more frugal with their money now. The economy is in turmoil so people are really concerned. If you're shopping online and you don't have a credit card or don't want to use your credit card, look at things like prepaid credit cards. I don't like the fees to prepaid credit cards, but at least it gives you the flexibility to shop online without having good credit or no credit or using an existing credit card.
HOLMES: Great stuff.
KEILAR: All good tips.
ARMSTRONG: Happy shopping. Do it safe online and shop well and T.J. and Brianna, I have something good for you on Tuesday. I'll ship it right to you.
HOLMES: All right, I'll be waiting for it.
KEILAR: Mario Armstrong thank you so much.
HOLMES: Good to see you buddy.
ARMSTRONG: Thank you both.
KEILAR: And we have some new details about that couple that's accused of crashing President Obama's first state dinner.
HOLMES: It turns out the new detail is that they got a whole lot closer to the president than we first thought.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And hello again, everybody. Welcome back to the CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's 8:30 here in Atlanta where we sit. I'm T.J. Holmes.
KEILAR: I'm Brianna Keilar in for Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for starting your day with us.
HOLMES: And we have a few top stories to share with you here; some of the things we've following over night.
Of course Washington pointing a pretty stern finger at Iran this morning ready now to push for a significantly stronger economic sanctions on Tehran. This comes in the wake of an International Atomic Energy Commission Resolution that demands Iran stop building a nuclear facility at Qom and stop uranium enrichment.
KEILAR: We're also keeping an eye on a train accident in Russia where rail officials say a terrorist explosion is most likely what caused this high speed train to derail Friday night. At least 26 people were killed, about 100 were injured. This is a train carrying about 680 people from Moscow to St. Petersburg and some of the people on that train heard a blast before the train derailed.
HOLMES: Well, it is one of the most famous car accidents of the year so far, we're talking about Tiger Woods had a one-vehicle accident. We're told he's ok, with a lot of the details still leaving some questions out there for investigators.
They plan on going back to Tiger Woods' home in Florida, this is a suburb outside of Orlando where he lives. They plan on going back to his home to question him today but he hit a fire hydrant and a tree soon after he pulled out of his driveway at home.
Now, his wife apparently had to go out and use a golf club to break open a back window of his vehicle to get him out. Police are saying this is not alcohol-related.
Tiger Woods apparently had a few cuts and some lacerations on his face to his lip, had blood in his mouth, he was in and out of consciousness. So they're going to go back and try to get more answers from Tiger Woods today.
Well, we turn to that state dinner; it was a grand affair with some of the best security you can buy. The Secret Service, that's pretty good security.
KEILAR: Very good security and if you've ever been to the White House you know they are very particular. I have had a hard time getting in there before if I haven't been properly cleared in. It's pretty serious.
But CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian tells us the agency is doing a lot of explaining after that uninvited couple got some face time with the president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The White House now admits President Obama met the uninvited guests in the receiving line of his first state dinner. And it's apparently not the first time. This undated photo on the couple's Facebook page shows them with Mr. Obama and the pop group Black-Eyed Peas; another bizarre development in a scandal that the U.S. Secret Service is now taking full responsibility for.
In a statement Director Mark Sullivan says, "They should have been prohibited from entering the event entirely, that failing is ours." He adds that the agency is deeply concerned and embarrassed. Earlier in the day, Secret Service agents paid a visit to the Oasis Winery in Virginia, the couple's mailing address.
The manager confirms two agents indicated they were not there to arrest the Tareq and Michaele Salahi but said, "It is imperative that we speak with them. If they do not sit down with us and talk we will take whatever action necessary."
The Secret Service won't confirm that account but says it wants to interview everybody including the Salahis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. and Mrs. Salahi.
LOTHIAN: The reality show wannabes certainly looked apart and played up their visit on Facebook posting photos with the vice president, White House chief of staff and Marines. Representative Peter King who is the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee is calling for a Congressional investigation.
REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: I mean, this could have been a national tragedy, if these were terrorists, if these were pathological murderers, they could have done a lot of damage in that brief period of time.
LOTHIAN: We don't know all the details of how the couple got into one of the most secure compounds in the world but a stylist who worked on Michaele's hair just hours before the state dinner says she claimed they were invited.
PEGGY IOAKIM, ERWIN GOMEZ SALON & SPA: She said that in the mail she got an invitation and I asked her do you have it with you and she said yes. She tried looking for it and didn't find the invitation so I never saw it. She didn't have it; she thought it was in the car or something.
LOTHIAN (on camera): In a statement a publicist for the couple says that they did not crash the event and that they look forward to setting the record straight very soon.
Dan Lothian, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And we look forward to them setting the record straight.
Well, you remember it was a year ago it was an after Thanksgiving sale turned into a human stampede, left one man dead. We'll find out now what Wal-Mart is doing differently to make sure it doesn't happen again.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: I love that song, it's a great one.
HOLMES: Well, we're just hearing it already; can we get the turkey...
KEILAR: I know, this is where you turn on the radio and you have to...
HOLMES: Here we go.
KEILAR: I don't know about you but I'm always looking for the station that doesn't play the Christmas music.
HOLMES: See, that's all.
KEILAR: Right, but I do love that song. And we are getting in the spirit and they are getting in the spirit at the White House where the official Christmas tree has arrived. It is a Douglas Fir it's a mere 18 and a half feet, very big tree...
HOLMES: It sure is.
KEILAR: ... 12 feet wide that's huge. It's from a farm in Shepherdstown, West Virginia and it's going to be displayed in the blue room. You can see it there. Look, one and a half people tall on its side.
HOLMES: Well, everything everybody's getting in the spirit. Now, the tree is a big part of it, the shopping a big part of it as well. There's some large crowds out there and a little crowd control is necessary these days and that turned an after Thanksgiving sale into tragedy last year.
KEILAR: That's right. Yes, this year though, the store is making changes, they are -- but are they enough to avoid a repeat of last year's chaos.
We are talking about Wal-Mart and CNN Susan Candiotti investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mad dash for bargains can be funny to watch, but last Thanksgiving weekend in New York it was horrific. A Long Island Wal-Mart security guard was trampled to death in a stampede on Black Friday, arguably the biggest shopping day of the year.
EMMANUEL MOULTRIE, 2008 BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPER: People are screaming, people coming in the store, passing out, falling out. It was a horrible sight.
CANDIOTTI: Emmanuel Moultrie took us back to that Wal-Mart, he says when the doors opened at 5:00 a.m. an hour later than expected the crowd surged forward, glass shattered and guard Jimmy Damour was caught in a human steamroller.
MOULTRIE: I mean, you had at least seven to eight people on top of each other. You didn't even see him and it was on top of it and they were stuck, because they were squished, compacted in there.
CANDIOTTI: Moultrie says he felt like he was swept up in a tidal wave, trapped against the vending machine.
MOULTRIE: I said I will not hit that ground. Because when I hit that ground it would have been -- I couldn't even get my arms from my side.
CANDIOTTI: Wal-Mart avoided criminal prosecution by agreeing among other things to improve crowd control at all New York stores. The giant retailer says it's also voluntarily instituting changes nationwide this week.
Wal-Mart declined a CNN interview. Instead the company provided a pre-taped statement that said sports and entertainment crowd control experts gave them help.
DAPHNE MOORE, WALMART SPOKESWOMAN: We're committed to looking for ways to make our stores even safer for our customers and our associates this holiday season.
CANDIOTTI: Changes may include snaking lines outside and inside stores similar to airport checkpoints and scattering sales items, some stores will remain open 24 hours starting Thanksgiving Day through the weekend, so when Black Friday sales start at 5:00 a.m., shoppers can already be inside possibly avoiding chaos.
For shoppers up before dawn for door-buster deals at any retailer this safety advice from police.
CHIEF JOHN TIMONEY, MIAMI POLICE: If you're seeing pushing and shoving and arguing for no valid reason, you know you have a potential problem right there. And if that's the case, I walk to the end of the line, let them all go in.
CANDIOTTI: Emmanuel Moultrie who received a settlement from Wal- Mart says he won't be burned again. MOULTRIE: If you reach to a store and you see that's not -- that that behavior is not being demonstrate (ph) you need to leave fast, leave fast.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): As part of its agreement with prosecutors, Wal-Mart paid nearly $2 million to a victim's fund and a community grant. OSHA cited the retailer for exposing its employees to danger when it should have known better.
Wal-Mart says in a statement "Safety is always a top priority."
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Stores are taking all sorts of new steps to compete for your holiday spending in this economy and with so many people doing their shopping online, online sites are doing the same.
HOLMES: It's a big deal yes. And our Josh Levs just went outside the CNN Center here where the eBay mobile boutique? Who knew. It just arrived. It travels the country and it's here in Atlanta this morning. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So as we look at how retailers are competing in this season, eBay is doing something brand new. They have this mobile boutique and Karen Bard, eBay's pop culture expert is here to tell us about it. Thanks Karen.
KAREN BARD, POP CULTURE EXPERT, eBay: Good morning, how are you?
LEVS: Good morning to you. All right. What are we looking at here? What is this?
BARD: We are looking at the eBay mobile boutique, it is a virtual eBay marketplace. Step inside and get over 200 million gift ideas for the holidays. So it's rolling into your town, get inspired for the holidays and shop online.
LEVS: All right. So this is traveling to major cities across the country.
BARD: Major cities across the country; popping up everywhere, really highlighting the eBay marketplace and the entrepreneurs and the people that make the marketplace run.
LEVS: And the idea here behind what you're doing is that you need to compete, right. You have all these different stores out there that are selling.
BARD: Absolutely.
LEVS: You want people to remember if you buy something from eBay you can bargain for a price and eBay gets a chunk of that. BARD: Absolutely but the greatest thing is that we're really highlighting the great merchandise available on eBay the selection and, of course, the value. Everyone needs a deal this holiday season and eBay has them plus the hottest products.
LEVS: All right. Now let's take look at some of those deals.
BARD: Absolutely.
LEVS: This is one of the most popular things right?
BARD: One of the most popular things, the Zuzu pets. For the parent who does not want to get your kid a pet hamster this is a perfect -- this is the perfect thing.
LEVS: This is what everyone wants.
BARD: This is a little electronic robotic hamster. They come with environment. They scoot around on the floor. These are the hottest things...
LEVS: Does it do something?
BARD: It does, when you put it on the floor it can go, it does all kinds of things. These are sold out in stores. The only place you're only going to be able to find these available is on eBay. We have over 20,000 of them listed on eBay right now. They're sold out in the stores, limits in the stores, not on eBay.
LEVS: We know one reason a lot of people turn to eBay is for electronics, right.
BARD: Absolutely.
LEVS: They hope to get better deals. Also they hope to get things that they can't get in stores anymore.
BARD: Absolutely.
But the greatest thing about eBay, iPhones, iPods -- whatever you want; last season's or this season's we have them available on the site. E-readers are huge this year as well and of course, iPods, little shuffles, cameras to record your holiday season. And I love this great little TV. It's perfect for a kid's or a kitchen. It's a great little size and a great value.
LEVS: Let's climb on board the eBay mobile with you. We're going to check it out. Let's go.
BARD: Five computer kiosks inside, screens showing the hottest gifts and of course, the hottest gifts all laid out in front of you.
LEVS: We're going to emphasize, these aren't for sale. The way it works on eBay is you buy from someone else via the Internet but these are here to suggest items you might want to look for on eBay. BARD: Right. Right. This is to inspire people and we have shopping experts on hand in the mobile boutique to help you shop, get the correct search terms so you can buy it right now and get it shipped to your house.
LEVS: So we're seeing a lot here, a lot of computer screens. There's a lot to this unit. How much did eBay pay to make this happen?
BARD: We don't detail our marketing commitment. However, this is just a great program. We really want to get consumers in here. We want people to experience eBay and we want to highlight the sellers that make our marketplace run and these are all the things that our sellers have to offer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right that mobile boutique traveling to 11 cities and again we saw it had a stop right here.
We'll move on to some of our top stories now. We want to tell you about some stuff we're keeping an eye on of course here.
The northwest airlines flight that overshot its destination by 150 miles last month -- you remember that one? Well, the FAA now released recordings of air traffic controllers talking to the cockpit. Now when one of the pilots was asked why they missed landing at Minneapolis, they were out of radio contact again for more than an hour, the pilot responded "just cockpit distractions." The FAA revoked the licenses of those two pilots; those pilots have appealed.
KEILAR: A manhunt is going on right now for a Florida man accused of shooting five family members, killing four of them. The shooting Thanksgiving night in Jupiter left the man's young cousin, aunt and his twin sisters dead. And one of the sisters was pregnant; her husband also wounded. Police say after the shooting Paul Michael Merhige took off in a 2007 blue Toyota Camry.
HOLMES: The U.S. Embassy in Beijing telling us that three Americans are among the dead after a fiery plane crash in Shanghai. Now this was a cargo plane that was taking off there. We understand that it caught fire at some point according to witnesses during takeoff. Four other people were also injured on that plane.
Again some of the first video we are seeing -- you're seeing right there. We're going to continue to gather more information on that crash. We'll bring it to you as we get it.
KEILAR: Tiger Woods injured in a car crash, there are so many questions surrounding the circumstances of this late night accident but there's really no question about his popularity and his commercial appeal.
HOLMES: Also this morning a star on the stage, we're doing even bigger things behind the scenes. We're talking about the award winning singer Alicia Keys. She's sitting down to talk to us about her other passion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, golf phenom Tiger Woods recovering from minor injuries after a Friday morning car accident near his Florida home. Police say alcohol not a factor in this crash but they still have an open investigation and they are going to be talking to him again today.
Let's bring in our business and sports analyst, Rick Horrow. Rick, good morning to you sir.
How many people around the world just cringed, I guess, when we first started getting details about this, a lot of companies have a lot riding on this guy.
RICK HORROW, CNN BUSINESS AND SPORTS ANALYST: Billions and billions and billions, if there are billions and billions and billions of people. It's the Internet age so everybody hears about this instantly. It went from serious injuries to life-threatening to serious accident to serious incident to released pretty quickly and the world was watching.
This is the most recognizable man on the planet. Nike started the golf division from scratch, $800 million later they realized what kind of annual sales the guy has. China, he basically started golf from scratch and expecting 20 million golfers by year 2020, just as an example.
Pros are happy, 7,000 increase in the number of pro millionaires. Thanks, Tiger but everybody's watching.
HOLMES: All right.
We're talking about some of the companies and countries that have something online with this guy. What is he worth individually?
HORROW: Well it depends; $1 here, $1 there, about $1 billion. He makes $100 million a year as you know. $92 million or so are from off course endorsements from the EAs, the Accentures and the like and nearly $1 billion -- by the way he's only 33, he has 30 more years of golf course design and winning maybe 18 majors -- Jack Nicklaus's record -- maybe not.
But listen, that's only his first $1 billion.
HOLMES: We're talking about here -- from what we know, facial injury. Some lacerations possible to his lip, at this point no reason to think any of these injuries would cause any kind of effect or any way affect his golfing game.
HORROW: Well the bottom line I think I heard, we have a little IFE issue here in Raleigh but the bottom line of this is that he has five or six weeks. He's supposed to play in the tournament he hosts in Sherman Oaks, California this week. But he has five weeks off and that's good. He may or may not play. The season starts middle of January. This is not a great time for anybody to have this kind of accident but if you do this is a great time to rest and rehabilitate.
Let me just say, too, that last year, remember, when he had the knee injury and knee surgery? It was 40 to 60 percent drop in sponsorships in revenues and the like, on the tour. So he needs to stay and he needs to play.
HOLMES: Ok. And you got to wrap this up quickly. I got to get out of here but you got to tell me here, this story he has stayed squeaky clean but there are so many little details about this that's just not sitting right with people trying to figure out what happened here. If the story has legs, how does that affect his image going down the road?
HORROW: Well, he's the most recognizable guy on the planet. If the story has legs, then we're going to be back next week to talk about this along with thousands of other media and it's not just facial lacerations but it's the whole aura of the most recognizable and accepted pitchman on the planet, having some major issues to deal with like some others.
So we can't speculate on that yet but we'll certainly have time to down the road
HOLMES: Rick, we certainly appreciate you, buddy. Sorry we're having a little earpiece problem there. But appreciate you sticking with us through it.
Thanks so much buddy. You have a good weekend.
HORROW: All right. See you next week.
KEILAR: There's a whole lot of folks headed home today and tomorrow and we're wondering if there's any flight delays, Reynolds Wolf.
WOLF: Not yet but there soon will be and the wind in the northeast is going to be one of the big culprits.
Let's take a look at what I got for you. We have this big "L" -- not really the "L" but what it represents -- an area of low pressure cruising its way through parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and (INAUDIBLE) it's going to create wind gusts topping 20 to 30, some maybe as high as 50 through the midday hours and into the afternoon. Already it's breezy in New York.
Meanwhile, back through much of southeast pretty mild but when you get back into the Rockies a chance of rainfall and in the highest elevations may be some snow. Same deal at Sierra Nevada and could see some rain also in parts of the Pacific Northwest.
That's where a lot of the delays are going to be, in Seattle and Portland low clouds and rain. We're talking about the issues in New York and even in Boston due to the wind and as we wrap it up Phoenix a chance of thunderstorms by the afternoon between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00.
All right. You're up to speed, that is your forecast. Let's send it back to you guys.
KEILAR: All right, Reynolds. Thank you so much.
WOLF: You bet.
KEILAR: And in ten minutes we're going to be talking health care. Then we'll focus on how to travel safely this holiday season even with H1N1 cases on the rise.
HOLMES: Also the singer, the activist, R&B superstar Alicia Keys sitting down with me to talk about her charity, a life-saving mission to keep a child alive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(ALICIA KEYS PERFORMING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: You know her music, of course, but this morning we're showing you another side of Alicia Keys. A side that's about saving lives of people with HIV and Aids. World AIDS Day is coming up in just a couple of days and I caught up with the 12-time Grammy award winning singer in New York to talk to her about her charity, Keep a Child Alive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALICIA KEYS, SINGER: It's crazy when you think about it, how you can change the lives of people forever for the price of a pair of shoes.
HOLMES: Alicia Keys didn't set out to do humanitarian work in Africa. In a way, Africa came to her.
It was 2002, her first album was climbing the charts. She won Grammys for Best New Artist and Song of the Year but she never expected an invitation to perform in Africa.
KEYS: I was wowed that people that far away would know my music.
HOLMES: Maybe she knew that 40 percent of the population there was infected with HIV/AIDS but those numbers didn't really hit home until she came face-to-face with the people there.
KEYS: I started to meet kids my age and younger who were personally dealing with it, lost their parents, watched their parents die, then had to raise their younger brothers and sisters. They're 14 and they're raising their 7 and 6-year-old brother and sister.
HOLMES: The people she met changed her life. And ever since this 12-time Grammy award winning singer has been working to change theirs.
KEYS: All they kept saying when I was leaving, "Don't forget us, please don't forget us."
HOLMES: Within a year Keys co-founded the "Keep a Child Alive" organization with filmmaker and activist, Lee Blake. Their mission is to build clinics and provide kids and their families with medicine that will save their lives.
KEYS: Picture your brother, picture your mother, picture your daughter, picture your son and picture them suffering greatly. You would not tolerate it. You wouldn't. You would say whatever I have to do to change I'm going to do it.
HOLMES: On December 15th Alicia Keys will release her 4th CD "The Element of Freedom". She says it will show a different side of her music.
KEYS: I'm renewed and I'm reborn so you will feel a different side of me definitely, a freer side of me, a more confident side of me, a stronger side.
HOLMES: The first single "Doesn't Mean Anything" is already out and getting plenty of play. You see her here performing on "Regis and Kelly."
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: Everybody knows about what you do behind the piano. But what do you want to be known for, maybe years down the road?
KEYS: I want to be known as an incredible global citizen, and a person who has made their mark and inspiring positive ways. I tell you one thing, though, I'm going to make it through. And they're going to have something serious to say. They're going to change the world. We're going to change it. And I felt proud to that was my generation. This is my generation. We're about to do something really big.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, hello there, everybody, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this November 28th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Betty Nguyen this morning. Thank you for starting your day with us.
HOLMES: It's 9:00 a.m. Eastern time and every Saturday at this hour, we focus on health care.
KEILAR: Health care. HOLMES: Healthy hair, though, is very important as well but we do health care here rather. Millions of people out there are on their way home this weekend after the Thanksgiving holiday and many maybe packing luggage they're not aware of, you know, the H1N1 flu virus might have gotten in there.
KEILAR: If you're getting ready to board a plane we got some tips to keep you healthy. But first a quick check of this morning's headlines.
HOLMES: The U.S. embassy in Beijing says a cargo plane crash in China killed three Americans this morning. This happened at an airport in Shanghai as the plane was attempting to take off. Chinese media reporting four other people were injured in the crash as well.
KEILAR: Now, Washington says it may be time for stronger economic sanctions against Iran. It wants Tehran to comply with an International Atomic Energy Commission resolution that demands Tehran stop building a nuclear facility at Qom and halt uranium enrichment.
HOLMES: It turns out that couple accused of crashing the White House state dinner, look at that, actually met the president, We're getting a look at more of the pictures of them from Tuesday night. Now the Secret Service admits they screwed up by letting that couple in. The pair could now face criminal charges.
KEILAR: Senate Democrats, a House divided when it comes to health care reform. Last Saturday leaders barely got enough votes just to start debate on the Senate's overhaul plan. Next week that debate gets under way and there's no guarantee the Democratic majority will put aside huge differences, come together and pass a bill.
Paul Steinhauser, our deputy political director here at CNN joining us live now from Washington. Hi there, Paul.
STEINHAUSER: Good morning.
KEILAR: So there are some highlights, Paul, of the Senate plan, including a 40 percent tax on high-cost insurance plans, a slight increase on a Medicare payroll tax for families making more than $250,000 and a five percent tax on elective cosmetics surgery, a very interesting one there. But the biggest sticking point here seems to be whether to support the so-called public option that government-run insurance plan. So who is for it, who is against it?
STEINHAUSER: Yes. This could be the biggest road block for Democrats. We're not even talking about Republicans here. It's Democrats alone that could prevent this bill from eventually getting to a final vote and then moving on to the president's desk. As you mentioned all the action begins Monday right behind me there in the Capitol dome. You're going to be there. Our Dana Bash and our other Capitol Hill correspondents will be there as well.
And as you mentioned, the public option -- here's the problem, you've got a bunch of moderate to conservative Democratic senators who don't like the version right now in this bill and we're talking about the three who were on the fence last week who eventually did vote in favor of allowing the debate to begin but Nelson of Nebraska, Landrieu of Louisiana and Lincoln of Arkansas and throw into that Lieberman, the independent from Connecticut who is part of that Democratic 60- vote coalition. So all of them including Lieberman could be stumbling blocks.
Now, Brianna, as you know, let's say the Senate moderates to the public option or even gets rid of it well to get these moderates on board that could be a problem on the other side. Because you got a bunch of the more liberal progressive Democratic senators who say if there is a public option that is watered down too much or taken away, they won't vote for the bill. So you got a lot of stumbling blocks here.
KEILAR: Yes, it's definitely like herding cats. you could say for Senate majority leader Harry Reid. So break it down for us in terms of what the American public sees on this. How do they stand on this government-run insurance plan?
STEINHAUSER: Our polling suggests that Americans are supportive of it. Take a look at this CNN Opinion Research Corporation National Survey. You could see, we asked just about that. 56 percent supported the idea of a public option which as you mentioned a public government plan that would compete with private insurance, 42 percent is opposed.
One thing is interesting though, Brianna. You know, the Senate plan as you well know would allow states to opt out of the public option. We asked that to Americans they don't like that idea.
KEILAR: And of course, Paul, one of the other really controversial aspects of this reform package is whether to include funding for abortions. I know there is stricter language in the House bill compared to the Senate, so what's in the Senate plan? How does this fall in line with public opinion?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, the House bill, as you mentioned is more strict. It goes further than just a public option that says any plan, any kind of health insurance and any health exchange that is set up no public money could go towards having abortions allowing an elective abortion that a woman would have to get a totally separate plan. The Senate bill doesn't go as far.
But overall, take a look at our poll. It indicates that Americans like the idea of preventing public money, taxpayer money to go to abortions for women who cannot afford them. 61 percent oppose that idea so you can see that it seems the plans are somewhat in line with what our poll suggests is a public opinion.
KEILAR: And of course, let's not forget about Republicans, Paul, not a single one of them voted last weekend to bring this plan up for debate and vote. The possibility of a filibuster and they may be getting a little help right from an independent who normally caucuses with Democrats.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, Joe Lieberman we were just talking about him from Connecticut. He used to be a Democrat, now is an independent. And he may join the Republicans if the public option stays in there. Filibuster, as you know, 40 votes. That's all you need in the Senate to basically derail legislation or a nomination.
What do Americans think about the filibuster? Well, we asked that in our survey as well and most Americans support the idea of a filibuster of the minority party being able to bring things to a halt. 56 percent opposed -- 56 percent favor the filibuster, only four in ten oppose it. And one reason why, remember, it was just a couple of years ago the Democrats were in the minority in the Senate and so, you know, what's good for one party is good for the other.
KEILAR: Yes, we'll be watching Monday, too, when debate begins. Paul Steinhauser, our deputy political director. Thanks for that.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks.
HOLMES: A new study out there has a troubling look at our failing health. The University of Chicago researchers say the numbers of Americans with diabetes will nearly double in the next 25 years. They also say the cost of treating those patients will triple to $336 billion a year.
Our Ali Velshi talked to the studies lead author about ways to lower these numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: All right. What's the easiest way to cut that number, and I know most people probably glaze over when they see aggregate costs of health care. Because we don't know what $1 billion is. So let alone the fact that it's going to cost us 300 and some odd billion. But the bottom line is this is one of those diseases that we can easily lop off a very large proportion of the expense if we can be preventative about it.
DR. ELBERT YUANG, STUDY LEAD AUTHOR: Well, we certainly have weapons at our disposal to try to reduce the number of people who have diabetes but also to try to reduce these costs, so the number one thing -- the first step is probably increasing efforts to try to prevent diabetes. We can't change our age, we can't change the aging process but we can try to shift the distribution of people who are obese and overweight down.
VELSHI: That's pretty clear to you that that's going to change the game, if there are fewer people ...
YUANG: That could dramatically, that could dramatically change the game. The projections that we've produced really represent the cost of doing nothing, if we don't make any changes in our dietary habits or exercise habits, if we don't do anything this is what will happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: WELL, the CDC says even moderate weight loss could reduce the diabetes risks. The University of Chicago study was sponsored by a leading diabetes treatment company.
KEILAR: Hard to believe but tax season is right around the corner.
HOLMES: A lot of people don't realize how much money they can save by deducting medical expenses. Josh Levs, explain that to us. Hello again, Josh.
LEVS: Hi again to you guys. Yes, we have a list of the medical deductions that most people overlook. We'll show you how to spot them and save money as you prepare those end of the year receipts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF: Welcome back. All right guys, welcome back. We're going to give you an idea of what's happening around the rest of the nation, weather wise. Because there are a lot of people that are going to be traveling, hence the holiday travel sign you see behind me.
All right. Let's show you the trouble spots. We got a couple of them. Here's a big bull's eye that mother nature is paying on parts -- let's get that one back here. It's kind of a big bull's eye that mother nature is paying on parts of the northeast due to this area of low pressure. It's going to create windy conditions.
I'm talking about wind, we're talking about a faint breeze, we're talking anywhere from the range of 30 to 40 miles an hour, some gusts may approach 50 into the afternoons. That's going to keep some of the plans stack up on the runways. So some delays possible there.
Also, look for some delays possible in parts of the Pacific northwest, maybe in southern California and from Phoenix back over to say parts of the central Rockies you could see some snowfall in the central Rockies and in the (INAUDIBLE) Crystal Mountain. Some of that stuff could especially be heavy.
Now, if you're just going to be hanging out at home, doing some yard work, raking in some leaves, don't know why you'd want to do that but if you're going to, take a look 64 degrees Atlanta, 69 degrees in Memphis. 50 in Denver. 62 in Las Vegas and 74 in Phoenix.
Now, should be pretty nice for a lot of folks out there. Again, a few other problems just to sum up these for you. New York and Boston, you're going to have the wind to deal with. It's going to get stronger in the afternoon. Seattle and Portland, low clouds and the rain. In Phoenix, thunderstorms may pop up into the afternoon.
So that is a look at your holiday travel weather. We got more coming up right here at CNN. See you in a few really.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: There's a new weapon now available for to you fight the flu. The FDA fast tracked approval for the Agriflu vaccine. It's supposed to guard against seasonal flu but not the H1N1, mind you and it's not just for kids, just patients 18 and older. HOLMES: All right. Well, health care costs putting a big strain on millions of families out there. But many don't realize they might be able to save a little bit in taxes.
KEILAR: Yes. And as we near the end of the year, our Josh Levs is here to tell us about some of the most overlooked medical deductions. And Josh, I like to fancy myself as kind of savvy when it comes to medical deductions but I know you have a number that I never even thought about.
LEVS: Yes, I was surprised by a lot of these, too, after our producer Alberto brought this up. I started looking into it. And it is amazing what you actually can, if you keep careful records. This is important, keep careful records what you can deduct. Let me show you a web site first of all.
This is called bankrate -- well this is the IRS but this here is bankrate.com. And they talk to you about medical deductions. We have some key points in this graphic for you. Let's go straight to them. First of all your total, OK -- we'll go with this one, the costs prescribed by the doctor, this one really surprised me.
Take a look at this. Your costs prescribed by a doctor actually can be deducted for your taxes even if it's something you went and bought at the store as long as the doctor gives you a prescription. So let's say, you have breathing problems, go get a humidifier, that can be deducted. Let's go to this next one here now. This one is just a few of the most overlooked ones hearing aids, alcohol or drug abuse treatments, laser corrective surgery for your eyes.
And also look at this next screen travel. A lot of people don't know that travel if you keep close records when you're traveling to and from medical treatments, you know how many miles it was and on the day you can actually deduct that at the federal rate. Also, any, if you had to pay for insurance with any taxed income, you can deduct that. If you had to buy extra glasses, if you had to buy false teeth, all these things count.
Now, some medical expenses if you're taking care of your parent and your parent is not a dependent, you can still deduct some of those medical expenses from your taxes but here's the big figure to keep in mind, 7.5 percent. So at some point you have to figure out are all your medical deductions combined going to exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income, if you toss in everything I just showed you and more from bankrate.com, you might find that you actually are at that point and start saving a little money in taxes.
Now, I know there's a lot of points to keep track of there. And what we want to do is help you find it. So I'll post it all for you at the blog and we'll get up Facebook and Twitter, too, joshlevscnn, when I get off the air, put it there, cnn.com/josh, Facebook and Twitter and really good idea to look at this site, print out the options.
And Brianna, just like you and I were just talking about. If you find the full list you might start to find you can actually save a little money that you didn't realize you could. There you go. KEILAR: Pretty amazing. And you know, if you have muscle problems sometimes doctors will actually recommend that you soak or something, it just makes me wonder if you could deduct a hot tub.
HOLMES: You're are pretty savvy with these stuff.
KEILAR: You could, I imagine, under certain circumstances.
LEVS: Call your doctor and your doctor will prescribe it. You never know what you might get. Yes.
KEILAR: That's wild.
HOLMES: You are begging to be audited.
KEILAR: I didn't say I was going to. Josh Levs, thank you very much.
Thanksgiving turkey and H1N1, not a good combo.
HOLMES: Traveling this holiday weekend means close quarters for millions of people and adds to anxiety of picking up maybe a nasty flu virus.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's where the H1N1 outbreak all started in the spring and now, excuse me, officially Mexico has a campaign under way to vaccinate people. The Mexican government got a shipment of 865,000 vaccines. Pregnant women and healthcare workers getting the priority, almost 600 deaths in Mexico has been linked to the virus.
KEILAR: Now here's the state to focus on getting the H1N1 vaccine, turning now to a group that is often forgotten, the homeless. Unsanitary living conditions make them a high risk group, and now charities are reaching out in places like Indianapolis. One group plans to hold a flu clinic for the homeless there in January. But what if someone comes to a shelter with H1N1 before then?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will put him in isolation atmosphere here at the mission, and provide the caregivers with mask and gloves and so forth and so on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: A number of other charities are also planning clinics for the homeless.
HOLMES: Millions of Americans are traveling this holiday weekend and some are bringing some extra carry-ons, germs, viruses and nasty stuff.
KEILAR: Yes. This year, the H1N1 flu has a lot of passengers pretty freaked out but our Jeanne Meserve has tips for traveling without getting sick.
(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 who was sitting like across the aisle from me blowing her nose and I was like all right, I'm glad we have that distance, you know, because I don't want to 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. A few simple words of advice, 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, Air Tran 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 MALE: Maurice, the bags will not transmit the flu.
MESERVE: But flight crew vigilance has inconvenienced a small number of passengers. Mistra Mostoufi had an upset stomach and was taken off a United flight.
MISTRA 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 she 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 you make adjustments and yes, 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 was 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 the very different kind of predicament.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Reagan National Airport. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: That's interesting.
KEILAR: That is. But of course expected at a time like this.
HOLMES: Yes, I didn't know you could ask. The guy next to me is sick, can I go to first class, please?
KEILAR: I'm sure that will work.
HOLMES: All right. Well, a lot of folks out there if you have not had breakfast yet stay here with us. Because in just a few minutes, you're going to find out why you might want to add maybe some bell pepper to those scrambled eggs.
KEILAR: Yes, we're going to show you which foods will help you fight the flu and a whole lot more.
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HOLMES: Some of our top stories we're keeping an eye on. Up first, investigators plan on going back to Tiger Woods' house today to interview him about an early Friday morning accident he had. He was in his vehicle alone hit a fire hydrant and then hit a tree. This was all near his home in an Orlando suburb. His wife heard the crash, ran out, had to use a golf club to bang in one of the windows in the car to try to get him out. He was pulled out. Police say the accident not alcohol-related.
KEILAR: More on the Russian train accident that killed at least 26, injured about 100 people on a train carrying folks between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Rail officials think that a terrorist explosion is most likely the cause of that crash. Some of the people on the train actually hearing an explosion before that train derailed.
HOLMES: Well, also Florida police searching for a man they say opened fire on his family Thanksgiving night. The suspect's name is Paul Michael Mauresh. He is accused of killing four people including a sister who is pregnant and also his six-year-old cousin. No word just yet on a motive.
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KEILAR: It seems like everyone you know is getting sick, right?
HOLMES: Yes, these days so you got to eat right, there are some fact foods. In fact, some foods that could strengthen your immune system. That sounds good. Dr. Felicia Wade, a physician is here to go over this. We have a top 10 out here, Dr. Wade. So where should we even start. We see some nuts and some basic things. We also see some cocoa, maybe people wouldn't keep in mind but what are the main ones up here that you would like to highlight?
DR. FELICIA WADE, PHYSICIAN: Well the main ones, T.J. that I'd like to highlight is really the chicken soup. HOLMES: OK.
WADE: Because it helps decrease the mucus production when you get nasal congestion you get really congested. The chicken soup is the best thing for you and then a side salad with red bell pepper cut. Red bell pepper has twice as much vitamin C as an orange. So that's really amazing. It actually has 291 percent of the recommended daily allowance compared to an orange.
And then top it off with a side of sweet potatoes. I think most of us just finished eating them for Thanksgiving and sweet potatoes have so much vitamin A the orange color as you can see is converted to beta-carotene that's converted to retinol, which is vitamin A in your body and so that helps fight, boost your immune system and fight off colds and flu.
KEILAR: And you can just throw one in the microwave. I know I do that.
WADE: Yes.
KEILAR: So it's really so easy but then also there's young snacks here, almonds and my favorite, chocolate.
WADE: Absolutely. Chocolate is very good, obviously, garlic, and the almonds, and we don't want to forget green tea. Green tea has what we call EGCG and it's actually called epigalo galocurate, which is a very long name that sounds really fancy.
HOLMES: Very fancy.
WADE: Bottom line is just to make sure you drink your green tea to boost your immune system because your immune system is what causes you to be able to fight the flu and the last one, but certainly not the least one is your yogurt. It has probiotics, which is a good bacteria in it.
HOLMES: OK, and quickly if you can, how much of these stuff are we talking about that we need to eat to actually make a difference. You talked about putting this in a salad, the red pepper. But do you need to eat one a day or you eat the whole thing, do you need to eat ...
WADE: That's a lot.
HOLMES: Do you need to eat the soup everyday. So how much stuff are we talking about.
Guest: That's a great question. At the start of the symptoms so you would have the first day you don't feel good, you have the soup and you have a full red pepper because it has 291 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C. So you would just cut it up over a green salad, put a little salt and pepper on it and you're good and pop up and microwave potato.
KEILAR: All right. Dr. Wade, thank you so much. HOLMES: Thank you so much for that.
WADE: You're welcome.
HOLMES: Thank you, thank you. Some nice food and some news you can actually use this morning.
Brianna and I will be back at the top of the hour with more live news. Right now, want to hand it over to Gerri Willis and "YOUR BOTTOM LINE."
