Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Black Friday Forecast; What's Next for Ferguson?; Thanksgiving Parade Protests

Aired November 28, 2014 - 05:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Retailers bracing for the Black Friday frenzy. But will the deals entice shoppers to brave the lines and chaos, or will this Black Friday be a bust?

So, what happens next? Peaceful protests overnight in Ferguson as businesses and residents start to clean up. What will it take for this community to rebuild and will this calm last?

Stop the parade. Seven people arrested breaching police barricades in New York City attempting to rush the Thanksgiving floats in protests over Michael Brown's death and other shot by police as protests continue across the nation.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START on this Friday after Thanksgiving. I'm John Berman this November 28th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East.

And today is the day you have been waiting for or dreading. It is Black Friday. Usually the biggest shopping day of the year, but this year, maybe not. A new CNN poll says that fewer than one in four Americans plan to go shopping today. Still, you may not guess that with the long lines outside and the crowds inside stores all across the country.

Our national correspondent Deborah Feyerick is bracing for retail impact at a New Jersey mall.

Good morning, Deb. Great to see you.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, John. Great to see you. And good morning, everybody.

Yes, in fact, a lot of intrepid shoppers came out last night, 6:00. The lines at Macy's, the Kohl's, the Sears, out the door as people waited for those stores to open which they ultimately did.

We are here at the Newport Center. There are a couple of dozen people that we see right now. It's been a long night. Some people did what they needed to do and get out. But one of those people has actually and you can see some of the crowds who did line up. They could see -- I can hear the sound of the video playing right now.

I want to go to Matesh Capatia (ph), who you came here last night. How crowded was it? The parking lot was 3,900 cars. All the spots are filled. How crowded was it? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I came in the evening, everything was packed.

Everything was crowded. But as soon as it got to 9:00, like people started leaving because of the weather, I guess.

FEYERICK: OK. Now, you decided to stay overnight. You are a college student here in Jersey City. You did some shopping. Are those things you need, you want or had to have? These bags?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple of things I really need them like winter boots and all these stuff. So, I really needed that for winter and a couple of things that I like wanted.

FEYERICK: Did you buy gifts for anybody?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't buy gifts for anyone. I just give gift cards. Yes.

FEYERICK: So, were the discounts what you wanted?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most of them, yes.

FEYERICK: OK. So, what was it, 10 percent, 20 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, what was threshold?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess the most impressive one was Hollister with 50 percent off the entire store. Yes.

FEYERICK: All right. You got a couple of things, well, congratulations. Did you save some money? Did you stay within budget?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. My budget was around $200. I spent about $150.

FEYERICK: OK, so you are doing well. You got everything or you're still missing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I almost -- I got everything.

FEYERICK: All right. Are you going to go home and go to sleep?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, definitely.

FEYERICK: What are you going to do with all your free time today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Free time? Maybe I'll go ice skating or something.

FEYERICK: All right. So there you go. You shop at night. You skate in the day. It's an easy life.

But a couple of stores, John, 130 of them, some -- about 15 actually decided to stay open a bit longer than they normally would. We've got a store over here, a hat store, and people actually -- they stayed open all night. And they actually did a day's worth of sales. So them, it was absolutely worth it, they say. Again, we're going to be here all day. We're going to be talking to shoppers. And, John, we'll bring you the latest. In fact, we may even buy you something.

BERMAN: Deborah Feyerick, right next to a haberdashery. And thank Manasher for being on TV with us. You get the twofer, great holiday shopping deals and he's on EARLY START live at 5:00. That is an epic twofer.

FEYERICK: You can't beat it.

BERMAN: Deborah Feyerick, nice to see you this morning. Thanks so much.

All right. Huge changes in a space of just a few days in Ferguson, Missouri. Instead of the huge protests and some of violence that we saw the other night sparked by the grand jury decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, early Thursday morning, and really all day, there were just small demonstrations and a few dozen protesters and a couple of arrests, no injuries, no damage.

On Thanksgiving night, police and National Guard troops chased down calls on social media for protests at big box stores. But apparently only the online organizers showed up. Now, the real work of rebuilding and recovery begins in Ferguson.

With more on that, let's go to CNN's Sara Sidner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, I want to give you a look at some of the devastation in the daytime. We're actually on West Florissant. But this isn't Ferguson, this is Dellwood, which is a community near Ferguson.

Just behind me, you'll see the Conoco gas station. And according to some of the residents here, they had just started stocking up because they have been closed for a bit. They had just started up stocking up.

And now this -- it is destroyed. Everything inside burned. And you can see the caution tape around it.

You know, this is just some of the destruction that exist both here and in Ferguson. But we should be clear that really the most of the damage is on two streets, West Florissant and South Florissant. South Florissant is where the police department, where you saw the tear gas exploding, where you saw windows being busted out. But there were no fires there.

But on West Florissant, that's where the most damage is and that is going to be difficult for some folks to rebuild. We know one of the businesses have said they just cannot do it again. They were taken out in August and again hit this time and they just do not have the money or the confidence to rebuild.

However, we do know that there are places and businesses that are rebuilding. And that one of those is Cathy's Kitchen. They opened their doors less than 24 hours after they were vandalized. And they are absolutely packed with people.

Lastly, the protesters who have been peaceful are very, very upset because they feel their message has basically been co-opted, has been ignored because of those who decided to do criminal activity -- John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Sara Sidner.

A pregnant St. Louis woman is now blind in one eye after a run in with police in Ferguson Tuesday more than. Dornella Conners was out driving with her boyfriend during the first night of unrest when officers tried to block their exit from a gas station. Police fired a bean bag shotgun round into the passenger window shattering the glass. Conners says she was no looting, had no weapon, did nothing to bring on the police weapons fire.

But her sister says the protesters on the scene do share some of the blame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want this to be swept under the rug because of the behavior of other people. I understand that you are trying to be heard. We all are trying to be heard. Now that my sister can only see -- literally only see one side of things, literally, and I really just want to have closure and justice for my sister and for -- as well as for Mike.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: St. Louis County police spokesperson says officers fired because Conners' boyfriend (INAUDIBLE) drove straight at them. He has been arrested and charged with assault on a police officer.

Volunteers came to help in Ferguson on Thanksgiving morning. They were there to take a first small step on the road to the city's recovery, painting the boarded up windows of businesses that have been affected in this week's unrest. As one put it, "Anything is better than just blank plywood."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This obviously is not the answer to the bigger issues we face, but small thing that was within our means to do to kind of help the community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Many volunteers said they live in the area and want it to look like the friendly place that they feel that it is.

Protests inspired by events in Ferguson continued elsewhere on Thursday at the Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. Seven people were arrested when they tried to hop police barricades and run towards the floats. Officials had a heads up that the protest was going to happen. It was organized under Twitter #stoptheparade. Organizers say they wanted to protest -- organizers say they wanted to protest the death of Michael Brown and three other people that have been killed by police.

Drones becoming enough of a hazard in the sky that the FAA is looking at new rules to regulate their use. The federal agency says the drone use has skyrocketed this year, 41 pilots report seeing one in October. Think of that. That's way up from just five in April. In some cases, pilots had to alter course to avoid the drones. Three planes reportedly -- recently reported very close calls near New York's LaGuardia Airport. The FAA expects to issue the new rules by year's end.

Some encouraging news this morning about Ebola. The National Institutes of Health say an experimental vaccine against the deadly virus is showing some promising results. Twenty healthy adult volunteers are taking part of the test. Scientists say the vaccine helped all of them produced antibodies to fight the virus without serious side effects. The NIH is hoping to expand the trials to see if the drug can prevent Ebola infection.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is back home this morning following a heart surgery. She is expected to return to work on Monday, when the court hears its next round of oral arguments. The 81-year-old Ginsburg was rushed to a Washington, D.C. hospital earlier this week. She had a stent implanted that clear a blocked coronary artery.

So, with Thanksgiving now past, the White House Christmas tree is due to arrive this morning at 11:00 a.m., which will take place on a show called "@THISHOUR", which I also anchor.

First Lady Michelle Obama will be on hand for the welcoming ceremony. The first family had traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the White House. President Obama did take time out to call and thank troops. Officials say he spoke with members of all of the armed forces at all the services offering his profound gratitude for their service to the country.

New fallout from the sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby. Two colleges are cutting ties with the comedian. Cosby agreed to resign as honorary chairman of the University of Massachusetts Amherst School Fundraising Campaign. He did receive a masters and a doctorate there in education. Also Berklee College of Music in Boston is ending its affiliation with Cosby. They had an online scholarship in his name. Cosby received an honorary degree from Berklee in 2004.

Frightening scene in a highway outside Buffalo. More than 50 vehicles involved in a huge pile up on the Grand Island Bridge along Interstate 190. Authorities say at least a dozen people were taken to the hospital. Thankfully they say none of the injuries appear to be life- threatening.

So, will the slippery conditions in the Northeast continue through the shopping weekend?

Jennifer Gray with an early start on our forecast.

Good morning, Jennifer.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning to you, John.

Yes, we are going to clear out in Buffalo area. We could see another round of snow though as we go through tomorrow. But actually, a really quiet weather pattern is going to set up across much of the country.

We are going to see snow across the Great Lakes, but really that's it. And actually warmer air is going to start moving in just in time for the weekend across much of the south and that's going to move to the East Coast and Northeast as we go through the end of the weekend.

So, today's forecast is a lot of Black Friday shoppers out there, cold across the north. High pressure in control across the South, though. We are going to stay warm in the Southeast and rain, big time rain pushing into portions of the Pacific Northwest and California.

So, current temperatures this morning, 10 degrees in Minneapolis, cold shoppers up there, 21 in Chicago, 34 in Kansas City. Highs today, 35 in Chicago, 39 in D.C., 36 in New York. So, that cold air is going to lift back up to the north as we go through the weekend. Warmer air is going to take its place.

Temperatures are going to look very, very nice as we head into the end of the weekend and next week. Atlanta almost 70 by Monday, New York City close to 60 on Monday, John.

BERMAN: Big change from today. We have a snowman in the yard on Thanksgiving.

All right. Jennifer, great to see you. Thanks so much.

GRAY: All right.

BERMAN: Big Thanksgiving mystery at a San Jose Burger King. Someone left behind a backpack with $100,000 in it. Assistant manager first spotted it in an abandoned booth. Then, the owner had a look inside hoping for a clue for whom it might belong to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALTAF CHAUS, BURGER KING FRANCHISE OWNER: When I opened the zipper, I see lots of money. Just cash money, 100 dollar bills stacked up like half of the bag, packed with money. I said wow.

And today is my birthday. So, I said, oh my God, it's my birthday gift. I have been in this country 26 years and I worked two jobs for 15 years continues before I bought this Burger King. So, I'm a hard working guy. I don't want that money. Maybe it belongs to somebody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Yes, $100,000 in a backpack. That doesn't sound too sketchy, does it?

Along with the money, police found candy, marijuana and a bank deposit slip. They are still trying to locate the owner.

All right. Taking the plunge. The OPEC decision that will keep your wallet very, very full this holiday season. That story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: World oil prices plummeted Thursday on news that OPEC will not be cutting production targets that will help push up prices. U.S. benchmark crude fell 7 percent on Thursday. Alone, it is down $40 since June.

CNN's Nina dos Santos is live with us now from London.

Nina, I think this is one of the big economic stories of the year, maybe the biggest and it's having a huge impact in the United States and around the world.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. This is being marketed as a real game changer in the word power plays we have seen since the 1970s oil crisis. Since that time, OPEC members literally held the world economy over a barrel when we had this meeting, curtailing supply to try and support prices. But this time, Saudi Arabia, which is the biggest and most influential OPEC member had said it's staunchly against any idea of cutting back on supply to try and support these prices.

And what many people expecting OPEC to do now at the moment is to try to play a game of chicken with the United States, to hope that the shale oil boom in the United States at the current prices will become economically unviable with those countries with big deep pockets like Saudi Arabia that can call on cash reserves to make up the difference and ride out these low prices.

Now, I want to show you here on this chart here is WTI, which is the West Texas Intermediate contract which is in the United States, Brent which is the one here in Europe. And this just goes to exemplify how consumers in the United States are going to feel the impact of these low gas prices almost immediately. It takes an awful lot longer, John, for those effects to filter through to us here in Europe for all sorts of tax reasons and so on and so forth.

But I just want to leave you with the positive lasting thought for the day after Thanksgiving. Every 10 percent decline in the price of oil actually adds about 0.2 of 1 percent to the world economy in terms of GDP. Fuel prices already falling by 30 percent so far.

So, this is good news for the economy and good news for the consumers as well. But not good news for OPEC producing countries.

BERMAN: Very good news for consumers, though, particularly here in the United States. It really does mean money directly in their wallet.

Nina, great to have you with us on EARLY START. Really appreciate.

Pope Francis arrives in Turkey today. This is an historic. It's only the fourth time that a pope has visited the mostly Muslim country. It's one of the most delicate missions in his 18-month papacy so far. The pope seeks to open up dialogue with Muslims and non-Catholic Christians at a time of increased violence against Christian minorities in the region.

Big power shift in North Korea raising question, just weeks after Kim Jong-Un resurfaced in North Korea, it appears his younger sister is taking a bigger role in the family's regime. Local media reports that Kim Yo Jong has been a senior role with the government. This move raises speculation about whether she is gaining power, especially after months of questions related to her brother's health.

In Anbar province in Iraq, the Sunni tribe that U.S. forces depend on to fight ISIS says it feels abandoned by the United States. The powerful Albu Nimr tribe says it has lost 700 men so far this year, many of them in a mass execution. They said they are running low on ammunition, low on weapons, and is not yet had any direct support from the United States and not receive weapons from the Iraqi government. The same Sunni tribe fought alongside U.S. against al Qaeda in 2006 that helped push back insurgents in Iraq at that time.

Iran talking about the possible nuclear deal and extending talks with the United States to end Tehran's nuclear program. Iran's state news agency reports that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that he does support the extension in the talks. He said he supported the talks all along. He did talk about his religious order banning the production and stockpile of nuclear weapons. This comes after the six world powers and represented from Iran held talks in Vienna. And they did extend a deadline to come up with a political framework agreement to March 1st of next year.

Legendary soccer star Pele is in extensive care at a hospital in Brazil, but his condition is said to be improving. The 74-year-old Pele was admitted to the hospital in Sao Paolo earlier this week for a urinary tract infection. Officials say he has had complications as a recent surgery to remove kidney stones. There have been rumors about Pele's health for months now after an earlier hospital statement described his condition as unstable.

The Seattle Seahawks starting to play like Super Bowl champions that they are. They routed archrival 49ers on Thanksgiving, one of three games yesterday that I may or may not have seen all of. Andy Scholes with the details on the "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Football, turkey and more football. Really some blowouts.

Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Good morning, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, John. You know, a tradition every year, tough yourself with all kinds of

great food and pass out on the couch watching football. The NFL treating us to a triple header yesterday. The night cap featuring the 49ers hosting the Seahawks. Now, this is the first time Richard Sherman and Michael Crabtree squared off since Sherman's epic rant after last year's NFC championship game. And Sherman backing up the smack talk. He had two interceptions in the game and the Seahawks dominated the 9ers, 19-3 was your final.

After the game, Sherman took a shot at the fans in San Fran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SHERMAN, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: Their fans threw a few jabs. Somebody threw a glass bottle at the end when we were jogging in. And, you know, you never have to resort to name-calling and some of the things they said.

And, you know, it really just helps you appreciate your fans, you know? Appreciate the 12th man and how classy of an organization we have and how classy our fans are. And, you know, they stayed through the game regardless of the outcome. That's huge. But not every fan can be a great 12th man. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: 49ers CEO Jed York not pleased with this team's performance. He tweeted after the game, "Thank you, 49ers. Thankful for coming out strong, but this wasn't acceptable. I apologize for that." That seems to be a shot at head coach Jim Harbaugh who reportedly has been on a hot seat for months.

All right. Mark Sanchez making return to Thanksgiving football on the two-year anniversary of the infamous butt fumble. Now, there were no butt fumbles this time around for the Sanchise. He led the Eagles to an easy 33-10 over the Cowboys. Tony Romo on the other hand, he had a rough day, throwing two interceptions in the game. Eagles now in first place in the NFC east.

All right. Megatron rules on Thanksgiving once again. Calvin Johnson caught two touchdowns for the Lions against the Bears. He now has eight touchdown receptions on Thanksgiving, which is the most ever.

Detroit beat Chicago 34-17. Bears miserable season continues. They are now 5-7 and pretty much out of playoff contention.

And, John, if you're looking for something else to watch today, there is college football on. You're going to have 13th ranked Arizona State taking on 11th ranked Arizona. That'd be the best game of the day.

BERMAN: Fantastic, Andy Scholes, happy Thanksgiving to you.

SCHOLES: You as well.

BERMAN: Of course, today is Black Friday. That means the huge lines and aggressive shoppers and the deals that have bargain hunters out looking for something special. We'll tell you all about it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)