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Mumbai Terror Investigation; Holiday Shopping Tips; Shoppers Kill Wal-Mart Employee; Awaiting Obama's Response
Aired November 29, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CENTER: It's an issue that will land squarely on the desk of president-elect Barack Obama.
And this was the scene on Black Friday in this country. Scrambling for that Christmas bargain. Unfortunately, violence and the dismal economy marred the holiday ritual.
Two and a half days after the siege started in Mumbai, the violence is finally over but the death toll is daunting. More than 183 people dead, 300 hurt. A few hours ago Indian commandos set off a series of explosions in the Taj Mahal Hotel to defuse explosives the terrorists had set. They have conducted a room-by-room search to make sure no gunman or victims remain in the hotel.
Among the dead, at least five are Americans including a father and daughter from Virginia, 58-year-old Alan Scherr and 13-year-old Naomi were on a trip with their spiritual meditation group when they were gunned down while dining at the Oberoi Hotel.
From Mumbai to Washington, CNN has reporters stationed around the world looking to all of the angles of the story. This hour you will hear from Andrew Stevens, Ed Henry, Bill Schneider and Matthew Chance among others. Let's begin with the investigation in Mumbai. Who was behind this very organized series of terror attacks? Investigators are finding all sorts of clues, including cell phones inside a hijacked boat. CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance has details from Mumbai.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm standing right outside the Taj Hotel at the center of Mumbai, India's financial capital. This is the scene of that last stand between Indian security forces and those militants that carried out coordinated attacks across the city. Take a look at this building. You see the workers are there now trying to patch up some of the devastation that was inflicted on this historic building in the standoff that lasted more than three days. Workmen there are putting wooden boards up on the windows, which were blown out by the various blasts and the gunfire that really rocked this area.
You might be able to see as well the scorch marks up there on those buildings. That's a result of the ferocious fires that were set by incendiary devices or by other means. At that stage it went on. Also inside, a number of police, investigators as well, trying to find any more bodies to make sure this hotel is clear from any corpses but also looking for clues to try to find out which group it was that carried out this attack. Now, there have been accusations by Indian officials that there may have been some kind of linkage between the militants and Pakistan. That has been categorically denied by the Pakistani government. In fact they offered their assistance to try to get to the bottom of this. But the investigation, now that the nightmare, the standoff in this siege has come to an end, the investigation can only now really begin in earnest.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Mumbai.
WHITFIELD: Mumbai's once-luxurious Taj Mahal Hotel is now a site of the bombed-out black and ruin and shattered glass as you saw in Matthew Chance's piece there. That's where the siege has apparently come to an end after Indian commandos killed three more terrorists. CNNs Andrew Stevens brings us the final hours of the standoff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hours after Indian Special Forces shot dead the last remaining terrorist in their holdout of the Taj Mahal Hotel, first pictures from inside the battered building. These scenes from the lobby area and the surrounding rooms show the damage but don't reveal the full extent of the 2 1/2-day siege at one of this country's premiere hotels. News that the battle was over emerged early Saturday morning. The security operations continued through the day.
As the military moves to detonate hand grenades still inside the hotel, and those commandos go room to room, authorities are warning the death toll could rise. The Taj was still burning hours after the gun battle and parts of the hotel where some of the intense fighting happened were clearly visible from the outside. Shattered and burned- out rooms in the lower and upper parts of the hotel. Towels still hung from window frames where guests trapped used them to signal they were still alive. Description at the scene inside both this hotel and the five-star Oberoi Trident hotel nearby are now beginning to emerge.
PAUL ARCHER, OBEROI HOTEL SURIVIOR: The bomb went off just outside my window. After that I started to panic a little, it struck home a little bit more when you walked through and saw the lobby all smashed up that something really has happened.
JAMIE BENSON: All of the Trident hotel was smashed in. There was blood splattered everywhere. The poor security guards, the doormen, I found out the entire front of the glass was shattered.
STEVENS: Several foreigners are now known to have died in the attacks but it was the local population that bore the brunt of this violence. Funerals were held Saturday across the city, including a service for Mumbai's anti-terror chief Hemant Ckarkare (ph), who died on Wednesday night in the Metro Cinema targeted by the government. But amid this tragedy some heartfelt thanks to the military which finally brought this city's nightmare to an end.
Andrew Stevens, CNN, Mumbai.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson will have more on the investigation portion of this coming up next hour at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
Was there a warning about the attack? The owner of the Taj Hotel spoke to CNN Fareed Zakaria this morning.
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FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You had been warned that there was some kind of attack? You had elaborate security measures and it appears that the terrorists waited until you relaxed them at the Taj Hotel, which, again, suggests some kind of either inside connection or very careful watching of the situation.
RATAN TATA, CHAIRMAN TATA GROUP: You know, it's ironic that we did have such a warning and we did have some -- some measures to, you know, where people couldn't park their cars in the port where you have to go through a metal detector. If I look at what we have, which all of us complained about, it could not have stopped what took place. They couldn't come through that entrance. They came from somewhere in the back. They planned everything. I believe the first thing they did was they shot a sniffer dog and his handler. They went through the kitchen -- they knew what they were doing and they did not go through the front.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Of course you can hear more of that interview tomorrow on CNN's Fareed Zakaria "GPs" 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
Terror will not have the final word. That's what President Bush said today in Washington after returning from Camp David. He pledged full U.S. support to Mumbai.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE US: The killers that struck this week are brutal and violent but terror will not have the final word. People of India are resilient. People of India are strong. They have built a vibrant, multiethnic democracy that can with stand this trial. Their financial capital of Mumbai will continue to be the center of commerce and prosperity. The leaders of India can know that nations around the world support them at the face of this assault on human dignity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: FBI agents are heading to Mumbai to offer help in the investigation.
Meantime the terror attacks in India come nearly two months before inauguration day in this country in Washington. President Bush said members of his administration had been directly communicating information to president-elect Barack Obama. CNN's Ed Henry joins us live from Chicago. Nonetheless, Ed, this has to be a very awkward time for this type of terror attack to happen abroad right in between these two men.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're right, Fred, because obviously the president-elect wants to stay abreast of the situation, make sure it looks like he's on top of it. But he doesn't want to get in the way. He hasn't been sworn in yet. It's a tough balancing act.
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HENRY (voice over): During the campaign, president-elect Barack Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, predicted he would face major crises soon after taking office.
JOE BIDEN, (D) VICE PRESIDENT ELECT: Mark my words; it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy.
HENRY: An unforeseen crisis in India has come even sooner but Mr. Obama is not commander in chief yet so he's in an awkward position, deferring to President Bush and not being able to prove his own meddle.
PETER FENN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Even though he's staying up to speed on everything with briefings, he knows he will have to inherit this, but, you know, right now, this administration is calling the shots.
HENRY: The president-elect has mostly been out of public view for the Thanksgiving holiday, but has privately stayed in the loop on the crises, with two phone calls from secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and regular updates from his own national security staff. On Friday, the president-elect released a written statement sending condolences to the families of the Americans that lost their lives, and added -- there is one president at a time. I will continue to closely monitor the situation on the ground in Mumbai and am grateful for the cooperation of the Bush administration in keeping me and my staff updated. All aimed at showing despite the recent focus on the financial crises, Mr. Obama realizes vice president-elect Biden was probably right. At any time a president can be tested by an international crises, in India or any number of other countries.
FENN: It shows that, you know the issue of the relationship between India and Pakistan but South Asia, the importance of al Qaeda. You cannot turn your head away for one moment.
HENRY: That's why Mr. Obama was already planning next week to roll out his national security team, with Senator Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. She vowed as a presidential candidate to make rooting out terror in South Asia a top property.
SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is an area where I think the United States needs to be as focused like the proverbial laser.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Late last night here in Chicago, the president-elect reached out to Prime Minister Singh of India, basically offered his condolences for all of those who lost his lives and were injured. But also on that call, we're told by an Obama aide, the president-elect made clear, again, there's only one president at a time. He doesn't want to interfere here. He clearly does not want to step on President Bush's toes, at least not until January 20th.
WHITFIELD: So you mentioned next week this national security team would be named or formulated. That was the plan prior to this attack in Mumbai. So do we know that the Obama team is still on that same schedule?
HENRY: We're told they are still on track to unveil their national security team as early as Monday here in Chicago with Hillary Clinton at the top of it as secretary of state. Also, defense Secretary Robert Gates staying on and retired marine general Jim Jones expected to be the national security adviser. What's interesting, of course, Senator Clinton was the one who ran that infamous 3:00 a.m. ad during the campaign suggesting Barack Obama didn't have enough experience to handle a late-night crises. Now, ironically, she may be the one placing a call to a President Obama advising him of something playing out right now in India, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Would that be big whoops?
HERNY: Remember when Joe Biden was picked as vice president as well, a lot of people made the point that in some of those Democratic debates in the primary, he kept saying Barack Obama was not ready to be president. He quickly changed his tune when he became VP.
WHITFIELD: Now they're all on the same team. Funny thing. All right. Ed Henry thank you very much, we appreciate it.
All right. Ed is underscoring that Obama begins his presidency facing a whole lot of challenges, many of which are beyond his control. CNN's Bill Schneider reports at the half hour on that very issue.
Meantime we want to hear from you, what do you think? Do the attacks in Mumbai make you a little more concerned about terrorism in the U.S. and anywhere else abroad? E-mail us right now at WEEKENDS@CNN.com.
Much of the finger-pointing over the Mumbai attack was aimed at Pakistan. Some thoughts from former national security adviser Sandy Berger.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: New information just in, we can now report that an FBI team is indeed on the way to India, according to law enforcement sources telling us. We don't know exactly when they left. We don't have any specific arrival time either. That information is being withheld for security reasons. Much of this reporting coming from our justice correspondent Kelli Arena.
But we do understand that the FBI has made it very clear that they want to help in the investigation of finding out who was responsible for these attacks in Mumbai, and they also want to get to the bottom of the deaths of the Americans that were also involved and were part of the more than 180 killed there in Mumbai over the last three days.
Meantime this siege which killed now the number is 185 people in India appears to be over for the most part this afternoon. We are learning that it could have been on a much more grand scale. Indian officials say the attackers had planned to kill 5,000 people and that officials continue to suggest that Pakistan is linked to the terror attacks. Pakistan adamantly denies that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAH MAHMOOD QURESHI, PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER: Pakistan is not involved in this ghastly act, and that is why we do not have to be on the defensive and we are not on the defensive. Extending cooperation and the fact that after the incident that I remain on Indian soil for three days and I faced the Indian electronic and print media head on arguing and articulating the case of Pakistan is a case in point that the government of Pakistan is not offensive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Here to talk about this siege and possibly who might be behind it, Sandy Berger, former national security adviser for the Clinton administration? Good to see you, Sandy.
Hello, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: What's your best guess on how soon before investigators really might know who is at the root of this terror plot given cell phones and left behind and those vessels, their boats can be somewhat linked to the mother ship, who is heading up this operation, right?
SAMUEL BERGER, FMR. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The clues obviously will be -- will be determined over the next hours and days. I think we need to look first at what was the possible motivation of this attack on western targets in India's financial center in Mumbai. It seems to me there are several purposes here that are suggested.
One, obviously, to weaken India by attacking its financial center, which depends upon the free flow of commerce, by attacking tourist sites, 20 million Indians derive their income from tourism. That's one purpose. Second, this has a bit of a Jihadist footprint by attacking Israeli targets, American targets. It suggests the order of Jihadist groups such as al Qaeda may have had some influence. And, third, there is as a nation peace process going on between India and Pakistan, and this could be an attempt to sabotage that peace process.
WHITFIELD: It's interesting because India and Pakistan had a tenuous relationship for a while now. Pakistan coming out quick to say we have nothing to do with this, meaning really the government may have nothing to do with it but that doesn't necessarily mean that some of the terrorists can't originate from Pakistan, or does it? Wouldn't the government know if some of its own people were involved in an operation of this scale? Wouldn't some sort of intelligence in country be able to indicate this is happening?
BERGER: That needs to be determined. There certainly needs to be evidence that groups outside of Pakistan had some hand in this attack. Particularly groups that are based in Kashmir, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (ph) and perhaps other groups. This has their signature. These are groups that have perpetrated attacks on India before. They are implicated in the attack on the Indian parliament 2001. That does not necessarily mean that the Indian government was involved in these attacks. That's obviously something that is a very delicate and sensitive matter.
WHITFIELD: Does this make you think that the world has a new threat in a new form of terrorism, or is this what we see typically in the face of terrorism, that there are some changes that are made along the way since the last huge attack or do you see this as a hallmark of something very, very different than what we are used to?
BERGER: I think we are used to spectacular attacks around the world, unfortunately. This is why the fight against these groups, fight against terrorism, has to be number one priority for American policy going forward. These groups operate in this region. This is an area where -- that is kind of epicenter of Jihadist terror. We are obviously fighting that terror in Afghanistan and this has to be a very heavy focus of American energy.
WHITFIELD: Former national security adviser for the Clinton administration, Sandy Berger, thanks so much for your time. I appreciate it.
We will be delving a little bit more later on in this hour about this face of terrorism. Has it indeed changed in the points of view of others? Our Kelli Arena will be delving into that straight ahead at the half hour.
Terror of a different kind now in Mexico, just across the U.S. border. Just across the border of El Paso, Texas. A mob-style shooting last night at an upscale restaurant in Juarez left at least eight people dead and that is related to the string of violent attacks in that city. Police say a group of men with ak-47s approached men sitting at a table and simply fired about 100 rounds. Police say more than 40 killings occurred in Juarez since Monday, more than 1,300 this year. The jump in violence in Juarez is blamed mostly on a war between drug cartels.
An apparent Black Friday prank doesn't seem too funny today. Someone filled the locks on stores with glue on the busiest shopping day of the year. Jacqui.
JACQUI JEREAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Fredricka. Yeah, it's one of the busier travel days of the whole year tomorrow. What kind of travel days can you expect today? And then I will tell you quite a few. Find out where coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was already hobbled with a hamstring injury. Well, now he's been shot in the leg. Burress spent the night in the hospital. Reports say that he accidentally shot himself at a nightclub. Burress is already ruled out of Sunday's game against Washington because of the hamstring injury.
Other news across America, police say they have DNA evidence that links the suspect in the killing of Little Rock, anchorwoman Anne Presley to the crime scene, and they say Curtis Lavelle Vance is also now suspected of raping a schoolteacher in eastern Arkansas. Presley was found beaten in her home in October and died days later in a hospital.
And these high school football players were on their way to a playoff game when their bus overturned Friday in a four-vehicle collision south of Seattle. Eight people were injured. Police say the worse injury was a minor concussion suffered by one of the football players. The undefeated Bellevue Wolverines will now play their semifinal game against the capital Cougars of Olympia on Monday.
Six people were slightly hurt when a car crashed into a restaurant Thursday in Counsel Bluff, Iowa. The 84-year-old driver was trying to park the car. His foot apparently became stuck between the brake and the accelerator.
And business was pretty good for locksmiths when Black Friday began in Charleston, South Carolina. Vandals poured glue, however, into the door locks of several downtown shops. This is not good for them. Most of the stores ended up opening an hour late. Police say surveillance video might have caught the culprits in the act.
Jacqui Jeras is in the Weather Center. Boy, those guys didn't have the holiday spirit, did they? Carry out that kind of prank.
JERAS: Can you imagine with so much time on your hands when you think of stuff like that? I'm sorry.
WHITFIELD: Very good point. Can you imagine had you gotten up early at like 4:00, 5:00 in the morning and had to wait another hour?
JERAS: Oh, yes, angry shoppers.
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
JERAS: Not so happy.
WHITFIELD: No.
JERAS: Anyway, well, today not a terrible day to get out there and do some shopping. Our travel weather overall is relatively good. A couple of exceptions across the southeast here as we have a frontal boundary developing low. Another system across the upper Midwest. Unfortunately, the real game comes into play we think tomorrow into your Monday. This will spell one huge mess for you travelers. If you have travel plans tomorrow, particularly in the northeast, the earlier you go, the better off you're going to be. Even though this isn't going to be, you know, a crippling storm, it's going to be enough to cause some very significant delays.
You may be waiting hours for your plane to take off compared to what you should be doing. All right, today we're minimal, 35 minutes, that's it, to arrive into Atlanta Hartsfield Airport. Heavy rain across much of the southeast. We are looking at some showers and thunderstorms rolling across the big easy area. Some of this can change over to a little bit of snow, by the way, as you head into Monday. We are seeing that snow across parts of the Midwest, Kansas City has rain right now but changing over to snow. You have snow in St. Joe. The accumulations don't look like much here on the radar but check out this live picture from Vale, Colorado. That snow is coming down, my friends. Look at those slopes covered 8 to 15 inches between now and tomorrow night. Winds gusting to 35 miles per hour. Great for those skiers but not so great for those of you trying to get back home. Fred.
WHITFIELD: That's right. That does kind of blow, as they say. Snow blowing, I thought I would try it. So anyway if you're on your way, and if you're at that slope, that's right.
JERAS: Might have an excuse to stay.
WHITFIELD: I think so. Over snowed in Vail, darn.
JERAS: Don't know what happened.
WHITFIELD: Thanks, Jacqui.
Shuttle astronauts are enjoying one last day of a pretty spectacular view from space. "Endeavour" is scheduled to land tomorrow afternoon at the Kennedy Space Center. Right now NASA scientists are examining the latest pictures of the shuttle's heat shield. They want to make sure that none of the tiles were damaged during the 16-day mission before giving the crew permission to come home.
Next hour, we'll hear directly from "Endeavour's" crew. Our Miles O'Brien interviewed the astronauts from space.
The usual festivities surrounding Black Friday were pretty damp this year. One person was actually trampled quite tragic. Two others shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): They had no control of the crowd. Security guards couldn't stop the people from coming in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, call it retail therapy, for millions of Americans not intimidated by huge crowds or the ailing economy, shoppers turned out in force yesterday to take advantage of some pretty deep discounts on Black Friday, the official start of the holiday shopping season. But experts predict some six million fewer shoppers will actually hit the stores this weekend.
So, retailers don't like that. However, we're all trying to be a little bit more careful about our spending. A number of retailers are on pins and needles, hoping that kind of slashing those prices early will actually woo you cautious customers into their stores. Our Susan Candiotti is watching shoppers in New York.
And so, are they spending or spend-thrifty?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that they're spending. Which makes them spend-thrifts because, boy, they're doing both. This is a four-level mall and ever since we got here this morning, it has been very, very busy and growing. They are open until 11:00 Eastern Time tonight.
You barely can walk two steps without running into something carrying all kinds of bundles of packages. But, of course, sales, they are looking for sales and bargains.
Hello. That's all right. We can walk around these folks. Well, let's talk to -- I lined up three people here to get a sense of what you're looking for. How have your habits changed from last year?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little less money, you know. Spend a little more and a little less. You know, I have to combine the two.
CANDIOTTI: Because times are tougher?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is. Have to work every day.
CANDIOTTI: Exactly. Are you also looking for bargains? That's the key thing here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think I'm looking for bargains. I'm trying to get most for my money.
CANDIOTTI: Do you find yourself more or less this year?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think more. I mean there are a lot of bargains out there, especially on TVs, telephones and toys.
CANDIOTTI: Exactly. Are you, ma'am, making changes for who you're shopping for this year?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This year I try to shop at the beginning for my children and my closer family, And if we have something left, for the other people.
CANDIOTTI: For the friends, as well. It's tough. Are you finding that they are cutting prices more than they did last year?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little, a little. Not too much, not too much, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think it a lot. I mean, I think last year they had better prices.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, I believe that. Last year I bought a lot of things, but this year, the prices, they didn't go down so much.
CANDIOTTI: And of course, retailers are very concerned that the bulk of the shopping will be done this weekend instead of lasting much closer to Christmas Time. They always bank on those last-minute shoppers, in particular, between December 15th and the 25th, all of those procrastinators out there. Gee, do I know of any? Yeah, I would be one of those as well, haven't started yet. Don't know when we will. I don't know about you Fredricka, but...
WHITFIELD: And you like to shop.
CANDIOTTI: I do, but have you to make the time to do it, too, right?
WHITFIELD: Well, that's true, too. I don't know, you can do two for one right now. You can do a little shopping in between these live shots.
CANDIOTTI: Oh, did I say that I was planning on doing that? Exactly. But it's been fun being out here and truly everyone at least seems to have the spirit. We haven't seen any problems. And some retailers do admit to us, though, they are seeing fewer people than they did this time last year. Not as busy. But we see a lot of sale signs. Biggest sale ever. But as you heard some of the shoppers say, not so much.
WHITFIELD: Yeah. No surprise there really. All right, Susan Candiotti, thanks so much. We're going to talk a little more about shopping here in this country.
But also, looking ahead next hour, a special report on how immigrants may have a leg up on Americans in this sluggish economy. Here's a hint, it has to do with how they view credit in countries where they happen to be born. Interesting stuff.
All right, so if you do have a couple bucks and want to go shopping, how do you find those deals? We decided to turn to super-shopper Robyn Spizman. She's here with tips on getting the best deals, whether it be going into the stores, online.
And then you've got a few other ideas how we can really stretch our buck. And you're also the co-author -- you have written a lot of books on shopping and for consumers, but this latest one, co-author of "Do Your Giving While You are Living."
So, while you're thinking about making a purchase or a gift for someone this holiday, you talk about charity work, too. Well, let's talk about what happens when you go into a store. How do you find a deal, because a lot of retailers say hey, we've got 50 percent, we've got 30 percent, but you get sidetracked sometimes.
ROBYN SPIZMAN, CONSUMER ADVOCATE: You do. So those impulse buys are tempting. The best advice I always have is be intentional about your purchasing. Think about the fact, who are you going there for? And it's very important not to waste the money on two for ones. They look great but do you really need another pair of black pants, another pair of black shoes?
WHITFIELD: Yeah, because you walk into a store and sometimes there are tables, and they will say, buy so many of this, get another free, but then you end up maybe spending more you're saying. SPIZMAN: That's correct. So, we want to go shopping in your closet first. Really know what you need and go with a list. A list is one of the most important ways to shop and also a budget so that you're aware. I like also just to put an envelope in a handbag and just keep the receipts on file because staying organized helps you, if you decide that purchase is something that you really didn't need or someone else will not want, can you return it understanding that fine print, store policies? Make friends with a salesperson, nice really does pay off.
WHITFIELD: And something tells me there's another reason to shop online perhaps, because you won't see all of those great, little flashy things to make you want to spend more money like you would at a retailer. You can be a little more strict about your spending maybe online?
SPIZMAN: Well, you could be strict about it but the good news is cyber Monday's around the corner and it's going to tempt you. On Monday you're going to find all of these deals online. Some of them launch early, but if you check out bradsdeals.com, you'll already see there are quite a few stores posting special coupons and incentives. So, there's so many that tempt you and you say 40 percent off, 70 percent off, that's a wow.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
SPIZMAN: So, that's starting to be listed online and it's like the stores only. Cyber Monday starts when everyone's back at work.
WHITFIELD: OK, that's another big wow. And you know what, there's another way to buy and you're saving a lot more money. It means maybe buying something that's already been used, maybe consignment shop or something like that? Some folk kind of frown at that, but you say...
SPIZMAN: It's OK. It's OK. If someone collects something. I happen to collect mercury glass, so if someone finds something for me, then it's a vintage gift. It shows how they went to the ends of the earth for me. They might find it on eBay. I would appreciate that.
Another person might say, hey, that is not, that might be trash instead of a treasure. But I think the real goal is think about what can we do for others during this holiday instead of focusing on what can we get, what can we give? That's why Edie Fraser and I wrote the book "Do Your Giving While You are Living." There are so many Web sites that help you give back.
We have a full technology chapter by Casey Golden, in our book, all about how to give back online. So, while we're shopping, if we think about if each person gave $1, we named yesterday Give-Back Friday, instead of Black Friday, $1 back. So, check out doyourgiving.com and you'll see you can really make a difference or go to goodshop.com and while you're shopping all those stores, they'll give a percentage back to one of 70,000 charities.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's excellent. All right.
SPIZMAN: Big way to help.
WHITFIELD: Always some great ideas. And I love this gift someone did to you, found at a nice antique shop. So, that's a great example of that. Have a great holiday.
SPIZMAN: Thank you, the same to you.
WHITFIELD: Well, thanks for helping us to save a couple bucks.
SPIZMAN: My pleasure.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, Black Friday, unfortunately, it turned tragic at a southern California toy store. Two men shot each other to death at the Toys 'R' Us in Palm Desert, yesterday. Both drew their guns when the women they were with actually got into a bloody fistfight near the checkout area. Well, police are still investigating, but they say the fight was not about a toy.
And Long Island police may seek criminal charges after a Wal-Mart worker was trampled to death in the predawn Black Friday frenzy. Jackie Lucas with CNN affiliate News-12 Long Island talked to witnesses on the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIMBERLY GIBBS, SHOPPER: They're savages. They're savages. What they did this morning, they're savages. That's not right.
JACKIE LUCAS, NEWS-12 LONG ISLAND, REPORTER (voice-over): Kimberly Gibbs still can't get over what she witnessed. This the cell phone video EMTs surrounding a store employee trying to save his life. He died after being trampled by hundreds of Black Friday shoppers who pushed their way into this mall at the Green Acres mall in Valley Stream.
TERRANCE HOWARD, SHOPPER: They had no control of the crowd. Security guards could have stopped the people from coming in.
LUCAS: As soon as employees unlocked the doors at 5:00 a.m., cops say the crowd of more than 2,000 people poured in. The shoppers physically broke down the doors to get inside, stampeding to the sales and knocking down the store employee, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour of Jamaica, Queens. Police say hundreds of people ran over him as other employees tried to help.
DET LT MICHAEL FLEMMING, NASSAU COUNTY POLICE: First officers at the scene attempted to give first aid to this victim and as they were giving first aid, those police officers were also jostled and pushed by this crowd of shoppers rushing and forcing their way into the store.
LUCAS: Police also say a 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to the hospital, but she and the baby are OK. Five others suffered minor injuries. Even after the tragedy, some people were still trying to shop in the store. GIBBS: When they were saying that they had to leave, that somebody, an employee got killed, people were in there yelling, I been in line since yesterday morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought everybody said it was fun to come out on Black Friday to shop. I was looking for fun, not for this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, Wal-Mart says it had taken precautions for the crowds that were expected, adding more staffers and outside security workers and putting up barricades. Company officials call the incident simply a tragic situation.
Well, in less than two months dealing with international terrorism falls right into the hands of Barack Obama. Comments from a long presidential campaign offer clues to how he just might govern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, Barack Obama's own running mate said during the campaign that the president-elect would be tested by an international crisis. Well, now the Mumbai terror attacks have come even before Obama has actually taken office. Senior political analyst Bill Schneider looks at how events beyond Obama's control could hold his presidency hostage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Barack Obama's campaign was a model of control and discipline. The candidate was famously cool, even in the face of unexpected setbacks like Hillary Clinton's upset victory in New Hampshire.
BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT-ELECT: We have been told we cannot do this by a course of cynics.
SCHNEIDER: Any president is, to some extent, hostage to world events that are beyond the president's control. The first President Bush found that out in 1990.
GEORGE HW BUSH (R), FMR U.S. PRESIDENT: This will not stand, this aggression, against Kuwait.
SCHNEIDER: The second president bush found that out in 2001.
GEORGE W BUSH (R), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.
SCHNEIDER: And now, a wave of horrifying terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Terrorism was not the issue that got Obama elected. Voters who said their top concern was terrorism voted overwhelmingly for John McCain, but they were fewer than 10 percent of all voters. Nevertheless, Obama had to establish his credibility on fighting terror.
OBAMA: My job will be to keep you safe. That's my No. 1 job. SCHNEIDER: And he did establish credibility. Two-thirds now believe Obama will make the United States safer. What's needed now is skillful diplomacy.
OBAMA: We need to rediscover a sense of the power of our diplomacy.
SCHNEIDER: Tensions are likely to increase between India and Pakistan. The United States needs to maintain good relations with both and work towards reconciliation between them.
OBAMA: I understand that john f. Kennedy said when he said we can never negotiate out of fear but we can never fear to negotiate. That's what strong presidents and strong countries do.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): If there's one thing that people admire about the president-elect, it's the way he keeps his cool.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, the siege in Mumbai shows a change in tactics for militants, something else for the United States to worry about in the war on terror.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Well it is still a mystery exactly who carried out the murderous attacks in India's largest city, but experts say they see a new face in terrorism based on these tactics that were used in this city over the last three days. Kelli Arena reports on the worry now the U.S. may have, that the U.S. just might be vulnerable to the same kind of attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is still not clear exactly who is responsible for the attacks in Mumbai. Counterterrorism officials say investigators are still looking closely at extremist groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, or LET, made up of Pakistani militants who have fought Indian troops in Kashmir.
Intelligence sources say the group's fighters have been sighted in the Pakistan border region and the U.S. believes some have attended al Qaeda training camps there.
PAT D'AMURO, FMR. FBI COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: Somewhere between 15,000 to 20,000 individuals went through those training camps. And that may be a conservative figure. They trained on these types of events. They trained on urban assaults, they trained on attacking vehicles, they trained in taking hostages.
ARENA: Far different from many of the suicide attacks and vehicle bombings we've seen recently, these terrorist terrorists came in guns blazing. Experts say the coordination of the attack, hitting at least nine sites, and the specific targeting of westerners signals a broader new radical Islamic agenda in the region and warned the U.S. could face a similar attack.
HAROLD COPUS, FMR. FBI AGENT: We've always thought that in the past, that the terrorists, when they hit the United States, would hit targets that were high profile. What that now means is they could hit any building in any city in the United States, go in that building and get as high up as they can, and then take their hostages and have a standoff.
ARENA: The FBI sent out a bulletin late Thursday night to its law enforcement partners citing the Mumbai attack and urging them to remain vigilant "during this period of heightened alert as the United States conducts the transition to the new administration."
(on camera): While the FBI has opened the case into the Mumbai attacks, it's not clear what they will be allowed to do on the ground if they are allowed in. The Indian government is in charge of granting any and all access.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And the investigation in Mumbai is intensifying. Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is there, he's going to be joining us at the top of the hour from the Taj hotel on the latest in that investigation.
Meantime, we have been asking about what you think about the terror attacks in Mumbai and if that in any way makes you concerned about terrorism in the U.S. or anywhere else abroad. Some of you are weighing in. Josh Levs has been reading some of the e-mails.
What are folks thinking?
JOSH LEVS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Fred, we're getting responses past along and packed with emotion, obviously. And some people expressing the fear that they are feeling. I'll tell you what we're doing, folks, we're pretty much grabbing them, throwing them up on the board. Let's get right to it. We're going to start with Chase Murdock.
"Of course the Mumbai attacks make me nervous for the security of the United States. It is a terrible reminder for all those who forgot how prominent terrorism is today."
Let's scroll down a little bit.
"The thought of terrorism in America has always been on my mind since 9/11, but with these new attacks in India, I have a feeling that attacks towards Americans will not be on the domestic scene, but continued overseas in the hotspots for Westerners and Americans." That's from Austin Tabb in Lakeland, Florida.
We've got time for a couple more, let's scroll down a little bit more.
"No, the recent assault in India doesn't make me feel any less secure at home. Our national security status hasn't changed since the attacks, nor will it change due to them. We still have the same people protecting us from foreign and internal threats as we did before the situation, so my confidence has not been shaken." So, Justin's got a different take there.
Let us know what you think, weekends@CNN.com. We're going to keep taking a look at what you're sending us. Share more next hour and, Fred, I'll let you know then what people are saying.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, we look forward to that. We love to get the e-mails and hear what people are thinking and feeling on the various topics. And this one is still fairly fresh even though it happened three days ago or less.
LEVS: Exactly. And is still very fresh right, and people taking these very different takes on how it makes them feel, yeah.
WHITFIELD: All right, great. Josh Levs, thanks so much and we'll see you again in the next hour.
All right, meantime, here's a hypothetical. So, you find $10,000 on the ground, what do you do?
Plus, why is this young man standing this street with this sign that says "I was Stupid?"
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WHITFIELD: What a way to spend Thanksgiving. Instead of jail time, a young Wisconsin man spent the holidays getting outside with a sign that read, "I am stupid." The 20-year-old drove his car into the front gate of a Eau Claire waste water treatment plant last March. So, he was found guilty of criminal damage to property and the judge ruled that he could spend 20 days in jail or do this. Hold that sign. And that's what he opted.
All right, he has been called an honest kid. A 17-year-old grocery store bagger found and returned a bag of cash. Keith Eldridge of affiliate KOMO has a story from Federal Way in Washington State.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOSES BARANUIC, GROCERY STORE BAGGER: Sir, would you like paper or plastic bags?
KEITH ELDRIDGE, KOMO-4 NEWS, REPORTER: If only decisions were all that easy. For Moses Baranuic, a tough decision presented itself while he was on duty at the top food star in Federal Way. He was heading to the men's room on break; Moses had no idea what he'd find in there.
BARANUIC: I was walking in and I was like, wow, this item right here on the floor, I know it's a bag of money.
ELDRIDGE: But he had no idea yet how much money was in there, so he washed his hands, thought about it, and did the right thing. BARANUIC: Got the money, went outside and gave it to the manager.
ETRAY HUDSON, STORE MANAGER: His name tells it all. With a name like that, you can't go wrong. Moses.
ELDRIDGE: Moses says there's something biblical about his decision to turn in the cash.
BARANUIC: I mean, I teach a Sunday school with the little kids and like I always tell them to do the right thing.
ELDRIDGE (on camera): So, with this $10,000, was there ever a moment in your mind when you thought, you might just hang on to this?
BARANUIC: A quick mind through my head, maybe keep it, but there was way more reasons not to keep it. So, I can't do it It's just not right.
ELDRIDGE (voice-over): The man who left the bag came back to get it, saying he was moving and that's why he had a large sum of money and was just grateful for this young man's honesty.
BARANUIC: He said he'll send me a little rewarded. So, we'll see.
ELDRIDGE: But this immigrant from Moldova says, he's already getting rewarded.
BARANUIC: I'm already been considered as a pretty good worker (INAUDIBLE), you know, like people like trust me even more now. I don't regret, because maybe I didn't get the $10,000, but I got something you can't buy with money.
ELDRIDGE: His co-workers say we're all a little bit richer because of Moses' honesty.
In Federal Way, Keith Eldridge, KOMO-4 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, that's the spirit. Your the next hour of the NEWSROOM starts now.
