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Annual Parade in Manhattan; North Korea Warns of More Attacks; Chicago Holds 97th Annual Tree-Lighting Ceremony; Obama Family Delivers Food to Needy at Martha's Table; Flint Veterans Welcome Home Troops; Butterball Talk-Line Talks Turkey; Trainer Uses Butterball as Medicine Ball; Jack Hanna Visits Larry King; Already Black Friday Online; U.K. Tuition Protest, Round 2; Tiger Woods Changing His Image
Aired November 25, 2010 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. It is 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West.
Right now we're watching your holiday weather and there are some pretty nasty storms brewing already today in the Midwest. That's coupled with snow, rain, freezing temperatures and other parts of the country. We'll have a complete look in less than a minute.
And some stores are actually open today. So that you can get a jump on your holiday shopping, but if you just want to relax at home, you can always go online for that shopping, as well.
Several retailers are offering pre-Black Friday deals today. We've got some shopping tips straight ahead for you.
And the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is just getting started at this hour. Those huge balloons will be making their way through Manhattan to the delight of thousands there. We'll take you there live in just a few moments.
So let's get started with some trouble spots weather wise.
In California, freezing temperatures are making for a tough Thanksgiving there. But it's not just the cold that has some people worried. Check out these pictures from El Dorado, California, where a small tornado touched down. Luckily only minor damage.
And in Idaho, it's cold and snowy. Dozens of drivers got caught in the mess near Idaho Falls. And major highway there was slowed to a crawl because of the snow and the ice.
Reynolds Wolf here with the holiday forecast. Oh, it's slow going for those who are trying to get to grandma's house.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. It looks a little bit better out towards the west than it did yesterday. Now the trouble is going towards the east. It really is easy to see. Take a look.
(WEATHER REPORT) WHITFIELD: Yuck.
WOLF: Eighteen.
WHITFIELD: I'm still -- yes, yuck over the 18.
WOLF: Wow.
WHITFIELD: And what was that, Minneapolis --
WOLF: Minneapolis, 13. Lucky 13 today.
WHITFIELD: Oh, I can't take that kind of cold.
WOLF: Here you go.
WHITFIELD: Especially not November. All right. Well, folks, bundle up and just stay inside. Enjoy the turkey and festivities with loved ones.
WOLF: It's a good plan.
WHITFIELD: OK. Thanks so much, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
WHITFIELD: We'll check back with you throughout the morning.
All right. Let's talk about something else a little bit more festive. And Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Right there, it's already under way. Right now it is the 84th year for this holiday tradition.
CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff, you've seen many-a Thanksgiving Day parade there in Manhattan. How's does it look? And how does it size up to all the others you've seen?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: This is absolutely one of the most exciting mornings in New York City of the entire year. The parade is just beginning right now. You see the police motorcycles and right behind them, Snoopy. About five stories high. And right behind him you can see the eyes of Kermit the Frog.
And those are some of the big highlights. We've had people waiting here since 5:30 in the morning. A lot of very excited people and included in the people here -- well, we've got some folks who've come all the way from California, Canada.
Ashley, for example, told me that this is her -- one of her life's ambitions.
ASHLEY, PARADE GOER: Since I was a little girl. This is my biggest dream is to be at Macy's Day parade. And I'm so happy. I can't believe we're here. I came from California. My dear friend from --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I came from Toronto to join her.
ASHLEY: Toronto, Canada.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's wonderful.
CHERNOFF: And what for you is going to be the highlight, Ashley?
ASHLEY: Kung Fu Panda.
CHERNOFF: OK. Well, Kung Fu Panda is one of the new balloons. I've also got two very special guests here. These are my girls, Betsy and Alana.
Girls, say hi.
WHITFIELD: Happy Thanksgiving, girls.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
WHITFIELD: Lexy and Alana.
CHERNOFF: They're saying happy Thanksgiving, and, girls, what do you see right down there? Tell us what you see coming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see the stars and it says Macy's and also I see Snoopy.
CHERNOFF: You see Snoopy. And I see a big -- let's see, a big marching band from Purdue University.
Betsy, how do you like this float?
BETSY, ALLAN CHERNOFF'S DAUGHTER: Good.
CHERNOFF: Look good?
BETSY: Yes.
CHERNOFF: Betsy is -- Betsy is speechless. But Fredricka, we've got the first of 12 bands marching down Central Park West. This is just going to be a fantastic morning here.
Back to you in the studio.
WHITFIELD: You have the best helpers there with Betsy and Alana. And I see that they are journalists in the making. Broadcasters in the making. Great start there.
Allan Chernoff, thanks so much. We're going to get back with you as we see, oh so many marching bands going by, and we saw Snoopy is one of the first floats to go by, as well. Soon to be in our view once more time.
All right. We'll check back with Allan and the others there along the way with the Thanksgiving Day parade.
All right, let's talk politics now.
Tom DeLay was on "Dancing with the Stars" one year, the next he is now facing a possible life sentence. A Texas jury convicted the former House majority leader of money laundering and conspiracy. Prosecutors claimed DeLay used his political action committee to funnel corporate money back into Texas to get Republicans elected.
Here's what he had to say about the verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM DELAY, FORMER HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: This is an abuse of power. It's a miscarriage of justice and I still maintain that I am innocent. The criminalization of politics undermines our very system. And I'm very disappointed in the outcome.
GARY COBB, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We thought the citizens of Travis County would see this case for what it was. A corrupt politician who's caught violating the laws of the state so we're -- we know it took a long time but we're very pleased with the outcome that this jury gave us.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: DeLay's lawyers plan to appeal. He will be sentenced December 20th. He could get more than 100 years in prison.
"The New York Times" reports the U.S. is dumping the terror alert color code of the five color chart has been used since March of 2002. But critics have said the warnings instill fear without being specific.
The Homeland Security Department says the new system will aim to be clearer.
And North Korea is warning it will launch more attacks if provoked. Today's message comes two days after the deadly shelling of a South Korean island.
CNN's Stan Grant is just back from viewing the damage there. The first western journalist to reach the island since that attack. So he joins us now from Incheon, South Korea.
Stan, tell us what the island is like, what you saw and how people are reacting.
STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, Yeonpyeong Island is really now a ghost town. You're talking about a fishing vim and about 1500, 1600 people. Well, it's basically deserted.
There are a few hearty souls who've stayed behind but we spoke to them. One man said look, where else am I to go? I'm a fisherman. I've spent my whole life here.
Another lady said it is scary. She is worried about her future. She described the scene when the attack took place, she said that her daughter called her and said, war had broken out.
Walking through that village you can certainly see the aftermath of it. Many of the houses have just been incinerated. They are completely and utterly destroyed. You walk through there and you see some of the people's possessions that are just charred, charred damage and -- you know, you can still smell smoke through the buildings.
You can see the ash on the grown. We could actually see where some of the shells landed. There are shrapnel marks around the walls there. As I said, most of the people have gone. The people that we've spoken to who have come to Incheon, fleeing the island, have said that they don't feel that they can -- if they go back, Fredricka, they just don't feel it will be safe again.
WHITFIELD: And so now North Korea making new threats and this time not against South Korea but the U.S., as well?
GRANT: Yes, precisely, Fredricka. You know the U.S. and South Korea are planning these military exercises in a matter of days now, and North Korea threatening to retaliate in recent days.
They've talked about a merciless military confrontation there, now saying that the United States, in fact, was to blame for the attack that North Korea launched on the island the other day. They have been calling South Korea a puppet regime, the puppet of the United States.
You know, you often see words used as weapons in the Korean Peninsula but you're talking about a regime that is a highly secretive regime that has carried out this attack the other day, a regime we know has been developing nuclear weapons so the worry now is that these words are going to be backed up with real firepower -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Stan Grant, thanks so much for that update. We'll check back with you throughout the day.
Meantime, back here at home sometimes it's a battle against your turkey on Thanksgiving. So we've got answers to some of your questions. We're taking you to Butterball University where the experts are taking your calls.
But first, messages from our men and women serving abroad this holiday season. Happy Thanksgiving to those here at home from our troops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPC. ARWINETTE BROOKS, U.S. ARMY: Specialist Brooks here from Camp Liberty in Baghdad, Iraq, just giving a shout out to my friends and family.
I love you all. I miss you. Happy holidays.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": It's one of the many things I love about New York City. Everybody gets into the spirit of whatever else is going on, like Thanksgiving.
And the -- Mayor Bloomberg, this guy has done a tremendous job, Mayor Bloomberg. For Thanksgiving, all the potholes are full of gravy.
(LAUGHTER)
LETTERMAN: Isn't that lovely?
Thanksgiving in New York City is a little bit different than other parts of the country. Here, the turkey is killed and nobody saw nothing. Nothing.
(LAUGHTER)
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Time now to travel "Cross Country" on this Thanksgiving Day.
Next stop, now, DC and a presidential helping hand. President Obama and his family began their holiday weekend yesterday delivering food to the needy at DC's Martha's Table. The first family handed out bags filled with turkeys, stuffing and pumpkin pies.
And finally, to Flint, Michigan, now, where veterans took time to thank troops on this Thanksgiving weekend. Members of the Michigan Patriot Guard welcomed service members yesterday as they returned home to Bishop International Airport in Flint.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDAH HOOPER, CADET 4TH CLASS, US AIR FORCE ACADEMY: Really did touch me when I walked by and all these veterans, they're are all just shaking my hand.
THOMAS BAKER, CADET 4TH CLASS, US AIR FORCE ACADEMY: Just reminds me of everything, that no matter how far away you are from home or whatever, you know that there's people rooting for you.
CROWD: Hip! Hip! Hooray!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: One veteran says he came to welcome the troops to show them the gratitude that he never got when he returned home from the Vietnam War.
And if you're watching us from home, there's a pretty good chance that you've started or are about to start cooking your Thanksgiving turkey. And here to help you get the best of your holiday meal -- Good to see you. From the Butterball University Talk-Line. Supervisor Carol Miller, she's with us now. So Carol, what's probably the most popular question that you're going to be getting from people today?
CAROL MILLER, BUTTERBALL TURKEY TALK-LINE SUPERVISOR: Well, we've been open for a couple of hours already here at the Talk-Line. There's 50 of us answering the phones, and the question that we're getting this morning most often is, "My turkey's not quite thawed out."
It may be rock solid hard --
WHITFIELD: Great.
MILLER: Or it may just have some ice crystals in it. And if you've got time, you can put it in some cold water. If you have to get turkey on the table in a few hours, you might just need to start cooking. Know that it may take an hour or more longer. You might have to take a walk or have dessert first this year but, you know, thaw it early. Thaw it early.
WHITFIELD: So, if you're -- OK. Well, now, I'm envisioning you haven't thawed it, it is rock-hard frozen. You say go ahead and put it in the oven. But how do you keep it from cooking so thoroughly and quickly on the outside while it's still very raw and hard of ice on the inside?
MILLER: Right, right. Well, you want to use a slow temperature, 325. And that's a temperature I would recommend if you were cooking any turkey. Just in an open pan like this. It's got a rack on the bottom. You can brush on a little bit of oil, if you'd like. Browns up the skin nicely. And then cook at 325.
Now, if it wasn't frozen and it is completely thawed out, a 10 to 18-pound turkey would take about three to three and a half hours unless you've got stuffing in it, and then it takes about a half an hour extra.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. So, how do you calculate how much time is going to be needed for your turkey? What's the, I guess, minute- to-pound ratio?
MILLER: Yes. You know, it's not minutes per pound, because there's some turkeys that are small as five pounds and some that are as big as 32 pounds
WHITFIELD: Yes.
MILLER: And it slows down the rate, so we just have a range. And you know, what's important is that you don't take the turkey out of the oven until you've gotten a temperature of 180 in the inner thigh. Not the drumstick, here, but that inner thigh muscle. You just poke it in, you'll hit the bone, which I just did, and then you angle it into that muscle, 180 in that thigh. And then, 165 if you have a family that must have stuffing in the turkey, you want make sure the center of the stuffing up to 165. And then, you're stopping cooking. You're not going to overcook the turkey.
WHITFIELD: Do people still have concerns about the whole stuffing being cooked inside the turkey and that stuffing you don't want to eat? Or are you an advocate of eating the stuffing that's been in the turkey, as opposed to cooking it separately?
MILLER: Well, my family loves stuffing inside the turkey, so just follow some guidelines. Don't stuff it the night before. If you've got raw ingredients in the stuffing, you can cook those up. Put it in the turkey right before you put it in the oven. Again, cook it thoroughly, 165 on the meat thermometer before you can take the turkey out of the oven. And then you're perfectly -- perfectly great. There's no problem.
WHITFIELD: I imagine every Thanksgiving a lot of questions are pretty predictable, but then, I imagine, you get a few zingers every now and then. So, what might be the oddest question you've either received this morning or even in your memory?
MILLER: Well, we get a lot of fuzzy, warm questions, and we get kind of cute questions. We had a gentleman -- we had a gentleman who thought he was doing so good. He told Mom, "I'm going to bring the turkey at 10:00 to your house." At 8:00 this morning, he called for the two-hour recipe to thaw that 20-pound turkey.
WHITFIELD: Oh, no.
MILLER: It's not doable. Luckily, he lives in a big metropolitan area here in Chicago, and he had about five stores to pass on the way to mom's, so a fresh turkey --
WHITFIELD: Oh, thank goodness.
MILLER: Is going to do the trick for their house today.
WHITFIELD: Thank goodness there are certain stores
MILLER: Yes.
WHITFIELD: That still remain open even on Thanksgiving for those turkey emergencies. All right. Butterball Turkey Talk-Line supervisor Carol Miller, thanks so much. And I love that everybody behind you is answering the phones. They're so happy about it.
MILLER: They are so busy. They are.
WHITFIELD: Awfully pleasant. Happy Thanksgiving.
MILLER: Give us a call.
WHITFIELD: Yes, we're thankful that all of you are there at the ready.
MILLER: Thank you, you too.
WHITFIELD: Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks so much, Carol. MILLER: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, of course, if you've got other questions about cooking your turkey, Butterball Talk-Line operators are there, as you see, with smiling faces, ready to take your call. The number is 1- 800-288-8372.
All right. So now, all this kitchen work might make it hard to squeeze in your regular workout. Who wants to think about that on Thanksgiving? Thankfully, one trainer has actually come up with some exercises to keep us all from becoming butterballs ourselves. She recruited some regular folks to demonstrate for us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANIE MANSOUR, FITNESS EXPERT: Would you want to do a little turkey exercise?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure.
MANSOUR: OK, so what we're going to do is, we're going to sit down in a squat. OK, so open your feet just as wide as your hips. Good. Does that feel OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
MANSOUR: All right. Now, sit back a little bit, like you're sitting in a chair. Good. So, we're going to pull your belly button in, act like you were zipping a tight pair of pants.. Got it. And then we're going to reach this up and turn it to the right. Good. Maybe a little bit closer, a little closer, here. Good. And then we're going to reach up and turn over to the other side.
We're doing a health and fitness segment about how you can do squats with a turkey before you actually cook the turkey. I'm wondering if you would mind helping me demonstrate how to do this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.
MANSOUR: OK. So all you have to do is, you have to hold this. It's really heavy, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
MANSOUR: It's about 12, 15 pounds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have it.
MANSOUR: And then, what you're going to do is you're going to sit back, like lower your bottom down, and then stand up and pull the turkey in. And then, you're going to reach it forward. Good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, OK.
MANSOUR: And then pull it in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No problem.
MANSOUR: Do you feel it up here? No problem?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. So there's the solution, if you didn't thaw out your turkey and you can't cook it today, now you just use it as your personal medicine ball there. Getting fit for the holidays.
OK, well, it's not your typical Larry King interview. This one required a little protective head gear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK HANNA, ANIMAL EXPERT: Hold those down like this. Just don't try to touch them. Just only -- all right, now. Here we go. Come here. Come here. Stay right here with me. OK, here we go. OK. Echo!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: I wonder if he was expecting that. Jack Hanna brings his horned owl and all his animal friends to CNN's "Larry King Live." We'll show you what happens next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back, and happy Thanksgiving. So, it was a real zoo last night on CNN's "Larry King Live." Jack Hanna brought his exotic animal friends for a sit-down visit. Except one creature flew in. Check out where it landed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNA: Hold it like this, Larry. Just -- these chin straps. You see here?
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Yes.
HANNA: Hold on a minute, now. There, now I see it. I see it. Just hold those down, like this. Just don't try to touch them, just only -- All right, now. Here we go. Come here. Come here. Stand right there with me. OK, here we go. OK. Echo! Echo! Whoa. You all right, Larry?
KING: What's on my head?
HANNA: Come here, Cannon? Come here. Where are you going? Do you want to do it? Yes, you can do it. Come here, you can do it. Let's let Cannon do it. Come here. All right, come here. Now. Here. Watch this.
(BIRD TWITTERS) HANNA: Now -- Larry, let's -- try this right here. Think he'll come here? What do you think, let's try it. Here we go, Cannon, now, just hold that down. Wait, Cannon, hold it. OK, hold it tight. Hold the chin straps tight, OK? Don't move. No, you hold your head up in the air. You can't bend your head, OK? Now, here we go. Echo! Echo! Whoa.
KING: Whoa.
HANNA: Yes. Do you believe that or what? Is that something?
CANON KING, LARRY'S SON: Yes.
HANNA: Yes. Oh. Do it one more time. This is fun.
(BIRD TWITTERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Very cool stuff. Steady as they go. Larry and his youngest son, Cannon, getting into the action last night. Tune in tomorrow night to CNN's "Larry King Live." His guests will be the cast of the hit TV show "Modern Family." That's at 9:00 PM Eastern time.
Today is Thursday, but did you know that it's already, actually, Black Friday in some places? Coming up, we'll tell you where you can find the good deals right now on this Thanksgiving Day. You don't even have to camp out in front of a store just yet.
But first, messages from our men and women serving abroad this holiday season. Happy Thanksgiving to those here at home from our troops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAWN DAVIS, LIEUTENANT COLONEL, US AIR FORCE: Hi, this is Lieutenant Colonel Dawn Davis. I want to say hi to my family in Montgomery, Alabama from Kabul, Afghanistan. Hi to La Francis, Doris, and Zachary. Happy holidays.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Happy Thanksgiving. It's 9:30 on the East Coast, 6:30 roughly out West. Here's some of the stories we're following right now.
South Korea's defense minister resigned this morning in the wake of the attack by North Korea. Lawmakers in the South blame the government for being dangerously unprepared for the attack.
We are also getting a new look this morning at some of the damage on the South Korean island hit in that attack. And the hammer has been nailed by a Texas jury. Former House majority leader Tom DeLay is facing life in prison after being found guilty in his money laundering case. He says it's a miscarriage of justice.
And you may have seen Christmas decorations being put up in October. Well, it's not officially the holiday season until the massive balloons crowd through New York City, as you see right there.
A live look at one of our favorite holiday tradition, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade celebrating their 84th year.
So it's time now to talk about holiday shopping. The National Retail Federation is optimistic about sales this year. The group predicts a 2.3 percent increase over last year. To more than $447 billion.
That's better than 2009 when sales were up .4 percent and a whole lot better than 2008 when sales were down nearly 4 percent that year.
So we're less than 15 hours from the official start of Black Friday but in cyberspace you don't have to wait that long or camp out in front of a store. It's actually already here online.
Let's talk about that with Regina Lewis. She is the consumer adviser for AOL.
So, Regina, why in the world are sales starting so early?
REGINA LEWIS, AOL CONSUMER ADVISER: Well, there's even a term for it, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: What?
LEWIS: It's called Christmas creep as in creeping up on the calendar. And you are right. It is primetime online. In fact, Thanksgiving Day has emerged as one of the biggest online shopping days of the year and it makes sense.
People are home, they have time. The turkey is in the oven. Maybe you're watching the football game and so if retailers like Amazon are rolling out lightning deals every half hour where you have to be really decisive or they're going, going, gone.
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.
LEWIS: And more traditional players like a Kohl's, for example, says hey, you can show up at 3:00 a.m. tomorrow for our Black Friday specials or you can get the same items today on our Web site. So they have two plays there.
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. So these deals on the Web are pulling you away from that family time which traditionally is all about Thanksgiving, and making you sit in front of the computer waiting for those deals. Sears -- apparently -- .com has a few great ideas and deals, as well. And -- are we seeing deals that if you don't take advantage of them today then perhaps you're not going to see this kind of deal, say, Saturday if you were to wait online or even if you were to wait to tomorrow to Black Friday?
LEWIS: Well, that -- that's always the trick question. And it is designed to have a sense of urgency so that you have this knee-jerk reaction. There are some door-buster specials. There is a risk of sellout on sometimes because, as you just said at the top, retailers are dealing with roughly the same economy as they were last year.
I don't think we'll see what we saw in 2008 with oh my goodness, we made a mistake. Quick, mark everything down to 80 percent. We've got to get rid of these inventories.
So the general rule of thumb is when you see a good deal, go ahead and pull the trigger because you've got the most selection now. How do you know it's a good deal? That's where the Internet comes in because you can price comparison shop on sites like Pricegrabber.com.
You can keep track of all these deals on sites like Walletpop.com. Because this is a good day to make sure if there was ever a time, sign up for your favorite retailer's e-mail newsletter. Get them to text message you. Be a fan on Facebook. Follow their twitter feeds. Because they'll send you coupon codes and things that are special deals.
Not just because you're a loyal customer and they're trying to be benevolent, but frankly they want you to share that with your friends and family so you become part of their viral marketing.
WHITFIELD: So the coupon codes are something that's transferable? You can -- you can forward them to other people and they can get deals, as well?
LEWIS: Sure. Yes. The code is the code and they'd like that to happen. The other trend we're seeing this year is people, not just wondering what to buy and when to buy it, but how they're going to pay for it, deciding up front what currency they're going to use, and making sure they optimize that.
So perhaps using a credit card where you get rewards. Bank of America has one with 1 percent cash backs. So I'm earning 1 percent the whole holiday shopping season.
I can also shop on a site like shortcuts.com where I might get that number up to 6 or 8 percent. They keep a tally and they send you a check in the mail three months later. So think ahead so that there's upside on the backend, as well.
WHITFIELD: Lots of great deals out there. All right. Regina Lewis, thanks so much. Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you're not going to be spending all --
LEWIS: Thank you. WHITFIELD: You know, the whole day online today shopping. Try to refrain.
LEWIS: All right. I'll try not to.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much.
All right. And perhaps maybe you'd rather shop the old-fashioned way. Well, guess what? There are a few stores that are open today on Thanksgiving. Take a look. Sears from 7 a.m. until noon. K-Mart until 9:00 tonight. And Old Navy from 9:00 to 8:00 tonight. Wal- Mart, well, apparently the stores vary depending on where you live.
So now looking ahead to Black Friday, Toys R Us gets an early start. It opens at 10:00 p.m. tonight. So you can shop throughout the night into tomorrow.
Kohl's opens at 3:00 a.m., JCPenny and Macy's, both open the doors at about 4:00 a.m.? In the morning? Yes. All right.
All right. Let's talk about an eyebrow-raising legal case. Tom DeLay, the former Texas congressman and House majority leader, now faces a possible life sentence in prison. More on that in a moment.
But first, messages from our men and women serving abroad this holiday season.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. 1ST CLASS RODERICK HOBSON, U.S. ARMY: Arkansas, wishing my family happy holidays. I love you.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Some politics mixing with legal news.
Tom DeLay, the former Texas congressman and former House majority leader, now faces a possible life sentence in prison. A jury in Austin convicted DeLay of money laundering and conspiracy. Prosecutors claim that DeLay illegally funneled corporate money back into Texas to get Republicans elected back in 2002.
Here's what DeLay said about the verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM DELAY, FORMER HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: I praise the Lord for what's going on here. Number one. And number two, I'm not going to blame anybody. This is an abuse of power. It's a miscarriage of justice.
And I still maintain that I am innocent, that the criminalization of politics undermines our very system, and I'm very disappointed in the outcome. But, you know, it is what it is. And we'll carry on. And maybe we can get it before people that understand the law.
ROSEMARY LEHMBERG, TRAVIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Let me just say that this case is a message from the citizens of the state of Texas that the public officials they elect who represent them must do so honestly and ethically, and if not they'll be held accountable.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: DeLay's lawyers plan to appeal. He will be sentenced on December 20th. He could get more than 100 years in prison.
Queen Elizabeth is the picture of prim, right? Well, you never see her without her hat, her pearls and her sensible shoes. Or do you? The Queen like you've never seen her before, next.
Flashing back now on this date in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Jackie Kennedy lit the eternal flame.
In 1999, a 5-year-old at the time, Elian Gonzalez, was plucked out of the waters off Florida by fishermen. He is a very much a celebrity back home in Cuba now and attends military school. All grown up.
And in 2002, President Bush signed the legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security. He also selected Tom Ridge as the first secretary.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MASTER SGT. DALE FILSELL, KABUL AFGHANISTAN, AIR FORCE: Hi my name is Master Sergeant Dale Filsell currently stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan. I'd like to say hi to all my family in Jamieson, Alabama; Clinton Alabama. I'd like to say happy holidays and hope to see you soon. I love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, going abroad now. The students' revolt again across the UK, a second round of protests over planned college tuition hikes.
Zain Verjee is live for us from London with today's "Morning Passport". Good to see you Zain. What is the latest?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there Fredricka. Happy Thanksgiving to you.
WHITFIELD: Thank you.
VERJEE: You know 10,000 students across the country were demonstrating and they were pretty mad. If you're a university student or you're about to go, you would be, too. Because the tuition fees here are going to be tripling so a lot of people were out on the street. They were demonstrating. They destroyed a police van. They were smoke bombs. There were many bonfires on the streets, as well, even and loads of graffiti, everywhere too.
Police officers were injured. Dozens of people were arrested. There's really a lot of tension around the raise in -- in the tuition fees. And what one editorial, Fredericka, was saying today was that the thing to watch out for now is the parents because if the kids are going to have to pay so much more in tuition fees and they're going to spend the rest of the -- or much of their adult lives paying it off, the parents may end up demonstrating, too, because it's going to hit their bottom line probably -- Fredericka.
WHITFIELD: Ok. In the meantime, what's this about the Israeli army using Facebook to actually catch draft dodgers? How are they doing that?
VERJEE: Well, ok, you know, ok, if -- if you're in Israel when you hit 18 years old it's mandatory for you to serve in the army so what's happening is there are a lot of people that want to dodge the draft.
So the Israeli military has a plan and the plan is Facebook. What they're doing is they're -- they're going on Facebook and they can tell whether the people who say that they're orthodox Jews and they can't serve in the army because of religious observances that they need to keep, that they go on that -- on that sites and they can tell that there's not that much religious stuff going on or they're not observing the Jewish orthodox religious systems so they're able to catch them that way. So that's a new strategy, social media.
WHITFIELD: Ok and meantime, the queen of England, she's like ok there's a date set now for the wedding, we're clear on that. Now, I've got to get on with other business. What's she doing?
VERJEE: She is on a five-day tour of the Gulf States. She -- she got there and she immediately went off to a tomb of Sheikh Zayed who's actually the founder of the United Arab Emirates.
She went there, she took off her shoes. She was barefoot. You don't often get to see royal feet like this, Fredricka. You know, so take a close. You can also see in this picture here that she's got her head covered, respectfully. And she's got this kind of beehive look with the scarf wrapped around her.
The lady next to her is wearing the traditional abaya but the queen is there and she was last there actually in 1979, and so that just gives you a -- it's been 30 years or so since she's been there. The UAE used to be a British protectorate; that's how come they have strong ties with the United Kingdom and the queen. But I though she looked pretty good there, right?
WHITFIELD: Yes, of course she looked beautiful. And of course, is anybody was wondering what kind of pedicure the queen gets now they know because they've got to see her tootsies. She bared it all.
VERJEE: Yes. Finely pedicured, yes. WHITFIELD: All right. Zain Verjee, good to see you from London. Thanks so much.
VERJEE: Thanks Fred. Thanks.
WHITFIELD: And of course, we're following lots of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Allan Chernoff, who is live at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. He's got his daughters Betsy and Alana with him. What's happening now?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's right, my kids are standing by to give you color commentary. And have a look at that, Kung Fu Panda making its way down Central Park West as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade continues. We'll have more details coming straight ahead.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh Kung Fu Panda, it was Kung Fu Panda.
WHITFIELD: Yes, how about you?
WOLF: Unbelievable. Well, Mother Nature is about to bring a karate chop to parts of the U.S., rain, sleet, and snow going to affect millions of Americans. I'll let you know what this is going to mean for your travel plans coming up in a few moments.
WHITFIELD: All right, Reynolds thanks so much.
And what's up with rapper Kanye West going on another rant? This time taking aim, again, at Taylor Swift. Hear what he said in his latest attack on that pop singer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KANYE WEST, RAPPER: Know that's what I'm good at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Tiger Woods, he says he's a different man. A year after the auto accident that led to the crashing of his personal life as well, and professional, the normally private golfer is now going public.
Here's CNN's Richard Roth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tiger Woods, once the best golfer in the world, hasn't won a tournament since the accident a year ago. But now he's trying to win more public support on the anniversary of his life imploding on a global scale.
He has written an introspective column in "Newsweek" saying "He is not the same man he was a year ago". Woods has also opened a Twitter account and appeared on a sports talk radio program; actions very un-Tiger-like when he was at his prime.
TIGER WOODS, PRO-GOLFER: I think it's about time that I basically made a connection to the fans, who have been absolutely incredible to me over the past year. There's some pretty rough times, and pretty low moments, but I just want to say thank you to them and -- and basically reconnect with them.
ROBERT TUCHMAN, EXECUTIVE VP, PREMIERE GLOBAL SPORTS: It's planned. It's obviously extremely, you know, thought out, and he's -- you know, he wants that image. He -- he's not a public guy. But he's trying to change that image.
ROTH: Tiger's image still hangs above the amateurs at the New York golf shop. One fan remembered an encounter with the old Tiger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went up to him and said, hey, Tiger, can I please get an autograph or photo or something, and he did not even look me in the face, he just kind of turned over, bodyguard came to me and looked like, hey, buddy, you got to go.
ROTH: Woods' public apology in February after allegations he was unfaithful to his wife was more directed at friends.
WOODS: I'm deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.
ROTH: Wooing back fans may be harder. Woods is credited with millions of people watching golf, even those who didn't like golf.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just lost respect for him, so I don't care about him at all anymore.
ROTH: Or golf.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or golf.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I still like Tiger Woods, no matter what. I'm not going to say nothing negative about Tiger Woods because I don't like judging people.
ROTH: Would you like to reconnect with Tiger Woods?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really have -- don't care for him, so I don't want to reconnect with him.
ROTH: Analysts estimate woods' admitted mistakes cost him hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorship money.
TUCHMAN: He has to start winning, again, you know, his image has been shattered.
ROTH: Tiger Woods now writes that he can never repair the damage he's done especially to his family, but he vows to keep trying. How many people keep watching may be based more on his success on the greens.
Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Now, Tony Harris along with us talking about --
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sorry, what is your name, Richard Roth, you want to interview me, what, for CNN? Ok, but I'm not getting off this phone call. This is an important phone call. What's your question? What's your question? What's your question?
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.
HARRIS: How are you, Freddie?
WHITFIELD: What more can we say about Tiger Woods?
HARRIS: Well, he's turkey of the year. "Sports Illustrated" has named him turkey of the year.
WHITFIELD: Ouch.
HARRIS: Again, he had a horrible year.
WHITFIELD: I heard that turkey.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes. The incident, obviously.
WHITFIELD: Yes, bad year.
HARRIS: Wrecking the family SUV, not winning on the golf course. And so now, Fred, he's launched this bit of a media blitz, right? He wrote an opinion piece for "Newsweek" where he talked about the indiscretions and talked about trying to move his life and career forward, redefining success.
All right. He did an interview for ESPN radio where he talked a lot about these issues as well.
Here's the thing. I think Richard hit it at the very end and we talked about it just a moment ago, Tiger Woods wasn't the most popular athlete on the planet because he was this stellar personality, this warm and engaging figure --
WHITFIELD: Because he was playing phenomenal golf.
HARRIS: Because he was the best golfer on the planet.
WHITFIELD: So, the fan base likely to come back once they start seeing that he is returning to his play, so you have to wonder how much of the talk --
HARRIS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: You know, whether it's his accessibility. Is it a deterrent from him concentrating on the game or is that a tool of reclaiming your fans?
HARRIS: I'm Miguel Davis of the Raiders; we just won, baby. I think it all comes back if you start saying, "Get back to your work." We've seen what's happening with Michael Vick because he's playing phenomenal football. Now he seems to be truly repentant but he's also playing amazing football. I think all this comes --
WHITFIELD: And that's what people are noticing. That's what the fans are --
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: And the fans -- they're wearing number 7 again.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes. MV Seven, yes absolutely.
We've got another sort of turkey of the year. At least so far. It's a little early.
WHITFIELD: Oh now. How many turkeys can there be?
HARRIS: There are going to be plenty. There can be plenty. There can be plenty.
WHITFIELD: Who is this turkey?
HARRIS: The Heat, I know you spend some of your time in the Florida, in South Florida.
WHITFIELD: I forever love Miami, yes.
HARRIS: But the Heats are not playing the kind of basketball you thought they would play when they signed these phenomenal players.
WHITFIELD: Is that the whole team.
HARRIS: Chris Bosh, Dwyayne Wade stays with the team, you bring in LeBron James, you believe you've got a super team here.
WHITFIELD: It's early.
HARRIS: You have a super dud of a team is what you have here.
WHITFIELD: Give them a chance.
HARRIS: They are 8-7 now, Freddie. Come on. Barely above .500; they lost again last night to the Orlando Magic. And there is -- there is this growing consensus that it is going to take a long time to pull this together.
WHITFIELD: Who is calling them turkeys? The whole team?
HARRIS: Yes, yes, particularly the folks in Cleveland where they're going to play a game in December.
WHITFIELD: Well, they're still angry. They're still very angry. HARRIS: They are bitter. But he's been named a turkey by "Sports Illustrated" because of the decision. And the way he handled it, announcing his move, I'm going to take my talents to South Beach in that ESPN farce of a special, right? And that's why he's being --
WHITFIELD: Of course, that then opens up the dialogue, do you pass up opportunities, you don't allow yourself to grow, to move on ever because of loyalty?
I'm with you. I think it's absolutely you've got to look at this as a business. He absolutely did.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
And -- but it doesn't look like it's panning out. It might have been a great business decision but it doesn't look like it's panning out on the court at least right now. And you're right.
WHITFIELD: It could take a little time, to get acclimated --
HARRIS: It's early.
WHITFIELD: Now you went from (INAUDIBLE) to now sports highlights -- thanks, Tony.
HARRIS: I have to get back. A lot of show prep to do.
WHITFIELD: Ok, that's right, you have a show coming up. All right. We will do that. We're going to do the rest of our show right here.
All right. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
