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Three Boys Lost at Sea Found; Holiday Shopping Bonanza is On; 'The Help Desk'; Rare Look at Korea's DMZ; Wolf Blitzer is a Soul Man
Aired November 26, 2010 - 11:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone, I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour in CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen. Here are some of the people behind today's top stories.
Rescue at sea: Three teenage boys given up for dead, lost at sea for 50 days, finally found. You will hear from the man who rescued them.
Lining up and eager to spend: Holiday shoppers gets an early start. The big question -- will their spending be enough to lift the struggling economy?
OK. Turkey trouble, pretty serious, right? A Thanksgiving mishap that gave the whole family indigestion. A semi scary, completely -- trust me -- hilarious report from one of our CNN iReporters.
And let's get started -- trust me on this -- with our lead story.
We will get to the Black Friday sales and tensions on the Korean Peninsula in just a moment, but we start with this amazing story of survival.
Three boys lost at sea for 50 days -- 50 days. Authorities declared them dead. Their families even held funerals for them. But then they were found, starving, of course, dehydrated, to be sure, and sunburned, but very much alive. They were drifting 240 miles off the coast of Fiji when a crew member on a fishing boat spotted them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAI FREDERICSEN, RESCUER: The first impression of seeing them physically was just devastating. Your heart really dropped. The state they were in physically.
But the upside to it, they're -- their willpower was just incredible. They had smiles when they -- we did get them on board. We were taking a route that we actually never would take. It was just pure by chance, a miracle. You can be the judge, but after two days of us actually proceeding (ph) towards New Zealand, these boys were directly on our bow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So here's the thing. Two weeks ago, relatives of the teens held a memorial service. Now they're planning a celebration of thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Firstly, the village will have to go and give thanks to God in the church. But that's the first thing the village is going do, I think. And then we'll celebrate and have a big feast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So the fishing boat would not usually have even been found in that area, would not have even been in that area, but the fishing boat found the missing boys, obviously just in the nick of time.
Chad Myers is here now to put this in to some kind of perspective.
Chad, first of all, where were they found?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: In an aluminum dinghy.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: Basically, an oversized bathtub floating on the water.
As they left Atafu, this island here, a beautiful atoll -- I mean, water in the middle and all this. But they were 750 miles from where they were literally supposed to be.
They were searched for, for days and weeks by the New Zealand Air Force and all that. Never found them.
And they drifted so far away, that they were actually closer to Fiji than they were to where they left, about 250 miles from Fiji, 750 miles from -- so these kids were drifting -- kids, literally, what, 14, 15, 13? Drifting in the ocean.
Had a couple days with rain. They drank the rain water.
They caught a shore bird somehow. They ate the bird raw. But you in the past couple of days, they were starting to drink ocean water because they just couldn't deal with it anymore.
That is deadly. Literally deadly.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: Had this gone on for a couple more days without being found, the drinking of the saltwater would have literally killed them. Hawaii, the U.S. -- so let's go over here to see, how far did they actually drift? All the way from Sault Ste Marie, all the way down Lake Huron, through Lake St. Clair, down Lake Erie, and all the way up through -- over the Niagara Falls, and back over here to the Thousand Islands area.
Another idea -- New York City, all the way to Bermuda. The Florida Keys, all the way down to Port-au-Prince.
This is how far they floated.
HARRIS: Are you kidding me?
MYERS: There wasn't a boat, there wasn't a sail. They literally bobbed along the ocean.
And they said the weather was horrific at times, and the boat nearly capsized more than once. Fifty days out there with nothing to eat.
They used their ration -- they had rations in the boat. They used them in two days. They thought, oh, somebody, will find us. They never did.
HARRIS: That is a miracle.
MYERS: It's good stuff.
HARRIS: Yes. It's good, good stuff. Yes.
MYERS: This is the second one. I remember one just a couple of weeks ago. And they have that out there again.
HARRIS: Yes. We remember that story. We were talking about that, as well.
Chad, appreciate it. Thank you. See you a little later in the hour.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, it is almost as much a part of the Thanksgiving tradition as the sweet potatoes and the cranberry sauce. That's right, overcooking the turkey.
And this guy we're about to show you way, way, way overcooked the bird this year. It is our "Random Moment."
Check out this iReport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you trying to take this out? Don't!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Watch the turkey!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen -- get out of there! Get away. Get away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kelly (ph)!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take it out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kelly (ph)!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get the turkey out of there! No!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open the door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's open. It's open.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. Here's the good news. Despite the grease fire, the turkey was actually salvageable.
You know, it kind of remind me of another classic bungled bird. Remember the scene from "A Christmas Story"?
(MUSIC)
OK. All right. All right. Couldn't resist.
All right. So the only way to perhaps ease the stress of cooking that holiday turkey is to go out and do some shopping. And according to the National Retail Federation, the majority of us plan to pick up a little something for ourselves while we are out there.
How much will the average person spend on themselves -- you see the choices here -- around $50, $100, or more? We will have the answer just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, just before the break, we asked you, how much do holiday shoppers say they plan to spend on themselves this holiday season? What do you think? According to shoppers surveyed by the National Retail Federation, people plan to spend $107 on themselves.
Let's see some of these live pictures. Do we have one from Atlanta here, the Best Buy in Atlanta?
All right. OK. All right.
Is this tape or live pictures? It seemed to freeze.
Live pictures? OK.
This is the Best Buy. I believe this is on Cobb Parkway, if you're familiar with Atlanta at all, just outside the perimeter, 285.
Our thanks to our affiliate, WGCI. I think it's a live picture. It's just freezing a little bit.
Folks perhaps spending on loved ones, and perhaps spending on themselves, as well.
One hundred thirty-eight million people expected to shop on this Black Friday. Thousands of them were waiting outside Macy's in New York early this morning.
Poppy Harlow of CNNMoney.com is there.
Poppy, a quick question for you. Are people willing, in your estimation, based on what you've heard from folks, to spend a lot given the state of the economy?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: They are, Tony. You know, it's phenomenal.
We got here very, very early, 4:00 a.m. is when the doors opened. And I've got to tell you, there were 7,000 people outside this Macy's. You see a lot of them.
Hi, guys.
(CHEERING)
HARLOW: A lot of them crowded behind me, very excited to be here. That 7,000 number is actually up from 5,000 last year, so the situation so far, in terms of shopping, is looking a little better.
Now, I think the big question, Tony, is, are people really spending, or are they just in the stores as part of the novelty of it? And a lot of people are just here to see what kind of deals they are.
They're comparing with what's online. We still have Cyber Monday coming up as well.
But I want to bring in two of our first-time Black Friday shoppers.
Come on, guys.
We have Alicia and Nathan now. I think, Tony, Nathan is just terrified by all the crowds and all the people.
But you're buying a lot, right?
NATHAN CHRISTOPHER, SHOPPER: Well, she's buying. I'm just here for moral support, carrying the bags.
HARLOW: What are you guys spending on? Are you spending on yourselves, buying gifts now? Are the deals any good? I know you're up here from Tennessee just for this.
ALICIA BURCHAM, SHOPPER: Just for this. And I feel bad, but it's kind of just for me today. I don't know why I'm doing that. I was all about getting presents for everyone else.
It's not happening. All for me.
HARLOW: She's got a lot of clothes in here.
And you guys have a lot more shopping ahead, right?
BURCHAM: Oh, man, been up since 6:00, been doing this for six hours now.
HARLOW: Oh my gosh.
BURCHAM: I'm going to eat and then go back at it.
HARLOW: All right. You're going to go re-power.
BURCHAM: That's right.
HARLOW: Thank you, guys. Good luck.
So, Tony, I mean, clearly, people are spending history. The question is, how is this going to all turn out at the end of what is going to be about a month-long, very important holiday shopping season?
Tony.
HARRIS: Hey, Poppy, before you lets your friends go here, would you ask them a quick question for me?
HARLOW: Sure. I will.
HARRIS: Do your friends have a budget in mind for this holiday season? And are they planning to spend a little bit more than last year?
HARLOW: I feel like Nathan does. I don't know about Alicia.
But do you guys have a budget, and are you planning to spend more than last year?
CHRISTOPHER: Well, I haven't spent a cent. It's all her. So whatever she wants to do is fine by me.
HARLOW: Wait until she starts asking you for your credit card, by the way.
BURCHAM: As for a budget, no. No budget, because this is New York City. Like, you've got to just go with the flow if you find something. They're all great deals.
HARLOW: All right. Only the good deals.
I will tell you, Tony, we're advising people to keep on the lookout, because deals are going to be here all holiday season. Don't spend more than you have right now. That credit card won't be pretty.
And I do want to tell you one good thing about people like this shopping a lot. If these stores do well, the hiring is really going to pick up. HARRIS: Yes.
HARLOW: What we just learned this morning, Tony, Macy's hired 65,000 seasonal workers. That is very good for this economy. Best Buy hired 20,000 seasonal workers.
Each of them want to keep a couple thousand of those workers as full-time workers if the spending this season is what they expect. They expect to see a pickup.
So I guess you guys are doing your part in trying to help the economy. Have fun.
BURCHAM: Thank you.
HARLOW: And thanks so much.
CHRISTOPHER: We will. Thank you.
HARLOW: All right, Tony. I'll send it back to you.
HARLOW: Poppy, terrific. Say good-bye to your new friends for us. And thank you, as well.
HARLOW: I will.
HARRIS: Let's gets a market check from the New York Stock Exchange for getaway day Friday. We're a little better. We're in better shape here.
We were in triple-digit loss territory earlier this morning, so we're off of session lows. We're down 83 points. The Nasdaq, at last check, is down six. So things are getting a little bit better.
Let's take a break. We're back in a moment.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Hey, I don't know if you had an opportunity to get a little bit of the CNN Heroes show last night. A terrific, terrific, terrific show.
MYERS: Yes.
HARRIS: And what I want to do is, I want to run it in its entirety the terrific performance last night from that guy, John Legend. Right?
MYERS: Yes.
HARRIS: And that's the rapper Common.
And who's the young woman? One of the kids on the floor will know, the young woman that's singing with him last night?
But this was a terrific performance. We're going to run it for you in its entirety in just a couple of minutes right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We're back in a moment.
MYERS: Fantastic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions.
Joining me this hour, Carmen Wong Ulrich is a personal finance author. And Ryan Mack is the president of Optimum Capital Management.
Glad you guys are here so we can ask you a couple of questions.
The first one coming to us from Al in Illinois, who writes, "Now that I've assembled a diversified portfolio, how do I withdraw funds when I need cash?"
Ryan?
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, first of all, we have to worry about what we do before we assemble a diversified portfolio so we never have to withdraw the cash. When you put that -- when you have 50 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds and 10 percent cash, that is your asset allocation that you should have to maintain ideally for the duration until you want to start taking money out when you start retiring.
Do you have your six to nine months living expenses? That's what you should be withdrawing from. Do you have your insurance, do you have your state plan in place? Do you have your budget to make sure you can consistently (INAUDIBLE) and put money into your portfolio every single month?
So, you don't want to touch your portfolio until you start taking money out. But, again, also, talk to your tax adviser, talk to your financial adviser. Be aware of the tax ramifications, even if you're 59 and a half, you start taking money out and you're retiring. Understand exactly how much you're paying, exactly how much you're going to receive, and then -- so you can live off that in your distribution years.
ELAM: And leave everything else alone.
MACK: Exactly.
ELAM: All right. The next question coming to us from Jason in Ohio, who writes, "How can you find lenders that will loan money to people with bad credit?" What do you say, Carmen?
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, PERSONAL FINANCE AUTHOR: You've got to be careful here, because you don't want people that are going to take advantage of you. Here's the thing -- it depends on what you're borrowing for and it depends, really, on how bad your credit is.
Like, say you're going to buy a car, he wants to buy a car. A dealership and dealer financing is probably the best option, as banks and other lenders may not want to lend to you.
However, if it's a credit card, again, a secured card is a great way to go because it works like a debit card, and then it builds your credit as you go along. But it's going to cost you more.
And here's the thing -- if you live in a community, if you're part of a union, go to your community bank, go to your credit union. They're much more likely to lend to you because they know you and you're part of their community.
ELAM: Yes. It's much better if they can have that personal attribute there.
ULRICH: Exactly.
ELAM: All right. Well, thank you so much, Carmen and Ryan, for being here.
ULRICH: Thank you.
ELAM: Do you have a question you want to get answered? Well, go ahead and send us an e-mail any time to CNNHelpDesk@CNN.com.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We just got these pictures in from Portland, Oregon, so we want to get them on television for you.
Hey, little baby. Hello.
We've got the Macy's Holiday Parade stepping off in Portland right now. Babies on the sidewalk, watching the floats go by.
You know, the holiday tradition in Portland is this parade, and it is happening right now. Just got these pictures in. Wanted to show them to you.
Black farmers were excluded for decades from USDA loans and assistance. Now the Senate has approved $1.5 billion to fund a settlement as much as $50,000 for each victim of racial bias.
Meantime, many black farmers are staying in business by getting back to their roots -- organic farming.
Stephanie Elam explains in our "What Matters" segment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM (voice-over): In a tight economy, and with federal funding sometimes tough to get, some black organic farmers are still struggling to stay afloat.
Robbie Graham knows about it firsthand. She was born into organic farming. Now she runs a farm in Jacksonville, Georgia, with her husband, Hilton.
ROBBIE GRAHAM, OAKTREE FARM: Even when I was growing up, the black farmers didn't get the same attention that other farmers got. And I haven't seen any changes in it, even up to today.
ELAM: So, Graham took matters took matters into her hands, getting help wherever she could.
GRAHAM: When I was told no, that there wasn't a certain grant, I kept going. I visited my county agency and I took a certification class in Savannah, Georgia, through SAAFON.
ELAM: The SouthEastern African-American Farmers Organic Network offers resources for black farmers to maintain their businesses.
CYNTHIA HAYES, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SAAFON: The organization came about really as a request of farmers who were interested in becoming organic, and not knowing how to go about going through the certification process, about the programs that are available, about the funding that's available, about the training that's available.
ELAM: Growing organic produce came naturally for many black farmers.
HAYES: Historically and culturally, when you go back and you look at African-Americans in the agricultural industry, a good many of what was called conventional farmers at that time were actually growing organically with the use of cow manure and et cetera. And the reason for that was another economic reason. They couldn't afford to buy the soil amendments.
ELAM: The Grahams' persistence and education has paid off. Today, they say they are able to operate their farm better.
GRAHAM: We will have the opportunity here to be able to give quite a few people in our community jobs. And we have a number of wonderful clients down on the East Coast.
Our customer knows that we not only grow good produce, but we try to make sure that they can afford it. So, in this economy, I think we're doing pretty good for the size that we are at this point.
ELAM: The Grahams are now expanding their business, supplying to restaurants and farmers markets. But they say their job is not done.
GRAHAM: I want to be able to have my farm developed to where I can hire more people so I can have better facilities. I think I deserve that chance. I want to have a well-developed farm just like everybody else does.
ELAM Stephanie Elam, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: To read more stories that matter to all of us, just pick up the latest issue of "Essence" magazine right now.
Hey, Roger, let's get back to those pictures from the Macy's Holiday Parade there in Portland. We've got a band up now.
We'll be back in a moment.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Taking a look at a couple of top stories for you right now. Throngs of Black Friday shoppers hitting the stores today. An estimated 138 million are expected.
And the man police call the honeymoon killer had been arrested. A grand jury in Alabama indicted him in her death. His newlywed wife died while scuba diving.
North Korea's warning of being on the brink of war with South Korea comes just before the U.S. is set to start military exercises with the South. It follows Tuesday's shelling of a South Korean island. Four people were killed in the attack. The North said it was responding after South Korean war game shells landed in its waters. Technically the two nations are still at war after a 1953 truce. They are separated by a heavily armed demilitarized zone. Our Zain Verjee takes us there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Glares, scowls, and sneers. The most loyal of North Korea's troops serve here, on guard at the Demilitarized Zone that splits North from South. Back to back with U.S. and South Korean soldiers, separated only by a 16-inch concrete line. If you cross it, the consequences could be deadly.
(on camera): That's North Korea, and we're looking at North Korean soldiers on the other side marching away from us, marching away from the military demarcation line. They're so close, we can see the expressions on their faces. Stern.
(voice-over): At the DMZ, it's all about being macho. South Korean soldiers, six-feet tall, wearing shades march out to position themselves opposite their enemies. Filling the cuffs of their pants with ball bearings to sound more intimidating. Cameras perched on North Korean guard towers track our every move. The U.N. command cameras on the South Korean side eyes the other side, too.
A North Korean soldier trains his binoculars on us. While another peeps through a window, then abruptly withdraws.
(on camera): This is a North Korean people's army building. You can identify it by the silver structure. The blue ones over there are actually representative of the U.N. buildings. But as we've been standing here, the North Koreans are actually going behind the curtains. Every so often they lift them up and take a look at us. It's actually quite humorous. We're standing out here filming them. And they're outside looking at us. They're looking --
Take a look.
(voice-over): And the North Korean soldiers aren't the only ones watching. A Chinese group visits on the other side, filming us as we film them. While the hard stares and tough guy poises were apparent, what's also striking is a parallel atmosphere of casualness. Despite the standoff, the two sides do occasionally talk, and when they do it, it's in this building called T-2.
The most interesting thing in this room is actually this table. You can see a line sort of runs right through the middle of it. And the most fascinating and exciting thing about being here in this otherwise ordinary room is that this is the South, but when I step over this way, across the line, I'm in North Korea.
And if I open this door right here, which I can't, because South Korean and American troops are guarding it and protecting us, we'd go straight into the arms of the North Korean military on the other side.
North and South Korea are still officially at war. A peace treaty's never been signed. The troops here would be in the front line of fire in a battle were ever to break out again. There are fears that if North Korea tests a nuclear bomb, it will set off a nuclear arms race in the region of South Korea and Japan, will want one, making the region and the DMZ even more dangerous. Zain Verjee, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And still to come in the CNN NEWSROOM, Wolf Blitzer like you have never seen him before.
This is good stuff. He is out of "THE SITUATION ROOM" and doing the Dougie.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So we all know CNN's Wolf Blitzer has got all kinds of swag. But even I wasn't ready for his performance at the Soul Train Awards. Entertainment journalist Kelley Carter joining me with what's popping in entertainment. I'm telling folks, Wolf literally stole the show. And let's understand this. There were -- you can run down the list of names. There were big stars in the house.
KELLEY CARTER, ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Absolutely. You have -- you know, Oscar nominees Terrence Coward --
HARRIS: Terrence Howard.
CARTER: Taraji P. Henson, Anita Baker, Ron Isley, R. Kelly. But it was Wolf Blitzer.
HARRIS: Eric Benet, right?
CARTER: Eric Benet was there.
HARRIS: He gave a terrific performance.
CARTER: Absolutely.
HARRIS: So describe this for folks. We think Wolf is going to come out, he's going to read something, he's going to do some spin on "The Situation Room." What happens?
CARTER: You know, Wolf Blitzer said that he wanted to learn how to Dougie. So what better thing than to actually bring up --
HARRIS: What is the Dougie?
CARTER: It's a dance that I will not embarrass myself and do right now on CNN.
HARRIS: You were preemptive with that, by the way.
CARTER: Exactly. Exactly. You know, he got up and had Dougie Fresh --
HARRIS: My goodness.
CARTER: Teach him how to Dougie. It was an amazing moment.
HARRIS: Am I overstating it by saying it was the most -- hey. Hey, got video of yours truly. Am I overstating it by saying it was the moment of the show?
CARTER: It was the moment of the show. And that was a pretty big moment to have.
HARRIS: It really was. OK, the Soul -- the BET Awards, wait a minute, it's the Soul Train Awards on BET this Sunday.
CARTER: This Sunday.
HARRIS: At 9:00.
CARTER: At 9:00. And you've got to tune in and see Wolf get down.
HARRIS: Wolf steals the show.
CARTER: Steals the show.
HARRIS: So give me an update on the Charlie Sheen story.
CARTER: Yes, you know, craziness. The adult film star.
HARRIS: Porn actress?
HARRIS: Porn actress, let's call it that. Gave an interview and shortly after the interview, Charlie Sheen files suit against her saying that he actually -- that she tried to extort him for $1 million. Saying that she wouldn't talk if he gave her $1 million. She says that he threatened her and, you know, threatened to kill her. So we'll see what the D.A. says. Criminal charges have not been filed against Charlie Sheen yet. But he has, you know, filed that extortion suit against her.
HARRIS: All right. OK, so give me something that you're going to watch this weekend.
CARTER: Something to watch this weekend?
HARRIS: Something to watch this weekend.
CARTER: OK.
HARRIS: In entertainment.
CARTER: OK. How about "Faster?"
HARRIS: Just don't say "The Notebook." Faster?
CARTER: The new rock movie. It's excellent. This is his return to action. It doesn't have a lot of dialogue, but he kicks a lot of butt in the film.
HARRIS: All right, are you hearing anything -- what's the buzz on "Burlesque?"
CARTER: "Burlesque," pretty good. I think it actually is going to come out on top this weekend.
HARRIS: You think so?
CARTER: Yes.
HARRIS: It's great to see you.
CARTER: Nice to see you too.
HARRIS: Good to have you in Atlanta instead of la-la.
CARTER: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Let's do this more often. If you want more information on entertainment news, things breaking in the world of entertainment, you can get it on "Showbiz Tonight" at 5:00 and 11:00 on HLN. So Kelley, "CNN Heroes," an amazing show. OK, amazing show. The top ten heroes, fantastic. All of them doing extraordinary work. This guy -- you were to talk about a show stopper. I didn't see it coming.
CARTER: Yes. John's amazing.
HARRIS: John Legend in this performance from "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Gala." We're going to run the performance in its entirety in just a couple of minutes right here on the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A Thanksgiving proclamation from the president. Ed Henry, part of "The Best Political Team," live from the White House. And Ed, it is good to see you. Happy Thanksgiving weekend. And let's start with what's crossing for you right now.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, you mentioned this proclamation. It's pretty interesting because you can find it right now at CNN.com/1600Report, that's our new CNN White House blog. It seemed like a pretty non-controversial thing, the president extolling the virtues of Thanksgiving, pretty much every president does, it's a tradition.
But in politics, anything can become controversial. And Rush Limbaugh is criticizing the president over this proclamation. Oh, boy is right, saying, look, that the president was too positive in what he was saying basically about Native Americans when the president said that they showed compassion and characteristics that there were contributions from Native Americans as a bountiful feast and whatnot, his telling of Thanksgiving.
Well, Rush Limbaugh was saying that the president ort of made the pilgrims out to be sort of -- incompetent, the bad guys. It turns out if you go back, Media Matters, this liberal group has gone to 1981 when Ronald Reagan gave a Thanksgiving proclamation, said pretty much the same thing and extolled the virtues of Native Americans, et cetera. So this seems like another example of when almost anything in politics, even a Thanksgiving proclamation, can be controversial.
HARRIS: Gosh.
HENRY: The other big story, of course, that's going on right now is the situation in the Korean peninsula. You've got North Korea now saying that we could be on the brink of a war. You had the South Korean president the last couple of days vowing possible retaliation against North Korea.
Now the president, back on -- couple days ago had called South Korean President Lee to kind of calm the situation. We're now being told by administration officials we can expect the president to call President Hu of China as early as today, tomorrow, some point in the next couple of days. The key there is that there are a lot of administration officials who believe that China may be the only country here that can sort of be a middleman and go to the North Koreans because of their economic ties and other ties and sort of break through and really calm this situation, which has gotten very tense.
HARRIS: It really has.
Ed, I understand in her latest post, Sarah Palin is making fun of the president and the media. What's this about?
HENRY: Well, she's upset because she did a radio interview a couple of days ago with Glenn Beck as I recall in which she said that we need to stand with our North Korean allies, not our South Korean allies.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes.
HENRY: Look, it's a verbal mishap. We make them on live TV, live radio, whatever the case may be.
HARRIS: Right.
HENRY: But she took to Facebook and basically laid out some of the president's mistakes. She says, why doesn't the media make more of that? Back in 2008, you'll remember, he once talked about visiting all 57 states instead of 50 states.
HARRIS: Yes.
HENRY: And then she's got all kinds of links to other miss -- things that she says are mishaps. But I was taking a look at it before and she links to some YouTube videos that are actually like sort of doctored videos of things the president didn't really say as a candidate, things that didn't really happen at debates. Sort of some things where people took liberties on YouTube. So not everything she links to as her evidence is, shall we say, accurate. So there you go.
HARRIS: You're right. It's live television. It's live radio. It happens.
Ed, it's good to see you, man.
HENRY: You never know what's going to -- yes, good to see you.
HARRIS: Yes, absolutely. Have a great weekend.
Your next political update coming in one hour. And for the latest political news, you know where to go, cnnpolitics.com.
Another look now at Black Friday shoppers. Neither rain, nor cold, nor dark of night could keep determined shoppers from lining up early. So just how much are shoppers expected to shell out? Well, the National Retail Federation predicts about $447 billion will be spent this holiday season. This Black Friday weekend alone, retailers expect to do about $41 billion in business.
We're back in a moment.
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HARRIS: If it is hot on the web, we are watching it for you with you. Sandra Endo is in Washington today with what's trending.
And, Sandy, obviously the hot topic in social media has to be Black Friday. What are folks say about it? SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. It's hugely trending today because everyone's on line looking for those special deals. And masses are out at the stores. But the traffic is huge in cyber world.
Now, check it out. You know, there are so many deals to be had. And typically all the web traffic is on Cyber Monday coming up. But sales are already starting online right now early this year and analysts predict, Tony, there will be a 9 to 16 percent increase in online shopping this holiday season as opposed to the 2.3 percent increase in crowds at the stores.
So everyone is basically, you know, trying to get a good deal. And sometimes you can get a secret deal or extra coupons if you're following certain stores on Facebook or Twitter. But there are things you want to think about to stay safe online. You know, look out for those restocking fees. Don't use public Wi-Fi. And don't wire money when you're going to pay. So this is a huge story trending online from cnn.com and on Twitter.
HARRIS: And this next story you have is really a tough one, isn't it?
ENDO: This is so tragic.
HARRIS: Yes.
ENDO: It's the number one story on cnn.com right now. A tragic story. A fatal prank in Vermont. And it involves a 24-year-old man who was shot to death by his friend who wanted to wake him up using an air riffle as a joke.
HARRIS: Right.
ENDO: Well, it turned out the rifle was a real one and the man was shot in the chest and died. And the shooter, his friend, was charged with manslaughter.
HARRIS: Wow. And the last story is interesting because we were all concerned that there might be all kinds of problems as folks are trying to get through TSA screenings to get on flights and to get home for the holidays.
ENDO: That's right.
HARRIS: And so there is one woman that took an unusual approach to this, correct?
ENDO: That's right. Talk about extremes. I want to see you do this one, Tony. Take a look at this video. It's trending on cnn.com right now.
HARRIS: You are funny.
ENDO: A girl wears her bikini to go through the TSA screening at LAX Airport. Look at her there. She leaves little for screenings to imagine that she could possibly be hiding anything dangerous. Do we have sound from her? Listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they want to try and see what I've got hidden in my bikini, they're welcome to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENDO: Oh, boy. Yes, the woman says she wanted to get through the screening without the hassle and was afraid of the stiffer regulations.
HARRIS: That's a fine American right there. Trying to make life easier for everyone this holiday season.
ENDO: I knew you'd like that one.
HARRIS: Sandy, have a great weekend. Thank you.
ENDO: You too.
HARRIS: Retailers are waging war for your business. CNN's Karin Caifa reports. Let the toy wars begin.
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KARIN CAIFA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Full steam ahead into the holiday shopping season. The wishes of little people mean big business, which means lots of retailers want to be players in the toy game.
SEAN MCGOWAN, TOY INDUSTRY ANALYST, NEEDHAM & CO.: If you don't want to be in it this time of year, then you don't want to be in it.
CAIFA: The National Retail Federation says nearly 42 percent of holiday shoppers have toys on their list, and despite in expectation they'll part with more green this year, retailers still believe price is key.
STEVEN RESTIVE, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS, WAL-MART: We'll actually have more than 4,000 toys on sale at Wal-Mart between our stores and WalMart.com and our goal to be the everyday price --
CAIFA: At this Wal-Mart store in Alexandria, Virginia, shelves are stocked with items topping early wish list from "Toy Story" to Legos. Along with their other big boxed rivals, they'll have competition from Toys "R" us and the toy business year round. And after opening 90 seasonal pop-up stores last year, they brought back that concept and then some.
JERRY STORCH, TOYS R US CEO: We like what we saw, so this year, we're opening over 600 express stores in malls and shopping centers. Our objective there is to make it even more convenient to shop at Toys "R" us.
CAIFA: As for the season's must-have-item, whatever it is, shoppers will go searching.
MCGOWAN: There may yet be that sort of dark horse that comes on and becomes the it toy that the kids are going to hold their breath and their parents are going to pull their hair out on again (ph).
CAIFA: Because toy fads come and go, but holiday memories can last forever.
In Washington, I'm Karin Caifa.
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HARRIS: Boy, oh, boy. A simply amazing performance by John Legend at the "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" show. I saw it live in Los Angeles. Man. And I want you to enjoy it. It is my Thanksgiving treat to you.
(CNN HEROES AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Bon Jovi just a couple of the big names featured at the fourth annual "CNN Heroes: All-Star Tribute." If you missed any of it, see it again this weekend. Two more chances to watch, Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
CNN NEWSROOM continues With Deborah Feyerick.
