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Snow Collapses Metrodome Roof; Floodwaters Swamp Northwest; Oprah's 'Favorite Things' Trip to Australia; The End of Privacy on the Internet; Palin Urges Americans to Continue to Support Haiti; Major Blizzard Hits Midwest, Heading East; Gimmicks Stores Have in Place this Holiday Season
Aired December 13, 2010 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: As you know, the weather outside is downright brutal. A monster storm that pounded the Midwest is headed east, and parts of the Pacific Northwest remain under a flood warning. Even the Deep South is in the deep freeze. We are freezing here in Atlanta, that's for sure.
In Nashville, the wind-chill today makes it feel like minus 3 degrees. And it is bitterly cold in Detroit, the scene of tonight's game between the Giants and the Vikings.
Weather is the reason the Giants and the Vikings are playing in Detroit tonight. Part of the roof in the Metrodome -- have you seen this video? The Metrodome in Minneapolis collapsed under the weight of all the heavy snow. Several panels of the Teflon roof ripped apart, causing a gaping hole.
Parts of Ohio could get hit with more snow today. Blowing snow and low visibility are causing dangerous driving conditions.
And look at these pictures of the flooding we told you about in Washington State. Rivers in nine counties crested at or above flood stage yesterday.
Let's bring in Rob Marciano.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: It is cold inside the Metrodome today. It's not supposed to be cold inside the Metrodome, but it is because of that big hole in the roof.
CNN's Chris Welch reports from Minneapolis on efforts to repair the damage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS WELCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the blizzard's moved out of Minnesota, but not without leaving its mark. And you can see quite vividly that mark.
Yesterday morning, folks woke up around the country basically reading news online, seeing it on Twitter, Facebook, these reports of the Metrodome roof collapsing. Crews will be arriving on the scene today to really assess these three damaged Teflon panels.
It basically all just kind of came crashing down. But the facilities director here says it looks worse than it really is.
They expect to be able to fix it hopefully in a matter of days, maybe weeks. The Vikings have another home game December 20th. We'll see if it will be up and running before then.
But they'll assess the situation today. Hopefully by later today, or, at the very latest, tomorrow, we'll know a little bit more about how much longer it will take to repair.
As for the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants, they'll be playing in Detroit tonight, not Minneapolis. Fans who had tickets who can't go will get a refund. If you can go, you'll be giving preferred seating. Now, in addition to that, they'll also be giving away free tickets to anyone in Detroit who wants to go check out that game.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK. Let's get more on the flooding in the Northwest.
CNN all-platform journalist Patrick Oppmann is live in Seattle.
And Patrick, if you would, give us an update. We're talking about, what, nine counties where rivers have crested at or above flood stage? That was yesterday. What's the scene today?
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN ALL-PLATFORM JOURNALIST: Well, you can see just in the last hour, Tony, the skies are finally lifting around Seattle. And this is a place that's known for rain, rain city, but not this kind of wet weather that they've experienced over the past few days.
So, the sun finally peeking out here, and there's a lot of drying off to do. Some of these rivers crested, as you said, in nine different counties, flooding several homes. Several hundred homes had to be evacuated. Some of those residents actually had to be taken from their homes by hovercraft.
Another major problem that's affecting the entire region, Tony, is landslides. And some of those landslides actually have stopped train service, Amtrak service for the Pacific Northwest just south of Seattle and north of Seattle. Some of those landslides coming in, not making it safe for Amtrak to operate.
The train service today, they're hoping to have it back up and running by tomorrow. In the meantime, they're going to probably be putting people on buses to get them around the Pacific Northwest. But just a major headache for people.
Luckily, though, no reports of injuries or deaths so far. So, good luck here, people were able to be rescued in time. But some of them will be going back to their houses today and probably finding they've got a lot of cleanup to do -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. And that's the silver lining.
All right, Patrick. Good to see you. Thank you, sir.
We are getting images of the wintry storm system through your iReports. You can see some of them displayed here over my shoulders. Lots of snowy scenes from your perspective.
Keep sending us your pictures and stories of the storm as it makes its way across the Northeast, and we'll get them on the air here.
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: An eight-day, all-expense-paid trip to Australia. Talk about favorite things, Oprah does it again for her studio audience. And the trip is expected to end big at the Sydney Opera House, temporarily renamed the Oprah House.
CNN's Tracey Holmes is in Sydney with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRACEY HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the filming of Oprah's two big shows at the Sydney opera House is happening tomorrow. So what better way to warm up than a day on Sydney Harbour?
A lot of her audience has decided to hop on board the Tall Ship Replica which is a replica of Captain James Cook's boat from the 1700s. They're learning to sail a tall ship.
Oprah herself, meanwhile, decided to go on board a much smaller yacht called the Eagle Rock, where with she's doing an interview with the actor Russell Crowe.
But this is how she's doing it, on Sydney Harbour, relaxing before the two big shows tomorrow, where they'll have the biggest audience ever collected on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. We look forward to that extravaganza in little under 24 hours' time.
Tracey Holmes, CNN, Sydney.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK. Launch day for a new political organization that stands for the premise No Labels.
First, a check of the markets.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A new political movement launches, and it is happening right now. It is called No Labels.
Organizers say the country should move forward, not left or right.
National Political Correspondent Jessica Yellin on the story at Columbia University in Manhattan.
Jessica, good to see you.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
HARRIS: You've got my curiosity piqued here. Tell us about No Labels.
YELLIN: We've got an interesting shot up right now. I'll tell you, this is an organization -- you're looking at a panel discussion on hyperpartisanship and how the country can move away from it.
This is an organization that says it will be the radical center. If you are sick of all the partisan bickering in Washington, if you believe that too many politicians are governing focused on the next election and not the long-term good of the country, and if you think that there's not enough voice being given to the majority of where Americans stand, this group says they're for you. And they are trying to harness what they again this radical center.
Here's some of the group's founders explaining what they plan for this to be.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY JACOBSON, NO LABELS LEADER: The day will soon be a thousand people from all 50 states, Republicans, Democrats and Independents, by word of mouth only, brought together and united by a simple idea -- No Labels, which means never give up your label, just put it aside so we can do what government should do and solve problems and find commonsense solutions.
REP. TOM DAVIS, FMR. MEMBER OF CONGRESS: We're going to add a voice to the middle. We're going to call ourselves the radical center, if you have to, of people who look at these issues and care about results, as Senator Gillibrand said.
We care about results. We don't care about the rhetoric. We don't care about ideological purity, about caving in. I've been through all that in my political career.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Well, that was a congressman at the very end, but a supporter of the organization.
And Tony, they plan to sort of harness the grassroots movements around America to really try to influence our political system and the way Washington speaks, even -- Tony.
HARRIS: Boy, wouldn't that be something?
So, Jessica, can this work?
YELLIN: You know, it's a good question. They do have a lot of star power behind them. Mayor of New York Bloomberg will be speaking here later today. Some of the people you saw on the stage are some of the top Republican and Democratic fund-raisers and operatives.
And they plan to throw a lot of their fund-raising muscle into raising money for this and getting people throughout the country to organize house parties and online communities where they can sort of lobby members of Congress the way MoveOn.org does or the way the Tea Party does, but to take centrist positions or hold their ground.
So we'll see if it does work. Many groups have tried to do this sort of thing and haven't. But because it's such a strong coalition of powerful people, who knows? Maybe it could -- Tony.
HARRIS: We need this to work. Need more ideas brought to the table.
Jessica, good to see you. Thank you.
The Knicks bringing Ws back to Madison Square Garden. Are you kidding me? Really? It's been a decade since we've been talking about any kind of winning at Madison Square Garden and the Knicks.
Plus, will Brett play today?
And it's in the bag. Cam Newton wins the Heisman.
That man, where is he? Oh yes. NBA TV's Matt Winer joining us to talk about sports in just a couple of minutes.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Good to see you, baby.
MATT WINER, NBA TV: Good to see you.
HARRIS: Yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, the fans were on their feet at Madison Square Garden.
Matt, when's the last time we saw that?
WINER: It's been a long time.
HARRIS: Fifteen, 16 years? I mean, literally.
WINER: Yes.
HARRIS: Matt Winer is here.
WINER: Hi. Good to see you.
HARRIS: Matt, when did you join the mother ship here at Turner?
WINER: Turner Sports?
HARRIS: Yes.
WINER: In January.
HARRIS: It is good to have you aboard, man.
WINER: It's good to be here. Thanks.
HARRIS: OK. So let's talk about the Knicks, playing terrific ball. Is it an eight-game winning streak?
WINER: It is --
HARRIS: It's at least eight.
WINER: -- that sounds right. It's more like 11 of their last 12, if you want to go back further than that. They're about to hit a much tougher stretch of schedule which we'll tell you a little more about. But beating teams you're supposed to beat is a big part of the NBA.
HARRIS: OK. And this guy who just hit this jump shot right there, Amare Stoudemire, is the guy -- he's their center, but he is playing all over the court.
Talk to us about this guy's play. He left Phoenix and he got off to a bit of a slow start. But now?
WINER: Well, there's an adjustment period, as there has been -- you've seen that with the Miami Heat as well, the free agents down there. But he was one of the marquee free agents of the summer.
The Knicks were hoping to pair him with another marquee free agent, because they've saved up salary cap money to do so. But there were questions about Amare Stoudemire. A, his health. He's injury-prone, he has been historically.
HARRIS: Yes.
WINER: One of the reasons the Suns wouldn't go further with the deal that they offered.
HARRIS: Right.
WINER: And secondly, could he carry a team? He's been a great player, but he's always played with Steve Nash and set him up for a lot of easy buckets. Well, he's doing that right now, and he's a leading candidate for MVP in the NBA.
HARRIS: But it's early. Come on. I've heard --
WINER: It's December.
HARRIS: Yes. OK. But here's the thing -- I'm one of these guys who believes that the NBA is a much better league when the Knicks --
WINER: Oh, sure.
HARRIS: It's been forever since they've been competitive.
WINER: Absolutely.
HARRIS: But it is a much more interesting league when the Knicks -- for me, it's like when the Raiders are playing good football. It's better for the NFL.
WINER: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Do you agree with that?
WINER: I agree with you. And more importantly, Commissioner David Stern would agree with you.
HARRIS: Yes.
WINER: Let's face it, New York is the center of the basketball universe.
HARRIS: Right. Deserved or undeserved.
WINER: They call their arena the most famous arena in the world. They play there. There are famous fans there. It's got all the components you want, major media market, all those.
HARRIS: An amazing subplot that we were talking about in the break is that Carmelo Anthony, a terrific player for the Nuggets, is signaling to everyone, hey, I don't want to play for you guys anymore. But more than that, I want to play with this guy, Amare Stoudemire.
WINER: Right. He's not saying that publicly, but the reports are that that's the only team he would sign an extension with should he be traded. So, he's got all the leverage in this deal.
If Carmelo Anthony sat on Santa's lap right now, two things would happen. First of all, Santa would cry out in pain, he would be crushed, he would be very uncomfortable.
HARRIS: Yes -- 6'8" and big.
WINER: Secondly, assuming there were no media around to document this exchange, he would tell Santa, I want to play for the New York Knicks. Brooklyn-born, that's where he wants to play.
He'd love to team up with Amare Stoudemire. And he has all the leverage because he can opt out of his contract next summer. The Nuggets have offered him an extension somewhere in the neighborhood of $65 million, and he said no? That's fairly telling.
HARRIS: Right.
OK. I want to get to Brett Favre before we run out of time here.
WINER: Sure.
HARRIS: The Metrodome collapses, essentially, right?
WINER: Yes. HARRIS: So you don't play this game yesterday. And there was a lot of questions going into the game yesterday as to whether or not Brett would be able to play because of an injury suffered in last week's game. They are going to play the game in Detroit tonight.
Does the streak end tonight?
WINER: I think so.
HARRIS: OK. And what do you think about that?
WINER: All indications are the streak will end. It should end. It's got to end sooner or later.
HARRIS: Right. Right. But 300 is a nice round number.
WINER: Sure. He's at 297 right now. He's already got the record by a lot over Peyton Manning.
HARRIS: Peyton Manning is next on the list, right?
WINER: He's in the low 200s.
HARRIS: Right.
WINER: You're talking about five, six seasons worth of consecutive games played for Manning to eventually catch Favre. More importantly, you're trying to win football games. Brett Favre is hurt, and he hasn't been very good, B. And the Vikings are trying to win a game.
HARRIS: OK. Before we jet, Matt, Cam Newton, who looks like just a man, an outsized man, even sitting in the chairs with the other Heisman contenders before the announcement is made -- he just looks like a man among boys, even in that setting. He has the Heisman now. Will he get to keep it?
WINER: Well, it looks that way at the moment. But we thought that with Reggie Bush back in 2005.
HARRIS: Right.
WINER: He didn't get to keep his either.
Imagine back in 1972, if voters had elected Richard Nixon in a landslide knowing about the Watergate investigation. That's sort of analogous to what happens with Heisman voters over the weekend, because they voted for Cam Newton, who is clearly the best --
HARRIS: Head and shoulders, shoulders and heads.
WINER: -- not even close. The vote wasn't close. At the same time, more than 100 voters left his name off the ballot because of the NCAA investigation.
HARRIS: Right. OK.
It's good to see you, Matt.
WINER: Good to see you. Happy holidays.
HARRIS: Yes, happy holidays to you. Let's have you back before the holidays, after the holidays.
Matt Winer.
Still to come in the CNN NEWSROOM, they are the pictures everyone is talking about this morning. We're talking about official engagement photos of Prince William and bride to be/future queen Kate Middleton.
Sandra Endo has that and other big stories on the Internet. It's what's trending, and it is next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: If it's hot right now on the Web, our Sandra Endo is all over it. Sandra joining us from Washington this morning.
Sandy, good to see you.
What's catching your eye this morning?
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Tony. Good to see you.
Trending today on CNN.com's international section, what else? The royal engagement photos of Prince William and Kate Middleton. There you have one of them, one of two actually released.
And we're supposed to call her Catherine now, actually, Tony. And the two photos were taken by Mario Testino, and they were officially released Saturday, well ahead of their April 29th wedding in London, which, as you can imagine, will likely become a national holiday.
And the photographer said the couple was lovely to work with and very much happy and in love. What bliss.
HARRIS: Well, that's terrific.
ENDO: Right?
HARRIS: Yes. I love that. OK. We'll take them full. That's great.
ENDO: Yes, so cute.
All right. Checking here, though, bliss may not be what you're finding at the malls, because as you can imagine, they are packed with holiday shoppers, right, Tony?
HARRIS: Yes. Oh, yes. I've been there. I've put in my time. ENDO: Well, a few days ago -- yes, holiday shopping time. Well, a few days ago at a New Jersey mall, a very pregnant lady all of a sudden went into labor and her water broke. But who was there to come to the rescue? Can you believe it? Comedian Chris Rock.
He was shopping there as well. And according to "US" magazine, he started telling jokes to help calm the woman down, and made a crowd of onlookers laugh as well. And he basically stayed there until paramedics took the lady away.
And the lady definitely recognized him when he approached her, so clearly trying to save the day there. Yes, that was trending big on the blogs this morning.
HARRIS: Hey, I can't wait --
ENDO: And finally --
HARRIS: -- this last item about Vladimir Putin?
ENDO: Yes. Take a look at this.
Not only is he a world leader, who knew he had other talents? Have a listen.
(MUSIC)
ENDO: So that is Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin singing "Blueberry Hill" for a children's charity in St. Petersburg. And he sang it in English and played the piano, as you saw there. So he could be a contender probably for "American Idol" if he wanted to, right?
HARRIS: That feels like one of those performances you do for charity. I don't know if that's the case, but it just has that kind of feel, I'm doing it because I'm raising money for a really, really good cause, otherwise, I wouldn't be.
Sandy, good to see you.
ENDO: Right. It was for children actually, yes.
HARRIS: Oh, perfect. Perfect.
ENDO: Good to see you.
HARRIS: All right. See you next hour.
Your personal information, cherished moments and embarrassing secrets at the mercy of hackers on the Internet. You already know the Web can be dangerous. Wait until you hear how ridiculous easy it is for crooks to foul up your life.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Got to tell you, in cyberspace nothing is confidential and whether you like it or not, your so-called personal information may already be public record on the internet. It is the subject of a weeklong investigation here at CNN that we are calling the End of Privacy.
Here's Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dick Hardt put photos of his Hawaiian wedding on Facebook to share with close friends, but when he made mention of it on Twitter, he didn't know a link would be attached, giving more than 3,000 followers access to some rather intimate images.
DICK HARDT, PRIVACY INVADED ONLINE: We didn't think they were offensive in any way, but my wife didn't prefer for everybody to see those photos.
MESERVE (voice-over): While his case was embarrassing, others are downright dangerous. Sarah Downey was horrified when a picture of her young daughter was hijacked from her Flicker account and used in a sexually suggestive Portuguese language profile on Orchid.com, a social networking site.
SARAH DOWNEY, DAUGHTER'S PICTURE HIJACKED: It broke my heart. It broke my heart.
MESERVE: Downey posted a translation to warn other Flicker users, but then she says, total strangers exploited the internet to find her phone number and, worse, her home address.
DOWNEY: We would go to the grocery store and I'd wonder, has this person seen my daughter? Are they here trying to find us, trying to get close with my daughter?
MESERVE: Since then, Downey has tried to protect her private information. Has it worked? With her permission, we gave her name to Steven Rambam, a private investigator who harvests information from the internet. In less than 90 seconds he turns up 100 pages of possible links.
STEVEN RAMBAM, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Frankly, anything you would want to know about this young lady seems to be available on the web.
MESERVE: On sites like YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, more and more Americans are making their private information public. Put it together with public documents like newspaper accounts and property records, and a portrait emerges.
Take Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Using free, publicly available information on the internet, a Fordham University Law School class came up with 15 pages of information, including Scalia's home address and phone number. Even the movies and foods he likes. JOEL REIDENBERG, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY LAW STUDENT: If we were willing to spend $100 for the project, we would have been able to acquire far more intrusive, far scarier information.
MESERVE: Private investigator Rambam says any time you hit the send button, your information is no longer your own. He says your frequent flier program, movie account, book purchases, even some searches can be tracked, stored, and sometimes sold.
RAMBAM: I have a window into your soul. I know what you believe. I know what you think. I know who your family is. I know who your friends are. I know your politics.
MESERVE (on camera): Orchid.com says it has updated its policies and tools to find and remove fake profiles like the one of Sarah Downey's daughter. And Google says it gives customers the tools they need to protect their personal information. Many of us could be more careful.
In addition, some privacy experts would like to see standardized and simplified website privacy policies, or government restrictions on secondhand use of private information.
MESERVE (voice-over): Steven Rambam sees a lot of positives to having so much information on the internet and says the genie is already out of the bottle.
RAMBAM: Ten years from now, you're going to have a choice of getting used to minimal privacy or subleasing the Unabomber's cabin. That's going to be your two choices. The fact of the matter is, there's nowhere to hide.
MESERVE (voice-over): As Rambam puts it, privacy is dead. Get over it.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, our Poppy Harlow investigates just how much of your personal information could already be leaked online as our special investigation, the End of Privacy continues.
Rob Marciano is keeping an eye on that raging winter storm moving out of the Midwest. And our iReporters -- you -- are out in force as well. Here's what Mike and Bobbi Stouffer are seeing around their house in Wausau, Wisconsin.
We are back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Did you watch some of the football yesterday? MARCIANO: Oh, did i.
HARRIS: Can we start with the Pats game?
MARCIANO: Lots of which were weather related. How about that snow bowl in Soldier Field, baby.
HARRIS: Come on, now. This is it supposed to be the elements for the Bears, they love it, this is their field, their time of year. Cold weather conditions, snow on the ground. And what happens with the Ferrari of quarterbacks in the NFL? Tom Brady says, oh, yes, bring it on.
MARCIANO: They've get some nasty weather in Foxborough, too. So it's not like it's ever Tampa.
HARRIS: It was funny. Urlacher, the fabulous linebacker for the Bears saying, you know, these guys -- we're a great team. We think they might be a little overrated. OK, 36-7 later .
MARCIANO: It looked like they were playing in 80-degree weather it was so smooth.
HARRIS: Did you see the pictures out of the Jets game?
MARCIANO: Yes. That was all rain. Boy, it was -- what was the final score?
HARRIS: That one was 10-6 in that scoring marathon.
MARCIANO: So that drop that Santonio Holmes had --
HARRIS: Right, huge.
MARCIANO: That was the game basically.
HARRIS: And then the subplot here was the strength and conditioning coach for the Jets taking out one of the Miami Dolphins players as he's running on kick coverage on the sideline, tripping him.
MARCIANO: Bringing a new meaning to taking a knee.
HARRIS: Bingo.
We got one more great pic for you.
How about this? San Diego in December.
MARCIANO: They're wearing short sleeves.
HARRIS: Isn't that great?
MARCIANO: Blue sky.
HARRIS: And pretty good game, too, if you're a San Diego fan.
MARCIANO: Boy, the Chiefs looked good earlier in the year. I don't know what happened.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Yes. If you're a Chargers fan, it looks pretty good. They're on that late season run again that we're so used to with them.
Matt Castle, the quarterback for KC is hurt. Had an emergency appendectomy, I believe on Wednesday of last week. And so he was unavailable for the game. And San Diego and Phillip Rivers rolling again. Good stuff.
MARCIANO: Get out to San Diego and take in some of that sunshine.
HARRIS: Come on, do that. Enjoy that.
Thank you, Rob.
Promotional gift cards for holiday shoppers. They're like giving candy to a baby, right? A few things to think about when we get to top tips. That is next. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Taking a look at top stories for you right now. A powerful winter storm that pounded the Midwest is moving east. Residents in Cleveland could see as much as nine inches of snow today. The menacing system is expected to unleash snow squalls and freezing rain through the Michigan, parts of Indiana, Pennsylvania, and the northeast.
U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke remains in critical condition at a D.C. hospital. Holbrooke had surgery to fix a tear in his aorta on Saturday. He underwent another seven hours of surgery on Sunday to improve his circulation.
The mystery sound surrounding the Mona Lisa gets more intriguing. Is there really something to the so-called "Da Vinci Code?" Scientists have apparently unlocked yet, again, another secret. This time Mona Lisa's inquisitive eyes hold the key. A tiny "LV" in the right eye and possibly "CE" or "B" in the left? Art experts are still scrambling to decipher what it all really means.
You are busy shopping this holiday season. Stores are pretty busy, too, packed in some cases, plotting ways to get you to buy more than you planned.
The CNN Money Team's Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange for us with today's Top Tips.
Steph, good to see you.
What, oh, what is a shopper to do, Stephanie?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN MONEY TEAM: Well, Tony, it's good to see you, as always. It's one of those things, before you head to the mall, you've got to get a few things in your mind, get them set, because believe it or not, Tony, Consumer Reports says the average person will spend 15 hours shopping for gifts this holiday season. And you've probably already gotten a slew of fliers, catalogs, all sorts of things crammed in your mailbox from department stores and other retailers.
But it's promotional gift cards that many stores send out that really get people in the door and make them spend. Now, Brit Beamer, who's the chairman of America's Research Group, he tells us that this tactic is being used more than ever this year.
You, consumer, Joe consumer, you walk into a store with a promotional gift card for $10 off your purchase, and then you often spending up way more than you even anticipated before you walked in. It works out great for the retailers but maybe not so great with your wallet. The best strategy is plan out what you want, how much you're willing to spend before you walk into the store, Tony, so that way you don't walk out and be like, where did the other $99 in my wallet go?
HARRIS: Yes. So, you know, a lot of these promotional mailings that we get, advertise these great deals, these great sales. But we always see the quantities are limited. And you're telling us we shouldn't let the fine print scare us?
ELAM: Pretty much, Tony. I mean, think about it. Stores are in business to sell because that's what makes them money. So they're going to do what they can to sell as much as they can early in the season.
So stores will often order limited quantities of major sale items. Beamer said the things that get people about the specials is there's a limited quantity of something. When shoppers see exact quantities of an item advertised or in the store, they're afraid it will run out and then they go out and buy it right away.
Well, don't fall for it. Retailers usually get multiple shipments of popular items throughout the holiday season. So if you don't get what you want in round one, try again or search for the item online. You might find it that way. You know, there's more than one way to get what you need.
HARRIS: Absolutely. All right. So, Stephanie, if you would, stick around. I believe you've come up with a couple of other -- you've detected, unlocked a couple of other sneaky ways stores have come up with to get you to buy.
ELAM: But, of course.
HARRIS: So we'll get to those in just a moment.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK, back now with Stephanie Elam, and we're talking about gimmicks the stores have come up with to get you to spend more, more than you had anticipated during the holiday season.
And Stephanie, good to see you.
Again, if you would, you tell us your nose knows when merchants are out to trick. So give us the final tip of the day.
ELAM: Yes, it's so true, you know. A lot of that ambience that you find in the store really can have a way of getting you to stay in the store a little longer, get a little Nat King Cole playing, "Chestnuts Roasting on the Open Fire," and there you are, just opening up your wallet, you're just spending, spending, spending. That's the main thing you want to be aware about. They want to make sure that you are nice and relaxed when you take a look at what is going on in the store. So the scents are going to make a big difference there.
Also, places like Williams Sonoma, think about it. You smell like those baked goods. It works for them. Also Brit Beamer, who we were talking about earlier, he says that if he was going to own a store, he'd really pay attention to the playlist because the music is key. He says that is what really gets people to stay in there. If they like the song, they sing along, they keep shopping and then they spend a little bit more money.
So you get -- you might want to think about that. If you're getting a little caught up in the spirit and you have a few more things in your basket than you thought about --
HARRIS: Blame it on Nat King Cole.
ELAM: -- there may be a reason why. So just be aware of it.
Yes, Nat King Cole could have gotten you. Does it every year all the time.
HARRIS: Exactly. All right, Stephanie. Good to see you, as always. See you next hour. Thank you.
ELAM: You too.
HARRIS: A whole lot of Christmas gifts are flying above us right now. FedEx says today is its busiest shipping day. The company expects to deliver 16 million -- wow, 16 million packages today alone. Much of them are gifts you've ordered online. But the U.S. Postal Service says its busiest day will be December 20th, the Monday before Christmas. That's when it expects to deliver 800 million cards, letters, and packages.
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HARRIS: Time now for your CNN Equals Politics update. Mark Preston, part of the Best Political Team on Television, live from the political desk in Washington.
Mark, good to see you. What are you following right now?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Tony. How are you? This weekend Sarah Palin was in Haiti. Of course, she is America's sweetheart, so to speak. So certainly the conservative sweetheart. But she was in Haiti this week to check on the conditions in that country. She was there with the Christian organization Samaritans First.
She had a little bit of a news conference on Sunday to talk a little bit about what she's seen and what she learned. She said that the conditions down there are much rougher than she had expected. She also goes on to say that, you know, I don't want Americans to forget the need that is here in Haiti. More importantly, for Americans and people across the world to know what an individual can do to make a difference.
Now of course, Haiti is still in turmoil at this point. The presidential elections are in crisis at this point. Of course, they're still trying to figure out how to cope after the earthquake there, Tony. So, Sarah Palin down there doing a little bit of some good work, I guess.
You know, tony, something to be said about politicians. Who says a politician can't cry? In fact, let's hear what the incoming House speaker John Boehner had to say about his tearing up on election night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What got to you that night?
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: Talking -- trying to talk about the fact that I've been chasing the American Dream my whole career. There's some things that are very difficult to talk about. Family, kids -- I can't go to a school anymore. I used to go to a lot of schools. You see all of these little kids running around -- can't talk about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?
BOEHNER: Making sure that these kids have a shot at the American Dream -- it's important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: And there you have John Boehner, the Ohio Republican. He's the incoming House speaker. He was first elected in 1990. In many ways, he has lived the American Dream.
John Boehner grew up in a restaurant in a bar. He was once in the House Republican leadership. He was knocked out of that position, but he has fought his way back and he will now be the chief negotiator for Republicans on Capitol Hill when we head into the next Congress -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. That was kind of tough to watch.
All right, Mark, appreciate it. See you next hour. Your next political update in an hour. And for the latest political news, you know where to go. That's CNNPolitics.com.
Stories we are working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. The end of privacy, certainly your privacy online. CNN is making this one pretty personal. It is a subject of a weeklong investigation. We will tell you the horror stories and what you need to know to protect yourself.
And reviewing the current strategy in Afghanistan. The surge was a success, but where do we go from here? We will get answers when we go live to Afghanistan.
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HARRIS: You know, a lot of people are still digging out in the Midwest from that huge blizzard. Take a look at what our iReporters, Mike and Bobbi Stouffer have been going through in Wisconsin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About a foot or snow, you think already? Somebody that wiped out in front of our house here.
What have we got here, Bobbi? We'll get you out of here, man. We got you out, buddy. Merry Christmas.
We've got blue skies ahead, though. The winds are what's probably the worst today. Roads are pretty clear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
