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Newt Gingrich Under Fire Over Immigration; Holiday Travel; Illegal Immigration Debate; Failing on the Debt; CNN Debate: Security, Foreign Policy Divide GOP; Fired Over "Mark of the Beast?"; Texting Versus Turkey; Holiday Tips from "Mom Central"

Aired November 23, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's go, get you caught up on everything making news this hour here on CNN, "Rapid Fire."

Let's go, beginning with today, one of the busiest travel times of the year. It is officially upon us. Some of you know this all too well. Two major storms, one in the Northeast, the other in the Pacific Northwest, could interfere with travel plans. We're going to have a weather update for you on any problem areas today.

Also in just a minute, we will take you live to Atlanta's airport, the world's busiest, to find out if passengers there are facing any delays or other issues trying to fly in and out.

Also, military police once again trying to break up all these of protesters there in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Earlier in the evening there, religious leaders called on police to put down their weapons and there was even word of a truce, but so far no sign of this protest wrapping up. We will check in with our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, there on the ground in Cairo in a matter of minutes.

Also, another Arab leader swept from power. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Saudi Arabia today signing away his power to his vice president. This is all part of a peace agreement that effectively ends his 33-year rule. As part of the deal, Saleh will not return to Yemen. And CNN's Richard Roth reports that Saleh will now go to New York for medical treatment. He was wounded in an attack on the presidential palace.

New updates today in the cast of that lone wolf terrorist who was accused of plotting bomb attacks on U.S. veterans, police, and post offices in New York. His father says Jose Pimentel is not a terrorist but his family was concerned about his conversion to Islam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN JOSE PIMENTEL, FATHER (through translator): His brother would tell me that that religion is bad, it's for Arabs, for crazy people, for terrorists and such. And he had gotten into that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Jose Pimentel was arrested Sunday just an hour from finishing his first bomb.

A new ban on executions in Oregon. Governor John Kitzhaber says it will be in effect as long as he is the governor. He made the announcement while issuing a reprieve for convicted murderer Gary Haugen scheduled to die in two weeks. The governor has been governor really since the mid-'90s, when the last two Oregon executions happened. He says he cannot participate again in something that he believes to be morally wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's scared. She's scared. Please, I know she's scared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A mother pleads for the safe return of her missing 5-year- old daughter and yesterday that same mother appeared before a judge. Police arrested Jerice Hunter Monday on child abuse charges. Her daughter, Jhessye Shockley, was last seen just about a month ago, when she allegedly wandered out of their home. Police are now asking anyone with any kind of information to call them.

And the former dictator of Panama Manuel Noriega can go back to his home country to face charges, but he had his political rival killed there. A French court approved Noriega's extradition today . He's been serving a prison sentence there for laundering money from French banks.

And forget the astronaut ice cream. They will be celebrating in space tomorrow with a turkey dinner. The crew of the International Space Station has all the proper American Thanksgiving provisions, the trimmings. In fact, you're going to see Dan Burbank here, the American commander, next hour who just arrived at the station last week on a Soyuz rocket. We're told no pumpkin pie. Dessert is -- sounds kind of tasty, though, cherry-blueberry cobbler in space.

And in D.C., two turkeys are safe this Thanksgiving thanks to an official pardon from the president. Liberty and Peace, the pardoned turkeys, can breathe a sigh of relief for the time-honored tradition. The first official presidential turkey pardon was given by President H.W. Bush back in 1989.

And we have a lot more to cover for you over the course of the next two hours, including this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: A young woman is thrown into jail after a relative rapes her. We first told you about this outrageous story of injustice just 24 hours ago and now something's changed. I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): A woman is blamed for being raped and then gives birth to her attacker's child.

GULNAZ, RAPE VICTIM (through translator): A lot of people told me that, after your daughter is born, give it to someone else.

BALDWIN: Now prosecutors are reducing her sentence but keeping her behind bars. We will tell you why.

A man says he was fired for refusing to wear a sticker at work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will never, ever, ever put that number on my body.

BALDWIN: A symbol, he says, is the mark of the devil.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm prepared to take the heat for saying, let's be humane.

BALDWIN: Newt Gingrich under fire for suggesting some illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay.

GINGRICH: It's an immigration policy which destroys families.

BALDWIN: I will speak life with Alan Simpson, a straight-talking Republican with a history of immigration reform.

And a chopper cut in half after a collision with wire. Wait until you see what happened to the pilot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right.

Holiday travel in full swing. AAA estimates more than 42 million Americans will be on the move this Thanksgiving. And according to the Air Transport Association of America, slightly more half of those holiday travelers, some, give or take, 23 million people, will be flying.

George Howell is at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, one of really the biggest and busiest airports on a normal day.

George, set the scene for me. I don't see a whole heck of a lot of people around you right now. But how is it?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, we just went inside and I can tell you it's a busy day here, but not as busy as you would expect on this Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.

Look, I'm crossing the street no problem here. You would expect a lot more traffic out here. But you find inside pretty good news for travelers. In fact, the security lines, quick pass-through as far as security, quick passage as far as checking bags.

And inside you find kind of a mix of travelers. You find those people who are going up for short stays with family. You also find some great stories with our military men and women who are coming home for hopefully an extended stay. In fact, we talked to two soldiers, a great story there. Just take a listen to their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SGT. JASON TINKER, U.S. ARMY: When we walked down to the baggage claim, there was about 600 people just all of a sudden started whistling and clapping. And it was an amazing feeling, amazing.

HOWELL: And as far as being back, what's the first thing that you plan to do?

TINKER: Kiss my wife. I have been married to her for 20 years and I love her to death.

HOWELL: What is it like to be back on American soil, to be back home?

STAFF SGT. MELISSA MEINZER, U.S. ARMY: It is the best feeling, especially so close to the holidays. I think all of us are really, really excited to get to spend time with our family for the holidays. It's been so long since we have been gone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: So a good situation for a lot of people that are going home.

And in fact look at the three skycaps we see there. Usually pretty busy, I would imagine on a day like this, right now, not so bad, in fact not too bad as far as traffic is concerned. Maybe this is the calm before the storm before the storm. I don't know, but right now, not so bad out of the world's busiest airport, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. George Howell, as I knock on this glass desk, I don't want to be jinxing those skycaps. For the most part, other than the folks that you talked to who are amazing and are serving our country, do other travelers seem to be in fairly decent spirits as well coming and going?

HOWELL: Indeed. In fact, there were a few people who ran into delays, complications through Atlanta last night. We had some weather blow through that caused a few delays, but again right now the sun coming out from the clouds, a great day to travel through Atlanta's airport.

BALDWIN: Anything new, anything different that people need to know with regard to getting through security quickly?

HOWELL: You know, we are finding that people are moving through quickly.

In fact, the security checkpoint at this point about 10 minutes, that's pretty fast. So whatever the changes are that they have made that may not be disclosing at this point, it seems to be working here at the airport -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, George Howell, I hear that loud airplane over you, so I will let you go. George, thank you so much. We will check in with you next hour.

And as you can see here, take a look at this -- see the lower third, the red part in the bottom of your screen. We're keeping tabs on all the current airport, your weather conditions around the country. And another popular option for many of you traveling this holiday is hopping on the train, Amtrak.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is live from Union Station in Chicago.

Ted, I understand your morning started nice and early. How was the train?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, 4:30 in the morning, Brooke, we started. And it was a wonderful ride. Didn't have to drive. It took about five-and-a-half-hours and we had great weather. Now we're at Chicago's Union Station. We have been meeting people coming and going (AUDIO GAP) Thanksgiving and whatnot (AUDIO GAP)

BALDWIN: OK. Ted Rowlands, we're going to check that connection, get back with you and see how people are faring on the trains.

But at this point in the show, I just want to pause and say this.

As you gather with your relatives to begin this holiday season, we hope that you will keep our CNN family in your thoughts, because we have suffered a loss here today. Our friend and colleague Stan Case of CNN Radio was killed in a car accident in Alabama as he and his wife were headed to Oklahoma to go visit family.

His wife, Angie Stiepel Case, was seriously injured. She is a veteran writer for many of the CNN NEWSROOM programs you watch right here each and every day. Stan was an award-winning journalist here at CNN for more than 20 years, but Oklahoma was home, and he was honored there on so many occasions by professional organizations for his work.

And Stan was also a licensed attorney in Georgia. But we know it was his role as husband that brought him the greatest joy, and it's not very often you can walk down the hall in your office and witness two people so truly, so deeply in love.

And Stan would have done anything for her.

And, Angie, we just want you to know, on this day, you are in our thoughts and our prayers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: They kicked out their old boss, Hosni Mubarak, and now, nine months later, the people of Egypt have lost face -- faith, I should say, with their new boss, Mubarak's former army chief and his temporary government.

This is day five of these images you see here. Obviously, it's dark. It's evening over Cairo. This is live, a second insurrection, massive, Egyptians returning to central Cairo, scene of the unrelenting revolt that toppled Mubarak some months ago. Senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is there for us live.

And, Ben, we have seen protesters. They are hurling rocks, they're setting fires, police firing tear gas. What's going on? You're there. What's going on that we can't see?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we can't see, because we're overlooking Tahrir Square, where the atmosphere is actually almost festive -- there are tens of thousands of people out here. Some of them making speeches, some of them chanting.

But as you may be able to hear the ambulance in the background, there is a full street battle going on just a few hundred yards to the east of this square. Now, earlier this evening -- or, rather, this afternoon, there was a truce. Religious leaders came and somehow worked out a truce whereby both sides, the protesters and the police, would stop throwing rocks at one another. The police would stop firing tear gas.

And the army intervened right in the middle. And we were with them. The army kept the police back on the one side and the protesters on the other. And for about three hours, there was a lot of chanting, lots of shouting, the protesters taunting the police.

But there were no rocks thrown. Nobody fired tear gas. But all of a sudden, one stick came over the crowd and stones followed. And within literally five seconds, the truce shattered. And the fighting has resumed and it's been going on now for about three-and-a-half-hours.

So, hopes for some sort of calm have been shattered and we're back to where we were about seven hours ago -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, Ben, with this fighting then continuing for that long, is there a unified voice coming from these people, the protesters? And are the authorities acting as though they even know what the heck they are doing?

WEDEMAN: Well, there is no sort of single voice coming from this square and that's how Tahrir was back during the revolution. They scorned leaders. They want everybody to speak for themselves and send a very unified message.

In this case, they are calling for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to stand down. On the government side, the messages are very mixed. The army seems to be distancing itself from the Interior Ministry, which is the ministry that organizes the riot police and the security forces we have seen.

The army came out with a statement today saying they had fired no tear gas at the protesters. Whether or not that's true or not, it's difficult to say, but the message it sends is, it's them, it's the Interior Ministry forces that are causing more than 30 deaths, more than 3,000 injuries. It's not the army -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Ben, if you can hear me over the sirens, my final question is, elections, we know they are set for Monday. Can anyone actually -- is there campaigning? Can you campaign amidst all of this, the fighting, the bloodshed? Can the voters deliver a message that could also bring about stability in Egypt?

WEDEMAN: Well, it's a good question because every few hours I have to remind myself there's an election on this coming Monday.

Nobody seems to be talking about it. If you get outside of Tahrir, go around Cairo, it's full of campaign banners and protests all over the place. But by and large, it would appear, at least in Cairo, much of the campaigning has come to an end.

Some of the parties have said they are simply not going to campaign given the current circumstances. So it's not sure. Of course, the government has said that elections will take place as planned. But the focus is so much on this commotion, the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people in Tahrir, that it seems to have sort of faded into the background.

Will it make a difference? It's hard to say. Many people are worried that these elections, which actually go on until March of next year, could be violent. And at this point, more violence is not what Egypt needs -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Ben Wedeman in Cairo, Ben, thank you.

Now, this -- unreal. In case you thought Christmas tree lightings are not dangerous, this is very dramatic video. We're going to show you what happened to the pilot after this helicopter met that wire.

Also, it is the horrific video. Remember the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair there? Sugarland, scheduled to perform moments before the accident, now the victims are suing the band. And CNN has just heard back from Sugarland. We will read you their response next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A helicopter crashes, the whole thing is caught on camera. This helicopter, you can see it here, clips what appears to be a wire as the pilot was helping install just a Christmas tree.

This is Auckland, New Zealand. The chopper, as you just saw, totally comes apart, tail snaps off. Amazingly, no one was hurt. The pilot walked away.

Here's Michael Holmes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A helicopter hovers over Auckland's waterfront, helping set up a huge Christmas tree display.

Ground crews assisting from below, the copter carefully begins to descend. Then watch what happens next. Workers scramble to get out of the way and then rush in to help pull the pilot from the wreckage -- the whole thing caught on camera and streamed live on TVNZ's Web site. Witnesses say the chopper apparently struck a cable, then flipped around and slammed into the ground, shearing.

The pilot, Greg Gribble, was tossed around the cockpit like a rag doll, but, amazingly, and with some help, he was able to walk away from the crash.

Gribble's son says his father was shaken up, but otherwise OK.

JAZ GRIBBLE, PILOT'S SON: It's pretty nerve-racking, actually, to see my father, yes -- have it come crashing down around him. Yes, it was pretty nerve-racking.

HOLMES: Aviation officials say Gribble is an experienced pilot with thousands of hours in the air and a good safety record. Right now, they are reviewing the chilling video of the crash to find out what went wrong.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: The pilot walked away. Amazing.

Now country duo Sugarland facing some serious legal charges -- 44 survivors of last August's stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair, they're now suing the singers, along with the families of four others who died.

As you remember, it was horrifying moment, the caught thing on camera. At least 20 law firms across Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky filed this complaint accusing Sugarland, concert promoter Live Nation, stage riggers and others associated with the show of -- quote, unquote -- "breach of reasonable care to the victims."

This is the largest claim yet stemming from last August's tragedy. CNN reached out to Sugarland for reaction. The group they had no comment.

Now this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRICH: I'm prepared to take the heat for saying, let's be humane in enforcing the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Newt Gingrich under fire after suggesting some illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay right here in the U.S.

Also, Rick Perry made a similar comment. And remember what happened to him? He dropped in the polls. Will this, will what we saw at the CNN debate impact Gingrich's front-runner status? Up next, we will speak with Alan Simpson, a straight-talking Republican with experience in the immigration fight. In fact, he actually got something done in Congress. Don't miss that.

But, first, which high-profile lawmaker said this about a major TV network? Here's the quote -- quote -- "This is clearly a form of bias on part of the Hollywood entertainment elite. I also think it's sexism as well."

Who said that? We will tell you after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. Before the break we showed you this quote. We'll put it back up and ask you this. Which high-profile lawmaker said this about a major TV network?

Again, the quote, "This is clearly a form of bias on the part of the Hollywood entertainment elite. I also think it's sexism as well." The answer is, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

She was responding to that song that was used during her introduction when she was walking out there on Jimmy Fallon, the late night show just another night.

So the song's title includes a derogatory word for women. Fallon did apologize on Twitter, but Bachmann is still demanding ABC say I'm sorry as well.

And if you caught our presidential debate right here on CNN last night, which I'm sure you did, you know that by now Newt Gingrich is playing with fire.

The new Republican poll topper pretty much said so himself. He said he's willing to take the heat for saying this about illegal immigrants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You've been here 25 years. You got three kids and two grandkids. You've been paying taxes and obeying the law. You belong to a local church, I don't think we're going to separate you from your family or uproot you forcefully and kick you out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Just to be clear. The former House speaker said he is not in favor of blanket amnesty, but showing lenience on the issue. It may have already cost Rick Perry already. Could it now cost Newt Gingrich?

We have on the phone this man, former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson. You probably know him already as the Republican co-chairman of the Presidential Debt Commission.

What you might not know about this man is that the last major overhaul of the immigration law bears his name. The Simpson-Mazzoli Immigration Act was signed in law by President Reagan back in 1986. And I have the senator on the phone with me all the way from his home state, Cody, Wyoming. Senator, with regard to Newt Gingrich, thumb's up on what he said last night at the CNN debate?

ALAN SIMPSON (R), FORMER SENATOR WYOMING (via telephone): What a joy not to be talking about the debt commission and all that jazz, as the old musical was, all that jazz.

Anyway, let me tell you. I heard the name mentioned of Simpson- Mazzoli and it was also Peter Rodino. It was a bipartisan move. It legalized about three million people. People forget that because we never use the word amnesty, which is a flashword.

It just gets people al juiced up. We use the word legalization, but the reason that bill didn't work and yet it did bring forth almost three million people from 92 different countries came forth.

It wasn't just a bunch of people from our southern border and who cross the border illegally. It was people from all over the world who had been here for years.

The bill didn't work because the right and the left, when we were seeking the guts of it, which was a more secure identifier system, which is like a slide car at the grocery and a social security upgrade or something, was called a national I.D. card.

And, man, when you mentioned the word national I.D. card, they all flunked the saliva test and turned into Nazis and tattoos and Germany for God's sake, went clear off the rail of reason.

So, you know, as long as you didn't have a more secure identifier, you couldn't punish the whole stack of fake cards.

BALDWIN: But Senator, with regard to what Newt Gingrich said last night, you know, the fact that, there are people who have been here illegally for some 20 years, you know, maybe you let them stay and maybe there's a pathway to legal status not quite citizenship. Thumb's up or thumb's down on those words?

SIMPSON: Well, I think you have to do something like that. What are you going to do? Deport them all? You're going to go into -- I don't want to be part of a country on the hunt for 11 or 12 million people. I think that's nuts.

And Newt, I don't always agree with Newt especially with activities that they have under George the first. But I tell you one thing, if a person has been here and you can put them on the road, you can put them on the road to some type of legal status.

Let me tell you, if you have a country with 11 to 12 million people here who are here illegally, those people are expendable. They are used and they are used by the elite, too, in society. Don't forget that gal in the kitchen, Jennifer, they pay her $50 a week and one day off every month.

You know, that's a crude way to live in America. Those people are totally expendable. And then when payday comes, you're going to report them and get them deported. That saves you a lot of payroll.

BALDWIN: Well, a lot of what the former speaker said last night - certainly a lot of talk today with regard to immigration. I'm glad you're not sitting next to me, Senator, because you might pinch me but I have to ask you about the debt.

Alan Simpson, you know, I have to ask. So because your debt plan is out there, it's still out there and now the "Super Committee" has failed, who knows, maybe the Simpson-Bowles plan will be back in place.

So Alan Simpson, if you would, I want to play just a quick sound bite. I spoke with a senior economy editor, Stephen Moore from the "Wall Street Journal" this week. This is his response to my question about the failure of the "Super Committee."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN MOORE, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": If you put 12 other members of Congress, I don't think you would have gotten that agreement either. It may take another election before we get this thing resolved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Another election. So Alan Simpson, do you agree with him, that by failing to act meaningfully on the debt, our elected officials have essentially punted the ball back to the voter?

SIMPSON: Yes, and this next year is going to be chaos. The turmoil overseas, the euro, the contagion, here politics, the year, you know, the president sitting out, Democrats, Republicans, goofies from the right and left, this next year is going to be really something.

But I think in the final, final, final point, that those people who don't step forward and be courageous and honest about what to do, and they all know what to do, we specifically set it out. If they don't come forward courageously, the guys who chicken out are going to be kicked out.

BALDWIN: One more quick question. Do you have at all, sir, an indication for the White House now that we're back to square one, they are ready to dust off your plan, the Simpson-Bowles plan and see if Congress is ready to run with that thing now?

SIMPSON: Well, I do know this. Bill Clinton, former president who I enjoyed working with very much, he never broke his word with me, that he has said to the president, you know, if I had appointed a commission by, executive order, 60 percent of the 18, I would have wrapped my arms around it and taken the credit and I think he missed the point on that one.

BALDWIN: Was that a conversation between President Clinton and President Obama?

SIMPSON: That conversation took place back in the dark ages, you know, when we were in our work after December 10th of last year. BALDWIN: I see. I see. Well, Senator Alan Simpson, we'll wait to see if they might dust off your plan. I appreciate it, sir. Have wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy that oyster dressing with your wife.

SIMPSON: Don't forget the gravy.

BALDWIN: The gravy. Thank you so much. Goodness, making me hungry.

Coming up, immigration and debt. Those were not the only issues obviously at the CN debate last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, MODERATOR: Who would be profiled?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most the people committing these crimes. Obviously it was Muslims would be someone would you look at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Candidates disagreeing with one another on a lot of issues, including airport security. We're going to hear the critical moments.

The man himself is standing by with me. Wolf Blitzer, the moderator of the debate. We're going to ask Wolf what surprised him the most. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We want to talk about the CNN debate last night. I want to bring in the man who moderated the whole thing and may I add to the outstanding job, Wolf Blitzer.

Wolf, great seeing you. Excellent, excellent job. You were standing out there with all of the candidates. I mean, what was the one moment that really jumped out at you. What surprised you the most?

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Other than Herman Cain calling me Blitz, I thought that Newt Gingrich, he had the guts. That was politically courageous for him to say said what he was willing to say on illegal immigrants who have been here for a long time, have established roots on the United States, kids grew up here, go to church, find a way to get them legal here in the United States.

It's called amnesty, if you will. And I knew it was going to cause a stir among conservative circles. It could help them in a general election, especially since Hispanics, demographically, are really getting increased political strength all over the country.

But in a Republican contest, especially coming up in Iowa, let's say, or South Carolina, you could hurt them. Let's look at what happened to Rick Perry a few weeks ago at one of those debates where he supported in-state tuition.

He got hammered on that. So that was one moment that really stood out at me. BALDWIN: I want to play just a little bit of sound as well. This was actually the very first questions from you asking if the powers of the Patriot Act, and it showed different answers among the candidates with regard to this law. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRICH: But if you're trying to find somebody who may have a nuclear weapon that they are trying to bring into an American city, I think you have to use every tool that you can possibly use to gather the intelligence.

The Patriot Act has clearly been a key part of that and looking at it carefully and extending and building an honest understanding that all of our live. This is not going to end in the short run.

REP. RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's unpatriotic because it undermines our liberty. I'm concerned as everybody is about the terrorist attack. Timothy McVey was a vicious terrorist. He was arrested. Terrorism still on the books, internationally and nationally is a crime and we should deal with it. We dealt with it rather well with Timothy McVey.

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN: We're in a very different war with very different techniques that are used for that war and very different bad actors than we've had before and the terrorists and their motivations are very different.

We can't forget that technology is completely different. When we were looking at prior laws, phones were wired into walls. That's not how it works anymore. Today we deal with wireless functions and we have to completely change the way that we go about investigating.

JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think we have to be very careful and protecting our individual liberties. We are a nation of values and forever, like what we're trying to do in this debate tonight, we'll try to find that balancing act between our individual liberties and security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I definitely have a better understanding, Wolf, you know, with regard to how these different candidates stand now on national security, but when you listen to their answers, definitely no real consensus.

BLITZER: No, not on that. On other issues, whether Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Rick Perry yesterday came out in favor of a no-fly zone over Syria. Newt Gingrich said he is not ready to support that.

Romney said he's not ready to support, at least not yet. So there's a wide range of opinions among these eight presidential candidates. It's not just Ron Paul versus the seven others.

There are significant differences among eight of them. And I think in the course of those two hours last night that came through. BALDWIN: I will ask you about what in the world were you hearing when you heard Herman Cain call you the blitz, but I'm going to do that next hour. So Wolf Blitzer, we'll all wait for that. Thank you so much again. Excellent job last night. Now this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not just a sticker, OK? 666 is the mark of the beast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That man says he got a pink slip for refusing to wear this sticker at work. We're going to tell you why the company wanted him to wear what he calls the mark of a beast.

Plus, some advice for getting the family away from burying their heads in their phones and texting all around the dinner table for Thanksgiving.

Stacy Degraff, mommy blogger is standing by what all families on this Thanksgiving eve need to hear, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here's a scene that will play out in countless times, countless dinner dining rooms tomorrow across America. The extended family all gathered around the turkey and the fixings and then there's that unmistakable chirp of someone receiving a text message or a twitter message.

Perhaps it's high time to reintroduce certain members of the family to the difference between Facebook and face time. Stacy Debroff is founder and CEO of Mom's Central Consulting. She's also an expert on family dynamics and relationships. And I must admit, I almost got busted for texting in the commercial break.

Taking a picture of the CNN tours so we're all guilty, OK. Let me just put that out there and I understand, grandma needs face time with little ones. What is your advice to mom and dad to take the kids for Thanksgiving lunch or dinner, but they can't put their phones down?

STACY DEBROFF, FOUNDER/CEO, MOM CENTRAL CONSULTING: Thanks, Brooke. The first thing is, you've got to set a non-dial tone with your kids before you go.

Grandparents, aunts and uncles, they want to actually talk to kids and kids really don't engage in face-to-face conversations. They are diving into Facebook. And so you have to set the expectations just as you're hitting the road with them.

BALDWIN: As in -- be more specific. As you set those expectations, what does that mean? Honey, give me your phone or no?

DEBROFF: No. First of all, you declare a turkey time out at the table. And that includes adults. Literally pass the basket and say for one hour as we gather around for family meal, we're going to talk to each other.

Kids will tell you, but we are socializing with our cousins. We just post on their Facebook walls. We texted each other. We bump phones. We share contact information. We just uploaded hilarious pictures and watched our favorite YouTube, but it's really drawing kids out.

So it's not only during the meals you want them to do that, but you also want to make sure that they are engaging if you come with alternative activities, making fingerprints, hands with whipped creams or taking whole cloves and pushing them into oranges.

Just things you get kids fun and then you have to set rules for them of when those electronics get confiscated. And so if they really don't engage and they are living in them, you're going to tell them in advance to take them away.

BALDWIN: OK, as you talk about this turkey time out, Stacy, it isn't just the kids. A lot of us have multiple phones. We try to not to pay attention to them as we're eating because it's rude. But I mean, right, you have to lead by example. Parents, put them down.

DEBROFF: It's hard because we at all times have cell phones with us. Ninety one percent of moms we polled recently at Mom's Central told us that they would rather have like nothing else when they leave the house or around them than their cell phones and we are just used to using them as lifelines.

And whether you're checking a few e-mails or texting, we have to set the example and it's amazing how much we plunge into electronics as well as adults.

BALDWIN: Final question, I consulted an 11-year-old for this segment, the writer of one of our senior daughters. She said, look, it's tough to relate to grandma or grandpa. Should it be more mature generations, maybe they could learn a thing or two about Facebook, relate to these kids.

DEBROFF: Two things. One of the things you can do in advance is talk with your kids and say, Brooke, are you going to share the story with grandma about soccer?

Kyle, you had that unbelievable experience with your biology lab. You should tell all about that. That's a great story to share. And the other thing is, to encourage the older generation, the grandparents and uncles to have kids show us what they know.

Because they are digital natives and they are looking at us like, that is as fast as you can text? Look at this. Let me show you how to do it quicker.

BALDWIN: Stacy Debroff, thank you. Parents, if you're watching, do you have in any tricks? Send me a tweet. Stacy, thanks so much. Happy Thanksgiving to you.

DEBROFF: Thank you, Brooke. Still ahead, as the Arab spring spreads from country to country, one government is spending big bucks to make sure its people do not get the fever. In fact, this country is spending more cash to monitor the public than on its massive military. You have to hear this report.

But, first, just as you, perhaps today loading up on a luggage to get ready to start your turkey day travels, we have a list of the worst airports in America. This is all according to "The Daily Beast."

So they chose these airports based upon the number of late departures and arrivals, security wait times, amenities, and comfort, or lack thereof.

Number five, LaGuardia in New York. Number four, Houston, William P. Hobby Airport. Number three, also in New York, JFK International. So what could be the top two worst airports in the country? I hope you're not flying through these today. We'll see, next.

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BALDWIN: We have been giving you what "The Daily Beast" says as the worst airports in America. Number five, LaGuardia, Houston, number three, JFK in New York, and number two, Newark in Newark, New Jersey. And the number one worst airport in America according to "The Daily Beast" is Chicago's O'Hare airport.

We continue to keep an eye on the chaos in Egypt here. Last word, the numbers were 35, 35 dead since Saturday in these clashes between protesters and police. You can hear the sirens here. These are live pictures again around Tahrir Square.

Now talking to senior correspondent, Ben Wedeman and he said the atmosphere, it had been festive. People were chanting, suddenly, there's this full street battle that has broken out. The have been battling back and forth between the people and the police for 3-1/2 hours.

Some of the religious leaders tried intervening, tried getting them to strike a truce and that did not happen. Keep in mind, also just contextually the elections. Parliamentary elections are this upcoming Monday.

The government says they are still on and as we watch that scene unfold, keep in mind that people all around the world are watching as well, including the communist leaders in China.

They are spending unprecedented levels of money on internal security that they don't want this scene playing out there. Jill Dougherty is live from the State Department for me today.

Jill, this floors us because we know that China is spending more money now on internal security than on its own military.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's an amazing statistic, isn't it? It comes from a congressional advisory panel that advises on China. They put together the numbers and our producer, Jim Ruzzo, looked at them and studied them.

Here's the result. If you add them up, there actually is more for spend for a security than there is for the military and you know that's a lot of spending. Essentially the government is concerned about the uprising in the Middle East and doesn't want it to happen in China.

Don't forget, the population of one billion people and it could be very dangerous and dangerous to them. So what they have done, they are spending a lot of money on things even like increasing controls over the internet and they gave an example.

Right at the beginning of the Arab spring, if you were to key in the words Egypt or Cairo, you wouldn't get anywhere. So they are able to stop that. They also have cameras and this static about the cameras is very interesting.

Cameras on the streets or watching people in various places, the U.S. has them, too. The U.S. has 3.5 million cameras. China has this report says, 10 million cameras.

BALDWIN: Wow.

DOUGHERTY: So they are watching. It's a real concern.

BALDWIN: Wow. And so the leaders, the communist leaders in this nation of one billion, do they figure that they are fine as long as the economy keeps booming?

DOUGHERTY: Well, in a way, yes because so far that has been kind of the bargain. You know, even though there is political control and people can't always express themselves freely, economically they actually have a lot of freedom. There are a lot of entrepreneurs and so that has worked.

But there are problems emerging. Economists who are saying that the Chinese economy will not be growing as quickly. Already, food prices -- we were just looking -- food prices are up 10 percent this year. Those are worrisome things. So the government is concerned that people might get angry at that deal, the bargain with the government, and want to speak out more or protest.

And I can tell you, Brooke, I used to work in Hong Kong for CNN.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

DOUGHERTY: And there are reports all the time of people who are demonstrating against the government.

BALDWIN: Stunning. I still can't get over how many cameras are in China.

Jill Dougherty, thank you so much at the State Department -- or rather at the Washington bureau for us today. Thank you, Jill.