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Infamy on the Internet; Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; Thanksgiving With U.S. Troops; Six Feared Dead in Plane Crash; AT&T and T-Mobile Deal Uphill Battle; Holiday Terror Bulletin; Report: CIA "Spies" Captured in Iran; Russian Missile Warning; Obama's Thanksgiving Message; Jailed U.S. Students Now Free in Egypt; U.S. Journalist: Beaten, Assaulted; Unrest in Egypt; Thanksgiving Travel and Politics; Former Band Member Describes Hazing; "A Dark Cloud Over This Campus"; Jailed U.S. Students Now Free in Egypt; Celebrities Testify on Phone Hacking; Avoiding Holiday Scams; Infamy on the Internet; Paralyzed Player Inspires
Aired November 24, 2011 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We are at the top of the hour now. Hello to you all. Good morning. It's 10:00 here in Atlanta, Georgia. It is 7 a.m. out in Los Angeles wherever you may be, happy Thanksgiving to you.
I hope you all off to a good start. I'm T.J. Holmes. Going to get you caught up on a few things happening today. We do have some developing stories.
But let's start right now with all eyes on New York City and the weather is cooperating for a holiday tradition. Look at that, Spiderman. I think we do have a lot. This is a live picture.
Let me bring in our Jason Carroll who's there as we look at the live picture. But people love this stuff. There he is. Spiderman is coming over your left shoulder there.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is all about part off Thanksgiving, right? You've got the balloons. You've got the marching bands coming by and of course, you've got the man of the hour, Spiderman, one of the big draws in this year's parade.
One of the big huge balloons just coming by, we have already seen Snoopy come by. One of my old favorites, Hedge Hog has come by. Spongebob Squarepants came by as well, but everyone seems to like Spiderman.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes, we do.
CARROLL: How does he look?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Red with black stripes.
CARROLL: And very, very big as well, right? Also joining us here in the parade route, the McDonald's family from Nashville, 17 of them here, T.J. What have you seen that you like so far? What are the highlights of the parade?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We like Spiderman. We love Snoopy.
CARROLL: Snoopy is one of my favorites, too.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: The marching bands.
CARROLL: The marching bands, you like that. Did you see the one from Hawaii? Wasn't that great? All right, let's talk about some of the other big balloons that you guys like. Any other favorites?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Spongebob Squarepants.
CARROLL: Spongebob is a good one. And you guys came all the way from Nashville, got your 17 of your family members here. Is this a tradition for you guys? You come every year?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our first time.
CARROLL: First time and what do you think so far?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is great. It's fantastic.
CARROLL: All right, well, thanks very much for joining us here. So again, 3.5 million people lining the parade route this year. It's not over yet. We still have a little ways to go. So we will keep bringing it to you -- T.J.
HOLMES: You know, Jason, this is one time you don't actually seem like you are working. It sounds like you're having a good time down there. Great to see you. For the parade so enjoy, Jason. We will check in again with you.
But, of course, thousands of U.S. troops are right now celebrating Thanksgiving all over the world, have been celebrating Thanksgiving. They can't be with their families today so need to keep them in mind.
A lot of them are in Kuwait right now. They're set to go home or maybe even be reassigned. Our Martin Savage is in Camp Virginia in Kuwait where troops have been celebrating this holiday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So here I am in the line waiting for Thanksgiving dinner at Camp Virginia in Kuwait. This is the big transit base for all the soldiers that are coming out of Iraq, but of course, as I said, it's Thanksgiving so get a load of this.
Everybody washes their hands, of course, before you have dinner. Excuse us, coming through. Here's the feast. This is what you come to see. Moms, don't worry, if there is anything you have on your table for Thanksgiving, I guarantee you. It is here and it's here in massive amounts.
As everybody is getting served it is going to go on for several hours. No one, trust me, is going out of here hungry. In fact, let's talk to the woman who's actually in charge.
This is Sergeant First Class Sue Porter. She's from the Minnesota National Guard. I like to refer to her, even though she is the supervisor as the head mom. She looks after everyone here. How's it going?
SGT. FIRST CLASS SUE PORTER: Very well.
SAVIDGE: How many people are you anticipating?
PORTER: Roughly about 6,400.
SAVIDGE: In how much time?
PORTER: About three and a half hours.
SAVIDGE: What's on the menu?
PORTER: Turkey and all the trimmings. We also have --
SAVIDGE: Desserts?
PORTER: Yes, pie, cake and all kinds of goodies.
SAVIDGE: That cake, in fact, I'll show you just a minute. Now, normally you would be at home, I guess, making dinner for your own family. You are a mom and have grand kids as well.
PORTER: I do, yes.
SAVIDGE: So who's taking that on this year?
PORTER: My daughter.
SAVIDGE: We wish you happy Thanksgiving.
PORTER: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: And good luck feeding the family here.
Let me show you one more thing. Look at this. Have you ever seen a cake like that? That is just one of them. There's another one floating around here. So as they say, nobody, nobody is going hungry here this Thanksgiving. Camp Virginia, Kuwait. I'm Martin Savidge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Thanks to our Martin Savidge there. We're just five minutes past the hour. We want to get caught up on some headlines you need to know about.
We'll start out in Arizona where authorities there say there are no signs of survivors in a twin-engine plane crash. As many as six people, three of them children, were on that plane when it slammed to the superstitious mountains east of Phoenix. So far rescue crews have recovered the body of one child.
Also, some business news. It looks like an uphill battle for that AT&T merger with T-Mobile. The companies have withdrawn their application for FCC approval of their $39 billion bid.
Instead they will focus on getting clearance from the Justice Department. But the Justice Department is still trying to block the merger saying it would hurt competition.
And on this Thanksgiving Day, a new terror bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. It says terrorists could decide to launch attacks during the holiday season, but they do add there is no evidence that any plots are being planned.
Just a warning here, keep your heads up. This is the first Thanksgiving and Christmas season since U.S. troops found and killed Osama Bin Laden.
Meanwhile, an Iranian lawmaker says Iran and Lebanon have arrested 12 CIA spies. The lawmaker tells Iran's state media, the alleged spies were trying to cripple Iran in nuclear, military and security areas.
He did not identify the nationality of the suspects or say when they were arrested. It was earlier this week that the U.S. confirmed that informants working with the CIA had been captured in Lebanon.
Also, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev issues a harsh warning to the U.S. and NATO. He says Russia could deploy its own short range missiles unless the Moscow's concerns about NATO's planned missile defense system are addressed.
The State Department maintains that the shield is meant to guard against Iran and is no threat to Russia.
Also President Obama wished the nation happy Thanksgiving today, delivering his weekly address a couple of days early.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: From my family to yours, I'd like to wish you a happy Thanksgiving. Like millions of Americans, Michelle, Malia, Sasha and I will spend the day eating great food, watching football and reflecting on how truly lucky we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And the president went on to renew his call for bipartisan cooperation on issues facing the nation.
Also this morning, word that three American students have now been freed after being accused of throwing fire bombs during the protests in Egypt.
Also, an American journalist says she was sexually assaulted by Egyptian police. We are minutes away from the live report from Tahrir Square, but first a message from our troops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. My name is Shane Booker. I'm stationed in Afghanistan. I'd like to wish all of my family in Ripley, Tennessee, a happy Thanksgiving. See you soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 10 minutes past the hour now. We have a developing situation happening in Egypt as we speak. Authorities in Cairo have now released three American college students who were arrested during protests there.
Our Ivan Watson is with us now from the Egyptian capital. Ivan, how did this all go down with these American students?
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, they were arrested on Monday. The Egyptian authorities accused them of throwing Molotov cocktails at the Egyptian security forces and claim also that they caught them with a bag that had a bottle in it and fuel, basically the ingredients you would need to make a petrol bomb.
The U.S. embassy helped the three Americans. They were all pretty much 19 year old and 21-year-old young men who were doing study abroad at the American University of Cairo. They have been released, we're hearing.
And the U.S. embassy has indicated that they will probably going to be leaving the country very soon. Understandably, their parents very relieved to hear that their sons have been released. And it appears they are not going to be charged as the Egyptian authorities initially said as hooliganism -- T.J.
HOLMES: And Ivan, after almost a week now of these protests, how are things today?
WATSON: Today has been a little bit quieter. The Egyptian army has put up barriers to try to separate the demonstrators from the security forces. Tahrir Square is still packed with people who are still very angry at the authorities here.
The ruling military council, T.J., actually published an unusual statement where they expressed their apologies and deep regret for the violence that killed at least 38 people here since last Saturday in Cairo and in other cities.
They promise to help to put up a military field hospital in Tahrir Square to treat some of the thousands of wounded. And the Election Commission here has announced that elections, despite this violence, are still going to go ahead. The first phase of parliamentary elections is on Monday. HOLMES: And one other thing to you, Ivan, here. Someone who is familiar, her name and face to many of our viewers that we've had on a number of times, Egyptian-American journalist who says she has or at least was jailed and beaten in the midst of the protests. What can you tell us?
WATSON: Well, her name is Mona Eltahawi. She is an Egyptian- American, dual citizen writer and journalist. We've often interviewed on the air. She sent out a tweet, this was late last night saying that she basically had been arrested on the sidelines of the street battles that were taking place.
Nobody really heard from her throughout the night. She sent out another Twitter message today saying she had been released, but that she was accusing riot police of not only beating her and breaking her arm and her hand.
We have a photo that we may be able to show, showing her at a hospital with those casts on her arms, but also accusing them of sexually assaulting her.
I am going to read one of these tweets, quote, "five or six riot police surrounded me, groped an prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area and I lost count how many hands tried to get in to my trousers." Understandably she is quite furious right now at the Egyptian security forces.
HOLMES: All right, Ivan Watson with the update for us there. Thank you so much. And to our viewers, we are reaching out to Mona Eltahawi. We, at some point, expect to hear from her and be able to get her on the phone and maybe in front of a camera live today to get her story. So stick around for that.
We are about a quarter past the hour now. A lot of people on this Thanksgiving Day still are traveling today. A lot of people are watching us right now in an airport. Thank you for watching. You're wondering if you are going to have issues with the weather, but we have other issues to talk about with you being screened.
Airport security, who exactly gets screened? This is a subject that has touched off a nerve in this country. We will tell you though what the GOP candidates have to say about spot profiling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Lt. Colonel James Diaz from Kuwait. I want to wish happy Thanksgiving to my wife and family and friends back there in Kansas City, Missouri. Happy Thanksgiving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, 18 past the hour now. Here we are during this Thanksgiving holiday, this travel period and the TSA is in the spotlight, once again.
This after Republican presidential candidate, Rick Santorum called for extra scrutiny for Muslim flyers. He did this during the CNN debate on Tuesday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, MODERATOR: So just to be precise, is it ethnic profiling, religious profiling, who would be profiled?
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, the folks who are most likely to be committing these crimes. If you look at, I mean, obviously Muslims would be someone you would look at absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, let me bring in our Athena Jones from Washington now. Athena, he was the only one that certainly gave the answer up there, but a lot of folks on the stage, do they agree with what he said?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is interesting because you heard some applause in the audience, but then you had Ron Paul come out and say really the opposite. He said we are digging a hole if we take that approach. What if the terrorist looks like Timothy McVeigh who, of course, was a domestic terrorists, doesn't look like someone from the Middle East and looks like many other people in America.
So he said that's not the road we want to take. Now Rick Santorum's comments raised a lot of eyebrows, of course. You have the ACLU, which came out and said that this would be unconstitutional.
That the whole idea of profiling is based on bias and not on evidence and there is no one reliable terrorist profile. You also have Kair, the Muslim civil rights group that came out and said, again, this is unconstitutional and that reasonable Republican hopefuls need to come out and be against this kind of islamophobia.
They say that it's time to -- this raises reasonable questions about Rick Santorum's ability to lead this multi-faith nation. The guy from Kair that we spoke with yesterday also said that under this approach, Jesus himself being Middle Eastern descent may come under scrutiny.
And so he, of course, said that just to make a point, but this is the reaction that we have seen to Rick Santorum's comments -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right and we saw the reaction in the audience at the time but as a whole, travelers, Americans, what are we hearing from them about a candidate for president saying that we need to focus on Muslims at the airport?
JONES: Well, you know, we went to Reagan National Airport here in Washington yesterday and we spoke with a bunch of travelers there. We couldn't find anyone who supported this Santorum approach.
We had people who said if you do that, you are going down a very slippery slope. We had people echoing what Ron Paul said, which is that really that anybody can be a terrorist.
And so it is not fair to subject people, Muslim groups or one particular ethnic or religious group to any sort of extra scrutiny. So by and large, everyone we spoke with said this is not the way to go -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Athena Jones for us in Washington. Happy Thanksgiving to you.
JONES: Happy Thanksgiving.
HOLMES: It's 20 minutes past the hour now. First off, it was just Hugh Grant we were talking about. Now more celebrities are actually taking the stand, claiming the press hacked into their cell phones uncovering their personal secrets. And also the judge today is announcing that one of CNN's own will be called to testify.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 24 minutes past the hour now. In Florida, A&M University has now fired the director of its marching band days after a drum major's death.
Police believed hazing was involved. Now, a former band member is coming forward saying he is not surprised. He actually sued after a brutal beating that led to kidney failure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVERY LUCKEY, HAZED AT FLORIDA A&M: I was, you know, taken in to a room, blindfolded and paddled with, you know, they have these wooden paddles. After the paddling stopped, it was physical actually physical blows, face slapping, just all sorts of things to cause pain and suffering.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Our Lisa Sylvester picks up the story and has more on the culture of violence on campus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are one of the best with precision and technique. Florida A&M University's marching 100 has stood out.
The band program began more than 100 years ago, a proud tradition for the university. But the entire band is now suspended indefinitely after the death of drum major Robert Champion. Authorities are investigating if hazing has played a role.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do want to know what happened because that would give me more understanding. So I can accept what happened.
SYLVESTER: Saturday night after the Florida classic Champion was found on a university bus outside of a hotel. He was reportedly throwing up, and said he couldn't breathe. He died shortly afterward. The Orange County medical examiner has completed the autopsy, but says more information is needed before determining a final cause of death. The university announced that it's forming a task force to review the circumstances of Champion's death.
JAMES AMMONS, PRESIDENT, FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY: The purpose of this review is not to establish culpability of individual band members in this particular case. But rather to determine, whether there are patterns of behavior, by the band, or members of it, that should be addressed at the institution level.
SYLVESTER: Thirty band members were let go earlier this year because of hazing. Those investigations are ongoing. Marching band members at historically black colleges have been tight knit groups much like a sorority or fraternity.
And hazing has long been a problem. At Clark Atlanta University, the band director says a student handbook spells out it's against university policy to haze another student.
THOMAS WARNER JR., BAND DIRECTOR, CLARK ATLANTA: There's zero tolerance here at Clark Atlanta. We don't condone it at all.
SYLVESTER: And Robert Champion, his band director said he was to have been named the head drum major next year. But he never got the chance to tell him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: A mother of a FAMU marching band student has come forward to CNN detailing her many concerns with hazing within the program. Even though there is a zero-tolerance policy there she says it still happens.
Her son told her it is a rite of passage like a gang initiation. The quote that she said was, quote, "you have to be beaten to earn respect."
And she spoke to university officials before this happened and now, looking back, she says that Robert Champion's death could have been prevented. Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
HOLMES: Well, coming up, we have seen more and more celebrities testifying in that phone hacking can scandal in the U.K. and we have gotten word one of our own, one of CNN's own will be called to testify in that probe.
That's coming up next in a live report. But first, for the past couple of weeks, we have asked you to send in your I-Report, telling us what you are thankful for this holiday season. Here is one from one of our I-Reporters in Georgia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMERON HARRELSON, I-REPORTER: As we enter in to this the time of the year, it is time to reflect upon the many things that God has blessed us with. First and foremost, I am thankful to live in a country, the United States where we have many freedoms we often take for granted.
I'm thankful for our military who fight daily to ensure these freedoms. I'm thankful for my family and friends whom I know I could not live without. So I want to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving and let's give thanks to God above for the many blessings that he has bestowed upon us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, just past the bottom of the hour on this Thanksgiving Day.
Give you a look at some of the stories we are following. An attorney for Jerry Sandusky says the former Penn State assistant football coach is denying the two new allegations of child abuse against him.
The cases were reported to authorities within the last couple of months. It involved allege victims who are currently under the age of 18. One of those alleged victims is a member of Sandusky's family. Jerry Sandusky's attorney says his client denies any inappropriate contact with a family member.
Also, three U.S. students now free in Egypt. And the students had been arrested on suspicion of throwing Molotov cocktails during a protest against the military leaders in Cairo. Joy Sweeney, who's the mother of one of those students, she talked to us a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOY SWEENEY, FREED STUDENT'S MOTHER: It was confirmed officially he is -- they are all three of them have been released and the attorney general is not going to appeal and as I was speaking to Mr. Powers, the boys were being taken to a physician for a medical examination.
And from there, they were going to be taking the boys back to the police station for them to be officially, all the paperwork being process for them to be released and then, from there, somehow either the university or the consulate, somebody was going to get them back to their dorm rooms and at that point and time we would probably hear from them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, Joy Sweeney says it may not be safe for the three students to remain there in Egypt.
We will return now to London and that British phone hacking scandal. Well, celebrities are now striking back, they are testifying about the media invading their privacy and the paparazzi hounding them. And just this morning, CNN's Piers Morgan who is a former British newspaper editor confirmed to us he will be called to testify.
Our Atika Shubert is following this from London. What's the point of this probe? What are they supposed to get at, at the end of it?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an entire inquiry of media ethics. And it's going to go for at least a year. And at the end of it, the judge, who's leading it, Judge Levison (ph) will make some recommendations that could turn in to regulations for the media.
But frankly we -- it could go much further than that. While this is ongoing there are still three police investigations into phone hacking, computer hacking and police bribery all by the tabloid press. So it could go for quite a while and it could dig up a lot of dirt yet.
HOLMES: And Atika, how has it been going. We were -- we know when the story first broke we were hearing about Hugh Grant's name an awful a lot but he is not the only celebrity. It seems like several are lining up if you will to testify.
SHUBERT: That's right. I mean, as you can imagine, celebrities were the main target for many of these tabloid threats and so there's a lot of grudges to be had here and they're really airing it all out. We heard from Hugh Grant on Monday, today we heard from Sienna Miller and, of course, she was in the press a lot because of her on and off relationship with Jude Law. She talks about how she was terrified by the paparazzi as they surrounded her car, how they doctored photos of her to make her look like it's a much worse situation than it was. And she also talk about how she blamed her friends for leaking information when in fact what had happened was that her phone had been hacked and the tabloid press was listening in on her voice mails and that's how they were able to find out information.
So this is the kind of stuff that's being dug up and aired in court today.
HOLMES: All right, Atika Shubert with the update for us from London. Thank you so much.
Well, 35 minutes past the hour now and one company in Georgia has a new policy, "Kick Obama out of office, then we'll hire." We'll tell you why the company is sending this strong message.
Also you may be going out tomorrow Black Friday. Beware though, the crowds may be the least of your problems. Somebody or something may be following your each and every move.
Stick around for that. But first I got a Thanksgiving Day message for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. This is Captain Met. And I'm in Kuwait. I'd like to give a shout out to my family in Chester, Virginia. I'd like to say Happy Thanksgiving to my husband Xavier and my kids, Leila and Ariane Beth. I love you guys, I miss you and try not to eat too much turkey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, 38 minutes past the hour. Don't you wish you were there, Bonnie Schneider?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We were bundling up and watching the parade.
HOLMES: You did?
SCHNEIDER: Yes. We went every year. It was fantastic.
HOLMES: OK how bad is it up there? I'm talking of course to Bonnie Schneider here, our meteorologist. She's giving us an update about the weather on your Thanksgiving Day. But you know, how many people did he say, 3.5 million or something show up for this day.
SCHNEIDER: It's incredible. And the weather turned out to be great, T.J. Because there was a lot of concern earlier that the winds may be a factor, but now we are looking at fantastic weather. You can see the sun is shining, the crowds are happy. It's not raining. That's the worst to be sitting out there in the winds and rain.
HOLMES: But it is a crowded city, no matter what, New York City. But on a day like this, you say you've gone all of your life for the most part, does it get annoying quite frankly to battle the crowds?
SCHNEIDER: No. No.
HOLMES: You are used to it.
SCHNEIDER: Well, I was a child it was so exciting to see those clips, I just want to have great memories of it and it looks bigger and better every year. Just the main thing is the wind that's what you always watch for. Because then they have to take precautions.
But this year, so far so good, it looks good, nice weather. Temperatures will be climbing into the 50s throughout the afternoon in New York City. So you will be seeing some good weather.
Now a lot of people are still traveling, believe it or not today. I know we've been talking about travel yesterday but Thanksgiving morning, still some people not quite where they want to be.
San Francisco there is an airport delay. And I expect more of that as we go through the afternoon. Actually there's been rain in the Bay Area. So look for rain and wind in Seattle and San Francisco.
But the rest of the country, most of these delays will be under an hour. And they are anticipated really for the morning hours only. So that's some good news. We have fog in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Kentucky. It is burning off and we will look for better weather.
Another thing we like to do on Thanksgiving, besides eat turkey and watch parades and watch some football and maybe play football. So here's a look at your forecast. For M&T Stadium, the 49ers versus the Ravens. In Baltimore the weather looks really good, 49 degrees. That's not bad at all. And Ford Field in Detroit just slightly colder but notice that south-southwesterly wind; that will make it feel a little bit more pleasant, so a mix of sun and clouds in Detroit for the Packers versus the Lions. Both games facing good weather. If you like the cold weather for football, I'm sure in the weeks to come, we'll be getting that for certain.
But out west, look what's happening, we've got low clouds over much of San Francisco. A lot of that rain is pushing further to the east. So it may be a problem as we go through much of the day today. We already reported that one airport delay, we may see more.
Across the country the rain is also going to be a problem in the northwest. We are monitoring that as well as the mountain snow. But really mild, lots of sunshine for today.
High pressure dominating the eastern half of the country and that's going to make for some very fair conditions for this Thanksgiving Day. And temperatures reflect that. You can see the numbers soaring: 55 in Chicago, that's nice for Thanksgiving; 64 in Kansas City; and Memphis 64 degrees; Boston a little cooler at 46; New Orleans 72 and 68 in Atlanta after kind of a chilly weekend in the southeast. But for those of you that are just, you know, going through your Thanksgiving, you will have your turkey, watch some football, relax a bit and then tonight you are gearing up to head to the stores.
This is what you can expect for those of you heading out there at midnight, I know some of the stores are opening at 10:00 at night. Temperatures will get a little colder this evening but not by much. It's actually going to be pretty mild. There are some places you'll have to bundle up if you are an early-morning shopper for tomorrow for Black Friday. 27 is the low in Denver, so that's where it will be cold. But most of the country is facing mild condition.
And for your more traditional Black Friday, we're looking at nice weather, in the 50s and 60s, just a few 40s out west. But good shopping weather and good Thanksgiving weather -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. It's all good then. Bonnie Schneider, thank you.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
HOLMES: As always.
We are about 42 minutes past the hour now.
And this campus cop in California. You have seen this video probably now and people were outraged, many were when they saw it. He is pepper-spraying protesters, pretty nonchalant about it when he is doing it.
Well, a lot of people got upset when they saw this but others decided to get a little creative about it as well. We will show it to you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, I tell you (INAUDIBLE) if you are dealing with stress during the holidays, something to keep in mind. It doesn't have to be a bad thing. A new "Time" magazine article on anxiety has a tip from mental health professionals. Learn ways to manage feeling anxious.
Researchers are now distinguishing between challenged and threat stresses. They suggest treating stress as a difficult but manageable challenge. I'm just stressed out figuring out how to deal with my stress after listening to that.
Let's get to the news across the country. "We are not hiring until Obama is gone." That's the message from a Georgia businessman. He says that's now his new company policy. He posted it on all of his company's trucks. He said he can't afford any more employees, but you can imagine the reaction he got to this.
The signs now probably might have to come down. He also had to disconnect his phones. He had to temporarily take down his company's Web. And he also -- get this -- got a visit from the Secret Service.
Also, a Tennessee woman says she has learned an important Thanksgiving lesson. You need to check that expiration date.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIBBY SPIRES, BOUGHT EXPIRED TURKEY: I was shocked because it said November 23rd of 2007. And I went, oh, my gosh. I can't eat this turkey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: I'm sure it is fine. The manager of the store who sold it said he is horrified over the mistake and has no idea how this could have happened. A 4-year-old turkey on somebody's table today.
Also the mayor of Mobile, Alabama he has got some people upset because he used what they thought was some pretty offensive language and let me tell you what he said. And I quote, "Holiday tree." Yes, city hall phones went nuts. E-mail boxes filled up because this term "holiday tree" appeared in official city news letter about the annual tree lighting ceremony. People felt that the city should have called it what they say it is, a Christmas tree. The mayor's office says there is no real controversy here. They are not trying to take Christ out of Christmas.
Also you Black Friday shoppers, your mall may be tracking you using your cell phone. Two shopping centers in California and in Virginia are using cell phone signals to collect data about people's habits. They are interested in what stores people are going into and what order they visit them and how long they spend in each.
Ryan Mack joining me here once again. You were giving tips about this kind of stuff early. All kinds of scams that are out there. It sounds like the malls are up to something. They can clearly do this but what are they trying to do to us now.
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, essentially there are a lot of different types of scams out there. Just people have to be very wary around this time of the season. A lot of money is being spent. We spend more money in between November and Christmas than most countries do all year.
HOLMES: Right.
Mack: We just have to be very leery about these things.
HOLMES: OK, now last hour you were talking to me about the different gift card scams, different types of hot item scams but this one's kind of -- I didn't think about really, rental scam around the holiday?
MACK: Well, this is -- I mean, we are trying to find the best rates in terms of traveling. We're trying to get the best discounts on rooms to stay. We go to different Web sites and we see nice pictures, the nice accommodations we make a call. And then individuals say well, just wire the money and we will book you the room.
Unbeknownst to us that individual on the other side has put up a fake ad -- on a legitimate site, they put up a fake ad to get you to wire money. You go to the hotel, you go to the bed and breakfast and you say, look I booked a room for this weekend. They say now, we don't have any record of that and someone essentially taking your money may have run because it's another scam.
HOLMES: What is the telltale sign that it could be a scam? Because like you say, so much of that stuff looks legitimate.
MACK: Yes, anytime somebody asks you to just wire the money and that allows you to book a room, it is probably a scam on the other side. You want to make sure there is some sort of site that you have to register the room with. Can you call the room directly? Can you research the hotel and call the hotel directly. You shouldn't just have access to a cell phone number. That should be only the case when someone's saying you can book a room.
HOLMES: Another one here -- this is the time we are thinking about giving back. Everybody wants to give to charity and people are taking advantage of it.
MACK: You know, the beautiful part about this country is that we give a lot. You know, America -- we might spend a lot but we are very good givers. And around this time, we're always looking for individuals to give and support. And sometimes people take advantage of that. So sometimes individuals will set up fake charities, homeless charities, youth charities, veterans charities and say essentially give us money and they will take their dollars and there's no legitimate tracking of where those dollars are going.
So the best place to actually give when like individuals will say give in your local community. Become friends and become aware of the local communities giving goods and services right in your own local community and you better make -- give more effectively and you can have a bigger impact and (INAUDIBLE) in your own society, community.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Other than that, the other thing, can you just give to reputable names you know.
MACK: Exactly. It is always great to give to big names but sometimes the smaller communities, those grassroots organizations have a bigger impact.
HOLMES: Last thing. You were in New York doing business advice up there but you are traveling around the country and you're not just here for Thanksgiving, you're here for a reason.
MACK: Yes, we have a "Less Talk More Action" tour, being sponsored by the opposite side of the foundations, Campaign for Black Male Achievement. And what we're doing is we are trying to -- you know, we have all seen different problems in the minority community in terms of joblessness, higher incarceration rates; low literacy rates. But it's time to stop talking about those things that's why it's "Less Talk More Action."
When we've gone to different workshops and everybody is getting excited. At the end of those workshops, you don't know what the heck you are supposed to do next.
So what we've done, we've gathered scholars to just go around the country and figure out what we can do to fix the unemployment rates, higher incarceration rates, fix the education system and reform that and make sure we can start learning how to spend our money more responsibly.
HOLMES: Where can they get information if folks want to figure where you're stopping on the tour? Where can they go.
MACK: Lesstalkmoreaction.info. Again, Lesstalkmoreaction.info. And again please, we want minority businesses, we want to make commercials for you, we want service providers, those local service providers here in Atlanta. We saw the Covenant House this week. We're going to various organizations, juvenile detention centers here in Atlanta and everywhere we're going, giving good services, giving good impact and we are highlighting them.
HOLMES: Good stuff. Good luck. We'll follow that.
Ryan Mack, good to have you here in studio with us in Atlanta. Happy Thanksgiving to you.
MACK: Happy Thanksgiving to you.
We're about 8 minutes until to the top of the hour now and you have seen the story, the video. A campus out in California, that pepper spray incident but now online mockery. It stings apparently a whole lot longer than just the pepper spray.
Jeanne Moos explains this to you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First an officer hosed down protesters with pepper spray and now he's getting hosed back. Peppered with ridicule for watering my hippies.
SHARON OSBOURNE, CO-HOST, "THE TALK": He was like watering the garden.
MOOS: Now, he is spraying everyone from Santa to Jesus at "The Last Supper." He's spraying Lassie. He's spraying Snoopy. He's become what is called a meme, an idea reproducing across the web, even spraying another Internet meme, the keyboard cat. He is spraying the Beatles. He is spraying to stop the flag raisers at Iwo Jima.
His pepper spray replaces the torch on the Statue of Liberty. He is spraying in famous paintings of historic moments, at national monument. And now we know why House Speaker John Boehner cries. He too has been pepper sprayed by the now infamous officer.
(on camera): His real name is Lieutenant John Pike but he's been tagged with the nickname "Pepper Spray Pike."
(voice-over): That's the name on his fake parody Twitter account full of bellicose tweets. "You want to see the super committee do something, give me ten minutes with them in a locked room with spray."
The hacker group, "Anonymous" went after him Lt. Pike by publicizing his phone and address.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to make you squeal --
MOOS: Someone even created a pepper spray cop's lament.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey sorry I pepper-sprayed you
MOOS: And when Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly described pepper spray this way.
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: It is like a derivative of actual pepper; it's a food product essentially but --
MOOS: She was mocked. Megyn Kelly on the electric chair -- it's a massage chair essentially. Megyn Kelly on mustard gas -- it's a hot dog condiment, essentially.
(on camera): Megyn Kelly would probably like to eat her words as long as there weren't seasoned with pepper spray.
(voice-over): On Amazon.com critics are writing reviews of actual pepper spray calling it the "Cadillac of citizen repression technology.
Pepper spray is being aimed at old people and the Village People. It is even being shot up Marilyn Monroe's dress. Anyone care to give thanks for pepper spray on turkey day?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move or you're going to get it in the face. Move. Move.
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry about that thing with the pepper spray --
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And as we get close to the top of the hour on this Thanksgiving day; also getting close to Fredricka Whitfield picking up things for us at the top of the hour.
But a story for you before that.
He was paralyzed in an instant but Eric Legrand did not give. Now, why a Rutgers football Eric Legrand inspired a nation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, former Rutgers football player Eric Legrand was paralyzed in October of last year. He was playing a game against Army. Spent over a year trying to walk again and has helped inspire others.
Jon Wertheim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JON WERTHEIM, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Football coaches always look for a player with a great motor. It means an athlete who doesn't give up on a play, who pursues with passion and adapts on the fly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open field hit by Eric Legrand, who is shaken up.
WERTHEIM: Barely a year ago Eric Legrand motored head first into the rest of his life.
ERIC LEGRAND, FORMER RUTGERS PLAYER: You get put in holes not by choice but by the person who and you have to embrace that.
WERTHEIM: In an instant, two fractured vertebra and the strongest player on the Rutgers football team couldn't lift a finger and doctors said that at 20 he never would again.
How do you describe what this last year has been like.
LEGRAND: I really describe it as a blessing. I have been able to touch so many people I never thought I would be able to touch in my entire lifetime.
WERTHEIM: Football coaches always look for so-called character guys who challenge themselves and motivate others to find the outer boundaries of their capabilities. Eric Legrand cannot be deterred. Once barely able to keep even his eyes open he is now trying to coax his body to walk again.
LEGRAND: Everyone tells me on the face of the spinal cord (INAUDIBLE) a lot of people there was Christopher Reeves before me but then he passed away. And they said a lot of people in the spinal cord were forgotten. And now I'm hoping to finally find a cure for this spinal cord injury.
KAREN LEGRAND, ERIC'S MOTHER: Eric genuinely makes you believe that he's going to get up out of that chair and walk. And I do believe. I have faith and we pray on it and I'm sure. We don't know when it's going to be, you know, but we're going to keep fighting and we're going to keep believing.
WERTHEIM: Legrand has gotten his own motivation from the sports he loves with dozens upon dozens of messages of support conveyed on balls, in helmets and jersey.
LEGRAND: It's crazy, all the people that you never thought -- you just see them on TV, you hear about them. But now I'm actually getting to meet the people like that. All these people they are telling me that I'm going to get up. I see this as a responsibility and that's what keeps me going.
K. LEGRAN: I just stand back and I watch in amazement what his positive energy is doing. It's gravitating everyone. Not just the average person. Your pro athletes, your politicians, everyone is gravitating toward this kid.
WERTHEIM: Football coaches always look for winners. Players will do whatever it takes, no matter how grueling the work or how long the fight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is bringing the boom out there --
WERTHEIM: Legrand is doing the work because he not only wants to walk again. He wants to run.
E. LEGRAND: I always had a good motor, obviously. I just love running down there and just hearing that crowd and just celebrating with your teammates. My motor's still pumping. I'm only 21 years old. I'll be pumping for a long time.
WERTHEIM: Jon Wertheim, CNN, Woodbridge, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We're at the top of the hour here now. Let's say hello and a Happy Thanksgiving to our Fredricka Whitfield.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Thanksgiving.
HOLMES: How are you doing?
WHITFIELD: Good. I know you have had a busy morning.
HOLMES: Yes, you know --
WHITFIELD: I got a chance to reflect on the whole Thanksgiving holiday as well, what comes after.
HOLMES: What comes after? You know what comes after.
WHITFIELD: Well, you know, the Black Friday. I heard the conversation earlier about that. I will not be in that melee. No, it will not be happening.
HOLMES: Got to be.
WHITFIELD: You really?
HOLMES: Yes, I love it.
WHITFIELD: You love to be at the stores the day after?
HOLMES: Just to see the melee. Not looking to shop. Not looking to buy anything. I just want to see it.
WHITFIELD: Just people watch.
HOLMES: See part of it.
WHITFIELD: Well, more power to you. Have fun. Little cup of hot cocoa or hot java, or something like that.
HOLMES: Or whatever.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Nice holiday festive beverages.
HOLMES: It's OK. Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: Have fun with that shopping. We will be looking for you in the live shots.
HOLMES: Don't do that.
