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Peaceful Protests Today in Egypt; Holiday Shopping Season Starts; Curiosity Set for Lift-Off to Mars; Curiosity Set For Lift-Off to Mars; A Short Day on Wall Street; Small Business Saturday; Anthem Embarrassing Note; Kitten Stuck in Utility Pipe; The Help Desk; Gadhafi Nanny Recovering; Bill Clinton Heart Scare

Aired November 25, 2011 - 11:59   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour now. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Let's get you up to speed.

Pro- and anti-government demonstrations were held across Egypt today.

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(SHOUTING)

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WHITFIELD: This rally was in favor of the military. Tens of thousands of people took part in competing demonstrations, and they were peaceful. A former prime minister has been renamed to the post by military leaders, and asked to form a government of national salvation.

Not everybody's excited about today's Black Friday deals here in the U.S. The Occupy movement is taking on the big box stores. The site stopblackfriday.com is encouraging protesters to push their message of putting people before profits, by calling for a boycott of major retailers.

And stock markets close in less than an hour. It's a shorter day today because of the long holiday weekend. And it looks like the Dow might gain a little ground, up 18 points right now. A live report from the New York Stock Exchange in about a half-an-hour from now.

A New Zealand pilot is talking about his incredible escape from a helicopter crash. Take a look.

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WHITFIELD: Amazing moment right there.

Greg Gribble was using his chopper to set up a seven-story Christmas tree when the blades appeared to get caught in some cables there, sending it crashing to the ground.

Gribble explains what happens next.

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GREG GRIBBLE, PILOT WHO SURVIVED CHOPPER CRASH: Because it happened so quickly it was like a dream really. It was like "bang" and then the next thing I had a couple of guys undoing my belt. There's a bit of blood on the back there. But I don't know if it was my head that hit the back there or if it was my seat. Bit of a graze there -- left leg's got about two of those.

That's your main belt that's connected to the floor of the aircraft, OK? I must have slid right inside of it, and thrown me out and drag me back and backwards. You know, if I wasn't wearing that, it would have been all over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Amazing. Close call there. Gribble walked away from that accident with only a few scratches.

And it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the White House in particular. There it is making its way in with the official White House Christmas tree at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. First Lady Michelle Obama received the special delivery from Wisconsin, just about an hour ago, along with her daughters Malia and Sasha. The tree is a 19-foot balsam fir.

And here's a rundown to some of the stories straight ahead:

First, start your engines and hold on to those credit cards.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The second that line hits, they say go in, it is like a stampede. Everyone just darts in there.

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WHITFIELD: Shoppers lining up for Black Friday.

Then the Thanksgiving video that will melt your heart -- a radiant Gabrielle Giffords spending her holiday feeding the troops.

And getting ready to see red, courtesy of the spacecraft Curiosity.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sets us up for the future of finally answering that really age-old question of does life exist on other planets.

(END VIDEO CLIP

WHITFIELD: Details on the latest NASA rover about to blast off to the red planet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Now, back to our lead story: the uprising in Egypt. Tens of thousands are spending a sixth evening in Tahrir Square.

We want to bring you a perspective from some young professionals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

BASSAM AHMED, DENTIST: We're fighting the corruption in this country, not fighting the police. The police in any normal country would defend its people. But police here defend the system. The system is not gaining for us. It's gaining for itself.

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you angry at the generals?

NADAS, MEDICAL STUDENT: Of course.

WATSON: Why?

NADAS: First all we had demand. Not all of them -- and maybe all of them are not achieved yet.

WATSON: Nadas, is this a revolution right now?

NADAS: Yes. This is like revolution.

WATSON: Are you going to vote on Monday?

NADAS: Yes. Everyone here wants to vote on Monday.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

WHITFIELD: Prominent Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy has been on the front lines of the protest and she has paid a price for it, a high price. Mona joining us right now from Cairo again.

You and I spoke yesterday and you revealed that your hand was broken, your arm was broken by riot police. How are you feeling the day after now our last conversation?

MONA ELTAHAWY, JOURNALIST: Hi, Fredricka. Well, my left arm is hurting a bit but I'm hanging in there and I've been at Tahrir all day because there was no way I was going to be away. It's the center of the universe.

WHITFIELD: Now, I understand were you down at square and you had people signing your cast?

ELTAHAWY: That's right. I've got what I call my love from Tahrir. I asked people -- because it has been really incredible. I mean, as traumatic as my experience was at the hands of the riot police, every Egyptian who has seen me and who seen on, I was on Egyptian television yesterday -- every Egyptian who's seen me in Tahrir Square today has stopped me and given me love and given me wishes saying, get well soon.

And so, I've asked them to sign my cast for me so that I can take their wishes and their love from Tahrir back to New York when I fly back.

WHITFIELD: Did you feel like it was a big risk to go back down to the square, the place in which your injuries and your arrest started?

ELTAHAWY: Well, you know, I wasn't hurt or arrested in Tahrir Square. I was hurt and arrested in Mohammed Mahmoud Street, which is just off Tahrir Square. It's a street that leads into the square. I'm perfectly fine in the square.

My only concern today was to stay away from the middle of the throng because of my cast, because it was so many people today. They were really packed in.

So, I stayed on the edges of the square. That's where I talked to a lot of people. That's where I stopped and took photographs with them, some of then wanted to take pictures of me. And so, then, I would ask well then in return would you sign my cast?

So, as long -- I felt perfectly fine as long as I wasn't in the middle of it because I was just worried about the crowds and my cast.

WHITFIELD: OK. So Egypt's interior ministry did respond after hearing your story, being told on many different occasions yesterday, different networks. And they are now saying that what happened to you was an isolated incident, it must have been an isolated incident, and they also said that the riot police wouldn't treat women the way in which you described you were treated.

What's your response to them?

ELTAHAWY: That is absolutely laughable. It is outrageous that they would say that and they are living on a planet called denial.

Ask anybody who has been to Tahrir Square and has experienced any kind of interaction with the riot police and they will tell you, men and women, that they are extremely violent. Ask the women especially what treatment has been like with the riot police?

Just yesterday the news broke of another Egyptian journalist who was dragged by her hair through the streets. So many activists, female activists and journalists, for years, have been sexually assaulted by the riot police. That statement that the Ministry of the Interior made is laughable and is an indication of just how out of touch they are with why we're having a revolution in Egypt.

Reason the revolution in Egypt started on January 25th was to one of the reasons was to fight police brutality and clearly that brutality is still in place. And clearly, the Ministry of the Interior is still a corrupt and brutal place that our revolution will continue to target until we are fully free of their brutality.

WHITFIELD: Mona, you just called this the revolution that began on January 25th. And there are other people who have been interviewed there in Tahrir Square who say this is the second revolution.

So, is everyone kind of in concert as to whether this is a continuation of what transpired in January or if this is something separate, especially since we're now seeing a challenge from demonstrators of military rule looking for civilian rule when the demands were different in January, weren't they?

ELTAHAWY: Well, the demand were different in January because we were fighting another system. And then we realized that the nine months later, it's the same system. So, in that sense, the revolution continues.

I say the revolution continues. I don't call this a second revolution. I say this is the continuation of the revolution that began on January 25th because the supreme council of armed forces for me is Mubarak.

I say we replace one Mubarak with 18 Mubaraks. These are all men from the military who are his friends.

The man who currently runs Egypt, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, used to be Mubarak's defense minister. He's 81 years old. Mubarak is 83.

So you replace one Mubarak with 18 Mubaraks. In that sense the revolution continues. One of the main demands of the revolution all along has been civilian leadership for Egypt and we're still under a military junta.

They said they would leave after six months. They did not. They kept prolonging their rule and they made so many promises that they've broken, so we don't trust them anymore.

So, if you ask anybody in Tahrir Square today, the majority of people will tell that you we want an end to military rule.

All the chants today, I was following the chants. The chants were: the people want to topple the field marshal, i.e., the people want to get rid of Tantawi, the current ruler of Egypt. The other chants were: we're not going to lead, he will leave -- again targeting Field Marshal Tantawi. They were also chanting: we want to end military rule.

It is clear Egyptians realize that supreme council of armed forces has made a mess of ruling Egypt. We want Egyptian leadership for Egypt.

WHITFIELD: Mona Eltahawy, thanks so much and safe travels. I know you said you are heading back to the United States soon. Safe travels on that.

A family in Virginia is saying thank you to men and women in uniform in a very special way. It's something they've been doing for years. We'll explain.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Now that Thanksgiving is over, Americans are embracing another holiday tradition, Black Friday -- when retailers slash prices to entice crowds, like these.

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CROWD: Three, two, one --

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WHITFIELD: Some waltzed, some stormed. This was taking place at flagship Macy's store opening at midnight in New York.

So, shoppers seem willing to spend their money even though a recent poll suggests that most folks still think the economy is in bad shape. Less than a week before Thanksgiving, a CNN/ORC poll found 85 percent rate current economic conditions as poor. Only 15 percent call conditions good.

CNN's Chris Knowles is standing by at Macy's in New York where it looks like you still have a pretty significant crowd behind you.

CHRIS KNOWLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think the crowd's even gotten bigger in the last few hours. It is a beautiful day. It's 53 degrees out. I mean, that's pretty nice for the day after Thanksgiving.

Black Friday started early this year, Black Thursday in some cases. Here at Macy's, as you mentioned, the doors opened at midnight -- 10,000 people all lined up to spend money in this economy. And they're doing a lot of it.

That poll by the National Retail Association, their survey, they are expecting 152 million people will participate in Black Friday activities.

They came to us all the way from Texas. First, we'll start with Peggy this morning.

How are you, Peggy?

PEGGY MARYMAN, SHOPPER: I'm fine.

KNOWLES: Tell us about your Black Friday experience.

MARYMAN: Had a great time. Lots of people.

KNOWLES: Any good deals?

MARYMAN: Oh, lots of good deals. Had them all shipped back to Texas.

KNOWLES: I was wondering where all those bags were.

Zach is back here. I know you got your New York outfit. How is it going?

ZACHARY DAVIS, SHOPPER: Good.

KNOWLES: Good deals for you, too?

DAVIS: Yes.

KNOWLES: Finally, of course, we're at Macy's. And who else are we going to talk to but -- this is Macy.

WHITFIELD: All right.

MACY: Hi.

KNOWLES: Macy and --

SOPHIE: Sophie.

KNOWLES: Sophie and Macy are going to go ice skating. They're giving up on shopping, Fredricka. They are going to head over to do some ice skating.

So, you know, really a big day here and it continues of course through the weekend. Then we have Cyber Monday to look forward as well.

WHITFIELD: Of course. What sorts of things are they buying, perhaps the young lady from Texas, she mailed a lot of her things back or is having her things shipped back. What sort of things did she buy? Electronics. Clothes. What?

KNOWLES: The women's -- the women's shoes. OK? And some of those are not presents. You know what I mean? They go home with the people.

And the other one which I know you personally will be excited about is the Justin Bieber new fragrance. It's called Someday.

WHITFIELD: How did you know?

KNOWLES: You spend $65, you get the fragrance. It is a fruity citrus smell. You get his holiday CD and you get a free video camcorder, digital one, if you were here early enough. Exciting stuff coming out of Macy's.

WHITFIELD: All that stuff is on my list. I hope there is still a few left in time for when I get a chance to get to a store.

All right. Thanks so much. OK. Good. Thanks so much. Have fun there shopping.

All right. Some people are pushing Black Friday madness over the line -- way over the line. A woman at Wal-Mart in Los Angeles actually squirted people with pepper spray. Other people waiting in line for the same kind of Xbox video game console that she wanted. The line quickly cleared out. She paid and then left. Paramedics treated 15 people for pepper spray burns.

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WHITFIELD: And shoppers apparently started grabbing for cell phones at this Wal-Mart in Kinston, North Carolina. An off-duty police officer used pepper spray on the crowd hitting about 20 people. Some customers say the officer got it all wrong. Someone fell and the officer thought it was a disturbance.

And a pair of Wal-Mart shoppers in the Orlando area came to blows at a jewelry counter there today. Police had to wrestle one of the men to the floor to handcuff him. He is charged with resisting arrest. The other man left the store.

And gunshots greeted early morning shoppers at Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The shooting began outside, and then it moved inside. No one was hit, thankfully. Police are now looking for two suspects.

And today and every day, we thank servicemen and women for all that they do. A family in Virginia is taking it a step further by inviting soldiers who are away from home into their home for Thanksgiving.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's always been open to anyone. You don't have somewhere to go? Come and eat with us.

REPORTER: Judging by this game, you'd never know Zachary Bart (ph) and Jacob Knight are just guests for the day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Finding out that it is just like being back at home with the kids and all that stuff.

REPORTER: Two new playmates that is.

LAINEY GRIFFIN, HOSTESS: It is new people to play with and I love to watch their expressions when they eat the pie and the turkey and everything else we have.

JACOB KNIGHT, U.S. ARMY: We have gotten a lot of opportunities to spend time outside with people, regular people.

REPORTER: Zachary and Jacob don't get a lot of days like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hardest one for me is being away from my family.

REPORTER: The two are battle buddies in the U.S. Army. The Griffin family adopted them for Thanksgiving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These boys eat with abandon. They are always hungry when they get here.

REPORTER: Janice and her daughter April have opened up their home for soldiers on Thanksgiving for more than 20 years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've actually gotten letters from moms saying thank you.

APRIL GRIFFIN, HOSTESS: We had eight soldiers one year. It was the year that I called mom and said, I can't fit them all in my car!

REPORTER: They and other families across Hampton Roads make room for these men and women every year to say thanks.

KNIGHT: It's nice to be able to sort of get back in touch with reality for thanksgiving instead of just another military day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what Thanksgiving is to us. It's sharing what you have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we thank Lizz Falca (ph) from CNN affiliate WAVY for that story.

A Kansas schoolgirl named NASA's newest rover "Curiosity" is ready for lift-off and eager to make tracks and maybe a little history on Mars.

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WHIFIELD: Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we're working on.

All right. Next stop -- we'll take a look at the new NASA rover. It is not just the big box stores -- get ahead of myself? Are we talking about rover or are we talking about shopping here?

All right. Well, there it is. It is called account Curiosity and folks are kind of excited about its potential on its journey to Mars.

And then, it's not just the big box stores getting in on the holiday shopping mayhem this weekend. We'll tell you what small business Saturday is all about.

And then later, Gabrielle Giffords takes out hope for her recovery for the troops.

The lone American aboard the International Space Station got his traditional Thanksgiving meal. Astronaut Dan Burbank even shared his meal with his two Russian roommates.

Here's a look at the tasty menu. Irradiated smoked turkey. Chad and I were just talking about that. Yummy smoked turkey. I wonder how theirs tasted.

Heat-treated yams. NASA's special recipe for rehydrated cornbread dressing and cranberries. And desert was cherry-blueberry cobbler in a pouch, of course.

Dehydrated food isn't all that bad. It's something, right?

All right. Curiosity is what it is being called and it is ready for lift-off tomorrow morning, bound for -- where else? Mars. It's set to become the fourth NASA rover to make tracks on the planet.

And CNN's John Zarrella is at the Kennedy Space Center.

So, John, give us kind of the purview of "Curiosity's" journey.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure, we'll do. But, first, I want to let the viewers all know where we are. We're here at the vehicle assembly building where Saturn V rockets and the space shuttles were assembled.

And, you know, you can see behind me there, that's the space shuttle Endeavour waiting here until its new home, the California Science Center, the museum, is ready for it. Some of the people you see here looking at it, you know, tours are now coming into the VAB. These people are here to watch the launch tomorrow of "Curiosity."

And yes, it is the most sophisticated rover NASA has ever built, ever sent to Mars with some 10 different experiments that really could revolutionize our understanding of Mars.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA (voice-over): Mars. Does life exist there? Did it ever?

NASA is poised to take its boldest step towards answering questions that could change forever our view of humanity's place in the universe.

ASHWIN VASAVADA, DEPUTY PROJECT MANAGER: I think the best way of saying why we're so excited about this mission is that it sets us up for the mission of finally answering that, you know, really age-old question of does life exist on other planets?

ZARRELLA: The mission is called the Mars Science Laboratory or MSL, the most sophisticated vehicle ever sent to Mars, it has the ability to detect signs of life. If it works, come next August, after traveling 350 million miles, a 2,000-pound six-wheel rover called Curiosity will arrive at the red planet.

Using a tether system never tried before, it will be lowered down to a place called the Gale Crater. The size of a small car, Curiosity is the Cadillac of rovers.

JESSICA SAMUELS, SURFACE SYSTEMS ENGINEER: We're choosing to make the rovers bigger and bigger because we want to cover more ground. We want to be able to put an arm out and drill a rock.

ZARRELLA: Drill a rock? Why?

ROB MANNING, MSL CHIEF ENGINEER: On Mars, if life exists as single cell organisms or it ever existed, we believe it will be under the ground or inside rocks.

ZARRELLA: Inside Gale Crater sits inside what scientists believe is a layered mountain. In essence, the history of Mars told in the layers. And if water ever flowed on Mars, it might have been in that crater. Curiosity's arm will collect samples and place them in its onboard laboratory with the ability to detect organic material.

VASAVADA: Now, if we discover organic materials on mars, then it gets very exciting. You know, the chances of it may be low, but the payoff is huge. Organic materials are required for life as we know it.

ZARRELLA: But it won't mean life exists, just the building blocks.

MANNING: If you go to the driest desert on earth, can you find life on your samples if you do a robotic study? Probably not. It's actually quite difficult. Life has to stick up and make itself seen.

ZARRELLA: Finding life itself would be next to the next wave of explorers, robotic and perhaps even human.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: Now, for the engineering teams out at the jet propulsion laboratory in California, built Curiosity -- this is extremely important because they are really coming to the end of the line of the great planetary exploration missions. There aren't very many of them left right now -- a couple that they are thinking about, Fredricka. But for the most part this is pretty much the end of the line -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: You know, this was attempted before on a different scale. We're talking about the Spirit and Opportunity.

ZARRELLA: Yes.

WHITFIELD: But those rovers were powered by solar energy. What's different about Curiosity? Why do they feel like this you know, second go round, or third go round might work?

ZARRELLA: Well, it's a big difference. You know, those rovers worked fine with solar power, but they were a lot smaller. This one is working with what's called an RTG, radio-isotope thermal electric generators. It is nuclear powered basically and that will allow it not to have to be relying on whether there is dust storms or anything that could interrupt the solar power that the others needed to collect in order to work.

So, you know, they've used them before on deep space missions. Not the first time that they've used these RTGs. And they say that they are perfectly safe.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chad's here, too. Chad's as fascinated as I am probably more so. You guys know a little bit more about it than I do. Exciting stuff.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This landing system for this thing is like a million and 17 parts. There are so many things that could go wrong with this. Why did NASA decide to do it this way?

ZARRELLA: Because of the size of the rover. They couldn't use the air bag system any longer for the viewers out there who don't know. What they did with the other rovers where they had these enormous air bags and when they would land on the surface of Mars, it would bounce across Mars.

You know, several stories high with the vehicles inside, but this rover is so immense, so big, the air bag system wouldn't work. So they're going to go with this system, which is like a sky crane. You saw in the piece how it comes down and then it is dropped down.

They say that once the rover's on, the ground this way, then it is ready to go. It can take right off and starts its expedition. But that's the reason why they went with this system, they felt it was the best way.

And this system, Chad and Fredricka, could be something that's a precursor to the way humans would land on Mars using something similar to this.

WHITFIELD: Maybe this one won't get lost, right? All right, John Zarrella, thanks so much. They'll be able to keep an eye on it.

MYERS: I will put this -- there is a link and I'll put it on my Chad Myers CNN Twitter feed so you can see it. The number of steps it is going to take to get this thing to the ground is probably more steps than it took to get the entire Saturn 5 rocket from the earth to the moon and down.

WHITFIELD: Beginning with launch. How do things look for that?

MYERS: Honestly. The criteria is different now from where we were about the shuttle where you couldn't have a rain shower anywhere because the shuttle couldn't fly through it.

Human people on it, astronauts on it. This is a little bit less. The chance of showers 10 percent tomorrow, 76 degrees set about launch time. Pleasant weather, but there will be scattered showers around.

That will be NASA's call to figure out all the differences. Remember we couldn't have clouds with the shuttle. If the shuttle had clouds and it rolled up through it. They were too thick. They could get too cold.

It could have cracked some of those heat shields, those little ceramic tiles on the shuttle. This is a whole different story. It does look like we should be in good shape. At least the 70 percent chance after go on this launch for tomorrow. I think we will be OK.

WHITFIELD: All right, excellent stuff like that good news. Thanks so much, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: All right, also tomorrow, major retailers are looking forward to it, but guess what? This Saturday is actually going to belong to the small businesses. Mom and pop stores have some major muscle behind them. Details on how the president and American Express are looking out for the little guys.

And one week into retirement, so what is Regis up to these days? Well, who perhaps might he want to fill his place to work alongside Kelly?

Our Brooke Baldwin is actually going to ask him that and a few other things. Tune in today 2:00 Eastern Time for a conversation with Regis Philbin in the "CNN NEWSROOM."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Saturday is a big day for the nation's small businesses. We'll get to that story in a moment.

But first, Alison Kosik is keeping an eye on the markets on this short day, shorter day of trading.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. Hi, Fredricka. Yes, stocks right now are pretty flat. They're off the highs of the session. You know what? Many investors at this point are kind of checked out because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Reason we are seeing some of the swings that we are seeing today, but we're not going to be seeing those swings for long. The market as you said closing in about 20 minutes. Closing bell ringing at 1:00 p.m. today.

WHITFIELD: OK, all right, so help us understand the whole "Small Business Saturday" what it is all about.

KOSIK: OK, so this is all about shopping locally. It is really meant to encourage people to go ahead and shop at independent stores that are in their communities and not necessarily going to those big box stores to make all of their purchases.

Now this "Small Business Saturday" is being spearheaded by American Express, but you know what? Even President Obama is supporting it. He says small businesses are the backbone of our economy.

Amex says small business actually created 65 percent of all the new jobs in this country over the past 20 years. So it goes with the fact that supporting local businesses keeps the money in your area because those businesses pay taxes and they hire workers as well.

WHITFIELD: And American Express, what's the benefit for it?

KOSIK: Yes, you can bet that Amex is going to benefit from this if you use your Amex card of course. You know, they're giving you an incentive to do just that because if you register your Amex card and then you use it, you wind up getting a $25 credit from them.

When you use your card, Amex, of course, makes money because the retailer pays a fee. You'll pay interest if you carry a balance. It is also good for branding as far as Amex goes, which is why it is leading this cause as well.

It really boosts its image. Something that many companies certainly want these days to have a good reputation.

WHITFIELD: Everybody wants that. All right, meantime, perhaps you were a fan of "American Idol", Alison? Did you tune in every now and then?

KOSIK: I did watch, yes every now and then.

WHITFIELD: Maybe you'll recognize this young lady. She was a runner-up and was invited to sing the national anthem at an NFL game, but it was a little embarrassing.

KOSIK: I caught it.

WHITFIELD: Not a bad recovery though, little pressure. I'm feeling for her because, you know, in front of a huge crowd, come on.

KOSIK: I do too.

WHITFIELD: It can happen to anybody. How many times you rehearsed the song?

KOSIK: Exactly, I think she's like 16 years old. Come on, you got to feel for her. That's a scary moment, right?

WHITFIELD: Yes, and she has a very big voice.

KOSIK: I think she sounds terrific.

WHITFIELD: I do, too. Lauren Elena is her name. You probably recognize her. She was quite the contender on that "American Idol."

KOSIK: Even with her mess-up, I tell you what. She sounds a lot better than me singing.

WHITFIELD: I'm not going to try that. No kidding. I will give her props. She was very courageous, did a good job. This was the NFL game between Detroit and Green Bay. Everyone is there at attention.

It looks like they were still pleased with her rendition, nonetheless. She did kind of recollect herself and she moved on and it's how you finish, right? But she did tweet later.

KOSIK: Exactly. WHITFIELD: Yes, she did say, you know what? I have no excuses. I messed up. But that's OK. She crossed the finish line. She finished. All's cool.

KOSIK: We're all human. We mess up.

WHITFIELD: That's right. You got a shorter day, perhaps, than usual today. Maybe you get a chance to take advantage of some Black Friday specials.

KOSIK: I'll have to think about that one, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK, thanks a lot, Alison. OK, so how does a cat say "get me out of here!

I think it's saying help! Instead of Thanksgiving Day turkey, these fire fighters spent the holiday focused on a little kitten in a jam.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Let's go cross country now for a few stories our affiliates are covering. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords spent a part of her Thanksgiving Day serving meals to U.S. troops at a Tucson military base.

Her husband retired astronaut, Mark Kelly was at her side. Giffords was only able to use her left hand. She's still recovering from a gunshot wound to the head in January.

That is the sound of happiness on that Thanksgiving for military families in Hawaii. About 300 Marines and sailors returned to this marine base Thanksgiving morning. They had been deployed to Southern Afghanistan.

And then to Southern California, an army of police officers, fire fighters and volunteers spent much of the Thanksgiving Day captivated by a little kitten who was in distress. Richard Allen with our San Diego affiliate FFMB has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ALLEN, KFMD-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The persistent and piercing cries for help began at about 4:00 Thanksgiving morning.

A terrified kitten had managed to tumble several feet down this exposed plastic utility pipe on a sidewalk. Initially, a crew from emergency animal rescue attempted to save it.

A tedious and intense rescue operation that ultimately included the police and heartland fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just try to figure out every way to get down there and get something behind the kitten and drag him up or lasso him and pull him up. ALLEN: Emergency crews used some old-fashioned ingenuity, creating a kind of catch pole out of wire and cable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this cable came from Animal Control. And then with some duct tape, we fashioned a "get the cat out of the drain" tool.

ALLEN: Trying to tempt the elusive feline with tuna.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see his whiskers.

ALLEN: It took these crews dozens and dozens of tries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had the cat about a foot from the opening and then the cat dropped off.

ALLEN: And hours and hours of effort.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting closer though.

ALLEN: Finally close enough to reach down and pull it up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, poor guy. Come on. Whoa!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This terrified ball of fur --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her heartbeat's going a mile a minute.

ALLEN: Apparently none the worse for wear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he looks great. He's a happy cat.

ALLEN: Happy and, no doubt, grateful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy Thanksgiving, little one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And lucky at that. That rescue operation, it really did take much of Thanksgiving Day. It took eight hours to rescue that kitty. A police officer who helped save the kitten actually plans to adopt her.

All right, Bill Clinton says he is lucky he didn't die of a heart attack back in 2004. Now he's got a message for other Americans and he's telling it to Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

But first, here's some free money advice from the CNN "Help Desk."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Jack Otter is the executive editor of cbsmoneywatch.com, Donna Rosato is the senior editor at "Money" magazine. Thank you both for being here.

An interesting question for you today, Jack. This comes from Jeff. And Jeff says, "we owe more on our house than it's worth and do not have any hope it will sell when it goes back on the market. Should we consider a short sale or should we walk away?" This is really sort of a moral question, too.

JACK OTTER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, CBSMONEYWATCH.COM: Well, it is. We'll hit both components.

First of all, if they have the cash flow to keep on paying that mortgage, you know, it's very unfortunate that their investment isn't looking so good, but they can keep on living there. It's shelter. They're paying for it. And eventually prices will rise. We might have some inflation, which would actually help them, and they might be fine.

Number two, yes, if they're going to sell, I would go the short sale route. Definitely hire an attorney because some people are getting hit with tax bills for the difference between the sale price and the mortgage.

Finally, I would say, I actually don't think people should think of it as a moral question. And the reason is this. Financial companies would never think of it that way. The guy who lent you the money, it's purely a business transaction for them. And if that bank was in a similar situation and they could walk away from an underperforming asset, they would do it. So really people shouldn't get too hung up on this. I know it's tempting, but just think of it as dollars and cents, do what's best for you.

HARLOW: That's a very, very interesting take.

Donna, your question comes from Janice in Richmond, Virginia. Janice says she has about 15 years left before retirement and she wants to elect her 401(k) contribution pre-tax or post-tax. What should she do? So we don't know how much she has in there. We don't know anything else about her financial situation, but we know that she's about 15 years out from retirement.

DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": That's right. And it's interesting that not every 401(k) plan does offer this option. So not as many people know that you can do pre-tax or post-tax.

There is an advantage to doing the post-tax. You're paying the tax on it now. That means you won't have to pay the tax later on. But there is an advantage to doing it -- taking that money if you have after-tax money and putting it into something else. For example a Roth IRA. Again, we don't know how much this person, she makes, but if she can put it into the Roth IRA, then later on she will -- she'll have a tax hit but she can also withdraw that money tax-free.

But there is an advantage, again, doing it into your 401(k) because there's no limit -- there's a higher limit. You can put almost $17,000 into your 401(k) versus a Roth, which is only 5,000. HARLOW: Sure. Thank you guys. Good advice.

And if you have a question you want answered, just send us an e- mail any time to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: More tension in Syria. The Arab league gave the government there an ultimatum -- allow international observers to monitor the crackdown on public protests or face economic sanctions. But the deadline for a decision passed this morning without a response from Syrian leaders. The U.N. says more than 3,500 people have died in the country's ongoing political uprising.

And she was a nanny for the Gadhafi family, then became a target of their brutality. And now she's making a comeback. A warning to our viewers, the images you're about to see are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new life in Malta couldn't be further from the horrific torture she endured in Gadhafi's Libya. Enjoying a stroll on a mild winter's day, Shweyga Mullah is trying to put her terrible past behind her. She's out of hospital and recovering fast.

As an outpatient, she needs to visit her doctor almost every day. It's here in the Martyr (ph) Day Hospital that she has her dressings changed. Nurses also trim back her hair to stop the follicles getting infected. This delicate procedure might look grim, but Shweyga doesn't find it painful.

RIVERS (on camera): With the help of the Maltese government, Shweyga is now getting the meticulous care that she needs. The doctors here say she is facing many more months of treatment.

MARY ROSE BONNICI, NURSE: She's making very good progress. It was certainly discharging (ph) before and how it's getting dryer around dryer. But now it's good. Very good. Even her hair is growing. She really is good. I know it.

RIVERS (voice-over): This is how we found her, abandoned in a Gadhafi family compound just after the liberation of Tripoli. Then she told me how she'd been scalded with boiling water poured over her head by Moammar Gadhafi's daughter-in-law Alian (ph). After our initial broadcast, we were inundated with offers of help for Shweyga. It culminated in her being flown to Malta.

RIVERS (on camera): A lot of people have given a lot of money to help you. What would you like to say to them?

RIVERS (voice-over): She says a profound thank you to everyone around the world who's help her with the medical treatment and with the money they've sent. "A huge thank you," she says. The small Ethiopian community of Malta is rallying around Shweyga. Despite all she's been through, her smile lights up her face. All the people here were migrant workers in Gadhafi's regime, but left Libya before the war. Shweyga's story has touched them all.

RIVERS (on camera): When you heard her story, what was your reaction?

EMANUEL TSEGAY, FRIEND OF SHWEYGA MULLAH: My reaction was, I feel very, very bad. (INAUDIBLE) horrid he say about her. And, in fact, I was crying that night. It was night and I was crying.

RIVERS (voice-over): I asked Shweyga whether she wants to go back to Ethiopia yet. She says she doesn't feel ready to face this scrutiny of friends and the questions about what happened. Her scars aren't just physical.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Malta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And a word of warning from former President Bill Clinton, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Bill Clinton may be the world's best known heart patient. After he left office, he had open heart surgery. And he admits he ignored warnings signs along the way. He opens up to our Dr. Sanjay Gupta in hopes that you won't make the same mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I was lucky I didn't die of a heart attack.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Clinton, like too many people, was busy. And for years he ignored warning signs from his heart. But in 2004, during an exhausting book tour, there was something different.

CLINTON: I had a real tightness in my chest when I was getting off the airplane and it was the only time I'd had it unrelated to exercise.

GUPTA: We're here outside New York Presbyterian hospital. In just a couple of hours, President Bill Clinton, former president, is scheduled to undergo surgery.

CLINTON: So I immediately went down to our local hospital and they did a test. They said, you got real problems. They hustled me down to Columbia Presbyterian and they confirmed the determination that I had serious blockage and needed the surgeries.

GUPTA: The doctors immediately knew. Options were limited. The 58-year-old Clinton needed to have his chest opened, his heart stopped, and surgery performed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no medical treatment for reversing the obstructions that had already formed in his blood vessels.

CLINTON: I got Hillary and Chelsea there and all I remember is it was happening fast and everybody who cared about me was scared and I felt rather serene. I thought, gosh, we got (INAUDIBLE). I didn't have a heart attack.

GUPTA: On Labor Day in 2004, Mr. Clinton had four blood vessels bypassed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Starting this morning around 8:00, he had a relatively routine quadruple bypass operation. We left the operating room around noon and he is recovering normally at this point. So I think right now everything looks straightforward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: President Clinton has made some dramatic changes and there are things that you can do right now as well to prevent having a heart attack. Tune in to Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports, "The Last Heart Attack," tonight, 7:00 Eastern Time, 11:00 p.m. Eastern as well.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Much more of the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead with my colleague T.J. Holmes.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Hello. Happy post Thanksgiving Day.

HOLMES: Happy Black Friday. I've seen a lot of you this week.

WHITFIELD: I know.