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Black Friday Turns Ugly; Chaos in Egypt; Three American Students Released in Egypt; Buzz, Outrage Over NFL Stomp, NASA Plans Mission to Mars; Woman Pepper-Sprays Crowd During Black Friday to Get to Front of Line; Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney Spar over Illegal Immigration; Critic Ranks Holiday Films

Aired November 25, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go on CNN, hour two.

Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Top of the hour, two very different protests breaking out in Egypt today.

Also, a big-time merger is on the verge of a big-time collapse, and Black Friday gets ugly, very ugly. And watch out, travelers. The weather might get a tad unpredictable this upcoming weekend.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette."

And let's begin in Cairo with CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.

Ben, you have been part -- or you have been covering the pro-military rally there. Can you just compare for me in terms of numbers and demonstrators that rally to what we have been seeing in Tahrir Square since Saturday?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That pro-military rally was really just a fraction, maybe a tenth as many people as are here in Tahrir Square at the moment.

But they say they represent the silent majority. And now they want their voices heard. They have watched as since last Saturday Tahrir has become a political stage, in which so many groups are coming out and calling for the military to step down. Other demonstrators have been trying to reach the Interior Ministry.

They say that the army and the police are the two main pillars of this country, of this state. And without them, there would be chaos. So now they came out, maybe 15,000, 20,000, trying to make themselves heard. They say the place to determine Egypt's future is not in the streets and in the squares. It's at the ballot box at the elections that are due to begin on Monday -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Ben Wedeman, can you give me a quick update on the three American students who are accused of throwing Molotov cocktails? Apparently their release has been ordered, but they're still being detained.

WEDEMAN: That release was ordered yesterday, I believe. And we are hearing from the lawyer for one of those boys that they have now been released and that they're on their way to the airport soon to leave Egypt -- Brooke.

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

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: Next on "Reporter Roulette," Chris Knowles is braving Black Friday crowds for us in New York.

And, Chris, I guess a lot of retailers were worried this would be a slow year. But from the crowds I have seen, that is not the case.

CHRIS KNOWLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, it's been a pretty steady flow all day today.

And inside, it's kind of rough in there. Macy's was trying something different this year. Traditionally, they open up at 4:00 in the morning, this year at midnight. Weren't so sure how it was going to go -- 10,000 people showed up on Thanksgiving night, lined up in the queue to get in, and sales have been out of this world according to their CEO and we spoke to him earlier. He's talking about an incredible rush of people and they expect record numbers this year.

BALDWIN: Do we know, Chris, do we know what the big big-ticket items are this holiday?

KNOWLES: Absolutely. Here in Macy's, we're told women's shoes flying off the shelves. And not all of them are Christmas presents. They get kept.

Also, believe it or not, fragrances are huge here, particularly here at the flagship shore at Macy's. One in particular, Justin Bieber, it's called Someday. If you're 14 to 18, and you're a girl, I'm told this is the thing to have. Justin Bieber was kind enough to include a C.D. in that package and that, too, flying off the shelves.

BALDWIN: He sings, he acts, and he sells perfume.

Chris Knowles, thank you so much for us in New York.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

BALDWIN: And that's your "Reporter Roulette" on this Friday.

Hey, just some news just into us here at CNN. We were just talking with Ben Wedeman in Cairo about the three American students held in Egypt. We have now learned they have been released. This is according to the attorney for one of these students. Of course, CNN, we will continue to monitor the developments there in Cairo and the events in and around Tahrir Square. They have been released, according to that attorney.

Still ahead, speaking of Black Friday, a shopper pepper sprays the crowd to get in the front of the line. So, what kind of punishment might she face? Plus, a mother vanishes on the very same day she appeared on "The People's Court." Now her family is releasing a voice-mail.

Plus:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I asked him what he really feels about his release, he started to cry and asked me to excuse him for a few minutes, which I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: An American woman is still missing in Aruba. And breaking today, the man behind bars in the investigation could soon be a free man.

And big buzz today over this NFL player who stomped on another guy. But his reaction to this video clip makes the story even more bizarre. That's ahead.

But, first, my question to you. I tweeted this out earlier. Which movie will you be watching this family -- this family -- listen to me -- this weekend with your family? Maybe something in the theaters? Maybe an oldie goldie flick? Tweet me your answers. My Twitter handle is @BrookeBCNN, @BrookeBCNN. It's for a special segment at the end of this hour.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If it's interesting and happening right now, you're about to see it, "Rapid Fire."

Let's go, beginning with this one. It looks like a Maryland man who was held in an Aruban jail for nearly months may be free to go as early as next week. Prosecutors had asked the judge to keep Gary Giordano in prison for another 30 days while they investigate the disappearance of his traveling companion Robyn Gardner. That request was denied. But an appeal is to be heard before he's freed from custody next Tuesday.

And a disturbing report out of Iran claims the country's Intelligence Ministry has arrested a dozen spies for the CIA. CNN cannot independently confirm that report. The story was put out by the official Iranian news agency quoting an Iranian legislator as the source. The CIA has declined comment. But this comes just days after Hezbollah captured several CIA informants in Lebanon.

And to Kenton County, Ohio, we go. A scheduling error leads to this brawl behind bars, the whole thing caught on tape. The inmate charged with murder crosses paths with this other inmate. You see them throwing down there on the ground. That guy was a friend of the victim. Things got ugly very quickly. The two were supposed to be kept separate from one another, but a scheduling mixup let both men out right there at the very same time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just a freak accident that these two individuals were out at the same time for attorney visits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Neither man was seriously injured. One guard had to be taken though to the emergency room.

And it was a real slap in the face for the agriculture minister of India. Take a look at this video. Obviously this man is furious. This is New Delhi, slapping this Indian official. Then he pulls out a knife, taking out this ceremonial knife, threatening to slit his own wrists in protest. The man reportedly angry about corruption and rising food prices.

Also, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is pretty surprised by the skills of this season's "Dancing With the Stars" champion J.R. Martinez, so much so he inviting him to the Pentagon soon for a personal meeting. Apparently, Panetta called the Iraq war veteran today, told Martinez he's a testament to the strength and the resilience of our wounded warriors. And perhaps this is the positive attitude he was referring to. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.R. MARTINEZ, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: You have to be willing to step up to the challenge. You have to maintain a positive attitude, be patient, and just fight and understand and believe that if you do those things, good things will come to you. One day you too will be able to hold your own personal trophy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And this weekend, you putting up your tree? Take a look at this. This is no ordinary Christmas tree, folks. This is the official White House tree being presented there to the first lady and the daughters. The 19-foot-tall balsam fir will be on display in the Blue Room during the holiday season. This tree was brought in all the way from Wisconsin to Washington just for the first family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIENNA MILLER, ACTRESS: The effect that it had on my life was really damaging to me and to my family and friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: More celebrities taking the stand, testifying about the press hacking their cell phones and learning their most personal secrets. You're going to hear from them next.

But, first, take a look at this quote of the day. Who made this fashion-forward comment? Quote: "Play your cards right and you can get a whole wardrobe in a couple of weeks." Who said it? The answer after the short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, you thought about it. Who said this? Again, the quote: "Play your cards right and you can get a whole wardrobe in a couple of weeks." None other than Muppets star Miss Piggy. She was referring to her job as a plus-size editor at "Vogue Paris" where she spends her days meeting with designers and eating French rotisseries. A lot of you say you're going to see the Muppet movie this weekend.

And what a week it has been in Britain -- A-list celebrities testifying in public and asking for protection from namely the press, Britain's stop-at-nothing tabloid papers. All of this is part of an inquiry ordered in the wake of that phone hacking scandal that shuttered a major paper and led to the arrest of more than a dozen reporters and editors.

Want you to just listen here to what some of these celebrities are saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILLER: It was baffling how certain pieces of information kept coming out.

And the first initial steps I took were to change my mobile number. And then I changed it again and again, and I ended up changing it three times in three months.

And stories still continued to come out with very private information that only a select group of people knew about. And so, naturally, having changed my number and being pretty convinced that it couldn't have been as a result of hacking, even though that was my suspicion, I -- horribly, I accused my friends and family of selling stories and they accused each other as well.

HUGH GRANT, ACTOR: I cannot for the life of me think of any conceivable source for this story in "The Mail on Sunday" except those voice messages on my mobile telephone. What I would love to hear what "The Daily Mail"'s or "The Sunday Mail"'s explanation for that article was, what their source was, if it wasn't phone hacking.

J.K. ROWLING, AUTHOR: And I think the point here is that I, like a lot of people who have agreed to give evidence at this inquiry, we are not looking for special treatment. We're looking for normal treatment. I don't regard myself as entitled to more than. I'm simply asking for the same as. And I'm particularly asking for that on behalf of my children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was J.K. Rowling. She also said the attitude of Britain's tabloid press is that celebrities -- is -- quote -- "You're famous, you're asking for it."

Defenders of the media also took the stand and said it's just a matter of a few bad apples in a barrel. They're worried about overreaction and possible curbs on reporting.

And coming up, we just reported for you breaking news here on CNN, that those three American students who were accused of throwing Molotov cocktails in Cairo, they were arrested. We have now learned they have been released. In fact, I just learned in the last 30 seconds we have a father of one of those students on the phone. We will talk to him on the other side of this quick break. Don't move.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. I have Kevin Sweeney on the phone. He's the father of Derrik Sweeney, one of those three American students who was in custody up until today in Cairo, accused of throwing Molotov cocktails in the crowds in Tahrir Square

Kevin Sweeney, I'm sure this is a huge, huge relief to you and your family. If you can, tell me what your son told you today.

KEVIN SWEENEY, FATHER OF DETAINED AMERICAN: Well, actually, we really just talked about how exciting it was to be coming home today.

And he's extremely excited. And we have told him about the outpouring from friends and family. And we have kids -- actually, our family is kind of spread around the world. And he's just excited and just really looking forward to being home.

Talked to your wife not two, three days ago. I know you have kids in Paris, Afghanistan and about to be leaving Egypt. I remember that. And she told me that when she had talked to Derrik the day before this happened, that he wasn't planning on getting in the midst of these demonstrations. She didn't understand how he could be accused of such a thing.

Has he at all communicated to you why he was there?

SWEENEY: Well, he was there.

He actually went to Egypt to -- he's a dual major, Arabic and psychology. And he actually went to not just learn the language. He's already fluent in Arabic. He wanted to learn the culture. And this uprising in the streets is part of -- it is a phenomenon of the culture. And he was really out observing it.

And it seems like he was falsely accused of just -- it may have been that they were looking for Americans. I'm not sure. But at any rate, he was there observing something that was definitely a phenomenon of the culture.

BALDWIN: Kevin, we have been reporting on these for the last couple of days. And I know several thousand people have been injured, more than 40 killed. Did he sustain any injuries at all that you know of?

SWEENEY: Nothing that we want to discuss right now until he's safely on American soil.

BALDWIN: According to our crew in Cairo, these young men are en route to the Cairo Airport? Is that what you're hearing?

SWEENEY: That's correct.

BALDWIN: And so home is Jefferson City, Missouri?

SWEENEY: Correct.

BALDWIN: So when do you expect him to finally come home?

SWEENEY: He won't actually arrive here. He's not going to leave until 10:30 a.m. Cairo time and won't actually arrive here until (AUDIO GAP) p.m. or so on Saturday night.

BALDWIN: So what's the plan? He missed Thanksgiving. Is turkey on...

(CROSSTALK)

SWEENEY: Well, our Thanksgiving (AUDIO GAP) have the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. My wife is actually out shopping now for turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and pumpkin pies. And we're going to delay it until Sunday.

BALDWIN: OK. And so he will be home.

SWEENEY: He will be home.

BALDWIN: Do you know at all if he will go back to Egypt, finish up?

SWEENEY: Oh, he will not go back to Egypt. He will -- one way or another, whether -- this semester is over for him. Whether he's able to finish it remotely or just writes it off, he really does not want to be in Egypt right now with all the chaos that is going on there.

BALDWIN: Before I let you go, we're seeing three young men and the image. I know you didn't want to speak about injuries with regard to your son. Do you know at all conditions of these two other boys, young men?

SWEENEY: No. I actually don't know the condition of the two other boys.

BALDWIN: OK.

Kevin Sweeney, I really appreciate you picking up the phone. And best to you on your Thanksgiving on Sunday with your finally son coming home. Thank you so much.

Coming up next, a lot of buzz today over a terrible moment on the football field. This NFL player stomps on his opponent, but his reaction that is also raising a lot of eyebrows. You're going to hear that and see the video. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Ndamukong Suh, it's kind of a nice name, but this part, however not so nice. Ndamukong Suh getting kicked off the field in Detroit Thanksgiving Day after offering up a feast of unsportsmanlike behavior. Here he is how he gave season's greeting to a guy on the Green Bay Packers team. Take a look with me, drills his head a couple of times, and then, for good measure, he pops up and stomps him. Yes, happy Thanksgiving.

All right, we just saw what happened, just as millions of viewers watched it happen live on television. Let's now listen to Ndamukong Suh, his personal postgame analysis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NDAMUKONG SUH, DETROIT LIONS: And as I'm getting up, I'm getting pushed. So I'm getting myself on balance and getting out of the situation, which, with that, a lot of people are going to interpret it as -- or make -- create their own storylines for seeing what they want to interpret. But I know what I did and the man upstairs knows what I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wait. Is that what you saw, a guy getting his balance? Let's send it up for review.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUH: And as I'm getting up, I'm getting pushed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK. So he said he's just trying to get his balance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUH: So I'm getting myself on balance and getting out of the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Getting himself on balance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUH: A lot of people are going to interpret it as -- or make -- create their own storylines for seeing what they want to interpret. But I know what I did and the man upstairs knows what I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Jon Wertheim, senior investigative reporter for "Sports Illustrated," on the phone with me from Philadelphia.

And, John, you have seen the video. I mean, is this guy, as he says, getting his balance, or a foot to the old gut, the celiac plexus?

JON WERTHEIM, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": I think he has a second career as a fiction writer coming, because I'm not sure -- well, I'm not sure that was balance. I'm not sure what interpretation you could possibly draw, other than that was just a dirty play.

I mean, it's unfortunate. It's unfortunate it's on Thanksgiving. This is really a great football player who regrettably is getting to be known more for dirty play than a Pro Bowl defensive player. So not a great moment for the NFL yesterday.

BALDWIN: Jon, for those of us who don't spend our Sundays glued to the NFL, tell us a little bit more. You mentioned he's a good player. Second year in the league, he's already been voted the dirtiest player by his colleagues. It sounds like his reputation precedes him.

WERTHEIM: This is the second player, drafted a year ago. You know, Pro Bowl player his rookie year. The stalwart of the Lions defense. This is a great football player, but here's a guy who has barely played 20 NFL games, and already they are depending on -- well, we're counting a half dozen of these shaky incidents. There's been fines. There's already been talks with the commissioner.

If you want to liken this to criminal law, we have a repeat offender who also did not show much remorse. With all the video that exists today, you can't go in after the game on Thanksgiving Day and say people are going to interpret this. I know what I was doing. That's a flagrant unsportsmanlike conduct.

I don't think there's any room for that in football. There's no room to have much of a debate on whether that's a legitimate play. For him to commit the act, and even after calming down and cooling off and not coming clean and not showing much remorse, that's not a green sign. And I suspect there will be a forthcoming visit to the principal's office, probably a fine. I wouldn't be surprised if we may have a suspension, which is not what the Lions defense needs.

BALDWIN: I know there's talk of a suspension. Jon Wertheim, thank you very much.

WERTHEIM: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People started grabbing things, and when people started grabbing things this woman decided to spray.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Still ahead, black Friday turns ugly, gunfire and fights breaking out. Even one shopper has a can of pepper spray, unleashes it in the crowd to get to the front of the line. So what kind of punishment might she face?

Plus a mother goes missing on the day she appears on an episode of "The People's Court." But now we're hearing of a voicemail she left. B.J. Bernstein in "On the Case." We're back in 70 seconds

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Shopping can be a competitive sport for some, but pepper spraying your competitors to get ahead in line? Yep, that's what happened at a Los Angeles neighborhood at this store last night. And police are now searching for the woman who did this. B.J. Bernstein is on the case. Nice to see you. Apparently she was there with her two small children. They're looking for her. If they find her, what kind of charges could she face?

B.J. BERNSTEIN, ATTORNEY: She could be looking at felon battery charges under California law and maybe multiple counts, because for each person who was affected by the spray, that's a victim. So although there may have been one spray, you could argue and the police will probably charge her for each person who suffered injury or felt the pepper spray if they find her.

BALDWIN: You mentioned the different people involved. The number was something like 15. They were taken out of the hospital from the burns of the pepper spray. So specifically what kind of case would they have?

BERNSTEIN: Interesting issue always with these are whether there's any civil liability. This woman, chances are, suing her. She probably doesn't have anything. So the question becomes liability of the store.

And if that's going to be the real issue for retailers, not just Wal- Mart, who is in this particular incident, but any store when they set the hours and the crowds are coming, how are they handling security? I mean, you can't protect for everything, but are they taking reasonable steps to keep shoppers safe? Because as we roll the time back and move it to nighttime, and I have got to confess, last night I was out in the country on a farm with a friend and I was driving back late at night. And I thought, gosh, you know, this particular store where I wanted a microwave, I could swing on by. And then I thought, do I really want to be in the middle of that? And I said I'll wait until this morning.

Then you add nighttime, people imbibing perhaps with their dinner, and then their agitated, and crowd control. It's kind of like be being at a crazy football game, and are they preparing for it.

BALDWIN: You have to have security.

BERNSTEIN: Have to.

BALDWIN: Next case, we talked about this family of a Florida woman. She disappeared after appearing on "The People's Court." She's releasing more photos and her family is now releasing this voicemail. Michelle Parker is her name. She left this voicemail on her father's phone. What is on the voicemail?

BERNSTEIN: Well, the voicemail, I'm not sure about the voicemail to be honest, exactly what was said. But I know that they're looking at this -- her ex-boyfriend. BALDWIN: Ex-fiancee, right?

BERNSTEIN: Ex-fiancee. But that's been the case the whole time. They've been looking at him as a potential suspect. But at the same time it's reported he's cooperating with police, that he gave his computer over.

The hard part about this case is the circumstance itself. People's court. Here it is again. Reality shows can go bad. And you put in people who are agitated, who have a problem with someone else, in an atmosphere that it's not a real courthouse. When I go to court and people are agitated, I have deputies watching to make sure it's safe, not TV people. And yet the people who are the litigants, I'm assuming it feels real. So I wouldn't necessarily jump to the conclusion. Yes, there had been problems with the fiancee. But it could be somebody else.

BALDWIN: Forgive me for interrupting, but they were at "The People's Court" to begin with because, like you mentioned, ex-fiancee, they were engaged, it was over this ring. She got furious and she chucked the ring. So that's why they were there.

BERNSTEIN: And that's why they were there. And at the same time she apparently told her mother it was her worst experience of her life. She wished she had never been there. And that's what happens with reality programming, when you catch people in raw moment they later regret. I've had clients on televised court trials say how much it impacted them later when people were watching it or they thought about the fact that the world was watching them. So we don't know what happened to this young woman yet, and we just have to watch and pray for her family that she may turn out OK somewhere.

BALDWIN: B.J., thank you so much. Good to have you not on trial and sitting next to me today. Have a good weekend.

Coming up next, a new NASA mission to Mars. It is the most expensive, most sophisticated, and the agency's riskiest mission to that planet. Are we alone in the universe? The effort to find out takes a huge turn. That is tomorrow. John Zarrella is standing by with more on that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A new quest for life on Mars begins tomorrow. A rocket is set to lift of at 10:00 a.m. Saturday. Perched on top will be this new generation on unmanned robots designed to explore the Martian surface like never before. And CNN's John Zarrella has the inside scoop on the curiosity.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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 is that it sets us up for the future of finally answering the really age old question is 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 capability 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 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 if it ever existed, we believe it will be under the ground or inside rocks.

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

VASAVADA: Now if we discover organic materials on Mars, then it gets very exciting. 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 year of robotic study? Probably not. It's actually quite difficult. Life has to stick up and make itself seen.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: I just love that animation. John Zarrella is back up live for us. So John, let's talk about this Cadillac rover. Once it takes off tomorrow from Cape Canaveral, how many months does it take before it actually reaches Mars?

ZARRELLA: It's a long ride, Brooke, that 350 miles it will take it to early August to arrive at Mars in early August and then enter the atmosphere. And, you know, as a scientist has told me the great thing about the way they land is once it gets on the ground, it's on the ground and ready to take off. They could just head out and start doing science.

BALDWIN: So this is the unmanned rover. John Zarrella, when are going to have a manned mission to marred?

ZARRELLA: Isn't that the big question? Here's a lot of the issues, Brooke. First they're probably going to an asteroid at around 2025 because they think they can do that pretty easily. Mars is still awfully difficult. That's further. That's a two-year minimum mission.

On this vehicle, for instance, they're taking radiation detection equipment, because one of the huge issues is cosmic radiation, shielding the astronaut crews from that. There are so many issues and hurdles they have to get over before they get humans to Mars. The earliest timetable now looks like mid 20s or 30s, earliest.

BALDWIN: All right, well, I look forward to seeing blueprints on Mars in our lifetime. John Zarrella, thank you very much.

Coming up next, it looks like we have a bit of a twitter war between presidential candidates. Why Newt Gingrich is going after Mitt Romney. But first, time is running out here. Send me your tweets please. The question is, which movie will you be watching with your family this weekend? It's kind of a movie night tonight, you think. Maybe something in the theaters, maybe a good old favorite. Send ne a tweet. My Twitter handle is @BrookeBCNN. We're back in 60 second with some free money advice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

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 a moral question, too.

JACK OTTER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, CBSMONEYWATCH.COM: Well, it is. We'll hit both components. If they have the cash flow to keep paying the mortgage, it's very unfortunate that the investment isn't looking good. But they could keep on living there. It's shelter. They're paying for it. And eventually prices will rise. We might have inflation, which would 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 their mortgage.

And 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 as 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 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 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 pretax or post-tax. What should she do? We don't know anything about her financial situation, but we know she's about 15 years out from retirement.

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

There is 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 -- taking that money and putting it into something else, for example, a Roth IRA. We don't know how much she makes, but if she can put it into the Roth IRA, then later she can withdraw the money tax-free. But there's an advantage on doing it to the 401(k), because there's a higher limit. You can put $17,000 into your 401(k) versus a Roth, which is only $5,000.

HARLOW: Thank you, guy, good advice. And if you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail any time to CNNHelpDesk@CNN.com.

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BALDWIN: GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is catching some heat for his immigration stance, particularly from his fellow candidate Mitt Romney. But he is not backing down. In fact, he has taken to twitter. CNN political correspondent Jim Acosta is live, and, Jim, so Newt Gingrich calling out Mitt Romney on Twitter. What's he saying?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's interesting. And we're going to hear from Newt Gingrich in a little over an hour from now. He has an event scheduled for Naples, Florida, at 5:00, so we're going to watch to see whether he says anything more about this illegal immigration issue.

And Brooke, you remember that this came up on CNN national security debate on Tuesday night. Gingrich said he's willing to take the heat on this issue, and his rivals started to call this a form of amnesty, and one of those rivals was Mitt Romney.

So Newt Gingrich took to Twitter, as you mentioned, and sent out one tweet saying that he has a 10-point plan to enforce the law to secure the border, reform our broken immigration system and so on, and he put up a link for that. But then he sent out this tweet, and you're looking at it right there. And it says "Here's a trip down memory lane." And, of course, there's a link. There's a little video attached.

BALDWIN: Oh, we don't have it, Jim. Paraphrase.

ACOSTA: Oh, well, I'll paraphrase it. It links to an appearance that Mitt Romney had on "Meet the Press" in which Mitt Romney talks about his position on illegal immigration and says -- not apparently, he does talk about his position on illegal immigration, and apparently says something along the lines what rivals might consider to be amnesty, which is he's not for a policy that would send every illegal immigrant in this country back to their home. He is in favor of this video of some kind of path to citizenship or legality if they go through a series of steps. And so Gingrich was tweeting that back out message out.

And I asked the Romney campaign about this earlier and said wait main, what about this quote from Mitt Romney back in 2007? And they e-mailed back to me, Brooke, a more complete quote from Mitt Romney that did not just include the shortened version that Newt Gingrich tweeted out. So it's interesting that this is sort of going back and forth on this issue of illegal immigration, and it's important one, especially in states like Iowa where Republicans are fired up about the issue.

BALDWIN: Iowa, less than six weeks away. Jim Acosta, thank you, sir.

Coming up, Thanksgiving dinners sure do put the fund in dysfunctional, don't they? Trust me, your family is not the only one. Coming up, CNN.com has posted the list of the best Thanksgiving flicks of all times. That's next.

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BALDWIN: Are you ready to trade the turkey leftovers for a bucket of buttery popcorn? I am. The big box office draws this weekend are "Hugo" and "The Muppets." But if you're feeling a little lazy and don't want to fight for a good seat in the theater, you can always just stay in, enjoy some oldies but goodies this Thanksgiving weekend. And Lisa Respers-France from CNN.com's Marquee Blog is here with CNN.com's top five Thanksgiving flick picks.

LISA RESPERS-FRANCE, CNN.COM: Yes.

BALDWIN: Number five is "Dutch."

RESPERS-FRANCE: Yes. "Dutch" is a film starring Ed O'Neil, formerly of "Married with Children" but more recently of "Modern Family."

BALDWIN: Love him.

RESPERS-FRANCE: And he plays a guy who volunteers to pick his girlfriend's son up from prep school, and hilarity ensues as they drive across country.

BALDWIN: What is the Thanksgiving tie?

RESPERS-FRANCE: The Thanksgiving tie is they're trying to make it home for Thanksgiving.

BALDWIN: Number four, this is classic, "Rocky."

RESPERS-FRANCE: It makes you want to go jog off the turkey. That was set during Thanksgiving time also. It's just an awesome flick. You just want to watch that all year round. Look how cold it is. BALDWIN: I just wanted to listen to the music.

RESPERS-FRANCE: Those were the days.

BALDWIN: Yes, he indeed was looking good.

Number three, I think this is a hilarious movie because I love Holly Hunter, "Home for the Holidays."

RESPERS-FRANCE: One of my personal favorites because it's set in Baltimore and I'm from Baltimore.

BALDWIN: Nice?

RESPERS-FRANCE: Yes. It's really fun. Robert Downey, Jr., Holly Hunter, completely dysfunctional family, hilarious.

BALDWIN: What's your favorite part?

RESPERS-FRANCE: My favorite part is when her daughter says, I'm going to have sex while you're gone, but don't worry about it.

BALDWIN: And then she drives off.

RESPERS-FRANCE: Yes.

BALDWIN: And number two, "Avalon."

RESPERS-FRANCE: You need to come to my house and watch these Baltimore flicks. It's a wonderful, wonderful drama, a Barry Levinson film about a Polish-Kewish film. It's a great period drama.

BALDWIN: "Avalon." Number one, love both these guys.

RESPERS-FRANCE: Come on -- "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles."

BALDWIN: Awesome film.

RESPERS-FRANCE: Steve Martin, the late John Candy, another one of those mismatched Buddy Flicks. Super, duper fun.

BALDWIN: Favorite line?

RESPERS-FRANCE: "Those aren't pillows." Great line.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: We have like a minute left. I plan on being lazy tonight after all of my eating yesterday. Let's pull up some of the tweets. Classic, "Christmas Carol," "It's a Wonderful Life." I can't believe it's that time, we're watching these holiday movies.

RESPERS-FRANCE: I don't know why you can't believe it, because the decorations have been up for weeks already, Brooke.

BALDWIN: "Home Alone." RESPERS-FRANCE: I love how people have moved well beyond Thanksgiving. It's done. Let's just move on to Christmas. I'm over it. I'm over it.

BALDWIN: "I love the original "Santa Clause" with Tim Allen because it's from when I was a kid, and, of course, "It's a Wonderful Life." And one more from Eric, "I always watch the original "White Christmas" from 1954 because my mom loves it and because it's a great classic Christmas movie."

RESPERS-FRANCE: Eric Rose, I heart you. I heart you.

BALDWIN: What's your favorite?

RESPERS-FRANCE: The one with Laurel and Hardy when they are in toy land.

BALDWIN: Oh, yes.

RESPERS-FRANCE: That's way back.

BALDWIN: I love "The Grinch," and "Charlie Brown Christmas."

RESPERS-FRANCE: I love that also.

BALDWIN: Lisa, thank you so much. Enjoy your night in, and I will as well. Thank you so much for watching. I'm Brooke Baldwin here in Atlanta. Now to Joe Johns in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Joe?