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Estimated 1,200 Killed in Typhoon; Doctor Guilty of Murdering His Wife; Inside NFL Locker Room Culture; Talks to Slow Iran's Nuclear Program; Chasing Massive Storm; Big Stores to Open on Thanksgiving Day; Pentagon Developing High Tech Suits; Satellite Expected to Crash to Earth

Aired November 09, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The emotional reaction to the verdict of a Utah doctor, accused of murdering his wife. We'll bring you the verdict.

And backlash over Kmart's decision to open at 6:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. We'll tell you why that's making a whole lot of customers really mad.

All right. First up, this hour the tragedy that's unfolding right now in the Philippines from a massive storm that could end up being the strongest ever to hit land. While the government's official death toll stands at 138, the Red Cross estimates as many as 1200 people have been killed by super typhoon Haiyan.

A thousand of those deaths are believed to be in one coastal town, the city of Tacloban. Homes and buildings there are leveled from the storm's ferocious 195 mile an hour win. Trees are blocking roads and communication lines are down. Torrential rains, plus the storm surge have put entire town underwater.

And many of the people who died are believed to have drowned.

To give you an idea of just how big this typhoon was, this is what it was like from space. Astronaut Karen (INAUDIBLE) took this picture of the typhoon today from the International Space Station.

Keep in mind, this storm was three and a half times more powerful than Hurricane Katrina. And with supplies running out and reports of looting now, rescue teams are facing nearly insurmountable challenges.

CNN's Andrew Stevens rode out the typhoon and describes what he is seeing.

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The devastation in the city is staggering, no building escaping damage. The destruction caused by super typhoon Haiyan is everywhere. It left a city cut off from the rest of the country. Its people increasingly desperate. Roads are still impassable. All communications are down. Medical supplies are running out. Food and water are becoming scarce, and reports of looting widespread.

It's impossible at this stage to estimate the cost in human life. We've seen bodies on the streets and we've seen bodies washing up on beaches. The Philippines' interior minister can only say the number of deaths will be high. It's estimated that perhaps one million people live along the low lying coastline, the majority in rough built shacks.

Even if they could have withstood the winds, they would not have survived the storm surge, a huge perhaps five meter wall of water that spread across the city at the height of the storm at devastating speed.

The water receded as quickly as it came leaving a trail of destruction. People had been warned to evacuate, but not everybody took the advice. The priority here now is to clear the road to the airport so relief supplies can move in. 24 hours after the storm, the first military helicopters began arriving, but it will be a massive task, bringing in food and supplies to so many. In the meantime, the people of Tacloban City search for food, and water and for missing loved ones.

Andrew Stevens, Tacloban City, Central Philippines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Aid agencies are mobilizing to help victims of the typhoon. Find out how you can help. Go to CNN.com/impact.

A Utah doctor is facing 15 years to life for killing his wife. The jury came back with a guilty verdict in the middle of the night.

Jean Casarez was in the courtroom and has this reaction from the doctor's children who pushed for years of conviction for their dad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury having reviewed the evidence and testimony in the case find the defendant as to count one murder guilty. As to count two, obstruction of justice, guilty.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Screams of emotion echoed through the tense courtroom as Martin MacNeill heard his fate sealed. Seven long years after the drowning death of his wife Michele in their family bathtub. Her daughters and sisters shaking and sobbing uncontrollably as they shed bittersweet tears.

JILL HARPER-SMITH, VICTIM'S NIECE: When it happened, we kind of were like did we hear that right? Because it's so surreal. We've been waiting for this for so long.

CASAREZ: After 14 days of testimony, it took the eight-person jury nearly 11 hours to come to a verdict. Despite relying on circumstantial evidence, prosecutor Chad Grunander has told the jury to do the right thing.

CHAD GRUNANDER, PROSECUTOR: We're absolutely thrilled. It is -- it's an amazing moment to meet with the family. This has been so long in coming for them. And emotional. I think they found Alexis Somers to be totally credible. I think they believed her. She was such a wonderful, strong woman who did not give up on her mother.

CASAREZ: MacNeill's daughter Alexis was the impetus behind the case and pursued her father's prosecution with a vengeance. The verdict was her victory.

ALEXIS SOMERS, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: We're just so happy he can't hurt anyone else. We miss our mom. We'll never get her back, but that courtroom was full of so many people who loved her. I looked around and it was full of everyone who loved my mom. I can't believe this has finally happened. We're so grateful.

CASAREZ: Friday's closing argument by prosecutor Chad Grunander convinced the jury that as a doctor and a lawyer, MacNeill had the motive, means and opportunity to kill his wife. It was planned all along, he said, and MacNeill left plenty of clues along the way.

Prosecutors proved MacNeill plied his wife with a deadly dose of drugs after insisting she have a face lift, then held her head underwater in the bathtub until she drowned, all so he could marry his mistress, Gypsy Willis.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's on the bathtub?

MARTIN MACNEILL, FOUND GUILTY OF KILLING WIFE: My wife.

GRUNANDER: There's about an hour and a half period of time where no one really knows where Martin is. Rush home, take care of your business, give Michele the drugs, fix her up a bath, get her in the tub, hold her head down for a little while and help her out.

CASAREZ: Defense attorney Randy Spencer spent a year preparing for the trial, devastated by the outcome.

RANDY SPENCER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Of course I'm disappointed, but I don't have any comments right now.

CASAREZ: MacNeill faces 15 years to life for the murder of his wife of 30 years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you want to say to Michele right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you, Michele, and I'm glad that we could do this for you. And I felt her with us in there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was Jean Casarez reporting.

Dr. MacNeill will be sentenced on January 7th. His attorneys did not say whether they will appeal.

A grand jury indicted 11 people in connection with a confrontation between an SUV driver and a swarm of bikers in New York. One of those indicted, an off duty police detective who was riding with the bikers on September 29th. Footage of the incident went viral after being posted online. The bikers are accused of assaulting the SUV driver in front of his wife and 2-year-old daughter after he hit three bikers with his vehicle.

The Iran nuclear talks will likely end today without an agreement, that according to Reuters. Six of the world's major powers, including the U.S., are in Geneva, negotiating the future of Iran's nuclear program.

If no late deal is reached, the talks could continue in a few weeks. Britain's foreign secretary says there has been very good progress, but flexibility is needed to broker a deal.

All right. He vowed to block all presidential nominations until he gets answers on the Benghazi attack. Senator Lindsey Graham made that threat following an explosive report on CBS' "60 Minutes." But late this week CBS has apologized for the report, saying it was misled by a source.

So will Senator Graham continue his pledge to block nominees? Our Candy Crowley will ask them -- ask him that tomorrow on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," 9:00 a.m., Eastern. Lindsey Graham with Candy Crowley tomorrow morning.

All right. It sounds like a high school football nightmare. Bullying and hazing to the point of a person leaving the team just to get away. But this is the NFL. Next, we get an inside look at the locker room from a former player who says a case in Miami felt all too familiar.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: That story of alleged bullying that started in the Miami Dolphins locker room has blown up across the entire NFL. According to a lawyer for former Dolphin Jonathan Martin, Richie Incognito harassed and threatened him to the breaking point. Now it's raising the question, how often does this level of alleged hazing or bullying happen in the NFL?

Here's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Richie Incognito unplugged. This TMZ video shows the Dolphins guard jumping around shirtless in a bar, dropping F bombs literally.

No comment from Incognito or the Dolphins on the video. Incognito was more measured when approached by CNN affiliate WSVN about allegations that he bullied teammate Jonathan Martin.

RICHIE INCOGNITO, MIAMI DOLPHINS GUARD: No. No comment right now. We're just kind of going to weather the storm and that's it.

TODD: He may not weather the storm. Team sources told the "Miami Herald" the Dolphins will release Incognito, and there may be other casualties. The "Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel" reports Dolphins' coaches asked Incognito to toughen up Martin after Martin missed a voluntary workout last spring. Dolphins coach Joe Philbin wouldn't comment on that saying only that he'll fix any problems uncovered in an NFL investigation.

JOE PHILBIN, MIAMI DOLPHINS HEAD COACH: The type of culture that I've championed since the day that I walked through these doors has been one of honesty, respect and accountability to one another.

TODD: Incognito has seemingly been involved in hazing rookies as shown in this clip from the HBO program "Hard Knocks."

INCOGNITO: Hey, have you checked your Facebook lately? Maybe you shouldn't use (EXPLETIVE DELETED) number for your iPad password, buds. 84-84? I was going to put something up there rude. But then I saw the picture of your girlfriend, I felt bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's my fiance.

INCOGNITO: Fiance, yes.

TODD (on camera): Now at least one current player has publicly criticized Jonathan Martin, leading to serious questions about the culture in NFL locker rooms.

(Voice-over): New York Giants safety Antrel Rolle spoke to WFAM Radio.

ANTRE ROLLE, NEW YORK GIANTS SAFETY: I think the other guys are just more to blame as Richie because he's allowed it to happen. And, you know, at this -- at this level, you're a man. You know, you're not a little boy.

TODD: Former Redskins running back Brian Mitchell says the Incognito case is extreme.

(On camera): Is that part of the NFL locker room culture? Got to stand up for yourself?

BRIAN MITCHELL, FORMER REDSKINS RUNNING BACK: It is that part of culture. But not everybody is that way. You know, there are people that are that type of person. I'm that type of person. But you don't knock a guy who does it.

TODD: Mitchell says he doesn't believe what happened to Jonathan Martin is widespread in the NFL. He says on most teams players and coaches would protect a player like Martin.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. One former player says he knows how Martin might feel. Ryan Riddle joining me now. He played on the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets. I'm also joined by sports agent Jack Bechta.

So, Ryan, you first. You know, I want to read you a part of an article that you actually wrote for the Bleacher Report about your own experiences, saying this, quote, "I too have experienced some of the very stresses that would eventually take a 6'5", 310-pound man to the brink of his own sanity. I was expected to carry the shoulder pads and helmets of veteran linebackers and defensive linemen. After practice, rookies were subjected to horrific hair cuts that ranged from creative to just plain ugly," end quote.

So, Ryan, you know, what did you witness in the locker room? Was it tantamount to what we're hearing Martin say, you know, that he was bullied, that you are degraded, whether it happens in the locker room or perhaps on the practice field?

RYAN RIDDLE, FORMER NFL PLAYER: Well, I mean, to frame this, first of all, the things that I experienced and the violent nature of an NFL locker room or football in general, it's a violent sport. So nothing that I experienced personally was abnormal. It -- a lot of it was simply, you know, usual hazing as you mentioned when you read excerpts from my article.

Nothing out of the norm. But when you put an underlying tone to it where you feel somewhat ostracized or an outsider or have a difficult time relating to your teammates and players, you become -- and this is typical of a guy who's probably more sensitive or soft spoken, introverted, that kind of character type, like myself and perceivably like Jonathan Martin. They're going to struggle to navigate those social environments, and as I did.

And so any kind of scrutiny or razzing that is normal in those locker room environments is -- a lot of times teammates have no idea how painful it can be from the inside, and you definitely want to hold it in, and not show it, which is probably why a lot of guys are blindsided by Jonathan Martin's reaction.

WHITFIELD: So --

RIDDLE: But -- go on.

WHITFIELD: No, I'm just wondering, Ryan, so you're making me think here, just listening to what you're saying, is there an expectation by any rookie that it's going to happen, it's part of the initiation of being in the NFL, that you are, you know, going to be harassed to a degree of -- you're going to be taunted, there are going to be names. You've got to, you know, carry bags. You're going to be, you know, paying for dinners, et cetera.

All that expected, but it is up to you, the player, as to whether you can handle it or whether perhaps, you know, you have a breaking point that maybe differs from everybody else's. I mean, are you saying that it just simply comes with the territory? It's just up to you as an individual whether you can handle it or not?

RIDDLE: That's essentially the essence because there's so many different layers to being an NFL football player, where the prerequisite is an extreme amount of toughness, an extreme amount of aggressiveness. You have to be able to physically and mentally dominate your opponent, and the incentives to be able to do that are great. And successful football players generally are not -- it's not conducive to be passive, to be mild, to be one that people might think you can walk all over them.

WHITFIELD: So --

RIDDLE: And, you know, that seems to be a perception that teammates have of Jonathan Martin.

WHITFIELD: So, Jack, let me bring you into this then. You're preparing rookies, you know, for the realities of what it is to be in the NFL. So it doesn't sound like this is an issue of does it happen. Hazing happens, harassment happens, but now it's an issue of degrees. What can you handle, and if you can't handle it, then it sounds like people are saying you don't belong.

So how is it -- where's the culpability or responsibility? Is it within the NFL? Is it the culture of a team? You want to, quote- unquote, kind of break some of the rookies, break them in, but you don't want to break them as an athlete.

What are the degrees here? Where is the line drawn?

JACK BECHTA, PRESIDENT AND OWNER, JB SPORTS: Well, first of all, Fredricka, I think you would be pleasantly surprised of how helpful the locker room is, how helpful the veterans are. I have two rookies this year, fifth round picks. And they just rave about how the veterans have treated them, have taken them under their wing.

One is being teased right now because he didn't buy a new car yet. He's still driving his college clunker. And he kind of likes the attention and it's a lot of fun. And the fact he hasn't bought a new car yet is a -- is a good thing. I've been preaching him, you know, to wait a little bit until he gets a guarantee contract.

When you peel the onion on this issue, Fredricka, I really think you have to look at some micro components of entering the NFL. You're 21, 22, or 23, OK? The stress is emotional, mental, and physical. You have nine guaranteed contracts for the majority of the clients, you're at risk of injury at any time, it's kind of like that shadow, that cloud that hovers over you that nobody wants to talk about.

The stress and the pressure on the coaches and the general managers and the execs to win right now trickles down to who? The players. The vice gets squeezed. When those guys have to win right away, it affects the players. They feel that pressure.

WHITFIELD: Well, I think everyone gets that. But what does that mean? What is the translation of at what point do you make a player feel like it is not their athletic ability that is being measured, whether they have risen, you know, to the level of game play, but now you're talking about just, you know, the fortitude, you're like hang out, be with the rest of the team.

BECHTA: Well, this -- this offensive line group of the -- and by the way, the offensive line is the subculture within the culture of the locker room. It's usually the tightest knit group that do more things together probably than any other group or position group. And, you know, I think what you're saying is where are the boundaries on this. WHITFIELD: Yes.

BECHTA: You know? Where do you cry, OK, is it a player, and when do you start getting too personal? I think only Jonathan Martin and Richie incognito and some of their line mates right now can really honestly talk about what's going on and where those degrees and boundaries are. Everything else is just social allegations. We're getting one side of the story, maybe a third, a quarter, who knows.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Yes.

BECHTA: But I don't think anybody --

WHITFIELD: And I guess that is part of the problem because we don't have the full story, we only have bits and pieces.

And, Ryan, you know, if I could just, you know, close out our conversation with you, you know, I think not knowing all the facts, one is still -- I think I still a little -- feel a little bit sorry for, you know, Jonathan Martin here because I hear cars of folks who are really talking about, are you tough enough to deal with this, and if you're not tough enough, then perhaps you shouldn't be on the team at all, or you shouldn't be playing at this level, and it really does seem like there is that chorus that's saying that, not knowing all the facts, but that Jonathan Martin, there's a reputation that kind of precedes him that perhaps he just wasn't tough enough to hang in here.

Is that what I'm hearing from you, Ryan, and others?

RIDDLE: Yes, and I wouldn't feel sorry for Jonathan Martin in that respect because 99.9 percent of the population isn't tough enough to play in the NFL. And that's just, you know, the nature of the game.

WHITFIELD: Well, Ryan -- Ryan Riddle, I'm sorry to put you off, we are going to have to leave it there. I know we're not done with this conversation. We'll have to have you both back because I know we're just at the tip of the iceberg into this investigation which is now an NFL investigation as well as potentially some other kind of investigation out there.

Jack Bechta, Ryan Riddle, thanks so much to you both. Appreciate it.

BECHTA: Thank you, Fredricka.

RIDDLE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. A breakthrough now on slowing down Iran's nuclear program. Could it be closer to reality? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry rushed to Switzerland for talks this weekend. The latest on what this means for the U.S. next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Talks between Iran and the U.S. and foreign diplomats will likely end today with no deal on Iran's nuclear program according to Reuters. But the leaders have said that they did make some progress and talks are expected to resume in the coming weeks.

Secretary of State John Kerry has been part of the meetings to reach a deal to freeze Iran's nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions.

I'm joined now by CNN national security analyst and former CIA operative, Bob Baer.

All right. So, Bob, a lot of optimism is being expressed, even though there may not be a deal agreed to by end of today, but that Iran's foreign minister said yes, I'd be willing to talk again within a week or 10 days. Encouraging to you?

ROBERT BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Fredricka, I am very optimistic. Rouhani can speak for the hard liners, he's got the full backing of the supreme leader. The Iranians want out of sanctions, they're suffering, there's a whole generation of people that don't understand this war, don't understand war, why their oil is sanctioned.

I think they're ready to go. I think this administration is as well. We're not up for a new war in the Middle East, there's not much else we can do about Iran. And I think they will ultimately back down on continuing to build a bomb.

WHITFIELD: Well, at issue for Iran is sanctions. That they're hoping there would be a loosening of sanctions. But to what degree so that Iran would be compliant and say yes, we'll back down on our nuclear proliferation and satisfy the international community.

BAER: I think it will come step by step. We'll see this happening. You know, they'll -- some sanctions will be lifted as some probably have, as reportedly, and I think at the same time the Iranians will open up proper inspections in some of these military facilities where they're accused of building bombs, those will be opened up. You know, this would be a process that will go on for months.

WHITFIELD: Bob Baer, thank you so much for joining us.

We'll have much more in the NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: This breaking news now. The death toll in the Philippines could reach 1200 or even higher from typhoon Haiyan. The storm packed nearly 200-mile-per-hour winds with gusts reaching 235 miles an hour when it came ashore.

Storm chaser James Reynolds captured these remarkable pictures of the typhoon as it was happening. He joins us now by phone from Cebu City, Philippines.

So, James, we're looking at these images right now of this blowing wind and rain, and seeing these trees being bent like they're nothing. Give me an idea what it was like, how you had the wherewithal to keep shooting these pictures as all this was happening, seeing this torrential rain now coming down the stairs of this one building you're in.

JAMES REYNOLDS, STORM CHASER: It was absolute unimaginable chaos during the height of the typhoon. We were in a solid concrete building which we could feel (INAUDIBLE) as massive bricks of debris were crashing into it. The air was filled with rain traveling at over 100 miles an hour. The water was just coming in from every direction into the hotel. You could see the water was cascading down the stairs into (INAUDIBLE).

The windows were blowing out. Giant shards of glass everywhere, big pieces of metal flying through the air. It was just an extremely hazardous situation. And then the water started rising and the storm surge came in, flooding the entire ground floor level of the hotel and trapped (INAUDIBLE) in a desperate state trying to escape from the rising flood waters -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then, James, we're looking at these images right now that you shot with what looks like a woman is on some sort of pad that was pushed, you know, by other people and this high water -- this rescue taking place, maybe that's a mattress.

Describe for me the extent of which people were going to save one another?

REYNOLDS: Yes. Well, there were people trapped on the ground floors as the water was rising, and it was rising so quickly, you know, within a matter of minutes it was 30, 40 feet high. And these people in the ground floor were trapped, and they were desperate. The door was jammed, they couldn't open it, and they were resorting to smashing the glass to try and get out to safety.

And, you know, they needed help. So some of the crew I was with, they went out, they've managed to find a flotation device, a mattress. There were a couple of elderly infirmed people who could not get out themselves. So they managed to get them on to the mattress and bring them to safety. It was a really close call. And I'm happy to report that in that hotel, no one died -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, James, I understand you're a storm chaser. You do this for a living, you go to places where dangerous weather is threatening, but how did you find yourself in the Philippines and while you were there, was there ever a moment where you thought to yourself maybe this is not such a good idea to be here during this storm?

REYNOLDS: This is the top scale and (INAUDIBLE) off the scale in terms of weather event. The (INAUDIBLE) one of the strongest storms to ever make landfall in recorded history. It just goes to show the magnitude of the event from a lot of the (INAUDIBLE). And it happens to have hit one of the most vulnerable countries in the world. So it's been a double hit in that respect.

We prepared ourselves as best I could. We had water, food to last us at least a week, but nothing can prepare you for the -- a whole city block, burning uncontrollably, bodies being pulled out of the rubble. And people walking the streets shell-shocked. It's -- I think it's impossible to prepare yourself for these things -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Being through a storm, harrowing, dangerous, but sometimes even in the aftermath it is equally dangerous.

So be safe there, James Reynolds, thanks so much for bringing us these images, giving us a better view of what people there, including yourself, have endured and continue to endure.

Thank you, James.

We'll be right back with much more from the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This year Kmart says it's going to do what once might have been unthinkable, it will open its doors at 6:00 a.m. Thanksgiving morning. And we're waiting for the early morning gate crashers on Black Friday, other big retailers are following, in fact, Kmart's lead, including Sears and Wal-Mart.

Is this a sign of desperate times in retailing or are they just giving people what they want?

Ellen Davis is senior vice president of the National Retail Federation. Good to see you. And Robi Ludwig is a psychotherapist and author.

Ellen, let me begin with you. Why now? What is it about the retailers who have said this is the time to do it, Thanksgiving Day, and this is what shoppers want?

ELLEN DAVIS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION: It's been very interesting to watch the trends over the last three years because what retailers have seen is that people are starting to create new traditions with their families, that when the Thanksgiving turkey is done, football is over, they're looking for something to do. So a lot of families are embracing these 8:00 p.m. openings, and going out -- going out shopping.

Millennials also have a lot to do with this.

WHITFIELD: Yes, but this is -- this is now starting --

DAVIS: Because this generation doesn't want to get up in the middle of the night.

WHITFIELD: This is now starting the day, starting what has been a sacred family holiday, maybe the one big opportunity for so -- so many families to get together, and instead of, you know, getting that turkey going, making sure it's ready at 7:00 a.m., they're instead in line to get into the store at 6:00 a.m.

DAVIS: Well, there's certainly some retailers that are opening this year at 6:00 a.m., but I would argue that a lot of retailers have been open every day on Thanksgiving for years. You've got grocery stores, drug stores, gas stations, let's not forget it's also a very big day for restaurants and movie theaters. So seeing a few other retailers adopt this model is not horribly unprecedented, and there are a lot of people who have shown over the last three years that this is something that they want to do. If consumers didn't want to shop, I guarantee you that retailers wouldn't be open.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, Robi, let's bring you into this. So is there a real parallel? Are you hearing that from what Ellen is saying that, you know, hey, going to the grocery store is the same as going to, you know, Kmart to perhaps get a jump start on your holiday gift giving?

(CROSSTALK)

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOANALYST: I'm probably the wrong person to ask.

WHITFIELD: Wrong difference --

LUDWIG: I'm probably the wrong person to ask because I always love to shop. So this is actually a very comforting idea, but I think it's really interesting, too, because we have the Internet and we have technology which makes the boundaries between private life and your public life a lot more porous. So people are used to shopping on the Internet 24/7, so I could see where stores like the idea of offering their customers the opportunity to have that tactile experience.

We do know that when people are in stores they're motivated by the Christmas holiday music, that encourages buying, the Christmas season in general helps people to buy. But I was also giving it another thought. It's almost like a home away from home when we think about stores being open.

What else is open during the holidays? Your family is around, and now that stores are open, it's almost like another way to experience family time.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So, Robi, I wonder if my memory serves me right, you know, when people got wind of the idea of even on Black Friday stores opening at 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., there were complaints, yet there were a whole lot of people lining up. When they decided at some stores to open up Thanksgiving night, there were complaints, but people lined up. And so now you've got the 6:00 a.m. there are people complaining on social media, but is it likely that those lines are going to be so incredibly long and maybe even record setting for some retailers, Robi?

LUDWIG: I would --

WHITFIELD: And therein lies, you know, the hypocrisy, I guess.

(LAUGHTER)

LUDWIG: I would bet that there are going to be long lines. I mean, listen. Shopping satisfies many needs. It's an activity, it's a way to socialize, it's a way to connect. And people do like to see, and touch, and experience what they're buying. So I'm sure many, many people are going to be in those lines. Perhaps the people complaining are the people who have to work those days. And I certainly would understand their feelings.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And, Ellen, and quickly, do you think this is going to help retailers?

DAVIS: We'll see. It certainly may have helped some retailers. I have a lot of retailers know that the first place you shop for Black Friday is usually the place you spend the most money, so you see a lot of retailers trying to open earlier, because it's a very competitive market. People know that consumers want good deals, and they're out to give them some --

WHITFIELD: OK.

DAVIS: -- those Thanksgiving weekend.

WHITFIELD: Ellen Davis, Robi Ludwig, thanks so much, ladies, appreciate it.

DAVIS: Thank you.

LUDWIG: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, America's elite special forces may soon take on a futuristic kind of look. If you saw the movie "Iron Man" you may have gotten a peak at what 21st century soldiers could be wearing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: America's military is already the best trained and equipped fighting force in the world. But what if you could turn these men and women into super soldiers?

A popular movie character could prove to be more fact than fiction. The Pentagon is working on its own Iron Man suit, a possible prototype for our special forces.

Here now is Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) =

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iron Man's powered suit of armor and high tech weapons help him protect the world, and that is exactly what America's top commando, Admiral William McCraven, wants when his men have to kick down a door.

ADMIRAL WILLIAM MCCRAVEN, U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND: You've just got to open that door, not knowing what's on the other side. He's got to be in a position to be protected as soon as that door comes open.

STARR: McCraven has ordered up the tactical assault light operator suit better known as the Iron Man suit. The idea? Lightweight armor protection, possibly with battery power flowing through it, to give a soldier extraordinary ability to move faster and operate longer in battle. Former Navy SEAL Chris Heben says the suit can make commandos even better.

CHRIS HEBEN, FORMER NAVY SEAL: It is going to take a super soldier, a SEAL, a Green Beret, a Delta Force guy, and push him into a stratospheric level. What people don't realize is all this technologies exist already, but they exist separately. So they're taking them all and they're putting them together and they're adding some pretty cool things, like liquid armor that becomes hardened in a millisecond.

STARR: There are plenty of ideas. Imagery from drone to satellites overheard right into the helmet visual display. Boots that generate electricity with every step a soldier takes and flexible head-to-toe protection so troops can move closer to the enemy.

HEBEN: If they can work out the bugs and get it to where it's functional, it's going to allow -- it's going to take a group of guys that are already extremely high functioning on the battlefield and make them completely unstoppable.

STARR: McCraven wants the first version of an Iron Man suit within a year.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And in honor of Veterans Day, next week CNN's photo journalists are turning their lenses on the brave men and women who have served this country. Today on "Vets in Focus," CNN's Bob Crowley meets a Bronze Star recipient who was barely able to walk or speak after a combat injury, but he is now reaching new heights as a climber.

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TIM O'NEIL, PARADOX SPORTS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: This is a legendary, historic climbing area. The reason we're all here is because a part of us likes risk. When you go climbing, it takes you out of what would be your conventional element and forces you to come to terms with fear.

NICK COLGIN, U.S. ARMY VETERAN: Kind of like just being in the military. You always got to be ready.

O'NEILL: Nick first came into our programming about a year ago.

COLGIN: You might have had this little piece right here?

What Paradox does is they take us vets and then they pair us with just regular civilian disabled individuals. They've been doing for years what I've just been used to for the first two years or three years since I've been back in Afghanistan. Climbing is just my way of dealing with transition. Dealing with life and death risks, kind of the closest thing I have to being in the military now.

I was fortunate enough to earn a Bronze Star for saving the life of a friend soldier, but unfortunately I was injured as well. I suffered a traumatic brain injury. I came home in 2008, I couldn't spell my own name, couldn't walk without a cane and I could barely speak.

You come home and everybody thanks you for your service but they really don't understand what you went through and it's hard to convey that. And this gets the heart pumping. This is good practice for those vertical walls that come in life.

When you're on a rock wall and you come up to a problem and you just don't know if you can get through it. You're sweating, your heart is beating, you just want to give up, but then when you keep trying and you end up getting to the top, it's the best feeling in the world. This one got harder at the top.

Feels good. Feels good. It lets you know you can feel again. That you're not numb.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice work. Good job, buddy.

COLGIN: That there's something inside you that's still alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Please join us for our "Veterans in Focus" special on VETERANS DAY starting at 2:30 Eastern Time. We'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: A European satellite has simply run out of fuel and it will start falling out of the sky over the next few days. Fragments from the 2,000 pound craft are expected to hit the earth's surface, but no one knows exactly when or where they might strike. So pieces will most likely crash into the ocean or unpopulated areas. That's the hope at least.

Our Chad Myers has a look at what could happen when that satellite falls.

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CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Remember back in February? A meteor slammed into a small Russian town. We never saw it coming because it came from the direction of the sun and the telescopes were blinded by the light.

This is different. This is GOCE, a satellite launched by the European Space Agency in 2009. Its job was to map the earth's gravitational field. Ironic, now GOCE at more than 2400 pounds is drifting back toward earth. It's expected to come crashing down soon. But exactly where is much less clear. On timing of impact, an official with the European Space Agency told the "New York Times", "Concretely our best engineering prediction is now for a reentry on Sunday with a possibility for it slipping into early Monday. It's easy to track satellites because they're always close to the earth. But asteroids are much harder to find and much more dangerous. So the question is, do we know where they all are?

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, ASTROPHYSICIST: If it's really big, we know where they are, we know where the big ones are. The ones that would render us extinct or possibly disrupt civilization as we know it.

MYERS (on camera): As far as GOCE and all the other satellites, they're easy to track. There's an app for that. Right there.

Here are all the satellites that are still spinning around the earth. And most of them will someday have a date with gravity.

(Voice-over): Scientists say debris is falling to the earth all the time, most of it harmless. But at more than 17 feet long, three feet in diameter, GOCE has the potential to do damage. To what extent depends on where it lands.

Chad Myers, CNN Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up at 3:00 Eastern Time today a treasure trove of art looted by the Nazis has been found in Munich. So how tough will it be to find the rightful owners after so many years?

Also a unique love triangle is now the subject of a Supreme Court case that involves a cheating husband, the wife, the mistress and a chemical weapons treaty.

We'll see you back here for the latest news in 30 minutes. But first, "YOUR MONEY" starts right now.