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Crowds Camp out for Black Friday Deals; Comet's Fantastic Thanksgiving Show; Keeping the Peace with Family during Holidays; To Heaven and Back
Aired November 28, 2013 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. And Happy Thanksgiving. And thank you so much for all of your messages on Facebook and Twitter. I am humbled and it makes it a lot easier to work today.
Let's check our "Top Stories", shall we at 31 minutes past?
A new report says Canada gave the U.S. permission to spy during the 2010 G-8 and G-20 summits in Ontario. CVC News made the report based on documents they received from NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Documents also show the NSA set up shop in the U.S. embassy for the week-long operation, no specific targets named.
White House officials say they will delay online enrollment for Obamacare for small businesses until November of next year. The small business owners will be able to enroll through an agent or broker. This latest delay comes as the White House has pledge to the Obamacare Web site up and running for the vast majority of users by this Saturday.
Two pictures the show the power of those deadly tornados that ripped across the Midwest earlier this month. This is security camera footage from inside an Indiana middle school. The motion sensors were triggered when the storm ripped apart that gym.
If you want a pecan pie for your Thanksgiving dessert today, it's going to cost you. A shortage of pecans is driving up the price by more than 30 percent. The reason a record rainfall hurt crop and wild pigs ate a lot of them as they fell from the trees. Also China has a growing appetite for pecans about a third of U.S. pecans are exported to China.
Well that pie whatever kind it is, is going to have to wait for one group. Some die-hard shoppers are foregoing Thanksgiving festivities to camp out in front of stores like Best Buy and Toys R Us, hoping to snag some of those crazy door-busting deals. Adding to the appeal of a good discount freebies we're talking about free Galaxy S4s when you sign up for a new contract at Best Buy; $25 gift card if you buy K-Cup Brewer at Office Max and $100 gift card if you buy an iPad Air at Target. But is sitting out turkey day worth it? It depends.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Supposed to be home with your families not shopping.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe for the experience. Because it's been tradition for six years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To say you're focused on your family and if your family all comes to shop, then that's fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right. Let's -- let's go back to our cart cam in Burbank inside the K-Mart store. Kyung Lah will shortly appear as the cart cam makes its way to her. Happy Thanksgiving.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Happy Thanksgiving. And here I am with our shopping cart cam. Remember when Thanksgiving was all about just being bored at your aunt's house? No longer. It has begun. The Black Friday frenzy extending into your turkey time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: The shopping, the screaming --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
LAH: The swearing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will stab one of you mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
LAH: Let the fists fly. Retailers call it the Super Bowl of shopping for Black Friday but scenes like these that flood the Internet give the bargain battle a black eye. This ugly clash at Los Angeles Wal- Mart two years ago was captured by one customer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of the people just went in there and they just started destroying the boxes.
LAH: All this for marked down xBox games.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People were fighting, trying to get those deals. And one lady with pepper spray just started going at it.
LAH: Was that moment a turning point for Wal-Mart?
RACHEL WALL, WAL-MART SPOKESWOMAN: Certainly. I think we can do a better job at managing crowds and helping customers get in the store, find the item they're looking for and get out. So I think we learned a lot.
LAH: Wal-Mart said this time it's a calmer Black Friday. Orderly lines through the store. Shoppers will get wrist bands and rain check tickets to ship items that run out. But what won't change are the surprise deals through the store.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a 40 seconds and all the people will go crazy.
LAH: So predictably wild that this dad brought his kids to Wal-Mart to witness the mayhem first firsthand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's something about Black Friday, your integrity.
LAH: These Chicago area cousins don't care about the mayhem. In fact they thrive on it every year using shopping apps and meticulous planning to save on toys for their young kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What, eight hours of shopping?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes it was all night, yes. Eight hours or so.
LAH: Seriously, all night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was worth it.
LAH: Spent $960 half of her budget saving $1,000 on gift, enough to make her want to dance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, the jig had to happen and I would do it again if I got to do like that.
LAH: Not a laughing matter to Victoria Caruso who has seen enough video of the fighting -- and doesn't want any of it, even if it's literally a pillow fight.
VICTORIA CARUSO, SITTING OUT BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING: I think they're crazy. To them, it's a sport. Lacrosse is a sport. Black Friday is not a sport.
LAH: She shops all online. Sure, she gives up on some of the deals but savors her serenity.
CARUSO: The savings aren't worth the bail money.
LAH: After capturing the Wal-Mart wildness Juan Castro avoids a retailer on Black Friday but still can't resist a short outing.
JUAN CASTRO: As you get over and make sure -- maybe some football gear would do me good.
LAH: That may be good advice, because for shoppers like these, it's game on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: And a little context here. It is just 7:30 in the morning in Los Angeles, Carol. The store has been opened for 90 minutes.
COSTELLO: Are there big crowds? I don't see very many people behind you. But of course, you're probably standing in a convenient spot for television. LAH: I would say it's a moderate crowd. I mean there were 50 people lined up when the doors opened. You know, 6:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving, it's not bad.
COSTELLO: No, that's not bad at all. I would rather just be sitting up in my bed, drinking a hot cup of coffee and have someone rubbing my feet but --
LAH: That's two of us.
COSTELLO: Yes exactly.
LAH: Yes.
COSTELLO: Kyung Lah, thanks so much and Happy Thanksgiving.
Still to come on the NEWSROOM -- turkey, football and a comet. You may want to add a sky show to your Thanksgiving activities. Ison is shooting toward the sun.
And what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? We want to know. Facebook.com/CarolCNN or tweet me @carolCNN.
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COSTELLO: Ok. There's something amazing that's going to happen today besides that turkey you have in the oven. It's a comet and it's named "Ison". And supposedly, we will be able to see it at some point maybe today, maybe by next week.
But David Dundee is here to tell us, he's an astronomy program manager for the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. Thanks for being here.
DAVID DUNDEE, ASTRONOMY PROGRAM MANAGER, TELLUS SCIENCE MUSEUM: My pleasure.
COSTELLO: Ok so first, tell us about this comet, what it is and might we see it today?
DUNDEE: We won't. Spacecraft might be able to view it because it's very close to the sun. So earthbound viewers, you're not going to be able to see anything probably until Wednesday. What makes today particularly important is comet "Ison" may or may not be the record breaker of comets passing the sun. The last record breaker was back in 1962 comet Sekilines (ph) passed within three million miles of the sun. That was a really a big deal.
Well, today comet "Ison" passes about 600,000 miles from the surface of the sun. So they only -- not only is the only thing roasting today is your turkey. The comets could be roasting too.
COSTELLO: So for those of us who don't know, what is a comet?
DUNDEE: A comet basically is a frozen chunk of gas and water, sand, a few rocks. It's basically a very snowy dirt ball going around the sun. And it only acquires a tail when it gets close enough to the sun for the volatiles in the comet, the gases begin to sublimate, they turn from solid into a gas.
COSTELLO: And that's what you have in our demonstration, right?
DUNDEE: Yes, yes. Let's do that. Put your goggles on we're practicing safety here today. And I brought my best approximation of a comet this morning. And so I have a hunk of dry ice. And I'm going to actually put it in this beaker, which I'm going to fill with water. Now the dry ice is about 100 degrees below zero. The water is at room temperature. So what would you predict would happen to the water?
COSTELLO: It will turn like a dry, icy dirt ball. Should I fill it full?
DUNDEE: Halfway.
COSTELLO: Halfway, ok.
DUNDEE: Ok so I have my hunk of dry ice. Again, it's about 100 degrees below zero, room temperature. And most folks would predict that the water would just freeze because you have something this cold. Let's see.
COSTELLO: And behold, comet Ison.
DUNDEE: Now what's happening here, is you're seeing sublimation taking place. Is the -- the dry ice is turning directly from a solid to a gas, this is carbon dioxide that's flowing across the table here as you see on movie sets and cheap science fiction shows. But basically the bubbling you are seeing is not boiling, it's actually sublimating.
Now the comet is sublimating now, too, it's losing about two to three million tons of material a second today.
COSTELLO: Wow.
DUNDEE: As it goes around the sun. It's hurdling around the sun about 845,000 miles an hour. The temperature around the comet now about 5,800 degrees that's hot enough to melt steel and it's made mostly that. So will it survive?
COSTELLO: We'll see. We'll keep our eyes to the sky.
DUNDEE: Well yes.
COSTELLO: Thank so much, David Dundee for coming in this morning especially on Thanksgiving.
DUNDEE: Yes Happy Thanksgiving.
COSTELLO: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: Turkey and stuffing -- they're just two of the many foods Americans will indulge in this day. Hopefully, your dinner won't turn out anything like this one.
That's so weird. That was Hollywood's take on a disastrous holiday meal. But what happens when you face some real-live tension at the table?
HLN business anchor Jennifer Westhoven is here with some great advice.
JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, HLN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Because there's always somebody, right? It's that one relative. And it comes out of the blue and everything stops and everybody looks. So, we want to talk about what do you do when you get the super awkward money questions that you think are totally offensive, but you don't want to act like that at the dinner table?
COSTELLO: I can't wait.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at that rock. How much did you pay for that?
WESTHOVEN: So what would you say if you weren't tongue tied? It's normal to be tongue tied. But if you weren't, if you were just breezy, maybe you could try something like this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uh, no, thanks. I'm not totally comfortable with that one.
WESTHOVEN: So a lot of people think just asking about money is bad manners. I really disagree with this, because really it's asking about money that helps you learn all the different ways or possibilities that you could be managing your money. So there's a lot to learn out there. So the thing is, ask about money, but do it sensitively. She could try it like this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I was just admiring your ring and I was just wondering about how much you paid for it. I'm actually getting married soon and I'm just curious how much something like that cost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hear you're going to Bora-Bora for your honeymoon. How can somebody like you afford that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry. How is that any of your business.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just curious.
WESTHOVEN: Everybody has that guy or that aunt, that person at the table. We can't change that. But you can change your response. Don't get so mad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uncle Abe, you really know how to lighten the mood. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WESTHOVEN: You know, families break up over these things. And the next thing you know, there's no Thanksgiving like this ever again. I think you have to be able to manage these questions. And I don't care if you have to sit in front of a mirror and say, I just don't feel comfortable answering that, ten times. Try it.
COSTELLO: That would be hard for me. That will be so hard for me.
So we have Dr. Jeff Gardere, he's a psychologist, to help -- you know, give us more advice on this problem.
So both of you stick around because I wanted to ask Jennifer one of the money questions that people feel most uncomfortable, especially people who just got married is, are you saving up enough money to have that kid?
WESTHOVEN: And you're not even pregnant yet. You know people are asking stuff like that. I just think you have to say is, can anybody ever save up enough money to have a kid? No, you can't. Just -- I feel like you can be breezy or you can -- if you're a man you can say "The strongest tree flexes in the wind." Just flex -- don't worry about it.
COSTELLO: So Jeff, good advice, huh? She's a pretty smart gal.
DR. JEFF GARDERE, PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes. Well, you know what I would do is, first of all, not be defensive. And just turn it back to the other person. You can ask what we ask in therapy all the time.
That's a really interesting question. I wonder why you're asking that. How did you handle that situation as far as money and children?
WESTHOVEN: That's good.
GARDERE: And that's where you start learning from the other person as to how to manage your money. Keep it positive.
COSTELLO: I love that. So are there any topics that should be totally off the table this Thanksgiving day?
GARDERE: I think anything that would make any particular person uncomfortable. And the way you find out about that is maybe just throw in a little tidbit out there where you could say, "Hey, does anyone want to discuss this particular topic or do we want to talk about politics?"
COSTELLO: Obamacare.
GARDERE: Obamacare, exactly. And if someone, you see that they're very uncomfortable. They get defensive, then you could try to skip over to the next topic.
Look, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, these should be times where people are enjoying one another and not having to deal with confrontation or getting so embarrassed or anxious that they're choking up on their food. That's what you don't want.
COSTELLO: But sometimes, even if you have a conversation, let's say, with the host or hostess. I don't really think we should talk about politics and you can strip with the kibosh on that. It seems to come up anyway, Jeff.
GARDERE: It really does. And so I think the way that you can best handle that is, yes, not to be defensive, but also trying to learn from the other person. Whatever points you make, always say to them, follow it up with, I would like to hear what you have to say about it and then it turns into a healthy conversation. And that's what's most important.
COSTELLO: I like that. Dr. Jeff --
WESTHOVEN: Turn the tables.
COSTELLO: Yes, turn the tables.
GARDERE: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Thanks to you both. Terrific advice -- Jeff Gardere -- Dr. Jeff --
GARDERE: All right. Thank you.
COSTELLO: And Jennifer Westhoven, thanks so much. And enjoy that pie later on today.
WESTHOVEN: Oh yes.
COSTELLO: What are you thankful for this day? Your responses next. Facebook.com/carolCNN or tweet me @carolCNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. MIKE MCGREGOR: Hi. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Mike McGregor with the 4th Infantry Division Headquarters here in Kandahar, Afghanistan. I just want to send a shout out to my two sons, Caleb and Spencer. Happy Thanksgiving buddies. I miss you. Love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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COSTELLO: A woman in the final throes of Stage 4 lymphoma, comatose. She says she was given a choice to return to the living or die. Her dramatic story is one of three told in "ANDERSON COOPER'S SPECIAL REPORT: TO HEAVEN AND BACK". It airs this Sunday on CNN. Randi Kaye spoke with these true survivors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But you could still see your husband and how was he reacting to the fact that you were in this coma and he thought he was losing you? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was very distraught. He was there by my bedside. He was holding my hand and I could feel he was willing me to come back.
KAYE: And you had a choice to make.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a choice as to whether to come back or not. At first, I absolutely did not want to come back, because why would I want to come back into this sick and dying body?
But then it was as though in the next moment I understood why I had the cancer. All the years of beating myself up, feeling flawed had turned my own energy against me and manifested as cancer.
KAYE: Fear, in a way, poisoned your body?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it did. And I understood that now that I knew this, my body would heal.
KAYE: You had this huge revelation and Sony and your father both affirmed what needed to be done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Both of them said to me, go back and live your life fearlessly. And it was around that time that I started to come back.
KAYE: So how long were you in the coma?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About 30 hours. I was in the intensive care unit. But within four days, they were able to take off the oxygen. They were able to take out the - food tube and the tumor shrunk by 70 percent.
KAYE: And the doctors, they kept testing you, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
KAYE: They kept looking for your cancer --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cancer.
KAYE: They kept treating you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were saying there's no way that cancer disappears like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: What happens in the moments between death and life? Hear three personal stories "TO HEAVEN AND BACK" and Anderson Cooper Special Report Sunday night 7:00 pm Eastern right here on CNN.
I've been asking you what you're thankful for today. Well, I'll tell you what I'm thankful for. That would be my husband. He nearly died last year. And thankfully, I get to enjoy his silly puns, his brilliant mind and his bountiful football knowledge for many, many years to come.
I also asked you what you're thankful for. And I got some terrific responses. Stephen writes on Facebook, "I am cancer free. I am alive, my family, my friends, and my faith. Amen. Happy Thanksgiving."
Frank said "After ten heart angioplasties and a heart attack, I live on by the grace of God. Back in the gym, pumping iron and tearing up the treadmill."
William writes, "Happy Thanksgiving to all. Please remember the people who can't be with us today. You know, the Wal-Mart workers."
Al Tariq writes, "I'm thankful for reuniting with my family after 20 years. I love them, no matter what."
Tricia writes "I'm thankful for common sense, which most people seem to lose around this time of year, waiting in the cold hours for that one special item on Black Friday."
I would like to thank everyone for writing in to me today, for tweeting me and facebooking me -- I can't tell you how much I appreciate. I hope you and your family have a fabulous Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving.
I'm Carol Costello.
"LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts now.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. It is November 28th. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and welcome to the program today.
If you just so happen to be in your PJs still or if you're knee deep in sweet potatoes and stuffing, you're late. You're late to the sales, that is.
This is becoming a new Thanksgiving Day tradition, heading out to the big box stores to take advantage of Black Friday sales a whole day early. Some are calling this Black Thursday and let me tell you, not everybody is happy about it. But with this year's short holiday shopping season, we're just 27 days away from Christmas.
Retailers and consumers are embracing the ka-ching factor. Our CNN correspondents Nick Valencia and Kyung Lah are taking in the ka-ching factor. They're braving the --
