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Rain, Snow Expected To Impact Post-Thanksgiving Return Trips; Holiday Shoppers In Full Force, Despite Inflation; Coast Guard Rescues Cruise Ship Passenger Who Went Overboard; Argentina Set To Take On Mexico Following Shocking Loss To Saudi Team; No Suspect Identified In Deaths Of Four College Students In Idaho; Ukraine Races To Restore Power; Georgia Supreme Court Reinstates Six-Week Abortion Ban; Iranian-American Women Support Protest Movement with Art. Aired 11a- 12p ET

Aired November 26, 2022 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:32]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and thanks for joining me. I'm Alex Marquardt, in today for Fredricka Whitfield.

Millions of Americans are heading home from Thanksgiving holidays this weekend, now facing some significant storms that could slow down travel both in the air and on the roads.

Today the southern part of the country is getting hit by heavy rain and the Midwest and Northeast expected to get their share tomorrow. Airports are preparing for a surge of passengers this weekend. There are already more than 900 flights that have been delayed so far today. That number only expected to rise.

Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is in the CNN Weather Center for us. Allison, where are you seeing the worst weather out there on this holiday weekend?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. Well, the key thing is going to be where is it now compared to where is it tomorrow because this big system here in the central portion of the country is going to spread out. So really much of the entire country is going to be dealing with some type of inclement weather either today or tomorrow.

The main focus today is really going to be in the center portion of the country where we have that heavy rain and even the potential for some strong to severe thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast.

We also have some snow showers pushing into the intermountain west likely to cause some issues and delays there. The main focus for delays today in the air are going to be Kansas City, Memphis, Atlanta, New Orleans, as well as out to the west, places like Seattle and Salt Lake City also looking at potential delays today.

The heavy rain is really focused on this system mainly down by the Gulf Coast. So you've got some rain moving through Dallas, Oklahoma City making its way through Shreveport, headed towards New Orleans as well as Little Rock.

Now, the thing is this is not a very fast moving system. It also has a lot of moisture in it. So the potential for flooding does exist essentially from Houston all the way over to Pensacola.

Now, the key thing here is going to be the slow nature of these so it may not be the first thunderstorm that triggers the flooding but it's the subsequent ones, the training of these storms that's going to end up triggering that flooding.

We also have the potential for severe thunderstorms including damaging winds and the potential for an isolated tornado or two. The main focus here is Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Mobile, Biloxi stretching over into Panama City.

But this system I going to begin to push into the Midwest by the time we get to tonight. Also into other areas like Atlanta and Charlotte. The concern, Alex, tomorrow is going to be all the big east cities -- New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., that's where you are likely going to see some delays on Sunday.

MARQUARDT: Such an easy start, too, to Thanksgiving holiday. It looks like that may be changing very quickly as people head home.

Allison Chinchar in the CNN Weather Center, thank you so much.

CHINCHAR: Thanks.

MARQUARDT: Now that stormy weather isn't dampening the spirits of holiday shoppers. The official start to the season got off to a strong start yesterday on Black Friday and despite inflation driving up prices, consumers were out in full force hunting for the best deals.

The National Retail Federation expects that more than 166 million Americans will be shopping this weekend. That's an increase of about 8 million over last year.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is at the Herald Square Macy's in New York City. Gloria, what are you seeing out there today?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have been seeing crowds actually gathering in front of that door to head into Macy's this morning. The doors opened up about an hour ago and there was quite a bit of a crowd waiting to get in.

Now, Black Friday was yesterday, but the reality is that it's really become a season. Like you said, the holiday shopping season and those deals, those sales that people are hunting for are stretching far beyond just that Black Friday day.

Now, we were looking at the numbers that you mentioned the National Retail Federation put out, and on Saturday, today, they are estimated that more than 60 million Americans will get out there to do that holiday shopping.

And not only that but many of them plan to do it in store. There is an increase of 67 percent up from the previous year, where there was just 64 percent.

Still coming out of the pandemic, people still being cautious about being indoors, around a lot of people.

And as you mentioned, Alex, also the economy. That very much in the picture here. People worried about inflation, rising prices. Some people having a hard time making ends meet.

[11:04:49]

PAZMINO: But we spoke to one shopper here who makes this a tradition every single year. He comes here to New York City from Rhode Island with his family. And even though I asked him about inflation, he said this is just part of his yearly tradition and he is here to shop and spend some of that money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK CORNACHIONE, TRAVELED FROM RHODE ISLAND TO SHOP FOR THE HOLIDAYS: We come every year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and we leave on Saturday. We shop a lot around the city. We do Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale's. We love it.

PAZMINO: Considering inflation and the fact that some things have gone up and some people may be a little bit struggling. Is that in the back of your mind or?

CORNACHIONE: No, not at all.

PAZMINO: Ok.

CORNACHIONE: I don't mind spending money. It's only once a year and you only live once.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, Alex, we are in one of the most famous shopping intersections in the world. But today is also small business Saturday. And those small businesses are also still struggling to recover in that post-pandemic months and years, you know. So many of them had to shut down and have been really struggling to come back.

So even as you do some of your big store shopping today, small businesses, they are also hoping to score some of those buyers today, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yes, so important to support the small local businesses.

Gloria Pazmino in New York, thank you so much for that report.

Now, a cruise ship passenger is so lucky to be alive today after going overboard and floating alone in the water for as many as 15 hours. This, what you are looking at there, is the amazing moment that the man was spotted floating in the Gulf of Mexico by rescue crews from the Coast Guard. The search began on Thursday after the man's sister reported him missing off of the Carnival Cruise ship that they were on.

CNN's Nadia Romero joins us now. Nadia, This is just such an incredible story. What are you learning about that rescue of this man and the condition that he is in now?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes Alex, remarkable to really think about how long he could have been in the water. So luckily for him, they were able to find him. I mean it's even hard when you look at the video of that radar trying to spot him amongst everything else happening in the open waters.

So we know that he was suffering from shock, dehydration, hypothermia, but he is still alive to tell his story.

So let's back up. This was supposed to be a great cruise to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with family for this man. But his sister says she last saw him on Wednesday about 11:00 leaving a bar inside the cruise ship and then she didn't hear from him, didn't see him.

She reported him missing to the cruise ship authorities noon on Thanksgiving Day. But it wasn't until a couple of hours later that the Coast Guard was alerted that this man possibly went overboard.

They next spent the next several hours trying to find him in the water, searching for him by airplane, by helicopter, by boat. Finally spotting him and pulling him out of the water via helicopter.

He was able to talk to them and say I'm the man you have been looking for. Yes, I went overboard on a cruise ship and they were able to take him to an area hospital there in the New Orleans area where the cruise first left from that port.

And I want you to hear from the member of the U.S. Coast Guard who spoke with us who says in his 17-year career he has never been a part of something like this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. SETH GROSS, SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSION COORDINATOR, U.S. COAST GUARD: We were out there doing what we practice, what we joined the Coast Guard to do, and the fact that he was able to keep himself afloat and above the surface of the water for such an extended period of time is just something you can't take for granted and certainly something that will stick with me forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: So exactly how was he able to survive? Well, the Coast Guard member says that the water was about 70 degrees. So it wasn't freezing cold. It was pretty warm still. That possibly helped. And potentially his condition, if he was in good physical shape. But still that's a long time to be floating around in open waters hoping someone finds you.

We are also told, Alex, that the search area, so the longer somebody is in the water, the wider the search area. They say it was about 7,000 nautical miles, which is the size of Massachusetts. So that's how big of a search area they had to try to find this man and there he was.

MARQUARDT: There he was. A needle in the haystack. Props to those U.S. Coast Guard teams. Just incredible, incredible work. What a story that guy has to tell.

Nadia Romero, thank you so much.

And now to the big showdown at the World Cup in Qatar. The U.S. Men's soccer team will play a must-win game against Iran on Tuesday if they want to advance to the next stage. Right now Argentina and its superstar Lionel Messi are getting ready to take on Mexico as they try to bounce back from that shocking and embarrassing loss to Saudi Arabia earlier this week.

CNN's Amanda Davies joins us now from Doha. Amanda, how are people feeling outside the stadium today?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: oh, Alex, just under three hours to kickoff here at the Lusail Stadium, the biggest venue of this World Cup with the largest attendance so far expected.

[11:09:56]

DAVIES: And arguably, the game of most significance up to this point because of one man. In short, if Argentina do not win here this evening, then that is hopes of Lionel Messi claiming this one piece of major silverware, gold ware maybe, that he has never lifted over. And that is being dubbed as what would be a footballing tragedy.

As you can see, the atmosphere is really, really building. The Argentina and Mexico two sides with a whole lot of history. They played in the first ever World Cup back in 1930. And there's some added spice today because the Mexican boss is actually Argentinian, Captain (ph) Martino.

He represented Argentina, he coached them for a couple of years, he coached Lionel Messi when Messi was at Barcelona. He said he could have never anticipated that this match would have held this amount of significance. He said he has got to do the impossible, and that is to try and lead Mexico to a victory.

But there is a whole lot of Argentinians here very much hoping he doesn't manage it.

MARQUARDT: So much on the line for so many teams after all of these incredible upsets. It really has been a remarkable tournament. We are all envious of your assignment.

Amanda Davies in Qatar, thank you so much.

Now it has been two weeks and still no suspect in the gruesome killings of four Idaho college students. The police are now turning to the public for help. We'll be discussing that. And with just over a week until the closely-watched Georgia Senate

runoff, the state Supreme Court reinstates a six-week abortion ban. Will that drive Democrats to the polls?

We'll be right back.

[11:11:40]

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MARQUARDT: Today police in Idaho are still searching for a suspect after four college students were found stabbed to death in an off- campus apartment nearly two weeks ago.

Authorities say they have now received over 260 digital media submissions after requesting pictures and videos from people in the community. Officials have combed through over a thousand additional tips and conducted about 150 interviews.

Joining me now is Mary Ellen O'Toole, a former special agent and senior profiler for the FBI. She's now the director of the Forensic Science Program at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Mary Ellen, thank you so much for joining us today.

First off, as we just noted, it's been almost two weeks. Are you surprised that there seems to be such little progress in identifying a suspect?

MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, DIRECTOR OF FORENSIC SCIENCE PROGRAM, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: I'm surprised that not a lot of information has been forthcoming. But it does appear that this will be a forensic case, which means after they do the analysis of all of the evidence that has been supplied to the Idaho state lab, they should be able to get information that will take them to a suspect simply because the suspect, while he was stealthful getting into the house, he left a very messy crime scene.

It's more than likely he left his DNA. So that's where the answers are going to be, at least at this point.

MARQUARDT: The authorities have now gotten all of these tips from the general public, more than a thousand of them, and collected over a hundred pieces of evidence. How helpful are those tips from the public and how are investigators going to be using them?

O'TOOLE: They can be hugely valuable and very significant. So the way that they -- it comes in, the leads will come in and then they will be prioritized and then investigators will go out and conduct interviews or do follow-up with each one of those people.

And it could be one of those leads, those phone calls into the command center, that can lead to something, which is why it's so important that the public continues to be encouraged to provide their information because they may have the one answer that the investigators are looking for because this offender has gone back into the community or some community, and he is not bringing a lot of attention to himself.

So that one piece of information that someone may have could be very, very valuable.

MARQUARDT: We have heard from the officers saying that no tip is too small. Of course, as you know well, when there is a lack of information, that void is often filled by false information. And police in Idaho have raised concerns that that speculation and the spread of false information could stoke fear in the community. Do you expect that to just grow as this investigation drags on? And how does that impact the work of the investigators?

O'TOOLE: I do. I really do think that the fear in the community is going to grow, and not just because of the rumors. This case is so -- it's so dreadful and it's so concerning that people really are frightened and people all over the state are frightened, and this, frankly, is the kind of offender who very likely could re-offend.

You don't see this kind of behavior inside of a home where there are four people murdered in the middle of the night and then the offender gets away, he escapes, and he never does it again. That's probably not likely. So there is every reason to be concerned.

MARQUARDT: And these students at the university are going to be going back to campus following the holiday amid, we understand, a heavy law enforcement presence.

Mary Ellen O'Toole, thank you so much for breaking all that down. We really appreciate your time and expertise.

O'TOOLE: You're welcome.

MARQUARDT: Coming up next, in the dark. Ukraine racing to restore power after emergency shutdowns and a barrage of Russian missile attacks.

We'll be right back.

[11:19:47]

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MARQUARDT: Some 6 million Ukrainian households are still without power after a barrage of Russian missile strikes on the country's critical infrastructure this week. And then in the southern city of Kherson, Ukrainian officials say that more than a dozen people were killed after days of heavy attacks from Russian forces there.

CNN's Clare Sebastian has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Four days on some of the most devastating attacks yet on Ukraine's power grid, the country's power supply company said Saturday morning about three-quarters of electricity demand is now being met. But consumption was still being restricted across the country.

In the capital Kyiv, city authorities said 130,000 people were still without power but the water supply had been restored and heating was also coming back on.

[11:24:55]

SEBASTIAN: And power crucially is now also being restored in the southern city of Kherson according to the deputy energy minister. That city had been facing increasingly difficult conditions even since Ukraine liberated it from Russian control two weeks ago, partly because of those power outages and partly because of Russian shelling which local officials said Saturday continues, quote, "around the clock". 15 civilians were killed in Kherson and 35 injured over just the past five days.

And yet if Russia had hoped to weaken the resolve of Ukraine's allies with these attacks, it's had the opposite effect. E.U. countries France, Latvia and the Czech Republic have all donated generators along with the United States.

And Ukraine got another message of support from NATO Friday.

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: what happens at the negotiating table depends on what happens on the battlefield. Therefore, the best way to increase the chances for a peaceful solution is to support Ukraine. So NATO will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. We will not back down.

SEBASTIAN: The NATO Secretary General speaking ahead of the NATO foreign ministers meeting next week where he said he would urge members to pledge more support for Ukraine, both military and non- military as the war enters a brutal winter.

Clare Sebastian, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Thanks to Clare Sebastian for that report.

Now, let's bring in Peter Zalmayev. He is the director of the Eurasian Democracy Initiative that promotes democracy and rule of law in Russia and other post-Soviet states. He is in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Peter, thank you so much for joining me today.

I want to first start by asking what the conditions are like for you and for others in the Ukrainian capital right now.

PETER ZALMAYEV, DIRECTOR, EURASIAN DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE: Well, the streets are dark, somewhat semi dark, you know, and generators are roaring. You hear the roar of generators throughout.

People are co-working, huddling in cafes, you know, you obviously have way more people doing that now than before simply because there is nothing to do at home with the electricity down most of the day even though the authorities are working extra hard to try to restore most of it soon. Well, we'll see if they are able to.

You know, the accidents have shot up because of the dark streets, you know. Rushing home during the day to meet the 11:00 p.m. curfew. I saw on one street within like 100-meter stretch, two accidents one after another.

The priority now is obviously to try to provide electricity, power to the hospitals, you know, in order that critically important surgeries are, you know, allowed to be performed.

So right now the authorities are promising that we'll only have outages lasting no more than five hours per day. Currently 70 percent of the entire residential area of Kyiv is out of power.

MARQUARDT: And Peter, this is without question really an effort by Vladimir Putin to make life as miserable as possible for Ukrainians as what is a notoriously harsh winter sets in. It's just the beginning of winter.

How do you think Ukrainians across the country will cope?

ZALMAYEV: That is precisely, first of all -- that's precisely his strategy. And NATO parliamentary assembly, the European parliament have acknowledged that by designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Dmitry Peskov, who is Putin's spokesman, has said as much. He's pretty much come out and acknowledged that this is happening for as long and will be happening for as long as Ukraine refuses to come to terms with Russia's conditions for peace. So this is terrorism as a state policy, you know, as clear as ever.

And finally, the former president, Dmitry Medvedev, has recently said that Kyiv is really a Russian city and must belong to Russia. We will have eventually to get it back.

So yes, that is indeed their official policy. Now Ukrainians, we are aware of that. We are aware that there is really no negotiating with Putin and all the negotiating is taking place in the battlefield.

And now European officials understand that. Jens Stoltenberg, who you just quoted, said as much.

We know winter is coming. We haven't seen the worse yet. But you know, Ukrainians are very resilient. A lot of us have houses, you know, outside of the city. We have relatives living in the countryside. We have woodstoves there. So we'll cope, you know, this isn't the worst.

We have the precedent of 1940s, you know, the great -- the World War II and people coped then. We will cope now.

[11:29:51]

MARQUARDT: Do you think that the international community is responding in the way that they need to, understanding that they need to step up and help on the humanitarian front, and in a similar fashion as they have with military aid?

ZALMAYEV: Well, yes, indeed. Also, you know, in a previous segment you mentioned that Europeans are rushing these powerful generators to Ukrainian. Lithuania, one of the three Baltic states have been like at the forefront of, you know, pro-Ukraine advocacy has been incredibly helping. Lithuania is rushing a new package of assistance, 2 million euros worth of generators and drones and warm clothing for Ukrainian military -- Ukrainian soldiers.

It's been mentioned that 300,000 such warm kits have been provided to the Ukrainian army to enable it to continue to go on the offensive in the winter.

Once again, don't make any mistake why Putin is doing this. He is not winning on the battlefield. Ukraine is winning on the battlefield. And so he is really relying increasingly on terrorizing us civilians out of resentment and out of his delusion that this way, he can somehow bring us to our knees.

MARQUARDT: And he held a remarkable meeting with mothers of Russian soldiers who have been fighting, some of them dying in Ukraine. It was a rare moment. Putin acknowledging the lives lost. What did you make of that meeting?

ZALMAYEV: It was remarkable for being the usual, you know, such, you know, staged event, characteristic of late Putin's era. You know, first of all, you know, computer geeks have noticed that, you know, it was probably computer enhanced at the very least. That particular meeting, it was taken apart and analyzed. It was -- no doubt the mothers that were picked for that meeting were preselected. One of them lost a son in 2019, obviously, way before this war started.

So it was a meeting devoid of substance, devoid of substance and what Vladimir Putin did say is he brought up the statistics of Russians dying in traffic accidents and from alcohol abuse. He said as many as 30,000 die per year, so what are you complaining about? That was his way of neutralizing the mothers' pain over their, you know, the loss of their sons in this unjust and ridiculous war.

MARQUARDT: Yes. Clearly a PR stunt that he's hoping that many Russians will see. But as you say, one that is now being picked apart.

Peter Zalmayev, we have to leave it right there. Thank you so much for your time and best of luck to you.

ZALMAYEV: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: And this programming note. On an all-new season of "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING", find out why there is always more to the stories we think we know all about and discover the connections shaping our shared humanity. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA LING, CNN HOST: What's your personality like?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miss Congeniality. She is very caring and loving and loyal, but she's got that Jersey Girl edge to her.

Tasha is that girl who'll do shots of tequila with you and then break a bottle over the guy's head who tries to start a fight with you in a bar.

LING: To those who know him best, Tony is just an ordinary guy. But with Tasha, he can be an artist. A fashion photographer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perfect.

LING: And a writer. Compiling Tasha's thoughts and dreams online.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't look at Tasha as a script I write. I don't sit down and say, what is Tasha going to say next? I kind of look at her and I say, what are you thinking? I just let her flow through me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: And don't miss "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING" tomorrow night 10:00 right here on CNN.

[11:33:58]

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MARQUARDT: New developments in Georgia's battle over reproductive rights. The state Supreme Court reinstated a six-week abortion ban on Wednesday after a lower court ruled that the ban be put on hold.

Georgia's Life Act bans with some exceptions abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected. That comes as early as six weeks before many women even know they are pregnant.

When the measure was first introduced in 2019 as the so-called Heartbeat Bill it triggered a fierce debate and prompted one state senator to speak out about her own personal experience with multiple miscarriages. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN JORDAN (D), GEORGIA STATE SENATE: You see, I have been pregnant ten times. I have seen what many of you in here have called a heartbeat ten times, but I have only given birth twice.

I have lost seven pregnancies in varying points of time before 20 weeks and one after five months. Her name was Juliette. I have laid on the cold examination table while a doctor desperately looked for a heartbeat. I have been escorted out the back door of my physician's office so as not to upset the other pregnant women in the waiting area, my grief on full display and uncontainable.

I have been on my knees time after time in prayer to my God about my losses. I have loved each and every single one of those potential lives and my husband and I have grieved each passing.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MARQUARDT: That was Georgia state senator Jen Jordan. She is joining us now. Senator, thank you so much for with being us today.

It has been nearly four years since you made headlines with that very personal and very powerful speech. Are you surprised that abortion is still being debated in Georgia?

[11:39:52]

JORDAN: You know, I am actually. And I think I'm most surprised obviously, that it's taken this long for us to get to this point. It doesn't surprise me that the Georgia Supreme Court really just stayed the lower court's ruling.

I mean, there are some really serious legal issues at play here. But I think the real problem is, is that there is a real human element that is being largely ignored. You know, women and doctors are being left out of the conversation and the law really impacts them the most.

MARQUARDT: So on the legal front, what does happen next?

JORDAN: Well, what happens next is that the appeal goes up to the Georgia Supreme Court. Briefing will be done, you know, in the next couple of months and there will be an oral argument and then ultimately there will be a ruling by the court, probably in January, February, March of this year.

So I'm hoping sooner rather than later because, obviously, people order their lives around these kinds of decisions. They make medical decisions, health decisions, you know, whether they want to get pregnant or try to get pregnant. I mean physicians are making those decisions in terms of their patients. So the sooner that we get a ruling, obviously, the better for all involved.

MARQUARDT: You say that women are being left out of this conversation. What do women in Georgia who are facing the need for an abortion need to know right now?

I mean it's one of those things where I don't think you know you are going to need an abortion until you do. I mean this is a very complicated health issue and decisions are made between the health care provider and a woman.

What I can say is that if you are a woman, period. You need to be aware of the fact that basically some of the most basic, the ability to basically control your body and to make decisions about your life has been taken away from you.

Not only that but that your doctor could be criminally prosecuted, have his or her license taken away, that you could be criminally prosecuted under this law. And so I think women really need to understand just how incredibly serious this is and how negative the impact is absolutely going to be if this law is able to stand.

MARQUARDT: How do you think this impacted the very fierce political races that we saw in the midterms and that we're still seeing now with the Senate runoff?

JORDAN: You know, I think part of the issue for Georgia was that because it was on hold for four years, it was passed in 2019, but it has not gone into effect or it didn't until September of this year.

And so for women, I don't think they really understood what the real impact was because from their perspective, you know, the law had been passed in 2019, you know, they hadn't really seen a change, right, in terms of their choices or their ability, you know, to do what they wanted to do with their bodies.

The problem is, is that because there was such a short period of time that it was in effect, basically from September to November, and Republicans refused to talk about it, absolutely refused to talk about the abortion ban, I don't think that most people in the state have any clue exactly what that law does and just how bad it is for the state, and particularly for women and girls.

MARQUARDT: You, yourself, just had a race in the midterms. You lost the race for Georgia attorney general. This is your first TV interview since then. So what's next for you?

JORDAN: You know what? Holidays. I cooked Thanksgiving dinner. I have been spending a lot of time with my children. My son is a senior in high school. I need to get him into college. That's kind of the number one priority, and then we'll kind of go from there.

But really was proud of what my team was able to do. And so thankful for the people who supported me. It was an incredible experience.

MARQUARDT: Well, I'm sure your family is loving having you around. Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you so much for --

(CROSSTALK)

JORDAN: I think they all are. I think they are.

MARQUARDT: Thank you so much for joining us today. And best of luck with whatever path you choose.

JORDAN: Thank you, Alex. Appreciate it.

MARQUARDT: Take care.

A full-fledged human rights crisis. That's how one U.N. commissioner is describing the situation in Iran right now. I met with a group of Iranian-American women here in Washington, D.C. who are shining a light on the crisis in Iran through protest art. That conversation next.

[11:44:22]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUARDT: More than a dozen people are missing following a landslide on an island off the coast of Italy. Italian authorities are saying that heavy rains triggered a mudslide that damaged or destroyed several homes on the island of Ischia just near Naples. At least 13 people are believed to be missing. Search and rescue crews are working to reach the victims but crews say that the weather is making things more difficult.

Authorities urging people to stay at home as the cleanup and rescues continue.

A full-fledged human rights crisis. That's what the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights chief says is happening in Iran as security forces there brutally crack down on protesters.

This week I met with a group of Iranian-American women here in Washington, D.C., who launched an exhibit with protest art, highlighting the strength and bravery of the young Iranians who have taken to the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just the anger and the bravery on her face is just so beautiful.

MARQUARDT: Goli Ganji (ph) lived in Iran until she was 18 years old and is now one of the Iranian-American women behind a new exhibit held here in Washington, D.C., called "Iran Rising" with works of protest art that have sprung up in support of the demonstrations that have swept Iran.

[11:49:59]

GOLI GANJI, IRANIAN-AMERICAN ARTIST: I want to support my Iranian brothers and sisters, and if this is the only thing we could do to support them, to amplify their voices, this is it. Some people do not understand the words, but these powerful images, you can see the pain and suffering of the people -- of the Iranian people.

MARQUARDT: The protests driven by young women are now in their third month, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran's so-called morality police. Thousands have been arrested, more than 400 killed according to the Iran human rights group. The regime has started sentencing people to death.

You must be incredibly proud of these young people, particularly the young women. But as an Iranian, do you feel any helplessness?

It's amazing to see this young generation right now are fighting for their country, fighting to get their country back, fighting for their freedom. It's beautiful and it's -- I wish I could do more. I really wish I could do more.

MARQUARDT: A portrait of Mahsa Amini is among the more than 160 works, many of which were done by international artists. There's also Kian Pirfalak (ph) a 10-year-old who last week was shot dead, just one of dozens of children killed.

GANJI: Iranian people are going to the streets and getting killed and the next day they go into the streets and get killed, and the next day and the next day.

MARQUARDT: Azar Nafisi (ph), is a famous Iranian author who left Iran in the 90s because of the rules imposed by the Islamic Republic on women.

AZAR NAFISI, IRANIAN AUTHOR: They have already failed.

MARQUARDT: They've already failed.

NAFISI: Because something is broken. Within the system itself there are defections. No matter what happens with these demonstrations, even if we lose the battle, we have won the war. This is a turning point in the struggle of the Iranian people.

MARQUARDT: Nafisi and others call what is happening gender apartheid. The world was reminded again this week of Iranian bravery when at their first match, members of the men's World Cup team defiantly refused to sing the national anthem.

MINA, IRANIAN-AMERICAN ARTIST: I applaud them for doing that.

MARQUARDT: Mina is another of the Iranian-American women behind the "Iran Rising" exhibit. She designed this wall with a pair of lions, symbol of Iran, the lioness a tribute to the movement's fearless female protesters.

MINA: Their bravery is astounding and incredible.

MARQUARDT: If you were in Iran, what do you think you would be doing?

MINA: I would be right there with them, right next to them. There's a protest chant that Iranians say -- (INAUDIBLE). And that is "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, we are all together, we are all in this together".

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: These protests have become arguably the most significant since the revolution in 1979 which established Iran's theocratic regime.

As for Iran's team at the World Cup, they did sing the national anthem at their second game against Wales, which they won. And afterwards, one of the players said they had played poorly against England in their first match because of what he called outside non-football pressure. The eyes of the world very much on that Iranian team.

In this week's "Mission Ahead", one company is on a mission to improve one of the oldest and most effective ways to prevent extreme wildfires.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These fireball dropping drones are improving one of the oldest and most effective ways of preventing extreme wildfires -- prescribed burning. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can reduce the huge wildfires by using more fire

when it's safe to do so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many experts say prescribed fires should be used more often, but they can be dangerous for firefighters who often hike in the mountains with a drop torch or drop fire from helicopters.

CARRICK DETWEILER, CEO, DRONE AMPLIFIED: About a quarter of all (INAUDIBLE) firefighting fatalities are related to aviation. And fore me this really was the motivation to get these systems into the hands of firefighters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Robotics researcher Carrick Detweiler started his company Drone Amplified to make prescribed fires safer, easier, and less expensive. Drones can cover as much ground as helicopters, but he Carrick says hundreds of their drone systems can be hired for the price of a helicopter mission.

DETWEILER: We call these dragon eggs. Potassium permanganate, when you mix it with glycol, it starts a chemical reaction and a fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The technology allows firefighters to work at a distant from the flames in areas difficult to reach due to terrain or visibility.

DETWEILER: You can drop the balls in specific location, and this lets you do much more precise burns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Precision is important because even though prescribed burn escapes are extremely rare, the outcome can be devastating. Two recent controlled burns in New Mexico led to the state's largest wildfire on record.

DETWEILER: Our system can help prevent escaped fires through the use of thermal cameras. It also allows the firefighter to put in geo fences to precisely control where the fire is starting, and this lets the firefighters control the intensity of the fire.

[11:54:53]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carrick says a hundred of their drone systems are now working for clients like the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies.

But in the future, they envision similar system systems in the back of every firefighter's truck.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

[11:59:56]

MARQUARDT: That was the voice of Irene Cara singing her Oscar-winning song "Flash Dance, What a Feeling". Her publicist announcing early this morning that the actress and singer died in her Florida home.