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CNN Live Saturday

two inmates still at large in Washington State Dueling protests in Crawford, Texas this weekend. Former FEMA chief looks to make a career move. Two disturbing developments that indicate the Afghan war is far from over. The office of the secretary of defense is moving to a new location, while this office is renovated.

Aired November 26, 2005 -   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Our top stories this hour. Ready for some travel misery on the holiday weekend? Details on some potential traffic hot spots on the roads and in the air.
And Cindy Sheehan tries to reignite the lost spark of her anti- Iraq War demonstrations at president's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Also coming up, holiday shopping, heaven or hell? We'll have a live update on the news from the holiday shopping front. Those stories and a lot more straight ahead.

First headlines -- security forces in Azerbaijan attack a pro democracy rally after protesters threaten to establish a camp. The sudden escalation follows at least two weeks of demonstrations over the fairness of elections held November 6th. The United States Embassy condemned today's attacks but Washington has shied away from encouraging unrest in the former Soviet republic that exports oil.

Two maximum security inmates are on the loose after breaking out of jail in Yakima, Washington. Authorities say nine prisoners escaped yesterday, in all, by slipping through a ceiling and rappelling down 40 feet using tied-together bed sheets. Seven have been recaptured, including two today. We'll speak live with the Yakima police chief in about five minutes from now.

Four American soldiers are reprimanded for an incident involving the videotaped burning of two rebel bodies in Afghanistan. Two get reprimands for the act itself, two more for boasting about the burning over loudspeakers as a way to taunt insurgents. The military says the bodies were burned for hygienic reasons, not in disrespect.

Up first, the approaching end of a Thanksgiving holiday weekend is giving way to a mad dash for the highways. Millions of people are hitting the roads tonight and tomorrow for home, the airports or the malls, but some nasty weather could make getting home a bit treacherous.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Big retailers already are seeing a lot of green before Christmas. Shoppers are throwing down their money for this year's hot holiday gifts. Our Susan Lisovicz is braving the bargain hunting crowds at the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, New Jersey. And Susan, is it because there are so many bargains or is it because people just have money to burn?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think it's the former. I think there are so many bargains, Fred, because the National Retail Federation says this is the most heavily promoted launch to the holiday season ever, and Fred, if you like nonstop Christmas carols or parking lot gridlock or really long lines, then I have the place for you. Because this is obviously not the time of year for the meek shopper. This is a time of bargain hunting galore, and early numbers seem to be very promising. We're seeing reports that Wal-Mart, Sears, Macy's, all had better crowds than a year ago at the start of the holiday season.

Here at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey an estimated 100,000 shoppers descended on its stores yesterday alone. That was a five percent increase year-over-year. We were here bright and early when the stores opened, and some of the shoppers that we talked to had a well-honed strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly what we want and we get here to the dot, get in and get out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that's it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And don't come on Friday. We wait until Saturday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We came at 8:00 and got a good parking spot and we just ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We knew exactly what we wanted, we grab it and leave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LISOVICZ: As far as I'm concerned, a good parking spot is the price of admission alone. The early projections we're seeing are conflicting a little bit. Because we have some reports saying better than last year but Shopper Track (ph) came out late this afternoon and said $8 billion it's estimating spent yesterday. And that's flat compared to last year. Although it does note the way the calendar falls this year, there's an extra Saturday, and Saturdays are often very good for business. In fact, the closest Saturday to Christmas oftentimes is in fact the busiest single shopping day of the year. So we have a few more of those yet, because this is just the start, remember, Fred. We have a lot more ...

WHITFIELD: We're just beginning. Thanks so much, Susan Lisovicz.

Well, the latest on the hunt for two inmates still at large in Washington State. Seven other inmates who escaped from the Yakima County Jail yesterday are back in custody. Two were caught today. Authorities say they were hiding at the house of one of the inmate's sisters.

Joining us on the phone with an update on the search is Yakima Police Chief Sam Granato. Thanks so much, chief, for being with us. Are the two that you captured today helping in any way in your search for the other two still at large?

SAM GRANATO, YAKIMA POLICE CHIEF (on phone): Well, detectives are just now completing their interviews. So I don't really have any update if they've been fruitful in giving any information. We did the interview of the sister of Santos Baletta (ph), the murder suspect and she was able to shed light on some things for us.

WHITFIELD: How cooperative was the sister, when trying to reach out to all those who might be familiar with these inmates who had broken out of the jail?

GRANATO: Well, she indicated to us she was the only family member that was still in contact with Santos, so he showed up to her house according to her by 8:00 this morning, with Moser (ph), he was injured. He had apparently hurt his ankle in the fall. And is being treated as a local hospital for a broken ankle.

WHITFIELD: So was it just as simple as that? You just looked at - to try to look up who the family and friends might be of these inmates and that was perhaps the most familiar or first place you went to see if these guys had been seeking refuge there?

GRANATO: Well, that was some of what we were doing. What helped us along, we did not have an address for, we knew she was a sister. A current address. We received an anonymous phone call that this might be a location where they might be at. Officers responded to the 1700 block of Dalton (ph), which is in the south part of Yakima, surrounded the house and made contact with the sister.

She came to the door and allowed officers to search. Officers found an attic crawl space, and utilized a tactical mirror to look up in the attic and spotted the inmates up there and took them into custody.

WHITFIELD: And the two still at large, do you believe in any way that they may be armed or dangerous?

GRANATO: We consider them to be dangerous. Especially Giano Alaimo (ph). He has always been apprehended by our officer usually has a weapon with him. We had information last night that that was one of their goals, was to get armed.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chief Sam Granato, thank you so much for joining us with the Yakima police in the ongoing search now.

GRANATO: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: They are vying for the attention of the president. Dueling protests in Crawford, Texas this weekend, one supporting Mr. Bush who is spending the Thanksgiving holiday at his Texas ranch. The other, led by author and antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan.

Keeping track of all of that, our Elaine Quijano in Crawford. Elaine?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Fredricka, while those demonstrations were taking place, President Bush remained out of sight at his ranch here in Texas. Continuing to spend some time with his family on this holiday weekend.

But in his weekly radio address, the president did discuss the U.S. military, the president thanked U.S. troops serving overseas and Mr. Bush also said that they are playing critical roles in the war on terror.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: They're serving with courage and skill in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere to defend our freedom and extend the blessings of freedom to others. In the past year, these brave Americans have continued to fight terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them at home. And they have helped the people of Iraq and Afghanistan hold historic and successful elections. They are America's finest, and we thank them today and every day for their service and sacrifice.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meantime, antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan is back in town delivering the message she first brought here to Crawford in August. She wants U.S. forces out of Iraq immediately. Sheehan and others are hoping to grab the headlines but the crowds, noticeably thinner now than over the summer.

Today about 100 people gathered at the campsite they dubbed Camp Casey in honor of her son who was killed in Iraq last year.

Now, at the same time, Cindy Sheehan's presence is also attracting counter-protesters. A handful led by Father Gary Qualls who lost his son Lewis in Iraq last year. Set up a tent on a corner in Crawford. They support President Bush's Iraq policy and they say Cindy Sheehan's efforts and the efforts of other antiwar activists are hurting the morale of U.S. troops abroad.

Meantime, no comment from the White House, Fredricka, on any of this. President Bush not expected to have any public events tomorrow. He'll leave for events on border security and immigration in Arizona and here in Texas on Monday and Tuesday.

Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Elaine Quijano in Crawford, Texas. Thanks so much.

Well, Michael Brown is back in the news, the president's former FEMA director wants to do some serious business in consulting about, of all things, disaster preparedness.

And where turkeys come into play when we're talking politics? We'll have that answer for you straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That high level of praise aside, after Hurricana Katrina, FEMA Director Michael Brown became the poster boy for bureaucratic inertia. Rightly or wrongly, he absorbed much of criticism for the government's slow response and took hint to resign. His next career move? Well, here's CNN's Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was the face to the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Blamed for many failures, perhaps even vilified. But Michael Brown was always defiant of his critics and willing to pass the buck.

MIKE BROWN, FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional.

JOHNS: Now a published report says he wants to cash in on his experience. He's setting himself up as a consultant with offices in the Washington, DC, and the Denver area according to the "Rocky Mountain News which quotes him as saying "look, Hurricane Katrina showed how bad disasters can be and there's an incredible need for individuals and businesses to understand how important preparedness is. So if I can help people focus on preparedness, how to be better prepared in their homes and better prepared in their businesses because that goes straight to the bottom line, then I hope I can help the country in some way."

In a way, the former FEMA director is just doing what comes naturally for specialized top level former employees of the government. Former FEMA directors James Lee Witt and Joe Albaugh both basically did the same thing. People we spoke with in the preparedness consultant business wouldn't go on camera today but did say Michael Brown's record could certainly set him apart from the others especially because he was rake over the coals by members of Congress.

REP. JOHN DINGELL, (D) MI: Mr. Brown was regrettably an administrator or officer or the head of an Arabian horse association. Hardly qualifying him to address the kinds of problems he's looking at now.

JOHNS: Still, experts say a guy like Brown might make money as an emergency preparedness consultant because he knows the system and the people in power in Washington right now. Private companies might want to hire him to help them deal with the federal bureaucracy that he recently left.

(on camera): Our attempts to reach Michael Brown on Friday to talk about the apparent new career move were unsuccessful. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITIFIELD: Well nearly three months now since Hurricane Katrina, a staggering amount of relief work has occurred but the task ahead remains daunting. CNN's Kathleen Koch has seen it all firsthand. Her family hails from the hard hit town of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. And Kathleen herself has been involved in recovery work as well as covering that story from start to now the middle of the recovery.

She joins us now from Washington. And Kathleen, you decided to spend this thanksgiving weekend giving in a very big way. You and your kids and your husband decided to go back to your familiar ground, there the area that you've been covering, a place where you have friends and family and you recruited people along the way, didn't you, to help out?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I did, my children, when they had 3 1/2 days off for Thanksgiving, I said what better way to spend our time. I have been there so many times for CNN, but I really haven't been able to get my hands dirty and really help people who I grew up with. And so that's what we decided to do.

And then all my siblings decided to pitch in. What you see there is my sister Gerry (ph) and her husband Lynn (ph), they came from South Carolina with a U-Haul trailer just packed all the way to the roof with. With supplies, that people needed desperately including food and rakes and shovels and tents and cooking equipment and pots and pans, and they came with that and donated it.

My other sister came from Colorado with plants and flowers and donations she had solicited from around the country. My other sister came from Virginia and we all met up there and started doing what we could, working and cleaning. One of the things that we did was we helped out people who were elderly and couldn't take care of getting their homes emptied of everything ruined in the storm. There you see us clearing someone's slab. They didn't have a home to clean and we were clearing for them so that they could put a FEMA trailer on it.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

KOCH: It was weeks of hard work.

WHITFIELD: And speaking of FEMA trailers, you all stayed in a FEMA trailer, didn't you, along the way? What was that experience like?

KOCH: We did as did my sister Gerry (ph) and her husband. And it's very close quarters. It's hard to imagine an entire family living in a FEMA trailer, not just for a few weeks or few months but perhaps years.

It's very close quarters, but you know when you work hard all day as you see there I'm with some of these kids, not only my own children, there were also volunteers who came with my sister's church from Colorado. My niece and then four wonderful kids, Tama (ph), Rachel (ph), Tim (ph) and Ben (ph) and we gutted out houses all day. When you do that kind of thing all day, when your head hits the pillow in that FEMA trailer, it doesn't matter if the quarters are close, if you're really cramped, you sleep really well.

WHITFIELD: Right. I'm sure.

And so I wonder this time, Kathleen, if Bay St. Louis looked different to you this time knowing you were getting your hands dirty versus all the other times you've been there as a reporter. Your focus is on a story, finding people to put in your story. How is your perspective a bit different?

KOCH: Again, I think what was different is getting right in there in the thick of things with residents, some whom we were surprised to see hadn't touched their homes since the hurricane hit. In particular, senior citizens, some who had had -- a couple who had surgery right before the storm.

And so I was surprised to see there were homes in our town where no one had touched anything since August 29th. And we were helping them take these waterlogged possessions and carry them outside and sort through them. And it was a very different perspective, and you, even though I didn't lose anything myself in the storm physical, you can begin to sense what they were going through as they sorted through what few possessions they had left.

And you can see the heart ache as they try to decide what they could keep. And one woman we were helping wanted to try to keep everything, and it didn't seem rational. But I told the kids we were working with, those are her things and she has to make the decision, even if it seems silly to try to save that rusty pot, or those clothes that have been sitting there in water for three months, that's her choice.

WHITFIELD: Wow, what a great contribution you and your family have made to the folks there in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Kathleen Koch thanks for joining us this time from Washington.

KOCH: You bet.

WHITIFIELD: Now looking ahead to the holiday season, the Christmas holiday season, you're free to make your own list. We made ours and had no trouble finding candidates for the title "Turkey of the Year." Coming up.

And some call it the forgotten war, Afghanistan still a war zone, after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: News across America, now.

Dangers from thin ice in southeastern Wisconsin this weekend. Three people died in accidents on frozen ponds Friday. A 44-year-old father died trying to save his daughter after she fell through thin ice while skating.

In a separate incident, a 12-year-old on an all-terrain vehicle fell through another frozen pond.

A December 8th meeting could change the fate of Crips founder Stanley "Tookie" Williams. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to meet with Williams' lawyers and LA. prosecutors to consider commuting Williams' death sentence. Williams is scheduled to be executed on December 13th for the murders of four people in 1979. After his conviction, Williams became an anti-gang activist and has since been nominated for the Nobel Peace Price.

Another welcome sight in New Orleans. Crowds returning to the city's Audubon Zoo. Some people were so moved by the zoo's reopening after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, that official huggers were on hand. They comforted folks who were crying.

And just like Santa, we've made our list and checked it twice. There were no shortage of contenders, however, but we narrowed it down for you. We have got the dish on the top five political turkeys. Here's CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider with the turkey wrap-up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN ANALYST (voice-over): It seems like every day is Turkey Day in politics. Another chance for politicians to do something foolish. Just look at who made our list of this year's political "Turkeys of the Year."

Turkey number five, the turkey-nator. California Governor Arnold Schwarzeneger picked fights with nurses, teachers, firefighters and legislators. He called a special election to show them who is boss. And guess what happened? They kicked his butt.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, (R) CA: I should have listened to my wife. She said to me, don't do this.

SCHNEIDER: Turkey four. Pat Robertson called down the wrath of God upon the voters of Dover, Pennsylvania. Why? Because they voted out the school board that had mandated the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution.

PAT ROBERTSON, CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVE: If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected him from your city.

SCHNEIDER: That was a few months after Robertson called on the U.S. to take out Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Ayatollahs issue fatwas. Pat Robertson issues Pat-was.

Turkey three, in 2004, Mayor Randy Kelly of St. Paul, Minnesota made his choice.

RANDY KELLY, FORMER MAYOR, ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA: This November, George W. Bush has my endorsement for president of the United States.

SCHNEIDER: The only problem -- Kelly's a Democrat. And John Kerry took 73 percent of the vote in St. Paul last year. So this year, St. Paul voters made their choice, they threw Kelly out of office. By a margin of better than two to one. Nearly two-thirds of St. Paul voters said Kelly's endorsement of Bush influenced their decision.

Turkey two. In a crisis, political leaders are supposed to sound like they're in control of a situation, even if they're not. Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco did not sound very reassuring during Hurricane Katrina, or even three months later.

GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO, (D) LA: Here in Louisiana, we feel like we're citizens of the United States who are nearly forgotten. It's a very frustrating thing. People are weary.

SCHNEIDER: The governor angered voters by ordering huge budget cuts. "Time Magazine" called Governor Blanco's cautious and deliberative approach a liability, and rated her one of the nation's worst governors. We'll let the president introduce the turkey of the year.

BUSH: Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.

SCHNEIDER: Michael Brown, failed congressional candidate. Ousted commissioner of the International Arabian Horses Association. Self-styled fashion God and clueless federal emergency management director.

BROWN: The federal government didn't know about the convention center people until today.

SCHNEIDER: How is that again?

BROWN: I misspoke on Thursday when I said we were just learning of it. What I meant was, we were learning about it 24 hours earlier.

SCHNEIDER: Can I quit now? Can I come home, Brown wrote to his deputy the morning of the hurricane? The answer is yes. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: None of that looks good.

Well, a look at war in Afghanistan. Has it been forgotten? U.S. troops are still fighting there. Also, need a new job? Use the holidays to hunt for a new career. We'll talk to an expert straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Here are the latest developments. Violent clashes erupt in Turkey. Thousands of teachers try to rally in the capital of Ankara to protest four living conditions and wages. But riot police wouldn't let many enter the city. They used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators.

A least a dozen people are dead after an earthquake shook eastern China. The 5.5 magnitude quake left hundreds of people injured. China's government is rushing in 1,000 tents to help those left homeless.

A historic day in the Middle East. The first-ever Palestinian controlled crossing between Gaza and Egypt open to the public today. Nearly 1600 people traveled across the Rafah crossing, in both directions, on its first full day of operations. Officials say everything went very smoothly.

Four American soldiers have been reprimanded in connection with a body-burning incident in Afghanistan. In October, two Taliban fighters' bodies were burned after a raid. The Muslim faith forbids cremation. But a U.S. investigation determined the cremations were done for hygienic reasons and, therefore, the soldiers did not violate any law of war.

With so much attention on Iraq, relatives of some American forces in Afghanistan referred to it as the forgotten war. But for the relatives and the troops it's anything but forgotten. Here is CNN's Kyra Phillips.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are two disturbing developments that indicate the Afghan war is far from over. The apparent teaming of al Qaeda fighters with their old ally, the Taliban, and a recent rash of suicide bombings.

Afghanistan's defense minister warns that what's now happening in his country is similar to the insurgency and suicide bombings In Iraq. In fact, the military says that until two months ago, suicide attacks were rare in Afghanistan.

The latest was Wednesday, when a bomber attacked an U.S. military convoy in the southern city of Kandahar, killing three civilians. On Monday, suicide bombers rammed cars, filled with explosives, into NATO peacekeepers in two attacks on the capital of Kabul. A German soldier and eight Afghans were killed. They were the first major attacks on foreign troops in Kabul in more than a year. Military fighters blame al Qaeda for the attacks.

Foreign troops also were the target of another apparent attack today, east of Kabul. A Portuguese soldier, attached to the 12,000 strong NATO peacekeeping force, was killed when his vehicle hit an apparent land mine. Three other Portuguese troops were wounded.

The upsurge of attacks doesn't bode well for Afghan president Hamid Karzai as he struggles to bring peace and democracy to his country. Speaking to reporters this week, he warned that "terrorism will remain to affect us, will remain to attack us for much more time to come."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that was Kyra Phillips reporting.

Well, in the market for a job? Advice: Don't take the holidays off. You might be able to unwrap an opportunity. Some ideas straight ahead.

And Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is on the move, not for a new job but a new office, and that is quite a logistical challenge.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Imagine getting on an elevator and finding out your next stop was outer space. Sounds like science fiction? Well, maybe not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN SHELEF, CO-FOUNDER, SPACEWARD FOUNDATION: It's cheap and easy to ride to space without the risks of rocket and without the hardship of rocket launchers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORRESPONDENT: Ben Shelef and the Spaceward Foundation team want to make this idea a reality. The concept is this; a tether made of strong carbon nanotubes is stretched between an anchor station on earth and a satellite in orbit more than 60,000 miles away. The elevator, or climber, is then propelled up and down by tether by solar electricity and light beams.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHELEF: Ever since the concept was proposed, engineers just looking at the numbers know that, yes, it's feasible. The question is how fast can we advance together and how fast can we advance our beaming infrastructure?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORRESPONDENT: To clear these hurdles, Shelef's group teamed up with NASA to create the Annual Space Elevator Games. Here, teams from across the country build tether and climber prootypes to compete against each other. Shelef hopes the games will raise both funds and awareness of what, he believes, is the next giant leap for mankind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHELEF: About the year 2010, we will know whether we can produce this tether. And we think, about ten years later, you can have the elevator standing and payloads going up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, during the holiday season, what's the one thing that many unemployed people are not shopping for? Would you believe it's a job? And they may be missing out on some great opportunities.

Joining me, from Chicago, to talk about the job market is John Challenger. He's CEO of the executive placement company Challenger, Gray and Christmas. Happy holidays to you John.

JOHN CHALLENGER, CEO, CHALLENGER, GRAY AND CHRISTMAS: And the same, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, thanks so much. Why it is that so many think the holiday season is not a good time to shop for a job?

CHALLENGER: Well, we're seeing up to 20 percent of the people just taking the holidays off, thinking people just aren't going to be in their offices, that business slows down. And it did used to be that way, but it's just not anymore. It's 24 and seven.

WHITFIELD: Now, you're saying big mistake? Big mistake, get out there.

CHALLENGER: Think about it as an opportunity. If a fifth of your competition isn't looking, you've got this marvelous chance to be included in a much smaller pool. So it's a great time to look for a job. And you might just catch someone in their office, who can hire you, who's got more time and is a little bit more relaxed.

WHITFIELD: So we are talking beyond the retail holiday help kind of job? CHALLENGER: Well, it's for everybody who's in the midst of a search.

One of the keys to finding a job is not sitting online in your computer waiting for the job to come to you by sending out resumes. But getting out there, meeting people, asking them as you saw them, as you see them at holiday parties and other sorts of opportunities, to introduce you to the person at their company you might work for.

WHITFIELD: And you mentioned holiday parties. A lot of times, the people unemployed, they're feeling depressed. They don't want to get out and socialize. But you say, you know what? Get over it. You need to get out and socialize because you might find about some opportunities that otherwise you might not?

CHALLENGER: Oh, you are exactly right. And it's so hard because, in a way, when you're out of work, you just as soon not see not anybody you'd know. Let this thing get through and then, when it's done, you can go see them.

WHITFIELD: You almost dread people asking you, "What do you do?" You know, you don't want to say "I'm looking for a job," but they should.

CHALLENGER: Well, that's right. And so, you know, you've got to take all invitations. If it's two or three parties in a night, fabulous. You have to be like a politician. The more people you see the better.

But you're not going to take someone to a party and button hole them and give them your 30 minute interview. What you'd like to do is set up a time to get together later.

WHITFIELD: Right, because that may end up being a turnoff. And, you know, a lot of these companies that are looking for work, they really are looking at the first of the year where the opportunities open up, right? And they, perhaps, want to screen some of their candidates right now during the holiday season?

CHALLENGER: Many companies have now set their budgets for the new year, so they know how many people they might have available to hire. So if you can get in the door now, get a jump on the game when everybody is rushing in, in January. Say, they're going to look at three or four candidates hard, you might have just gotten yourself selected into the inside group, which is always an advantage.

WHITFIELD: Now, John, are there certain industries where certain skills will really give you the advantage in terms of where the jobs just might be this holiday season?

CHALLENGER: Well, the strongest areas right now in the economy, and they hire a lot more than just the people who have expertise in that industry. There are areas like health care, the energy business, international business is growing by leaps and bounds, and so those are the kinds of company that you know are going to be adding jobs. Now, that might be in accounting or sales or personnel and Human Resources. So can you use your skills, but to go into industries, perhaps that you've not been in before.

WHITFIELD: So you're seeing -- you have a pretty optimistic view of the job placement field right now?

CHALLENGER: Well, job market has been very strong. In the last two years, we've seen over 4 million jobs created, in the last six months, 800,000. Ad the bulk of those jobs have been professional, financial, better paying jobs. So it's not as though we're only creating low-end jobs right now in the economy.

WHITFIELD: John Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Thanks so much from Chicago. Happy holidays.

CHALLENGER: And the same to you, Fredricka. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much.

Well, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld isn't looking for work. He has a pretty big job. But as CNN's Barbara Starr reports, he is cleaning out his office.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is packing up and leaving his office.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: True. We are. It's not my first choice.

STARR: All around him, aides are loading up pictures, carrying plants, wheeling boxes out the door.

Well, OK. He's not leaving the job, just moving down the hall. For the first time in nearly 60 years, the office of the secretary of defense is moving to a new location, while this office is renovated.

RUMSFELD: Think of all of the meetings that have been held here and all of the people who have come through here.

STARR: It's full of remarkable artifacts.

RUMSFELD: They tell me it was General Black Jack Pershing's desk and it had been in the War Department, which is the executive office building. And there's a photograph of it in the vice president's chambers.

STARR (on camera): Has Vice President Cheney ever asked you for it back?

RUMSFELD: Yes, yes.

STARR: And your answer to the vice president?

RUMSFELD: Any time he can carry it out, he can have it.

STARR (voice-over): We go into Rumsfeld private hideaway; years of personal memories are here.

RUMSFELD: President Eisenhower, who gave me a hand in my first campaign for Congress in 1961.

STARR: Many walls are now bare. The valuables have been moved.

RUMSFELD: We had wonderful paintings that we borrowed from the -- I guess the National Gallery. And they came and took them out because they didn't want anyone touching them.

STARR: Much of the nation's military history has unfolded here. But on September 1, of course, the Pentagon became a target. Rumsfeld was across hall.

RUMSFELD: Yes, I was over there having breakfast with a number of Congressmen, right next door, and they came in and said that the World Trade Center had been hit. And I came back in here, and was sitting here when this building was hit.

STARR: This is the office Rumsfeld is moving into. A little smaller, but those priceless paintings are already hanging.

(on camera): Secretary Rumsfeld will stay here for about two years, until the renovation is over. Then he will move back to the historic office that secretaries of defense have occupied for more than half a century.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow, a great sneak peek there.

Well, check your wish list, and if a new TV is what you're after, you'll want to hear what our consumer analyst has to say. A little TV 101 straight ahead.

And then, 'tis the season to be jolly or trampled. The smackdown at a shopping centers across the country when "CNN LIVE SATURDAY" returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Among the most popular stories on CNN.com today, the Honda Civic is enjoying the ride of its life. Motor Trend magazine named it Car of the Year. And it's honoring all four new versions of the nation's best-selling compact.

The Christmas shopping crush is also make headlines, despite some less than polite bargain hunters. Wal-mart reports sales yesterday were better than expected.

If an LCD or plasma television is on your wish list this year, you know they don't come cheap. So before you fork over all that money, you may want to get an idea of what products are out there, and what you should consider or stay away from altogether.

Here to do that is Robin Liss. She is a consumer electronic analyst, and joins us from New York. Good to see you, Robin.

ROBIN LISS, CNN CONSUMER ANALYST: Hi, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, there is so much to choose from, and it's really gotten too confusing. We're talking about television, people. But there is plasma, LCD, HD. How do you make a decision?

LISS: You know, it's a difficult call, but I would say, if you're in the market right now for a television, you should definitely make a purchase. Now, there are three major types of high definition television out there.

The first one is plasma. These are the best quality ones. They're very thin, and they have very dark glass and a good contrast ratio. They're generally better in sizes larger than 42 inches.

The next type is an LCD high definition television. These are good under 37 inches. Now, LCD uses kind of small pixels so they aren't as good at different viewing angles. So if you're looking on a side angle, the LCD screen is hard to view.

WHITFIELD: So that's something you want to hook up, maybe, with your computer?

LISS: Absolutely. They work with computer screens and they're very sharp. They're sharper than the plasma. But kind of on the every other measure, they're not as good.

The last type is the real projection. Now, these are kind of the big massive ones that don't give you as much quality. One of the down sides to these is that they have to be viewed in a dark room. But they're the cheapest by far. Very affordable.

WHITFIELD: More of like a movie theater room setting. That's when you want to use that?

LISS: Yes. Absolutely. If you're making a movie theater in your home, a rear projection is a great choice. Another problem with them is that viewing angle. So you have to be viewing them from straight on to be able to see the picture.

WHITFIELD: Now, you said these were all under the category of HDTV. So it looks like the push is really to go there. I mean, even Congress has gotten involved to tell television stations that you've got to go HD, high def, by 2009.

But if you don't want to make this kind of investment -- because it is expensive, right? Are there other routes you can do to kind of convert the TV that you have?

LISS: Right, well Congress passed a law that says by April 7, 2009, all television signals must be a digital television signal, not necessarily HD. But that means your current television, if it's not compatible, will not work. But they did appropriate $3 billion in order to subsidize converter boxes so that you can get it at a relatively affordable cost. A box will let your existing television work.

WHITFIELD: So let's talk about cost now. How much is it going to cost you if you were to get an LCD or you want the plasma or an HD compatible TV? What are the differences in prices we're talking about here?

LISS: Well, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, the average price of all HDTV's is $1,416, that's down by 11 percent. But across the board, plasma are the most expensive. LCD are affordable in smaller sizes and rear projection is the most affordable by far.

But there are some good deals out there this holiday season. Best Buy is selling for $1500, a 42 inch Magnavox high definition television with a free tuner in it. Now, that's something to watch for. The tuner costs about $100 to $200, and on some of these bargains models, they kind of trick you and they don't tell you that there's no tuner.

WHITFIELD: Wow, there are going to be some happy households by taking your advice now.

Now, next hour, if this doesn't make your head spin, we're going to talk about something else all the craze out there with digital cameras and camcorder, and you'll be giving us an idea of why everyone wants to go digital, right?

LISS: Right.

WHITFIELD: And some of your best picks.

LISS: We're going to have some of our favorite picks of camcorders and cameras. We have a DVD camcorder, which is a neat product because you can take the DVD right out of the camcorder and put it right into your DVD player. Really easy to use.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. It's all way too advanced for me. All right. Robin Liss, we'll be looking for you in the next hour, thanks so much.

LISS: Hopefully, we can make it easy.

WHITFIELD: I'm looking forward to that. All right, thanks.

Well, some people will do anything for a bargain. Security tackled, in fact, one early bird shopper at a Florida Wal-mart, Friday, after he jumped in line trying to get the cheap laptop. With the annual shopping frenzy underway, the crowds are huge. Holiday cheer appears to be in short supply these days. So does goodwill to all. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE SHOPPER: We came to get a 42-inch plasma TV.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE SHOPPER: They were behaving like animals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE SHOPPER: It was absolute pandemonium inside there, and they were throwing these laptops in the air, 20 feet in the air, and people were collapsing on each other to grab them. It was ridiculous. We got what we came for. Now we're going to go to through the register and go home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE SHOPPER: Now they think of, it I really didn't save that much. I should have just slept.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Dying to shop taken to a whole new level. Still, much more ahead on CNN.

Coming up, life after Hurricane Katrina. An update on one family's cross-country journey just to find a home.

And then alternative treatments for the all-too-common cold, and the flu as well. Herbal remedies ahead on "CNN LIVE SATURDAY."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Two prison escapees still on the loose. Two more caught. The search to get all nine violent offenders back behind bars.

Nasty weather across much of the country could complicate your trip home to Grandma's house. The problems today and your travel forecast for tomorrow.

And it's that time of year again, has the cold or flu hit your family yet? Some natural remedies that may actually be rather new to you. Details ahead.

It's November 26. You're watching "CNN LIVE SATURDAY."

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. To our top story in a moment. But first, other stories making news right now.

Reprimands for four American soldiers deployed to Afghanistan. It stems from an incident last month, when U.S. troops burned the bodies of enemy fighters that were decomposing in the sun. The Army determined it was a bad judgment call, not a violation of the rules of war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON KAMIYA, MAJOR GENERAL, U.S. ARMY: U. S. military forces did not violate the law of war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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