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CNN Tonight
Afghanistan Decision; Global Warming; The Rush is On; Higher Standards; Hitting the Roads; Outsourcing Jobs
Aired November 25, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tonight -- finishing the job in Afghanistan, President Obama's final decision on a new war strategy will be revealed next week. A large-scale escalation is expected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Taliban now currently has the momentum I think that (INAUDIBLE) winning.
FOREMAN: But does the president have a winning strategy?
And Thanksgiving rush. It's the busiest travel day of the year, but a new warning tonight over airline pilots and experience in the cockpits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are too many pilots flying regional planes who are over extended, under trained, ill or exhausted.
FOREMAN: And an inconvenient truth. Some leaked e-mails spark a new debate over climate change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We really do have a global warming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do think that we tend to blow things a little bit out of proportion.
FOREMAN: What should you really believe about global warming?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN TONIGHT live from New York. Here now, Tom Foreman.
FOREMAN: Good evening. There is a new and sharp level of anxiety for military families nationwide tonight as we head into the long holiday weekend. President Obama, we now know, will finally reveal his new war plan for Afghanistan Tuesday night in a much anticipated speech at the West Point Military Academy. Officials say the president will call for 35,000 additional troops to join the 68,000 already there.
And the escalation could not come at a more sensitive time. Casualties are up. And public support for the war is down, so much so that a majority of Americans now oppose having our troops there -- Dan Lothian at the White House. Dan, what else can you tell us about the president's announcement?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well when the president does make that announcement in the audience there will be cadets and other military officials. But as Robert Gibbs told me in an interview a short time ago, the president really will be aiming his message at a much wider audience, the American people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: What will the president be telling the American people on Tuesday?
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, look I think the president, Dan, understand that he's got to let the American people know why we're in Afghanistan, what's in our national interest to be there, how important the decision is that he's making and the process that he's gone through to make that decision.
He'll outline that decision. Talk about the onus and responsibility being on the Afghans. What we're going to have to do to train Afghan national security forces and their police. And the steps that the Afghan government is going to have to take to address their corruption and governance issues so that when we get an Afghan- national security force trained we can hand more secure areas off to the Afghans and American forces can go home.
LOTHIAN: What about the cost issue? We've heard the numbers out there -- that if you're talking about any significant increase it's going to be billions of dollars. And already, you're hearing key Democrats talking about you know war tax. Will the president address how he plans to pay for this strategy?
GIBBS: Well, I think the president is going to walk through what this is going to cost. And let's be honest, Dan, what it already has cost. Not just our treasury, but in the sacrificed lives of brave men and women that protect our freedom every day. I think he'll talk about the cost in this speech. I don't think we're going to get too deep into funding mechanisms. And I have been in no meetings where there's been a war tax discussed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Now, the president is also expected to talk about a timetable, although he's not expected to give an exact update. He will say how the engagement there will not be an open-ended process but it will be limited that the United States will not be in Afghanistan for the next eight to nine years. I can also tell you, Tom that over the weekend, the president will be reaching out to key allies, working the phones, not only laying out his plan in Afghanistan, but also try to get them on board, see how they can contribute to the effort there.
FOREMAN: Many thanks Dan Lothian at the White House. We will have complete coverage of Tuesday's big announcement on the war in Afghanistan. CNN will of course carry President Obama's speech from West Point live followed by special analysis of what it could mean for our troops, the stability of the region and of course to President Obama too. Make sure you join us for that.
The White House today ended speculation on another front by announcing that President Obama will attend the big United Nations Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark next month. The president will commit the U.S. to deep cuts in greenhouse gas pollution over the next decade, 17 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2020. A House bill with the same target passed over the summer. Environmentalists are cheering the president's commitment, but chances appear small that this conference will produce any binding agreements.
Meanwhile, some leaked e-mails are inflaming the old fight over the basic science of climate change. A hacker in England got hold of e-mails between leading scientists which skeptics say show a clear effort to raise fears about global warming and hide evidence against it. Republican lawmakers want a congressional investigation. Brooke Baldwin takes us inside where some are now calling Climategate (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) that the climate is changing, that the burning of fossil fuels is a significant factor goes way beyond the pop culture sensation of Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" and his appearance on last week's episode of "30 Rock" on NBC.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kenneth, encourage your lawmakers to take action and recycle everything, including jokes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, sir, what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) oil is in trouble. I have to go.
BALDWIN: So when a reputable climate research institute has its computer server hacked and hundreds of its private e-mails made public, the news gets around fast, especially from groups that don't believe the global warming consensus. One e-mail attributed to the research center's director had this cryptic excerpt, referring to the quote "trick of adding in the real temps to each series to hide the decline in temperature."
Because there's very little context in that e-mail and the others, it's hard to know what they'll all add up to. The climate research unit in question here posted a message calling this e-mail hack job mischievous and saying it is helping the police investigate. Senator James Inhofe has for many years portrayed this data showing the warming trend as a hoax and sees the e-mails as evidence.
SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: I'm pleased by the vast and growing number of scientists, politicians, reporters all over the world who are publicly rejecting climate alarmism -- alarmism. This is those who want to scare people into some kind of action. You know the water is going to rise up, the world's coming to an end.
BALDWIN: But the White House energy czar points to the 2,500 climate scientists all around the world who agree the climate is warming and that these e-mails aren't changing that. As for the American public, according to a "Washington Post"/ABC News poll out this week, the number of Americans who believe global warming is happening is down from 80 to 72 percent from last year, down, but still a large majority.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We really do have a global warming. The polar bears are getting in trouble and the glaciers are melting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do think that we tend to blow things a little bit out of proportion, but I do think we need to be concerned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it is -- it is over-hyped. I think some of it is attributed to man but not all of it.
BALDWIN: That same "Washington Post"/ABC News poll shows since 2006 the increase in climate skepticism is driven largely by a shift within the Republican Party and Independents. There was also a dip among Democrats, but small. Still, a majority of respondents support a national cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: All right, so back to those hacked e-mails and documents, they also suggest that some scientists pressure journals not to publish work of those who question whether in fact the earth is warming. But really, talk about the timing here, again, all of this coming out weeks ahead of Copenhagen's climate summit where the president, Tom, as you mentioned, President Obama will be attending.
FOREMAN: I think we'll be hearing a lot more about this -- thanks very much, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Yes,
FOREMAN: Interesting report. The holiday rush is well on its way. Travelers began hitting the roads earlier this afternoon to avoid traffic jams and long lines at airports and train terminals, so how are they all faring? Well Jackie Hyland from our affiliate WPIX is along New York's Grand Central Parkway near LaGuardia Airport, one of the busier places. Jackie, what's it looking like?
JACKIE HYLAND, WPIX REPORTER: Well, Tom, we've been out here alongside the Grand Central Parkway (INAUDIBLE) for about three hours or so. And you know what, traffic is heavy, but for the most part, it is moving along. Let's talk about the weather conditions. Over the past three hours or so there's been this on and off misty rain, but right now conditions are clear.
As you mentioned, not far from here is LaGuardia Airport which is notorious for air travel bottlenecks. Tonight the Port Authority tells us that there are no major delays, but, of course, call your carrier before you get to the airport. You know, 20 states account for almost 75 percent of all U.S. travel. This year, New York is one out of five states where holiday travel is actually down.
It looks like, according to the AAA, anyway, more people are choosing to stay home this holiday season, at least here in New York. Of course, that could be a sign of the times. Tomorrow is the big Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City. A lot of people will be heading into the city for that. And there's some good news there, it looked like the weather, Tom, is going to cooperate.
FOREMAN: I hope you get home safely, as well, Jackie. Thanks so much. Really, the weather is the key all across the country. Let's take a look at the outlook for Thanksgiving, coast to coast. And for that we're going to check in with CNN meteorologist Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center. Chad, what are you thinking?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Tom, you know I have not seen a benign Thanksgiving like this in a very long time. And so that's good. People really are able to get where they want to go tonight I think. Even though some airports are slow, they're not completely out of control like I've seen some, even some Fridays in the past.
Here we go -- West Palm down to Miami, you're seeing rain showers. There's rain across parts of the Northeast so airports are slightly slow just because of the cloud cover that we're seeing there. The low clouds and then some rain into Chicago, so there are airport delays. I'm not going to lie to you, in fact, there are eight of them -- Boston at an hour, Newark, about the same, Philadelphia, two hours although Philadelphia has been a mess for (INAUDIBLE) airport all day long -- LaGuardia, at 30 minutes, Miami now 30 minutes and so.
But when you're going to be traveling today, I think there's going to be a lot more driving than there's going to be flying. I went onto Expedia. I was on Travelocity all day and just trying to book flights all over the country today and they were all available. Planes were not sold out today like I expected and so that means maybe there weren't there many people in those TSA lines and they were ready for it.
We'll take you to Kiro -- K-I-R-O. This is the I-5, looks like a bunch of brake lights. That doesn't look like any fun. If you go on to Google Maps, you can do this yourself. You can look at the traffic in your town. Here's New York City. Maybe you're heading home, Tom, pretty soon. Long Island Expressway closed two lanes eastbound at Shelter Rock (ph) and so that's just making the commute off to the east a mess.
Route 17 is closed out in New Jersey, near Lynwood (ph). This is just going to go on and on and on and on. What I'll bring you here will be Denver Airport, KUSA (ph) -- I've been to this airport many times. You would be able to see if there was a lot of people in the TSA lines. These TSA lines would be snaking out here into the area. This is the airport that looks like all those big white peaks of snow of the mountains there.
It's a great looking shot there -- and then 6,200, which is a big number for this time of day -- still 6,200 planes in the sky at this point, Tom, and the good news is they're not this big because if they were, we would never see the sun, especially here on the East Coast. I don't suspect we will see the number of planes go down anytime soon, though even running well above normal all day long. A lot of these planes I believe are probably private planes, too, and they will get that number higher because most of the carriers only have so many planes that they can fly anyway, so...
FOREMAN: So all in all, pretty promising, hey, Chad?
MYERS: I think so. I think unless you're trying to get out to the Hamptons (INAUDIBLE) Long Island Expressway is a mess going that way and if you go on to Google Maps or (INAUDIBLE) whatever, up in the top right hand corner you'll be able -- you can turn on terrain. You can turn on mountains or whatever else. But you can also click on traffic and you can look at traffic all across the country.
FOREMAN: Good advice and a good time to pack your patience even on a good holiday travel weekend. Thanks Chad.
Coming up, new warnings tonight about airline pilots on this busiest travel weekend of the year -- at issue, whether experience equals safety in the sky.
And if you have yet to join the road race this weekend, we'll go over a few short cuts that could keep from you eating some cold turkey. Stick with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOREMAN: Congress wants new rules that would increase pilot training, cut down on the number of hours pilots fly and presumably make you safer when you take to the air. This is in response to that deadly crash in Buffalo, New York, earlier this year. But the plan could cost plenty. So as you might expect, Lisa Sylvester has found stiff opposition from the airlines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Right now, junior pilots with as little as 250 flying hours can be hired by a commercial airline. Starting pay for a first officer at a regional carrier can be as low as $24,000 a year. And the pilots may be asked to work long shifts, up to 16 hours with a maximum of eight hours in the air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are far too many pilots flying regional planes who are overextended, under trained, ill or exhausted.
SYLVESTER: Now, Congress wants to change that. It's a direct response to the deadly crash that killed 50 people in Buffalo on February 12th. The House passed legislation this fall that would require all pilots, not just the captain, have a minimum of 1,500 flying hours. It also requires a new pilot database be established so airlines can review a pilot's flying history and other records before hiring.
The captain in the Buffalo crash had failed several required tests before being hired. His employer, Cogen Air (ph) says it only knew about one of them. And the legislation mandates that within a year, the Federal Aviation Administration issue a new rule on the number of hours a pilot can work during a 24-hour period. But the Air Transport Association which represents U.S. Airlines says any changes should be, quote, "the responsibilities of the FAA and not something that should be legislated." David Ison assistant professor of aviation at Rocky Mountain College agrees. Having the tougher rules could lead to a pilot shortage and higher costs.
DAVID ISON, AVIATION PROFESSOR: Airlines are going to see increased labor costs from this legislation, and also, what that's going to mean in the end is higher costs for the consumer.
SYLVESTER: The Air Transport Administration says it will comply with any new rules and will not compromise safety for economic reasons.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: Now the bill has overwhelming support in Congress. It passed the House in October, 409-11. And the Senate is expected to take up the bill most likely early next year -- Tom.
FOREMAN: Thank you, Lisa.
More than 38 million people are expected to travel by plane, train and automobile over this holiday weekend. That number is up slightly compared to last year. All the more reason for us to take a little time to help you get there safely and to help with us that we're joined by Troy Green (ph) of AAA -- Troy, thanks for being here. I hope you made it here safely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Tom -- Happy Thanksgiving to you.
FOREMAN: You too. Let's start with automobiles first. The first thing you say is that people should take the time to actually prepare their vehicle. What are you talking about?
TROY GREEN, AAA: It's very important to make sure you check all hoses, belts, tires, windshield wipers, in this type of weather that we're having here before you actually make your way out on your trip because if you need any maintenance that needs to be done before you get on the road.
FOREMAN: Another suggestion is to plan your route and I guess in that case you're talking about not merely planning where you want to go, but also what obstacles may be between you and where you're going?
GREEN: Exactly. Map out the most efficient route to your destination, making sure you're checking for any planned delays, any work construction areas. Also plan some alternate routes just in case you need them.
FOREMAN: How effective can be it for people to look at the clock quite frankly because as you know the difference on one road between 8:00 in the morning and 10:30 at night could be huge.
GREEN: And it's very important. Normally we would really try to recommend folks the earlier that you leave, the better because delays tend to ripple throughout the day.
FOREMAN: You say that people should plan for emergencies. I think that probably means more than just having a blanket in the trunk?
GREEN: Yes, you want to make sure you have a fully stocked emergency kit, also a fully charged cell phone and a car charger. Also inform family members and friends of your travel plans and then finally have your roadside assistant provider's phone number in your cell phone handy.
FOREMAN: And when you say inform people, that's so that if you're supposed to be there at 4:00, somebody knows to look for you?
GREEN: Exactly because if you're not there then someone knows that you need to be there, and they may be able to help you out if you're in trouble.
FOREMAN: And I'll mention one last thing about -- the last thing was about rest stops, just taking time to take a break now and then and then let's move on to the question of air travel.
One of the things you say is to get into the process early if you can, the holidays are already upon us, but there will be a lot of travel throughout the holidays?
GREEN: Yes, the earlier the better in terms of taking a flight. If you can get that 6:00 a.m. or 8:00 a.m. flight it will increase your chances of getting to your destination on time because delays really tend to reverberate throughout the system as the day progresses.
FOREMAN: And you have sort of a fall-back position if something goes wrong, if the flight gets canceled or anything else.
GREEN: Right. It will also give you an opportunity to possibly take a later flight if you start off earlier in the day.
FOREMAN: One of the things you wanted to do is to make sure that people check for additional fees. That actually probably doesn't stand in the way of them getting there, but boy, does it change the experience if you get there and find out that you've got four people traveling and you've just picked up another $200 in fees.
GREEN: Nearly every major airline has implemented new fees and surcharges for items and services that used to be complimentary before 2008. So if you haven't flown a lot in the last couple of months, it's going to be a shock to you to find out that you may have to come out of your pocket with 25, $50 just to check your bags.
FOREMAN: And you say here that people should check for delays. And one question I have about that what are you supposed to do if you find one? You call and you find out your plane is going to be delayed by two hours or three hours. The danger is if I don't go to the airport and suddenly it clears, then I miss my flight. GREEN: Well, you should still really try to of course check for delays if you can go online or check out your airport's Web site, you know what you will be faced with as you arrive to the airport...
FOREMAN: So it's more of a matter of being prepared...
(CROSSTALK)
FOREMAN: Like if you have kids with you, you want to make sure you have snacks or something to tie them over, some games...
GREEN: Yes. Snacks, books, games, et cetera.
FOREMAN: And the last thing was cushion time? Give yourself a little bit of pad to work with?
GREEN: Yes, because you're traveling during one of the busiest times of the year in terms of Thanksgiving. So you may encounter delays on your way to the airport. Also, the busier the airport, the longer it's going to take for you to pass through security.
FOREMAN: Troy, it's good to have you here, and being a longtime traveler, I know that cushion time can make all the difference in the world (INAUDIBLE) Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours as well.
GREEN: Thank you.
FOREMAN: The seven astronaut crew of the space shuttle "Atlantis" will not be home for turkey dinner, but they are headed back to earth on a very long Thanksgiving journey. Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station today. It is expected to touch down at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Friday morning. The 11 day mission included three space walks and one of the astronauts, Specialist Randy Bresnick (ph) even got news from Mission Control that he's become a father for the second time. Only six space shuttle missions remain before the shuttle program is phased out next year. That will be an historic moment. We'll all want to see that.
Coming up, call for traveling -- the NBA jerseys are about to be outsourced to Thailand, a move that could cost a good many American jobs. And the economy is up, it's down. For months economic indicators seem to have pointed in every direction at once, but now finally there seems to be some consensus and it is good. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOREMAN: A couple of quick items here. Roman Polanski tonight has been granted bail by a Swiss court, but the film director will remain in custody while Swiss officials decide if they will appeal this ruling. Polanski has been in custody since September on a U.S. extradition request related to a sex charge. Polanski fled the U.S. in 1978 after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Fourteen Connecticut firefighters who won a landmark Supreme Court discrimination case must be promoted. That word from a federal judge ruled the civil rights of the white firefighters from New Haven were violated when the city threw out the results of a 2003 promotion examination. The ruling followed the Supreme Court's instruction, so a spokesman for the city of New Haven says the firefighters will be promoted as soon as possible.
Basketball fans and some members of Congress are crying foul tonight. The "made in America" jerseys that NBA players wear will soon be made in Thailand. Adidas is breaking its six-year contract with the manufacturer in Perry (ph), New York and as our Mary Snow reports, that means hundreds of Americans will lose their jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They have outfitted Michael Jordan and the Olympic Dream Team. Half the teams on the NBA wear their jerseys. But the roughly 100 workers who make those uniforms outside Buffalo, New York, may soon be out of work. Their company, American Classic Outfitters (ph) says it was told by Adidas that production was being moved to Asia and it's enlisted New York Senator Charles Schumer to try to stop it.
SEN CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Now basketball is an American sport. It was invented here in America. It is centered here in America. And the jerseys ought to be made here in America, no ands, ifs or buts.
SNOW: But those who follow the business of sports don't see a lot of outrage building.
JON WERTHEM, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SENIOR WRITER: This is a league that's been trying to expand internationally and made no secret of that for years and years. They're looking to put teams in Europe, more players than ever are coming from overseas. I think of all leagues the NBA is probably least likely to be sympathetic to this.
SNOW: We've reached out to the NBA, but it declined comment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
SNOW: While the NBA is stressing globalization, its jerseys have been made in the U.S., and it's not alone. The supplier for Major League Baseball uniforms says it has a long-term commitment to making the MLB uniforms in the U.S. Uniforms for the National Hockey League and the National Football League are also made in North America. And Schumer is betting that anger towards Adidas, which is headquartered in Germany, will make a difference.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What are you doing at this point? Have you contacted David Stern (ph), the NBA commissioner?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have contacted Adidas; we're hoping they'll do this on their own, but if they don't we will certainly contact the NBA and ask them to go to work on this.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SNOW: And as for Adidas, we did reach out to the company, but so far we haven't gotten a response for comment. Now, the supplier, American Classic Outfitters (ph), says it was two years into a six- year contract with Adidas.
FOREMAN: (INAUDIBLE) that the real complaint here from people is going to be the rank and file folks on the street is the NBA spends untold millions of dollars on things and they're going to say, how much are you saving doing this? Do you have any idea?
SNOW: Right. No and that's one thing we wanted to ask Adidas, but we haven't heard back from them yet. And their claim to the company, according to the supplier is that they changed their technology. Bottom line is they want to cut costs. And that is the big question, you know for fans, as you say, there's so many of these contracts that's going out will it really make a big difference.
(CROSSTALK)
FOREMAN: It's very big money business. I'm not sure how they're going to sell that to the fans out there, but I guess we'll see as it goes on. Thanks, Mary.
SNOW: Sure.
FOREMAN: Happy Thanksgiving.
SNOW: And Happy Thanksgiving to you.
FOREMAN: Coming up, the latest economic numbers, retail sales are up. Jobless claims are down. Good news, no doubt, but is this a sign of the recovery? And a major setback for the world's largest automaker, why Toyota is recalling nearly four million cars including America's best seller.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOREMAN: Toyota has announced its largest ever recall in this country. The carmaker will replace or fix gas pedals on about 4 million cars because those pedals can get stuck in the floor mats. Toyota will shorten the gas pedal in the top-selling Camry and Prius, as well as some of the Lexus models. The recall was prompted by a deadly crash in August involving a 2009 Lexus. The car's accelerator problem was previously blamed on the mats, not on the pedals.
A New York family is home free for the holidays tonight as a county judge erased their mortgage and blasting their lender for attempting to foreclose on them. Justice Jeffrey Spinner ruled for them. He said the actions of IndyMac Mortgage Service were completely devoid of good faith. It said the judge's ruling came after a series of meetings by the lender and the family ordered by the state. The family owed a debt in excess of $525,000. The judge said the property was worth no more than $274,000. The bank that holds that mortgage said it will appeal that decision.
The number of first time unemployment claims are down for the first time of more than a year. Sales of new homes were up last month, encouraging signs to be sure. Kitty Pilgrim is looking into that all important bigger question, is the economy really bouncing back?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just in time for the holidays, a glimmer of hope for the economy. Sales of new homes climbed as at the fastest pace since September of last year. The federal government's $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers is clearly having an impact and it's been extended until April 30. Mortgage borrowing costs are low and likely to remain so. New claims for jobless benefits fell by 35,000, the lowest level in a year. The number of people receiving benefits also fell sharply by 190,000. That is the lowest level since last February. Consumer spending bass up in October, that was the best level since August when the government's cash for clunkers encouraged people to buy new cars. Disposable incomes rose the most since May up by .4 percent. One of the real tests for the economy is orders for durable goods, things like cars, appliances, machinery, computers and communications equipment. On face value, orders for durable goods fell, but even so there were some good signs. Orders for electrical equipment, commercial airplanes and parts and steel, all good indicators for the economy were up. All these numbers will please the white house.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our economy is growing again for the first time in more than a year. We know that economic growth is a prerequisite for job growth.
PILGRIM: Last week, Treasury Secretary Geithner was looking on the bright side.
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: Very tough economic environment but the financial center is much more stable. You're seeing very stable financial improvements across the country, in terms of access to credit. Falling costs to credit. And that's very important.
PILGRIM: Job creation has been a priority for the Obama administration. The administration claims the $787 billion stimulus package has so far created or saved some 600,000 jobs. Now comes another test, the strength of consumer sentiment in the all important holiday shopping season.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Well, there are about 5.5 million people who have been out of work for six months or longer. And the jobless rate, 10.2%. This is no way to start the holidays, however, in a very small way, it may look like the economy's doing well in some areas, Tom?
FOREMAN: Thanks, Kitty. That's at least promising news.
With the economy still struggling, holiday shoppers are hungry for bargains, of course, on Black Friday and beyond. And stores are hungry for dollars, so you can expect to get some great deals if you know where to look for them and we do know where to look for them. We have Paul Reynolds here, senior electronics editor for Consumer Reports.
The number one thing is going to be electronics, right, huge demand?
PAUL REYNOLDS, CONSUMER REPORTS: When we asked shoppers a few weeks ago, what's the number one thing they're coming out shopping for, tied actually was clothing. But right up there. One of the other things, sort of the dirty little secret for Black Friday shopping for gear heads, more than half of those people are buying stuff for themselves. It's not just about buying gifts, but buying for myself.
FOREMAN: What are the top things to buy in electronics?
REYNOLDS: Well one of the top things I think is LCD TVs. Good example of the value that you're talking about, prices have come down a lot. We had our TV editors go out and take a look at the deals that are out there. They found for $600, you can get an LCD television with full HD 1080p resolution for $600 or under in some of the best sales.
FOREMAN: That's huge compared to a couple years ago?
REYNOLDS: Yeah, this is hundreds of dollars less than even a number of months ago in many cases. Things have really come down. I think the value is there. Even though there's the economic uncertainty, the deals are there which is prompting people to go out and buy even though they may feel uncertain about things.
FOREMAN: You mention there are other electronic products that are big, blue ray disk players, camcorders, always popular and doing very well. You do issue a caution against bundled deals. If you walk in and somebody says, here's a great deal, a TV, and a Blu-ray player and an auto system and everything, that bears some scrutiny?
REYNOLDS: They can be great. For example, some LCD televisions now are being given away with a freely blu-ray player. It's hard to turn down that kind of offer if it's a set you want at a great price. Some of those bundles, though, do the math on them. Make sure you want the additional parts of the bundle because they will cost you more. They will be discounted. Do the math. Figure out if you want everything in the bundle, not just the main television.
FOREMAN: Make sure they're quality components, too?
REYNOLDS: Exactly. Sometimes, you're getting off brand, unfamiliar brands, for some of the extras when the main computer or television is something that you can trust.
FOREMAN: One of the hottest items out there seems to be these electronic readers like the Nuk, where can get newspapers, magazine, books on a reader of some sort. What's happening with that?
REYNOLDS: Well, what's happening is prices came down quite a lot on those e-readers, including on the Amazon Kindle which is really the leading one. And then it looked like we were going to have a real battle in that area and some real choices for consumers. What happened is some of the hottest ones, including Barnes & Nobles player the Nuk is already sold out. The Kindle, it's the leading model that's out there, there are a lot of other models coming. It's an interesting area. If people don't want to buy this holiday, into the New Year, they're going to have a lot more choices.
FOREMAN: It's a good think to retrench on now. Unless you want the Kindle, you may want to retrench and get past the holidays and see what else is out there. What else are you looking at?
REYNOLDS: Blu-ray, you mentioned that. That's interesting. There this is the next generation of disk players. They play the high definition blu-ray disk but they'll also play DVDs and the prices have come way down on those. The Black Friday deals, you'll see some for $100. What's especially interesting about those is, some of those models have internet access which allows you to do things like stream movies if you have a Netflix subscription, so you can get those.
FOREMAN: Very quickly. You mentioned that people can go online to find all sorts of coupons, promotional codes, you can still order on line. There's plenty of time for that. One question is inventory. It seems like a lot of stores are trying to go with light inventory because they don't want to get stuck with things. My suspicion is that means if you see something you want and a reasonable price, you better get it now because two weeks from now you may not have it and it may not be restocked?
REYNOLDS: That's possible. It's hard to know exactly. One thing people should do for Black Friday, go online ahead of time. Do your research, find out what the deals are. Also consider buying online. Black Friday is not just the brick and mortar walk-in store experience anymore. There are a lot of places online. Places like Wal-Mart, are offering many of the same televisions that you have to get to the television to the store at 5:00 a.m. for and sometimes, the shipping is free or very cheap.
FOREMAN: And the parking online is just great. Paul, thanks for being here, we appreciate it; Paul Reynolds from "Consumer Reports."
Still ahead, a surprising twist in the president's annual turkey pardon. Why some believe the bird may have been better off without a reprieve.
And a tug-of-war for holiday shoppers. One mayor, one little town, and one big battle against the big box stores. He joins us next.
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FOREMAN: As bargain hunters flock those big box stores in search of holiday discounts, one small town mayor is fighting to keep his shoppers close to home. Bellville Illinois Mayor Mark Eckert is going door to door this week encouraging neighbors to shop locally. Spending in town, he says, not only supports the local merchants but helps keep police and firefighters on the street. Mayor Eckert joins us now. Thanks for being here. This is an interesting campaign. What gave you the idea?
MAYOR MARK ECKERT, BELLEVILLE, ILLINOIS: Well, actually, it started last year. And when we saw the economy start to really start to effect us locally, it kind of hit me, and I started talking to some of our elected officials that we need to educate our citizens about the importance of doing as much business as possible in the community in which they live. We decided to go door to door with a letter from the mayor and explanations and details about how shopping in the community in which they live keeps the sales tax dollars at home, which in turn, pays for our police and fire protection and other city services.
FOREMAN: So how do you answer the folks who immediately say, yeah, I'd like to do that, mayor, but times are hard, and the best prices are at this big box store and other places like that?
ECKERT: We have a couple big boxes, but we have St. Louis across the river and several malls outside of the city. All we say is, we understand you might not be able to do all of your shopping in Bellville, but if you do as much as possible, and remember that all the tax dollars that you keep at home helps us keep the public services which you expect.
FOREMAN: What kind of response are you getting from this?
ECKERT: I think very positive. A lot of people have commented, you know, they just didn't give it much thought. They didn't realize that's how police and firemen are paid. It's sales tax. So I think it's an education process and I think the door-to-door method has been well received. But it's not going to be taught in one year. It's going to have to be an ongoing thing.
FOREMAN: Financially, how is your city doing?
ECKERT: Financially, we're okay. We haven't had to lay anybody off. Public services haven't been cut or shortened. But we're like everybody. We have tightened our belt extremely, we've had several people retire or leave their jobs and we've not replaced them. But we are very conscious of the economy, but fortunately, so far, people have responded and we've been able to keep our 82-person police force and our 60 paid fire department.
FOREMAN: Do you have any idea of what kind of value you can actually put on this?
ECKERT: It's hard to equate while other city mayors have talked that sales tax is down 5%. I have to believe this education that we've been trying to do to our citizens is slowly starting to work. And we've just got to keep it up.
FOREMAN: When you talk about that difference between your town and other towns, in terms of the income, that would create real differences, if you didn't have that advantage, you would what, actually be laying off police officer or what? ECKERT: It could happen. Some of the neighboring communities have been laying off police and firemen. And we done want to get to that point. We want to tell people we want them to support the community in which they live.
FOREMAN: Mayor Eckert, I hope your town folk continue to support you. And I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving.
ECKERT: Same to you.
FOREMAN: Coming up, President Obama's first pardon. We'll tell you what's next for one is lucky turkey. And one of CNN's Heroes, Doc Henley. He's helping thousands of people by turning wine into water.
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FOREMAN: On thanksgiving night, our Anderson Cooper and an all- star cast will announce nor CNN hero of the year. Tonight, we introduce to you one of the ten finalists, Doc Hendley is a bartender in North Carolina. But when he's not pouring drinks there, he's quenching a much stronger thirst in places as far away as Ethiopia and Peru. Here's his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOC HENDLEY: When I first started this, I thought, 1.1 billion people in the world don't have access to clean water. My efforts are going to be a drop in the bucket. But if I had never taken that step because it was too big of a problem, we wouldn't be anywhere right now. My name is Doc Hendley. I'm the president and founder of the organization Wine to Water. We install water systems all over the world. I've never had any experience as a humanitarian. My only experience is as a bartender. I decided to hold wine tastings, wine to water events. And also to tell other people about this water crisis. I definitely had no idea where that road was going to take me. The orphans that we're digging the well for right now, I don't think any of these children have ever known what it's like to have clean water. [ speaking foreign language ]
Children are most affected by this water crisis. Their systems are too weak, they cannot take it. Every 15 seconds, a child dies because of a water crisis. Water kills more children than HIV-AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. When we take the water from the street and we put it in here, the water that's in the bottom is not going to make you feel sick to your stomach anymore. In the west, we have no idea what it's like to give your child water that is making them sick, but have no choice but to do so.
[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
A lot of times, it can be as simple as installing a $25 water filter, and that would completely revolutionize their entire life. I've seen water used as a weapon. I've seen water used as a commodity, bought and sold to make governments rich. I see water as the foundation for any type of humanitarian work. Anything will be done in vain. There's not access to clean water. I do believe that we can fix this problem. As of right now, we've reached over 26,500 people. If you find something you're passionate about, I don't care who you are, what you do, you will make a difference.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Be sure that you tune into CNN on thanksgiving night when we'll announce the CNN hero of the year for 2009. That is tomorrow night at 9:00 right here on CNN. It's a great way to wrap up your holiday and really worth watching.
Coming up at the top of this hour, Campbell Brown, Campbell, what do you know?
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, there, Tom. Well, we are digging into what may be a major security breach last night at the white house state dinner. It looks like a couple of reality TV wannabes got past all the layers of security and crashed the party last night. That is coming up. We've got a lot of new details.
Also tonight, why some doctors are raising doubts about a man who was thought to be in a coma for 23 years but may have actually known what was going on the whole time. He's now communicating by way of a keyboard, or is he? We'll talk about that.
FOREMAN: Still ahead, President Obama spares a very lucky turkey from being eaten. And instead, flies first class across the country. That story is next. Stay with us.
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FOREMAN: President Obama today continued the modern white house tradition of pardoning a turkey just before Thanksgiving, saving it from the dinner table. But in a fate that some might consider worse than death, that turkey will spend the rest of its life in Disneyland, California. And here's how that happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: His name is Courage. He traveled here from Goldsboro, North Carolina. I'm pleased to announce that thanks to the interventions of Malia and Sasha, because I was planning to eat this sucker, Courage will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate. There are certain days that remind me of why I ran for this office and then there are moments like this where I pardon a turkey and send it to Disneyland. This is a 45-pound turkey. Man, that is feeding a lot of folks. What did you feed this guy? The right stuff? All right. No performance-enhancing drugs or anything? Courage, you are hereby pardoned. You will live. Freedom
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd like to welcome you to flight 409, also known as Turkey One
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think we'll have the honor of flying Air Force One, but Turkey One is close.
QUINN SHURIAN, DISNEY AMBASSADOR: Two very lucky birds are pardoned and they get to spend the rest of their natural life here with us at Disneyland resort, we're very excited to have them. They live a good life sand they're very well cared for mere.
OBAMA: To every American, I want to wish you on behalf of myself, Malia, Sasha and Michelle, the happiest of Thanksgivings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: As Dan Rather said: "Ah, Courage." Thanks for being with us. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Next up, Campbell Brown.
