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Parade Balloon Injures Two; Shopping on Thanksgiving; Soldiers Celebrate Thanksgiving; Creative Healing After Katrina; Oprah Winfrey On Politics

Aired November 24, 2005 - 15:00   ET

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

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Both of them were injured, the mayor saying the injuries were not serious. The 26-year-old woman, he says, will be held overnight at the hospital. She did receive six stitches, but she is being held for observation.
And in the meantime, the mayor saying that the city's going to take a look at any amateur videotape and some still photography shots to determine what went wrong and to see whether or not anything else needs to be done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY: I think it's true that we have to take a look and see what procedures we want to change, if any, before the parade next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: Now, procedures are in place. There are safety guidelines that were drawn up in 1998. That is because of the accident I just mentioned in 1997. Winds at that time were 40 miles an hour. And a balloon hit a lamppost, injuring a woman permanently, she suffered permanent brain damage.

The city has come up with some rules. One of those rules is that balloons cannot fly if winds exceed more than 23 miles an hour, wind gusts of up to 34 miles an hour. But the city had been watching that. They say winds were well within the range for these balloons to safely go up, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, Mary, what about the M&M balloon handlers? Has anybody made a comment about if they may be at fault here?

SNOW: That was something that was a question posed to Macy's, because Macy's is in charge of the handlers. They say there were about 62 people, a team of 62 people, handling that balloon. And while some of the captains and pilots received training before the parade, there are volunteers who are just coming here for the first time. They're only trained on the morning of the Thanksgiving Day parade.

But Macy's says only four of those 62 were doing this for the first time. And it is saying that it believes that people were trained properly. PHILLIPS: All right. Mary Snow...

SNOW: But that...

PHILLIPS: ... live in New York. I'm sorry, did you want to add to that, Mary? I'm sorry.

SNOW: No, I was just going to say that the city was asked -- the mayor was asked about that, and he said he -- that is obviously something that the city will also take a look into.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Mary, thank you so much.

You know, Mary talked about the weather conditions there, the winds apparently OK with regard to the regulations about that parade and the balloons.

Bonnie Schneider monitoring not only New York but weather all across the country. Bonnie?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kyra, that's right.

I mean, look back on the wind gusts of what we had at the time of that accident at the parade. The wind gusts at Central Park, for example, were right around 25 miles per hour. And remember, they were not above 34 miles per hour, which I believe were under the guidelines.

But just in the vicinity of the area, we have LaGuardia wind gusts even higher than that, and at Kennedy airport, there were reported wind gusts early this morning about 36 miles per hour.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

SCHNEIDER: So it's going to be a snowy road for many people that will be traveling there tonight, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Bonnie Schneider, thank you so much.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

PHILLIPS: So you've had Thanksgiving Dinner and you're tired of hearing Uncle Phil talk about his gallbladder operation. So what do you do now?

Well you could join in a growing new part of the Thanksgiving Day tradition. You could go shopping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Thanksgiving used to be the calm before the storm, the day to rest before the traditional beginning of the holiday shopping season, a day usually spent at home with family and friends.

But that's been steadily changing. Wal-Mart is doing business today at most of its 1,900 supercenters. Except listen to what's happening in Massachusetts. The attorney general said no way, warning that opening on Thanksgiving would violate laws that date back to the times of the pilgrims.

Most Kmart stores have been open on Thanksgiving for years, and now that Sears is part of the same company, 48 Sears Essential Stores are open today too. But bigger Sears stores are still closed on Thanksgiving, like other traditional department stores.

Even Macy's, sponsor of the Thanksgiving Day parade, is not the site of a Thanksgiving Day sale. You'll have to wait until Friday.

Most shopping malls are closed today too. But a handful of them will open their doors around midnight tonight.

The trend seems obvious. The holiday shopping season is spilling into Thanksgiving Day, a little more every year. One retail expert says stores are beginning to realize that Thanksgiving is a great day to draw customers in.

There also may be another reason, competition. The Internet accounts for an increasing percentage of holiday sales. And the Web sites, of course, they never close.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right, let's check in with Jeff Kulikowski now of CNN affiliate WSYR. He's at a Kmart store that's open for business just outside Syracuse, New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KULIKOWSKI, REPORTER, WSYR: It's one of the few places on Thanksgiving Day that the doors are actually open and shoppers are definitely taking advantage of it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I got here about quarter to 7:00. And, God, I'm out by 20 after. And I got everything I wanted. It was awesome.

KULIKOWSKI: What Reno Amer (ph) and others are finding out is that deals are just about as good and the crowds much smaller at Kmart on Thanksgiving Day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never do this. This is the first time I've ever done this.

KULIKOWSKI (on camera): Will you do it again?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my first day of setting out the day of Thanksgiving to shop. Usually I'm a Black Friday regular at, you know, the Wal-Marts and at the malls. But today, there was a good enough deal to get me out on Thanksgiving mornings.

KULIKOWSKI: Now, do you normally come out on Thanksgiving Day?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, day after.

KULIKOWSKI: Why Thanksgiving Day this year?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, because it was in the paper, and I didn't know if they would have it tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I got here about 20 after 6:00. I come here last year, found it was a good time to get here, sat in the van for a few minutes, come over, and actually ended up talking some ladies in line that I talked to last year.

KULIKOWSKI: Just by looking at how full the parking lot is, you'd think it was the day after, not Thanksgiving Day. But there are lots of shoppers that are beating that traditional holiday rush.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And that was Jeff Kulikowski in DeWitt, New York, just outside Syracuse.

Now an update on a story that we reported earlier. Authorities say a hazardous spill has been contained following a train collision just south of Chicago. Two freight trains collided this morning near Kankakee, Illinois. A number of cars derailed, including one that began leaking denatured alcohol. And some homes downwind from that leak were evacuated, because, of course, that can be dangerous.

Three crew members on one of the trains were hurt. But the injuries are said to be minor at this point.

Investigators trying to figure out what caused yesterday's rush- hour train crash near Chicago. Sixteen people injured when a commuter train slammed into vehicles backed up at a crossing near Elmwood Park. The collision caused a chain reaction involving more than a dozen cars and trucks. One witness says that several cars got trapped between the crossing arm gates as the train barreled through that intersection.

New court papers shed light on the overnight chain of events at the home of Kara Borden (ph). She's the 14-year-old, you may remember, whose boyfriend is accused of killing her parents. The documents say that the shootings happened at Borden's Pennsylvania home after the girl was caught sneaking into the house. She had spent the night with the 18-year-old David Ludwig.

In a police interview, Ludwig, seen here, says that when Borden's parents asked him to come to their home to discuss what happened, he brought two guns and a hunting knife. After an argument with the girl's father, Ludwig told police, he shot both parents. Kara Borden joined Ludwig when he fled the scene. They were captured after a high-speed chase in Indiana. Ludwig faces homicide charges. Kara Borden has not been charged.

Thanksgiving Day in Iraq, but no real relief for U.S. troops. We're with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Division in Babel (ph) Province, Babel Province, rather. The news keeps coming. We're going to keep bringing it to you.

More LIVE FROM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Troops ate turkey and counted their blessings, and one or two may have gotten a long-distance Attaboy from President Bush. But amid the festivities, new hostilities on this American holiday in Iraq.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Division in Babel Province just south of Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a war, when you can't get home for the holidays, the holidays come to you. Which means, for Thanksgiving Day, there's plenty of turkey in Iraq, all part of keeping up morale at a time when U.S. troops miss home the most.

LT. ASHLEY JOHNSON, U.S. ARMY: It is under difficult circumstances. But my platoon here is my family right now. And we're doing things here to keep us upbeat and motivated.

RAMAN: For First Lieutenant Johnson, it's the first Thanksgiving away from home. For others, it's the second. For Staff Sergeant James Singleton, it's number six.

STAFF SGT. JAMES SINGLETON, U.S. ARMY: You just don't think about it. Day to day, you keep your mind on your job, on what you're doing, and, you know, you need to keep in contact with your family members as much as you can back home.

RAMAN (on camera): The biggest part of Thanksgiving, of course, is the meal. And here, they've tried to make it as authentic as possible, 1,250 pounds of turkey, 2,500 pounds of prime rib, all to serve some 8,000 meals.

(voice-over): But Thanksgiving is no day off. It's just another Thursday, with its routine of patrols, screening vehicles, questioning civilians. And for those out working...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of guys can't come in for Thanksgiving, so we're going to bring Thanksgiving to them.

RAMAN: Out here in combat fatigues, a gun in hand, it's difficult to feel the Thanksgiving spirit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just can't, you know, get the same feeling that you -- you can't replicate it out here. I don't know, I was just thinking about it, you know, the smell of everything cooking.

RAMAN: It's all too easy, though, to remember what you miss the most.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watching the game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My family, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanksgiving diner with the rest of the family.

RAMAN: And out here, there's no such thing as downtime. On the radio, a call about a car bomb. In combat, holidays can last mere moments.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, northern Babel Province, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, that car bomb that Aneesh mentioned killed as many as 30 people outside a hospital. It happened in Mahmoudiya, just inside the so-called triangle of death, a suicide attack that killed Iraqi guards, Iraqi civilians, and reportedly two children. U.S. troops were on hand, and four of them were hurt, but the hospital was mostly unscathed.

Then hours later, a bomb went off in a crowded market in the nearby city of Hilla. That attack, reportedly a remotely detonated car bomb, killed at least three people.

In the war on terror, this week's decision to charge suspect Jose Padilla with belonging to a terrorist cell has raised some eyebrows. That's because for three years, the government has said Padilla was involved in even more serious activities, including a plot to detonate a radioactive dirty bomb.

A new report offers a clue about why Padilla is not facing the dirty bomb charges. It involves alleged CIA treatment of key witnesses in that case.

News is still happening. We've got much more for you. LIVE FROM back right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The words of a Supreme Court justice can change history. And though many have been spellbinding writers, relatively few Americans ever read them. So some of them write books, Stephen Breyer, in "The Latest Act of Liberty," his title, and last night he talked with CNN's Larry King about big ideas and behind-the-scenes details from the highest court in the land.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")

LARRY KING, HOST: How are you doing with the new chief justice?

JUSTICE STEPHEN G. BREYER, U.S. SUPREME COURT: Fine, fine. KING: Like him?

BREYER: Yes.

KING: Do you fellows and ladies argue a lot?

BREYER: Yes. But, in that conference room, where I have been going now for 11 years, 11 years, I have never once in those 11 years heard a voice raised in anger. I have never once heard any member of our court say something slighting or denigrating of another justice, not even as a joke.

In that room, we are professional. We state our views. We listen to the others. And the key to that conference is, people are saying what they really think. They're not trying to create an impression. And everybody writes down what everybody else says, and there's some discussion. And it works, because we all respect each other as individuals, even -- and we like each other as individuals, no matter how much we disagree, and we do disagree on many very important issues.

PHILLIPS: There were no arguments, expletives, even when deciding the election?

BREYER: No. Personal, no. It's professional. And it's polite. Because what good would it do? I mean, you know, being practical, suppose I got angry and I said, You know, this is really important.

KING: Well, you're wrong.

BREYER: Yes, you would say, Well, I think it's important too, you know. And I think my position is right. That gets us nowhere. What gets people somewhere is listening to what the other person says, seeing where he or she is coming from, trying to reply in terms that the person who said whatever he said or she said will appreciate the response in terms of where they're -- where they are, not where I am.

And we all understand that. And we have a constructive conversation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Oprah Winfrey, seems almost everything she touches turns to gold. She likes the book, it sells. She's in a movie, it's a hit. So what if Oprah were to get involved in politics?

Here's CNN's Bill Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: ... to present to you...

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Senator Hillary Clinton and TV host Oprah Winfrey. According to the Gallup poll, they are the two most admired women in America. They had a very interesting and possibly politically significant encounter at the International Emmy Awards ceremony Monday evening.

OPRAH WINFREY, TV HOST: Thank you. I hope you do us the privilege and run for office. Thank you. President of the United States.

SCHNEIDER: Was that an endorsement? Not clear.

But Oprah Winfrey has a huge following, particularly among women. The question is whether it could translate into votes. Right now, Senator Clinton is leading in the polls for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president. The leader among Republicans at this early point, Senator John McCain.

What would a Hillary Clinton-John McCain race look like?

The CNN-"USA Today" Gallup poll pitted the two front-runners against each other among registered voters nationwide. The result, McCain leads Clinton by 10 points. Why? Men. Men give McCain a huge lead over Clinton. Women are divided.

Maybe an endorsement from Oprah Winfrey could make a difference. If she were to rally women to support Hillary Clinton, the race could become a lot closer.

Some Republicans are trying to get Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to run for president. Rice is the fourth-most-admired woman in the country, after Laura Bush. What would a Rice versus Clinton race look like? Clinton, by nine points. Why? Women. In a race between the two women contenders, women voters prefer the Democrat by 16 points, and men, they just can't make up their minds.

Maybe Oprah could help them.

(on camera): When Oprah endorses a book, it instantly becomes a bestseller. Be interesting to see what would happen if she endorsed a politician.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, thousands of volunteers and emergency workers are helping the Gulf Coast rebuild after the hurricanes. But so are Sammy the Swan, Beauregard the Alligator, and a New Orleans cat named Catte-au-Lait. A displaced New Orleans family comes up with a creative way to help heal after the storm. They're joining us live, and their adorable little girl.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, one day, your world revolves around New Orleans. And the next, you're an evacuee winging across the country to Somewhere, USA. Life became a lottery for many evacuees.

CNN's Adaora Udoji updates us on one family's cross-country odyssey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Burns family -- Tina, Reynold, and Fun Leroy (ph), could never have imagined the life they're living today in the city they're living it.

TINA BURNS, KATRINA SURVIVOR: We see a chance to have a better life since a act of God brought us here, then I think that we will stay here.

UDOJI: Here would be Cambridge, Massachusetts, light-years away from New Orleans.

The act of God, Hurricane Katrina, forced them onto a harrowing journey, hours in the filthy Convention Center, and a sleepless night with thousands in the chaos of Louis Armstrong Airport, wondering if their misery would ever end.

REYNOLD BURNS, KATRINA SURVIVOR: Not being able to rest, not having a place to sleep in, you know, I mean, we were there for about 12 hours.

UDOJI: They, like so many, clamored onto FEMA's disorganized free flights to emergency shelters in 48 states. But the agency was so overwhelmed, it couldn't tell them where they were going until takeoff.

REYNOLD BURNS: The pilot came on and he's, like, OK, we'll be flying over Boston, Massachusetts, in two and a half hours. And we're, like, Wow, Massachusetts?

UDOJI: Straight over Boston, they were evacuated at first to Cape Cod, the summer playground of the rich and famous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there's Leroy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And there I am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There she is.

UDOJI: The last place on earth the Burns thought they'd ever be. They'd never seen this video of their arrival until now.

(on camera): What's going on on the plane?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty noisy. It's -- a lot of people are cheering, and a lot of people are...

TINA BURNS: We made it safely.

UDOJI (voice-over): Safe, but understandably nervous. Then they met Reverend Brown.

TINA BURNS: He said, you are safe. You're going to be OK.

REV. JEFFERY BROWN, CAMP EDWARDS, MASSACHUSETTS: I told them that, We want you to know that you're welcome in this place.

TINA BURNS: Those simple words were so incredible, so phenomenal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were so nice to us.

UDOJI: The family settled in at Camp Edwards, a military base that became home to more than 200 survivors, who became like a big family.

BROWN: Right here on the Cape, they were able to find out that they had job options, that they had housing options.

UDOJI: It was still a painful six weeks. The Burns had to find missing relatives, who eventually turned up in Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. And they also had to figure out how to start over. A long way from the Big Easy, but they found new loves.

TINA BURNS: The Red Sox, and we have been converted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, yes, we are Red Sox fans.

UDOJI: They found a home in Cambridge, a Boston suburb, and a school for Leroy.

FUN LEROY, KATRINA SURVIVOR: I made two friends. I made one friend yesterday at school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, really?

FUN LEROY: I think it's great. I hope we stay here for a long time.

UDOJI: Reynold found a security job at a luxury hotel. Tina waitresses banquets. They plan to go back to college.

REYNOLD BURNS: It's a nice place to live. There's a lot of opportunity here.

UDOJI: As much as they're yearning to go home, and some people have gone back to their neighborhood, the family decided they couldn't return to a mold-infested apartment.

REYNOLD BURNS: I love you, too.

UDOJI: Now their hopes for the future lie here in Cambridge, a place they knew nothing about just months ago.

(on camera): He likes the fall?

TINA BURNS: It's beautiful, beautiful.

UDOJI: You ready for winter?

REYNOLD BURNS: Oh, I don't know. It's kind of scary. But I'm ready for anything, you know. If a category 4 hurricane doesn't prepare you, then nothing will, man.

UDOJI: Adaora Udoji, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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