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Shoppers Line up to Hit Stores; Tips for Holiday Shopping Online; Supreme Court to Consider Legality of Medical Marijuana; Wounded Soldier Spends Thanksgiving with Family

Aired November 26, 2004 - 10:30   ET

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

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


CAROL LIN, CO-HOST: Now, the most powerful party in the Palestinian leadership announced today it will hold its first internal elections in 16 years. The Fattah movement says the party balloting will not be held under next August, and that comes months after voters choose a successor to former PLO leader Yasser Arafat, who died earlier this month.
Off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, Coast Guard crews are searching for a 54-year-old man reported missing. The man's wife discovered him missing after returning from a trip to the Bahamas. The crew has -- the crew has completed a full search of the cruise ship Celebration, raising fears the man may have fallen overboard.

TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: These are the real hunters and gathers of the retail jungle. Shoppers across the country lined up overnight for door buster specials. The Black Friday shop-a-looza got underway hours before dawn. One woman said she found ten people waiting outside her store at 4 a.m.

It is the same story all across the country. This is Glendale Galleria in Los Angeles. Hard corps shoppers reaped the rewards of deep discounts, I'm told, while retailers inch into the black during the make-or-break season.

LIN: Wow. All right. Somebody said it's called Black Friday, because that's when the retailers move into the black.

HARRIS: I see.

LIN: I needed an explanation for that.

So do you wait until retailers slash prices before doing your holiday shopping? Don't wait too long. One store chain chairman says deep discounts may not show up this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY LUNDGREN, CEO, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES: Something is a little bit different this year. And that is business has been a lot better, as you know ,this year for us and for others, so there's much more of a supply-and-demand imbalance this year than there has been in the past.

And while there will be sales and there will be discounts, I think it will be a little bit harder to find all of your things if you just keep on waiting for it to go deeper and deeper on sale. I think there's going to be good value but less discounting overall, I think, this holiday season.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: All right. So take notes here, because here are a few holiday spending facts for you, Tony.

The season accounts for just under a quarter of annual retail sales. Holiday retail sales for this year are projected to rise 4.5 percent over 2003. There's going to be a quiz later.

HARRIS: All right.

LIN: And check this out. Holiday spending is expected to reach nearly $220 billion -- that's billion with a "B," a billion dollars -- this year. So those retailers better not be complaining January 2...

HARRIS: No.

LIN: ... of retail sales being slow.

HARRIS: That's a lot of money changing hands.

OK. Deals on items like designer jackets and jewelry had shoppers lining up at Macy's in New York earlier this morning. CNN's Allan Chernoff is at the Manhattan shopping landmark with the story.

Good morning, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony.

Well, the city that never sleeps certainly did live up to its reputation this morning. People began lining up outside of Macy's at 5 a.m. The doors opened at 6. And hundreds of people streamed inside of Macy's, partly to take advantage of some door-buster bargains, like $50 for a microwave oven, $50 for a jacket, a down jacket.

Also, people wanted to beat the crowds, but would you believe it? Some people were there simply to window-shop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There will be no shopping today. I'm just looking.

CHERNOFF: At 6 in the morning?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I'm on my way to work.

CHERNOFF: Very efficient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, well, it's part of the job.

CHERNOFF: Does your employer know that coming to Macy's to shop is part of the job? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: One woman told me that she was starting her day at Macy's at 6 a.m., then moving on to Lord & Taylor at 7, and getting to Saks Fifth Avenue by 8 a.m., all just to window shop, just to check everything out, although I suspect she's spent a few dollars by now.

Other people, however, know exactly what they want, and they grab it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: It's now 6:30 in the morning, and I see you've already got two shopping bags here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do. I bought five Grovers.

CHERNOFF: Five Grovers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Yes.

CHERNOFF: Five kids?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, grandkids.

CHERNOFF: Grandkids? That couldn't be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Well, aside from Grover, some of the other hot items this year, handbags. There are simply aisles and aisles of handbags inside of Macy's behind me. Also sweaters, gloves, traditional items. Digital cameras are hot, as well.

And Tony, for the first time ever, surveys indicate that gift cards will be the No. 1 purchase this holiday season.

HARRIS: You can't decide, you're not sure about the sizes, so you get a gift card. Now Allan, let me ask you something. Part of the sport of window shopping is because the designers do such a great job at laying out those windows at Christmastime. Is that part of it? I'm trying to find an answer here.

CHERNOFF: That's part of it, but I think around here in New York City, it is sport, just to walk around the stores, see what's available, see what the prices are. Lots of people come here purely for the entertainment value.

HARRIS: Oh, my. All right, Allan, good to see you. Take care. Have a great day -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Better than shopping at 5 in the morning, do you want a wake-up call from Heidi Klum, the super model?

HARRIS: Sure.

LIN: All right. Or maybe you prefer tough love from Ice-T.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HEIDI KLUM, SUPER MODEL: This is Heidi. Well, I will tell you that I am the obvious choice to wake you up. Because I mean, look around you. Look at the rest of these guys and tell me, how could you possibly choose anyone else?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LIN: Discount retailer Target is making sure shoppers don't miss those early-bird specials. It's offering up free wake-up calls this weekend to customers who need a little extra incentive.

If a supermodel or veiled threats don't do the trick, Target offers nine other voices, including that of Cheech Marin and Darth Vader. Check it out at Target.com.

HARRIS: It's getting crazy.

LIN: All right. Less competitive shoppers might want to stay in their pajamas and check out the Internet.

BizRate.com estimates 32 percent of consumers plan to do more of their holiday shopping online. Fifty-three percent of those online buyers began their holiday shopping back in October. And 98 percent of retailers expect online sales to grow this year.

AOL's consumer advisor, Regina Lewis, has some tips for the holiday shopping season.

Regina, we've got -- you know, we want to get a head-start on this, and it's a great idea to go to the computer. What are the hot gifts? What's going to make Mommy, Daddy or your best buddy happy this year?

REGINA LEWIS, AOL: Well, we're seeing a real trend towards luxury goods. You may remember, Carol, this time last year we were talking about the Ugg boots, those shearling lined very, very comfy boots.

LIN: Yes.

LEWIS: This year, it's all about the Ugg handbags, and the slippers are even sold out. Remember, those boots were selling for four or five times the retail cost by Christmas morning. So you want to hustle there.

There's also a big trend towards cashmere, and that juicy, couture sweatsuit that Jennifer Lopez is always romping around in. Think cashmere. Those are selling quickly. And of course, the mini iPod, as well, now under $300. And a real great personalization touch is to load it with songs. They're sold, $0.99 each, in $10 increments. Nice touch.

LIN: All right. Well, frankly, my friends can load their own songs if I'm going to be spending around $300.

But let's say you don't have any time so you want to go online. But how do you price compare? If I go to a web site that's it. That's the one price that I see.

LEWIS: Yes. But what you want to do is go to a virtual mall, where lots of sites are aggregated, like at InStore.com (ph). That search feature is really what this is all about.

So for instance, we saw some shops there of the pinpoint search feature on InStore.com (ph). You say I'm after a cashmere sweater, and I'm with you. Who's got hundreds of dollars to spend on the luxury stuff? It shops around for you and says, "Look, here's what we found. Here are your best moves."

That can save you a lot of money. Make sure you adjust the tool to factor in shipping, because that can change the net cost.

But nuts not to do this, whether you ultimately shop online or off-line. It can be the difference, particularly on big ticket items, on whether you go to Circuit City or Best Buy today to get a plasma flat-screen TV.

LIN: So there are web sites that you can -- that you plug in what it is that you're looking for and they'll give you price comparisons in different stores?

LEWIS: Right. InStore.com (ph) is one. BizRate, also another one.

LIN: All right. All right. Good deal. But you know where you get really eaten up? I mean, last year in an act of desperation -- I'll have a confession for you -- I did online shopping, and I paid more in shipping fees than I did for the item, just to make sure it got there by Christmas day.

LEWIS: That's a very honest confession, but that's because you waited until the last minute. If you shop early, you can still take advantage of free and flat rate shipping.

You're right. Time is not on your side. Watch for that to go away, but it is in full force now, not however, as prevalent as it has been in years past when they were trying to get you to shop for that first time.

Also, sometimes you have to meet a minimum total threshold of spending, so if you've got two $50 items and that free shipping kicks in at $99, you're better off buying those two items on one site, versus spreading it out over two sites. And you have to know the codes sometimes. Sometimes free shipping kicks in if you have a promotional code. Great trick. If they're asking for that when you check out, that means it exists. Go to any major search engine and type in the name of the retailer, plus coupon. You'll find it. Then check out.

LIN: OK. All right. The key is to start early. Thanks, Regina. Have you started shopping yet?

LEWIS: I have. Are you kidding? I'm an online shopper. We started in October.

LIN: Excellent. My gosh, you're so organized. Thank you, Gina.

LEWIS: All right. Well, holiday gift guide or shopping strategy, just go to our web site. We have a special report, "Holiday Hustle." You're going to find a link at CNN.com.

HARRIS: A major case before the Supreme Court could mean life or death for one woman.

LIN: Still to come, why this California resident is not giving up on her right to medical marijuana.

HARRIS: And a delivery man gets slammed by a runaway car. Still, it isn't as bad as you might think.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, I don't know why I didn't think there would be much business going on today. That's all we've been talking about is commerce and business, and oh, my goodness.

LIN: Shopping.

HARRIS: Yes, exactly. Let's check in with Rhonda Schaffler.

LIN: Shopping for good deals on Wall Street today.

(STOCK REPORT)

HARRIS: Rhonda, thank you.

An Oakland, California, woman says taking marijuana for medical purposes is a matter of life and death for her. She'll be at the U.S. Supreme Court Monday as justices take up whether patients can keep using pot in 11 states.

Mark Jones of CNN affiliate KRON reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK JONES, KRON REPORTER (voice-over): Angel Raich is heading from the Thanksgiving table to the U.S. Supreme Court bench to champion the rights of the dying and disabled to take cannabis, marijuana, to ease pain and suffering. The solicitor general will be arguing on behalf of the Bush administration.

ANGEL RAICH, SUPPORTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA: For our side it will be Professor Randy Burnett, who is a Boston University professor, and he's actually the world's leading expert of the Ninth Amendment, and he's also a constitutional scholar.

JONES: For Raich, medical cannabis is not a way of life; it's a way to stay alive.

RAICH: I have an inoperable brain tumor. I have life- threatening wasting syndrome. I have a seizure disorder. I have fibromyalgia, degenerative joint disease, nausea, severe chronic pain. I really am, unfortunately, riddled with illness.

JONES: The government is arguing that cannabis violates interstate commerce rules and regulations. Raich's stash is grown for her with no money exchanging hands.

RAICH: Every two hours, I have to medicate with cannabis.

JONES (on camera): You don't seem high to me now.

RAICH: No, I'm not high. I don't get high. Cannabis, I use almost eight to nine pounds of cannabis per year, which is about three ounces a week. And I don't get high. I don't have any euphoria. The thing that I do get, which is a side effect of cannabis, is I get hungry.

JONES (voice-over): That cannabis-fired hungers helps her consume 3,000 calories per day, enough to make most people fat. It's barely enough to keep her at 100 pounds.

And Monday, she may be the first person to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court, just medicated with cannabis.

(on camera) If you lose, you're still going to be taking marijuana?

JONES: Most definitely. I have no intentions of stopping what I'm doing, no matter what the Supreme Court says. I can't, because I would die, and I'm not willing to allow the federal government to execute me for simply being disabled.

JONES: In Oakland, Mark Jones, KRON-4 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Wow.

Still to come on CNN LIVE TODAY, a drive-thru like no other. Have you seen this video? It's caught on tape, and it's not as bad as it looks, amazingly. Whoa!

HARRIS: Plus, injured twice, still this Marine has no problem with going back to Iraq. His story up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Here we are, Carol Lin and Tony Harris, fat and happy after a holiday. OK, actually, I worked a little bit, but you're fat and happy after your holiday.

HARRIS: I am. A double-wide in my belly here. Sorry about that, bad image.

LIN: And on that note, yes, we do have some news to report, though, a lot of news making coast-to-coast today.

HARRIS: Now, many of us will be heading to stores today, but not like this driver. A surveillance camera in this convenience store in Salem, Oregon, captured the accident. An elderly woman lost control of her car and slammed into the door, and a beer delivery man, remarkably, he suffered only bumps and bruises.

LIN: Yes. Wow, he must have been just been thrown clear.

Anyway, here's another unexpected detour. In Glenwood Springs, Colorado, this rockslide forced the closure of Interstate 70, sending motorists some 200 miles around it on a detour. No word on when the road is actually going to reopen or what caused the rockslide. And fortunately, no injuries.

HARRIS: Here's an unusual turkey dinner. These birds are the guests of honor, not the main dish, at this Thanksgiving feast. The San Francisco Zoo residents gobbled down a spread of -- are you ready for this? Worms and crickets, thank you very much. Yum yum.

LIN: It looked like a salad.

Anyway, good news and bad news for a young Marine from Illinois. The bad news is that he was wounded while fighting in Iraq, but the good news is he's recovering stateside for the Thanksgiving holiday.

CNN's Miguel Marquez has the story from Camp Pendleton, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LANCE CPL. NICK ULLOA, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I'm missing a lot of bones. Some of it's just gone. A lot of dead bone.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nick Ulloa is just 20 years old. He's been in Iraq for 5 1/2 months. He's been injured twice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the point man for my squad. And I walk into a house, and I just happened to be in the wrong house.

MARQUEZ: Last Wednesday, Ulloa, like these Marines, was going house to house in Falluja, looking for insurgents. Ulloa led the way into a house and found himself between a locked door and a dark hallway.

ULLOA: When I went in the hallway, the next thing I know is I see a bunch of muzzle flashes, and kind of hazy from there.

MARQUEZ: Ulloa, who weighs in at just 130 pounds, was hit by four bullets and a piece of shrapnel from a grenade. One of the AK-47 rounds and the shrapnel are now keepsakes.

ROSE ULLOA, MOTHER: This is the best Thanksgiving I could have. He's alive.

MARQUEZ: Ulloa is now recovering at Camp Pendleton. His family is visiting from Illinois.

JOSE ULLOA, FATHER: We worry so much since he went to Iraq, and now I know how all the parents feel about it.

MARQUEZ: His older brother is in the Army and headed to Afghanistan next year.

JOE ULLOA, U.S. ARMY: It's a real wake-up call, you know, what to look out for, but that's our job.

MARQUEZ: Ulloa says his injuries may affect his ability to run, but he hopes to return to full duty in the next eight months.

(on camera) Will you go back to Iraq?

R. ULLOA: I can't really answer that question. It's certainly not a place I want to be, but it's where my calling is. Where my -- where my country wants me to go, I'll go.

MARQUEZ: Miguel Marquez, CNN, Camp Pendleton, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: You know, it's -- we don't do what they do, hard to understand sometimes, but that is a very brave man.

LIN: Yes.

HARRIS: And for some, it's all about the turkey. And for some, it's about the day after shopping.

LIN: Right. Still others say it's all about the snow. We're going to show you. Plus, your morning weather forecast coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Look at this. Snow season.

LIN: Oh!

HARRIS: In South Lake Tahoe, light snow has been scattered across the sierras in California and in Nevada. LIN: Yes. This is my winter. I'm going to be skiing this winter. And it may be a hint of what is to come, what you're looking at. A series of storms expected to plow through the region this weekend. And only skiers can say yee-haw.

HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes.

LIN: Orelon, that is great news, but I don't know about folks driving in the roads this holiday weekend.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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Aired November 26, 2004 - 10:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CO-HOST: Now, the most powerful party in the Palestinian leadership announced today it will hold its first internal elections in 16 years. The Fattah movement says the party balloting will not be held under next August, and that comes months after voters choose a successor to former PLO leader Yasser Arafat, who died earlier this month.
Off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, Coast Guard crews are searching for a 54-year-old man reported missing. The man's wife discovered him missing after returning from a trip to the Bahamas. The crew has -- the crew has completed a full search of the cruise ship Celebration, raising fears the man may have fallen overboard.

TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: These are the real hunters and gathers of the retail jungle. Shoppers across the country lined up overnight for door buster specials. The Black Friday shop-a-looza got underway hours before dawn. One woman said she found ten people waiting outside her store at 4 a.m.

It is the same story all across the country. This is Glendale Galleria in Los Angeles. Hard corps shoppers reaped the rewards of deep discounts, I'm told, while retailers inch into the black during the make-or-break season.

LIN: Wow. All right. Somebody said it's called Black Friday, because that's when the retailers move into the black.

HARRIS: I see.

LIN: I needed an explanation for that.

So do you wait until retailers slash prices before doing your holiday shopping? Don't wait too long. One store chain chairman says deep discounts may not show up this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY LUNDGREN, CEO, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES: Something is a little bit different this year. And that is business has been a lot better, as you know ,this year for us and for others, so there's much more of a supply-and-demand imbalance this year than there has been in the past.

And while there will be sales and there will be discounts, I think it will be a little bit harder to find all of your things if you just keep on waiting for it to go deeper and deeper on sale. I think there's going to be good value but less discounting overall, I think, this holiday season.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: All right. So take notes here, because here are a few holiday spending facts for you, Tony.

The season accounts for just under a quarter of annual retail sales. Holiday retail sales for this year are projected to rise 4.5 percent over 2003. There's going to be a quiz later.

HARRIS: All right.

LIN: And check this out. Holiday spending is expected to reach nearly $220 billion -- that's billion with a "B," a billion dollars -- this year. So those retailers better not be complaining January 2...

HARRIS: No.

LIN: ... of retail sales being slow.

HARRIS: That's a lot of money changing hands.

OK. Deals on items like designer jackets and jewelry had shoppers lining up at Macy's in New York earlier this morning. CNN's Allan Chernoff is at the Manhattan shopping landmark with the story.

Good morning, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony.

Well, the city that never sleeps certainly did live up to its reputation this morning. People began lining up outside of Macy's at 5 a.m. The doors opened at 6. And hundreds of people streamed inside of Macy's, partly to take advantage of some door-buster bargains, like $50 for a microwave oven, $50 for a jacket, a down jacket.

Also, people wanted to beat the crowds, but would you believe it? Some people were there simply to window-shop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There will be no shopping today. I'm just looking.

CHERNOFF: At 6 in the morning?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I'm on my way to work.

CHERNOFF: Very efficient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, well, it's part of the job.

CHERNOFF: Does your employer know that coming to Macy's to shop is part of the job? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: One woman told me that she was starting her day at Macy's at 6 a.m., then moving on to Lord & Taylor at 7, and getting to Saks Fifth Avenue by 8 a.m., all just to window shop, just to check everything out, although I suspect she's spent a few dollars by now.

Other people, however, know exactly what they want, and they grab it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: It's now 6:30 in the morning, and I see you've already got two shopping bags here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do. I bought five Grovers.

CHERNOFF: Five Grovers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Yes.

CHERNOFF: Five kids?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, grandkids.

CHERNOFF: Grandkids? That couldn't be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Well, aside from Grover, some of the other hot items this year, handbags. There are simply aisles and aisles of handbags inside of Macy's behind me. Also sweaters, gloves, traditional items. Digital cameras are hot, as well.

And Tony, for the first time ever, surveys indicate that gift cards will be the No. 1 purchase this holiday season.

HARRIS: You can't decide, you're not sure about the sizes, so you get a gift card. Now Allan, let me ask you something. Part of the sport of window shopping is because the designers do such a great job at laying out those windows at Christmastime. Is that part of it? I'm trying to find an answer here.

CHERNOFF: That's part of it, but I think around here in New York City, it is sport, just to walk around the stores, see what's available, see what the prices are. Lots of people come here purely for the entertainment value.

HARRIS: Oh, my. All right, Allan, good to see you. Take care. Have a great day -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Better than shopping at 5 in the morning, do you want a wake-up call from Heidi Klum, the super model?

HARRIS: Sure.

LIN: All right. Or maybe you prefer tough love from Ice-T.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HEIDI KLUM, SUPER MODEL: This is Heidi. Well, I will tell you that I am the obvious choice to wake you up. Because I mean, look around you. Look at the rest of these guys and tell me, how could you possibly choose anyone else?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LIN: Discount retailer Target is making sure shoppers don't miss those early-bird specials. It's offering up free wake-up calls this weekend to customers who need a little extra incentive.

If a supermodel or veiled threats don't do the trick, Target offers nine other voices, including that of Cheech Marin and Darth Vader. Check it out at Target.com.

HARRIS: It's getting crazy.

LIN: All right. Less competitive shoppers might want to stay in their pajamas and check out the Internet.

BizRate.com estimates 32 percent of consumers plan to do more of their holiday shopping online. Fifty-three percent of those online buyers began their holiday shopping back in October. And 98 percent of retailers expect online sales to grow this year.

AOL's consumer advisor, Regina Lewis, has some tips for the holiday shopping season.

Regina, we've got -- you know, we want to get a head-start on this, and it's a great idea to go to the computer. What are the hot gifts? What's going to make Mommy, Daddy or your best buddy happy this year?

REGINA LEWIS, AOL: Well, we're seeing a real trend towards luxury goods. You may remember, Carol, this time last year we were talking about the Ugg boots, those shearling lined very, very comfy boots.

LIN: Yes.

LEWIS: This year, it's all about the Ugg handbags, and the slippers are even sold out. Remember, those boots were selling for four or five times the retail cost by Christmas morning. So you want to hustle there.

There's also a big trend towards cashmere, and that juicy, couture sweatsuit that Jennifer Lopez is always romping around in. Think cashmere. Those are selling quickly. And of course, the mini iPod, as well, now under $300. And a real great personalization touch is to load it with songs. They're sold, $0.99 each, in $10 increments. Nice touch.

LIN: All right. Well, frankly, my friends can load their own songs if I'm going to be spending around $300.

But let's say you don't have any time so you want to go online. But how do you price compare? If I go to a web site that's it. That's the one price that I see.

LEWIS: Yes. But what you want to do is go to a virtual mall, where lots of sites are aggregated, like at InStore.com (ph). That search feature is really what this is all about.

So for instance, we saw some shops there of the pinpoint search feature on InStore.com (ph). You say I'm after a cashmere sweater, and I'm with you. Who's got hundreds of dollars to spend on the luxury stuff? It shops around for you and says, "Look, here's what we found. Here are your best moves."

That can save you a lot of money. Make sure you adjust the tool to factor in shipping, because that can change the net cost.

But nuts not to do this, whether you ultimately shop online or off-line. It can be the difference, particularly on big ticket items, on whether you go to Circuit City or Best Buy today to get a plasma flat-screen TV.

LIN: So there are web sites that you can -- that you plug in what it is that you're looking for and they'll give you price comparisons in different stores?

LEWIS: Right. InStore.com (ph) is one. BizRate, also another one.

LIN: All right. All right. Good deal. But you know where you get really eaten up? I mean, last year in an act of desperation -- I'll have a confession for you -- I did online shopping, and I paid more in shipping fees than I did for the item, just to make sure it got there by Christmas day.

LEWIS: That's a very honest confession, but that's because you waited until the last minute. If you shop early, you can still take advantage of free and flat rate shipping.

You're right. Time is not on your side. Watch for that to go away, but it is in full force now, not however, as prevalent as it has been in years past when they were trying to get you to shop for that first time.

Also, sometimes you have to meet a minimum total threshold of spending, so if you've got two $50 items and that free shipping kicks in at $99, you're better off buying those two items on one site, versus spreading it out over two sites. And you have to know the codes sometimes. Sometimes free shipping kicks in if you have a promotional code. Great trick. If they're asking for that when you check out, that means it exists. Go to any major search engine and type in the name of the retailer, plus coupon. You'll find it. Then check out.

LIN: OK. All right. The key is to start early. Thanks, Regina. Have you started shopping yet?

LEWIS: I have. Are you kidding? I'm an online shopper. We started in October.

LIN: Excellent. My gosh, you're so organized. Thank you, Gina.

LEWIS: All right. Well, holiday gift guide or shopping strategy, just go to our web site. We have a special report, "Holiday Hustle." You're going to find a link at CNN.com.

HARRIS: A major case before the Supreme Court could mean life or death for one woman.

LIN: Still to come, why this California resident is not giving up on her right to medical marijuana.

HARRIS: And a delivery man gets slammed by a runaway car. Still, it isn't as bad as you might think.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, I don't know why I didn't think there would be much business going on today. That's all we've been talking about is commerce and business, and oh, my goodness.

LIN: Shopping.

HARRIS: Yes, exactly. Let's check in with Rhonda Schaffler.

LIN: Shopping for good deals on Wall Street today.

(STOCK REPORT)

HARRIS: Rhonda, thank you.

An Oakland, California, woman says taking marijuana for medical purposes is a matter of life and death for her. She'll be at the U.S. Supreme Court Monday as justices take up whether patients can keep using pot in 11 states.

Mark Jones of CNN affiliate KRON reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK JONES, KRON REPORTER (voice-over): Angel Raich is heading from the Thanksgiving table to the U.S. Supreme Court bench to champion the rights of the dying and disabled to take cannabis, marijuana, to ease pain and suffering. The solicitor general will be arguing on behalf of the Bush administration.

ANGEL RAICH, SUPPORTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA: For our side it will be Professor Randy Burnett, who is a Boston University professor, and he's actually the world's leading expert of the Ninth Amendment, and he's also a constitutional scholar.

JONES: For Raich, medical cannabis is not a way of life; it's a way to stay alive.

RAICH: I have an inoperable brain tumor. I have life- threatening wasting syndrome. I have a seizure disorder. I have fibromyalgia, degenerative joint disease, nausea, severe chronic pain. I really am, unfortunately, riddled with illness.

JONES: The government is arguing that cannabis violates interstate commerce rules and regulations. Raich's stash is grown for her with no money exchanging hands.

RAICH: Every two hours, I have to medicate with cannabis.

JONES (on camera): You don't seem high to me now.

RAICH: No, I'm not high. I don't get high. Cannabis, I use almost eight to nine pounds of cannabis per year, which is about three ounces a week. And I don't get high. I don't have any euphoria. The thing that I do get, which is a side effect of cannabis, is I get hungry.

JONES (voice-over): That cannabis-fired hungers helps her consume 3,000 calories per day, enough to make most people fat. It's barely enough to keep her at 100 pounds.

And Monday, she may be the first person to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court, just medicated with cannabis.

(on camera) If you lose, you're still going to be taking marijuana?

JONES: Most definitely. I have no intentions of stopping what I'm doing, no matter what the Supreme Court says. I can't, because I would die, and I'm not willing to allow the federal government to execute me for simply being disabled.

JONES: In Oakland, Mark Jones, KRON-4 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Wow.

Still to come on CNN LIVE TODAY, a drive-thru like no other. Have you seen this video? It's caught on tape, and it's not as bad as it looks, amazingly. Whoa!

HARRIS: Plus, injured twice, still this Marine has no problem with going back to Iraq. His story up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Here we are, Carol Lin and Tony Harris, fat and happy after a holiday. OK, actually, I worked a little bit, but you're fat and happy after your holiday.

HARRIS: I am. A double-wide in my belly here. Sorry about that, bad image.

LIN: And on that note, yes, we do have some news to report, though, a lot of news making coast-to-coast today.

HARRIS: Now, many of us will be heading to stores today, but not like this driver. A surveillance camera in this convenience store in Salem, Oregon, captured the accident. An elderly woman lost control of her car and slammed into the door, and a beer delivery man, remarkably, he suffered only bumps and bruises.

LIN: Yes. Wow, he must have been just been thrown clear.

Anyway, here's another unexpected detour. In Glenwood Springs, Colorado, this rockslide forced the closure of Interstate 70, sending motorists some 200 miles around it on a detour. No word on when the road is actually going to reopen or what caused the rockslide. And fortunately, no injuries.

HARRIS: Here's an unusual turkey dinner. These birds are the guests of honor, not the main dish, at this Thanksgiving feast. The San Francisco Zoo residents gobbled down a spread of -- are you ready for this? Worms and crickets, thank you very much. Yum yum.

LIN: It looked like a salad.

Anyway, good news and bad news for a young Marine from Illinois. The bad news is that he was wounded while fighting in Iraq, but the good news is he's recovering stateside for the Thanksgiving holiday.

CNN's Miguel Marquez has the story from Camp Pendleton, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LANCE CPL. NICK ULLOA, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I'm missing a lot of bones. Some of it's just gone. A lot of dead bone.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nick Ulloa is just 20 years old. He's been in Iraq for 5 1/2 months. He's been injured twice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the point man for my squad. And I walk into a house, and I just happened to be in the wrong house.

MARQUEZ: Last Wednesday, Ulloa, like these Marines, was going house to house in Falluja, looking for insurgents. Ulloa led the way into a house and found himself between a locked door and a dark hallway.

ULLOA: When I went in the hallway, the next thing I know is I see a bunch of muzzle flashes, and kind of hazy from there.

MARQUEZ: Ulloa, who weighs in at just 130 pounds, was hit by four bullets and a piece of shrapnel from a grenade. One of the AK-47 rounds and the shrapnel are now keepsakes.

ROSE ULLOA, MOTHER: This is the best Thanksgiving I could have. He's alive.

MARQUEZ: Ulloa is now recovering at Camp Pendleton. His family is visiting from Illinois.

JOSE ULLOA, FATHER: We worry so much since he went to Iraq, and now I know how all the parents feel about it.

MARQUEZ: His older brother is in the Army and headed to Afghanistan next year.

JOE ULLOA, U.S. ARMY: It's a real wake-up call, you know, what to look out for, but that's our job.

MARQUEZ: Ulloa says his injuries may affect his ability to run, but he hopes to return to full duty in the next eight months.

(on camera) Will you go back to Iraq?

R. ULLOA: I can't really answer that question. It's certainly not a place I want to be, but it's where my calling is. Where my -- where my country wants me to go, I'll go.

MARQUEZ: Miguel Marquez, CNN, Camp Pendleton, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: You know, it's -- we don't do what they do, hard to understand sometimes, but that is a very brave man.

LIN: Yes.

HARRIS: And for some, it's all about the turkey. And for some, it's about the day after shopping.

LIN: Right. Still others say it's all about the snow. We're going to show you. Plus, your morning weather forecast coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Look at this. Snow season.

LIN: Oh!

HARRIS: In South Lake Tahoe, light snow has been scattered across the sierras in California and in Nevada. LIN: Yes. This is my winter. I'm going to be skiing this winter. And it may be a hint of what is to come, what you're looking at. A series of storms expected to plow through the region this weekend. And only skiers can say yee-haw.

HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes.

LIN: Orelon, that is great news, but I don't know about folks driving in the roads this holiday weekend.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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